Chapter 10

"It's official reaper wear." Hallow muttered, noting her new clothing as she twirled around. She wore a orange cloak, underneath it was a plain white blouse and thin black suspenders that held up her black pumpkin pants, she took a couple steps showing her off orange knee socks, and black boots.

"There are other reapers?" Jack asked.

"No." Hallow looked confused at Jack.

"Hallow are you sure you should go, we just wrapped up your wounds." North rationalized.

"No. The more we wait the more believers you lose." Hallow muttered. " Plus, I'm sure my presence isn't wanted here."

"I'm coming with you." Jack blurted out.

"Not happening Snowcone, you're trouble." Hallow replied.

"Come on, let me fix my mistake." Jack whined.

"No."

"Please."

"You can't even do anything, you'll just freeze stuff. Leave it to me."

"Just let me try!"

"Jack, stop." North muttered, noticing that Hallow was not happy.

"You started this, you can't just fix this with a little belief. You don't even have a weapon to fight souls with." Hallow shouted, there was a pause, then Hallow grabbed her head, falling back a couple steps, closing her cat eyes. Blaken right at her side, whimpering.

"No..." Hallow muttered. "Stop it."

"Hallow what's wrong." North said, a worried expression filling his old face.

"No Mim I won't... You never...you always...No... Never... Fine." Hallow opened her eyes, a bead of sweat went down her face as she breathed heavily. "He can come."

"What happened." Jack asked leaning down towards the pained spirit.

"The Man in the Moon has a different agenda than I do... Nothing more." The Halloween spirit hissed, frustration in her voice.

"Hallow are you sure you're going to be okay?" North muttered.

"Its not like you to worry about little me, you wrinkly old buffer." Hallow insulted.

"Well maybe if you weren't such a bitter hag, I'd care more." The old man shot back.

Hallow huffed, a small grin played on her lips. "We'll be back soon."

"Just come back in one piece." North laughed.

"No promises. Are you ready to go?" Hallow asked, acknowledging the winter guardian.

"Uhh... Ya." Jack nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" North asked.

"No... One guardian is more than enough trouble, besides you should hold down the fort here.." Hallow muttered, walking over to Blaken. "Well are you coming Frosty?"

"I'll fly behind you." Jack replied.

"Not a chance, Snowball. You're riding with me. Its faster." Hallow grinned grabbing Jacks hand and pushing him up on the hellhound, before hopping on; taking the lead.

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Jack rationalized.

You'll be fine." Hallow muttered leaning down towards the monster's ear. "Find the traitor." she whispered. Holding on tight to the fur on his neck as the monster bolted out of the room.

" Hold on tight." Hallow yelled to Jack as the monster broke open the newly fixed door, into the snowy tundra. The moon shining down hitting the spirits and the hellhound.

"Don't look at me like that." Hallow whispered, gripping the dogs fur tighter. "Even now I'm just your mistake aren't I Mim?"

Blaken howled, catching the scent of the Pumpkin King. As they ran off into the bitter night

They ended off the shore of San Francisco, California. Blaken laying down to let the two spirits off. The ripple of orange broke through the black sky, the only sign of morning.

"I should have known he would come here." Hallow muttered.

"Where?"

"Alcatraz." she sighed grimly.

"That is.." Jack asked confusedly. He had heard of Alcatraz throughout his year but nothing enough to get his attention.

"It was a first class maximum-security prison," Hallow explained. "Some of the worst souls I've ever met where there. It's nothing but trouble... you and the guardians should live there." She insulted.

"Look in the mirror, grumpy." Jack shot back, "What do you mean by was."

"Well it closed down in 19-"

"Excuse me...Lady chained to the bitter night." A voice muttered, Jack spun around quickly to see a beautiful woman with a pale translucent body staring at the Halloween spirit. "You are the grim reaper, yes?" She asked.

"I am." Hallow whispered, finally looking to face the ghostly woman.

"Would you please, send me to the other side." The woman asked.

"Of course Madame." Hallow replied, grabbing her scythe from the bag. "One question miss, if you don't mind me asking. Have you heard from the Pumpkin King?"

"Yes, and I have no will to be apart of that."

"That?"

"Yes he has a society of the dead, It has been hidden for years, trying to find a way to come back to life and destroy the reaper so I'm told, but now the King has arisen. There will be a meeting tonight, over there." She muttered, pointing to the lone island.

"Thank you Madame." Hallow smiled gently, slicing the ghost in half, her soul disintegrated into nothing.

"Why didn't she attack, like the zombie guy?" Jack asked, watching as Hallow put away her scythe

"Not all the dead are like that, some are not as afraid of the other side." Hallow replied. "We have until nightfall... we might as well entertain ourselves here."

Hallow walked down a dark alley, Blaken following behind. She sat on an old doorstep leaning her head against the cold wall. Jack followed sitting out across from her, near an old broken box. Hallows eyes drifted; she hadn't had sleep in a while, she yawned letting the drowsiness consume her.

Jack had stood watch, he watched as the skies turned orange and pink, then blue. He saw little kids run by the alleyway, not a care in the world. Hallow cracked her eyes open.

"How long has it been." Hallow asked, looking at the Jack, then at her sleeping Hellhound.

"12-ish hours." Jack replied, boredom consuming the Guardian of Fun.

"You should have woke me." Hallow scolded.

"But you looked so vulnerable." Jack teased.

"I should kill you for seeing me like that..." Hallow grumbled jokingly.

"Hallow I was wondering what you meant when you said your dead, at the Pole." Jack asked changing the subject.

"Its exactly like I said... I'm dead." Hallow replied, causing there to be an awkward silence.

"So uhh, what did you do before you were immortal?" Jack asked immediately regretting his question. It was not polite to ask who you were before immortality. Jack knew about the guardians past lives, but only as a gesture to there now eternal partnership. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I mean you were probably just a simple peasant like me..." He was cut off by a soft laugh.

"A peasant?" she laughed. "Jack, I was a queen."

"A, a, a queen?" he mumbled flabbergasted at the idea, "but you're so young and little."

"As was my reign" she sighed. " I was so shorted lived you could call my feeble attempt pathetic. But in the end despite the fact that i was loved by my people it was my lover who caused my downfall."

"Could you collaborate more on that?" Jack asked tilting his head ever so slightly.

"It was a while ago, 3 no 400 years ago. I was born in a very small kingdom, but very politically influential. My mother died a bit after my birth, and although it wasn't my fault and no one blamed me, I still had this horrible notion that I took away my fathers most beloved person. And because of my mothers death I never saw my father except on special engagements or conferences; otherwise he was locked in his chamber away from society ... and me.

Still, I knew my place, I was not a male so I had no right to be on the throne. I was merely a bargaining chip my father could use freely, but that knowledge did not stop me from trying to make a difference for my country. With the help of my people, we made a better kingdom. I helped raise the cattle and weeded with the farmers, I baked bread for the bakers, I helped build homes for those with none and educated all with what I knew. I did what I could with what I had and with that I built harmony. Despite my higher authority and status I wanted to be one of them, and I insisted that they did not call me her highness, or princess, but by my real name. Hallowvera Von Eve. I was a lady for the people, by the people, with the people... and in the depths of the people I found Jack; he gave me life... Jack was a kind farmer, not like any other person I've had ever met. He was so confident and thoughtful. He would help me feed the hungry and tell me I was beautiful. We use to take strolls down the riverside and play in the castles garden until he had to go home. He was sweet and a charming and although he stole a kiss or two he was still so very gentlemanly . The two of us, so in love. For the two of us... It was enough. Before the disaster came and tore us apart.

One night I was out really late with my lady-in-waiting. One of the seamstress in the kingdom was having a baby and asked that I be there to bless their new child. When I arrived home, I was informed that my father was dead; murdered, as well as several guards and two of my personal maids. It was suspected that they were going to assassinate me as well and as a result I was not allowed to have any contact with the outer world.

My father had never made any arrangements, concerning my marriage with any other kingdom; that anyone knew of and there where no other royal heirs. So I became the ruler of my kingdom by default, and spent most of my time alone, thinking about Jack; hoping that somehow he would come back again, just like it use to be.

Several fortnights after my fathers death, there was another attempt to spill my blood. The door to my study was slammed open, one of my guards screamed something but was cut of by a sword that implied his head. It was Jack. He kicked over the now dead guard, walking into my room; a wave of black armoured knights, not familiar to the ones in my kingdom, marched into my room.

I faltered back from him. ' What is the meaning of this?' I asked. Not sure if I was scared of confused.

'Hallowvera Von Eve, thou hast be tri'd f'r treason." Jack announced.

'What hast I done that hath ensued treason?' I replied.

'thy existence.' and before i could reply one of the knights grabbed me by my hair and dragged my screaming body through my castle of dead corpses, down to the town square. Houses burned a crimson red as people screamed, black armoured men, slicing at the innocent. I was tied to a cross in the middle of the plaza as men started to place wood around me. I screamed and crying as a man cut of my hair with his sword; throwing my brown locks on the wood.

"WITCH!" the men called, lighting the wood around me. "REPENTANCE YOUR CRIMES, WITH THOU LIFE."

I watched as Jack smiled, staring at me. A man touched his shoulder giving him a bag, I could hear it the sound of money over the shouting men, and the screaming of the innocent. Jack opened the bag carefully inspecting his pieces of gold. And in that moment I knew that everything he did was a lie, it was to get to know my castle layout, the places I hung out and my weakness. He betrayed me for money.

"JACK!" I screamed as the fire began to scald my feet. "I beshrew thou, I will destroy thou, if its the last thing I doth, i will endue thou down, and destroy thou f'r the trait'r ye art. "

He laughed at me and walked away, leaving me to burn. The last thing I remember before I went unconscious was a baby crying, and i wished I could save it. I wished it never had to suffer. The tears welling up in my eyes and the pain, not of the fire burning me alive but of my broken heart." Hallow began to laugh.

"Image a world of perfection and beauty and then imagine a world where everything goes terribly wrong. with my feeble back against the wall, threatened by my once lover. Where I scream in agony as I am burned alive. where a man gives up another for money. Where I along with my kingdom, die... I was almost happy, almost in love...almost... but not quite.

When I awoke the town had burned down and corpse littered the kingdom. I was all alone and I was scared. Until I saw the moon and it was so pure and beautiful so I followed it, trailing along as he moved gracefully across the sky and when I lost him I waited till I saw him again. He seem to always find me, so I trusted him. One day I asked the moon to make a deal with me. I asked him to give me a meaning and he agreed but I have to give him something in return." Hallow paused.

"What did you give him?" Jack asked eyes wide open.

"My heart."

"Wait you gave him your heart?"

"Yes" Hallow grabbed Jack's hand and placed it to her chest. The was a long pause before she continued, " No beat, I am nothing but a soul attached to an immortal body... Nothing more, nothing less. I have no feeling of Empathy or Happiness; they were lost with my heart."

There was a long silence. Hallow took a deep breath and continued her story, " There was more to this deal. I had a job to do, I have to guide the lost soul to the next world. And the time that I had off was the number of days I had followed the moon."

"How many?" Jack asked, already knowing the number in the back of his head.

"31 days. The whole month of October and after the month is done I am sent back to work finding and guiding souls for another 11 months. That was the deal and I agreed to it."

"why, why would you make such a deal?" Jack questioned.

" I have nothing to live for but following the moon, despite the fact that he only did it out of pity." she replied, staring up at the moon surrounded by the dark chilly autumn night. " My center is meaning and my meaning is still unknown to me." she stopped taking a deep breath before looking Jack in the eyes, " But the moon doesn't lie and I will find the meaning he gave me." Hallow gave a small crooked smile before getting up off the step. She closed her eyes, taking a long breath, "When I close my eyes i see Jack and although i love him and he gave me a real life... he is also the reason why everything I touch dies."

"Its time to go." She muttered, leaning down and touching Blaken's head, waking up the hound.

They walked out of the alley, the street lights gleaming down on the spirits.

"What's that?" Jack asked, pointing to a faded boat near the shore.

"The death boat to Alcatraz." She muttered watching as the dead souls walked on.

"Let's hurry and get on it."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"It's a ghost boat, we'll just fall through." Hallow explained watching as the boat departed. "We'll have to swim."

"Why swim?" Jack smiled, "When you can walk!" Jack walked over to the water freezing the water into a thick ice.

"Brilliant!" Hallow muttered. She hoped on Blaken and they set off on to the frozen ice.

Okay I'm getting really bad at posting, I know! I blame my math teacher she gives way to much homework...I said this would be longer than any of the other ones! Yup, I dunno about you but I'm proud of myself... Actually most of Hallows story I had written like a year and a half ago then lost it then found it and that's really why I started this fanfic... Anyhoozies did anyone notice how I used Hallowvera... ya my brother was drinking Aloe-Vera and I was like BAM! Hallowvera. Anyway give me feed back. I'm getting the impression that no one like's it... or its to good for words... or you guys are shy.