Alright! Third Chapter! A shout out to vixen1991 for reviewing again! I totally appreciate it, and to Evil Ed 666 thanks for the review as well and yes just to make it clear for anybody who didn't know this is a heterosexual pairing! By the way I don't own anything and I'm still in the never ending search for a beta!
She was going to be lucky if Ms. Bennett didn't fire her. On top of her roommate hogging the bathroom, and her car's dead battery, she was going to be late. She was never late; Ellie took pride in the fact that she was always punctual.
Ellie was finally on the street that the Bennett's lived on and quickly ran up the porch stairs and knocked on the door. As soon as Ms. Bennett opened the door, Ellie began apologizing profusely.
"I'm so sorry Ms. Bennett my car wouldn't start and my roommate doesn't have a car and…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The older woman put her hand up to stop the young girl's apology. "It's okay, you were bound to be late one time or another." Ms. Bennett said giving Ellie a comforting smile. "Now come on in, Jamie and Sophie are in the living room watching TV." Ellie made her way inside and greeted Jamie and Sophie.
How Ellie lucked out and got this babysitting gig she didn't know, but she was thankful for it. Jamie and Sophie were awesome kids and the only one she had to really entertain was Sophie since half the time Jamie would go off with the other kids in the neighborhood.
Ellie sat curled up on the couch as she joined kids watching their Saturday morning cartoons.
"Alright kids I'm off!" Ms. Bennett kissed each of her children on the top of their heads goodbye, "Be good for Ellie or there will be consequences." She warned, but the children of coursed reassured her they would be good as she was finally out the door and off to the diner that she worked at on the weekends.
Ellie was really lucky being able to babysit for the Bennett's on the weekends. Ms. Bennett paid decent enough that she had a little bit of pocket change on the weekend and as long as the kids were entertained or when Sophie was taking a nap she could catch up on her studies.
Ellie cleared her throat as the current cartoon they were watching came to an end, "Okay kids, what's the plan for today?"
"Can we go to the park? I was going to meet my friends today for a snowball fight." Jamie asked picking up his and Sophie's cereal bowls from the floor and putting them in the sink.
"Park, park, park!" Sophie chimed in as she got up and began putting on her jacket, and snow boots.
Ellie let out laugh, "The park it is then."
Ellie quickly got the kids ready and made sure they were snug and warm before they began their walk to the park. It didn't take long and when they did make it there they were quickly barraged with snowballs by Jamie's friends and Ellie had no problem with joining in on the fun and fought back with just as much force as the kids.
It wasn't long though before Ellie was out of breath from running around and dodging the many snowballs that headed her way. She grabbed Sophie's hand and took her to a nearby bench so the both of them could have a breather. Jamie ran over to his babysitter and his sister, "Tired already?" He laughed at them out of breath. Ellie just nodded as she was getting her breath, and heard the girl, Pippa, yell over at Jamie, "Jamie, where has Jack been lately?"
Ellie looked up at Jamie in confusion. She had never heard of a kid named Jack. Ellie was pretty familiar with all of Jamie's friends but this is the first time she had heard of anyone named Jack. "Jack? Who's Jack, Jamie?"
"Jack Frost of course!"
"He's real?" Ellie looked at him in bewilderment.
"Yeah, the next time he comes into town I'll have to introduce you!"
"You're talking about the real Jack Frost. The one that nips at your nose?" Ellie asked in wonderment.
"Of course, who else?"
"You met him?"
"Yeah, last year." Jamie and the rest of the kids then began to tell Ellie the story of how Pitch Black had tried to destroy their beliefs in the Guardians. Ellie listened to Jamie enraptured. She couldn't believe that these kids got to meet Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy!
Jamie was confused as he watched Ellie's reaction as he told his story of what happened over a year ago. To be honest, this wasn't the reaction he was expecting. It was like she actually believed him and that wasn't something he expected from the eighteen-year-old.
"Do you really believe in the Guardians?" Pippa finally asked Ellie.
"Of course I do!" Ellie took in the surprised expressions around her. "Is that bad?"
"No way!" Monty chimed in as he pushed his glasses up from the tip of his nose. "It's just that…"
"We've never really expected an adult to believe in them." Cupcake finished for him. Ellie just nodded in understanding, "Well believe it. This girl believes in the guardians." She said smiling at the children surrounding to her.
While the normal young adult would didn't take the kids and their story seriously. Ellie was different. She knew Jamie wasn't a liar and when he did lie, she knew what to look for. One specific sign was that he wouldn't look her in the eye.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. The rest of the day was filled with coloring and games of pretend with Sophie while Jamie spent time with his friends but arrived home just in time for an afternoon snack were Ellie made her world famous Puppy Chow. The trio sat at the kitchen table happily eating the sugary snack when Jamie asked "Will you tell us a story before you leave Ellie?"
"Please, please, please!" Sophie looked up at her with her big green eyes.
"Of course, of course! What story would you like to hear? "
If there was one thing that Ellie was good at it. It was story telling. Well that and drawing, but she loved telling the kids stories. Weather it was something she completely made up or one of the classics or a combination of both; she loved telling stories and transporting herself and her audience into another world.
"Peter Pan!" Sophie shouted out.
So Ellie began telling the daring story of Peter Pan. She narrated the whole entire story, changing her voice to match the different characters, using big arm movements and gestures to get them more into the story and even sometimes making Jamie and Sophie act out some of the more exciting parts with her, but sadly they couldn't finish the story in time because the children's mother got home promptly at 5:15.
Ellie said goodbye to the kids, got her money, and began the walk back to her apartment. It wasn't a long walk, but it would've been easier if she had her car.
Ellie was very happy that when she got back to her apartment there was no one there. As much as she loved her roommate she was still kind of mad that she hogged the bathroom this morning.
"Guess she's out for the evening." Ellie mumbled to herself but she spoke to soon as a girl with short blonde hair busted through the door carrying groceries.
"Lily!" Ellie exclaimed as she rushed to help the shorter girl with grocery bags that were about to tumble out of her arms. "Why didn't you tell me you were going grocery shopping today?"
"Because these aren't groceries per say. This is just the stuff for the dinner I'm making tonight for me and Michael." The blonde explained as she started emptying the bags on the counter.
"You didn't tell me Michael was coming over." Ellie said dumbfounded and a little irritated.
"I know, because it's last minute, so I need you to let me have the apartment for the evening pretty please!" Lily finally turned around to face her with hands clasped in front of her face, begging the brunette to let her have some alone time with her boyfriend.
"Fine." Ellie let out an exasperated sigh, "I need to go to the library to study for an exam anyway." The short blonde let out an excited squeal as she threw her arms around her best friend in a hug.
As much as she loved Lily, and she had some flaws that Ellie couldn't stand such as making last minute plans that involved kicking her out of her own apartment and hogging the bathroom at the worst moments, she loved her anyway, and could deal with it. She guessed that's why their friendship survived since the seventh grade.
Ellie swiftly stuffed the books that she needed and her laptop into her bag and made her way to the library.
Burgess College was a small private college, which was Ellie had chosen it. She liked small and not to mention it was as far away from her town as she could get. The college had a great English program and once she was done getting her bachelor's degree she was even considering getting her master's somewhere else.
The library was pretty much empty when she got there except for the occasional librarian and student worker. Ellie made her way upstairs to where it was required to be quiet and found her usual spot in the corner and quickly got to work.
After Tsar Lunar made the announcement on whom Crom was after, the guardians and Pitch quickly got to work to locate the girl. Luckily it wasn't that hard because for some reason the girl's name stuck out in North's mind. The large man quickly headed for the elevator with the rest of the guardians and Pitch in tow. North quickly ordered the yeti to take them down to the basement.
The basement of North's workshop was huge, and went several stories below ground and filled with nothing but filing cabinets lining the walls.
"What is this?" Jack asked as he watched some of the yetis taking files either altering them, and putting new ones in.
"I keep track of every child and every gift I have ever given them." North explained as he began walking towards one of the yetis.
"Eleanor Hines. Bring me the child's file." North ordered the yeti and he quickly went to work finding the file.
"Why do you keep a file of every child mate?" Bunnymund questioned as he opened the closest filing drawer and was surprised at it came out at a length that wasn't normal at all. It had to come out at least five feet if Pitch had to guess. The guardians looked as they saw that the whole drawer was filled with every child with a last name that began with an "a."
"I have my reasons." North answered vaguely as he pulled one of the files out at random and began reminiscing as he read what the child had asked for, for different Christmases.
"How is this place organized?" Pitch probed, interrupting North from his memories.
"Every file is organized, by last name, and by where they live. The yetis down here are constantly updating and rearranging." North answered putting the file back in its rightful place and began walking toward where the group saw the yeti run off.
"Ever considered making everything electronic?" Jack laughed as he continued to glance at all the filing cabinets and saw that they were still in the "a" section.
"Eh. We're working on it." North said shrugging.
It wasn't too long before the yeti returned to them and carrying Eleanor's file. North quickly took it and opened it, and put a hand to his chin, rubbing it in thought.
"Now I know why this girl's name stuck out." He finally said as he finished reading her file. North looked up at Pitch. "How are you tied this girl?" North finally asked the question that was on the other guardians' mind, except save for the Sandman.
Pitch was silent; he didn't want to tell the guardians anything. It wasn't that not only it would make him seem soft, but also he kept quiet about it for a reason. The only reason that Sanderson knew about the girl was because he had gone to see him once on the girl's behalf many years ago. Pitch lucked out though as the oldest guardian spoke up for him as he communicated through his pictograms saying that they didn't have time for stories and that time was of the essence.
North decided to let it go, but the Sandman suffered from complaints from Bunnymand and the guardian of fun, while Tooth fluttered by silently before speaking up.
"Pitch will tell us when the time comes." Tooth said as she calmed the Pooka and the winter sprite down.
Pitch was thankful for both the Tooth Fairy and Sanderson for speaking up on his behalf, but it would be a many of a hundred years before he told either one of them that.
"I think you should take a look at her file." North finally said handing the Nightmare King Eleanor's file.
Pitch read the file. He supposed it was normal until he finally got to a Christmas when she was eleven, she asked for a specific stuffed elephant. One that Pitch remembered that she had since she was four, but then she asked for that same elephant the next Christmas, and the next, and the next, even till she was seventeen. Pitch kept reading and saw that she still wanted the same elephant for this Christmas as well, and Christmas wasn't that far away.
Pitch was about to close the file until he saw the letters that she wrote to North, he was about to read it, but North stopped him.
"Save that for another time. We must go and get the girl."
Pitch just nodded in agreement, still confused over the girl's Christmas wishes, but he decided to put in the back of his mind as he handed Eleanor's file back to North, who in return handed back to the yeti.
"She moved from her hometown." Pitch said finally speaking, "She's in Burgress."
"Maybe Jamie will know her!" The guardian of fun exclaimed, excited that he would get to see his young friend again.
"We will go now." North commanded as he led them to his sleigh, much to Bunnymund's protests.
"Scared Pooka?" The Nightmare King snickered, relishing in the Easter Bunny's fear, but the guardian of hope just glared at him as they got settled in North's sleigh. They didn't have to wait long as they were off and going through one of North's snow globe portals.
So I hope everyone liked the chapter! Review if you so desire and if you don't I hope you at least liked the chapter and if you didn't please offer on how I could've made it better and what not. Thank you all for reading!
