Haunted
Chapter one
Pitch was gone. Jack knew that. He had watched the nightmares drag Pitch back into his lair and leave no way to escape.
In some ways, Jack was glad it had ended so quickly. But had it ended too quickly? Too easily? Jack often found himself wondering if there were truly no ways for Pitch to escape.
After a while, Jack began to acccept the fact that Pitch probably wasn't going to come back. But that didn't stop the occasional moments when he would worry about it.
-Interruption-
The day had finally come. The first day of winter. Time for Jack to get more believers and have some fun with the ones he already had. And if that wasn't enough, in a few days it was going to be Jack's first Christmas with the Guardians. All thoughts of Pitch were pushed to the back of Jack's mind.
Jack was beyond excited as he landed in Burgess. "This is going to be the best day ever!" he yelled happily as he started making it snow.
The ground was covered with snow a little while later. "Perfect," Jack thought, "It's just missing one thing."
"Jamie make sure you wear your hat if you're going out." his mother called as he ran down the stairs yelling "Yeah, snow day!"
"And make sure you come back at dinnertime," she continued.
"I'm already wearing my hat Mom," Jamie called back as he was walking out the door," And don't worry I will." The door slammed shut and Jamie was gone.
-Interruption-
THWACK! A snowball hit Jamie as soon as he stepped off his porch.
"Ok, who threw that?" he asked looking around, part of him already knowing the answer.
Jack jumped down from his hiding spot "Well, it wasn't Bigfoot, Kiddo." he laughed.
BOOF. Jamie had taken this opportunity to throw a snowball at Jack. "Hey, no fair," Jack said as he brushed the snow off his hoodie.
"You struck first," Jamie laughed as he ran up to Jack and have him a hug.
"Come on Jamie, it's a snow day!" the twins called as they ran past Jamie's yard. They froze when they noticed Jack.
"Jack you're here," they said with big smiles on their faces.
"Of course, I'm not missing this perfect snow day," Jack told them," Now let's go have some fun."
The group of friends raced to the park where a snowball fight was already started. They wasted no time jumping right in. Jack was having so much fun. He was in his element. Running around asking "Who needs ammo?" and making some for anyone who asked.
They were all having a great time and Jack forgot all of his troubles as he felt an almost overwhelming surge of joy. There was nothing that could ruin this perfect day.
-Interruption-
The snowball fight lasted all day, becoming what Jack jokingly called a "free-for-all", gaining more and more children and Jack gaining more believers. The only time it stopped was when it was time for lunch and that was only for a little while. Then it started right back up again.
The afternoon slowly faded into evening and before too long it was time for the children to go home for dinner. The amount of children slowly dwindled until it was only Jack and Jamie left. "I gotta go home Jack," Jamie said, "Mom wants me home before dinner."
"Yeah, I better go too. The others get worried when I get back late."
Jack walks Jamie home, says a quick goodbye and promises to come back tomorrow, calls the wind, and is gone.
-Interruption-
Jack decided to make some more snow for tomorrow before he left. He quickly made a perfect snowstorm that was going to make tomorrow's snowball fight bigger and twice the amount of fun. He was ready to leave, fully satisfied with his work, when suddenly...
"Jack!" someone called. Who was that? The voice sounded familiar but Jack couldn't remember why.
"Jack!" the voice called again. Jack froze as he tried to remember who's voice that was.
"Jack!" the voice repeated. Where was that voice coming from?
"I know that voice." Jack realized. "That's my sister." The last time that voice had been calling him it had been coming from...
"Pitch's lair," Jack whispers, a feeling of dread sweeping over him, not wanting to say it too loud, hoping he wasn't right. Because there was no way Pitch could be back. Jack leaps into the air and, even though every fiber of his being warns him not to, flies to the clearing where Pitch's lair had been.
-Interruption-
Jack landed on the ground slowly, his staff raised, hoping he wasn't going to have to use it.
"Jack?" the voice called as if questioning why he was there.
Jack felt like there was something there, watching him as he moved closer to the clearing. The sky seemed darker here and that had nothing to do with the fact that the sun was going down.
Jack felt nervous as he stepped into the clearing, his heart pounding faster than he ever thought was possible. He looked around as fast as he could. "There's nothing there," Jack sighed with relief. No rickety old bed, no hole, and most definitely no Pitch.
"Jack," he scolded himself," You were just imagining things, there's nothing there." He lowers his staff and turns to leave.
"JACK!" the voice screamed suddenly. It sounded like a... warning? Jack turned as fast as he could and was shocked to see black sand coming out of nowhere. It took the shape of Pitch as Jack stood there frozen in stunned silence.
The sand held its shape for a moment and then, without warning, it rushed towards Jack. The poor boy didn't even have time to move before it slammed into him.