"What do you mean he's back?" Jack shouted at Bunnymund, who had delivered very unsettling news to both him and a now frightened Jamie who was holding onto Jack's hand.
Jack gave Jamie a reassuring smile, "come on buddy. You're not scared of him anymore, remember?"
Jamie gulped and smiled up at Jack, "yeah, you're right!" He lied, but still kept hold of Jack's hand.
"It came out of no where mate, one second I'm arranging the eggs and the next...black clouds are appearing all around me and it was a sure mess alright!" Bunnymund said.
"Well, how do you know it was Pitch?" Jack asked.
Bunnymund sighed, "Mate, you don't just feel a presence of darkness unless it's from the dark man himself. It could only be him."
Jack was still in denial. "It can't be! He should have been done for!"
"Well he's back now! And we need to find him before he finds..." Bunnymund stopped talking suddenly and glanced down at the tyke next to Jack.
"Uh..mate, you mind if we talk in private?"
Jamie looked startled. "Before he finds what?" His voice shook a little.
Bunnymund looked at Jack, "I think it's best the kid went inside..." He mumbled, hoping Jack would catch on soon.
"I don't want to go inside. I want to know." Jamie said.
Bunnymund sighed. "Alright fine! But mind you, you wont like it!"
"Well alright, here's what I saw after the black clouds had vanished. The eggs had all turned black, it was an awful sight mate..real awful...half my eggs black! I mean what child wants a black egg? Cranky, if I don't find that son of a-"
"Bunny!" Jack interrupted. "Back to the point..."
Bunnymund cleared his throat, "Right, well you see...the dark eggs soon began to move in an odd direction...they began to spell something out..."
"What did they spell?" Jack asked.
Bunnymund hesitated for a moment, "they spelled...Jamie."
Jack didn't have time to listen to Jamie react, he flew up to Jamie's room and picked up his staff he left on the floor.
When he flew back, Bunnymund was trying to comfort Jamie...but the look on Jamie's face told Jack he was going to need more reassuring than an easter bunny telling him not to worry.
"We need to meet with the others. We're going to find Pitch, I wont let him hurt Jamie." Jack's voice was clear and demanding, it left no room for arguing.
Jamie tugged on Jack's sleeve. "But you can't leave me!"
"We should have one of us watch over the kid while the rest of us look for Pitch." Bunnymund suggested.
"Or...I could come with you!" Jamie eagerly said.
"No way mate!" Bunnymund protested. "A human in our world...it's not happening."
"But my sister was there!" Jamie protested.
"Ah, that ankle biter got herself there on accident mate. You're not going."
Jamie looked to Jack for help, "come on Jack, please let me go with you! Please?"
Jack found it really hard to say no to the kid, and who knows, maybe Jamie would be safer surrounded by all the guardians instead of one.
"Fine, but you stay close to me, and no wondering off!"
Jamie smiled, "no problem!"
Bunnymund sighed heavily, "it's like every time I say something in goes in one ear and out the other!"
"Alright, take us there Bunny!"
Jamie smiled eagerly with excitement as he watched the bunny produce a hole in the ground.
Clenching Jack's hand, together they leaped into the ground...
Pitch walked in the dark forest, a black shadowy stallion walked calmly next to him. The sun was rising and Pitch hissed up at the sky.
"I was rather quite fond of sunlight as a little boy."
Pitch continued to talk the creature gliding next to him, though he knew it could not understand him, he did not care.
"I use to run across this forest as a young boy, it was quite fun actually...of course every sunny day ended with black clouds for me..."
Pitch stopped at a familiar tree and placed his gray hand on it. His yellow eyes grew wide for a second.
"This tree..." He quietly said.
His mind pondered through a painful memory...
"Julius! Julius! Come back! You know how father feels about us leaving home!"
The blonde haired boy ignored his old brother and continued running.
"I want to see the sunset Roy!" The boy eagerly shouted back at his brother as he continued running.
Roy sighed and followed his brother.
"There!" Julius gasped, stopping suddenly and having Roy run into him.
Julius stood next to the biggest tree in the forest and placed his hand on it.
He gazed into the sunlight, his blue eyes glowed brighter as he took in the beauty.
"I have not got a clue as to why you feel the need to do this every morning. Honestly, if father found out...you'd be in a bloody mess of things."
Julius ignored his older brother and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and sucked in the air, it was almost as if he was consuming the suns energy.
"I'm hoping it will help my nightmares." Julius finally said.
Roy laughed, "nothing can help your nightmares little brother, you've had them ever since..."
"Mother died." Julius finished.
The brothers stayed silent for a moment, both remembering the night their mother and father had been fighting when the boys had slept.
Their father was drunk and their mother was shouting and sobbing at the same time.
"You're always drinking! You don't spend enough time with the boys!" She had screamed.
Their father always liked to be in charge, he didn't like anyone standing up to him.
They heard the punches before the screams.
Julius covered his ears and looked over at his older brother.
"We need to help her!" Julius complained.
"No." Roy said. "She deserves it. It's not in a womens place to speak up to a man." He didn't look at his brother as he said those words.
Julius looked at his brother in disbelief and ran downstairs ignoring his brothers shouts of protest.
When he got to the living room he found his mother on the floor, her blond curly hair was red with blood from the gash on her forehead.
"Julius, my love.." She weakly got up and ran to her son.
She had barely enough time to hug him before the man was back and pulling her by her hair.
Julius screamed and charged forth, his little body barely made it to his mother and father before a hand grabbed onto his and yanked him back.
Roy gripped on his brother, ignoring his screams and fighting protest.
"Let me show you boys what happens when you do not obey me!" Their father shouted. He lifted their mother by her hair and smashed a wine bottle at her face.
Julius gasped and closed his eyes, he had stopped fighting in his brothers arms. Instead he was slightly sobbing and whimpering.
"Please stop...stop hurting her!" He begged.
"Hush." Roy whispered in his ear. "Hush or you shall be next."
Julius obeyed and kept quiet. His eyes were glaring at the mad man with no heart.
Finally, their mothers cries had turned to small whimpers...then to silence.
She lay on the ground, her face unrecognizable.
"Roy, take her to the forest and bury her. Have your brother help you." Their fathers voice was cold and bitter. He stood with his back turned to them.
"NOW!"
Roy carried theirs mothers legs, while Julius carried her head. It was hard but they managed to get her far away from their father and next to the biggest tree in the forest.
The boys dug in silence until sunset.
Roy rolled her body into the ground as if she were nothing.
"We should write something on the tree." Roy said. He took out his pocket knife and began carving.
Julius was silent, he was at a lost for words. Speaking seemed impossible for him now. He was only 6, he did not know how to react to such a brutal death.
A brutal death on the only one who loved him...his own mother.
Julius cleared his blurry eyes to see what had been carved on the tree.
"Here lies mother, our guardian angel."
"That was four years ago Julius. You are doomed to have nightmares forever now. They should have stopped a long time ago. Mine did." Roy said, placing his hand on their mothers tree.
"I have nightmares when I sleep..and when I woke up." Julius said, his hand clenched into a fist.
"When I'm a man, I shall have my way Roy! With you and father!"
Roy began to laugh.
Julius pushed his older brother hard.
"How could you Roy? How could you let father beat her to death!" His tiny fist began to beat his older brother.
Roy stepped back but didn't fight back.
"You were young and stupid, you did not know anything! You still don't!" He ran off, leaving Julius heaving and panting in fury.
Julius turned back to his mother's tree and placed his hand on the carving...
"JULIUS! You bloody fool! How dare you come here! I told you never to come here again!" Julius's father grabbed his son by his hair and dragged him back.
"But Roy was here too!"
He received a hard slap to his face.
"You're brother is not you! He listens and does what he is told! He is much better than you and would never disobey me! If you ever tell another lie about him again I shall do what I did to your mother only this time you wont be buried like her..instead I'll leave your body for the wolves and birds to pick on!"
Julius held back his anger as his father dragged him back to hell.
"I'm protected." Julius said.
"By who?" His father laughed and stopped dragging him by his hair.
"A guardian. Mother watches over me. Her spirit is in the sun."
He received a punch this time.
Pitch's nails dug into the tree.
Anger rushed through his body.
"Here lies mother, our guardian angel." He read out loud, his voice was sinister.
He spat at the tree and glared at the sun.
"You never really were a spirit in the sun. No, you never protected me from the things father did to me after you died...I was a fool to say that!"
Pitch walked away from the tree, black clouds surrounded him, his eyes burned with rage as he gave his creatures that now appeared around him orders, "Kill off every single tree here."
Pitch vanished, he did not care to see his mothers graveyard destroyed by darkness.
