Thalia Muse

Chapter 6- The Nightmare

Jack's POV

The first thing I notice, when I gain conscience, is that I am really hot. I am lying on a hard ground, that's really warm too. I lift my head to get my bearings. I try to stand up, but my arms are too weak to hold me up. I fall back to the floor, and decide to turn over, hoping to find some cooler ground to lay on. When I roll over I hear a tinkling sound, and I look at my legs to find shackles on my ankles. The shackles are chained together and then chained to the stone floor.

I take a second to look around the room again. I notice, first, that there is no door or windows. I notice lots of shadows, though, mostly in the corners; where they are the darkest. I feel the floor I'm sitting on, and find it is all warm, not one spot is cold to the touch.

I start to hyperventilate, and I try to stand again. This time I get to my knees; with some difficulty. I get to a wall and put my hand on it, than I pull it away with a sharp grasp in pain. I look at my hand, and find that it's really red and it feels like it's on fire. I try to put ice on it, but my head goes really light feeling; and the ice I do make evaporates instantly in the heat of the room. I collapse back down to the floor, and wait for the room to stop spinning.

Then I hear a laugh. I lift my head, enough to look around, and search for the source. I'm not surprised when Pitch comes out of the shadows, laughing, from one of the corners.

"Oh, Jack. You look awful! Are you going to be alright?" He teases me. I glare at him, and he laughs. "Goodness, Jack! Is that anyway to treat the person who's taking care of you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you rather I kill you? I almost did it once, after all," I croak back at him, and finally realize I really need something to drink. I cough a little bit.

"I don't think you have the strength to even stand, Jackie."

"I'm sure I can find the strength for that somewhere," I say weakly; then I lose all my strength to hold my head up any longer, and it falls back to the floor.

Pitch laughs cruelly, and walks up to me. He grabs the front of my sweater, and then picks me up, placing me on my weak legs. My legs shake, and then my knees buckle; making me fall back down, this time at Pitch's feet. He takes this chance to kick me in the face, making my nose bleed and me to cry out.

"What do you want, Pitch?" I ask, getting, slowly, back to my feet; then I lean against the wall. Bad idea! I cry out again and stumble away from the wall; almost in tears.

"Why, I have what I want, Jack. I have you," he replies. "But I must ask; why didn't you just come in, I did promise to let the girl go, didn't I? Why did you have to make such a mess in my hallways?"

"You know me; I make a mess where ever I go!"

I smirk at him, he snarls back at me. Then he punches me in the stomach, making me fall against the wall. He holds me there for a few minutes, I refuse to cry out this time; instead I continue to smile at him, even though my sweater was starting to burn off of me too, making it hurt more. He finally lets me drop to the floor, and then he summons his black Nightmares. He takes a pinch of black sand and sprinkles it onto my face; making me really tired, and I fall asleep while the Nightmares circle me. I don't have my normal good dreams, I have nightmares.

An Hour or Two Later…

I'm woken up with a punch to the stomach. It doesn't stop until I open my eyes weakly. I find that my feet have been unshackled, but my arms are raised above my head, and my wrists are shackled, with the chain looped around a hook coming from the ceiling. I also notice that my sweater has been removed, showing my bare skin. I am no longer in the hot cell, but I am still really warm. I must have a really high fever, I think as I start coughing uncontrollably. All during my coughing fit, I hear Pitch laughing at my pain.