Hey I'm back again and this time with the sequel to Lingering Nights, people!

Sorry it took quite a bit to get this story going but with holidays and school it's been though. Still, I promised a sequel for the last story and here it is!

Enjoy!

Hush, hush… Do not be afraid… The boogeyman is not real… There is no need to cry… Hush now, little one…

Each and every night on the planet we all have known to call Earth, parents of children from all corners of Earth comfort and reassure there precious children that there is no monster lurking underneath the bed or in the closet. They tell them that there is no vampire outside there window, no crocodile hissing against the door that leads into their bedroom, but they mostly tell the child that there is no Boogeyman coming to give them nightmares.

The children have no choice but to escape their fear for the moment and believe what their mommies and daddies tell them just so that they wouldn't be afraid for the rest of the night.

To add to the nightly chain of events, the parents then remind their little ones of the Sandman who will come and banish the nightmares away with his sweet dreams. Perhaps they would speak of the Tooth Fairy if the child had lost a tooth that day, and that she would also fight to insure that the child received good dreams instead of lucid nightmares.

So now we get to the question of why?

Why did everyone reject him? The Boogeyman that is.

True, fear is not the most pleasant emotion to experience and especially for a child to experience true terror. Then again, not every spirit in the world could be the personification of sweet dreams, joyous hope, extravagant wonder, important memories, or rambunctious fun. The Boogeyman could not help his nature any more than the world's Guardians could.

It wasn't fair for him is nothing more than an understatement.

Of course, that was nothing new to Pitch Black. Most people had the nagging fear that life was not fair, and that the deck was stacked against them for the rest of their miserable existence. For some of them, it probably was.

More importantly, it just seemed as if no one was able to see that fear could truly protect the children of the world, more than toys or eggs or snow ever could. In fact, fear could protect a child far more in the child's entire lifetime than just the time they really believe in such things as the Guardians. That time of dreams and wonder can only last for so long before a child is forced to give it up and grow up.

Then there were children who will never give up their belief due to interaction with one Guardian or all of them. That child, Jamie, had spent a great deal of time with the Guardians but most of that time was with the Guardian of Fun, Jack Frost.

Now nothing is wrong with those children who refuse to give up their belief but there are lines to things and there is a natural order to how life is supposed to work. What if he had tried that sledding stunt through traffic without his precious Jack Frost there to safeguard him? The boy didn't even intend to do the little stunt in the first place but Jack Frost forced him into it! Surely the child would've stopped hanging around the white haired spirit but no, he continued to play around with him no matter how much danger he was placed in front of.

Apparently, for the boy there was nothing wrong with being afraid of things that could seriously hurt you as long as you were having fun. Oh how the definition of platitudes has fallen along with the human race.

No… no… there is nothing wrong… No one is there… There is nothing to fear... Hush now, little one… Hush…

Just try to imagine the human children of the world trying to buy those pretty, petty lies.

Then again, maybe the Boogeyman was not being fair in this situation against the Guardians. He of course knew of the tale of parents that knew how to use fear to guide children. "Come on, eat your broccoli, or else the Boogeyman will get you." was a rather popular way his name was spread around the world. Some people actually thought that this is how he came into existence.

Of course, Pitch Black, himself, could argue otherwise but he figured he'd only be wasting his time trying to explain anything to the human race.

In any case, it's not like he owed the shadows that had taken his old life and had crafted him any real favors. Always the bad guy, always to be hated, never believed. This was what he had always known and this was what he mainly lived by.

All of this was of course before that one day. That one day where Pitch Black decided to take a stroll into a random mall and terrorize the children shopping with their parents.

He showed up in a sulking mood and just kept thinking over and over again about how he was supposed to get his revenge against the Guardians. Not even the mentally scarred screams of children being chased by his shadowy Hell Hounds could cheer him up or even steer his attention.

Then there was one child who did not run but only sent a glare right back at the Hell Hound in the same manner that Pitch Black would stare down his enemy in a fight before making a tactical strike at the foe. This child actually had the audacity to stand against the Nightmare King himself.

"It seems as if everyone these days can stand up against me…" Pitch shook his head as he cast a glance over at the child.

Of course what happened after that and what happened when Sanderson showed up, Pitch had no way of knowing that any of that would've happened to him today. At the time, he merely pinned it as bad luck that seemed to strike out at him again.

However, as the Dark King held a small child within his arms he had no knowledge that this single child would bring to him the best of luck he would've ever received. A child who would bring to him not only peace but a vanished fear a loneliness, slight revenge, and more trouble than he had ever had to deal with when she wasn't in his life.

Now all Pitch Black had to do was try and live through the chain of events that would soon come raining down upon him and his little Guardian of Life.

One last question remains however…

Will Pitch, along with everyone else, come out alive?

Who knows…?

Some spirits might actually get left behind for Death to take their life away…

Who really knows…?

So the introduction is written and done and now we can get on with the next chapter. Well when I finish it that is.

Heh, so until it is posted I leave you readers to read over this one as much as you like and even add a review to it if you deem if worthy enough for one.

Till next time!