• Chapter 4- Truth, Betrayal, and Pickles

    I can feel the heat of the murders’ gazes upon me. The need to survive kicks in. I sprint in my stalker’s direction to escape from possible death.
    After a few minutes of running, pain seizes my body. I feel pretty sure that the bird and I are safe, so I gulp in a shallow breath of air, and helplessly fall over.
    The light, fluffy, cold ground soothes the blisters on my hands and my tired feet. After just a minute of rejoicing from the loss of pain, the feeling of startle slaps me across my face.
    “Okay, Birdie. There’s no cold in Miststar. Tell me what’s going on.”
    “This ain’t your hometown, Michelle. We’re north, on the way to Westfront.” The name of the city struck me. Maybe I could see Sammy there!
    But… No, Johan was right. It was a dream and nothing more.
    “What’s this white fluffy stuff on the ground?” I question.
    “On the ground? There is no ground, dude!”
    “Girl,” I correct.
    “Whatever,” my stalker rolls his eyes. “As I was saying, try lifting up the ground. It’s easy. You could keep digging in it and never find ground. There’s the magic styrofoam of the North under you, and nothing else.”
    I have a sudden flashback to a picture Sammy sent me when she first moved. She was standing next to a hill of the cold fluff. Under her picture was a description, saying what the white stuff was called. “It’s snow, foo. Not magical styrofoam.”
    “Oh,” he remarks.
    “Psh,” I smirk playfully and begin digging in the snow to create a cave to sleep in. Something solid bumps my hand. I grab it, and then pull the object out. “Huh? What do you know? It’s a pickle. Least we have dinner now.”
    “No way! I hate pickles!” the bird argues.
    “Great! Now you have a name,” I smile and toss the pickle behind me. It was too frozen to eat anyway. “Hey, Pickles, mind helping me make shelter?” I call at my stalker.

    For the first time in what seems like forever, I wake up without Johan annoying me. Without the scent of his waffles, I have absolutely no sense of where I’m resting, who I am, or even why grass is green (it’s because of photosynthesis, obviously.) In a sense, being clueless felt somewhat nice.
    Too bad the cold from the snow finally snapped the world back into proportion. I consider the possibility of me catching frostbite in this icy wilderness. It seems too high to sleep in—much less stay here.
    “Hey, Pickles,” I order, “get up.”
    The bird remarks, “Do I have to?”

    “Yes,” I answer.
    “Five more minutes,” Pickles whines.
    In annoyance, I pluck one of his feathers. He murmurs a swear word or two behind his breath, then stretches his wings. “North is that way,” Pickles points in a direction with his beak.
    Excitement thunders though me at the thought of seeing my best friend again. I get to my feet and walk in the direction that Pickles had said was north.
    “It’s cold,” the bird complains.
    “I know it is,” I retort and turn towards Pickles. In response, he pouts for a second, then his body and feathers begin glowing. I blink in wonder, and a second later, I view Pickles in the form of a snow owl.
    “I don’t like the cold,” he grumbles. “Let’s go to Westfront now.”
    And so, we head to the city that Sammy just so happens to live in.

    ~~~

    “Sammy!” Adrian whines over the phone, “I haven’t seen you in ages. You used to love see me. But, since you were finally rescued from the mountain wilderness in Miststar, and I was about to visit, you moved to Westfront. What’s wrong sis? What did I do wrong?
    Sammy shakes her head. As much as she enjoys her brother, Adrian’s, company, the powerful spirit-summoning magic that Johan had used on her, made Sammy only able to exist to protect Michelle.
    Letting her brother, being a spade, discover the heart would be her friend’s ultimate death.
    “Sammy?” Adrian calls, but she doesn’t notice. Her spirit senses pick up a familiar presence. One she was brought back on earth to recognize.
    “Leave me alone, you bat skull!”
    Sammy screams trying to sound overly-emotional. She knew that Adrian could face any challenge, except putting up with hormonal girl problems. And, bat skull was such an insult, he’d surely leave her alone.
    “Gosh, okay,” he answers obviously taken by surprise. “So, I can’t visit?”

    “No!” Sammy screams and presses the ‘end call’ button on her phone. She takes a moment, then sighs overwhelmed by the possibility of Adrian stalking her anyway.
    Once again, the presence of Michelle invades Sam’s thoughts. She squints in deep concentration. Finally, she predicts that Michelle had almost reached Westfront.
    With Adrian and Michelle likely to meet up in Sammy’s town, the need to stall one of the two seemed urgent. Sammy had already made an effort to keep her brother from coming, but push come to shove, he’d find her anyway.
    Michelle was different. She would likely halt her journey if Sammy told her to do so. It was at least worth a try.
    Sam concentrates all her energy on contacting her friend. At one point, the focus made Sammy’s head hurt so much that she had to keep both hands on it.
    Finally, she opens her eyes to a surprised look on Michelle’s face.
    Sammy was in. She was in Michelle’s thoughts.
    “Sammy?” Michelle whispers.
    “Turn back now,” Sam growls. Her anger is the only thing that could make Michelle falter.
    For a second, Michelle looks taken aback. Then, she shakes off her surprise and retorts, “You’re not the only reason I’m going to Westfront.”
    But, the concern on Michelle’s face makes it obvious that Sammy was at least half the reason to go to town.
    Sam sighs. Maybe the truth would stop her friend. Michelle would have to know soon, anyway.”Run. Now. Finding me will be your ultimate death. I won’t be your slayer, but believe it or not, your blood is worth a bounty. You’re a wanted heart.”
    “Heart?” Michelle growls. “Johan told me I was a heart, too. What does that mean?”
    The presence of Adrian rings in Sammy’s mind. Time to leave. “I’ll explain later. Right now, you need to get out of here. If anyone asks you if you are a heart, instantly deny it. Change your name if you have to. Just get to Johan now.”
    “Johan’s dead.”
    Shock streaks though Sammy. How could Johan be Dead? “Hide for now. I’ll get you when town’s safer. Then, I’ll explain everything.” The thought of Sammy’s spirit dying before then, stuck in her head. Since the being who summoned her had died, Sam could disappear at any moment.
    Slowly, Sammy started to see the inside of her house again. She had faded out of Michelle’s thoughts.