"We're not the only ones being targeted."
. . .
"What the hell d'ya mean we're not the only ones?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. "It's exactly how it sounds like, Sheila," he replied, his expression grim. "We need all the help we can get."
"Then whadaya waitin' for?"
. . .
We ran at full speed back to the workshop, not saying a single word to each other after he finally realized the awkward position he got us in. It was fine by me. I wouldn't know what to say to him anyway.
When we finally reached, I jumped out of my separate hole to see him standing there, with nobody else around. "Where is everybody?" I asked, looking around the empty workshop.
Then a completely innocent and random thought suddenly came to my mind.
"Oh, crap. What if this is actually one of those 'fake emergency' scenarios teenage girls love writing about?"
Interrupting my thoughts, he nudged my arm with his paw and indicated for me to follow him down a brightly-lit hallway.
"This way," he said as he hurried towards the destination. I shook my head clear of my overactive imagination-filled thoughts and the millions and millions of possible scenarios.
I proceeded to follow him.
Seeing him so troubled was...well, rare. I mean, sure, he's grumpy most of the time. But there was something familiar about the aura that wasn't his own that lingered on him. I just couldn't put my paw on it. Our troubled expressions probably looked completely out of place with North's merry workshop.
We finally stopped in front of a redwood door as we slowed our pace. "Brace yerself for what y'er about ta see in there," he turned his head to face me, his eyes now being completely clouded over with sadness. I looked at him, confusion and worry were probably etched on my face. He reached out for the doorknob, but pulled his hand back.
He wanted me to open it for myself.
So I stepped forward and placed my hand on the cold steel of the doorknob. A sudden pang of emotion went through me. It washed over me completely, suddenly weighing me down with the familiar feeling of despair. It was then I understood.
This wasn't sadness we were feeling. There was no way we could feel this much of the same emotion in such a short time.
This was the life force of a dying spirit.
And I didn't need to open the door to know who it was.
I hesitantly turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. Only to be greeted by four shadows scattered throughout the darkened room and a sleeping figure on the bed in the middle of the room. The only thing illuminating the small room was the soft glow of the moon. But even the soft glow seemed eery and dim.
North, Tooth, Sandy and Jack were already in the room, each in their own little areas. Both Tooth and Sandy had pulled up cushioned chairs beside the bed and were looking down at the shadowed figure, worry and despair hanging over them like a heavy rain cloud. North had positioned himself comfortably near a window, trying to keep himself busy by spinning his heavy swords. Jack was creating frost patterns in mid-air, sitting cross-legged on his staff. When they heard the soft creak of our feet against the floorboards, they all turned to look in our direction. I had never seen them this depressed before. Even if they didn't mean to feel this way.
Then there was that sudden wave of despair again. Sorrow had filled the entire room. It was almost overwhelming.
I turned my gaze towards the sleeping figure that laid in between the heap of pillows and blankets. It took me a moment or two for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting to see who it was. But my eyes finally became accustomed to the change in surroundings and atmosphere enough to see the details of a familiar face.
"Daphne," I finally managed to croak out as I cautiously neared her bed. My old friend, the spirit of Despair herself, looked so worn-out and completely weakened. Her skin was even paler than normal and her hair was dull and matted. Never in all my years of knowing her have I ever seen her look so out of herself. I never really prepare myself to see her in her current state.
I hadn't planned to either.
"Ramona," she murmured after fighting back a few coughs, her voice being hoarse and filled with cracks. She sounded like she hadn't talked in years. She was an extremely talkative and active person, despite being the Mistress of Despair. We always joked that if she carried on talking, she would eventually lose her voice one day. Now I wished we hadn't said anything in the first place.
"I thought I told ya never ta use that name, Daffy," I playfully accused her, trying to lighten up the dampened mood. But sadness weighed down my every word as I fought to hold back the goddamn waterworks. "I could say the same about you, Ammo," she smiled sadly.
The sight of her in the wretched bed, weakness evidently weighing down her body and spirits, was enough to make me knock all of my defenses down to the ground and watch as everything came crumbling down. I didn't care if anyone saw me break down onto my knees. I didn't care if I accidentally let anyone in. All I cared about was Daffy, now.
But I couldn't. I had to be strong for her sake.
And we both knew that her death would be inevitable.
"Who the bloody hell did this to you?" I growled, more of a demand than a question, and failing to mask the pain and anger I was feeling. I was fucking pissed. Who was the fucking asshole who did this to my friend? Who was the mothafucker who dared try to kill her?
Daffy saw what her current condition was doing to me. It was like she could read and see into my thoughts. So she reached out and gave my paw a squeeze. "I really don't know," she frowned. "One minute I was flying, and the next..." she trailed off.
"I found her in the forest near Burgess," Jack paused from his frost-making and spoke. "She was unconscious and there was black ooze everywhere."
Hearing that made my blood boil even more. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to track that fucker down, Daffy," I said softly. She smiled a sad smile as she gave a small laugh. "Your language, Ammo. It's still so vulgar," she commented cheekily, I managed to suppress a smile. "And you still stayed with me," I replied.
"Avenge my death, Ammo."
There was silence as I painfully watched as the light in her slate-grey eyes slowly faded to nothing. Watching the fire die in her determined eyes was one of the most painful things I had ever done. And there was nothing I could do about it.
Waves and waves of depression and despair radiated off of her as her life force slowly diffused out of her body to search for another spirit capable of bearing with their powerful amount. I watched as her body disintegrated into dark rose-coloured petals, and watched as they disappear into thin air. The atmosphere suddenly lightened up as every last drop of her slowly faded away. The weights that were pressing down on our chests were suddenly removed, but the thought of the dead spirit still struck pins and needles into our hearts.
Before she finally left us, I could still hear her voice whispering into my ears.
"You've been strong for far too long."
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Here's the new update!! So sorry for the late update, even after promising to update more. But I really hope you stay with me!!
And hey.
THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH FOR THE 90 HEARTS OMFG I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY I'M GONNA DO MY HAPPY DANCE.
But I have yet to get started on Wattpad xD
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