Chapter 10: Winter Wonderland
I glanced up at Aaron with my watery eyes. His eyes full of concern, held my gaze. I looked away and buried myself in his chest. Needing the comfort that I was lacking. His arms tightened around me protectively, seemingly to protect me from an invisible danger.
“It’ll be alright.” He murmured again against my hair.
“Miss Blakewood?” I turned around to face the voice. “You may go in to see your father now.” The nurse’s face didn’t give away anything about the condition that my father was in. I slowly nodded, not trusting my voice. I grasped Aaron’s hand, needing not only the physical support, but the emotional ones too. Aaron took my hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
I made my way down the dimly lit hallway. The lights flickered on and off. There was a light that wasn’t working and it had plunged the end of the hallway into a complete and utter darkness. We slowly made our way to the room that my father was assigned to. The light was on and there was voices coming from the inside.
“He’s in pretty bad shape, four broken ribs and his leg bones are completely shattered. It’ll take a miracle for him to survive.” I froze at the new information that the voices were telling me. The door seemed to grow further away and the temperature dropped by twenty degrees. I began to shiver. Quickly I felt arms wrapping me closer, sharing the pain that I was feeling.
“It’s okay, I can fix this. Trust me.” I nodded again, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to take over. Aaron knocked on the door and it was quickly opened by a doctor in a lab coat. He looked me over with his glasses, and then his eyes flickered to my tear streaked face.
“Ah, you must be Miss Blakewood. Please come in.” We walked in, guided by the doctor. He began to talk, but nothing was computing. I just nodded and shook my head at the right times and then finally after what seemed to be like forever, the doctor and the nurse left.
Aaron helped me sit down on the chair next to the bed. The smell of the room finally penetrated my nose. The chlorine smell polluted the air reminding me of the swimming pool, taking me back to a memory of when I was six and I went swimming with my father for the first time in the pool. I took up the courage and looked at the bed in front of me. My mouth widened at the state of the man in front of me. He was wrapped from head to toe in bandages, like a mummy. My hands began to shake as I brought them closer to my father’s face.
“Please help him. Please I beg of you, I’ll do anything.” I begged Aaron as I sobbed uncontrollably.
“Shh, I would do anything for you, of course I’ll help.” He helped me sit down on the other bed. And then the most amazing thing happened, pure white wings sprouted from his back. Then Aaron closed his eyes and began to chant: Tui Gratia Iovis Gratia Sit Cura. Let the Grace of Jupiter Be the Cure for Your Sake. I was glad that I had taken Latin back in middle school. I must have still been in shock from seeing my father like this that what Aaron was doing seemed to be okay. Soon there was a bright glow, and everything went dark.
***
I leaned into a warm and comforting stuffy. I opened my eyes and blinked, allowing my eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight. I looked around and found myself in the hospital. The events of last night slowly began to come back to me. Then I remembered what had woken me up, this mysterious stuffy. I turned around and was greeted by a pair of brown eyes. I nearly fell out of the bed, but a pair of arms prevented me from doing so. My eyes raked over Aaron’s half naked body and immediately began to blush. He was quite fit, his body was nicely muscled.
“How’s my father?” Quickly trying to interrupt myself from having any naughty fantasies.
“He’ll be just alright, sweetie. But now can you please stop staring, you’re making me feel hot.” He smirked.
I quickly averted my eyes, finding the ceiling to be quite interesting. “So you want to put some clothes on?”
“I wish I could, but my clothes were destroyed…”
I was silent, wondering what was going to happen next. The door suddenly opened and in burst Delano. Delano did a once over of the room and found where I was, his eyes darkened at the sight of Aaron holding me close against him. He stormed over.
“It’s not what you t-t-think.” I stuttered while trying to push myself further away from Aaron. Delano yanked me away from Aaron. The cold momentarily stunned me, missing the warmth and security that Aaron had given me. I turned to look at him, there was a smile playing on his lips and I knew he had just read my mind. Stop it. Why would I? It’s fun to know what you think about me. I narrowed my eyes slightly while trying to keep the amusement off my face.
“So she knows? Why that’s breaking the rules isn’t it?” Delano smiled evilly.
“How could you do that to her?” Aaron squinted at Delano. It seemed that I had missed a part of a conversation. What had happened?
“You, you…” Aaron got up and charged towards Delano getting ready to punch him. Delano held me up, shielding himself. What did I ever see in this guy? I scolded myself for being so gullible.
“You’re so pathetic, using an innocent girl as a shield? Put her down, and we’ll take this elsewhere.”
“Okay, I’ll put her down.” Before I knew what was happening I was thrown towards the window, the glass shattered around me as I penetrated through. There was a high-pitched noise coming from somewhere, it took a second before I realized that it was coming from me. Against my instinct I looked down. The ground was zooming towards me. I wasn’t going to make it, never would I tell Delano off, or tell my parents just how much I loved them. I had a few second left before my brain would be all over the concrete sidewalk.
“I’m not letting you go so easily.” Aaron’s smooth voice was comforting after the near-death experience. I clung tightly to him as if he were my anchor.
“Whoa there, you don’t have to be so eager. We’ve got plenty of time afterwards.” I was about to tease him when there was a sudden purple flash coming from the room that contained my father.
“Don’t worry. We’re going right up.” I looked at Aaron, and at that moment I realized what my heart and mind had been telling me for the past week. Aaron had always been there for me, even when we were enemies. He had never done anything to harm me, nor had he ever made fun of me. He was always there when I needed him the most. I had always liked Aaron. This sudden realization made me feel warm all over and the butterflies increased in my stomach.
“After this dilemma, I have something to tell you.” I whispered to him softly.
I watched as a smile began to play on his face, but before I could interpret what it meant, we were flying through the broken window. The room seemed brighter today than it had been yesterday. Even though the destruction was bigger. I looked towards the bed where my father had been sleeping and... he wasn’t there. I turned my head back and forth frantically, taking in the white room. I began to panic.
“I can’t believe he did it. I… just can’t. I have to go somewhere. I’m going to try my best to get your father back. Please don’t worry about it. Let me bring you back home.”
“You’re not going alone, I’m going.”
“No deal. You’re staying, I have to keep you safe if it’s the last thing I do.” The finality in his voice left no room for discussion. But in my head I was beginning to list out the possibility.
“Fine! How are we going to be getting home?”
“Why? How do you think? And don’t think about trailing me, you won’t be able to.” He nodded pointedly at his wings. He scooped me up and I yelped in surprise, but then I settled in.
We looked down at the world. It was a world full of tiny ants and tiny Lego buildings and we were the rulers of the land. The wind was blowing through my hair and I felt free, freer than what I had felt all week. I started giggling uncontrollably and Aaron began to smile.
***
The house was eerily silent when we got there. I walked in cautiously, ready for anything to jump out. I peeked into the dining room; the plates of spaghetti I had cooked were still there. Untouched. Where had my mother gone to? I had a pretty good hunch.
“Well I have to go now.” Aaron interrupted me. He turned to make his way to the door, but before he could get too far, I jumped on him and began to pat his wings. It felt like pure light. It had a wonderful feeling. Aaron jerked upright, moaning quietly. “Don’t do that.” He whispered in a pained voice. “I have to go now if I have any chance of catching up to Delano.”
“Ok.” Aaron turned around again and this time I let him go. I watched as he disappeared behind the clouds before calling Thea.
“Thea, help me chase Aaron. Please. I know you’re something special.” I blurted out as soon as Thea picked up the phone.
“It’s about time you’ve figured it out. I’m a mage by the way. And I’ve got just the thing. It’ll appear at your door in 5 seconds. See you.” There was a sudden loud crack and then a package fell out from the ceiling. I quickly unravel the string, and took out a cloak. The Invisible Flying Cloak, allows the wearer to become invisible, undetectable to Angels and Devils. Also gives the wearer the ability to fly. Just say Volatio Levitatio. Thank you Thea, I knew I could always count on her. I quickly put on the cloak and ran out the door.
“Volatio Leviato.” I began to fly, slowly drifting upwards. The clouds felt soft. It was five minutes before I noticed Aaron. I flew closer, but not too close to raise awareness. I looked at him from behind. Why did I never notice sweet Aaron before? Suddenly Aaron stopped. He looked around, his eyes narrowed. Crap forgot he can read my mind. After finding the place to be empty, Aaron continued flying, drawing closer to the Grand Cannon. He dived down then, and he tunneled his way into the abyss. I followed suit.
There was a pit of ice flames greeting us. “Great flames, I ask for access to rescue the ones that are not to be blamed.” Aaron said. Immediately, the flames opened up a pathway allowing for him to pass. I quickly flew after him, scared that the flames would close in on me, plunging me into a fiery death. Beyond the flame, I was greeted by a winter wonderland. An ice castle stood on top of the highest hill. Its peak peeking out from the trees. I stood there in awe at the beauty of this place. It was too beautiful. Then I noticed Aaron venturing further away from me and desperately began my chase. We were underground, but there was a source of light. The clouds in the sky seemed to be denser here than it was above ground. The air was filled with the smell of pine trees. It’s smell overwhelming my nose. We made our way up the ice drawbridge. I looked down and noticed the million of rainbow coloured fishes. It was truly a sight to see.
“Dagon, Delano has kidnapped two innocent humans, I demand for them back.”
“My brother is always like that. He doesn’t think about the consequences.” The man named Dagon shook his head. We made our way into the ice palace. Paintings filled the walls and the floor was covered by lush carpet.
“Where do you think Delano is?”
“Right here!” A voice came from behind me.
“You! Let the humans go.” Aaron shouted. A flash and a pair of swords appeared in his hands.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I have something precious that I think belongs to you.”
I felt myself being lifted then. And my hood was yanked down.
“Jasmine!” Aaron cried out.
…