Elisa soon discovered that the voices were real, and not a trick of the Boogie Man's. Or, if it was a trick, it unfortunately involved two other children now. A little girl and boy were standing there, lost and alone in the forest. Elisa knew them; she often watched over them when their parents went out, and told them stories. It was Angie and her little brother Sam.
"Elisa!" Angie cried in relief as the older girl ran to her through the piles of autumn leaves. She looked the older girl up and down. "Why are you wearing a wedding dress?"
"It's just my Halloween costume," Elisa lied quickly. She kneeled down and put her hand gently on Angie's shoulder. "Are you alright? How did you get here?"
"Sam was having a nightmare and all of the sudden he woke up and ran outside. I woke up and followed him," Angie explained. "He ran out into the woods and I followed. We got lost."
"It was the Boogie Man," Sam whispered. "I was scared."
"Shush, Sam. There's no such thing," his sister hushed him, but she looked scared all the same. "But before Sam woke me up, I was having a nightmare too," she added, looking up at Elisa.
"It's alright now," Elisa said gently. "They were just nightmares. The woods aren't even that big," she laughed. "We'll be home in ten minutes. Come on, I'll take you home." She took each child by the hand and started leading them in the direction she had come from. Though the woods were in fact quite small nowadays, it was still easy to get lost in at night. Elisa wasn't altogether sure she was going in the right direction, but it didn't really matter, as long as they got out onto a street and into the light. Then she could easily lead the children back to their home. She knew there was no reason to be afraid, but it was so dark in the woods, except for the moonlight.
It wasn't long before Elisa admitted to herself she was lost, but she kept moving anyways, so as not to let the children grow frightened again.
"Did you see the Boogie Man?" the little boy, Sam, whispered up to Elisa.
"Quiet, Sam!" Angie hushed him. "He isn't real!" But she sounded scared all the same.
Elisa felt Sam pull back on her arm, and she came to a stop. "There." The little boy pointed ahead. Elisa peered ahead into the woods and saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back. She stood frozen, but gripping the children's hands tightly. The yellow eyes grew closer and laughter echoed in the woods.
"Just as I expected," Pitch's voice laughed through the trees. "You're just like Jack; you just couldn't bare to let the little children all alone. And now you're just where I want you. Lost in the woods."
The children screamed at the sound of the voice and clung to Elisa's dress. "Shhh, it's alright," Elisa said quickly, kneeling down to their level. "He can't hurt us." When she looked up again, the yellow eyes had disappeared. All the same, she couldn't get the children to move again; they were too afraid of the dark around them. So she sat down on the ground next to them, her mother's dress splayed out in the dirt, and wrapped an arm around each of them. "Don't worry," she said. "Just go to sleep, and before you know it, it will be morning and we can find our way home." The children were still scared, but exhausted, so it wasn't long before they had fallen asleep on the ground, their arms still clinging to Elisa for assurance. Elisa kept scanning the woods for the yellow eyes again, but eventually felt herself drifting off to sleep on the hard autumn leaf-covered ground. She tried to fight off sleep, but eventually gave in to the nightmares.
…
Jack flew on the wind over the forest until he spotted two tiny figures among the trees below. With a wave of relief he plunged down and landed on the autumn leaf-covered floor. As he passed through the trees, the autumn leaves frosted over and the last remaining green leaves turned brown. The autumn frost passed through in his wake.
There was no sign of Elisa, but there were two children were sleeping on the ground, frowning in their sleep. They were having nightmares, Jack realized. They must have gotten lost in the woods. But it was alright now; Jack was here to guide them home. He stepped forward to wake them, but before he could, a shadow caught the corner of his eye.
He spun around, holding his staff up defensively as a pair of familiar yellow materialized out of the shadows of the trees. "Jack, so nice to see you again," Pitch's voice called out casually.
"How many times do I have to defeat you before you get the point?" Jack retorted, aiming his staff.
"Ah, you know how it works, Jack. Fear never really disappears completely. It's always just lurking somewhere out of sight…"
"But it can always be defeated."
"Yes, yes." Pitch's voice continued from the shadows. "But nonetheless, you've walked straight into my little trap. And this time, you're not the only one." Jack glanced worriedly at the sleeping children. "They're having nightmares of course," Pitch's voice said, a malicious grin appearing beneath the yellow eyes. "All the children in Burgess at this moment are having nightmares. And what are you doing to help them? Why, nothing. You're too busy traipsing after the girl. You see, Jack? You're messing everything up again… Falling in love, it makes a mess of everything."
"Where's Elisa?" Jack demanded. Pitch laughed. In his anger Jack hurled a blast of ice at the shadows where Pitch was hidden.
"Careful, Jack!" Pitch shouted. He materialized from the shadows, holding Elisa tightly against her struggles. One long dark arm was wrapped around her and the other was stifling her mouth so she couldn't call out. Jack lowered his staff slightly in surprise and dismay. "You wouldn't want to freeze her!" Pitch said. "Children are so delicate," he said, tracing a finger down Elisa's cheek. Elisa bit his finger. "Aah!" Pitch screamed and jerked his finger back. "That's it, girl," he said, yanking her roughly in front of him. Jack stood aiming his staff at Pitch, unable to fight for fear of harming Elisa. A shot that would be only a minor nuisance to Pitch would be enough to freeze Elisa to death.
"Let her go, Pitch!" he shouted, unable to think of anything else.
"Let me think," Pitch teased, still holding Elisa tightly against her struggling. "No." He laughed. "Well go on, Jack. Make your choice. The girl you love, or the children you've sworn to protect. You see now why you can't fall in love? Because then you have to choose."
Suddenly Pitch fell silent in surprise, whacked in the side of the face by a white embroidered slipper. Elisa had managed to pull off her shoe and whack Pitch in the face with it. Jack smiled widely at Elisa, who took advantage of Pitch's surprise by breaking free of his grasp and backing away quickly. "He doesn't have to choose," she said defiantly. "I'm going to help him."
Jack smiled at her. She was even more beautiful that he remembered. For some reason she was wearing a wedding dress, but instead of wondering why, he just thought about how beautiful she looked in it. Her blonde hair had grown longer since he'd last seen her. He'd waited all spring, summer, and autumn to see her again, but now unfortunately was not a good time for their reunion. Pitch growled and lunged quicker than Elisa or even Jack could react; in a split second he was beside the girl, and had grabbed her arm.
"Don't touch her!" Jack shouted, blasting a force of ice at Pitch which he quickly deflected, leaving a frozen black mass twisted to the side.
"No. Now you're going to choose, Jack. Save the children, and loose the girl forever... Or, come save the girl, and leave the children lost and terrified in the forest." He began to drag Elisa away into the shadows, leaving Jack paralyzed, still holding his staff.
"Jack!" Elisa shouted, kicking her legs against Pitch and causing him to gasp in pain. "Save the kids! And make a snow day!"
"A snow day?!" Jack repeated dumbly.
"All the kids will wake each other up when they see the snow! And they won't be afraid anymore! They'll be excited." Pitch tried to yank her again, but she put in her last effort of kicking to stall him.
"I can't leave you!" Jack called out.
"Don't worry about me; I'll be fine! He's just the Boogie Man; he can't really hurt me-"
Pitch threw a hand over her mouth, snuffing out her voice. "Clever girl," he growled. "No, I can't really hurt mortals, but I can scare them." He grinned wickedly. "And I find dying of fright as an effective way to go as any."
Jack didn't want to leave Elisa, but he couldn't leave the children alone either. And Elisa was clever and brave. He wanted to rescue her, but he knew she was capable of rescuing herself. "I'll come find you!" Jack shouted to her. "After I take the kids home. I'll find you; I swear I will!"
Elisa nodded, unable to speak around Pitch's stifling hand.
"Be quick, Jack," Pitch growled. "Before your love dies of fright." Jack glared at Pitch, still aiming his staff and unable to aim it around Elisa. "It's the only way I can kill anyone," Pitch continued, "but I find it effective enough. So here's my revenge," he finished with a bright pointy-toothed grin. "Jack Frost's sweetheart scared to death."
Jack stood over the two sleeping children and watched Pitch drag Elisa away into the shadows. The two figures melted away into the darkness, leaving only a pair of glowing yellow eyes, that retreated farther and farther into the darkness along with the voice taunting, "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick…"