Jamie sat at a bar, he wasn't drunk only because he wasn't of the legal age yet. All he was nursing was a coke and he was wishing it was spiked but of course the bartender knew better. The man was much older, but he had kind blue eyes and those eyes reminded him painfully of Jack. They'd fought. Jack had said he'd find a way for them to be together, but Jamie knew the truth. There was no way, no magic spell, no likely chance that Manny - as the Guardians called the Man in the Moon - would make him a spirit. With his death, came the end of the relationship and with that... Jack would have to live with a broken heart. Jamie sighed heavily.
"Problems?" The bartender asked, Jamie glanced over at the man. There seemed to be no one else around anymore, but even so he just shrugged. The man was a stranger and there was no way he'd believe that Jamie was in love with the personification of winter, let alone that said personification even existed.
"You could say that." He mumbled, staring down at his coke agian. He took a sip but he really wasn't thirsty. It was better than nothing though.
"Well, what could be bothering one such as you as to want to drink?" The man asked, his eyes glinting knowingly. Jamie just sighed, not noticing.
"I've muddled things so badly with a good friend of mine."
"Love troubles huh?" Jamie's eyes shot up towards the man in surprise. How had he... ? The man just chuckled.
"Thought so. I see a lot of that, especially with young people like you."
"I... I told my best friend I loved him. Even so... we, just can't be together and I know that when the time comes for me to die he'll still be here and it will just tear him apart."
"Hmmm, classic problem. Young man, there are many who go through this, but they find love again."
"I just... wish I could go back and change things... to... to save him from this pain by never meeting him." The man set down a glass he'd been drying with a towel.
"That so? You think things would be better do you?"
"Yeah... a lot better. He'd be better without me." Jamie replied sullenly.
"Well, I have something for you then. My own special blend, just don't tell anyone I gave it to you." Jamie raised his eyes from his coke again and watched as the man seemed to create something he'd never seen before behind the bar. The man was going to give him... alcohol? He wasn't going to tell anyone, if it meant drowning the pain in his chest he'd try just about anything now. The man set the white liquid before him. Jamie looked at the white liquid curiously before grabbing the cup and downing it in one gulp. Oh MAN was that nasty! He closed his eyes a moment; willing the taste away, he washed it down with a coke and then walked out into the cold when the coke was empty. He sighed quietly and wondered why it was that things seemed different. He swore there'd been snow everywhere when he'd been outside an hour ago... where did it go? It was still as cold as he remembered, so what had happened to the snow? Shrugging it off he headed home. He noticed the house was silent despite that there were lights on in every room. Why the heck were all the lights on? Why did a chill seem to run up his spine as he opened the door?
"Mom?"
"Jamie! Where have you been! Don't you remember the curfew?! Seriously young man, I don't want to lose you!" Jamie blinked, curfew? What the heck was his mother talking about? Why would there be a curfew for him? He was 18 years old and she'd never given him one, after all he'd spent plenty of nights out late with Jack and some of his friends so ... what the heck?
"I just lost track of time because of Jack."
"Who?" Jamie blinked then nearly mentally smacked himself. Right, she couldn't see Jack.
"Just a friend I met a few weeks ago mom."
"Well, you should tell your friend of yours about the city curfew. No one wants to be caught out after dark. You know it's no longer safe." Jamie blinked. No longer safe? What the heck did she mean?
"Mom?"
"Hmmm?"
"What... what's going on? I mean, you never leave all the lights on. You always get on me or Sophie for-" He stopped when he saw the sadness flicker in her eyes.
"Mom... please... tell me what's going on?" His mother hugged him.
"Oh Jamie, you still haven't gotten over her have you?"
"What?"
"Sophie... she disappeared years ago. I know we all wish she was still here with us... but." Jamie's eyes went wide when he saw the little memorial his mother had set up in the living room.
"What the..." He felt his heart clench. Sophie was... no, not his little sister... Unlit candles surrounded a photo of a girl who looked like she was no more than ten years old. What the hell was going on?! Confused and feeling hurt all of the sudden, Jamie pulled back from his mother and ran up stairs. He saw a newspaper on his bed, obviously the most recent edition and so many more filled his walls. Jamie paled, his eyes went wide as he read the headlines:
Children Missing From Homes
'Night Terror' Has Struck Again
Police Baffled
Number of Missing Risen to 2 Thousand
Oh gods... what had he done here? He didn't understand any of this. This had to be some sort of nightmare... Nightmare! That was it! Pitch! He combed his hands through his hair as he stared. Wait, if this was Pitch's doing then what about the Guardians? What had happened to them? Weren't they supposed to have kept Pitch from doing this? They were the Guardians of Childhood! Jack had told him so... So why did every article that talked about missing children span through the last eight years of his life? He felt like he was missing something crucial. Then one article caught his eye and he moved over to it:
Unexplained Darkness in Burgess
Easter morning in this town was non-existent as much as was the same around the world. In this little town, however, just the other day a darkness seemed to settle over this quaint town, scientists cannot explain it and it seemed to have vanished some time by mid morning. What is even more baffling is the destruction that was left in the town as if it had been ravaged by a tornado. Cars strewn about the place with windows blown out, several shops along a section of downtown Burgess were also missing windows. Nothing has been reported stolen, but merchandise from several stores was severely damaged and even several street lights and road signs were bent or completely knocked over. There was no real sign of a tornado or any other weather that could have done this, despite there being traces of water on nearly everything as well as various items having some sort of bright pigment dust on them. No one was out when this occurred and it seemed as if - miraculously - the entire town slept through this phenomenon.
The article went on, but Jamie sank to his knees when he saw the date. April 10th, 2012. Two days after he'd met Jack and the other Guardians. The article... he realized it was describing the night right after Easter... Pitch had attacked and Jack had proved his existence to Jamie, who'd begun to believe in him and had renewed his belief in the others. He and his friends had stopped Pitch. The horrible thought that struck him was that things had changed. A lot had. He'd wished that he hadn't met Jack, all to save his friend the pain and now, as he stared at the clipping before him, he realized his wish had come true. But at what cost? It was as if... oh gods... what HAD happened then? If Jamie hadn't been there to believe in Jack and the others... what about his friends? Cupcake? Pippa? Monty? Caleb? Jamie shuddered as he closed his eyes. Were they still around? Jamie didn't think that Pitch would ever kill anyone, but he was likely the one behind all this. Oh God... what have I done?! Jamie began to cry, slowly at first before he just began sobbing. Everything was so... so wrong! This wasn't supposed to happen! He hadn't meant things to be this way! Oh how foolish had he been? He'd forgotten how he'd been the one to rally his friends to believe in the Guardians, to renew their faith just as Jack had done for him and so that they would believe in Jack. When he got ahold of himself he suddenly wondered where Jack was. Would the winter spirit still be around?