Jazzy - In the Shadows

After the realization dawned on him, Wolf felt an almost instant pain dig through his body. The dagger had gone deep inside his stomach and nearly threatened to punch right through him. He could tell by Ann's expression that she was almost as surprised as he was that it had gone through: her face was blank and emotionless; the rage that had consumed her moments before had vanished.

Wolf was half aware of Virginia's screams and Tony's moral support as they rushed over to him. Ann backed away and stared at the dagger that was still clutched in her hand like it was a foreign object she had never seen. With another gaze to Wolf and then back to the weapon she held, Ann dropped it on the ground and ran.

Virginia had to hold herself back from chasing after her; there were much more important things to attend to at the moment. As Virginia got closer to Wolf's crumpled form, the first thing she noticed was all the blood that had covered his clothes and the cobblestone floor. It seeped into the cracks that conjoined the stones and was running like a river, outlining each block.

Wolf's hands covered the wound by instinct, trying to stop the blood loss and the pain. It was unbearable. His stomach was clenching and his forehead was sweating. He curled himself into a ball and held the wound as best as he could.

Virginia didn't know what to do, she felt so helpless and confused. She bent down next to Wolf and tried to disentangle him from his position, but he wouldn't budge. His face was scrunched up in desperate pain; she could feel her own stomach twisting as she tried to examine him.

"I'm going to go find Wendell," Tony said quickly as he rushed out of the room. Virginia nodded and attempted to try and help Wolf again.

Finally, he shifted over and Virginia was able to see the damage that Ann had done. The blood was flowing everywhere and didn't seem to ever stop. Wolf's hands and clothes were covered in the dark oily red. Virginia gently lifted up his shirt and folded it over the top half of the wound. She nearly retched as she saw the dagger's mark that it had made on him, the hole was no longer than two inches wide, but refused to stop bleeding. To Virginia's complete dismay, she realized that Ann must've punctured an organ.

"Virginia?" Came Wolf's raspy voice. His head was on the stone floor and his hair was glistened black from sweat. His face was a deathly pale and his eyes were clouded.

"What?" she asked gently in reply as she surveyed his puncture again. She busied herself with trying to fix the injury instead of looking at his face. It was too unbearable for her to look at; it was too frightened. She had never seen him like that, and never wanted to again.

"I'm not going to ma--"

"Don't talk like that!" She turned and made herself look into his eyes. "You're going to be fine." She wished that she had sounded more confident in her words than she did. She also wished that she could believe them.

"Virginia," he tried to continue, but another wave of pain made him wince away and clutch his stomach again. When it somewhat passed, he continued, "A wolf goes by his instincts, and I know. I can tell." Virginia shook her head at him, trying to find the words that could convince herself and him.

"We're going to get you out of here, and you'll be fine," Virginia said softly, even she could sense her fear dripping through her voice. Their conversation was muffled by the constant clanging of the metal from the battle that was still going in the background, but neither paid attention to it.

The blood continued to run from his stomach, even though they both tried to stop it. The bleeding wasn't just from the dagger's hole, it was from the punctured organ which was making him bleed internally besides. As Virginia clasped her hand over his, he lifted his own and gently squeezed hers in reply.

Wolf's body began to tremble slightly and his breathing began to be ragged. The pain was strangely passing; he could barely feel it anymore. His eyes were becoming heavy and threatened to close on him, but he held them open, refusing to give in. Virginia couldn't hold back the tears anymore, her emotions took the best of her. First the tears just blocked her vision and blurred everything in front of her, but then they soon flooded and ran down her cheeks.

"Oh, Virginia don't cry," he soothed. "Everything will be okay," he whispered to her as he found that his voice was leaving him. "Just promise me," - he stopped as a coughing fit took over and he had to gather himself a moment before continuing - "Make sure that our cub has a good life..."

He wasn't done, but already Virginia was shaking her head and pleading for him to stop. She hated good-byes and lately, she had been experiencing too many of them. "Wolf, stop. You're going to be okay." It was a failed attempt to calm them down.

A heavy veil of black threatened to cover Wolf's eyes as he realized that his pain was completely gone, but the terrible thing was the loss of feeling in most of his body that went along with it. He felt cold and saw his body tremble deeper than before.

His chest was rising and falling in heavy heaves just in attempt to breathe. His heart hurt the most when he saw Virginia's pain as she looked at him and held his hand tightly. It was no use; he was slipping away and it was only a matter of time. He quickly memorized Virginia's face and cherished the time that he was blessed to share with her.

"Virginia," he whispered with a small smile, "I love you."

The trembling subsided and Wolf shut his eyes. Virginia's breath increased as she watched him slip away. She clutched his shirt and buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "Wolf, no," she mumbled between her wracking sobs. She felt it happening all over again and couldn't help but to repeat herself. "Please, don't go," she whispered. It wasn't fair. When she'd lost her mother, Wolf had been there to help her through it. Now he was gone and she didn't want to accept it.

Virginia wasn't sure how long she was bent over him, but when she finally felt that she had no more tears left to cry inside of her, she lifted her head off of his shirt. As she looked over his still face, another wave of terrible emotion threatened to take her.

Before she could give into them, Virginia blinked and found herself in a different place, one she had never been to before, hollow and empty. It was cold and the air was thin, her own breath coming out in clouds before her face. She stood up and looked around. Wolf was gone; so was the battle between Wendell's men and the Trolls. The entire room was gone.

Virginia shuddered against the frigid air and hugged herself to conserve heat. As she looked around, she wasn't sure where she was. The room she was in was completely a pure white. It never seemed to end, nor did it seem to change color. White, just white.

Virginia spun herself in a circle as she looked in every different direction and tried to figure where to go. He voice had long since left her when Wolf had passed; now she wasn't sure whether to try and scream in frustration or yell for help. Suddenly something cold fell on top of Virginia's arm.

As she looked down, she saw a single snowflake. It sat on her skin for a suspended moment before it finally melted away from her warmth. After that one, several more began to fall on her and blanketed her hair with white dots. She looked up to see if there were clouds above, but it was a solid white ceiling, one that she couldn't tell where it ended. Her breath came out in heavier, thicker clouds as the temperature dropped. As Virginia spun around again, she came face to face with a smile.

"Hello Virginia," a calm rich voice said. Virginia backed away and marveled at the person in front of her. Her eyes were wide open as she looked at Snow White.

"Why am I here?" she asked. Her voice was noticeably raw from her crying and her eyes were still red. She was amazed that she even found her voice at all.

"I think you know." She paused. "I saw what happened," Snow White said as she circled Virginia.

"Then you can help?" Virginia asked hopefully. Her question was almost desperate and pleading, begging for Snow White to help.

"I wish I could, but I can't." Snow White said with a deep depression in her eyes. Virginia felt a new sense of irritation burn inside her and fuel her anger.

"What!? But I thought you were my Fairy Godmother or something! You have magic, use it!" she snapped. Snow White's eyes met with Virginia and silently scolded her for her outburst.

"I have magic, yes. But I can't change things that were meant to happen."

"But it's not fair," Virginia said. He eyes started to water again and she heard herself whine, but at that moment, she didn't care. "He shouldn't have died like that."

"I agree, Virginia, and it wasn't supposed to happen," Snow White said as she came next to Virginia.

"But you just said," Virginia asked, her mind was puzzled and in utter confusion.

"All things happen for a reason, that I cannot change. Wolf wasn't supposed to die so early. He wouldn't have, if..." Snow White's voice drifted off and she waited for all the information that she had given Virginia to sink in.

"If what?" Virginia questioned after a moment. She dropped her arms from her chest, not really feeling cold anymore. The snowflakes continued to fall but as they landed on her skin she didn't feel the cold pinpoints like usual.

"If ... someone hadn't interfered," she finished. "I would bring him back Virginia, please understand that. But I can't."

"Why not?" Virginia's voice was soft and fragile. What Snow White was saying wasn't adding up. "Because of the Swamp Witch," Snow White said with disdain in her voice and a hidden loathing for her. Her usual melodious voice was hardened by the mention of that name, a sudden change that only the Swamp Witch could bring out in her.

"The Swamp Witch?" Virginia repeated, not sure if she was hearing right. Snow White nodded and explained the quest that her father and Wolf had gone on to save her. She explained about the mirror, the crystals and led all the way up to Wolf's confrontation with the Swamp Witch.

"So you see Virginia, in that brisk contact between them, Wolf's mind was clouded and his common sense was ripped from him. For just that moment, so she could take what she wanted. She dealt the deadly blow of the dagger, not Ann. Ann never had any intention of killing Wolf like that."

Virginia wanted to protest and list off what Ann had done to her, but chose not to. The pieces were starting to fit together and hope was returning to her. There still could be a way to save Wolf. Before she could ask, Snow White was already answering.

"To save Wolf from her, you have to destroy her. If you can do that, you can make her release his soul," she said and brought out a tiny vial. Inside there was a light yellow substance. "This pollen came from the flower that I gave Wendell all those years ago. It's very powerful and very rare. To defeat the Swamp Witch, you simply need to pour this on her, and the evil will be eliminated. She will cease to exist."

It sounded so simple, such an easy task. Virginia knew better. She had been down into that cellar before, and hoped that she would never have to travel deep into its depths again. Now that the task was before her, she was only left to dive right in and go for it. Virginia nodded and took the vial from Snow White. She looked it over carefully and then held onto it tightly.

"You must beware the Swamp Witch. She will try anything to get you to give up your own soul as well," Snow White cautioned her. "And with your baby, you need to be even more careful." Virginia nodded. "Now go, you don't have much time before she'll become strong enough to block it." Snow White gave her an encouraging push.

"But how do I..." As soon as she turned to face Snow White again, she saw that she was already gone. Virginia was left in the blistering cold room alone again and began to notice the snow that was falling and the strong winds again. The next time Virginia blinked and opened her eyes, she found herself over Wolf's body again, clutching the vial in her palm.

As she looked around the room, the battle had long since stopped and it was almost empty. Wendell and Tony came rushing into the room, instantly saddened by the scene in front of them. Their pace was slowed and Tony went over to console Virginia, but instead of seeing depression and loss, he saw determination.