Ok here we are! Chapter 2. Hopefully this turns out better than chapter 1. It's a slow moving story I know, but this is all off the top of my head so I'm trying hard.

Chapter 2:
The Long Way Home

"It's time for sleep, little one."

"But I know I'll see the Tooth fairy this time, mommy!"

"Honey, she won't come if you're awake."

The little girl pouted as she held her flashlight. Her mother smiled and tucked her into bed, kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight, Rosie." She said.

That man lay, passed out, on the living room floor. Nothing was new today. I quietly slipped on my boots and walked out the door. The sunlight reflected off the glittering snow that blanketed the ground. All around me were kids playing, making snowmen, forts, and having snowball fights. I missed the innocence of childhood. All the freedom I had, not worrying about anything except for homework. I may be a young adult, but I still held onto my childhood beliefs. Every Christmas I laid out a plate of cookies and milk for Santa Claus, awakening to find one small gift in their place. Every Easter I'd find painted eggs in the dried up flowerbed by my front door, and every night I wished for sweet dreams from the Sandman. I had no more baby teeth left to give to the tooth fairy, but I still believed she was there.

All of my childhood friends had grown up. They were more into boys, cars, make up, and slumber parties. When I refused to believe that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, and Tooth Fairy were just stories, they left me behind. I missed them greatly, but it was their choice to grow up and stop believing. I couldn't judge them for that.

As I walked past the children, a snowball struck the back of my head. I shook the snow out of my hair and turned towards them. They just stared at me, like they expected me to yell at them. I only smiled, a fake smile, and waved.

"Nice shot, kid." I said.

I didn't know which one threw it, but I wasn't going to be the one to ruin their fun. They all looked at each other and shrugged, getting back to their game. I continued walking.

I wasn't alone in the graveyard. There were other people who had lost dear family members. I passed by them, keeping my gaze forward. My destination was only a few steps away. I knelt down in front of the grey gravestone, not caring about the wet ground beneath me.

"I'm back." I said to the rock, "Just like I promised. Dad's getting worse. Every check we get from your life insurance goes to his drinking problem. I know it's not his fault, he just misses you so much and doesn't know how else to deal with it. He gets through his work day sober though, so I guess he's trying."

I sighed and put my hand on the cold stone.

"I miss you too, mom. I wish I could have helped you more."

I closed my eyes, remembering my mom's beautiful face. Her smile and her laugh. I always wanted to be just like her. When I had a nightmare, she would tell me stories to calm me down, and sing me to sleep. Some nights I would pretend to have a nightmare, just to hear her sing.

My fingers started to go numb from being on her gravestone. I tried to pull my hand off, but it was stuck. Frost had formed onto it, trapping my hand. I giggled at my stupidity.

"I guess Jack Frost wants to play tricks on me lately." I said.

I got my hand free from the frost, and warmed up my fingers.

"That's a story I haven't heard in a long time. The one about Jack Frost. How he fought the Bogey Man and saved the world from nightmares. Why did I ever forget about that story? It was always my favorite because of the adventure in it."

The winter cold started to affect me. I said my goodbyes to my mother's grave, and left the graveyard. Walking distance from here to my house was about two to three hours, depending on which way to you took. I didn't trust the streets at night, so I always took the local bus. It was already waiting there as I jogged up to the bus stop. Before the driver closed the door, I jumped in. I dug around in my pockets for some quarters, but they turned up empty. The driver shook his head at me.

"Please, my house is two hours away." I pleaded.

"Sorry kid. No bus fare, no ride." He said.

I sighed and stepped off the bus. The doors closed, and it left, leaving me on the side of the road. I looked at the setting sun; it's light disappearing, being replaced by the darkness of the new moon. Shoving my hands in my coat pockets, I started my long walk home.

People usually don't like to come out during winter nights, but some night owls didn't care about the cold. The drunks or gang members are usually the ones who are out and about at this time. I put my hood up as I saw a large group of people in front of me.

Please leave me alone. I thought.

Lucky for me, the group walked into the gas station they were standing outside of. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I turned down an alley way, a short cut that I discovered a few months ago. I had never gone through it before at night. It felt small and crowded. The only lights I had were small emergency lights that hung over fire escapes. A cold chill ran down my spice as a dark shadow passed the dim beams of light. I gulped and took a calming breath.

"It was just a stray animal." I said, "Nothing to worry about, Rose."

The shadow appeared across the light again, this time taking it out, along with some of the others. My heart pounded in my chest as, one by one, the lights went out. An evil cackle sounded all around me as the last emergency light went out, and I was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

I couldn't focus, it was hard to breathe, and my legs were locked into place. I stood stiff as a board as the cackle continued.

"Ohh, afraid of the dark are we?"

I started shaking.

"You poor thing, scared of such a simple thing."

The voice came closer, creeping up behind me. This time whispering in my ear.

"But what fun would life be without a little fear?"

A cold chill flew past my face. Not an evil chill, but one like the winter wind. It blew away the dark presence behind me and gave me strength to run away. And run I did. Adrenaline pushing me through the darkness and into the light filled streets. I ran the entire way home, never stopping to look back.

Jack held his staff against Pitch's neck, locking the Bogey Man against the brick wall. He laughed at the winter spirit.

"I thought you only protected children, Jack Frost." Pitch cackled.

"I thought you were buried away forever with your nightmares." Jack growled in response.

"Like I said twenty years ago, Jack. There will always be fear. And so long as that fear exists, I will never disappear."

Jack pushed his staff further into Pitch's neck, glaring at him.

"Why her?" He asked, "Out of all the people you could have gone after, why her?"

Pitch smirked.

"I could ask you the same question, Jack. Why her? Why protect a teenage girl instead of the children you love so dearly?"

The winter spirit stepped back from him, lowering his staff. He kept a wary gaze on the Bogey Man, wondering what he knew.

"You sense it too don't you?" He said, "There's not many like her in the world. The body of an adult, but the heart of a child. She still believes in the guardians. Well, almost, all of the guardians."

Jack shot a blast of frost at him, but Pitch disappeared in the shadows, his laugh echoing all around him. He kept a firm grip on his staff, looking every direction he could. The lights came back on, but Pitch was nowhere in sight. His dark presence had disappeared. Jack stood up straight, his staff hanging by his side. He had to warn the other guardians that Pitch was back, again. But first..

I paid no attention to my drunken father as I ran in the house. Slamming my door behind me, I finally took the time to catch my breath. My adrenaline rush had gone, leaving me tired, thirsty, and very weak. I took off my jacket, dropping it onto the floor. I turned on my bedside lamp, but didn't want to lie down on my bed. Instead, I sat in the corner of my room, my knees hugged to my chest. Nothing in that alley was real, there's no way. It was just my fear getting the better of me.

No matter how many times I said that to myself, I knew better. There was somebody in that alley with me, somebody who wanted to scare me, maybe even harm me, and that cool breeze…what had that been?

I heard my window creek open, l quickly looked up, expecting somebody to be there, but I saw nothing. I took a calming breath. It was just the wind. But something happened that I could not explain. A section of my window got frosted over and a message was written on it.

'Don't be afraid of the dark.'