This chapter is not for those with a weak stomach. The topic for this chapter kind of got away from me so if you at any time want to stop reading, please do so. If you have enjoyed the story so far, but think you should stop after this chapter please know that I do not plan on any chapters like this one, but if one does pop up know that I will warn you!
So sorry for the long wait, but I have had a horrendous week with missing my sister and things and such.
Jack flew through the air with a smile on his face. Him and Bunny were an actual item! He imagined what would happen when he got home. Maybe Bunny was making his favorite which just so happened to be vegetable soup. He was still astounded that something with only vegetables had so much flavor! Maybe it was just how Bunny made it...
A line of black sand hit Jack in the chest, pushing him off course making him hit a tree none too softly. Jack groaned as he hit the ground with a loud thud. He sat up and rubbed his head. Before he could take inventory of his injuries he heard a dark chuckle. "Pitch?" Jack asked, standing up weakly, favoring one ankle over the other.
"Of course Jackson." the cold British voice said from all around him.
"What do you want?!"
Pitch materialized in front of him. "You." he snarled.
"In what sense?" Jack gulped.
Pitch just chuckled then grabbed Jack by his throat. "I will own you Jack. I will break you."
Fear shot through Jack's veins and he tried to get away. "Let me go!" he choked as Pitch's hand tightened around his neck, effectively silencing him.
Darkness flooded Jack's senses and the next thing he knew he was in a cage built into a cave wall. Pitch stood in front of him with a dark smile. "What do you think Jack?"
Jack looked up at Pitch in horror. "Please Pitch. Don't do this."
"Why do they always beg?" Pitch murmured to himself.
Suddenly Jack was thrown against the cave wall with shadows keeping him there. Jack gasped in pain as the rocks dug into his spine.
"You are going to stay there." Pitch snarled, then he hammered a nail into Jack's palms and wrists. The large nails kept him there quite well. A soft memory of praying with his family was pulled from his mind and he could smile at the irony. As a human he'd never believed that someone would actually nail someone to a wooden cross... Well, Pitch got the nails right. Hysteria nearly made Jack laugh, but he kept it in. He couldn't lose his self-control. Pitch wanted a reaction and there was no way Jack was gonna give him one.
Pitch vanished, leaving Jack in the dark with his blood pooling in his curved palms and dripping onto the floor. Only then did Jack let himself cry. He gasped for air and cried until there was no possible way his body could produce then he looked up at the black ceiling and made a heartfelt promise. "I'll come back to you Bunny. I promise." he whispered.
In his sleep Jack tossed and turned as another memory surfaced...
Pitch appeared out of no where and slid a knife down his arm. "Scream Jackie. No one will hear you. No one but me."
Jack sank his teeth into his bottom lip and took deep breaths through his nose, fighting the need to scream.
Pitch growled furiously and jammed his fingers inside the cut and pulled at Jack's skin, effectively ripping it off his body.
Jack screamed only to have the clump of skin with bits of flesh clinging to it shoved into his mouth.
"Swallow." Pitch hissed in the boy's ear.
Jack gagged as he was forced to swallow his own skin. Blood escaped from his horrid wound and bubbled at the corner of his mouth.
Over and over Pitch did this until the boy barely had any skin on his body. Pitch vanished, leaving a gag made of thick rubber in Jack's mouth so that if he vomited it would stay in his mouth.
Jack sobbed and begged for death, but she never came for him. He stood alone with his limbs still nailed to the stone wall. The salty tears filled the hole in his right cheek where Pitch had torn all the flesh and all the skin away from the bone.
Jack whimpered lightly, tears sliding down his cheeks.
As Jack hung there with his limbs nailed to the stone and blood dripping down his raw body. His skin was slowly growing back and had a pinkish tint to it. He looked up at the dark ceiling and closed his eyes. He'd tried to hold on for too long. His mind was slowly decaying in the midst of the agony. "North. Sandy. Tooth. Bunny." he whispered. "Emma. Jamie. Sophie. Pippa. Cupcake." he clicked his teeth together. "J-J-J... Jack... son. Jackson. Who's... Me?"
The whirlpool of darkness overtook his mind and he became lost in a world of shadows and death.
Jack cried out, effectively waking the Pooka beside him. "Snowflake? Are you alright?" Bunny asked groggily, holding Jack close. "I'm here." he whispered.
The Guardian's words did nothing to comfort the haunted winter sprite.
Pitch appeared and looked at the light pink skin that now covered Jack's once-raw body. "How are you Jack?" he asked as he removed the gag.
Jack looked up at him with glazed eyes that slowly focused on him. "Pitch." he croaked.
Pitch pulled a bottle of water out of the shadows and poured some of the clear liquid down Jack's throat. "Can't have you unable to talk, can we?"
Jack shivered as Pitch's touch, but gulped the water down desperately and made soft, pathetic mewling noises.
When Pitch pulled away he watched with a soft smile at the way Jack stared at the water in remorse. "Jack." he said softly.
Cerulean eyes met gold and Jack smiled softly.
"How are you?"
"Name. My name. Me. I'm... I'm..." Jack mumbled. "So dark. Can't think. Who? Who am I?" he whispered.
Pitch was starting to get annoyed. "How are you?" he asked again through clenched teeth.
"Dark. Lost it in the dark. Lost me in the dark." Jack murmured.
Pitch grasped Jack's throat with an inhuman growl. "I asked you a question Jack."
"Jack. Me. I'm Jack. Jackson Frost! Jack Overland!" Jack said, trying to make sense of all the thoughts in his chaotic mind.
Pitch snarled and jammed a sharp knife into Jack's right eye, not too far but far enough to burst the eye then he vanished with the sound of Jack's screams echoing deliciously in his ears.
Jack woke up with a loud wail of agony.
Bunny held Jack close. "I'm here!" he cried, desperate to stop those horrible noises that conveyed pain in its purest form.
"So dark. Too dark. Don't come back." he begged with a weak voice.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." Bunny sang desperately. "You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."
Jack had fallen silent and listened to Bunny's gentle singing voice then he hummed the tune.
Bunny exhaled slowly, but stiffened as Jack began to sing.
"The other night dear while I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms. But when I woke up I was mistaken so I hung my head and cried."
"I'm here now Jackie." Bunny whispered softly. "I'm never leaving you again."
Jack clicked his teeth together and sang the second verse over and over again.
Bunny hummed along and stroked Jack's white hair. "I'm here Jackie. I'm here."
Jack whimpered loudly and clicked his teeth a few more times.
Bunny could feel tears threatening to fall, but he couldn't cry in front of Jack. "I want to know Jackie. What happened?" he whispered softly, stroking the boy's white hair gently.
"I lost me. I'm lost." Jack whispered.
