Disclaimer- I do not own Rise of the Guardians, it rightfully belongs to Dreamworks. I only own the plot Tara Lumen, and all the other characters I have created.

Hi guys...

I'm sorry it's a week late, but it wasn't entirely my fault. Our broadband broke a few days before this was meant to be posted, and although he bought a new one straight away, my dad wouldn't let me have the codes to access the Wi-Fi until late last week, meaning there wasn't really any point in posting it then. So I waited until today.

I also apologize for the fact that, in comparison to the other chapters, this chapter is extremely short. I think it might be because I planned out everything that was going to be said in advance, as it is important that some things are said, and that some things were mentioned ect, ect, but the problem with that was I didn't pay as much attention to detail ect. I think. I hope this is okay though.

However, I do not apologize for the cliffhanger. Partly because I love writing cliffhangers, and partly because I think this was necessary. Lets just say more than one POV is needed on this subject...

Anyway...

Thank you to CreativeSpirit28 for following and favouriting my story, and thank you to merida of the middle earth for following it.

Enjoy!

Chapter Ten-The Truth

Tara's POV

I sat up, bolt upright, struggling against the bed covers. Once again, I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to stop the scream in my throat from escaping my lips. My heart was pounding faster than the hoof beats of a racehorse, and each breath came as a ragged gasp.

'Calm down,' I told myself. 'It was just a nightmare.' The problem was, I wasn't so sure anymore. The nightmare man had spoken to me, which had never happened before. He had told me he looked forward to meeting me in person. Even the thought of meeting him in reality made me tremble in fear. But was the nightmare real? Could it be real? I decided I would ask Jack about it in the morning.

I carefully untangled myself from the covers and checked the time. Three AM. I debated the likelihood of being able to get to sleep again after the nightmare. Pretty much zero chance.

I showered, got dressed and sat on the bed, staring into space. I had a few hours to kill before breakfast. I decided to try to distract myself from the haunting images of the man, the cavern in which he resided, and other things that frightened me even more-the memories of Morte Pavidum.

I got out my diary and stared blankly at the paper, pen poised above it, ready to write. No words came. I had written the events of the last few days yesterday, what could else I write, apart from 'Hi me, I had another nightmare last night.'

I tried drawing instead, but whatever I tried to draw, it turned into something related to the nightmare. I sighed in exasperation. I wanted to try and push it out of my mind, not remind myself of it!

I didn't feel like drawing or writing in my diary. What else could I do? If I was perfectly honest, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I was itching to play the piano. But if I played it this early in the morning, I would disturb Jack. After all, his room was only two doors away from the piano room.

Then again... as long as I didn't play anything that was too loud... and he had said that he wouldn't mind listening to me play at any time of day, so...

Mind made up, I picked up the piano book and went to the piano. I left the lid of the piano down and placed my foot on the left pedal for good measure. Hopefully the softening effect of the pedal would make the piano quieter as well.

I turned to a piece by Yiruma. It was called 'Time Forgets'. I placed my fingers on the keys and let the music carry me away.

Halfway through the piece, something brought me back to reality. I felt uneasy all of a sudden, and I had the cold, distinct feeling that I was being watched. This wasn't like before, when Jack had been watching me play, this new presence felt... different. Perhaps even unfriendly. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move.

I stopped playing and turned to see what it was, but there was nothing. It must have been my imagination.

But then, I saw it again. I couldn't make out what IT was, but I definitely saw movement. I turned, but once again, there was nothing there. But there WAS something different, something out of place. I could sense it, I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't quite place what. Then I realized. The door was open.

I distinctly remembered closing it to avoid noise drifting through and disturbing Jack. Which meant someone or something had opened it.

I left the piano, walked to the doorway, and looked out into the corridor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something disappear down it. I considered waking Jack, but decided against it. It probably wasn't a problem-it was probably an elf or something.

I followed down the corridor. I kept seeing movement, always put of the corner of my eye, always disappearing round a corner or something similar. Eventually, I ended up at a door I recognized. The door to the Globe Room. The door was slightly ajar, meaning whatever I was following had gone that way.

I entered the Globe Room, closed the door behind me, and looked around. For a moment, I couldn't see anything different about the room. But then I saw him. The man from the rooftop.

He looked cleaner than when I had first met him. His hair and clothes were no longer ragged, and although I had only ever met him once, I got the feeling that, somehow, I knew this man.

"Hello, Tara Lumen." His voice echoed through my head. Had he spoken to me telepathically? "That's right," the voice continued, "it's a very clever trick, if I must say so myself. I can hear what you're thinking, and I can project my words into your head."

"Who are you?" I asked, mentally.

"I am Pitch Black," he replied.

Pitch Black. The enemy of the Guardians, the one they had thought couldn't be behind the events of the last few days... But why hadn't they recognized him from my description when I had told them about meeting him on the rooftop?

"Ah, that..." he spoke again. I was no longer aware of what was in my head and what was being spoken aloud. "Another trick I developed. I can change my form. Do you want to see who I really am?"

He didn't wait for me to answer. The room grew dark, his form twisted and turned into a swirling mass of shadow, which then gradually stilled and solidified to form a man with grey skin, amber eyes, black robes...

I backed away, trembling. "No... It can't be..."

The man from my nightmares grinned. "Hello, my daughter."

Suddenly, everything made sense. If what he had said was true, then, according to the direct bloodline rule, he could draw power from me. That's why he gave me the nightmares-it was so he could do so. That was why every time I saw him, he seemed stronger-it was because he was stronger-I was making him stronger. In my nightmares, I had always felt as though I was losing power and energy, I just never realized that it was actually happening. It also explained why I always woke up more tired than before I went to sleep-it was because I was losing energy to Pitch, rather than gaining it.

Why didn't I tell the Guardians about my nightmares when I first came here? How could I have been so stupid? Pitch has been drawing power from me all along!

"Yes," Pitch mused, "the power you have given me is quite useful. I am in your debt."

"In my debt?" The idea was almost amusing. "Ha ha, very funny." I replied, sarcastically, before turning serious again. "You have ten seconds to leave before I call the Guardians..."

"But what would they say, when they realize that you are my daughter?" Pitch asked, and, whether I liked it or not, he had a point.

I pushed that worry from my mind. That didn't matter- what mattered was that the man who was responsible for the attacks, for the behaviour of the Nightmares and for kids stopping believing was here. If I called the Guardians now, they could stop him before anything else happened.

But before I could do anything of the sort, Pitch spoke again. "I must say, this is a great disguise-the kind, innocent girl who's in danger. The damsel in distress. Quite clever, really."

My first reaction was indignation. "I am not a damsel in distress! I can take care of myself!" Then I took in the rest of his statement, and looked at him in confusion. "Hang on, disguise? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, and the information you've given me will be most useful," he continued, ignoring me.

My blood ran cold. "What information?"

Pitch smiled, almost smugly. "It's all in your head, Tara."

In my head. Pitch had used the telepathic link to see my memories and thoughts. He had used them to get information on the Guardians. What had he found out? I thought of the times when I'd asked the Guardians about themselves. Would he have seen all of that? And what about the things Jack told me about himself, about his sister, and about how he died?

Pitch smiled again, and this time I was surprised to see that it was almost pleasant. "Well, my daughter, I must leave now. Keep up the good work."

"You..." I struggled to think of a strong enough insult. "You scumbag!" I mentally face-palmed. That was the least insulting thing a person could come up with! "You... son of a-" I started to say, but he disappeared into a swirl of shadow.

I stared at the spot where he had been. He had gone. On the downside, that meant the Guardians would have to try and find him before they could send him back to whatever pit he'd crawled out of. On the bright side, at least I could tell the Guardians who was responsible for the events of the past few days.

"Is it true?" North's voice said in disbelief, interrupting my thoughts. "You've been working for Pitch all along?"

I turned to see all five of the Guardians had entered the room.

"No! I..." I was about to explain everything, but then I saw their faces. Bunny's face showed betrayal, North's and Sandy's disbelief, Tooth's shock, and Jack just looked... confused.

But why? All the things Pitch had said...I'd denied them. Then I realized. The telepathic link. I had no idea what had been said aloud, and what had been said telepathically. For all I knew, they might not have heard the parts of the conversation in which I denied Pitch's statements. I realized that was what Pitch had wanted-to trick me into making it look like I was working with him.

"What did you hear?" I whispered. Even as I said the words, I knew that the answer to that question wasn't the answer I wanted. What I really wanted to know was the complete opposite.

What didn't they hear?

So, like I said, cliffhanger! Please review and say what you think (I get worried when I don't get any, since I worry that you guys don't like what I'm writing! (Yes, I know, insecure much!)) So please review!

By the way, here's the address for 'Time Forgets'. Just type in the web address for YouTube, and paste this bit in!

/watch?v=anicaKGED00

See you next time!