Ashes, Ashes

SUMMARY: Sophie learns that darkness doesn't have to mean fear; there are shades of gray to every black and white.

Chapter 1: How It Began

Sophie wouldn't admit it, but Jack Frost wasn't the only one who would occasionally visit the Bennett household.

It began during her fifteenth summer. Nights tended to get hot at this time around, making it hard to sleep. In order to cure the restless nights, Sophie would open the window of her bedroom and perch on the sill, waiting for fatigue to make her eyelids heavy and her head nodding off as the cool winds would brush against her skin. Sometimes, she would think of Jack Frost, wondering if he was aware of how troublesome the sweltering summer nights could be and deliver a chilling gust just for her.

Thinking about Jack made her think about her brother. Jamie, who was in college now, sometimes dropped by, but given that he was usually busy and lived in the dorms Sophie didn't get to see him as much. Jack visited Jamie whenever winter came around, but there were times when he would visit her too. "How's the Guardian business doing for you?" she would ask. He would shrug and say "Nothing much", but then proceed to tell her about North, Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and the things he done and seen.

The winter spirit didn't come when the season would get too warm for him, though. Come to think about it, most of the Guardians weren't active during the summer. This was a realization that dawned on Sophie after she woke up from a nightmare. On this night, she didn't open the window, letting out the hot air inside. Her body was coated in sweat. Her bangs clung onto her forehead and her mind rattled from the terrible dream she escaped.

"What a shame…"

Sophie froze. The voice—unfamiliar, yet familiar—drawled silkily in her room. She felt another presence—a looming figure—next to her bed.

"It was such a nice nightmare too," sighed the man. When he strode away, his footsteps clicking against the floorboards, Sophie swallowed down her nervousness and casually got up and reached for Jamie's baseball bat that she kept as a reminder. Well, the bat was now being put to good use; she lifted the handle high and swung down as hard as she could.

"Ow!" The bat bounced off of the man's back. He spun around, but crashed to the floor when Sophie swung the bat against his legs. She tossed the bat to the side and ran for the door, intent on warning her parents of a burglar—criminal—whoever. However, just when she nearly grabbed hold of the knob, she slipped and landed on her face.

"Argh," she grunted. Sophie attempted to get up, but stiffened in fright when the man suddenly appeared right next to her. "Oh no," she whispered.

Her eyes locked with his golden gaze, and that was when she vaguely remembered her brother telling her stories about his childhood adventure with all of the Guardians, just before Jack became one. They all gathered to stop one fiend, and that fiend was the Bogeyman. Sophie wasn't one who liked to jump to conclusions, but her mind was screaming "It's him! It's the Bogeyman!" If his piercing yellow eyes didn't clue her in, then the floating black sand behind him sure did.

She sent a quiet prayer that one of the Guardians would appear in her room and come to her rescue, but who? Jack Frost was probably somewhere in Alaska, Santa Claus would be busy making this year's batch of toys, she didn't have any teeth to spare for the Tooth Fairy, Easter wasn't even close, and the Sandman… Well, he was her last hope.

She mustered up whatever courage she had in her and began to draw her fist back. Just when she was about to sock the Bogeyman in the face to get away from her, he spoke in that crisp silky tone of his. "You can…see me?"

And that was that.

Sophie figured that because she was the only one who could see him, Pitch—he introduced himself as—would come visit her at night. Initially, it creeped her out, having a magical man with black sand and a desperate need of a tan to pop up in her room just to check if she could still see him. But as the days passed by, she more or less grew accustomed to his presence. It wasn't like he could harm her; he couldn't do anything other than pester her (which happened to be something that he was very good at).

"It's like I hold interest in you or anything of the sort," he once told her nonchalantly, but this made Sophie think otherwise. "I just want to know what you fear."

"I'm pretty sure I have nothing to be afraid of."

"Then how is it that you can see me?"

That was a good question. If what her brother had told her was true, Pitch could only be seen if she was scared. But Sophie definitely knew that she just the opposite. Sure, she was terrified of the possibility that there was someone breaking into her house, but who wouldn't be? It was surprising, though, to see that she thought of something fast and managed to take the Bogeyman down.

"I had a bad night that time," Pitch protested, his frown becoming pronounced. "As if a mere mortal like you could ever take me, Pitch Black, down."

"Yet a couple of eight-year-olds can," Sophie replied back, remembering when Jamie and his friends were able to stand up against him with their display of courage.

Pitch just scowled and remained silent, and she ignored him in return.

Their relationship wasn't friendship or anything cordial, it was...well, it was just how it was. A spirit observing a human just to see what made her tick. Sophie, in turn, occasionally treated him as though he was part of the background, like a potted plant or a picture hanging on her wall. There were other times when she treated him like how she would treat classmates who she typically did not like—disdain and irritation.

Because of his nightly visits, Sophie became tired during the day. Not that Pitch cared.

"I could try to pretend that you're not here and go to sleep, but with you watching me unnerves me," she said one night.

He didn't say anything. He just stared at her.

"You're really creepy, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

This would be going on for three years.