THIS CHAPTER IS BASED ON A TRIPPY DREAM I HAD LAST NIGHT, THEREFORE IS IRRELEVANT AND RANDOM IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. I JUST THOUGHT IT SEEMED LEGIT IN MY MIND, SO I ALTERED SOME PARTS TO IT AND DECIDED TO POST IT : )

Author's Note: A really messed up dream I had last night… seriously, it was really bad. Sandy must be on vacation or something, cuz this dream was a doozy.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Because it was so hazy and unclear in my dream (and I have a hard time trying to thoroughly describe what I see in my sleep) this is revolved around simplicity. Idk why, but I can't go too into detail with my dreams because then it looses that ethereality that it has to it.

2. Is post-apocalyptic :D

3. Yes, in my dream there was the infamous JackRabbit pairing (idk i sorta like jackrabbit lol). They only suck face, I promise… it was really weird, because in that part of the dream I was Jack, so I woke up all like :| Ummm. Yeah. It was really weird. But pleasurable ;D

RATED M FOR: BLOOD, VOMIT, DISEMBODIED LIMBS, GRUESOME (BUT BRIEF) DESCRIPTIONS

Chapter Song: 24, By Jem (or Gem :\)

His small group of believers were wandering through the worst spot in town. It was off limits, and for a good reason he was sure, but he didn't know exactly why it was cut off from the rest of the city. All he knew was that it was a bad place to be.

You guys have to get out of here, he remembered frantically trying to get them to leave. It's dangerous here, he said. You have to leave, he said.

But they kept moving forward, Jamie laughing with his friends and waving his hand at Jack nonchalantly.

Look Jack, it's fine. He said to the winter spirit. We're just looking around, this place is cool, he said.

And Jack had to admit, yes, it was a pretty interesting place. It was upon a pristine hill, full of nice people, nice scenery… but his gut said that it wasn't. Jamie's watch struck midnight. He felt a horrible, unsettling sense of unease and anxiety beginning to well up inside him. No, it wasn't as it appeared. Things are never always as they seem.

Jamie, seriously. We have to leave, something doesn't feel right about this place.

Why are you so jumpy today, Jack? It's okay, nothing's gonna happen!

Jamie, please, I just don't want anything to happen to you! Now let's go before-

The bullet went straight through his chest. He tumbled backwards against the hard concrete, his head producing a sickening crack as it slammed into the ground. Not that it mattered, he was dead before his body hit the floor, and he rolled down the hill quite a ways before his corpse finally skid to a halt.

And no matter how many times they called his name, now matter how many times Jamie shook him by the shoulders, he wouldn't open his eyes. He wouldn't wake up. He wouldn't breathe in and hop to his feet to defend the kids from whoever was assaulting them from a distance. He didn't move. They firmly believed that he died. And they couldn't necessarily carry his body back to their house, it was too long a walk, and there were only three of them. He was out of their hands anyways. He was dead.

So they left him, tears flowing down their cheeks and running down the hill before they too tripped over their own feet and were sent tumbling downward. But they were able to get back on their feet and run from the shooters. Jack could not.

His believers firmly believed that he was dead, not knowing that spirits can never really die. And upon believing he was dead, their belief for him entirely had begun to fade, and his small handful believers were lost after Jamie spread the news to the rest. His body regenerated over a course of approximately three weeks, and when he woke up, he wasn't himself anymore.

What was a guardian with no believers?

An empty carcass.

I finally got on my feet and inspected my hands. They were scraped and cold. I couldn't remember anything except for telling Jamie to get out of here… Where was Jamie?

The moon looked down on me sullenly.

I'm terribly sorry Jack, but you're too late… The moon told me. I shuddered.

What? What do you mean too late? Without an answer, my first destination was Jamie's house. If he'd been hurt, I could never forgive myself. What kind of guardian would I be if I couldn't manage to protect my first believer? I flew to the school; it was daytime now, so he'd have to be there. I peeked through the window, only to see that school was not in session. The classrooms were empty, the white boards either bare or left mid-writing, as if they left in the middle of a lesson, the markers still lying on the ground. The dust gathering on the playground equipment told me that no one had been using them for quite a while now. Come to think of it, I didn't see any traffic when I flew over Burgess… what was going on?

I flew to Jamie's house, in high hopes that maybe the school had just been shut down and it was a Sunday or something. Living people didn't really do things on Sunday, right? Yeah. That had to be it. Jamie would be okay. If he wasn't...

When Jack finally reached the house, he fell to his knees, an overwhelming sense of weakness washing over him before he could come to grips that Jamie's house wasn't there. Literally. The house was gone, as were the neighboring houses, in their place thin planks were put up to act like walls abnormally perched in the rubble. Shakily, he took a step in the house.

From what he'd seen, absolutely no one was left in Burgess. It was desolate, as were the nearby towns he was sure. He hoped that Jamie was okay… Taking a fearful step forward, he turned his head to peek inside the first room.

Jack threw up.

There was abnormally long black hair covering the floor and hanging above the doorway, creating a sort of curtain that he was forced to part in order to see the room. Bloodied human scalps that looked to be peeled off their heads like scabs were plastered and stapled to the walls, and strewn across the room. Tongues, eyes, and human fingers were upon the scalps as well. Jack tumbled backwards before falling to his knees, uncontrollably retching and coughing.

Frostbite? a voice asked behind him.

I couldn't bring myself to turn around at first. My head pounded. My hands were doused with my own vomit, and to my stomach's demise, accidentally resting in someone else's pool of blood. Not really being able to control myself, I whimpered and vomited again. Not only because of the body parts scattered around me, but because I felt a great sense of instability within me… like I was broken, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about Jamie. Where was he? Was he okay? He's not among these parts and pieces, is he?

Finally, I drew in a shaky breath and looked over my shoulder.

Bunny stood there, bearing a look of concern before hopping towards me and helping me to my feet.

Jack, are you okay? he said. We been lookin all over for ya, mate. Why aren't you back at the Sanctuary?

I was going to say I have no idea what you're talking about, but the moment I opened my mouth, I sobbed. I showed him my bloodied hands.

Whose blood is this, Bunny? I cried. How did it get here? Why is there... I swallowed, unable to finish my sentence.

Even when he asked me Ya really don't know? and told me Stop ya bawlin, mate, lemme explain, I couldn't reply. I found that I could only sob.

Where's Jamie? I cried, my tears freezing on my cheeks as I gestured toward the missing house. His house is gone, Bunny! I cried. It's gone.

He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly, and all I could do was cry. I would've hugged back, but didn't want to mess up his fur coat, so I simply stood there. I was bawling so hard there was one point I couldn't breathe. Bunny tapped his foot on the ground and we were in the Warren. I didn't recognize it at first. It shrunk, it seemed, about the size of an average living room. It seems the rest of the underground haven collapsed in on itself, based off of the dirt walls and dying grass floor. Five of the continental tunnels were blocked. Not that it bothered Bunny; everyone was gone. There would be no need for Easter. (No doubt his believers disappeared still believing in him, explaining his full grown pooka form. I can't say the same for mine, though. It's like everyone disappeared off the face of the earth...including my believers...)

Bunny washed my hands in the muddy stream that once was his dye river and told me what happened. Pitch was trying to form a deal with Kali, he told me. Kali was the spirit of destruction and she didn't like picking sides, he told me. She lost it. She went berserk, he told me.

Why would she do that, Bunny? Are you saying… everyone's dead? I asked him, tears welling up in my eyes again.

Nah, mate. Just… gone.

How can they be just gone? Can she do that?

She's one of the most powerful spirits in the known universe, Jack. She's capable of just about anything. North and the others are trying to find her and talk with her to recreate what she destroyed. But ah don't think it'll go to well…

I shivered. Bunny… can spirits… die?

No... Wait. Why would ya ask sumthin like that, Jack?

I pointed to the hole in my hoodie, and upon seeing his confusion, I sighed and pulled it up to reveal the scar on my chest.

Crikey, what happened ta ya!?

I, uh… was walking with Jamie, and I think I got shot… I think that, he and my other believers think I'm dead… and because they're gone I can't show them otherwise… When you say gone, are they like… just nonexistent? They're not real? I just started crying. I couldn't help it. Even the idea of Jamie never existing - all of my believers just disappearing - just pushed me over the edge. I'm invisible again. Well, to everyone except Bunny. He took me in his arms again. I sobbed.

I don't know how long it's been. Bunny said that the others were making progress, saying that they had to form trust with Kali since Pitch had damn near destroyed it, and him and I had to try finding any other spirits and get their help. I can't remember when we became closer than friends, but I remember, when we were lying down trying to sleep and I told him I was afraid I'll get nightmares, he leaned over and kissed me. And I kissed back, burrowing into his fur compassionately. His lips pressed into mine with a gentle sort of ferocity, and I kept on pushing back, a little game to see who would break it first.

Intertwined in each other's arms made me feel better. It helped me to feel real.

Nothing ever got better. It stayed this way for almost two thousand years. Kali refused to resurrect the past reality. And things were left like this. No Jamie, no Cupcake or Sophie or anyone else... just emptiness...

But I have to say, with Bunny still here with me, telling me to keep my hopes up, I think I'm gonna be just fine.

Author's Note: Whelp. That's what I get for watching Pewds play Ju On The Grudge, watching I Am Legend, and obsessing over Rise of the Guardians all in one night. lol this almost made me puke (the scalp part, not the kissing lol). If this gets enough reviews and/or positive feedback, I'll make it its own post-apocalyptic RotG story : )

969~696