Melissa's sleep was far from peaceful. Her lack of hope seemed to invite nightmares and the pictures of what she had just witnessed haunted her for hours and were then replaced by the memory of her father's horrible death.

She was shivering and sobbing under her blanket until she suddenly woke up with a start. Someone was shaking her shoulder quite gently but with the pictures of her nightmare still alive in her mind, she flailed her arms in an attempt to defend herself.

"Melissa, calm down" a low voice said. "It's only a bad dream."

She stopped moving and looked up into the slightly nervous face of the Nightmare King himself. She stared, recalling what she had seen earlier, she gasped. He was... alive?

"Pitch?" she mouthed and then took a deep breath to steady herself. How was this possible?

She managed to push herself up onto her knees and felt the sudden urge to fling herself into his arms and weep with relief, but she controlled herself with little effort.

"You... you are alive!" she merely whispered.

The Nightmare King frowned down at her, eyes narrowed, clearly confused.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Doesn't he remember?

"The fearlings" she whispered. "They attacked you... I thought they'd killed you!"

He still stared at her for another moment with a rather curious expression and then started laughing. He laughed as if she had just told him a brilliant joke!

"That must have been some dream you had, child. They? Attack me? Their King? Ridiculous!"

She could only watch him in wonder. But his sudden unexpected mirth died away in an instant. Instead he studied her thoughtfully. "That man in your nightmare..." he muttered. "Your father?"

The girl sighed and nodded. Pitch was the Nightmare King... of course he would be able to see a bad dream.

"Sorry for your loss" he mumbled and then just got up and stalked to the door of her cage, which was now back on the ground. He stepped out of it and locked her in again.

Melissa watched him as he walked away to the control panel and then her cage started to ascend again.

Did he really just say that?

She could barely believe it and pinched herself, sure that she was probably still dreaming. But she was wide awake. He had actually woken her up. From her nightmare! She shook her head. It had not been a Nightmare. It was a memory. But still...

Wait... did he really say my name?

Backflash: about ten minutes ago.

Pitch woke up with a horrible headache but he merely shrugged it off. It was nothing unusual. What confused him more than the pain was the fact that he had been asleep on the floor of his workshop.

Damn, I must have overworked myself a bit... again.

It had happened before. He had woken up in odd places, always inside his own domain, but as long as he didn't fall asleep in the middle of a battle against the Guardians he considered it merely a curious fact and nothing much to be overly worried about.

He rubbed his forehead gently to ease the pain a bit. Perhaps he had fallen off the bench, or one of those awful instant shadow orbs had exploded into his face as they always did. He remembered clearly that he had been working on them earlier, trying to apply some sort of safety switch to prevent the little buggers from going off inside his pocket.

He had only recently discovered a new ability. He could actually travel long distances in mere seconds by entering the realm of shadows. A plane of existence that his fearlings inhabited when they were not here. They all had that ability to enter the natural shadows and pop out of another one miles away, so why shouldn't he, their Master have it too? It was his right to be able to do so and he actually wondered why he had not been aware of this power before.

But the shadows had to be dark and dense. So after his latest defeat by the Guardians in Punjam Hy Loo, he was determined to fashion himself some kind of emergency exit just in case he needed to make quick escape. And the tiny, marble sized devices looked promising enough but they went off at the slightest touch. And that was not at all what he needed.

He got to his feet and glared hatefully at the workbench. But then he sensed something in the air. A nightmare, right here in his cavern! A powerful one! He looked up instinctively.

"The girl!" he gasped.

He rushed over to the control desk and brought her cage down to the ground slowly and carefully. He stopped himself from letting it drop too fast. He didn't want to miss a nightmare of such potential, he would not risk waking her.

As soon as the cage was just an inch above the ground he unlocked it silently and entered. This would be good. The girl had acted so cool and fearless around him earlier but now she was finally afraid, very afraid! And he would at last find out about her greatest fear. Knowing this would give him all the power over her that he needed to make her talk.

He knelt down beside her in delighted anticipation and reached out to her, mentally with his left hand. It hovered merely and inch above her sweaty brow.

She was crying, he noticed but then he concentrated and observed her dream.

Merely a minute later he withdrew his hand. He had seen it all, heard it all. And for some reason it made him feel sick to his stomach. He had turned so many sweet dreams into nightmares in his prime but never one like this. This was not just a bad dream, he realized. What he had just witnessed was a memory. A really awful memory.

Even now that he had distanced himself from that awful dream, he could still hear the girl's terrified screams and the sounds of the wolves as the gnawed on that man's bones, he could still hear them cracking between their teeth. Their growling and ripping and tearing at the last bits of human flesh.

The Nightmare King shuddered. He felt pathetic. He was the master of nightmares and yet... there was one that actually gave him goosebumps. He heard the girl sob. She too was trembling. He could not blame her.

And before he knew what he was doing, he reached out for her shoulder and shook her as gently as he could.

"Melissa?" he said quietly and she awoke with a start, clawing at the air in self defense.

"Melissa, calm down. It's just a bad dream."

Pitch couldn't believe he was really saying this, but the girl's night terror had truly shaken him. He understood now why she was so hard to scare. She had seen worse, far worse. And somewhere deep within him, in the last remaining shreds of his once human soul, he felt sorry for her.

He knew she had been very close to that man who had been torn to bits before her young eyes... but...

"Pitch? You... you are alive!"

What was this now? He wondered. Why wouldn't he be? Why in the nine hells did the child look at him with such disbelief, concern and … was that relief in her eyes?

He tried to frown but somehow he had little control over his facial expressions. But he simply voiced his question and heard her claim that his own fearlings, his slaves had attacked him. It was impossible! He was their master, they would never dare to move against him. They had no will of their own. Basic instincts perhaps. But they could not think or make rebellious decisions like that.

He was the Nightmare King! Only he had power over them. He controlled them. The mere idea made him laugh. It was just too crazy.

He shook his head and got to his feet. The girl must be a bit soft in the head. But he still wanted to know one thing.

"Was that man in your nightmare your father?" he almost whispered and saw her nod.

So this kid was perhaps an orphan too. He didn't know about her mother but he had not sensed her anywhere in her dream. He would find out in time. He could ask her now but he decided against that. Not after that. But he felt compelled to say something. Pitch did not remember it but somehow he knew the feeling of loosing everything that was dear to him.

"Sorry for your loss" he mumbled and practically fled from her prison cell.

Once the cage was up again he sighed deeply and only then did he remember that he had another, much more important hostage to take care of. He had better check on her and make sure that she had not somehow awoken from the eternal nightmare he had trapped her in.

The Guardians would be coming for her very soon. He knew that they would find a way to locate her. She was the bait, the key to his great plan and this time, he would get rid of those wannabe-heroes and their new Golden Age once and for all. He could decide what to do with Melissa later, she could still work as a backup plan if something went wrong. But he needed to make preparations too.

He needed those pearls of instant shadow to work reliably and without fail and that was probably going to be the hardest part.

So Pitch thought as he made his way up to the small cavern where Katherine was dreaming dark dreams without end.

Melissa was pacing around her cage lost in thoughts. She had been over this times and times again ever since Pitch had left. Why had he woken her up from a nightmare? Shouldn't he have enjoyed to see her suffer and in fear? Had he actually meant it when he had said that he was sorry for her loss or was he still playing games with her? He had even said her name! She was quite sure she had heard him say her name. How did he even know it?

He must have heard it in Punjam Hy Loo when Katherine had called out for her, that time when she had run off with her lost tooth... it was really lost now, wasn't it?

Poor Katherine... what is he doing to you now? Damn... I wish I could have done something!

And yet... she also could not get that image of the swarming fearlings out of her head when they had so easily overwhelmed that man she had considered a monster. She remembered the despair she had felt.

Right... I wished I could have done something there too... but they didn't kill him after all... but he was in so much pain… and fear... he was terrified, I saw it … I felt it too... just what did they do to him?

She also remembered the promise of those fearlings. She would have to do something. She had to find a way to get out of this cage! She had to come up with a plan and she would have to do so quickly.

Melissa had examined the lock of her cage more closely and found that it was a rather simple design. But without a key or some sort of substitute she would not be able to pick it. But there were so many scraps of metal and other material down there in that workshop... if she could only get her hands on something suitable...

She had also spotted several long ropes. Everything she needed to escape was down there, but she would have to get out of that cage just once or maybe twice. In her mind a plan was beginning to come together. She had to get Pitch to trust her. If he could play the friendly game, so could she.

After all, pretending and make believe games were her favorites. She knew she would play her role well, but would it be good enough to hoodwink the Nightmare King? Where was he anyway?

By the time he finally showed up she had drunk the remaining water in the jar and had eaten the last piece of bread. It had already been quite hard. She had made a mental note to eat the bread first and save the apples for later the next time she got fed... if he would continue to provide her with nourishment that was.

She watched him as he went about his business for perhaps half an hour. He had sat down again on the same spot where the fearlings had attacked him the night before. Melissa frowned. Had it been night then? She couldn't tell, she only knew that she had slept and dreamed after that. But she could not think about that now. She needed her wits and all of her courage.

She watched as another one of those little bombs of instant darkness exploded in his grasp and grinned. The man really needed help with that. He obviously lacked the mind of an inventor.

"Pitch!" she whispered but he did not hear her over the sound of his own swearing.

"Hey you! Your Majesty!" she hissed mockingly but still there was no reaction and she sighed in exasperation. Then she picked up the empty water jar and clanked it against the bars of her prison.

This finally made him turn around and scowl up at her. She heard him growl under his breath but he got up and moved over to the control desk to lower her cage.

"What do you want?" he spat at her when the cage had descended enough and they were on eye level.

She held out the empty jar to him as if this was a telling answer.

"Thirsty?" he asked.

"That too. But I really need to go to the bathroom" she whispered with a slightly painful smile.

"What?" the Nightmare King gasped but then he touched his forehead with his good left hand. He really had not thought about that bit. "Humans" he huffed and opened the cage for her.

Melissa could not believe it. It had been so easy, but she really needed to pee and so she allowed him to grab her collar again and lead her away.

But after a few minutes of walking she started to get nervous. His bathroom sure was far away.

"Where are we going?" she dared to ask.

"You said you needed to go. You will have to do that outside. The last thing I need down there is the stink of ..."

"You don't have a bathroom?"

"No."

"But don't you ever have to..."

"I am the Nightmare King! Of course I don't!"

Melissa fell silent at this and just followed his lead. Outside he had said and she wondered just how long it would take them to get there. But an instant later, she could suddenly smell flowers and grass and damp earth. And something else. Cool night air.

They stepped out of the mouth of a small cave under the star-covered night sky.

Melissa could not help but clutch her hands to her chest and take a deep breath.

"What are you waiting for?" Pitch asked impatiently. "There are bushes. Go on and be done with it! And don't even think about running. I will have you before you can even say boo."

The fresh air was so exhilarating, she didn't even mind his threats as she dashed behind the next bush and did what she had come here to do. She knew Pitch was watching her, of course he did but he actually kept his distance and respected her pricacy.

When she walked back to him, a minute later, the look of surprise on his face did not escape her. She was still smiling.

"Pitch?" she asked carefully when he attempted to drag her back into the cave.

"What?" he snapped back at her, sounding impatient.

"Can't we stay a bit? The night is so beautiful!"

He turned around and sighed. She saw him looking up at the stars. There was no moon.

"It's a new moon night too" she whispered. "It makes the stars even brighter."

Pitch nodded as if lost in thoughts... as if he had watched this kind of sky many times before.

As they both stared up into the firmament he let go of her collar and placed his hand on her shoulder instead.

Melissa drew another deep breath in amazement. His touch was suddenly so gentle. She smiled and moved just a bit closer to him without taking her eyes from the brilliant night sky.

"Look" she said and pointed up. "That's the constellation Cassiopeia!"

Pitch looked up at the W-shaped constellation and could not help but smile a bit.

"That one there is the Lyra" he explained nodding up at another one. "The brightest star there is called Vega."

Melissa held her breath for a moment. What was going on? Why was he doing this?

Well... I started it, didn't I? But this is … incredible!

She had always admired the stars. Her father had shown her so many constellations during the dark nights out in the wild. And right now, she felt like it was him and not the Nightmare King, who was standing next to her.

"I like the night sky most in winter" she whispered in awe. "Orion is my favorite constellation."

"Is that so?" Pitch wondered as if under a spell. "Do you know the name of the hunters largest star?"

"Of course" she said as if he had asked her the most stupid question ever. "It's Rigel."

"Wrong" Pitch chuckled. "It's Beteigeuze."

Melissa flinched a bit and stared up at him, almost more astounded by his smile than by her error.

„But father told me..."

„Then he made a mistake" Pitch interrupted her and suddenly his voice was harsh again and his smile was gone. He quickly pulled his hand away from her shoulder and grasped her collar again. „Time to go back" he said firmly.

„But Pitch... please" she begged. „Just another minute. I am sorry, I made a mistake. You know that stuff way better than me. I mean, you have been out there, haven't you?"

He stared at her and was not quite sure what to do or to say. The girl was obviously interested in the constellations. And she was right too. He had been out there. He knew the constellations and the royal families that had once ruled there. He had destroyed them all. But the stars remained. They were still shining as brightly as ever. He felt strange, not like himself but he nodded.

„What was it like?" she asked in her childish curiosity.

„Like a nightmare" Pitch rasped and dragged her back into the cave forcefully.

The girl let out a silent yelp but could do little more than to follow his lead. She jogged along as he led her back through the short tunnel at a brisk pace and minutes later they were back inside the main cavern. Melissa had made sure to remember the way.

„I'm sorry" she breathed when Pitch finally let go of her and opened the door of her cage. „I really am. I shouldn't have asked that. I am so sorry. Please let me make it up to you!"

The Nightmare King stared down at her in confusion. What was she talking about? What was she apologizing for?

„Make it... up to me?" he asked with a frown and his voice rang with suspicion. „What do you mean?"

Melissa shrugged and looked around nervously. There was not a single fearling in sight. She had to get this over with. Now.

„I don't know. Is there anything you need help with?"

There are a lot of things I need help with... really… but why would she offer it? What is this child up to?

"I heard you swearing over those weird marbles last night and just earlier. Maybe I can help you fix them?" she suggested.

"What?" Pitch huffed, barely able to believe that suggestion. "What would you know about..."

"I don't know anything unless you tell me" she interrupted him quite boldly. "I only understood that you are trying to stop them from blowing up by accident and they seem to be doing that a lot" she went on, ignoring his cold stare.

She had to convince him to trust her! She had to avoid getting locked up in that cage again. She needed to get a few things first and then she would make her escape.

"I don't know how those things work, but your problem reminds me a lot of the traps my father liked to use. They suddenly just snapped without reason and nearly cut off one of his fingers once. I invented a new design to stop that from happening. Maybe I can invent something similar for you?"

She looked up at him pleadingly. She would do anything to avoid being locked up again. And she had not lied. She was good at tinkering, at putting parts together. It was like a game, a puzzle to her and she loved doing it.

"Give Melissa a piece of wood, a knife and some string and you can be sure she will build something useful from it, a mousetrap, a device to decapitate eggs or even a time traveling machine!"

Those were her fathers words when he used to boast about his daughters skills when it came to tinkering.

Pitch studied her face. For some reason the girl was willing to help him with those little devils. And she seemed so sure that she could fix them.

He really needed those things to work just in case that something went wrong with his plan and he needed to get away. He still could not figure out what she wanted to make up for but he didn't doubt her sincerity. She was a child after all, and as the humans say, children and drunks don't lie...

"Why not" he sighed. He knew that the stupid things would continue to blow up, but at least he would not be the only one who'd be frustrated. He decided to give the girl a chance. She seemed eager enough.

What a wonderful darkling daughter she would make... but not yet. All good things to those who wait.

He led her over to the workbench, showed her the tiny devices and explained her how they worked, what they were made of and how they produced magical shadow.

She examined one of them carefully and in amazement. Magic! This was something she had never worked with but it reminded her of Ombric and North and Bunnymund. They were familiar with that kind of stuff. What would they think of her if they knew that she was helping their enemy to perfect his latest weapon. But how could a little orb of darkness harm anyone? She wondered.

"What do you need them for?" she asked innocently.

"As an emergency escape" he admitted quite frankly. "I can travel by shadow. But there is not always one dark enough handy when I need it..."

"Like in Punjam Hy Loo" Melissa whispered thoughtfully. So this was not a weapon after all. Realizing that made her feel a lot better about it.

She nodded to herself, sat down and started to work feverishly. She understood now how the tiny things worked and she knew that she had to be careful. She did not even ask for permission but used the tools around the workshop to bend tiny pieces of metal into shape and drew different designs on pieces of parchment.

Pitch just watched and didn't disturb her. After a while he even turned away and started on some other chores. The place was in a mess and he stated organizing tools and put away spare parts.

"Not that one, please" Melissa whispered without looking up much. "I'll need that in a minute."

He bent down and placed the tiny bolt of steel on the table next to her.

"Thanks."

And then...

Pop

"Awww... Nooo! Sorry..." she coughed as she found herself in complete darkness. She had not been careful enough and had triggered the device. She could hear Pitch laugh somewhere not too far away and as the shadow particles dissolved around her she graced him with a smirk.

"Those things break easier than a raw egg. Have you ever considered making the shell just a bit stronger?" she complained and Pitch chuckled.

"They have to be like that. My shadow magic is... volatile. If the shell is too strong it won't work at all, if it's thinner it will just collapse in on itself" he told her but she only rolled her eyes and got back to work. There were plenty of those little things and Pitch told her that he could easily make a lot more. So she broke two more of them and didn't feel too bad about it.

But then during her fourth attempt, she noticed that Pitch was actually leaving the large workshop and went into an adjoining chamber.

Melissa knew that this was her moment. She actually felt something like triumph. But she could only shake her head in disbelief. She had never imagined him to be so gullible!

She quickly slipped a thin piece of metal, which she had had her eyes set upon for a while, into her pocket. It would make a perfect lock-pick. Then she ran over to one of the numerous shelves that lined the wall, where she had seen those ropes earlier.

She looked around, but there was still no sign of her captor. So she took one that looked long and strong enough and hurried over to her cage. She hid it carefully under the furs and then rushed back to the workbench.

She was not quite sure how long she had been working but finally she smiled. She had a result that seemed actually presentable.

She smiled and tossed the little device from one hand into the other and it didn't explode, not unless a small button was switched to activate it.

Melissa was quite excited about her success and even more so about the way Pitch had left her alone like this. Did he really trust her that much already? Did he really think that she would not try to escape?

She got up and turned to face the direction into which he had disappeared only to find him standing right there, leaning against the wall, watching her with his arms crossed over his chest. It was actually the first time since Punjam Hy Loo that she saw his right arm.

But Melissa had other troubles than to marvel about this. Her heart had plummeted to the pit of her stomach. Had he been there all the time? Had he seen her looting his workshop? She could have sworn that he had left the room, that he had not been around when she had stolen that rope.

She gulped nervously. There was only one way to find out. She would act as if she had done nothing wrong.

Play acting, play acting... Come on Melissa, you are good at that.

"Um... Pitch?" she whispered timidly and he instantly hid his strangely pale and weak looking arm from sight.

"So, are you giving up yet?" he asked flatly.

She grinned at him sheepishly and held up her hand.

"Catch!" she said in her voiceless way but her whisper still rang with a bit of pride as she sent the small darkness bomb flying his way. He reached out with his good hand and caught it easily. But when his fingers closed around it and it did not explode he raised an eyebrow.

"Oops, sorry... my bad." Melissa apologized. "You would have press the button to make it go off."

Pitch ignored her teasing whisper and held the tiny device up before his eyes. He examined it from all sides, noticing a thin net of wire around it. A stabilizer, he realized and wondered why he had never thought of that. It was so simple! All the time he had been trying things that were much more complicated. But this child had actually solved his problem with such a simple trick.

This way he could handle it without applying pressure to the small orb inside. But how was it supposed to detonate now? Then he noticed the small button she had mentioned. He pressed it and the bomb went off instantly, clouding him in perfect darkness. But this time he did not swear. He laughed. He stepped out of the darkness laughing.

Melissa grinned up at him. Hearing him laugh like that, without menace, was somehow exhilarating and infectious.

But he stopped almost instantly again and looked down at her with an unreadable expression. The girl took a step back in alarm.

Oh gods! He did see me taking his stuff. He'll punish me for sure and I will never make it out of here in one piece!

But when he started talking, he surprised her. "You really did it" he muttered thoughtfully. "I still can't believe it. I must admit, you have managed to impress me."

For a moment Melissa was stunned. "Er... thank you" she whispered doubtfully, staring down at her feet, wondering what would come next.

But then he was suddenly beside her. He turned her around without too much force and led her back to the workbench.

"You have to show me how you did this. I should like to have a few of them."

Melissa nodded silently and sat down. She started working again, repeating what she had done before. But the fact that Pitch had sat down right next to her, watching every move of her fingers really unsettled her. When she gingerly wove the net of wires, he could see her hands shaking slightly. And when she tried to apply the preformed net on one of the little orbs, it popped the moment she touched it.

The Nightmare King could feel the child wince next to him as they were both in complete darkness.

"Don't be so nervous" he advised and heard her sigh.

"I'm trying, but having you sitting there watching doesn't really help" she admitted quite frankly.

"I know" he nodded. "I have that effect on people."

For some reason this statement brought a smile to the girl's face and when the concentrated shadow dissolved around her and she picked up another one of the small orbs, her hands were not shaking anymore.

A little while later after Pitch had seen first hand how the solution to his problem was created, they were both hard at work. The Nightmare King himself had gathered some additional tools and more wire and mimicked what he had seen her doing. He even tried to make some improvements. Not on the design itself but on the production.

He brought another small round object over from another table nearby. And Melissa gasped in surprise when he wrapped his neatly finished net of wire tightly around it to give it the perfect shape.

"What is that thing?" she asked, remembering how she had wondered about that earlier when she had glimpsed it while she had been searching for wire.

"One of my first tries" he admitted. "... made the shell way to thick. But it still has its uses now."

The girl nodded. "I had been wondering if I should use it for that purpose" she confessed.

"Why didn't you?" asked the Nightmare King and watched her shrug.

"I had no idea what it was" she said and then improvised quickly. She was still a bit nervous that he might had seen her taking that rope. She had to find out. "... I wanted to ask you, but I didn't see you anywhere. So I thought I'd better leave it alone. It could have been something dangerous after all."

Pitch said nothing as he passed her the object so that she could use it as well.

Yes, he had left the room. He had wanted to test her. For about ten minutes he had waited inside his private chambers and just listened to the sounds from the workshop. More than enough time for her to realize that she was unattended. He had given her the perfect chance to escape. She knew the way out. Would she run?

He had heard her soft, quick footsteps and had actually felt quite disappointed. But when he had stepped back into the large cavern, she was still there, working hard. She had probably just run to one of the shelves to get something she needed.

He had given her every opportunity to make her escape, but it seemed that she was not even interested in fleeing. But he could tell that she was actually enjoying what she was doing now.

"Ugh..." she sighed suddenly, interrupting his train of thoughts. "Maybe I should build a small weaving loom next" she whispered and shook her hands. "Tying all those tiny knots is making my fingers sore."

That thought suddenly made her wonder how Pitch was doing it? She had avoided looking at him until now. But his hands were a lot larger than hers and could he even use his right one?

She cast a careful glance to her left and bit her lip when she realized that he could. It looked so strange on him... this pale flesh and his fingers seemed a bit stiff. She looked away again quickly before he would notice.

"That sounds like a sensible idea" he agreed and even though she did not look up, she could hear a smile in his voice. He seemed in a strangely good mood for who he was and Melissa decided to keep the conversation going.

"Pitch?"

"Mhh?"

"What's that sparkling stuff over there?" she asked curiously and pointed at a high, vitreous jar filled with some kind of odd silvery-white powder. It was giving off a slight glow and actually looked a bit out of place here.

He looked up and grinned quite evilly. "A little souvenir I brought back from my last unnoticed visit to your precious village. Nicked it from your wizard friends."

"What?" she gasped but then just shrugged. So he had been around Santoff Claussen, probably watching her friends and planning his latest attack. "But what is it?"

"Stardust mixed with a bit of phosphor."

Her eyes grew wide in wonder. "What does it do?"

He shrugged and didn't even look up as he continued working. "It produces light. If you would, for example fill one of those orbs with this powder instead of shadow, it would produce a flash of blinding white light."

"Light" Melissa wondered. "Why would you keep something like that here?"

Pitch gave a snort. "As long as it is here with me, your friends can't use it against me, right?"

"Right" she agreed. "It would be dangerous for you?"

"Not really" he admitted. "It would blind me for a few moments probably... but to any of my servants such a blast would mean instant death."

"Oohh" she gave a fake shudder. "We wouldn't want anything like that to happen" she muttered under her breath but then quickly changed the subject. "Where are all those fearlings to... tonight?"

She could feel him shrug slightly. He was concentrating more on his work, than on their strange conversation. "Probably out, roaming the night. Or in their own realm of shadows."

"Realm of shadows?" she shuddered slightly but for real this time. Those fiends had their own realm? What did they even come here for?

"The one I use to travel from one place to the other."

"The one you are hoping to get access to using those orbs."

"Exactly."

"Isn't that dangerous?" she wondered, trying to imagine a place like this.

"Not for me" Pitch assured her and then frowned. Why would that child ask him such a question?

He looked around at her. She did not look up, but he could still see her own frown. Something was bothering her. He knew she was afraid of his minions. She feared them more than him. Silly child. But he had been playing nicely after all. And right now, he didn't really mind. Her company was somehow refreshing and for the first time he actually enjoyed talking to her.

Then a strange noise made him look up again and saw Melissa looking down on herself and then up at him with a guilty expression.

It took him about ten seconds to catch on and then he chuckled. "Hungry?"

She nodded and looked so embarrassed, that he had to fight down a laugh.

"Give me five minutes. Don't run away, I'd find you again anyway" he promised and she just nodded.

She would run for sure, but not now.

Patience Liz... All good things to those who wait.

She watched him as he got up from the bench and walked right into the nearest shadows. But the moment he was gone, Melissa was on her feet. She had a new idea, actually Pitch had had it, but she would make it happen right now.

She dashed over to the table that held, what he had told her to be empty shells. Small black orbs that had not been filled yet. She picked one up and hurried over to the jar, that held the stardust-phosphor mix and opened it carefully. She found a tiny funnel and a small measuring cup and got to work. She worked quickly, precisely and very, very carefully.

She had only one shot at this and she had heard of the explosive nature of phosphor before. She could not risk to blow this. If something went wrong, Pitch would know what she had tried to do. He would probably think she was a threat to his life!

But all Melissa wanted was a weapon that would enable her to fight off any fearling that might get in the way of her planned escape.

When the tiny orb was properly filled she closed it carefully with one of the little bolts that Pitch seemed to have used on the others. Then she set the lid firmly back on the jar and put everything back in its place before she went back to the table and began to wrap the orb in the net she had just finished.

Then she quickly slipped it into the pocket of her dress only just in time, for a second later, Pitch stepped out of the darkness with a bowl of rice with fried vegetables and a spoon. He had even brought another jug full of water.

He seemed quite relieved to see her still sitting there and she actually looked up at him expectantly.

"Here you are. Enjoy. You've earned it." With that he placed the food and water on the table before her and once again took his seat next to her.

Melissa was not quite sure, where he had taken the food from but she cared little. She felt like she was starving and she would need all her strength later.

So she dug in without needing another prompting and only after she had devoured two spoons full did she remember her manners.

"Um... thank you" she mumbled meekly and tried to eat a little more slowly. By the time she had finished her meal, Pitch was already working on another net. She pushed the empty bowl aside and without further ado started working again as well.

For a long while neither of them said anything. Melissa thought about her escape plan and wondered where she should actually go after she had made it outside. She had no idea just where this place beyond this closest exit was. All she knew was that it was within another kind of mountain range. But it could be anywhere - the Swiss Alps, the Blue Ridge Mountains or the East Side of Mount Fuji.

Pitch had probably seen to it, that any entrance to his underground realm was well hidden and in an area that was not easily accessible. What if she could not get out of this small valley she had seen in the starlight?

The Guardians were probably scouring the earth, searching for Katherine, and hopefully her too. Perhaps if she didn't find a way to escape and travel back to Santoff Claussen on her own, she could perhaps leave some sort of signal for them. They could fly after all. At least Nightlight and the Queen Toothiana could.

She tried to picture what she remembered of the landscape outside in her mind and tried to plan which direction to take. But she couldn't help thinking about that one peculiar moment when they had been watching the stars. It had been both scary and yet wonderful somehow.

It had made her feel somehow hopeful that this Nightmare King perhaps wasn't so bad after all.

Then she wondered. Was he?

She wasn't sure how long she had been here now, but she had really expected worse of him. He could have done horrible things to her, but he hadn't. He had quite obviously saved her life. He had also fixed her shoulder, which had been possibly the most physically painful experience in her life, but by now the pain was as good as gone. He also wasn't letting her starve and now... he had actually let her out of her cage, given her something to do and seemed to trust her enough to turn his back for a while.

And on top of that Melissa had to admit, that she was actually enjoying herself. She was a prisoner of the feared Nightmare King... and she was having fun!

Ridiculous!

She gave a quick glance around at him, but he didn't seem to notice. He had been positively nice to her over the last few hours. The girl knew he was acting but that at least proved that he could be nice when he wanted to be or if it served his purpose.

She had been playing the very same game with him and wondered. Perhaps she should try and see if there were any results yet.

And then she asked the question, Pitch really didn't want to hear.

"I don't think you'd be willing to tell me what you have done to my friend, would you?" she whispered into the silence.

He growled in the back of his throat, but then shot her a wicked smile.

"No, not until you tell me about your argument with..." he hesitated for a moment until he clenched his jaw. The darkness orb he had been working on popped within his fist.

"... Mother Nature."

Melissa was so startled for a moment, that she dropped the orb she had just picked up and it too went off. They were both shrouded in blackness and the girl sighed.

"You really drive a hard bargain" she admitted and wondered if she should just spit it out and tell him. A few more hours and she would be gone from this place anyway. But then, she just could not bring herself to do it.

"But I can't. I'm sorry, even if I wanted to... I really can't tell you."

"Why?"

"It's private... and … well..."

"What?"

Embarrassing!

"Nothing..." she whispered and said not another word about it.

When the two similar spheres of darkness dissolved around them, she could feel him watching her. But she tried to ignore him, hoping he had not noticed how red her face was. She simply picked up a new orb and got back to work.

He looked at her blank expression for another few seconds before he did the same.

Several minutes passed in silence until Melissa finally whispered: "I might tell you... some day."