Welcome to my first Rise of the Guardians story. This takes place a few months after the events of the movie. Hope you all enjoy it.
Reviews and constructive criticism are highly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, they belong to William Joyce and Dreamworks Pictures.
Glass Walls
Night had fallen over the quiet Pennsylvanian town of Burgess. A light flurry of snow was falling, dusting the already fallen snow that had covered the entire town for the past week, ensuring that there would be another snow day for the children of the small town.
Peering from his bedroom window, an eight year old boy with chocolate-coloured hair and round hazel eyes sat in front of the window sill watching the world outside, dressed in blood red pyjamas with a dark, patchwork blanket covering his shoulders in an attempt to keep warm. Jamie Bennett stared with excitement at the falling flakes. He knew the cold weather was the result of Jack Frost, the Guardian of Joy and his friend. It had only been a few months since the attack by Pitch Black and Jamie's ever-faithful belief in the Guardians which had resulted in him being the first human to see Jack, the latest addition to the Guardians. That memory was still clear in his mind. It had been the best moment of his life and not only had he seen Jack, but he had also properly met North (or Father Christmas to most people), the Easter rabbit, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy along with all of their helpers. Along with his friends, they had all helped to send Pitch Black back to where he belonged.
Following that fateful event, Jamie had worried that he would never get to see Jack or any of the Guardians again, but throughout the year, he had been delighted to find that Jack continued to visit, sometimes accompanied by the Tooth Fairy or a certain little fairy Jack referred to as Baby Tooth, though they usually visited at night time during their rounds to collect teeth. The Sandman, or Sandy as he found he liked to be called, had also dropped by for a visit once or twice whilst ensuring that the townspeople had peaceful, happy dreams. He had desperately wanted to see Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny again but Jack had told him that the two were too busy and while the young boy's heart had sunk, he knew that neither could drop what they were doing just to pay him a visit, especially Father Christmas since the festive season was only a few weeks away.
Jamie continued to stare out of the window. He still couldn't believe that the falling snow was all down to Jack. He couldn't understand how one person could be responsible for all of the cold and all of the snow across the world, but then again, he still couldn't fathom the idea of how Father Christmas was able to deliver millions of presents in one night. He had asked Jack this question a few times, but the Winter Spirit would only grin knowingly at him and tap his nose, saying that it was a secret – or magic. Of course it was magic. It couldn't possibly be anything else.
Placing his hand against the window, the young boy let out a sigh, his breath misting the glass. Even though he still saw Jack at least twice a week (more at the moment considering the constant snow) for awesome snowball fights and dare-devil sledging, he still missed the presence of his friend. What made it worse was the fact that because it was currently snowing, he knew that Jack was close by. He shook his head. Despite his young years, Jamie knew that he shouldn't be selfish. Jack had work. He was busy. He couldn't spend all of his time playing no matter how much Jamie wanted him to.
Behind him, he heard his bedroom door open. He quickly threw the dark blanket on his shoulders and over his head, sinking down to the ground, a smile adorning his face as quiet, light footsteps entered his room.
"Jamie?"
Right on time, Jamie thought to himself with a smirk, recognising the voice of his little sister, Sophie. Carefully peeking from under his blanket, he could see the three year old standing in the doorway, dressed in a pale blue long-sleeved pyjama top with blue and white checkered bottoms, her unruly blonde hair sticking out in all directions as she clutched her favourite teddy bear to her chest. Half of her hair covered one of her eyes but the other was darting around the room, looking for her brother.
"Jamie?" she called again, stepping further into the room.
Quietly and as stealthily as he could, Jamie crawled over to his bed, towards the lit lamp on his bedside table. He resisted the urge to laugh as he turned the lamp off, flooding the room with darkness, the only light coming from the window and the ajar door. He held a hand to his mouth to stifle his snigger as he heard Sophie gasp in shock.
"Jamie?" Her voice was fearful. Where was her big brother? She could barely see anything and clutched her teddy closer to her.
Keeping low to the ground, Jamie crept to the edge of his bed. "So-ph-ie," he hissed, drawing out her name in a voice barely recognisable as his own. "So-ph-ie."
Her eyes wide, Sophie trembled. She didn't like that voice. "J-Jamie?" She took a step closer to her brother's bed. It had to be Jamie. There couldn't be anyone else in the room, could there?
Watching her footsteps by peering under his bed, a thought suddenly clutched the eight year old's mind and he grinned wildly. Jack will definitely approve of this, he thought, lying on his front and pushing himself under his bed.
"J-Jamie, w-w-where are y-you?"
Sophie's back was to the bed as she looked around for him. This really was a perfect opportunity.
"Jamie isn't here anymore," the youngster hissed, once more resisting the urge to laugh as Sophie gasped loudly, spinning around. He had to admit that she was getting harder to scare. When he had first pretended to hide from her and hiss in a different voice, she had screamed and fled the room in tears. It seemed his sister was trying hard to be brave which was why this new idea of his was perfect. He was going to get her good.
"J-Jamie this n-n-not f-f-unny."
Smirking, Jamie reached out a grabbed Sophie's ankle, pulling her to the floor. "The Boogeyman's gonna eat you!" The child let out a scream of fear as she fell, her teddy falling from her hands.
"Mama!" Sophie screamed, tears cascading down her cheeks like a river. Her fingers scrapped at the carpet as she desperately tried to get away, Jamie trying to avoid her kicking feet. How was he supposed to explain a kick to the face?
"Uh oh." The boy gasped and quickly let go of his sister, pushing him out from under his bed, appearing on the side from which he had crawled. He was going to be in so much trouble if his mother found out he had been scaring Sophie again. "Shh, shh, Sophie." He quickly sat next to her, pulling her into his arms as he heard footsteps rush up the stairs.
The light to his bedroom was turned on, illuminating the room and momentarily blinding the boy. He blinked a couple of times before seeing his mother crouched down in front of them, a look of worry on her face.
"Sophie? Sophie what's wrong?" Mrs Bennett held out her arms and scooped up her daughter who was still sobbing uncontrollably. She looked around at Jamie, a questioning look in her eyes. "Jamie, what happened?"
"Uh, um… I think she had a bad dream," he stammered, not meeting his mother's gaze.
The elder Bennett didn't look convinced. She knew that over the past couple of months Jamie had taken to scary his sister with stories of Pitch Black, the Boogeyman. Caressing the back of her daughter's head in an effort to calm her, she spoke in a gentle voice, "Pitch Black doesn't exist, Sophie. Jamie just made him up to scare you."
Sophie's cries began to subside and with a stifling sob, she looked up at her mother. "B-but something under bed."
"Really?" Mrs Bennett peered back round her daughter, her eyes fixed on her eldest child.
"N-no, that must have been part of her dream," Jamie quickly replied, sensing how much trouble he was going to be in. "I was just watching the snow when I heard Sophie scream and come in here. Honest, mom."
Mrs Bennett still didn't look convinced. With a frown, she stood up, Sophie still in her arms. "I think I'll put Sophie to bed." She looked down at her son. "If I find out that you have been scaring her, then we'll be having big problems mister." She made to turn but Sophie cried, halting her in her tracks.
"Wanna stay wi' Jamie," the young child sobbed, turning in her mother's grasp and holding her hands out for her brother. She wanted to stay with him and make sure that he was still there.
"It's getting later, Sophie," Mrs Bennett replied. "You've had a scare and really should go back to bed."
"No! Wanna stay wi' Jamie!" She continued to squirm in her mother's grasp.
"Maybe she should stay with me for a bit, Mom," Jamie suggested. "She's still scared so I'll look after for a bit and put her to bed."
Mrs Bennett looked at him quizzically. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Jamie Bennett offering to look after his baby sister and put her to bed?" she mocked and Jamie nodded fiercely. But she wasn't convinced. "Okay mister, what's in it for you?"
Jamie held up his hands, his eyes wide with innocence as he tried to keep a straight face, a move he had learned from Jack in case he got into trouble. "Honest, Mom," he replied. "It's snowing which means tomorrow will be a snow day. There isn't anything else I want." That was true. Jamie lived for snow days. It was a day off school, after all, a day where he could spend from dusk until dawn throwing snowballs, building snowmen and sledging. It was his ideal world and nothing made him happier. Tormenting Sophie was a close second, not that he'd ever admit that.
Still frowning, Mrs Bennett placed Sophie on the floor and the youngster instantly ran over to her brother. "Fine, but make sure you put her to bed in half an hour."
Jamie raised a hand to his head, saluting his mother. "Roger," he said with a smile.
Laughing softly and shaking her head, Mrs Bennett left the two siblings and made her way back downstairs, leaving Jamie in charge of his sister.
With his mother out of the way, Jamie turned and jumped onto his bed, patting his blankets, beckoning Sophie to join him. The youngster shook her head, her unruly hair flying across her face.
"Come on, Soph. It's safe."
Sophie continued to shake her head. "Don't wanna. Something unner there." She pointed at the gap between the bed and floor.
Jamie shrugged his shoulders. "The Boogeyman's gotta live somewhere," he said nonchalantly.
Sophie's eyes snapped to her brother. "Mama says he don't es-ist."
Jamie snorted. "Of course he exists." Seeing that his sister still wasn't moving, he let out a sigh. "He won't hurt you though. He only goes after children who don't listen to their older siblings." He grinned slyly at her. "You better get up here quick Sophie."
Heeding his words and letting out a gasp of shock, the youngster ran across the room and jumped onto the bed, huddling next to her brother.
Jamie smiled. Even though she was becoming braver, she could still be so gullible, but that was a major perk of having a younger sister: she would believe anything that he said. Turning so that he was facing her, he patted her shoulder. "See Soph. The Boogeyman can't get you now."
Trembling slightly, the young child nodded. "But Mama say Boogeyman don't es-ist."
"Of course he does," Jamie happily once more told her, remember the incident a few short months ago, how he and his friends had helped Jack and the Guardians defeat Pitch Black. That event, along with being the first living person to be able to see, hear and believe in Jack was one of his most favourite memories. "Jack Frost, the Easter Bunny, Father Christmas, the Tooth Fairy, they all exist which means the Boogeyman exists too." He thought for a moment, wondering how many other spirits and mythological beings actually existed. Did all of them? He made a mental note to ask Jack next time he saw him.
Sophie shook her head once more. "But Mama say –"
"Mom just says that you won't get scared," Jamie replied, leaning over the edge of his bed and picking up the blanket he had discarded earlier. Draping it over his head and wrapping it around is body so that only his face could be barely seen, he leaned close to Sophie who leant back with round, fearful eyes. Her brother was scaring her. "But if you believe in the Boogeyman then he won't get you." He suddenly clapped his hands in front of her face, making her squeal and jump. Jamie laughed and chucked the blanket off himself, letting it land in a heap on the carpet once more. "But the Boogeyman's not scary, Soph." He thought back to when he had first encountered the illustrious Pitch Black. Back then the slim towering black-clad figure with greasy-looking black hair and yellow, pasty complexion had scared him at first – he was the Boogeyman after all, how could he have not been scared? – but all of the fear for him had disappeared the instant he knew that the Guardians were there to protect children like him from creatures such as the Boogeyman and the dark horses that had accompanied him. Knowing that there were beings like Jack and the Guardians who were ready to protect gave Jamie a sense of ease and relief, filling him with the knowledge that as long as there were beings to protect him, he had nothing to fear.
With a stretch, Jamie stood up, placing his feet on the carpet before reaching out for Sophie. "C'mon sis, we'd better get you to bed."
Sophie let out a yawn and allowed Jamie to pick her up. Carefully, the elder sibling carried his sister to her room, stopping half way so that she could pick the teddy bear she had dropped earlier in her fright, before placing her on her little bed, the bed that had once belonged to him. Once he had tucked her in, Jamie turned and stood in her doorway, ready to turn off the light.
"Ni' ni', Jamie," Sophie murmured, sleep beginning to overwhelm her.
Jamie smiled, knowing that the Sandman must be about. "Night, Soph," he replied. "Don't let the Boogeyman get you." He then turned off the light, flooding the room with darkness as he closed the door.
Sophie sat up, her eyes wide. She had listened to her brother's words. For the past few months he had been filling her head with stories about the Boogeyman and the Guardians, but despite Jamie saying that he wasn't scary, she couldn't stop images of a tall dark figure with lifeless eyes haunting her dreams. Unbeknownst, Jamie had teased her so much with his stories, hiding and distorted whispering that Sophie was sometimes too scared to go to sleep. She had an increasing dislike of the dark and every creak or bang would make her jump, her heart fluttering wildly in her little chest like a multitude of butterflies.
She heard a creak from the corner of her room and let out a gasp. The Boogeyman was in her room! She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there. Jamie had told her. Jamie had told her that the Boogeyman would always hide in the darkest areas, in corners, under beds, under cupboards, ready to strike out at unbelieving children.
There was another creak and she let out another gasp, spinning herself around. She wasn't afraid… she wasn't afraid.
The branches of the tree outside her window scrapped along the glass, like fingernails on a blackboard, and she cringed, trying to make herself as small as possible. Was that the Boogeyman outside her window, watching, ready to steal her away the minute she looked away? Was he clawing at her window, trying to get in?
Wrapping her small arms around her knees, the three year old gently rocked herself backwards and forwards. She want to call for her mother, but she knew her mother would tell her, as she had done countless times before, that she was being silly, that the Boogeyman didn't exist. But her mother didn't hear the things she heard or see the things she did and Jamie had told her that the Boogeyman was real and Jamie didn't lie.
If Jamie didn't lie, then all she had to do was believe in the Boogeyman. He couldn't hurt her then. The Boogeyman didn't go after children who believed in him, that's what Jamie had said and Jamie always told the truth.
Still rocking herself, she closed her eyes. The towering, black-robe imaging of the Boogeyman clouded her vision and she trembled. He was looking directly at her, his dark, hollow eyes fixed on her own. Around him was a swirling mass of black, some of which formed into snarling, neighing stallions, their eyes just as lifeless as their master's. Still trembling, the youngster swallowed, her voice quivering as she whispered, "I believe in the Boogeyman. I believe in the Boogeyman. I believe in the Boogeyman."
#
On the outskirts of the snow-clad town of Burgess sat a small forest, its towering cedar trees covered in a thick covering of snow, the green of the leaves barely visible. Past the snowy banks of the ice-covered pond and through a grove was a small clearing.
The clearing was silent. It was dark and gloomy, the silver moon casting a minute light on the area. No animals or birds could be heard. Nothing dared to venture to this area of the forest. Despite the vast size of the clearing, the area cast an eerie, cold feeling as if something evil loomed. If a being unknowingly stumbled upon the area, they would make a hasty retreat, feeling the presence of something that should not be spoken of, feeling as if something was watching them. The wildlife knew to stay clear.
"I believe in the Boogeyman."
The fearful, pleading whisper of a child's voice carried across the wind, through the trees and encircled the clearing, like a ghost searching for a home. The leaves on the further most branches of the surrounding trees appeared to shiver at the chill of the whisper that past them though no snow fell or movement could be seen.
There was a rumbling, the ground in the middle of clearing began to shake but the trees that outlined the area remained stoic and silent. The untouched snow began to crunch and give way, revealing the brown soil that lay beneath. The ground continued to tremble with increasing ferocity until a large crack appeared, stretching a meter wide, revealing a row of rotting wooden floorboards.
"I believe in the Boogeyman."
The voice echoed afresh as the ground began to give away, the crack increasing in diameter, revealing more of the rooting wood beneath which cracked, breaking apart to reveal a deep, dark crevice below. The stone and dirt surrounding the floorboards fell silently into the hole with pieces of debris.
"I believe in the Boogeyman."
A metallic framed bed complete with a ragged and holed brown blanket sprung from the ground, covering the hole and the ground ceased trembling as the child-like voice was carried away with the wind, scattering like the leaves of an autumn tree.
There was silence for the briefest of moments.
Then, from beneath the ground, a hollow laugh could be heard, increasing in volume, reverberating off of the stationary trees. From the crevice under the bed two sharp, yellow eyes appeared, staring out at the full silver moon, a menacing gleam in them.
The earth around the clearing stood eerily quiet.