The School of Wonder
Chapter 4
When Manny made the school and its grounds, he in his wisdom placed the large dark forest there, giving Pitch a way in. His guardians had argued at first that the school was meant to be a haven for children but as he pointed out that all children have fears and the best way to over come them was to defeat them. Even if that meant facing the boogeyman.
Jack was lost. He had run in, not really thinking, and now he was lost in a maze of trees and fog with Pitch's creepy laughter echoing around him. He spun around, darting this way and that way, shouting out Thomas name and yelling at Pitch to come out and fight. This of course made Pitch laugh even harder, as large black shadows started to surround Jack and herding him deeper in to the forest.
"Ah Jack, so helpless and useless, its no wonder the guardians keep you outside with the children. Your just like one, weak, and always causing them trouble"
"If I'm so weak, then that would make you just pathetic, considering how many times I've beaten you"
A shadow wrapped its self quickly around Jack's ankle and pulled, sending the winter spirit face first to the floor. Jack hit the ground hard, his hands shooting out ice in various directions. Jack grunted and tried to moan as he felt the stones beneath him cut and graze his skin. Ignoring the pain he got to his feet and started to run toward the evil laughter, until it bought him out to a frozen lake.
"This isn't right" he thought "There shouldn't be a lake here...got to be one of Pitch's illusions"
He walked around the edges of the lake, a lake that looked to frightening familiar, but in stead of snow it was surrounded by thick fog.
"Jack? Jack help me!" cried a voice in the fog. Jack's eyes searched everywhere for the voice until he saw Thomas, standing in the middle of the frozen lake, looking terrified.
"Thomas! Its ok! I'm here! I'm going to get you out" shouted Jack as he started to run across the lake. No sooner was he but a few feet away from Thomas the ice beneath him started to crack. Jack slid to a halt, his mind racing, his heart was pounding loudly in his chest, what could he do?
"Now this looks awfully familiar doesn't it? A young child trapped in the middle of a frozen lake with the ice about to give way. And young Jack is there to the rescue...or is he? Surly the guardian of fun, is not about to let his fear get the better of him"
Jack looked around but he couldn't see Pitch anyway "Your sick Pitch you know that? Getting your jollies by putting a kid in danger! Now, Thomas listen to me, I'm going to reseal the ice with my powers..."
"NO! You'll lose control! Like you did at the pool" shouted Thomas shaking his head.
"Thomas its the only..."
"NO!"
Whether by Thomas's movements or by his shout the ice beneath him gave way and he plummeted in to the freezing water beneath him. Jack leapt to try and reach him in time but he had fully gone under and once Jack's hands touched the water it froze over.
"No! NO! NO! THOMAS!" Jack screamed as he punched the ice as hard as he could, trying to break it. "Pitch! Help! Please! He'll die, please Pitch, don't let him die!"
Pitch appeared next to Jack, standing over him, his smile wide and triumphant.
"Some guardian you make Jack Frost. Can you imagine the look on North's face when he discovers how you failed to save that young boy? He will be so heart broken that the boy he has taken in to his heart as a son, has let him down so badly. No doubt they'll kick you out of their little group and give Bunnymund the pleasure of doing it for real. He hates you, you know, and for good reason"
"He doesn't hate me! And North wouldn't throw me out! Your lying!" snapped Jack angrily, as he jumped to his feet and started to swing his staff at Pitch, the tall man dodging it effortlessly. "Where is Thomas? What have you done to him?"
"Me? Why I have done nothing but what is in my nature to do Jack, feed of fear, your the one that has failed to save him" said Pitch gleefully as he danced around Jack's attacks.
"You wouldn't of killed Thomas..." puffed Jack trying to push down his emotions and think clearly "The man in the moon himself would punish you for that. This isn't a lake is it, its just one of your tricks!"
Pitch's smile widely, his sharp looking teeth were yellow covered slightly in black saliva, as he snapped his long bony fingers. The frozen lake disappeared, as thick dead trees surrounded them with thick swirling mist, with no sign of the human boy. Jack stood ready to fight, holding his staff ready, as he glared at up at Pitch.
"Give me Thomas Pitch and I promise to go easy on you"
Pitch blinked and then throw his head back and laughed "Oh, Jack, your so adorable, when your trying to act all tough when really your nothing but a scared little boy"
"I'm not a kid Pitch!" snapped Jack shooting an arrow or ice at him. Pitch simply craned his neck out of the way before looking back at Jack, his dark eyes hungry, as he reached out and griped Jack's wrists tightly and hoisted him up so they were face to face.
"So Jack..."he purred leaning in so their noses were touching as Jack tried to get lose. "You say your an adult and wish to be treated as one? Then lets play as game...a very adult game"
Jack's blue eyes widened, his body now frozen in fear, as the shadows of the trees grew larger and covering both him and Pitch in darkness.
-Line Break-
North quickly looked over his blade before placing it back in to its sheath then tied it to his belt. It had only been fifteen minutes or so, when Bunny came running in to his office to tell him that Pitch had taken a child and that Jack had run after him. He quickly summoned the others by the tannoy system, and quickly informed them of the situation. Quickly ideas were thrown about but in the end it was agreed that North and Sandy go alone and try to negotiate with the boogeyman. Tooth went to get the infirmary ready just in case while Sandy went to prepare himself, leaving Bunny alone with North. Bunny tried to fidget as he watched North get ready, but a deep fear and unsettles prevented him from holding still.
"You could be walking in to a trap you know" he said, his paws crossed against his chest.
"I know, but we must risk it in order to get Thomas and Jack back in one piece" said North as he picked up his large red coat. Bunny quickly took it off him and held it to his chest.
"Take me with you, I can watch your back and..."
"Bunny we have been though this dah? Its better me and Sandy go in and try and talk to Pitch first, Pitch is not as strong as he use to be..."
"But he has a kid there he's most likely feeding off on, meaning he's got a power boost not to mention what he's doing to Jack"
"Jack is guardian and is a strong young man, no he is Bunny" said North rising his hand to stop Bunny from arguing with him. "He has been alone and has survived for over three hundred years. He maybe a boy in body but he has the mind of a man...most of the time"
Bunny back off, still clutching North's coat to his chest "Have you forgotten how devious Pitch is? Or how he can take a simple truth and twist it to something horrible? He's dangerous Nick!"
"I know he is Aster, I have large scar on my back, that always reminds me to be on my guard" said North shortly before sighing and walking over to Bunny "I will come back you know"
"No, you don't know, Pitch killed my people, he kills anyone in his way, he'll kill you too" said Bunny his voice raising as North embraced him tightly against his chest.
"Aster, I swear on my soul and by my eyes filled with wonder, I will come back to you"
Bunny looked up at North, his green eyes dark and watery with unshed tears "You better come back to me, ya great big show pony, I'll kick ya arse if you don't!" said Bunny thickly as he kissed North hard enough to bruise the man's lips. North was taken back only for a moment before he pushed back, deepening the kiss, and cursing his coat for being in between their bodies. They quickly broke apart when someone knocked on the door and entered. It was Sandy, holding up a large clock and pointing to it. It was time to go.
"Alright Sandy I'm ready" said North as he took his coat from Bunny and slipped it on. He wanted to kiss Bunny again but knew his lover would be upset if Sandy saw so he reached over and grasped Bunny's shoulder tightly.
"Do svidaniya" he muttered as he followed Sandy out of the school and in to the forest. Bunny stood and watched them leave for a minute or two before bussing himself with getting ready incase they needed to go after them as well as tomorrows lessons. He sent a quick pray to Manny for their safe return but also a quite oath to himself should North return with so much as a scratch on him, he would personally rip Pitch limb from bloody limb.
-Line Break-
Jack felt like he was floating helpless in a tight darkness. He couldn't open his eyes, he couldn't move, he couldn't breath. He felt completely helpless and wondered what Pitch had in store for him and Thomas. Suddenly it was like that night he rose from the lake, as he gasped for breath, reaching out for something to hold, only to grip iron bars. He was in a cage, a small iron cage, so he had to remain on his knees. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he noticed that he was still in the forest, as the ground beneath him was dead grass and the trees surrounding the small clearing were twisted and just as dead. There was a groan beside him, as Thomas laid unconscious in his own small cage, fearlings crawling and shaking the bars.
"Leave him alone!" he shouted and tried to use his powers but the cage was engraved with ruins that stopped anyone with magic. The fearlings only laughed and increased their actions, making the bad dreams in to full fledge nightmares, causing Thomas to cry out in his sleep.
"Now behave little ones, is that anyway to behave in fount of a guest?" asked Pitch as he appeared beside the cage, allowing the fearlings to become one with him again, as the man peered in to the cage. "Oh, look at his little face, twisted in fear, curling up in to a ball. It moments like this that make my job so enjoyable"
"Leave him alone Pitch! I mean it! Once I get out of here I'm so beating the crap out of you" said Jack as he pushed and kicked the bars of his cage. "And when the others get here, they help me send your bony crocus back to the stone age"
Pitch laughed as he left Thomas cage and came over to Jack's. Jack scooted back to the far side of it to try and keep away from Pitch but the boogeyman reaching in and gripped a handful of white hair in his bony gray hand.
"Are you truly that naive to believe that they are really on they way?"
"Bunnymund was there too you know, he went and got the others..."
"You really think that don't you?" Pitch sneered down at Jack "I told you Jack, Bunny hates you, your in his way."
Jack frowned "What do you mean? In his way?"
Pitch looked slightly shocked and let go of Jack's hair, as he bent over with laughter.
"You mean you don't know? It was staring you in the face this morning and you still haven't worked it out? Oh, Manny must have picked you for your looks Jack because he certainly didn't for your brains"
Jack's cheeks flushed pink as the boogeyman straightened up and leant causally against Jack's cage.
"I'm not sure when it happened, all the signs were there, it was going to happen eventually. They really have been tip toeing around it for centuries but I only noticed a change roughly just after Valentines. I was just peering though the trees looking for a child to feed off, when I saw them"
"Saw who? What the hell are you on about Pitch?" snapped Jack getting rather impatient as he kicked the bars again.
"Why Bunnymund and North of course. Bunny had North pinned against a wall, kissing him as hard as he could, grinding his hips in to his, why if it wasn't for that fact that they were at the school, Bunny would have no doubt rutted North against that wall" Pitch smiled down at Jack and reached in to pat his pale cheek "That's why Bunny hates you so now. You have moved in with North, almost ruined one North gifts for him, and are in general in his way"
Jack looked back at him in sheer disbelief "Your not only sick Pitch but crazy. North and Bunny are friends and rivals. They argue and bicker just..."
"Just like a married couple? Believe me Jack" said Pitch as he used his black sand to create an image of Bunny and North that acted out their master's words. "Bunny, seeing his chance, would run and tell North that you had run off to join me, and under the guise of comforting his lover, would..stake...his..claim"
Jack swallowed back the vomit that was building up in his stomach as he watched the black sand version of Bunnymund pin the sand version of North down on to his desk and mounted him.
"Your wrong" he muttered as he continued to watch "Bunny and North aren't like that. And even if they were, they wouldn't leave me or Thomas to you"
Pitch frowned and waved his hand, making the image disappear, as he stood up and went over to Thomas's cage. "Believe what you want Jack, but since your "friends" have yet to come, I will have to keep you entertained. Let's start with sleeping beauty here, what do you suppose he dreams about?, Do you think he's a bed wetter? Lets see"
Pitch waved his hands over Thomas's body as black sand swirled in a circle around the cage. Jack watched as Thomas started to struggle and sob but couldn't wake up as the nightmares attacked his subconscious mind.
"Damn it Pitch stop it! If you want nightmares you can have mine! Take mine and leave him alone"
Pitch stopped what he was doing and Thomas fell back to the ground with a small thud. Pitch wiped his robe down in a lazy manner as he walked slowly back to Jack's cage.
"If I want your nightmares I can simple take them from you. No I want something...else...something a bit more adult"
Black sand wove like tentacles around the bars and in to the cage sliding up Jack's legs and around his arms. Jack tried to scream but one wrapped itself around his face like a gag. Soon Jack's arms were tied behind his back and his legs chained together by a black sand chain. Pitch unlocks the cage from on top and gently lefts Jack out, carrying him bridle style to his throne, which had been craved from the trees. He sat down and lowered Jack in to his lap facing him. He softly ran his fingers threw Jack's hair, burying his nose in to inhale the smell. Jack squirmed trying to get away but Pitch held him tightly.
"Be good now Jack, unless you want our small friend there to suffer some more" purred Pitch as he licked Jack's neck. His long fingers slid under his hoodie, petting the soft skin and pinching his nipples. Pitch chuckled at Jack's flushed face as he continued to tease the youngest guardian. How he had longed for this moment, seeing Jack wiggling on his lap, he had wanted him to be willing but this was fine. He pulled the black tentacle away from Jack's mouth, before cupping the boy's face, and bought him down to his lips. Jack eyes bulge out as he felt Pitch's tongue enter his mouth, black sand pouring in as well, spilling down his neck and chest. Pitch's hands held him tightly, pulling him closer to his chest, as the black tentacles started to slid down in to his trousers. Suddenly Pitch pulled away and threw Jack to the ground as he stood up, as waves of gold sand spilled in to the small clearing. Pitch sneered as Sandy and North walked towards him, his fearlings forming to huge nightmares to stand beside him.
"Greetings Pitchiner" said North as he bowed his head formally "We have come here to negotiate for the boys" "There will be no negotiations Cossack! Why would I bargain when I have everything I want?" said Pitch examining his fingers in a bored tone. North twitched slightly while Sandy shook his head.
"Well I'm sure one of my nightmares would certainly be enough. What do you say Pitch? One of my nightmares for the boys" offered North looking both at Thomas and Jack. Pitch rubbed his chin and looked North over before nodding his head.
"Yes, one of your nightmares would certainly be more then enough for the human boy but you will have to offer me something a lot better for Jack"
A black tentacle shot out pulling Jack back over to Pitch, as he leaned down and kissed Jack's forehead. "I have grown quite attached too him you see"
North paled and looked over to Sandy for help. Sandy had known Pitch the longest and was the one best to handle these sorts of things, but even he looked shocked by Pitch's confession. Pitch laughed as he dragged Jack to his feet.
"Well if you have nothing to offer me in exchange for him, then I guess, we will be on our way"
He went to move Jack in to the shadows so he could teleport when a golden whip slapped around his wrist. "Oh, you've made up and offer have you, well then come along lets here it, before I get even more bored with your presence"
Sandy held up his finger, which a single golden orb spun, before becoming a magnificent city of gold, with tall towers and flying ships. Jack watch with wonder at the city became a country, to a planet till it was a universe of gold. He had momentarily forgotten about Pitch until the boogeyman squeezed his arms tightly.
"You dare offer me a dream of the golden age? Are you forgetting how destroyed it?" scoffed Pitch as he snapped his whip against the dream, sending Sandy back slightly. "If your going to offer me a dream Sanderson, I think you could do a lot better then that"
Sandy thought for a moment and then looked for a moment that he was going to cry as he waved his hand and produced an image of a girl. Pitch gasped as he watched the girl play inside one of her boats, playing with the star fish, and dancing around with out a care.
"Emily..." he muttered as he reached out to touch the golden girl only for Sandy to pull her back. "No wait Sanderson!"
Sandy pointed at Jack and then back at the dream girl. Pitch looked seem fantic as he looked down at Jack and then back at the dream, before shoving Jack forward, chains removed.
"Take him and the boy and leave Cossack! I will come for my payment soon"
North nodded as he helped Jack to his feet "Jack, are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
"North, no I'm ok, what's going on? What's Sandy doing?" asked Jack as he watched Pitch sit on his throne with Sandy one his lap, golden sand swirling around them like a golden cocoon. North ignored Jack's questions and quickly released Thomas from the cage, quickly checking the boy over for an injuries before lifting him over his shoulder and taking Jack's arm, as he lead them out of the forest.
"But North, what about Sandy? We can't just leave him"
"Sandy will be fine. He and Pitch have a long history. Sandy has to stay and hold back the fearlings long enough for Pitch to have his dream then he will return to us"
"But what was that golden city and that girl? Why did Pitch react so strongly to her?"
"So many questions Jack, and all that can wait until we have gotten back to the school, where Bunny and Tooth are waiting for us"
Jack stopped in his tracks, his mind thinking back to what Pitch had shown him, as he looked at the guardian of wonder. "North why did it take you so long to find me?"
North frowned as he looked back at Jack "Pitch had taken you in to the very depth of the forest Jack, and with that mist of his, even Sandy and I got lost. Why do you ask?"
Jack looked down at the ground his toes digging in to the dirt "Pitch said something's...he said the reason you weren't looking for me was because of..."
"Jack, you know better then anyone that Pitch will say anything to make you turn against us" said North calmly.
"So its not true. You and Bunny aren't lovers"
North's jaw dropped and his eyes widened before schooling his face back to a neutral look. "What has Pitch told you?"
"Only that the reason you weren't looking for me is because Bunny was to busy claiming you on your desk"
North's cheeks were flaming red as he spluttered "We haven't gotten that far yet, only kissing, Bunny's says he's not ready and...no Jack we weren't doing that. We made plan to rescue you that is all. Now come on! I wish to get home before nightfall! We called Thomas's mother and told her, he was staying for after school lesson on swimming and I will personally take him home, once Tooth has given him a full check over"
North turned on his heel and quickly matched down the path which Jack following close behind. They walked in silence for a while but North could tell that Jack still had a lot of questions and knew he will be wanting answers soon.
To be continued...