Once upon a time, the Earth circled the sun, and the moon circled the Earth. Then a breath of Soul gave life to the moon.
The Man in the Moon could hear and see everything that happened on Earth, for he was a powerful immortal. As he followed and watched, he fell in love with the people who lived there and promised to protect them from Dark and Fear. But he could only visit Earth once every lunar cycle.
The Man in the Moon saw a shapeshifter on his beloved Earth. Seeing his bravery, he offered the shapeshifter immortality if he would protect those he lived among. The shapeshifter agreed, and he became Dreamcatcher, Bane of Nightmares, the First Guardian.
As Fear approached, they saw Dreamcatcher's powers and plotted to corrupt him to their side. They whispered in his ears, made him afraid, and ate up all that was brave and pure in him.
So Dreamcatcher became Pitch Black, King of Nightmares.
"Jamie Katherine Bennett!"
Jamie blinked a few times before the light blinded her. With a groan, she covered her eyes. Cold metal touched her cheek, and, pulling away, she found a pen in her hand. The night shift worker, Colton, stared angrily at her. She pushed away from her desk.
"Sorry, Mr. Colton," she said.
His anger vanished, and he sighed. "Jamie, you can't keep writing in the dark like this. You'll ruin your eyes."
Jamie nodded. To be fair, she almost never knew it was happening. She woke up randomly at night with a pen in hand and an open notebook on her desk, the moon the only light visible. Colton took the pen and shut her notebook, then ushered her back into bed and tucked the covers around her.
"I know it seems hard," he said, "But we'll find you a foster home, okay? Maybe even some real parents. Doesn't that sound nice? Now, get some sleep, little goose."
He brushed a strand of wild brown hair behind Jamie's ear as she nodded. With an almost inhuman silence, he slipped from her room to check on the other children. Jamie shut her eyes again and tried to sleep.
Moments later, however, her hazel eyes peeked open again. Bright gold tendrils of dust brushed past her window. With a giggle, she rolled over to look at the sand. It passed through the glass and circled over her.
"Once upon a time," she said, watching as the substance shifted to act out her words, "there was a little girl named Katie. Some people said that Katie was crazy. Some said she just had a big imagination. She got teased a lot, but the other kids were just jealous. Because the truth was that Katie could see things the other kids couldn't. She could see the tooth fairy and Santa Claus and… Jack…"
A frail boy outside her window turned to look at her as though he'd heard his name. His white hair fluttered in the March wind, and he raised a hand and ran it lightly across the pane. Frost blossomed like a white flower under his fingertips until it obscured her vision entirely.
Or perhaps she simply fell asleep.