"Are you Aunt Sophie?"
The sound Sophie made was a cross between a scream and a whimper. A fifteen year old boy had his arms wrapped around her waist, pinning her to the forest floor. The boy looked her up and down but refused to let go. Unable to speak a word, she simply nodded.
"Oh my god." The boy laughed, grinning. "You made it! Dad and Jack were right! You're an Immortal! Manny did chose you! Wow! Holy crap! Just… Come on, we gotta tell Tyler and Sophie. We gotta tell Mom and Dad and Jack. And the Guardians! And—"
"No!" Sophie reached and covered his mouth. Her voice echoed with foreign voices. "Elliot, don't tell anyone!"
Elliot raises his eyebrows in shock. He was still for a moment, caught off guard by the strangeness of her voice. His voice was muffled through her hand. "You know my name?"
"Of course I know your name, I'm your aunt." Sophie tried to pull away from the boy. His grip would not relinquish. This was not happening. It couldn't be. How?! "I think the dead aunt is more terrified of meeting the living nephew then the living nephew is of meeting the dead aunt. Especially one he's never met."
The boy laughed. "When you're friends with a guy that's been dead for three hundred years, it's hard to be scared of anything."
"Not even me?"
He looked her up and down and his grip slackened. He frowned. "Well… you're not exactly how any of us pictured you." Elliot sat up. "But, Dad says to never be scared. Hope and belief will protect us. Especially when it comes to the Immortal world."
Sophie smiled and knelt in front of him. Jamie really knew how to raise his kids. She swelled with pride. "Well, I'd hope you didn't picture me like this. Because this isn't how I look." She put her hands on her hips. "I'm pretty scary right now, huh?"
"You don't actually look like that?" Elliot raises his brows. "Then why…?"
"We need your help, Elliot." Sophie sat, crossing her legs and adjusting her dress. She figured, hey, since he could see her, she might as well elaborate. She needed to make this right. She needed to reverse her mistakes. All the while, the voices pestered her. As she explained to him what happened to the Immortals and the Guardians, she had to stop several times to try and fight the voices. To try and quiet them. When she did, Elliot would move back, disturbed and a little scared.
"So… Pitch did have you." Elliot crossed his arms carefully.
"Well… not at first… but… I gave in to him." Sophie admitted shamefully.
"Because he scares you." Elliot pointed out.
Sophie opened her mouth, when calls for Elliot rang through the forest. He had been away from his siblings for too long and they had come looking for him. Elliot looked to Sophie with a wide grin. "Come on, you can explain to them! You can tell them what you told me!"
"No," she quickly shook her head. "I don't want anyone to see me like this. You understand, right Elliot? Please…"
The look he gave her was one of pity. He flipped out his cell phone and sent a text before taking Sophie's wrist and helping her to her feet. He gave her a nod and ran with her at his heals into town. As they hit the pavement, Elliot's phone went off and he checked the message, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe you should go back to Tyler and Sophie…" Sophie rubbed her arm and bit her lip.
"No, way. I want you to tell me why you don't want anyone to see you."
"Because… I don't want them to know what I did." Sophie ran her hands through her tar-colored hair. "I don't want them to know I was weak. That I gave in because I was scared. That… for four years, I followed Pitch. I hurt people. I… I hurt Jamie."
Elliot's eyes widened. "You…?"
"I… I give inspiration, Elliot. And normally, it's for great things! Amazing and beautiful and full of light and hope. I love to see the smiles when people get inspired. But… with this…" she held out her hand and black sand dripped through her fingers. "All I do is inspire gross, disgusting, morbid, horrible things. The artist would sometimes break down from it. And now… I just… I hurt them. They don't… they don't want to do it anymore. Their passion. Because of me."
"Aunt Sophie…" her nephew stepped forward.
"And… this nightmare sand!" Sophie threw a handful back into the forest, frustrated. "It—" She took a deep breath. He didn't need to know the extent of the damage it took on her. "It changed me." she said quietly. "I'm not Sophie anymore. And I don't want Jack or Jamie to see me like this. I don't want anyone to see me like this. Heck, I snuffed out the belief in my first believer."
"Wait, first believer?" Elliot furrowed his brows.
"Elliot… I don't have any believers. You're… you're the second one to ever believe in me."
"Are you gonna snuff out my belief, too?" he looked panicked. There was something in her that enjoyed the panic, but she pushed it down.
"Only if you don't tell anyone about me. Not yet." She held up a hand, giving him a look that told him he should do the same. "Promise?"
"Promise." he vowed.
"Cross your heart?"
"What do I look, twelve?"
"Cross your heart?"
The boy sighed and made an X shape over his chest. "Cross my heart."
Sophie smiled, content with this. "Good, then we need to make a game-plan."
They walked through the streets of Burgess and Elliot pulled out a device to clip to his ear. His father had gotten them for in the event that Jack showed up someplace he couldn't be seen. Elliot already had the embarrassment of being caught talking to no one with no excuse. School was unkind to him the next few days, but the laughter faded and was forgotten at another's expense. So, Jamie had gotten his children a blue-tooth so they could talk to Jack without scrutiny.
Her brave nephew was going to help her. He was so eager, he wanted to just go right now and stop Pitch. Sophie insisted a plan was best. She said they needed children with hope and faith. And a lot of it. It didn't matter how many, but the fewer the better. Maybe the three siblings would be enough, but one or two more would be ideal. Elliot suggested his cousins. They didn't live too far and they had a strong belief, since they were still young. Six and eight. Sophie wondered if she should dare even put them in danger.
"We can take them, Aunt Sophie. We have a lot of faith." Elliot assured her with a confident grin.
"Of course you do, you're your father's kid after all. Jamie has the most faith out of anyone I know. Even me."
"Really? But… Sophie…" the boy snorted and shook his head. "Sophie said Jack was in love with you." The boy obviously had his doubts. Even found it a bit funny. It was probably hard to believe. Jack Frost? The Guardian of Fun? The boy was so full of mischief, it was hard to imagine he'd have any interest in love. Sophie didn't blame him for his disbelief.
She didn't say anything. The voices reminded her Jack never really cared about her. She looked down at her bare toes and rubbed her arm. "I lost faith in Jack once. The last time Pitch rose. Jamie… Jamie wavered but never broke. I don't have his strength. Your father… he's amazing."
Elliot frowned. "You miss him."
"Of course I do."
"He misses you." Elliot bit his lip. "More then he lets on. More than he'd ever say. But I know. 'Cause he dedicates all of his best works to you. You shouldn't hide, you know. Even if you are like this. He'd be really happy to see you. And… he'd understand, right? He's your brother."
Jamie wouldn't understand. He'd be disappointed. He was disappointed when you stopped believing in Jack. Yeah, you're nothing to him! You're nothing but an embarrassment. Unable to make friends on your own. Clinging to Jamie. Clinging to imaginary friends. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't accept this. He'd turn away from you.
Sophie shook her head. "Not yet, Elliot."
There was pounding on pavement and calls for the boy. Sophie had been walking through the town with her nephew and she turned to see his brother and sister were catching up. Tyler was ahead of Sophie, the girl panting as she tried to keep up.
"Who… who did you see?" the older boy asked the younger. Elliot folded his arms. Sophie shook her head, urging her nephew not to say.
"… What are you talking about? I didn't see anyone."
"You had to see someone!" the sister gasped. "You ran and the writing stopped. Someone was there. You ran after them."
"No, I ran away from them. The writing thing was freaking me out. Someone asking for our help? Really?" Elliot rolled his eyes. "How can we help the Guardians? We're barely kids anymore. My belief is shaky at best these days. What about you, Tyler?"
"You're lying. You suck at lying, Elliot." his brother deadpanned.
"Who'd you see? Are they still there?" his sister demanded.
There was a summon. Pitch was calling her. She shouldn't keep him waiting. "I'm gonna go, Elliot. Please tell them what I told you." Sophie put a hand on his head. "Good luck."
She stepped back and black swirls began to engulf her. She watched the middle child give her a wide-eyed look. "Wait!" His hand grabbed her arm and she gasped. When the darkness faded, she covered her mouth. Elliot stood with her, gripping her arm, looking around, confused.
"Where are we?"
