Getting things accomplished is a fantastic feeling. I got all my homework done this weekend Yaaaayyyyy! Happy dance.
I like and hate this chapter. I like the way its written but hate how detached it feels.
Mallory sat up and clutched the blanket that had been draped around her. She crawled backwards, almost a crab walk, to where the bed had been pushed up into the corner of the wall, hiding herself as far as she could possibly go. Pitch's eyes gleaned through liquid silver and gold as he turned his gaze on the young woman on the bed. His smile twisted into a malice mixed with sweetness, both terrifying and inviting. His charm had soothed Mallory but everything else about him, his demeanor, his shadow, and his ominous aura had plunged fear straight into her. She quaked and shuddered under his influence.
"You – you're..." she panted. Pitch motioned his arm, gesturing for her to get the correct words out.
"Yes, I am the Boogeyman, Pitch Black, Prince of Nightmares, King of Fear, the list could go on," he chuckled warmly, and eerie slither in his voice. "And you're Mallory Lichter, daughter of Linda Lichter, goddaughter of Morgan Barry..." At the mention of Morgan's name, his voice trailed off and something similar to sadness flickered in the dangerous fire of his eyes. He only lingered for a second before returning to his state of persuasive intimidation.
"I feel like... I've seen you before..." Mallory muttered, squinting her eyes to get a good look.
"Probably," he agreed. "I've been around. Pop in now and again."
"You..." she began to sob and chucked pillows at the dark man that stood before them. "It's you! If I hadn't been so afraid to tell mom and dad, all of this could have been avoided! You did this to me! Do you have any idea what kind of life I live now?! Do you have any idea what kind of suffering I am enduring! You little shit!" Pitch jumped out of the way of each pillow, but it was the alarm clock that struck him in the shoulder. He stumbled a bit, but it seemed to have no impact and he simply dusted off his black robes, and rolled his shoulder around a bit.
"You really expect you can remove fear from everything?" he questioned. "Fear is a part of life and you need to deal with it." He took a step forwards and Mallory leapt back. The infection of her terror was spreading and growing fiercer with its embodiment standing in front of them. Her pulse quickened with the singing of her thoughts about what may happen now and all of the possibilities. Mallory's breath was heavy and there was a chill on her skin from paranoia's tickle. Wendy noticed the perspiration beginning to crawl down her friend's skin and the white complexion that fear often gave. She observed how her pupils dilated and the tremors of her arms and legs. Of course Wendy was concerned, and nervous about what Pitch would do. But Mallory was in a horrible place and her mental state was not exactly the best in the most recent weeks. Her confidence was down, her strength to deal with stress, and her ability to make sensible choices and react accordingly was not where it normally would have been. She could not let her worries take over her right now. Mallory needed her in that moment. Jack and Morgan were gone, and the Yetis in the shop would have no idea he was there.
"It's up to me," she whispered, and she spread her stance, taking her ground.
"How precious!" Pitch laughed. "Do you really think that you, a child, can defeat me?"
"Why not?" Wendy giggled. "You are fear. But I'm not afraid of you, so you can't hurt me!"
"Your heart rate says you're lying," he said. "And Mallory is definitely afraid of me."
"Wendy stop you're just a-"
"A child?!" Wendy scoffed. "Please, Mallory. That's exactly why I can do this!" Wendy ran forwards as Mallory gasped and Pitch jumped out of the way. Out in the hall was the sound of nails scraping against hard flooring and then the door flew open. Licorice stood in the entrance, snarling at Pitch as he launched into the wall and chuckled at how he swiftly avoided the attack. Wendy slammed her foot into the floor and then turned, just as the dog was coming up and tackling Pitch's side. For a second, Pitch's eyes glowed with his own surprised worry while Licorice decided to use the edge of his robes as tug of war.
Wendy fell to the floor and used her left hand to push against the Boogeyman's chest. Between her and the dog, he was struggling to break free. With her right hand, she flung curled fingers into his nose. Just as her fist met skin, he was no longer there. The dark attire her wore had formed around him and cloaked him in shadow. Around the room, his image pressed into the walls and they could hear the reverb of his mad cackling sound throughout the entirety of Wendy's bedroom. Then, the shadow took to the underside of the bed and vanished. Wendy looked, but the lifting of fear and the absence of anxiety told her he had left the house. She was feeling lighter and calmer about the situation. Mallory, however, appeared traumatized by the event.
"What was that?!" she screamed.
"That was the Boogeyman..."
"I know that but... but... weren't you scared?!" she yelled, swinging Wendy up into her arms for a hug.
"Yes, of course I was. Especially for you."
"Then how in the world did you stand up to him like that?!" Mallory breathed excitably. "You almost seemed like you weren't afraid."
"I didn't let fear pull me down," Wendy said simply. "I refused to let it take over me. I just simply decided I was going to work past it and charged it out of the way. That's all."
"You are amazing and wonderful!" Mallory laughed, pulling her cousin down with her and then proceeded to tickle her, shuffling the unseen black sand left on the pillow.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"And you didn't come and get us?!" Jack demanded as he finished listening to Wendy and Mallory's story. Wendy had expected him to be weeping with pride for how she had taken on the Boogeyman. The first thing he did after she revealed the whole event was start bellowing. She winced at his reaction. Mallory straightened her back in the chair an displayed admiration for the heroics of the young girl.
"She knew how to handle him!" she told them. "Honestly, you should have seen her charge and take him! I think he left because he was the one who was afraid. It was amazing, really!" Wendy blushed at Mallory's comment and giggled sheepishly. Mallory beamed and lightly elbowed her.
"But you could have-" Morgan began.
"Could have what?" Wendy chuckled. "Had nightmares? Become afraid?"
"That's not all he does!" The girl's smile dropped.
"What do you mean...?"
"I mean there are things about my past with Pitch you don't know!" Jack raised his eyebrow, looking to her with curious worry. He was a little concerned about whether or not this was the best subject to bring up.
"Mom, what do you-"
"He's more than nightmares and fear. That's all I'm saying."
"But... I don't-"
"Wendy, drop it," Jack snapped, knowing if this conversation dragged out anymore there would be secrets revealed, and he was not prepared for her to know them. He looked to his daughter with a deep rooted worry, reaching out to hold her. He softened his expression and stroked her dark hair, voice mellowing while he spoke to her. "Snowdrop. I just want you to know that idea... of Pitch being here..."
"He knows where you live," Morgan added with melancholy tones. "And that concerns us. That means now he can get into your mind and manipulate you."
"But he won't!" Wendy said, struggling away from Jack's grasp. "Trust me, Mom. Dad. I can fight him! He hasn't gotten into my mind yet and he won't."
"Why are we going to do, Jack?" Morgan uttered quietly, twirling her hosta plant in her hand. "We have to go out and look for him, we can't stay here with Wendy. But if Pitch is here how can we be out there?"
"No!" Wendy burst out, knocking over the chair she had been sitting on. "I proved something last night! And it's that I can handle myself against the Boogeyman! Stop treating me like a kid and start treating me like a believer!"
"I was terrified," Mallory voiced. "I was frozen practically, and Wendy moved, faster than I ever could. She jumped right in. Even at my best I could never react that way. You two did very well in raising her how to fight against her fears. I think it worked far better than you ever could have expected it to work. I'm not saying leave her home alone. Do as you've always done. Kept a Yeti here. But she doesn't need to run to you for every little thing, he doesn't need you to check the closet or under the bed. She can do that herself and pull him out and beat him until he hides again. Your daughter is strong. I just think you're gone too much to have seen it." Mallory twisted her lips into a smile and Jack looked at her through several blinks. He groaned and reached his arm up and around his head as he thought.
"Daddy..." she hushed. "I am a Guardian child. Which means I know a thing or two about guarding against the Boogeyman." Jack and Morgan exchanged looks. She shook her head and he shrugged, finally relenting.
"You really socked it to him?"
"She was a pro," Mallory said. Then Jack smirked, lifting his daughter into his arms and pressing his frozen lips to her face several times. She wailed in delight at his affections and then slung her arms around his neck.
"You know what? Mallory is probably right," he said. Morgan rolled her eyes, but still her face glowed with pride for her daughter. She approached them to give Wendy a kiss on the cheek. A tear made its way down Mallory's face as she rose and smile through everything. She continued to watch Wendy with a new kind of sight, something a little more than pride bursting forth, and far beyond admiration. It was something much closer to idolization.
"Jack, Morgan..." she whispered, and her small voice had broken the chuckles and the giggles that were beginning to fill the room. When their faces had fallen to reservation and they waited for her to speak, she suddenly grew timid. Her knees shook and she had to use the table to steady herself, but she cleared all insecurities from her throat and arched her neck before speaking. "If Morgan can fight against fear, then I can too. And I can work past this. I can combat hurt and control my fears so it doesn't control me. I don't want to be like this any longer. I hate being in the darkness. I am grateful for you letting me stay here so long but I think I need to return to the real world. But first, I need to locate someone of understanding and I need to know I am not alone in my struggles. I need to know that this is not impossible to get through." Morgan pushed past her husband and daughter and entwined her arms around Mallory, strengthening her grip on her.
"You are always welcome here if you ever need to run to somewhere," Morgan said.
"I know," Mallory said, smearing away the tears falling on her face. "But I don't like feeling helpless or hopeless, and I hate the way this... fear is controlling me. I can feel it pulling me down a dark path and I don't want to go that way. In order to take fear down, you have to face it head on. And I can't do that if I am running away from it." Morgan nodded and Jack stepped forward, setting Wendy down on the ground. He brushed his lips against her hair and she brightened at his support.
"You have the strength of your mother and the determination of your father," he told her, brushing her cheek. "So, what did you have in mind then?"
"Sophie," she whispered. "I want to visit Sophie."
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Soft murmurs could be heard from the dainty and pastel living room where Sophie and Mallory were speaking quietly. There was an occasional chuckle, which Jack took to be a good sign, but mostly it was very gentle and heart wrenching. Occasionally there was a sob, and Sophie shared sympathy, empathy, support, and encouragement for what she was feeling.
"Eavesdropping is not very becoming," shook Ms. Bennett's voice as she pulled a smile onto her face. Jack focused his attention back to the elderly woman who sat before him. He breathed lightly, taking her small joke with gladness.
"I just want to make sure she's okay..." he assured, catching brief moments of the conversation in the other room when Sophie shared the story of how her situation, long ago, with Patrick had not actually been justified until much later. Patrick had not been found and put in prison until seven years ago, after he had been found assaulting his wife. Only then had he been put away and despite all those years knowing he was still around, she had found the strength to make it through, get married, have kids, and that she knew Mallory was much stronger and would make it through everything and come out so much better than she did.
"I know," Ms. Bennett said in her strained voice. When she had heard Jack was dropping by, she had pleaded to stop by and visit. It was harder for her to get around those days and the Guardians were out so often. Plus Jack was also a parent and had a wife and she understood how all of those things together could prevent someone from seeing their mother figure. Ms. Bennett jumped on the opportunity to visit the boy she had loved as a son. Jack, however, had noticed how lack of time visiting her had meant having to see her age so drastically. Her hip was bothering, and she used a slender cane to help her get around these days. He watched other people grow up and get older, but Ms. Bennett was his oldest believer. Never before had he had to watch someone he truly cared for obtain wrinkles and suffer through the pains of getting older and just look as old as she was looking. It hurt more than anything else, because he only told him the thing he wanted so much to avoid thinking about. Time was not something he wanted to consider at the moment.
Instead, he distracted himself and her, spilling out stories about Wendy, and her new friends, and what they were like and how big she was getting and laughing over concerns for her when she got older. Ms. Bennett loved hearing about things happening in Jack's laugh and begged to hear more about some of their battles with Pitch.
Laughter from the other room soothed Jack as Ms. Bennett commented on how proud she had was about everything Jack and Morgan had become, and she thought they were doing a fine job of raising Wendy, even if they screwed up sometimes. He smiled at her comment.
"What about you?" he asked, motioning to draw the attention onto her. "Pitch hasn't really made his way into your house, has he? I mean he's really affecting a lot of the adults out there..." he told her. She brushed her hand in the air and shook her hand so as not to worry about it.
"I have no reason to fear Pitch. I have an army of Guardians on my side. And apparently one brave little girl!" she told him. "He hasn't been around that I've seen and he has no reason to be. I'm just an old woman. I have no more kids to take care of, so there's no influence to impart on. I wouldn't be fun to him at all. You have no cause to be concerned." Her eyes lit up and she listened to the voice from the other room, which now seemed to drift onto other topics and was far more light hearted. "Listen to that. Despite what that young woman has gone through, she is still finding her laughter and still gaining her strength back. She has every cause to be afraid of everything as much as one can be, yet she has worked through her fears. My Guardian must be doing something right. Why would I have any reason to fear Pitch?" Jack grinned at her comment just as Sophie emerged into the kitchen, leading Mallory by the arm.
"Ready to go home?" Jack offered, and he was given the response in the form of a nod. Sophie hugged the girl quickly, whispering softly into her ear. Mallory nodded before pulling away, and Jack met Ms. Bennett's warm hug with his own.
"Don't stress over it too much," she told him. "You have strong forces with you, you can beat this guy. You've got incredible strength in belief now, and in some of the strongest people I've seen."
"Okay, Helen. Mothers know best," he agreed in sort of mocking reluctance. Jack led Mallory to the door, where he looked back at his family.
"Don't forget to call!" Sophie shouted after the girl. "I want to make sure you're doing all right."
"Will you be all right?" Jack asked, turning to Ms. Bennett. She laughed and then waved her hand to tell him to forget about it. He laughed and met with Mallory outside, gripping onto her and jetting off into the sky. He looked back down at the house once more and bit his lip. All that talk she gave him about fighting against fear, and he could not defeat his own fear about people he loved the most passing away in the near future.
Have a good night guys! Rosie out.
