Author's Note:
I managed to write this chapter in about two hours. Surprisingly, I feel rather accomplished even as I write late at night. We're getting really close to the good action soon, so stay tuned!
Again, criticism is welcome and greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
STS
Chapter 4
"I heard everything, you know." Jamie stated matter-of-factly.
I rolled my eyes as I opened the blanket and laid it out on the floor. "Yeah right, kiddo." We were in the middle of making a pillow fort for the night, but we had to make it 'the fluffiest fort ever', of course. The two kids brought in every blanket and pillow in the house. Apparently, this wasn't going to be mediocre. This was going to be a grand display of plush architecture.
However, Jamie kept bothering me about my conversation with Jack. He kept on saying that "he had never looked so scared" and so on. I tried to keep him from dwelling on the subject, but he was persistent.
"I know it was about me and Sophie. I just know it."
"Jamie, can you hand me that pillow over there?" I asked him, trying to get him off track. He lowered his head and lollygagged to the other side of the room to get the pillow. I smiled. He's good.
When he came back, he raised his head. It was the facial expression I was expected. I was going to give him a retort for the excuse he would have, but it never came. He looked genuinely concerned. "Anna…what's he coming back for?"
"Who, kiddo?"
"Pitch." He said softly. "I asked the other kids and nobody got a visit from Pitch. Why does he want us?"
I knelt down on the floor so I could be at eye level with him. "Jamie, I have no idea what's going on. I know you're scared and to tell you the truth…" I paused. I didn't want to admit it, but I had to for his sake. "I am too. This is something new for me, all this magic business. But you know what?" He looked up at me hopefully. I smiled. "I'm going to do my best to make sure nothing happens."
Jamie paused. "But what if something does happen?"
"We've got…we've got Jack and the Gatekeepers."
"You mean Guardians."
"Right." I chuckled, messing his hair. "I'm still getting the hang of this."
Just then, Sophie came blundering into the living room, her blanket in tow. Her thumb was in her mouth and her eyes were drooping. "Movie." She mumbled.
I laughed and picked her up. Jamie followed me to the pillow fort as I set her down. Then I popped Tangled into the DVD player, since it was Sophie's favorite. Jamie claimed that he only liked the movie because of Flynn Rider, but I knew he was lying. It didn't take them long to fall asleep, for they were snoring by the time Rapunzel was free from her tower. Detangling myself from them was a challenge, but I eventually squeezed my way out. I made my way through the house until I got into the kitchen where I first met Jack. There was a bit of frost on the window. I smiled, putting my warm finger on the glass.
"You rang?"
I jumped from the window. Jack was floating outside, laughing at me. Although my heart was beating a million miles a minute, I managed to put my finger to my lips. He raised his eyebrows and nodded, copying my motion with his hand. I opened the kitchen window for him and he easily glided through the open space.
"You scared me, Jack! I could've woken them up!" I hissed.
"Sorry!" He replied, smiling.
"No, you're not. I know you better than that."
He chuckled. "You may know me, but not that well. You know me from what you've been told."
I nodded. "True, but the same applies to you about me, Frostbite."
"Whoa." He commented. "Getting fancy with the nicknames, aren't we?" I giggled so loudly that he shushed me, but that only made the both of us laugh harder. We tried so hard to stay quiet and, miraculously, it worked. After we had calmed down, there was moment of silence before Jack spoke up. "Can I ask you some questions?"
"Like what?"
"Well," Jack started as he levitated to sit on top of the kitchen table. "I only know the stuff that Jamie and Sophie tell me about you. Even the Guardians don't know you that well. The only thing I could get from North was that you've been on the Nice List your entire life."
"At least that's a plus." I commented. "What do you know so far?"
He thought for a moment, putting a slim finger to his lips. "Your name's Anna, you live here in Burgess, and you babysit those two." He pointed to the living room. "Other than that, I know nothing about you."
"Well…" I pondered. I wasn't too sure what I wanted to tell him. "I'm seventeen, I live with my parents down the street…and I'm an only child?" I shrugged. "I'm not that exciting."
"You haven't lived for that long." Jack stated, also shrugging. "Life gets more exciting the longer you live—well…if you're mortal." He gave a soft chuckle and looked out the window to the sky, but I could tell he was slightly upset.
"How…how long have you…who are you exactly?"
He looked back to me. "You want to know everything?" As I nodded, he sighed. "Well, here it goes."
He told me his entire story. His original name was Jack Overland, a nice, mischievous young fellow with brown hair and big brown eyes. As expected, he was a trickster and a playful spirit. The children of Burgess loved him, especially his sister. One day, he and his sister were ice skating on a frozen lake. The ice under his sister was cracking, but he managed to save her by using a game of hopscotch and a stick which would eventually become his staff. Although he saved his sister, he couldn't save himself. The ice broke from underneath him and he drowned in the cold water. However, the Man in the Moon saw how selfless and courageous he was and decided to make Jack a spirit. His skin paled, his hair turned snow white, and his eyes transformed into an icy blue. Jack was given the power over snow, ice, and wind. From that day onward, he was called Jack Frost.
"I've been Jack Frost for three hundred years." He said, smiling.
My eyes widened in amazement. "You don't look like it!"
"That's the cool part." He stated. "I have to live forever, but I don't have to have an old guy body like North. I'm stuck as a seventeen year old."
There was a moment of silence. I could only assume that he was letting me absorb the information I had just heard, and I was grateful. It was a lot to take in. I was still trying to believe the fact that he was real. After a moment, I finally gathered the courage to ask the question I had been dying to ask.
"What about Pitch? What can you tell me about Pitch?"
I could tell that Jack was going to have difficulty talking about the subject. He seemed a little perturbed. There was obviously some sort of personal amnesty between them. "I don't know as much as the others, especially North," He admitted. "But I can tell you what I know."
He launched another story. Earlier that year, Jack had been asked to become a Guardian. The reason for this was because the Man in the Moon saw that Pitch Black was coming back. The Guardians needed someone else to be on their team to help defeat him, and that person was Jack. Pitch was wanting to plunge the world back into the Dark Ages, a time period in which everything was pitch black and everyone was afraid. By doing this, he would also rid the world of the Guardians. He was succeeding at it as well. By taking the dream sand that the Sandman had created and making it into Nightmares, he could control a child's dream. One by one, Pitch made the light of hope go out of almost every child. Every child, that is, except for Jamie's. There was a giant final battle in which the children of Burgess and the Guardians fought against Pitch and his Nightmares. Pitch lost his battle and was dragged back into his lair by his own creations. Everyone thought he was gone…until now.
"I'm not sure what's going on now." Jack stated. "Even the other Guardians are confused. Nothing's come up on the globe—."
"What's the globe?" I asked.
"It's a giant globe of the earth, but it shows the light of every child." He declared. "Pitch has messed with it before, but there's been no sign of him messing it up whatsoever."
I thought for a moment, and came up with a realization. "Do you think Pitch wants revenge for his loss by getting Jamie? You said Jamie's light was the only one that didn't go out."
Jack scratched his head. "It would make sense. Then again, why involve Sophie?"
"I don't know." I grumbled, crossing my arms. "But if he gets near them, I'll give him nightmares."
"I like your bravery," Jack complimented. "But it won't be easy. Pitch is super powerful."
"I scared him the first time he came." I stated. "What makes you think I won't be able to handle him again?"
"One, that was one time. Two, you know who he is and he'll know you can see him. And three, he knows who you are and that you know us."
I froze in my chair. I could feel the muscles in my body tightening. Great. Just great. "So what am I supposed to do?!"
Jack slouched on the table. "I don't know, but I promise I'm here to help whenever I can." He stood up on the table and started levitating to leave, but I grabbed his ankle.
"Don't leave." I pleaded. "I can't do this on my own. I don't know what to do!"
He floated back down to the floor so that he could stand in front of me. Like last time, he hugged me tightly. "It's going to be okay."
"You keep telling me that!" I yelled. Jack quickly put his finger over his lips, shushing me. I forgot the kids were in the other room, so I lowered my voice. "How do I know it's going to be okay?"
"Because," He simply stated as he flew out the window. "You believe."
