Disclaimer: I totally don't own anything to do with Rise of the Guardians but I do own my characters!

Chapter 1:

The Silver Paint tube

"It's the day before Easter, Dad! I'll get home around ten…or so…" Jane said, holding her blackberry to her ear while her other hand rested on the leather wheel of her beat up Taurus. Her grey eyes quickly glanced at her mirrors then scanned her blind spot before she changed lanes. There was practically no one on the highway, but she still used her turn signal; it was legal after all.

"I know, hon', I just wished that you would have come home a little bit earlier…like a day or two earlier…and not the night before." Jane smiled at her father's complain.

"Well I had one last shift today and I wanted to come home early. If you're going to blame anyone, then blame New York for being so damn far from Pennsylvania. Plus you don't have to stay up and wait for me, just let everyone go to bed and I'll wake you up when I get there. I'm not seventeen anymore, Dad, you don't have to wait up on me anymore." She smiled into the phone as she heard her father laugh.

"I gave up waiting up for you a while ago; you've already surpassed the whole family. Going to Julliard…yeah, it's you who needs to wait up for us." He laughed on the other line, but Jane could hear the heaviness of his voice; stress and hints of fatigue laced in-between each breath.

"You don't have to keep up, Dad, you or anyone else for that matter. Keeping tabs with you all is one of those things that becomes second nature now, so don't worry, I'm never farther than a phone call away. And now I'm no more than two hours away! Beam me up Scotty." Jane said sarcastically as she cracked her thumb knuckle on the steering wheel.

"If only, if only," He laughed, the sound of someone screaming in the background made him groan. "I've gotta go sweet pea, I think your sister just cut her finger with a knife…she was cutting the cheese…this is the part where you're supposed to laugh!"

"Oh god Dad…you're so funny," Jane rolled her eyes but laughed along with him. He quickly said his goodbye then he hung up on her. Jane laughed again at her father's cheesy humor; she wasn't sure if he was like a bad sitcom or Spiderman.

She clicked on the radio and quickly turned up the volume. Soon She Wolf by David Guetta was pounding throughout her small car. She sang loudly, thrumming her fingers against the steering wheel to the beat. It was only two more hours until she came home to her small town of Burgess, Pennsylvania. She hadn't been home in almost two years after graduating high school and starting college in New York.

Driving on the empty highway made things easier to think since there weren't as many distractions. She hadn't seen her family in years, "God, it's been so long…" She thought aloud.

She wondered what she was going to tell them; would they even be happy to see her? She did abandon them…no, no, she didn't abandon them! "I just became infatuated with music, that's all. Go big or go home." Jane uttered stubbornly.

And it was true; she did have a passion for the musical arts. She applied for Julliard and, after an intricate piano piece audition, was immediately accepted. Only halfway through her first year of being at Julliard one of her professors recommended for her to visit a friend of his. Her professor's friend ended up being her first, and current, boss as an accompanist for one of the most high class restaurants in the state of New York; The Songbird. And after a month of working there, Jane found herself having to play a piece without the singer. So she did the only thing she could think of; pull a microphone over and sing the piece herself. Can we say brownie points?

"I was starting to have my doubts, kid." Her boss, Richard Herber, had said to her; still in disbelief at her performance. "I guess you showed me. Huh, you might just make it after all."

"You guys were taking bets or something?" Jane had joked.

Richard shrugged, "Kindof…"

Jane stared at him in a dumbfounded silence before rubbing the back of her neck, looking at her heals, "Well…that's awkward…"

He just laughed and held out his hand, smiling, "You are officially welcomed to The Songbird family."

Jane smiled broadly and shook his hand firmly.

He had let her become one of the full time entertainments after that, as well as being an accompanist for the other singers. She had never felt so at home then at The Songbird. With the money she had been making allowed her to get her own small apartment, so she was both close to her job and school. The next year was practically handed to her like food on a platter. But even with her success, the need to see her family was getting too great for her and homesickness started to take refuge in her heart.

"So here I am, the moron that's driving the night before Easter to her family. I'm really such an idiot…stupid Jane." She reprimanded herself, tapping the steering wheel impatiently.

But just thinking of her family made Jane smiled and now she was only an hour away from them; time flies when you sing obnoxiously in a car. She wondered if her older sister really did get her finger cut, she was never one to catch in the kitchen but apparently she'd been getting classes since her growing family needed more food than a diet of instant microwave food. Sarah, her older sister by four years, was twenty four and already had a little girl with a young one on the way. Jane always thought that her sister was a little to rash when it came to her marriage, getting married at twenty one then having her first child the following year. But Jane hadn't said a word; actually she let her father do most of the talking.

"Whoa, whoa, keep your shit together Janie!" She hissed to herself as she felt her eyes prickle with tears at the thought of her father, Rick. He was her rock; he was the glue that held the family together. After Jane's mother, Sharon, had been diagnosed with sever lung cancer, Rick stepped up to his role as the father. He made sure that both girls knew what love was and how acts of kindness affected lives.

"Mommy's just taking a long walk." He had said to them, voice shaking.

"But it's so cold outside? Why would she go outside when she's sick? Daddy, I don't understand." A young Jane said in confusion, poking her fingers through the hem of her shirt.

He didn't say anything to them for a minute, just staring at them with troubled eyes. Sarah suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, crying softly. Rick held his first-born in the tightest bear hug he could muster, taking one hand to hold Jane's. Jane looked from her father, crying in Sarah's shoulder, to the opened door of her mother's room. A white sheet fluttered as a nurse fixed the room; the white sheet was past the open door, near where Jane's mother was lying.

It was then that Jane realized how quiet the vicinity was; there was no rhythmic beeping.

"Daddy… does it hurt to die?" She whispered, still looking at the edge of the fluttering white sheet.

Rick slowly pulled his head up but continued holding Sarah. His grey eyes were soft and quietly he answered, "I—I'm not too sure…"

Jane stared at her father, tears started to gush from her grey eyes. No words were exchanged as he pulled her into his forever strong arms. Muffled by his daughter's hair his body shuttered, he hugged them tighter as it became harder to speak, "…but God never gives people more then we can handle. That's why I have you two, with Mom gone…at least I have you two."

"I-I-I forgive M-mommy for leaving us!" Sarah cried harder into his neck.

Jane gripped her father's hand harder, and croaked, "I-it hurts…h-how long will i-it last?"

"For as long a-as you remember her; Forever." He answered, his throat closing up.

"Forever's a long t-time…b-but I'll d-do it for her…and y-you, D-daddy." Jane whispered in his collar, leaving a tear soaked stain.

"T-thank you, both of y-you," He said, his voice finally cracking.

He never told them, at least out loud, but he had never been so proud of them.

Now Jane was listening contently to Josh Groban's magical voice; it was only twenty more minutes until she would pull into the familiar drive way of her childhood home and she hoped that her father and sister were awake. She was driving down the long road to Burgess when she passed the welcome sign; her eyelids drooped slightly after reading the sign. God was she tired! She never really drove anywhere long distance, she actually never had to drive anywhere since she lived in the city but this driving was killing her and—

SCREEEEEEEECH!

"Holyshitohmyfuckinggoodgravyholyshitholyshitholys hit!" She screamed as her car jerked to a sudden stop, her foot never leaving the brake pedal. Her heart hammered in her chest, pounding against her ribcage in fearful agony. Something big just ran right in front of the car! Right in front of her car! And she smashed into it! Right into it!

She fumbled with the gear stick as she shifted the stick into park. Hesitantly, with shaking hands, she grabbed her portable flashlight then opened her car door and stumbled out. Jane flicked her flashlight on then crept around the front of the car; she felt like she was in a horror movie and something was going to pop out at her…then kill her…or eat her…or both…

"Stop thinking that!" She mumbled harshly to herself as she came to the front of her car. She flashed the light on the asphalt and blinked, there was nothing there. "But I…I just hit…what the hell is going on?"

She came to the front of the car and inspected her front bumper, gasping quietly when she saw a long splat of red. Alarmed she shone her flashlight on either sides of the empty road when something shiny flashed a few feet ahead of her, she walked over and scooped it up. She looked about with her flashlight one more time, "Hey is anyone out here! Hello! I-I think I might have hit you…okay, well I did hit you but um…y-you left a…a…" She turned the small tube over in her hand; her grey eyes squinted in confusion. "…paint tube?"

When no one answered Jane took one last look around before scuttling back into her car, her hand clutched the red paint tube. Now it made sense…okay, not really, but the red on her car wasn't blood. No, it was red paint. Jane ran a trembling hand though her untamable blonde hair; her fingers getting caught in the mass of kinky curl that reached her neck. She sighed shakily before quickly putting her car back into drive then drove the rest of the way home, her heart still pounded even as she pulled into the drive way.

She didn't even take her bags in when she stopped the car, running straight into the house. Only when the door was closed did she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. A few people were still up, the light from the kitchen was still lit, so she went there first and greeted everyone; Aunt Nancy, Uncle Jim, Cousin Kim with her husband Jake, and Grandma Carol. They were known as the party goers but the other party goers were asleep apparently…Jane guessed that those few asleep weren't the party goers anymore.

She climbed the stairs, taking two at a time with thanks to the adrenalin still pumping though her veins. Creeping quietly, Jane opened cracked the door to her father's room but stopped opening the door as her father's face came into view. His face was peaceful; all of his laugh lines and smile creases seemed to smooth out as he snored and his once lush dark hair was now greying; only a circle around his otherwise bald head.

Jane shut his door quietly, allowing him to sleep peacefully. The Sandman must have given him good dreams tonight; his face was just so…so serene. She silently walked to her old room and quietly walked in. It was odd but not a single family member was resting in her room; it was odd only because there were so many people in the small house. All sleep space had to be used. Jane, exhausted now, didn't really give a shit. If she wasn't so tired, she'd actually be really grateful, but it was late probably past twelve o'clock.

She kicked off her black boots, not even thinking about going back outside to get her things, than slipped into the familiar sheets of her old bed. Just as she started dozing off, she felt something sharp pressing into her thigh. With a groan, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the shiny tube of paint. Without a second thought, she discarded it onto her bedside table and closed her sleepy grey eyes; falling asleep within seconds.

AN: Okay so this is the start of my new story! So far I will be updating every Sunday! Bunnymund will be showing up within the next Chapter. I'm just gonna let you all know that this plot was very well thought out and the baddies are going to be new (Pitch will still be in this as well) but we are introducing new characters (Humans and Spirits alike) and I will try to make it amazing for you all! Plus if anyone hasn't read my story Still Standing, I'm letting you know that I am continuing it