Chapter Nine

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

Jack dove recklessly through the skylight making a B-line through all the gathered party guests to North.

North had jovially been laughing and carrying on having already had a few spiked eggnogs. His bright demeanor instantly faded when he saw Jack's face, "Jack? Is everything all right?"

Jack's face was flushed as he shook his head violently, "No; it's really not!"

By this point Sandy, who had been dozing by North's right, was immediately wide awake and at full attention, and Bunnymund and Tooth were making it to the scene with equally concerned expressions.

"What's got ya all in a twist mate?" Bunnymund queried worriedly.

Jack's mouth worked trying to find words for what he had seen, "It's …it's Pitch…" before he could continue the assembled immediately took on dour countenances with a myriad of responses ranging from gasps of surprise to dark scowls.

Bunnymund whipped out his boomerangs as he spat, "If he hurt Jamie, I swear I'll…"

Jack was shaking his head when the guardians erupted into conversation; Bunnymund, North, and Tooth began conferring at once a good attack strategy. Jack realized, they were no longer listening to him, and finally sick of their carrying on without even hearing him out, Jack slammed his staff down angrily sending a burst of wind that sent several elves flying and pushed back the guardians a few feet as he yelled out, "Stop it!"

All the guardians' eyes were now focused on the winter sprite blinking in surprise by the sudden outburst as they silently awaited Jack to explain himself.

Jack swallowed beginning in a much more even tone, "It's not Pitch hurting Jamie… Jamie… he …he has Pitch."

Confusion showed across the party gathered as this news settled.

North was the first to speak looking rather bewildered, "Jamie …has Pitch? Are you sure about this Jack?"

Jack nodded, "Unless he's gotten really good at replicating Pitch's likeness in his photography." Jack grimaced at the thought, "There's more… the pictures… they …they uh, were rather graphic, and Pitch is wearing manacles in them."

Tooth held a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened.

Bunnymund's brow drew down, "That demented pervert's turned our Jamie into some kind of S&M freak! I'm gonna kick him so far back underground his head is gonna pop out in China!" The rabbit was moving about in agitated motions clearly quite disturbed by the news.

North frowned holding out his hands in supplication, "Let's not be hasty Bunny; we will go to Jamie, see what is going on. This may not be for us to interfere with. We have not seen or heard from Pitch since we put him back in hole almost fifteen years ago, who is to say that Jamie and Pitch are not happy? We must first see, da?"

Sandy looked askance of North's words only wearing a small thoughtful frown as he waited for everyone to decide what to do next.

Bunnymund holstered his weapons although his fists were balled tightly and his teeth were clenched in his frustration to cope with North's plan to talk first over just getting straight to fighting.

They all looked to Jack again now wearing somber faces.

North made a loud whistling sound getting the attention of all that were gathered in the globe room celebrating. Once the party goers stilled enough, North addressed them in a sad tone, "My friends, I am sorry to inform, but party is going to be cancelled. Paul, Robert, can you please ready reindeer; we have important matter to attend to."

A mill of unhappy and confused mutterings moved about the room as yetis and elves began filtering out and Paul and Robert hastened to the task North asked of them.

North sighed heavily, "Come Jack, you will show us where Jamie is now, and we will find out what is going on."

Jack nodded and the guardians turned to follow Jack and North towards the sleigh except for Bunnymund who growled, "Y'all go on the sled, I'll meet ya at the lake, and we'll move together from there." The others turned back to see the rabbit had already disappeared down one of his tunnels.

North had stopped long enough to grab his sabers, and the four quickly marched down to the departure tunnel. It didn't take long for Paul and Robert to have the sleigh and reindeer ready to go, but it felt excruciatingly long due to the weighty hush that clung in the air as all the guardians stood waiting and fidgeting nervously in obvious turmoil over the recent news. What did Pitch do to Jamie? This had to be Pitch's fault… This was what all the guardians wanted to assume, just as Bunnymund had, but there was a restrained doubt from what Jack had described. Surely it had to be Pitch since Jamie couldn't actually retain a spirit that could meld in and out of the shadows against his will… could he?

There was a lot of quiet contemplation in the silence as the reindeer stamped up to the dock eager to fly once more. Everyone boarded swiftly and within moments the four were bounding down the tunnel, out the other end, and through a snow globe destined for Burgess.

Bunnymund was at the lake's edge as North circled about to finally find a place to land, the ice had already melted as the season moved towards summer. Jack flew out of the sleigh towards Bunnymund needing to move about while the others waited and exited with North to converge once more as a group at the lake's edge where Bunnymund had been waiting on them.

Normally Bunnymund would have made a quip about how his tunnels were a much faster method of travel, but the subject matter at hand kept everyone quite serious as Jack directed them to the little hidden house up the hill from the lake.

As they all made their way up the rickety staircase, (or rather North and Bunnymund walked up the stairs as the others quickly flew to the top with ease) they gathered at the sliding glass door and realized Jamie hadn't arrived home in Jack's absence. The whole trip for Jack going to the Pole and back to Burgess with the others had only taken about forty minutes; Jack was secretly wishing he never arrived now as the confrontation to come made him feel ill.

Bunnymund bristled giving an affirmative nod, "Good, I'd like ta catch that manipulative wisp without Jamie here ta defend him and his sick games!" He slammed his fist into his palm, "We'll get ta the bottom o' this right quick!"

Tooth was wringing her hands nervously from the tension surrounding their group and took the initiative to be the first to dart into the house looking around nervously as if she half expected Pitch to jump from the shadows and attack her.

The others followed cautiously looking around the room at the otherwise normal display of photography pictures they had grown accustomed to seeing from Jamie over the years.

Jack motioned with a hand for them to follow him down the hallway as he floated towards Jamie's room a sick dread to see what he'd left less than an hour prior. Swallowing hard Jack braced himself as he cracked the door open and pointed into the room as he floated backwards, "It's… it's in there. You can go take a look; I'm not stepping foot back in there.

North squeezed both of Jack's shoulders gently, "Is okay; we can go see, you wait here." North gently moved the boy aside as he moved further down the corridor and into the room stopping a few feet past the entrance and exclaiming, "Chto eto?" Russian for 'what is this?' He looked positively stunned as his eyes moved about the room.

Sandy floated behind North and past him as he took in the photos on the wall with neutral eyes until he saw one where Pitch looked strained and contorted painfully as he was held up by the chains that bound him with a look of resignation on his face. This wasn't a mutually shared interest. Sandy's hand touched the picture as he looked back with a hurt filled expression.

Tooth floated slowly around in circles taking in what she saw with her hands clasped together and drawn to her chest. She wanted to dart out of the room, but she was held captive by the atrocities splayed out in front of her. "He… he looks sickly… more pale than I remember," she stated almost absently. It was true, the prolonged exposure to sun had weakened Pitch to the point his flesh took on a pallor of eggshell with the lightest tint of gray as all the shadows were slowly leeched from him.

Bunnymund was the last to enter, his angry mien melting away as he took in what he saw shaking his head, "This… this… Jamie couldn't have! There's gotta be an explanation? Pitch… he has to have done this right? North?" His voice was shaky; he didn't want to believe what he was seeing. To know that the boy they had so nurtured over the years could become capable of these kinds of actions even to someone as vile as Pitch, this was inexcusable. This had to be mutually consenting he told himself desperately, but being the guardian of hope, he could see clearly in many of the pictures displayed that Pitch showed just the opposite, he showed a loss of hope and even overwhelming despair.

North stroked his beard looking at the manacles carefully and seeing the magical sigils etched into them, they were created to contain, and being a progenitor in the field of magic, he recognized the spell for what it was quickly enough as he stated gravely in reply to Bunnymund, "These chains, they are meant to bind a spirit and spirit cannot escape unless one who has bound them releases them. Pitch did not do this, Jamie did."

The sound of the front door opened just then, and all the guardians' heads swiveled in unison to Jamie's arrival.