Holy Water Can't Help you Now

I

Landing on the green grass, Jack Frost wriggles his toes in the thick tendrils and grins. It's been a year since he last was in Burgess. The air has begun to cool and Jack thinks it's about time the first frost of the season came to the small suburban town. Taking a step forward, frost fans out, settling like a fine dust on the grass.

Smiling at his handy-work, Jack approaches a tree near a particularly tall thicket in the forest and blows on the colored leaves. White coats them, weighing the delicate things down and even causing a few to fall. Putting most of his weight his weight on his crook, Jack starts to admire his contribution to winter, but is interrupted when something black and shadowed moves somewhere in the darkness ahead of him.

'Pitch!'Jack's mind hisses. His heartbeat picks up from it's near non-existent thump to something wilder and far more human. Frowning, Jack forces himself not be scared; Pitch Black feeds off it. Pitch may be weakened from his last encounter with him and the Guardians, but who know's what strength he's gained from Jack's racing heart alone?

Jack knows he should turn back now. The other Guardians ought to be informed, but he can't bring himself to turn away just yet. He's only caught a glimpse of something dark and insidious. How can he be sure that it's Pitch and not just some human villain? Jack isn't too thrilled by either possibility, but if it isn't Pitch, there's nothing he and the Guardians will be able to do if he drags them out here. Sighing, Jack realizes he'll have to go a little further into the woods and see if he can't catch a better glimpse of what lay within its depths.

Taking a deep, determined breath, Jack steps into the crowd of trees and gives a relieved chuckled when he sees a Nightmare chuffing at the ground. Stepping on a brittle twig as he drew closer, Jack causes the creature to raise its head. The Nightmare trains its blood-red eyes on Jack.

"Hey there," Jack says, raising his crook in greeting. The beast makes a noise akin to a scoff and begins to meander away. Jack blinks. "Well, okay," he murmurs, thinking they are done since it appears to want nothing to do with him. Jack will have to tell the Guardians about the Nightmare eventually, but feels that the threat it holds is small enough that it can wait until morning, if not another day.

However, just as Jack is ready to turn back, the Nightmare looks back and whinnies.

Jack frowns in confusion. The beast is acting almost like wants him to… follow her? Taking a step towards the animal, curiosity peaked, Jack asks, "Do you want me to follow you?"

The stare the Nightmare gives Jack makes him feel like he's the simpleton.

"Hey, no reason to be nasty!" he grumbles, quickly striding toward the creature. Jack is tense as he does so, eyeing the woods around him for more Nightmares, or even Pitch Black. After all, he isn't dumb. He's under no illusions and knows this could be a trap. Even so, Jack has a feeling that this isn't the case. The Nightmare huffs a breath and begins to clomp further into the darkness.

At one point, Jack has to lay his hand on the Nightmare's hide, just so he doesn't get lost in the darkness. Slowly, but surely, they come to a clearing. In it, a streak of moonlight outlines a iron-framed bed that's discarded in the middle of the opening. "Is that… ?" Jack whispers, question fading off as the beast abruptly disappears into the shadows. A bit irritated, Jack shouts, "Thanks for just leaving me here! I can totally find my way back in the dark!" Grumbling under his breath, Jack decides there's not much he can do, so he nears the rusty bed and pokes it with his crook. When it doesn't move, he decides it's not some weird guard dog that'll bite him (or chase him).

Circling the bed, he tries to understand why the Nightmare brought him to it. It seems like such a random place to put a bed. A thought coming to mind, Jack bends down and peers underneath. All he sees is a dark hole, like the ones Bunnymund uses. "Well, no Boogeyman tonight…" he grouses.

Deciding the only way to solve what's going on is to check out the what lay on the other side of the opening, Jack dives feet first into the hole. He yells as he slips and slides down the twisting tunnel. He then lands in a stone labyrinth that's alight with only a few sparse torches. Eyes roving the stone corridor, Jack is reminded of a dungeon. He snickers, trust Pitch to model his home after a castle of horror. Getting to his feet, Jack begins to stride down the corridor, occasionally stopping to look for a door. After a while of searching and squinting, he's ready to give up and turn back to find the hole he came from when he hears a high neigh. Spinning around, he sees what might be the Nightmare from earlier. Scratching his head, he asks, "How'd you get in here?"

The beast ignores him in favor of nudging her muzzle against a brick in the wall that jutts of just a little more than the rest. Approaching it, Jack reaches out to touch it. "What's so special about– Woah!"

The wall moves abruptly, revealing a secret hallway. Gaping, Jack doesn't take a step in until a slimy nose pushes him forward. Twisitng around, he scowls at the Nightmare. "Okay! Okay!" he grumbles, "I'm moving!" Walking in, he huffs, "Sheesh!" Moving in a little farther, he sees in the dim light that a tall, imposing wooden door waits at the end of the hall.

Jack gazes at it, trepidation running through his veins like blood. Turning around, he says, "I don't know–" but stops suddenly when he sees that the Nightmare is once again missing. "Just great! Disappear when I need you most!" Jack growls. Taking a step forward, he grips his crook tightly and kicks the door in. Jumping into the room, he raises his crook high in the air, ready to fight off any offenders that may try and jump him. However, when no one attacks, he begins to relax and look around.

All Jack sees is a cluster of Nightmares and a rusty bed (like the one above ground) pushed up against the wall. Stepping toward the creatures, he calls, "Heeellooo!"

None answers him at first, scuffing his foot one the stone floor, Jack asks "Don't you guys know how to say hello?" Again, the Nightmares do nothing. What does happen, though, is that a faint scrabbling noise fills the room. It sounds like it's coming from under the bed, but, upon counting the half dozen Nightmares, Jack can't be certain it wasn't one of them. Poking around the room next, the Jack things to ask, "Pitch? You around here somewhere?"

Again, no answer. Turning to the creatures, he inquires, "Think one of you could tell me if you've seen a guy 'bout this tall? Gray-skinned? Gold-eyes? Fear incarnate?" One of them snorts and jerks their head towards the bed. Jack blinks. Huh. Maybe these beasts aren't so dumb after all. Walking over, Jack gives the creatures one suspicious glance before he drops to his knees and looks underneath the bed. Something in the shadows twitches. "Pitch?" Jack asks, curious

There's a scratching sound, like loose cloth being dragged over stone. "If your not gonna come out, I'm gonna pull you out," Jack threatens. Gold-eyes pop open, wide and furious. The Boogeyman, though, stubbornly refuses to move. "Alright then," Jack says with a shrug. Reaching under, he grasps the dark folds of Pitch's clothing and as he tries to pull him out, two little gray hands pop out and try to claw Jack's arm to shreds. Having none of it, Jack hurriedly pulls the bundle out of the dark and into the glow of the torches. He gapes. A thin-faced, skinny boy, with radiant gold eyes stares up at him in angry silence.

"Pitch?" he whispers.

The child's face twists into a snarl, baring gleaming, white shark teeth. "Frost," he spits.

What do you guys think? Anyone interested in reading this further?

Thank you a ton for taking the time to read this and please review.

EDITED: 3/1/16