Midnights

Chapter Thirteen

Why HI!

My names Duckie. I was 16 when I first published this story. Now I'm 23 and I'm going to try and finish. I'll try to keep the original feel of it, but my style has changed a bit as I've aged so I assuming that the way the chapters "sound" from here on, as well as the way the characters act, might be a tad bit different, so please comment and let me know what you guys think. Didn't edit this, so sorry about the mistakes.

Thanks for waiting :)

-Duckie

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Anna Lia

It wasn't the cold that woke me; the bitter chill was so absolute that it became a part of me. I only noticed later, once I had my bearings. No, it was the smell of incense. I can't relate it to any known scent that you might have experience or heard of; it was like dusk in the autumn by the sea. It was like wind-chimes at dawn by the mountains. It was calming and revitalizing all at once. The scent made my head swim, my mind focus. Then, slowly, my eyes fluttered open to the empty night sky, which I stared at for some time. There was something not quite right about it - the sky, I should say. I didn't exactly know how to put it into words, even in the solitude of my own mind. Then it came to me as a feeling at first, a quiet exhilaration, then I shouted,

"Ah! The constellations are gone!"

I noticed my voice at once. It echoed in a strange way; not as if I was in a cave or on a mountain top, but like small, quiet voices were repeating what I said so silently I could just barely hear them. It was unnerving and, honestly, frightening. It distracted me from my discovery long enough for me to realize it wasn't the only thing that was different about my surroundings. There was no snow on the ground, I noticed. Before I passed out I remember there was snow, not a full blanket of it but there were patches and piles. Now the grass was completely bare, and the blades were tall and luxurious. I ran my hand along it as I sat and stared in wonder. I squinted, seeing a pink tint to the grass as it bent and swayed under my will. Looking up, however, made me realize it wasn't the grass that was tinted pink. Everything, the grass, the sky, the stars, the trees, had a pink tint to it. I put my hands out in front of me - they, too, were ever so slightly pink. 

"Erghnn..."

The sound violently ripped me out of my state of awe. I jumped and turned towards the sound, my heart pounding. When I saw him, everything came back to me.

"Wolf!" I screamed and ran towards him. He was laying on his side, his chest heaving. He was several feet from me but I closed that gap in seconds with the speed I put on. I slid next to him, taking a moment to realize his size. He seemed bigger than a pickup truck, his body was so massive. For an instance, I feared him. But that passed quickly as his eyes fluttered open, searching. I leaned in closer and whispered in a calming voice, "Hey there...it's me...are you alright?"

His eyes slid towards me, and widened. He quickly rolled onto all fours and stood up. He wobbled on his legs but did not fall; shaking his head, he whined as his ears stayed pressed against him. He did this for some time, until finally calming. When...whatever it was that was bothering him stopped, he looked around as I had, taking in his surroundings. He then turned towards me,

"You...aren't supposed to be here."

I didn't say anything at first. When I was a kid, I hated it when I jumped to conclusions, only to be totally wrong and embarrass myself. It was out of habit that I took the time to consider all the possibilities as to why the Wolf could suddenly talk to me without his magic show. Yet, being at a loss to explain anything that happened to me today, I asked him the question I thought was most important first,

"Where is here?" Gesturing around us, I said, "where did everyone go? What happened to Peter?"

I heard a low rumble come from deep in his chest when I mentioned Peter. He looked up at the sky again, and then away from me, out in the distance, towards the mountains.

I got impatient, "Hey!" I snapped, "Where are we? What happened? Where did we go?"

The Wolf looked at me sharply, those purple eyes surprised at my curtness. When he spoke this time, I realized that he barely moved his jaws. His lips moved and twitched slightly, as if he was trying to speak with them, but I at once noticed his voice was almost detached from his body. When he spoke, I heard him as if he was speaking right next to me, his mouth close to my ear. 

"We didn't go anywhere." He said, "We are in the same spot where we were before."

I honestly thought he was teasing me for a moment. When I saw he was serious, I just continued to stare at him, not really knowing what my reply should be. He began staring off at the mountains again; looking back, he saw my confusion and offered a better explanation,

"We...we didn't move location. We moved...dimension."

My jaw dropped, then all at once it clicked. I spun around. He was right; I could see the familiar tree line, the rocks were in the same places. Even the mountains he kept staring at were the same. Looking onward into the distance, I could even make out the lights of the houses of my neighborhood. I felt a weight in my chest, like a painful excitement. I felt my body start to shake, yet I was detached from it. The Wolf whined and nudged me with is nose.

It startled me, for it was so warm. That is when I realized how cold it was. I hadn't noticed at all before, but the contrast made me aware of it. It wasn't the same feeling as being outside in the dead of winter, no, this was different. The cold went deeper inside of me, down to my soul. Becoming a part of me. 

I looked up at the Wolf, his purple eyes staring at me compassionately. 

I looked at him with less compassion. My brow kitted into a glare. Memories I had forced out of my mind began stirring. When I was younger, I didn't always see playful, pretty spirits. I saw demons too. I remembered their magic tricks they played on me, the way they liked to hear me scream. What if this was another trick? I bit my tongue - I would not cry.

I squared my shoulders and looked up at him with all the authority I could muster, "What did you do? Tell me now!"

The Wolf seemed surprised, "Me? I have done nothing! I don't know how we got here. More importantly, I don't know how you got here."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're alive. You aren't supposed to be in the same realm as spirits."

I was taken aback. "The same realm...as..." I turned my back on him, putting my hand on my head.

The Wolf sat down, knowing he'd have to explain a few more things. "That I don't know. That you can see us at all is a mystery to me..."

I gasped, "Wait! Peter could see you, so could the others - Madam Goldenbreath, the Pendens, the Nelsons! Why?"

His ears flattened against his head, he looked away. "Because I wasn't in the spirit realm...I was in yours.

I sighed in frustration, "Then can't you take us back?"

He, too, huffed. "I can only enter your world through doors. I can't just whisk myself to and fro."

I sat down. My exhaustion was weighing on me, "So...what do we do now? Where can we find a door?"

The Wolf laid down further, resting himself on his front legs, chest and head still upright. "I...I know where we can find one."

"Then lets go!" I jumped up at this. I had to get back to Peter and the others. I had to let them know that I was okay. Mother...Father...they'll worry sick. They'd start a search party, they'd call the cops. I thought about my mother and they way her brow winkled when I worried her. My father and how he would probably be taking the whisky down from the top shelf. He only ever drank when he was very stressed, and him being a simple, easygoing man, that wasn't often. My disappearance might be enough to send him into a stupor though...

These thoughts plagued me until one cut through them all. "Oh," I gasped. I realized the Wolf and I, being here, had a unique opportunity.

He could talk to me.

He could finally tell me why he needs me.