Chapter Three

We spent hours that night ice skating, Jack doing tricks while I did my best to balance on my own without him. It was a lot of fun to just let loose and glide, even if I did slip a few times. Jack assured me that we would practice regularly and eventually I would be just as fast and graceful as him.

"Maybe we should tackle dancing next." Jack winked at me as we took a break, sitting on the log. I shook my head rigorously.

"There is no way you are ever going to get me to dance. I refuse to let you embarrass me like that." I stated. I tried it once before, in the comfort of my own room just like the figurines I conjured. Least to say I caused mass destruction on my poor furniture and everyone thought a tornado had blown through. I had to blame it all on a failed imagination projection.

"Come on, it's not that. It's probably easier than skating considering the fact that you don't have to balance on thin blades." Jack said, obviously trying to convince me. I rolled my eyes.

"How about I nail skating before you try to get me to embarrass myself some more? There's only one thing I can learn at a time." I laughed. He seemed appeased by that, but I knew he wouldn't forget this. Part of me didn't want him to.

Jack looked away from me, focusing his eyes on the frozen lake illuminated by the moonlight. It was beautiful when you took the time to really notice it. "You did really well today actually. And I'm not just talking about the skating. You handled your first believer really well. It'll only be a matter of time before you have a flock of kids around you, praising and adoring you, your tale shared by all."

I giggled a little bit. "Thank you. I was so excited that Crystal could see and hear me. The fact that she believed so easily gives me hope that others will be the same." I frowned a little, thinking. "But at the same time, I can't help but wonder what exactly they'll tell about me. Everyone knows how Jack Frost came to be, and Santa and the Sandman. I don't remember anything about my past. How will I have a story to tell?"

Jack thought for a moment. The only reason their tales made it was because people shared the epic backstory to explain how they came to be. People wanted explanations. It was like the backstory built up until the amazing moment that this ordinary human becomes something extraordinary. What could I tell them? That I lost my memories somehow while becoming a Guardian so they would just have to do without?

"Well, I found my backstory by getting my teeth and memories from Tooth. Maybe she can do the same for you? If you asked her nicely." Jack stated, trying to help. "If not, I'm sure we can do some digging around. It'll only be a matter of time before I decided to put a snow storm on the town that'll leave them busy for a few days. We can head to the Grand Library and see if we can find anything in their records. There's bound to be something."

The Grand Library was something new. Tooth had some memories transferred into books and files, Santa also had all his past lists from previous years stored neatly in there. It was all records of every human that ever lived on this earth and everything about them, even from the time the Guardians were humans. I wasn't sure why no one had shared my records with me yet, but I figured they wanted me to look when I was ready. If my records were anywhere, even a part of them, they had to be there.

"You're right. It should be simple enough to at least search. Thanks Jack." I gave him a grateful smile which he returned.

"There is something you should know in advance." His tone was suddenly serious as he looked me dead in the eye. "I thought I was ready to face my memories when I got them. You always think you're ready. But I wasn't actually once I saw them. You never know what your past entails so when you do find your records, be prepared for anything, even if its not that bad. I'm only saying this so you don't break down in the middle of the Library or Tooth's house."

I smiled at his concern. Even if we hadn't known each other long, he always looked out for my best interests. "Thank you Jack. I'll make sure I'm prepared for whatever my past life throws at me, good or bad." He smiled, the air around us lifting from that serious moment.

However, right as we were going to leave for the night, I saw a shadow dart from the side of my vision. I turned to look and see if it was just the shadow of a tree messing with my eyes. But the shadow stayed, in the shape of a person.

"Hey Jack. Do you see that over there?" I pointed where the shadow was and Jack looked over.

"Yeah, that is pretty weird. I'm going to take a closer look, make sure it isn't some burglar." Jack flew closer, giving a clear indication that I should stay behind. But it wasn't like anyone could see me so I followed Jack, a growing sense from within me telling me that this was a bad idea.

As we neared the shadow, which remained perfectly still, I got the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't just some illusion or burglar. But just as we neared the shadow it vanished.

"What the-" I started to say, but was interrupted by a very loud scream, a child's, coming from one of the nearby homes.

Instantly, Jack and I dashed to the house the scream came from. Jack made it there before I did. Luckily, it was only a one story home and the bedroom the scream came from was illuminated. We could hear whimpering and crying as we made our way closer to the room.

"Darling, it's alright, it was just a nightmare." A mother's soothing voice called. Soon, a father's spoke up.

"Nothing can hurt you, baby. Don't worry anymore, don't be scared, we are here."

I peaked inside the window, shades slightly drawn apart. The child couldn't be older than six, and he had adorable brown curly hair and huge blue eyes filled with tears. His mother was holding him close and running her fingers through his hair to calm him while his father checked every door and window to make sure it was secure and no one had tried to break in.

"But-but, there w-was a s-scary monster!" The child cried into his mother, clearly frightened half to death.

Jack and I looked at one another. He was floating not too far from me. Even though parents and older children didn't believe monsters were real like the Boogeyman and whatnot, we knew better. I used to not believe it myself, but being a Guardian, I had been on my fair share of monster hunts, ridding children of bad dreams. We had to make sure each place we left was clear of them so all children would be safe. We took every call like this very seriously.

"Oh Bryan darling, don't worry. Your father and I will check and make sure the monster is gone and he doesn't bother you ever again okay?" His mother said, and the boy nodded. The father proceeded to check the closet while the mother looked under the bed. Seeing the parents be so supportive and not shoot down their child made me smile. I always hated seeing parents telling their kids to suck it up and ignoring their needs. The last thing a kid needs after being genuinely scared to death is their own mother and father telling them their fears aren't real and not taken seriously.

It took them fifteen minutes to calm the boy down and clear out the room. They decided to take him to bed with them so he was "safer", turning off the light as the mother carried him to their room. Once they shut the door behind them and the other bedroom light was off I turned to Jack.

"Should we investigate?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'll look around out here. Why don't you go inside and see what you can find. I'll meet you inside when I'm done." Nodding, I walked through the wall into the boy's room. He had a space theme going on, glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and everything. Toys were everywhere and he even had a nightlight. I looked around to see if there were shadows around that could be mistaken for something or a creepy looking doll around but there was nothing. Just an ordinary boy's room.

Or so I thought. As I stood there in the dark, I felt a creeping sensation on me. Like someone was watching me. I looked around me for eyes or even a person but nothing was there, not even a mysterious shadow.

"Hello?" I called hesitantly. I prayed for no response.

I didn't get anything for a good minute or so. Thinking I was in the clear, I turned around to double check the bed area when the same shadow from before was in front of me, no longer a shadow but a dark mist of sorts with piercing red eyes. I jumped back, a scream lodged in my throat.

"Why hello." The mist replied, chuckling darkly. His voice was deep and raspy, sending chills down my spine.

"Who are you?" I asked, making sure my voice didn't waver. I didn't want to look like a scared little girl, even though I was.

"You're asking the wrong question my dear." The voice called, lunging for me. I covered my face with my hands, eyes closed, a small scream erupting from me. But instead of feeling something on me, wounding me, I felt someone grab me.

I instantly cried out, swatting at the figure, trying to imagine some kind of weapon to help me out. But two strong hands grabbed my wrists and when I opened my eyes I was met with Jack's face.

"Elsa? It's just me! Is everything alright?" Jack asked, worry filling his blue eyes. I took a few deep breaths before answering, looking around nervously.

"I was in here and-and nothing was around. I checked everything for something but there was nothing!" I rambled. "Then-then there was this dark mist, like the shadow we saw earlier but no longer a shadow. He had big red eyes and I swear Jack, it looked like he was coming for me." I kept looking around to make sure he wasn't there.

Jack pulled me into his cold chest, running his fingers through my hair in an attempt to calm me down. "Well he's gone now...it's going to be okay..." He sounded just like the parents trying to console their child earlier, except now I was the child and Jack the parent.

After a few minutes my mind settled, sure whatever was here before was gone. I pulled away from Jack, my breathing in order. "Jack, we need to tell the others about this. I think this one is a big monster." Jack nodded.

"We'll go first thing in the morning, but you need sleep first." Jack said seriously. "I'll call an emergency meeting once we get back to the North Pole." I nodded in agreement.

"And Jack?" I called as we left the house. He turned around to face me. "Yeah Elsie?"

"Thank you. For helping me." I didn't know how else to put it. He just gave me his signature goofy grin.

"Anytime Elsie."

And we walked back to the small abandoned cottage, the moon just starting to fall as morning promised to come soon.