Fear's Comfort
It was a cold, dark night in the orphanage. Pressing the tattered duvet closer to her body, Seraphina's teeth jittered with the cold, a shiver went down her spine. It was one thing for it to be dark - the orphanage never had enough money to afford electricity - but for it to be as cold as this? It had been cold of course, many times, but not that cold. Those times before, the cold was bearable. Now, it kept her from sleeping.
She could hear the other children shivering in their sleep, attempting to even huddle up on the same mattress to stay warm. She, however, was alone. Alone, afraid and cold. It could not get worse than this, could it?
Suddenly, she saw something move. She swore she had seen a shadow move. A shadow that looked vaguely human, more so like a monster than a human. She gasped, her eyes widening. Backing away from the shadow on the wall across from her, she tried to hide under her duvet. Concealing herself under it, she tried to stop herself from whimpering. The last thing she wanted was to call attention to herself.
'It's not real. It can't be. There's no one there,' she kept telling herself. Then, without a warning, a cold sensation washed over her. She looked up, to see that her duvet was gone. Someone had pulled it off her. She swallowed, looking around. A chuckle echoed from around her, though she could not pinpoint the location of its owner.
"You really think you can hide from me, child?" a voice asked, eliciting a shudder from the young girl. There definitely was someone here.
She looked around once more, trying to see who the voice belonged to, but she had no such luck as to find him. Or perhaps she was lucky she hadn't found the voice's owner. The shadows in the room moved once again, making her flinch.
"Afraid?" the voice crooned in a mockingly gleeful tone.
'Please, please go away!' she prayed silently. It did not seem as though the voice wanted to leave her be, especially not when it uttered its next words.
"Oh, why would I do that now? I have all the fear I could possibly consume in one night right here. Why should I go elsewhere?" the voice continued, sending more shivers down Seraphina's spine. How on earth could he have known what she had thought?
'Unless he can read my mind,' Seraphina mused, though she didn't feel brave enough to voice the thought out loud, much less to tell him to go away again.
"Why, of course, I can read your thoughts, child. As well as your fears," he replied smoothly. Which did not help ease her fear at all. Not to mention, the cold really was getting at her now. And she did not like the dark one bit.
To make matter worse, a thunderstorm started. 'No... not thunderstorms!' she panicked, trying to find her duvet.
The fear that came from her. So much of it. So pure. So delicious. So empowering. He had tasted nothing like it for a long time. Better yet, the mortal girl could hear him too. Would it be too much to ask for, would he have hoped for too much, if he wanted her to be able to see him? If the girl actually believed in him?
Seraphina saw something step out of the shadows of the room. A tall, lean figure, clad in black, with black hair and a pair of golden-silver eyes, looked at her, with a victorious smirk on his face. Seraphina fell back, struggling to get away. She did not like this man one bit. He seemed to have simply come from the shadows, he knew her fears her thoughts. And that scared her. He came closer, his smirk widened until it showed off his sharp teeth. Seraphina froze. Another thing to add to her list of fears. She was scared of creatures with sharp teeth. And this creature had very sharp teeth. Not to mention how mean he looked, standing so tall, clad in black, the colour of darkness. His greyed skin looked frigid to the touch. Cold; another thing she hated. And his golden-silver eyes looked like that of a beast, a monster, about to devour her.
'I really hope he doesn't eat children,' Seraphina worried silently, remembering the tales of human-eating monsters that came out at night, those the kids at the orphanage kept talking about.
She heard a chuckle. Not a scary one, either. Just a genuine, amused-sounding chuckle.
"Of course I do not eat children. Children give me indigestion," the voice taunted her.
'So he had eaten a child before?' Another chuckle. "I was messing with you, little one, honestly, I doubt human flesh is anywhere close to tasting as delicious as fear."
Another chuckle. "I was messing with you, little one, honestly. I doubt human flesh is anywhere close to tasting as delicious as fear."
That did not sound any friendlier. What sort of creature lived of people's fears anyway? Confused, Seraphina soon realised she wasn't afraid anymore. Somehow, her fears slowly dissipated.
The creature frowned. "Well, since you're not afraid anymore-" but before he could finish off his sentence, the child had come closer, until she was just millimetres from him. Instead of being afraid, she was oddly curious. Like a certain child he had once known. He shook his head. No, that child was long gone. He had work to do. "I should go."
More thunder. The child flinched. "No..." she whispered.
"No?"
"P-please, stay. The th-thunder..." the girl pleaded. "...It's so loud and scary."
The creature was confused. So the girl thought the thunder was scary, but not some monster that was right beside her? How odd. However, when he looked in her big, frightened eyes, he couldn't help but stay. He tried to excuse himself, tell himself that he was only staying because of her fear, but somehow, there was something about this child. As though this little child was an exception.
Perhaps it was because of her deep blue eyes that radiated a childish brand of innocence that made most adults stop to awe at a human her age. Or maybe it was because he could not help but pity the orphan. Another part of him probably stayed because she could see him.
"So, do you know who I am?" he finally inquired, every bit curious himself, after some awkward silence. The girl looked hopeful, thinking it meant he would stay. It struck the boogeyman as rather unusual how one moment she wanted him to go away and the next, she begged him to stay. Were children always like this? So indecisive? Or was it this one particular child?
It was a big disappointment when he saw her shake her head.
"Well, let me tell you, then. I am the monster hiding under your bed. I am the creature who spreads nightmares. I am the spirit of Fear. I instil fear in people's hearts. I am the Boogeyman, the King of Nightmares. I am Pitch Black," he introduced himself. Perhaps he did not have to prolong his introduction so, but he felt like showing off a little. Just regaining his pride, as he put it. After all, he had lost it to the Guardians, might as well get it back, along with some believers. It made perfect sense to him, anyway.
He saw the corners of the girl's mouth twitch upwards into a small smile. "Um... nice to meet you, Mr. Black. My name is Seraphina Rose. I don't have cool powers or anything like that, I'm just a kid," she introduced herself. Her smile faded at the last part.
"No one is just a child. Not even one without parents. Every child can be something. Every child is something. Every child is special. You only have to figure out why you are special, but I can assure you, you are special," Pitch reassured her, not knowing why he just thought it was the right thing to do. "I know. And trust me when I say I know this because old people know a lot of things."
Seraphina giggled. "You don't look that old, how old did you say you were?"
"I didn't. I am centuries old, child," Pitch replied.
"And how old's centuries old?"
"Very old," Pitch answered her next question with a sigh. Perhaps too old. He was getting quite old at this. Hiding under beds, in closets, patiently waiting. It felt like he was. Even though he knew he wasn't capable of physically ageing, he couldn't but feel as though he were.
The girl surprisingly stayed up longer than Pitch thought she would. She even stopped shivering. Once the storm was over, the girl began to fall asleep. First, she sat back down on her bed. Then lay down. And then, with her eyes closing, she finally fell asleep. With a small smile of his own, he took the duvet that was left on the ground and pulled it over her.
"Goodnight," he murmured, although the child was already fast asleep. He would have given her a nightmare. He would have given each child here a nightmare. But he couldn't quite bring himself to it.
A/N - I wrote this piece quite a while back, therefore I am not entirely certain about its quality. It was originally meant to become a full story, but I chose to leave it here.