Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 12: Aria

Restlessly, I paced the room, the walls appearing to creep closer the longer I stayed within their boundaries. I continued moving, the feeling of suffocation seeping in, growing stronger, digging its claws harder into my being.

I was breathing faster, almost hyperventilating.

I have to get out of here. I realised, my thought processes sluggish but still seeming to work faster than normal.

The door seemed to open of its own accord, and I practically flew into the hallway. The scant remnants of my sanity told me that the hallway would be even more constraining, but by body didn't want to obey, tearing down the hallway until I reached the globe room. The moon glowed brightly, mostly obscured by the globe that dominated the cavernous space. A tiny pool of blue light was splashed like paint across the floor, dying the black of my shoes navy.

The serene atmosphere calmed my racing blood and slowed by ragged breathing.

҉

I stared at the dark wood of the door, seeming so simple in the plain white wall. The door was left ajar, and soft, bright candle-light fell in neat lines on the varnished wood of the slightly dusty floor.

My hand fluttered as I attempted to find enough courage to go in and apologise for my crappy behaviour.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, resting my hand on the cool wood. The warmth of my hand left a heat spot as my muscles tensed and I pushed the door open without knocking. My fingers slid along the grain, and the subtle ridges gave me the courage to start talking and look up.

"Jack, I ... uh... I wanted to apol ..." I trailed off, my eyes landing on the bed in the centre of the room.

Jack was sitting in the middle of the navy bed spread, Tooth on his lap. He was looking at me in shock, but she was still trailing kisses down his neck.

My face flushed red as pomegranate seeds as my heart made a guilty flip-flop into my stomach. "I'll ... uh ... get out of your way ..." I stammered as my useless brain forced my feet to reverse into the hallway.

Jack, face contorting with emotions I couldn't make out, opened his mouth, but I turned away. The dark of the hallway hadn't seemed appealing before, but where there was dark, there was a place for you to hide.

I began running, the soft, steady pounding of my boots on the wooden floors providing a strange beat that underscored the melody of my irregular, pounding heart.

Although I was pacing myself at a relative jog, even after I had flung open the front doors and forced myself into the flurries of ice crystals surrounding North's fortress, my breathing was really heavy and ragged.

As I stumbled ungracefully through the flurries on ice, I realised that in my embarrassment, I had lost control, and was literally radiating heat, melting all the snow near me. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm down as I kept walking. The radius of my heat reduced, but as much as I tried, I couldn't stop it. Staggering to the top of the rise in front of me, I turned to see the warm lights from the Pole spread out below me. My skin flushed with warmth as I called my fire.

My mouth twisted with sadness and disappointment. How did I ever think this would work? I thought as I pictured my home. Fire started swirling around me. Right before it obscured my eyes, I thought I saw something move by the imposing doors to the Pole.

Then I was elsewhere.