1 - Believe
You hung your head, the tears you'd been crying hadn't been tears of sorrow but of frustration. Frustration that you found yourself in this situation. That you couldn't get out of the metal shackles that wound about your ankles, iron weights you were pretty sure hadn't been used before you for some time, perhaps some time near the Dark Ages. They were heavy, but you ignored them. They were nothing in compared to the heaviness that you felt in your chest. You wouldn't be in this predicament if you hadn't started believing... no, that wasn't really right. You had always believed... maybe that's why you were here now. Oh, it wasn't belief in your captor, Pitch Black, or even Jack that had led to this. You had made your choice long ago to never forget your childhood when you were younger. It was such an easy decision because you'd never been much for socializing.
There had been no one. Was it really only a month ago that you'd moved to Burgess? It seemed like a lifetime ago. It was hard to say how long you'd been here because there was next to no indication of time in this place thanks to how dim that Pitch kept this place. The small feathers that lined the bottom of your prison were a grim reminder of your captor. Jack had told you about it, some years ago when he'd first become a Guardian and Pitch had captured all of Tooth's minions. Your mind flits to Baby Tooth, the one little tooth, at least that's what you called them... or little teeth, that seemed most like Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy. The one who also was tied most closely to Jack since that event... you can't even remember how many years ago. It didn't matter much, you sunk into your memories, recalling the first time you had come to Burgess... and your first encounter with Jack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You sighed as you sat down the last box in the house, dusting off your hands as if they were covered with grime or something, it was really that just you were tired from unloading the moving truck and the guy who'd driven all the way from (your hometown) to Burgess had not been inclined to really help you. You walked back out, you wanted the guy gone; he could have helped, really, but obviously he wasn't "being paid to" help out and so he didn't feel obligated, which had made you frustrated so it meant that moving in had taken most of the day. You'd been up since six this morning and the guy's indifference didn't help.
"I'm done. Later dude." You say and the guy barely gives you a glance before shutting the back of the truck, pulling the door down and securing it before going to start the truck. You huffed, well you weren't going to ever ask that company to help you move ever again if you did, you thought with mild fury before heading back inside. You ran a hand through your hair, a sigh escaping your lips as you realized there was no one to help you, but then again this was what you wanted. You had decided it was time to strike out from under your parents' rules and their overprotectiveness so you'd moved. Now you were as far away from them as you could afford to be. You already had a job at a local shop waiting for you, you didn't start for a few days though because it was closing in on Halloween. In fact, Halloween was tomorrow. Well, these boxes weren't going to unpack themselves. You rolled up your sleeves and went to work.
It wasn't really as bad as you'd thought. You didn't really have too much and the house you'd rented had come already furnished. Feeling a little hungry you decided to check to see if there was any food in the fridge, though you didn't expect to be there was in fact. You were startled to see that in the fridge was a casserole with a note attached to it:
Welcome to the neighborhood! Here's a little something for your first night, hope you enjoy Burgess. Especially winter, we're well known for our little legend. Ask around if you're curious!
The Landlord
You couldn't help but smile as you took the dish out to heat it up and eat. You were curious about that, but it was because you loved winter so much that you had moved here. You'd spent a few weeks looking for a place that was cold, but not overly so. You didn't want to feel like you were in Antarctica after all, but this one place in Pennsylvania seemed to be your best bet. What you didn't understand was why this place had been empty for so long. Okay so some TV ghost hunters had come to the house and proclaimed it haunted, whatever; you didn't believe in ghosts. Besides, the only thing that the TV "ghost hunters" had managed to capture on film was that the temperature had dropped severely, enough that their breaths could be seen - though what did they expect when they came in the middle of WINTER of all seasons? Seriously, and there had been frost that had sprung up the windows out of nowhere... but how was that the doings of a ghost? You shook your head, people would believe anything these days, but you were practical. Well, okay, you still believed that the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause were real because you knew your parents. They could only afford so much and there was always at least one present you knew they couldn't afford to buy and yet, there it was under the tree. That had been years ago, of course, a phenomenon that had stopped happening after you'd turned 14; still though, you were dead set on believing. You had your proof that they existed. You'd always been a little more observant than most and while your parents had tolerated your beliefs as a kid, they'd been nagging at you to "grow up" since you'd turned 15 and still professed to believe.
You'd been bullied at your school because of it too. Your belief didn't waver, however, in truth it had just grown stronger when some bullies who had been chasing you had ended up being chased back inside by a sudden gust of wind. It had been the middle of September and (your hometown) never got that cold... but the biting cold that had suddenly driven the bullies inside and away from you... that had been the pinnacle. Sure you hadn't seen who'd caused the wind, but you were certain that you knew that someone was watching out for you. Your parents just said it was luck when you told them what had happened, but you knew better. When you'd decided to move, though your parents had been supportive; they'd thought you'd outgrown your belief. They couldn't have been more wrong, but they hadn't noticed that you'd been packing away a collection of books you'd bought the year before. It was the "Guardians of Childhood" series. Four books that described fantastic adventures of the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus - called North in the books, E. Aster Bunnymund - the Easter Bunny also called "Bunny" by the others, and of course the Sandman who was simply known to the other legendaries as "Sandy." You'd read them so many times recently that you felt you could start to literally quote them. It had been while trying to find more information on legends online that you'd come across it, you'd bought the collection at a local bookstore your senior year and had smuggled them into your room; reading them only when you weren't around your parents. The books had given you a new view of your childhood beliefs. You sighed as you pulled the books out of the last box.
You brushed your fingers over the spines of the books lovingly before putting them on the bookshelf that you'd brought with you. It set near the couch. You glanced around, there was an upstairs but you had no intention of using those rooms except to sleep. There were three rooms, one room was obviously the master bedroom as it had a queen sized bed in it. The other two, you'd discovered when you'd taken a break to explore, had twin beds. Obviously they would be guest rooms for you, but the signs of tape on the walls as well as holes where tacks had likely been led you to believe that both rooms had once belonged to children. You didn't really need this much room, but it was so cheap... cheaper than any of the apartments you'd seen anywhere else. You weren't sure if the place really was haunted, but it didn't matter. As you finished adding other books to the shelf you didn't notice the frost that was slowly curling around in unusually artistic patterns on one of the windows. You glanced over as you felt a chill in the air. Had you left a window open? You noticed the frost and went over to it slowly.
"Beautiful." You breathed, jolting when you swore you heard a soft voice reply.
"Thanks." You glanced around wildly for a moment, but there wasn't anyone around. You shrugged then finished breaking down the empty boxes that were scattered about. With nothing left to do you decided to read one of your favorite books, it was a mythological book on various spirits, but you flipped past a lot of the usual descriptions to one that always caught your attention. Jack Frost. Oh he'd been in a couple of your books, but there hadn't been much on him. You read the passage, even now there was little here on the supposed winter spirit:
Jack Frost/Jakol Frost/Old Man Winter
A spirit of winter, some say that he is a man with a white beard who heralds the season of winter by creating frost and snow. Others depict him as a playful adolescent with a mischievous side. A cold spirit who enjoys playing tricks on unsuspecting humans, namely adults or young children.
You close your eyes and try and imagine Jack Frost. In the books he had been a young boy, you liked to think that he was. After all, winter seemed to have a playful side to it and an old man simply didn't fit that sort of thought. As you lay your head against the couch, you failed to noticed that the temperature hadn't risen, it had actually dropped a little further and had you opened your eyes you would have been able to see your breath. Feeling a chill go through you, a smile played on your lips.
"Jack..." You murmured, imagining that it was the spirit nearby. You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard a loud crash outside. Startled, you slipped on a nearby scarf and ran outside to see what had happened. You scanned the dark around you, but you couldn't see a thing. Whatever had caused the noise didn't seem to be in sight. You sighed a moment, but then you looked up as something fell in the darkness, excitement bubbled up in you. It was snowing! Unable to hold back your gleeful laughter, you spin as the first flakes dance around you, unaware of the youth that leaned on his staff with a satisfied cocky grin on his face; watching you dance about in your new yard.
"Welcome to Burgess." He muttered, then straightened in surprise when you stopped suddenly and looked about. Could you... ? You seem to glance around, frowning slightly when you don't see anything despite that the frost spirit is only a few feet away. Well, it was hard to believe in something that you knew almost nothing about, especially at your age. Yes, you still believed in the others strongly, but you had proof they existed and knew various views on them like you knew your own name.
After a while of listening and looking, you gave up and stuck out your tongue to catch one of the following snowflakes before heading back inside when you realized you hadn't bothered to put your shoes back on and while you loved winter, you weren't all that fond of being as cold as snow. With a sigh you headed back inside and cranked up the heater. You had the feeling that someone was watching you, but you didn't see anything and shook your head. You eventually decided to turn in early for the night. You would check out your new hometown tomorrow. As you drifted to sleep frost crept along the window of your room; the frost spreading out in patterns that frost never usually would. When you awoke you noticed the light was strangely dim, you turned towards your window as you got up and a jolt went through you as you noticed the frost. You ran over to it, shakily holding a hand to the cool glass. The frost framed the edges of it like a picture frame and within was a scene of five figures watching over children who were happily playing in the snow. One figure was clearly Santa, another looked like the Tooth Fairy, near her was obviously the Easter Bunny and hovering near Santa you thought was a little man who might be the Sandman and... your breath caught when you saw the figure that hovered directly over the children themselves.
"Jack Frost..." You said softly, eyes widening. It couldn't be, though... could it? You shook yourself, even as you lightly touched the window, the frost didn't smear since it was on the outside, but the picture it made didn't fade either. Feeling giddy, you quickly dressed and headed out of the house. The laughter of children nearby greeting you. They were building snowmen and throwing snowballs at each other. You couldn't help but grin, you liked kids. You ignored them for the time being though, you wanted to explore the town. So you walked to the old (favorite color) car; it was a hand-me-down but you still loved it. You barely remember the relative who had given it to you before you'd even been able to get your permit, but it didn't matter much. Not like you were all that close to them. You drove into town, parking next to a small park before getting out and heading back to where you'd seen several shops. One shop, the one you would start work at in a few days, caught your eye first. You found it strange that all the little knickknacks that it held were so... random. Not random in that they were strange by any means, but more like they centered on five legends no matter what time of the year it was. Oh there were replica costumes of the legends for Halloween, but what interested you the most was that each part of the store was sectioned for each of them. You immediately headed for the section to your left when you walked in. For whatever reason, the section for Jack Frost was up front. You were looking at a Jack Frost costume for an adult when you heard a voice behind you.
"Interested in one of the more popular legends are you?" You spin around to see a man in his early twenties, his brown eyes sparkled with merriment beneath his matching hair.
"Ah... Mr. Bennett..." You began, he smiled, almost seeming to laugh at you.
"Please, call me Jamie."
"Very well, Jamie. As it is... I am a fan of legends... Speaking of which, I found a rather odd note on some food left by my landlord. Something of a legend here?" The soft smile that traced his lips told you that indeed he knew the legend.
"Yes, I know about it. Would you like to hear about it?"
"Of course! Wait... why would you ask that when I'm in a shop like this?" You were puzzled, obviously you were interested.
"Ah, well... not many people believe me when I tell them."
"What do you mean?" He smiled.
"A lot of kids your age or older just write it off as some story, but it happened. It happened to me and my friends when we were kids." You stare, your breath hitched in your throat. Seeing that he has an eager audience in you, he begins to recount the tale of how he had come to help the Guardians save the world from Pitch Black. You listened with rapt attention, nearly wincing when he told you how close he'd come to giving up his belief of the Guardians, then your eyes had gone wide as he'd described his coming to believe in Jack Frost, the young man you'd only read about. You couldn't help the excitement that built within you as he told you about what Jack had said had happened after Jamie had begun to believe. The thrill of the sled ride, his friends boldly facing up to the Nightmare King and bringing back the Sandman; utterly defeating Pitch. Then he gave a vague description, which he said Jack had told him about, about what happened to Pitch before they had arrived at the lake and he and his friends had watched Jack take the oath to become a Guardian.
"You still believe." You said after a long moment, your eyes wide with happy wonder. After all this time you finally found someone else who didn't doubt you! Who believed! Jamie smiled.
"Of course! Even if I was the last human on this earth I would still believe in the Guardians. I even wrote a book about it." He motioned towards a small rack in the middle of the store. Sure enough, along with ornaments and other items that depicted Santa, elves and even yetis, oddly enough, were the books. The title read Rise of the Guardians.
"Well, I can't pass that up!" You said with a smile and strode over to pick up the book. Even though you had just heard the story, you wanted to add the book to the others. He chuckled and even gave you your employee discount as he rang it up for you. You clutched the book to you after examining the front cover, the five Guardians on it weren't quite what you'd imagined, but after a moment of staring your jaw dropped.
"What is it?" Jamie asked.
"This is just like... when I woke up, there was a picture etched in frost on my window. It showed the five Guardians looking over a group of children... they looked just like this! Although they didn't look ready for a fight... but... the resemblance is..." You glance up to see Jamie smiling at you.
"I think you made a new friend." You blink as you suddenly realize what this means. Jack Frost had visited you last night and indeed he had made that picture in your window.
"I... should probably go." He just nodded as he smiled, saying your farewell you couldn't leave the shop fast enough in your giddiness. Jack Frost was real! You felt a warmth flare up in your heart as you skipped back to your car and headed home. You wondered if you would see the winter spirit.
That evening you spent your time reading the book outside on the porch, hoping against hope for a glimpse of the winter spirit, but you were disappointed when he didn't seem to appear. So, you slunk inside. You began reading the book where you'd left off. You were just at the part where Jack was regaining his memories when something made your head shoot up. You weren't sure what, it was like you were being... you snapped your head around towards the window nearby, your eyes widening when you realized that someone was looking back. You dropped the book on the couch and hurried outside. You halted at the edge of the steps when you realized that a few feet away was the youth on the cover of your new book. He seemed to be staring at you curiously. As if he didn't understand that you could see him, your gaze went from wide eyed to ridiculously joyous. A smile spread across your face before you could stop it and Jack looked around, as if wondering if you were staring at something else that he hadn't noticed. He jolted when your voice came out in a whisper.
"Hello Jack." This time his eyes widened, he looked cute, you decided. His clear blue eyes wide beneath his snowy white hair; like the photo on the book, he was dressed in tan pants that clearly weren't from this century and a blue hoodie that was dusted in frost along the collar and hoodie as well as the pocket and the cuffs, the frost on the cuffs seemed to to creep towards his elbows.
"You... you can see me?!" You can't help the grin on your face as you spread your arms, unable to help the mischievous impulse.
"Unless there's another here who goes by the name of Jack Frost." It was too comical, but he seemed to fumble and that just made him all the more cute.
"I... you believe..." His eyes were still wide even as you nodded.
"I've never met anyone like you." You tilt your head to one side, waiting for him to explain.
"Most kids stop believing at your age... before actually." You nod sadly.
"My parents tried to get me to, but I refused. I guess you can say I'm stubborn that way." Jack chuckled then, shifting to lean on his staff once more. You study him, the image on the book didn't seem to do him justice. It didn't really capture his pale skin that seemed to hold a soft blue hue that reminded you of undisturbed snow in the evening, snow in the evening wasn't white, it had blue shadows while it was still touched by light.
"Thank you." You said softly. He raised his eyebrows in curiosity. You smile.
"For the picture on my window, it was lovely." A soft dust of snow seemed to cover his cheeks.
"Well ... I just..." He was cute when he was flustered. You wondered why it was that you kept thinking that so much, but there was a lot of truth to it. As it was, you were relieved that he was like the books and not some old man as some ancient legends had painted him to be. After a moment he seemed to compose himself, his usual smile playing on his lips as he looked at you.
"I want to show you something. I think you'll like it. He stood straight, offering one hand to you. You hesitated a moment before placing your hand in his, it was cold, as you'd expected it to be but not quite as cold as you had been expecting. In fact, there seemed to be an underlying warmth, which surprised you.
"Hang on." Before you could realize what he meant to do he'd called out.
"Hey wind! Take me home!" A gust lifted both of you up in a second, you let out a yelp of surprise, clutching Jack's hand tighter but if the winter spirit noticed he didn't say anything as you soared away from the town and towards a small forest near the outskirts of the town. It was a short trip and you marveled at the scenery below despite the fear that skittered about in your veins. You actually had once dreamed of flying and now you were! Your joy overwhelmed your fear and you found yourself enjoying the brief flight. The wind gently settled you both down at a lake. Jack let go of your hand and moved over to the lake, you watched with fascination and some trepidation as he walked out onto the ice.
"Hmmm, hang on... it's a little thin." You watched him with wide eyes, remembering what the book had said about how Jack had died. He had saved his sister by switching places with her and plunging into the icy depths of this very lake. You took it all in, watching him as he seemed to skate across the ice, frost forming where he let his staff skim across the surface. You couldn't help but watch in fascination as the frost patterns spread over its surface, a smile playing over your face when he came back.
"There. Hey... can you skate?" You smile at him.
"Can you?" You challenge, he gives you a funny look before chuckling.
"Sit down." You do ask he asks, giving him a questioning look. He moves over to you as you sit in the snow, its cold but you don't protest, He runs a finger along the bottom of your shoes, which just confuses you more until you notice the strap of snow that entwined itself over your shoes as a strap. You lightly run your fingers over it, its soft like snow but also solid.
"Don't worry, it won't melt." He says, as if answering your unspoken question. You stand up, a little unsteady at first, but you wave off the hand he offers as you settle your balance. He raises an eyebrow at you, you just grin and step onto the ice with confidence after a moment. Soon you're skating along the lake as if you had been born the winter spirit and not Jack. He seems to be impressed as he skates along with you. Unable to help showing off a little, you skate faster and faster then suddenly flip around.
You enjoy the look of surprise in his eyes as you perform a spin before continuing to skate backwards, watching him the whole time as you glide about the lake; his lake. You don't notice that he flies up to a nearby tree to watch you as you pour speed into your skating when you go forward again. You had never actually performed a jump, but with Jack nearby you felt the urge to show off and a little daring as well. Without hesitating, once you'd started off from one end of the lake to another, you sprang up, twirling in the air. You closed your eyes for a moment, then felt the cold wind swirl around you; you were in the air longer than you had expected and suddenly there was a weight at your hips, confused you opened your eyes and glanced down to see Jack grinning at you.
"I'm not gonna let you fall." He said and you laughed a little, delighted as he lowered you back to the ice. You felt your breath hitch a little as your (eye color) eyes met his blue ones. For a moment you felt like you were drowning in that gaze before he smiled and let you go. The two of you skated a little while longer before you felt exhaustion begin to come over you and you moved over to the edge of the lake to sit down. Jack followed you, sitting down in the snow with you though he didn't disturb the snow at all. It didn't bother you, you trail one hand through the soft snow nearby, enjoying its cool softness. Jack watches you, but you don't seem to notice and you make a small happy face in the snow. Jack is smiling when you turn back to him.
"Thanks for bringing me here, Jack. I had a fun time." He grins.
"I thought you might."
"I'm a little tired, although I hate to admit it, I should probably get home and to bed." Jack nods, a little sad for a moment before he smiles again.
"Alright." Before you can think to say anything you feel his arm slip around your waist and you're airborne. Your mind is playing tricks on you, you're sure, because there's no way his cold embrace should feel as good as it does. There's no reason you should want to sink into him, even though a part of you is saying you should. You resist the urge as the two of you fly over the forest and he sets you back down.
"Thanks for everything Jack. Will I see you again?" You ask, a little hopeful. He smiles, floating over the steps.
"Of course. I'll have to spread some snow tomorrow morning so it will probably be a while before I'm back." You nod and as he takes off you call out to him as you realize you've forgotten something very important.
"Jack!" He turns to you, pausing in the air and you call out to him.
"My name is..."
