"Comfortable?" Rita Bloodshed asked delighted, making alarm bells ring in Jack's ears.

Jack took a rash breath in as he tried not to scream.

He was tied to a tree with the cursed black ropes that were burning his clothes and skin. More tree branches lay around him. Waiting to be set on fire. This was a rug.

Jack wanted to try and free himself, but the ropes were tide tight and he was so terrified he couldn't even scream.

He whimpered and a few tears started flowing down his cheeks. He was at the Warren, but his daddy was nowhere in sight.

"Good boy." Rita said with a smile. A small blood-red flame started dancing between her fingers. "Too bad your father chose not to participate tonight. But I admit that you made him tolerate you longer than I expected."

Jack stiffed, accidentally cutting his hand in the black ropes. More tears escaped.

Rita ignored him.

"He's not exactly the type who tolerates people like you – But he's a good actor, I'll give him that."

Jack felt like he just got punched.

"Y-You're wr-rong!" he shuttered.

His dad was nothing like that. And he'll be here any minute to save him.

Rita looked at him with fake sympathy. "Oww… You really did believe his little act!" But then she stopped and smiled at him cruelty. "Probably because you really are a clueless child. This is the Adults' World, Jack. The Cruel World. Here you'll have to accept the truth. Your father is not coming to save you." She said, turning to look at him in the eyes. Rita smirked at him, sending chills down his spine. "Because he doesn't care about you!"

"You're w-wrong…" Jack said quietly, looking down. He could feel her smug expression looking down at him. "He… He'll come-" he cried, shaking his head.

Rita was a liar. His daddy will come.

Because he cares...

Rita laughed.

"You haven't learned already?" She asked and the flame in her hand grew. "He never stays at this part of the story! He had better thing to do before and he has better things to do now. Surely you understand."

Reality hit the winter child.

His dad wasn't there when he died… and he wasn't here now…

Jack's eyes widened.

"I told you, child…" Rita said chuckling as she approached the tree branches. "This is a cruelworld."

Fire filled his vision as the air turned into smoke. He heard Rita laugh and snap her fingers. A new wall of fire appeared. Tears continued to fall as the smoke made Jack's eyes sting.

The fire reached him and he screamed.

Jack screamed and trashed until he met the floor. He gasped, shaking from head to toe.

Just a nightmare.

It was just a nightmare.

His blue blanket was covering him, but he didn't remove it. Jack took another shaking breath, trying to stop himself from shaking, but without success. Tears continued to flow down his cheeks. His bad leg was hurting him so bad he knew he probably wouldn't be able to even climb back on his bed.

Rita was gone. He had to remember that.

But he couldn't help but feel scared of looking outside his window, at the tree he was tied to in his dream. And that made him feel more like a coward than anything else.

Suddenly, someone moved the blanket slowly to reveal his head, and he was met with concerned warm green eyes.

He tried to speak, to lie again and say he was fine, but no words came out. He looked down.

Aster moved the blanket aside and gently picked him up. Jack whimpered. From the pain or from the fear, he wasn't sure.

His dad started mumbling soothing words in his hair, which made him calm down slightly.

He knew Aster was probably gonna interrogate him later about what happened, but Jack didn't want to talk about it. He couldn't.

What the winter child honestly didn't expect was for his dad to lay him down on his bed and kiss him on top of his head. Aster gently swiped his tears with a thumb then brought him closer and Jack couldn't help but snuggle into his embrace, feeling smaller than ever.

"It's okay." Aster mumbled. "It's okay. You can go back to sleep."

So Jack closed his eyes, the nightmare with Rita forgotten as he snuggled closer to his daddy, who was there.

Because he cared.

And Jack loved him for that.

Silently watching from outside, blood-red eyes glared at the two sleeping figures, before they disappeared into the shadows once more.

The light of the day gently entered the room making Aster blink and remember the previous night. He smiled softly down at Jack, who was sleeping soundly, no tear tracks in sigh. He kissed the kit on top of his head and covered him better with the blanket.

He'd be dammed before he let something happen to Jack again. Not even a year had passed since Aster found out he had a family and he nearly lost that at least six times already.

Hey, Snowflakes!

No I AM NOT DEAD. Just busy.

I am so sorry for not updating for such a long time, but school is a nightmare that I cannot escape so easily.

I hope you like the new chapter and I look forward to your reviews. I'm actually not sure what should I do next. Should I try and continue Kidnapped? That may take a while since I have no idea how.

Should I do like SICK2 or ASTER, SPRING SPRITES AND THE TRUTH?

I don't know…

Help?

Ps. I'm sorry it was so short, but I just couldn't make it longer without making it confusing.

Frostbite