41 | ANOTHER ME
GENERALLY speaking, Harry Hook did not dream. His nights were often filled with a peaceful void of black and that was how the pirate liked it. However, tonight was different because he was having a wonderful dream of himself and Winter "having some fun" in an empty classroom.
Yes, while Harry liked the peaceful void of blackness, he definitely enjoyed the view of Winter bent over the teacher's desk for him much more.
On the other hand, while Harry was having the best night of sleep he had caught in a while (perhaps it had something to do with his birthday being the previous day) a few doors down from the Sea Three's room someone had managed to catch the worst sleep ever.
That someone came in the form of Winterfell Frost who was sweating profusely (something that was extremely odd for her), was far too hot (another something that was very odd for her), and continuously shifting around her bed.
Her body fidgeted uncomfortably, quiet moans of discomfort leaving the sleeping girl's mouth. For the first time ever, Winter did not feel safe in her room — in fact, she felt the opposite.
Along with this unsound feeling that seemed to rattle her bones, Winter was having a rather horrific nightmare.
She was standing in the middle of empty nothingness. And yet, the black void was interrupted as a hurricane swept in, appearing from out of nowhere.
Winter was confused and terrified, the girl wearing nothing but her pajamas. Not that she noticed, but her hair was no longer brown, but rather back to the original frosty white state. She jumped as thunder crackled, the spectacular electric blue contrasting greatly to the grey clouds and inky nothingness around it.
Winter spun in a circle, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She was not sure where she was, but it terrified her and she wanted nothing more than to go back home or to Auradon Prep.
A large gust of wind swept by Winter, and yet it was not the usual friendly tones of Gale — but rather it was an icy and spiteful gust that nearly made Winter fall over. However, it was also what snapped Winter out of her quiet state, the girl sniffling lightly.
"Hello!" She called, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Hello?!"
Despite the clouds sounds of wind, thunder, and lightning — her voice echoes for what was no doubt miles upon miles.
In response, the wind seemed to pick up and suddenly the chill was getting to her. She shivered, not understanding how this was possible — the cold never bothered her. Before she could ponder on it any longer, there was a brush by her legs before a figure was darting past her.
"Hey, wait up!" Winter called, racing after the figure, ignoring how cold her bare feet were against the icy blackness of the ground.
Winter assumed this was what it felt like when normal people stepped into a freezing pool of water without shoes.
She realized that she was chasing after a child, a scrawny little girl with hair as stark white as hers. When the child turned to look behind her, Winter gasped when she was met with the sight of her own adolescent face.
It may have been years since Winter had been this age, but she knew what her own face looked like. Winter's heart thudded frantically at the pure terror etched onto her younger self's face.
"Mommy, Daddy!" She heard herself scream while looking back toward the front. "He's chasing me! Wenlock is gonna get me!"
"You little brat!" Even now, Winter shivered at the booming sound of the Evil Wizard's voice. "GET BACK HERE!"
Wenlock's voice was just how she remembered it — powerful with its bass and sounding as though it came from Hell itself. It was the sound of Lucifer, sinister, diabolic, malevolent: Welock's voice was the definition of monstrous.
Winter paused in her running, huffing for breath when she realized her younger self was long gone. She wanted to ball up hearing her own cries and Wenlock's wicked laughter.
In an instant, Wenlock's laughter was cut off only to be replaced by a voice that Winter had come to love.
"Do you think I could ever love you?" Harry spat as though the idea was the most preposterous and vile thing he had heard.
Winter looked around frantically, unable to actually see Harry but only able to hear his voice which nearly roared from how loud it was among the ever-growing storm. Her eyes filled with tears, dreading the next words to come.
"How could I love someone like you? It's pathetic, you are pathetic!" Harry was screaming now, his voice malicious and booming.
Winter cried in agony, clutching her chest. Was this what heartbreak felt like?
Lightning struck once again, thunder roaring louder than anything she had ever heard before.
Winter fell to her knees at the loud sound: the thunder and lighting morphed into more screaming and yelling — the voices of everyone she knew throwing hurtful slurs and insults her way.
"You," Winter gasped as a cold pale hand grasped her chin, forcing her hands away from her ears and her gaze to meet a sight she wished she had not seen. For standing in front of Winter was no one other than herself, except this Winterfell no longer had the warm brown eyes that everyone knew so well.
Instead, they appeared colder than ice, as though they were glass shards waiting to cut you. It was an unsettling and unnatural sight — Winter never knew that such warm eyes could look so... cold.
"You," the other version of herself hissed at Winter in an eery smooth tone, "are pathetic..."
And that did it, in an instant Winter had stood up having enough of this.
"Enough!" And with Winter's scream, everything faded away and she was brought back to reality.
Winter jumped from her bed with a loud cry, ice forming all across the room despite her sweaty self — her breathing heavy. Leaping out of her bed, Winter knew that she was not getting any more sleep.
And so, even though it was just past three in the morning — Winter spent the next three hours watching pointless television feeling extremely scared in her room. She sat curled on her bed, not focused on the television but instead on the dark corners of her room as though something would come from the shadows and grab her.
For the first time ever, Winter wished that she had a roommate. She debated going to Evie and Mal's room or Jonah's room or even Harry's, but she opted against it. She would not wake them up for her own selfishness, it was not fair.
However, after one glance at the mirrors, Winter could not take the feeling and tossed blankets over every single mirror in her room. It looked positively insane from an outside perspective, and yet it brought Winter a sense of ease.
Especially now that she was almost certain something or even someone was haunting her.
When the library opened, Winter was the first one inside. She had already grabbed a coffee, now relying on the caffeine to get her through the day as she was running off barely any sleep. The few hours of sleep she did get were plagued by that horrible nightmare.
Winter not only felt like shit but she looked the part too. Dark bags were cast like shadows under her eyes, her pale skin even more papery-looking than normal, and her hair not in a neat bun but rather a tangled half-ponytail half-bun creation.
She also skipped breakfast, something pissed her friends off, but Winter was too focused on looking through the supernatural lore section of the library to answer their calls or texts. Winter did not want to admit that she may have just been losing her mind, so she was stuck on the fact that she was either being haunted by a ghost or demon.
She had been on a particular chapter about a mirror demon when the bell rang and Winter was forced to go to class. Throughout the day, she was fidgety and shaky and unable to focus. Harry noticed it right away and just about jumped her to tell him what was going on.
Winter assured him that she was fine and blamed it on a lack of sleep the previous night (which was not entirely a lie). Harry knew she was lying, but he was unable to get her to tell him what was going on. He along with the others in their "group of friends" were worried about Winter. She looked as though she was ready for someone to jump out and attack her.
Unfortunately, despite Harry's concern and want to stay by her side all day, this was also the night of the first Swords and Shields tournament. Harry was basically the unspoken co-captain of the male team, so he and Jay had been working around the clock to get themselves and the rest of the team ready.
Lonnie and Uma had been doing to same.
Tonight was the first night that all that work paid off and nobody wanted it to go to waste. They were trying to go for an undefeated year for both teams.
And so, despite Harry's concern and his own desire to stay by her side and get to truth from her, Harry knew it would need to wait until the next day. However, he did persuade her to come to the tournament, and he figured as soon as it was over he would be able to endlessly pester her.
When Harry finally left Winter's side later that day to prepare for the Swords and Shields tournament with the others, Winter headed in the direction of where she knew to be Freddie Facilier's dorm room.
It took a bit of convincing and five bucks on Winter's part, but she managed to get the VK to allow her to borrow her ouija board. While Freddie did give it to her, the dark-skinned girl was also very clear about her solicitudes. Freddie explained that there were three simple but extremely important rules to playing with the board.
For one, you never play in a graveyard: that was fine, Winter would not play in a graveyard. Two, you have to say goodbye no matter what: that was also fine, Winter would say goodbye before quitting. And three, never play alone: now that was a problem.
Winter was doing this to see if she could put a stop to whatever was terrorizing her, she did not want to drag her friends into this. Not to mention, she did not need to be a genius to know that none of them would think this was a good idea. Not only would they not allow her to play but it would also get them involved and make them more concerned about her state.
Winter knew she was not crazy, there was something dark lurking over her shoulder — it had been for days at this point. It was only now that it was manifesting itself into something dangerous.
Therefore, despite the rule of not playing alone, Winter decided she could bend it just a little. She would follow the other two rules after all, what was one measly little rule as Harry so often put it?
And so, after bidding Freddie goodbye, Winter was sitting on the floor of her room with the wooden board and planchette in front of her. She had just over an hour before she was meant to be at the tournament.
The book she had got from the library earlier was tucked away in her backpack neatly, the bag itself sitting on her desk chair. She marked the page on mirror demons as she had a sneaking suspicion of that being what was after her, but she sure hoped not because from what she read in that book — mirror demons were some of the worst kind of maleficent spirits out there (no pun intended).
Winter was suddenly glad that all the mirrors in her room were covered, hopefully that would serve as a semi-break in the connection. On the other hand though, seeing as she was about to open a hell of a huge door with this ouija board idea, Winter debated on whether she should turn back or not.
But a part of her just had to know, just a small conversation with it to see if she was right. Just a few minutes, a few minutes never hurt anybody.
She breathed, calming her racing heart while taking her ponytail out. Winter ran her fingers through her hair, slightly detangling to the knots. Once she grabbed all the courage she was going to get, she placed her hands on the planchette and circled the board once.
"As friends we have gathered, hearts are true, spirits near we call to you," again Winter was reminded of the fact that she was breaking one of the tules: she was playing alone.
It sent a chill surging down her spine but she was determined to know the truth.
She sat in silence after repeating the verse Freddie told her, biting her lip in anticipation.
"Is there anyone present?" Winter's voice came as a shaky breathless whisper, fear beginning to fill her bones.
She knew immediately that she had made a huge mistake, this was a bad idea.
Before she could chicken out, the lights above her flickered and the planchette that her fingers were holding began moving on its own accord. Winter wanted to cry, she thought that if she were to get a response it would take a long while.
Longer than ten seconds at least!
But she knew she wasn't alone. She could feel its dark energy lurking like a shadow.
Her breath caught in her throat when the planchette stopped in the corner, the eye clearly on the word "yes". She closed her eyes for a brief second, determined to stay on the path. This was for herself, she had to know what was happening to her to fix it.
"Am I being haunted?" Winter was not sure why she would like to know that, but she did and there was no turning back.
She furrowed her brows when it suddenly flung to the word "no".
"No?" She repeated in confusion.
In response, the planchette moved to the letters. She watched as it stopped on five particular letters: H-U-N-T-I-N-G.
Hunting?
"Hunting? Are you a ghost?"
It moved yet again. No.
Winter paused, not wanting to ask it but knowing she had to.
"A demon?"
She got a response quicker than the speed of light. Yes.
If Winter could curl up and cry she would. This was a horrible idea, the unfolding not inside her was telling her that, warning bells ringing with pure madness within her mind. She should have told someone.
Harry. Jonah. Mal. Evie. Anybody.
Someone other than Freddie who thought she was playing this with others.
Why was she so stupid?
She wished that the tournament had been any other day than today because Winter knew that if Harry was not otherwise busy he would probably be with her now.
Despite all her fears, Winter found herself asking another question.
"Who are you? What's your name?"
She read and put together the letters the planchette landed on. B-E-L-E-T-H.
Beleth.
"Beleth," Winter started hesitantly, dreading the answer to come, "what have you been hunting?"
For a second the planchette stayed very still and Winter thought the demon had left. Unfortunately, she wrong as in the second, it moved to form letters that caused a pit in her stomach.
Y-O-U.
You.
"Me?" Winter breathed, her voice portraying just how scared she was. "Me? Why are you hunting me?" She demanded, her courage leaving within the next second as the demon answered.
D-E-A-L.
"Deal? Why is there a deal?" As much as Winter wanted the answer, the air suddenly turned much more dangerous. She had to get out of there... now.
"Goodbye." Winter tried forcing the planchette to the phrase, only for it to fight back.
She struggled, a horrified look in her eye as she lost the battle, the planchette moving to "no" instead.
"No? What do you mean, no? I said..." Winter was desperately trying to move it to goodbye, trying to sever the connection. "GOODBYE!"
The planchette moved, but not to where Winter wanted, her fingers were instead dragged across the board as Winter read what it was telling her.
Y-O-U
P-L-A-Y-E-D
A-L-O-N-E.
"I played alone..." Winter said hoarsely, her tone laced with an unprecedented amount of fear. "No, I said goodbye!" She still could not move the board so she simply ripped her hands away from the planchette and stood — stumbling back a few steps.
Her eyes were beginning to blur with tears that she quickly rubbed away, frost clawing up the walls as her heart raced. Her dream from last night came back to her full force, she was pathetic. She could not even handle what she got herself into, she was desperately wishing for Harry to break through her door and save her in true prince fashion.
Winter had never yearned for a prince, but she would give anything to be saved from this demon at this very moment.
Another problem, Harry was no prince he was a pirate, and Winter did not even have the pleasure of saying he was her pirate. She wanted him to be her pirate and yet she had been too cowardly to admit her love to him. Now she may never get the chance to and out of everything in her life, that was the thing she most regretted.
She never told Harry she loved him.
It was no secret that there was romantic tension between them, there had been since they met. They continuously danced around it, and it was now something Winter deeply regretted.
There was a feeling and she knew that this may just be her last few moments alive but she swore if she lived through this the first thing she would do was march up to Harry Hook and kiss him like the world was ending.
But now was not the time to envision what kissing Harry Hook would feel like because Winter 89% sure that she was actually about to die.
Even as she was a few feet away from the board and standing, the planchette still moved, forming a statement that had Winter reeling.
P-A-Y T-H-E P-R-I-C-E.
Pay the price?
"What?" Winter finally allowed the tears to fall, a small sob escaping her.
Y-O-U A-R-E M-I-N-E.
Winter's mouth fell open, a scream escaping her as the blanket that was covering her floor-length mirror was yanked away by some unseen force. Winter was knocked backward, landing with a thud on her back.
She sobbed, crawling backward until her back hit the wall behind her, her eyes focused on the mirror in front of her. It was as though all her fears and suspicions came to fruition in that second.
Winter was petrified as she watched her own reflection stare at her with a twisted smirk. She had realized now that every time she felt she was being watched in the mirror or swear she saw her reflection move when she did not was true.
Winter watched as her reflection's eyes turned toward the ouija board. Following her gaze, Winter screamed as the board flew from the floor and hit the ceiling.
With a cry, Winter desperately tried to stand up and run toward her door. She was stopped barely a second later, the same strong unseen force causing her to fall down.
"Harry!" She knew that it was a fruitless attempt as no one could hear her. "Uma, Lonnie, Mal, somebody! Anybody, help me!"
Winter was in a panicked state of mind, unable to think clearly.
"When God is gone and the devil takes hold, who will have mercy on thy soul..." her reflection hummed in a tone melodic identical to Winter's except much much darker.
As Winter watched her own reflection with a feeling of dread, she shifted her last thoughts away from everything she regretted. If these were indeed her last moments alive she would not want to be thinking of everything that could have been but rather everything that was.
She could see her mother, feel Elsa brushing her hands through her hair, and singing her lullaby. She envisioned being in her father's loving grasp, Jack Frost may have been cold but he had such warm hugs for Winterfell.
She saw herself laughing with Sitara and Soren. She saw Mal and Evie. She could hear Jonah's terrible jokes. She saw all her friends.
But most of all, she saw Harry. She felt the warm fluttering of her chest when he was around, she had fallen in love with a pirate. Maybe she never got to tell him but at least she got to spend the last few months with him.
She had the privilege of knowing and loving Harry Hook and for that she could not be upset.
Her reflection tilted its head and with a single tap to the glass of the mirror, it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Winter screamed but in another instant she felt an icy cold presence forcing its way into her being.
It soaked right to her every bone, intertwining with her soul. The cold never bothered Winter, but this presence was absolutely freezing. Winter thought she had a frozen heart before but she now understood that it was nothing compared to this unwelcome presence within her.
It forced its way through her mind, tainting each and every fiber that made up Winter and she could do nothing but sit back and allow it to happen. Releasing a final shriek, Winter allowed the feeling to succumb to her as this nasty presence took control of her body.
Winter was forced away, her very soul completely wiped from her body as though it were never there in the first place.
And yet, a few seconds later when the physical body of Winter opened its eyes, nothing but pure blackness could be seen within. If one were to stare inside they may just think that they were staring into holes that led to nothingness.
After a single blink, the pitch-black faded into the warm brown that was not-so-warm anymore. Instead, they seemed colder than ice.
This was the moment that everything changed, that was the moment that Winterfell Frost was no more.
~CONCLUSION TO PART II~