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I'm extremely sorry for the long wait… once again; things have been really busy around here. I have midterms coming up this week, so I have been studying… a lot. Plus, I've been working on two big writing assignments for midterms, and they are really keeping me busy. Ugh, I hate school. Chapter 5 won't be up until after Christmas unless I get really lucky to sit down and write. Well anyway, thanks so much for your reviews—it makes it very fun for me to write this when I know you guys are enjoying it. I will stick to Destiny's POV—honestly I like writing it more, anyway! :)

I awoke when something freezing cold hit my head—snow. I opened my eyes, wiping the snow off my forehead. Above me, I could see Celine staring down at me with a huge grin spread across her face as if she thought that this was the best thing ever. I spotted Johnny standing a few feet away, looking as innocent as ever, and to my left, I could hear the teenage boy laughing.

Dizzy, I slowly got to my feet, unable to help myself but to stare at the teen with the clothes laced with frost and snow-white hair—Jack Frost. I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming. I must have hit my head while we were ice skating. This isn't real. This is NOT real.

When I realized how stupid I must of looked to be just staring at 'Jack', I quickly pulled out my phone and pretended to text. Simplest way out of any awkward situation, am I right? Jack must of taken this offensively, because he immediately stopped laughing.

"You see him!" Celine screamed, causing me to jump in surprise. "You actually see Jack Frost! You believe!"

"No, I do not believe! Gosh, Celine!" I glared at her, shoving my phone back in my pocket. I. Am. Dreaming. That's all.

Celine stopped bouncing and gave me a disbelieving stare. "Well, that's impossible. I mean, you see him, right?"

Jack walked over to Celine and whispered something in her ear.

Her green eyes lit up. "Ohhh! That makes a lot of sense. I was wondering about that. But, that can't…?" she said something else, but could no longer hear her.

Jack said something else quietly.

"Aw… dang it," Celine muttered, "That's not cool."

Johnny bounded over to them. "What? What?" he demanded. They all huddled into a little circle, whispering back and forth.

Suddenly feeling very excluded, I bit back a sharp retort. Stomping off angrily, I decided to go find Gramps.

"Hey!"

I whipped around to see Jack Frost looking at me through narrowed blue eyes. "Where are you going?" he asked me.

"As far away as I possibly can from here," I told him simply, avoiding his gaze.

He sighed, looking a bit irritated with me. "And your siblings? You can't just leave them here."

"Well, you're here, aren't you? Keep them busy and whatever—I don't really care." I let out an agitated huff and rolled my eyes, turning to leave.

A sudden blast of freezing wind swept past me and I suddenly found myself walking straight into Jack. I stopped just inches in front of him, preferring not to bonk into the icy mythological teen.

"You can't leave. Whether you believe in me or not doesn't really matter right now," he told me quietly. "Pitch will be back. And who knows what he can do if you are alone when he finds you?"

My irritation nearly boiled over. "Just leave me alone!" I complained. "Pitch never bothered me, my siblings lied." I bit my lip as soon as the words left my mouth. Oh gosh, I didn't mean that…

Celine let out a small noise that sounded like a gasp a small screech combined. "Hey!"

Johnny looked shocked that I had accused him and Celine of lying. He blinked at me, looking hurt. "…we saw Pitch, we all did." He said quietly.

I was about to try and apologize when Jack groaned dramatically- he obviously had not noticed what I had just said. "I really want to help you all; but can you at least try to be cooperative?"

I folded my arms with smug look set on my face. "Huh. Sure, we can be cooperative for you, Ice Boy," I answered cynically. I could tell he didn't like my new name for him, but I continued. "We might as well get along so that the wind stays happy too!"

Jack Frost looked at me with an annoyed expression as if to sarcastically ask me: "Really?"

Johnny tapped my shoulder. "He controls the wind ya know."

I gritted my teeth, not taking my eyes off the winter spirit. "Shut up."

Celine cleared her throat. "Uh… now what?" she gave me a firm glance as if she was daring me to make another sharp remark.

"Quick question... how much do you guys argue?" Jack complained, sensing the very obvious tension between me and my siblings.

"We would argue less if Destiny wasn't so blind to the truth!" Celine said hotly. She folded her arms. "Anyway, what are we supposed to do now?"

"We are going to try and figure out what Pitch wants with Destiny, to start with. North, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny all should be here soon and then they'll figure out the rest," Jack told Celine.

I wanted to say mockingly: 'Oh that's great—I guess I'll be working with Santa, a giant fairy, a kangaroo-like bunny, and a cute pudgy guy made of sand… as well as an ice boy. Big whoop,' But I bit it back, trying to remind myself that being sarcastic only got everyone else even more irritable. But apparently my face seem to speak aloud my thought, since Jack gave me a quick warning glare before turned back to Celine.

I thought he was the Guardian of fun, not the annoying 'don't you dare' kind of Guardian. Gosh.

I stared at the night sky, trying not to pay attention to my siblings and the mythological boy in front of me. The sky seemed darker than normal—like a storm was approaching. Then I remembered that Jack controlled storms- winter storms, anyway. Surely he wouldn't summon one now, would he? I wondered. I pinched myself as I realized that I was suddenly thinking as if I believed this was all real. You're dreaming idiot, remember that, I snapped silently at myself.

A voice chuckled in my head and I stumbled backwards. 'Dreaming, ay? It really is funny how you like to lie to yourself, you know,' the voice muttered. 'I see you have a few friends trying to help you… they really won't do you much good though. You are just too easy for me to persuade.'

I didn't know how to respond. The voice was unmistakably Pitch's, and despite my constant disbelief about the Guardians' and Pitch's existence, I was suddenly enveloped in a new fear. I tried to push it away. Be quiet, you are not real, Pitch! I will not pay attention to you, you are not alive and never were alive! I screamed inside my head.

'I'm not real, you say? How often do you lie to yourself? Apparently a lot. I am very much alive, Destiny, and you will listen to me.' Pitch's voice snickered again, his voice echoing in my head, over and over again, making it feel as if he was right in my mind, ruthlessly haunting it. I slapped my hands over my ears and jumped back, biting back a sharp squeal of surprise. Blinking a few times, I made sure I had not collapsed again. Looking around I realized that I had only stumbled backwards a few paces and had nearly landed on the ice. But I was thankfully still on my feet and very much awake. Celine, Johnny, and Jack were all staring at me, all apparently unsure of how to respond to my sudden outburst. I bit my lip and stood up straight, trying to retain the little bit of dignity I had left.

"A-are you okay?" Johnny squeaked.

"Uh… yeah… why?" I fidgeted with the zipper on my coat.

Celine tapped her boot impatiently in the snow. "It happened again, didn't it? What did Pitch say this time?"

"W-What are you talking about?" I tried to act as if nothing had happened, which I soon realized looked very stupid to the three people in front of me.

"Lies, lies, lies… Destiny, you like telling a lot of them, don't you!" a voice snickered. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere in the cluster of trees. "I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not…"

At first I thought that my paranoid brain was making 'Pitch' talk to me—but when I saw Celine and Johnny's eyes widen and Jack whip around to face the forest beside us— I realized that I was very wrong. Pitch's piercing golden eyes came into view in the shadows of the trees. I leaped a few feet in the air, completely shocked—like a cat. Celine and Johnny glanced up at me, and I guessed that they would've been laughing if they weren't so startled by Pitch's…eyes.

Jack extended his staff, looking very much ready to fight.

"No, no, no… I didn't mean it like that Jack," Pitch muttered, stepping out of the shadows. Pitch looked pretty much the same as the movie—pale gray skin and glossy black hair that was styled in rounded spikes curving towards the back of his head. He wore black robes, and he was standing on a platform of black sand that was billowing beneath him. "I didn't come for a fight," he pointed at me. "I came for that necklace."

I blinked and took a step back, this time onto the ice. Dreaming, you are dreaming. Dreaming, dreaming, dreaming… I repeated constantly in my head, trying not to focus on my own fear. I shook my head, at a loss for words.

Jack glared at Pitch. "Why do you need the necklace? Besides, you're not going to get it."

"I said what I wanted; I don't need to tell you why. If you give it to me," Pitch glanced at me, "then I will leave you all alone… for now."

Celine cleared her throat. "I…I don't think a necklace really… suites you, ya know? Maybe you should get a crown since you are the Nightmare King…" she pointed out. I could tell she was trying to be light-hearted, but there was still a small quiver of fright in her voice. I didn't blame her—she used to be terrified of Pitch in the movie, and this was her nightmare coming to life.

Pitch glared at her. "Ha. Ha. Real funny," he muttered. Pitch gestured to me. "Necklace," he ordered.

I glanced at the ruby pendant hanging around my neck. Finding my voice, I managed to say, "What? No!"

Pitch said nothing. A sharp whinny broke into the cold air. Golden eyes peaked out from behind Pitch. Several large black horses stepped out of the shadows-Nightmares.

Johnny let out a tiny gasp then slapped his hand over his mouth. "D-don't be scared…" I heard him tell himself softly.

I grasped my necklace and walked a few paces backwards, which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, considering that I had backed up to the middle of the frozen lake. Oh God...

Celine stood her ground, struggling to be brave, and Jack extended his staff, ready to shoot.

Pitch chuckled, enjoying the sudden dread that hung in the frigid air. "Fear is a dangerous thing, isn't it?" With that, the Nightmares lunged forward.

Haha! What will happen next? -...that sounded very cheesy. Um, I'm very tired, so this chapter is not my best... I had more planned for it, but I'll put it all in chapter 5—I feel like I've made you all wait long enough for this chapter. I might make chapter 5 kind of short and post it sooner (I really want to write its content!), but we'll have to see. Anyways, I hope I'm not boring anyone, and please review and do all that awesome stuff ya'll do! Stayed tuned for an upd-*now buried in exams and studying*
~ Tai Ling