Betrothed to Jack Frost (REWRITTEN)

15)Dreamscape

Dedicated to NathifiaOleana for your positive words!!

Thank you Freakazoid for the cute Nina/Chris fanart :J
"Sweet Dreams" by Emily Browning
***

Elle sensed something was amiss the moment she awoke in the forest. The last thing she remembered was drifting to sleep beneath her large, shimmery white comforter. Now, she was trapped in a dreamlike haze, unable to wake up as she wandered through the dark, oppressive woods. Towering oak and birch trees loomed around her, their branches skeletal and devoid of leaves, casting an eerie, ominous shadow over everything. A disconcerting numbness pervaded her senses. Though she could see the ghostly shapes of the trees and hear the wind rustling through their barren limbs, she couldn't feel the breeze against her skin or the dirt beneath her bare feet. It was as though she were suspended in a sensory void, isolated from the world around her.

"Please... stop..." a voice nearby pleaded, choking with pain. It was male, and sounded as though it came from about twelve feet away.
Elle's heart raced as she turned toward the voice, its familiarity unsettling her. Her search for the source of the voice was interrupted by a chilling, mocking laughter that echoed through the trees. It was unmistakably the laughter of Zetes and Calais. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light cast by the full moon and the distant stars, she made out the silhouettes of Jack's brothers in the darkness.

"Please... stop!" Zetes taunted, his voice dripping with derision as he clapped his hands in a theatrical gesture. "Behold, my twin—the supposed heir to our father's kingdom! A pitiful weakling who can't even fend us off to save his miserable self."

"Not for long..." Calais countered with a dark laugh.

Elle saw how Zetes roughly appeared before the blink of an eye to someone who was already bleeding on the forest floor. The young man was doused in blood and looked to be sporting a broken hand and maybe a broken ankle. With a sharp kick to the gut by Zetes, the man whimpered in pain as he held his stomach. Zetes' merciless attack did not stop there. He gave three more strong kicks to the young man's gut where Elle specifically heard a few rough cracks sounding from his ribs.

Zetes had more strength being a god than a mortal man ever could. He was able to kick the man on the ground three separate times nearly within a microsecond before Elle could even formulate a word to say in protest.
"Hey! STOP!" she shrieked, sickened by the young man's pain. He had blood roughly gushing from his nose as he started violently shaking. Her yell did nothing. No one paid her any attention. Elle ran forward and threw her body weight at Zetes to push him away from the young man. Her efforts did nothing. Elle fell straight through him before toppling onto the hard ground below. She went through him as though he were a ghost.

Elle glanced at the bleeding and broken young man who looked to be missing a tooth or two. He looked oddly familiar with his vibrant gray eyes and pale complexion. Blood gushed from his mouth as he looked to be trying to catch a breath. His eyes were blackened from hits; his nose and jaw clearly broke. His neck and face were decorated in dark blue and black patches. Recognition was made as Elle noticed Jack Frost didn't have white hair at this moment. His head was instead a sandy shade of light brown or dirty blond.

Jack, writhing on the forest floor, was too consumed by agony to notice Elle. His pain seemed to envelop him completely, leaving him oblivious to anything beyond his suffering.

In her desperation, Elle tried to push Zetes again, but her efforts were in vain. Her hands passed through him as though he were a wisp of smoke. She attempted to kick him, but her leg swung straight through his form without effect. Meanwhile, Calais approached, laughing wickedly as he delivered two harsh kicks to Jack's face. Elle was powerless to intervene; the torment was relentless and unstoppable. Zetes and Calais were like ghosts—untouchable and impervious to her attempts to save Jack from their cruel assault.