Jack stopped; he was wondering if she was talking to herself. She rarely did, though maybe she was questioning what was going on. He stood up again, putting his hand in his pocket. That must be it, he thought, or maybe-?
"I said who are you?" Emma asked again.
Jack suddenly clenched his fists. This was it. He knew it. He had made her believe in him. And to staple his point, Emma looked up at him, her green eyes finding his, and once again, she asked, "Who are you?"
Laughter bubbled out of him in a rush of excitement. "You can see me! I knew it; I knew I could get you to see me!"
Emma pressed her lips together and tilted her head, looking at him curiously, closely. "Have we met before?"
Jack stopped and looked at her, "No, well, not exactly. I've known you for a long- a long time; but you never knew I was here. At least I think you didn't."
Emma's eyebrows furrowed, "I feel like I know you."
Jack laughed and bounced on his feet, "You don't know how long I was waiting for you."
Emma stood up, dusting off the snow, "That's very nice, but you still haven't told me who you are."
Jack stopped and smiled at her, "I'm Jack Frost"
Emma had already thought this to be true, but it didn't seem right, "You don't look like Jack Frost."
"Well," he laughed, "I'm the actual Jack Frost, not some character in a book."
Emma crossed her arms, unsure of the stranger in front of her. "Well, Old Man, what did you want with me? Why have you been trying to talk to me so much?"
"Old Man?"
"Old Man Frost?" Emma said, "That's what they call you."
"I'm not an old man," Jack said, leaving out the fact he was over 300 years old.
"Well, you do have white hair." Emma said with a small smile.
A smile tugged at Jack's lips. "I finally get you to believe in me, and you call me an old man."
Emma left a laugh bubble up inside of her, and she turned to hide it. "So, Jack Frost, huh?"
"In the flesh." Jack said and waved his staff sending snow flurrying in the air to staple his point.
Emma reached out and touched the snow in the air, "Why the show to get my attention?"
Jack opened his mouth to respond; only to find out he didn't have an answer. He looked at Emma, who seemed flushed, and her eyes were wide with curiosity. Jack couldn't help but think she looked cute. To be honest, something drew him to her that day in the snow, looking at her with her hair loose and flying around her, feeling lost and small in the blizzard. Now that she was actually looking at him, he noticed how petite she was, how cute her features were when they crinkled and lit up.
"Are you evil?" she asked him.
"Evil? No. No way!" Jack laughed, "I'm one of the good guys. I'm a guardian."
"What's a guardian?" Emma asked, clasping her hands together. She felt awfully nervous around this strange magic boy.
"Well," he said, leaning against his staff, "We protect children from evil, from the darkness. We bring them joy, and protect the greatest aspects of childhood, like fun and memories."
Emma tilted her mouth to the side. That wasn't anything she had ever heard of before. She was very unsure of the things he told her. "I thought you were evil, and tried to freeze everyone. You cause blizzards, and colds. You make car crashes and people freeze to death, or slip on ice and get hurt."
Jack's nails dug into his hand and he bit his lip. "I don't do those things."
"You create the winter don't you?"
"I have power over the winter." Jack said, "But I don't hurt those people. I wouldn't hurt someone."
Emma tilted her head and looked at him. "I don't believe you."
Jack grunted in annoyance, "I stopped the blizzard when I found you in it!"
Emma blinked, Jack surprised her. Had he really been there when she was in the blizzard one year ago? She remembered thinking how strange it was everything suddenly slowed down. "You were there?"
Jack spread his arms wide motioning to the snow around him. "Look at this! Do you really think I would do this is I was evil? Come on."
Emma shifted her weight to her heels, and blew out a breath. Jack looked around in thought; suddenly he jumped up, "I can prove it, just come with me."
"What?" Emma asked, bewildered. "I'm not going with you."
"No, really, you'll like this, I promise." Jack smiled and held out his hand. "We don't have to go far. Just up."
"Up?" Emma asked, looking into the sky, very confused. "We can't go up."
"Sure we can." Jack said, "Just trust me."
Emma's shoulders tightened, she wasn't going to just run off with some guy she just met. She was smarter than that. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Jack's hand lowered. He looked up at the sky. He knew it would happen soon. He knew that Emma would think it was so beautiful, that if he would show her something like that he could prove he wasn't bad. "We can always go to your house. We can see it from your window."
Emma's eyebrows shot up. "You're not coming into my bedroom."
"What?" Jack asked, very confused. "Oh!" The light bulb went off, "No-no. I just- it's high up, you can see. I'd just stay outside. The roof might be best though."
Emma shook her head, this guy was crazy. "I don't think so."
Jack's hand clenched around his staff, it would be any minute now.
"I'm going to go home." Emma said, and turned away from him and started to walk away. "Goodnight Old Man."
"Emma wait!" Jack called. She stopped, looking over her shoulder. She thought for sure she knew him from somewhere but she couldn't place it. He even knew her name.
"Goodnight." She repeated, and headed home.
Emma sat in bed, she was so unsure of what had happened; she spent most of the night thinking about the situation. How could she see someone who wasn't even real? Was he real? She couldn't see him before, and now she could? The thoughts made her head hurt and made sleep evade her.
In the morning she made breakfast, and walked out the door. Thanks to Jack, there was a snow day, and Emma didn't have school. She felt like anything she would do outside would make her feel exposed, vulnerable. She was so used to walking, practicing archery, and spending time outside, that once she found out she was being watched the whole time, it made her feel uncomfortable. Would he show up at any minute? Why did he watch her? What did he want? Emma decided to walk a new route that day.
She made her way into the main area of town, where there were stores and cafes. She kept to herself, deep in thought, clearing her own mind. She couldn't shake the memory of his face. She knew him. She knew she knew him. She just didn't know where. She expected seeing Jack Frost would make her afraid, instead, she felt safe.
Emma took a deep breath and crossed the street, shoving her hands into her pockets. She thought maybe she would go to the café for a cup of coffee. She pushed the door open, causing the bell to jingle. She walked up to the counter and waited for someone to take her order. Once she finally got someone's attention she ordered a drink, and walked down to lean against the counter away from the register.
Emma wondered if she could trust Jack. Why did he want her to see him? Why was he waiting? Emma was so deep in thought she didn't notice the barista put her cup beside her. When she turned, she knocked her cup off the counter and spilled it all over the floor, "I'm sorry," she said to the barista, "I'll get it don't worry." She grabbed some towels and started cleaning up her mess. She was just about finished when she glanced up, and noticed him.
He was staring at her, glaring at her; his nostrils flared in anger. Emma thought she could see black waving shadows surrounding him. The blonde was with him, he had thought that Emma had caught him. Emma dropped the towels onto the bar and made a break for the door. She was walking quickly down the street when she heard the bell of the café door open. She didn't look behind her.
She heard the footsteps in the snow, approaching her quickly. She ran faster, and he picked up his pace. She rounded the corner of the block and started sprinting. But Freddie caught up to her, he was taller, his stride was longer, and soon he had in in his grasp.
"What are you doing here? Did you think you could catch me? Going to tell your mother?" He snarled, spitting in her face, "She won't believe you."
"Let go of me!" she shouted and jerked against his hold. His grip tightened.
"You've run from me too long. You're mine, I'll teach you not to spy on me." Freddie started dragging Emma towards an alleyway by the back of her jacket. Emma fought against him, but couldn't pull away. She suddenly stopped and calmly, quickly, took off her jacket and made a break for it. She had a few seconds before he noticed and gained his composure to go after her.
She was running as fast as she could, even with all her walking and cardio training, she knew she wouldn't be able to escape from him, unless he got tired fast; his legs were too long. She risked a glance over her shoulder; he was already gaining on her. Her eyes stung and watered as she turned to look ahead of her. She felt a stab of pain and closed her eyes, "Jack!" she called with all her strength, "Jack, help me!" She hoped wherever he was, he could hear her. He will come for me, she thought, He will come.
Freddie was only a few paces away now as Emma ran across the street, she felt tears streaming down her face, chancing another glance behind her, and she saw the darkness around Freddie throbbing around him. "Jack." She cried, "Please help me."
Freddie reached out a hand and grabbed her shirt. Emma tumbled to the ground; Freddie was on her in a blink of an eye. Emma beat on him with her fists, but she wasn't as strong as he was. He pulled his hand back in a fist. He's not coming, she thought, and she screamed as his fist came down.
