Hiya!
Sorry for the delay. I've been really busy studying.
I want to thank leo silver, fluddershy, Snowflake, and a Guest for reviewing. Thank you!
Though, I would appreciate if guests assign themselves a name so I don't have to keep calling you "Guest"
:)
Read and Review
Pitch emerged from the shadows. "Lair, sweet lair!"
His nightmares looked to him as he practically pranced to them. There was a giant grin on his face, like the grin of a boy who had just received a large swirly lollipop. "You wouldn't believe what I found," he sang, spinning from horse to horse.
The nightmares neighed impatiently. Sandy hooves stomped the ground and yellow eyes glowed dangerously bright.
The King of Fear stopped at one of his horses and looked it in the eye. "Would you like to know what I found?" He didn't wait for a reply. His childish smile twisted into a sadistic smirk.
Pitch turned around to face the rest of the horses. He cackled, "What I found is selfless fear, the strongest fear of all fears."
His evil grin widened as his audience cheered.
"With this last douse of fear, not even the Guardians will be able to defeat me! No more children walking through me-"
Neigh!
"No more hiding under beds-"
Neigh!
"People will fear me!"
Neigh!
"And I will be unstoppable,-"
Neigh!
"Unbeatable,-"
Neigh!"
"Invinci-" Pitch stopped abruptly, the crowd still cheering. He tilted his head upwards towards the surface as if listening for something. He held up a hand and the nightmares suddenly became as silent as the darkness they thrived in.
A soft grumbling sound echoed through the cave. Pitch took a step towards it.
Snore-e-e-e!
The dark spirit smiled. "Looks like somebody's asleep."
"Please! You have to believe me!"
"Very funny, Jack. Give me a reason why I should," the town sheriff said.
"Because it's TRUE! I'm not joking, Sherriff John. Thomas Green really did kill my parents. Now he's after me and my sister. Please you have to help us." Jack looked straight into the older man's eyes and put both of his hands flat on the sheriff's desk. His eyes watered.
Sherriff John looked back. Sigh. "You expect me to believe that your girlfriend's father went crazy, killed your parents, and now wants to kill you for dating his daughter?"
"Well, yeah. You have to admit, the grumpy old fart has a loose screw somewhere in that little brain of his..." Immediately after the last words fell from his mouth, he mentally facepalmed. Those probably weren't the right words to say.
...
...
The older man leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "You can't fool me. I'm wise enough to know when I'm being tricked.
"It's not a-"
"Now get out of here before I throw you in jail for interrupting the peace in this town." Despite the fact that he was sitting down, the older man towered over Jack, eyes narrowed.
"What? Interrupting the peace? That's crazy! There's a mad man out there-"
Sherriff John stood up, obviously annoyed. "Jackson Overland Frost, you are nothing but a trickster and a liar. Out of all your tricks, this one is the most ridiculous."
Jack opened his mouth to protest but the sheriff wasn't finished yet.
"You misbehave during festivals, you pull pranks on people, last year you tipped the Christmas tree so that it fell on a house-"
"That wasn't me!" The boy was ignored.
"-you break the rules, you disrespect your elders... Heck, I don't even know why your parents even kept you." The two males stared at each other. One pair of eyes were filled with annoyance and triumph while the other were filled with shock and doubt.
Jack's mouth hung open. He closed and opened it repeatedly but words wouldn't come out.
"Now," the sheriff slammed the table, "go take your tricks somewhere else."
The boy set his jaw and clenched his fists, "Fine, if you won't help me, I'll find someone else who will."
Sherriff John sneered. "Good luck with that," he said.
The only reply he got was the slamming of the door.
Meanwhile...
"So you're the murderer I've been hearing about," Pitch said with glee.
Thomas Green, the sleeping man below him snored on. His hair was unkempt and his facial hair was filled with sticks and leaves. Heck, it could've been a bird's nest. Scratches covered his face and some blood seeped through them.
"I've heard a lot about you, Thomas," he continued, "Did you know the people in town think you're a crazy lunatic?" Though he received no answer, he kept talking, like a wolf spying on an unsuspecting prey, able to strike with quickness and ferocity at anytime.
"The children are afraid of you; and it's a miracle that the adults aren't. The children dream that you're a vampire and might one day come out to kill them. Chuckle. Those sweet nightmares always make me laugh. There was this one girl who dreamt that you were a blood covered demon that dragged her down into the pits of hell. I had a field day with that nightmare. Do you want to know who dreamt that dream?"
Pitch received no reply.
"It was your daughter, Luna. It's such a shame her nightmares aren't as strong anymore ever since that stupid Frost boy promised, 'It's okay, Luna, I won't let your father hurt you.'" Pitch mocked Jack Frost with a sneer. "If it wasn't for him, I would've already been the most powerful spirit of all."
He stopped, as if realizing something. "But you don't like that boy either, do you? You want him dead." He kneeled down to the old man and touched his cheek, nightmare sand moving from his hand into one of the largest cuts.
The man fidgeted in his sleep but didn't wake. The nightmare sand could been seen spreading through the body in dark lumps, like ink. He whimpered.
"Don't fret," the spirit soothed, still pumping sand into the cuts, "With time, we both will get what we want." More nightmare sand entered the body. Pitch withdrew his hand when he began to feel weak. When he turned something into a fearling, he had to use up a lot of precious nightmare sand. But he had a feeling that this was worth it.
Within several seconds, the veins turned black. And within several minutes the skin turned gray.
Feeling woozy, Pitch stood up. "Rest now while I go and spread more fear."
Jack walked back to his hiding place, making sure nobody followed him. He hated stealing, but all of his money was back at his house in the middle of the woods.
"Hey, Emma, I got you some food." He held out a chicken leg.
Emma made no move to grab it. "You didn't steal it did you?"
"What? Of course not," he lied, shoving the food at her.
She looked at him with doubt but the sweet aroma was too much and her stomach growled from not eating all day. She cautiously grabbed the leg and took a bite. "Hmmm..." Her stomach growled in delight.
They sat there.
Jack looked over at his sister. She stared at her food, her eyes distanced and lost in thought. "Hey, Em," he said. When she didn't respond, he tried again. "Hello? Em? Anyone home?" He nudged her and waved a hand in front of her face.
Finally, the little girl seemed to awake. "Huh? What happened?"
Her brother's eyebrows furrowed. "You spaced out there for a second. What are you thinking about?"
"Oh, nothing. Just the usual girl stuff."
"Are you sure?" Jack persisted. "You can tell me anything, ya know."
"Seriously, it's nothing."
"Hmmm... okaaaay then..."
They continued to eat in silence.
Emma fidgeted. She snuggled closer to the older boy. He, in turn, snuggled her back, sharing his body heat. Pressing her ear against his chest, she listened to the soft thump of his heart. She didn't know what she would do without it. "Jack?"
"Yes, Emma?" Jack replied.
"Do you think Crazy Man Thomas is going to get us?"
Jack fumbled and almost dropped his chicken . "What?"
"Do you think Crazy Old Man Thomas is going to get us?"
"Of course not. Rest assured, that crazy fart isn't going to get us. Do you want to know why?"
"Why?"
"Because that Crazy-Old-Fart farts a lot."
You might be wondering why I've been focusing most of the attention on Pitch and his weirdly happy demeanor...
The answer is...I have no idea... :)
Don't worry, the Guardians are coming soon!
Reviews make me happy! :)