After double checking that the kids were alright, Melinda returned to Father Jake, Delia, and Ned.
Her brunette hair was a bit disheveled but she composed herself to regain her usual calm and open demeanor. "I'm sorry about that," She said as she entered the room.
"That's okay," the Father said.
The rest of the afternoon the four of them continued to search through the church archives.
"Thanks for your help Father Jake."
"No problem. Are you staying in town or heading back?"
"We'll be staying the weekend," Delia told him.
"We have reservations at the bed-and-breakfast," Ned supplied.
The look on the boy's face spoke of how he thought he was getting his own room, something he and his mother had been 'discussing' for most of the morning. Ned had grown up fast, he sported a neck long haircut that showed off his dark blond highlights. With each year came more confidence as the adolescent tried harder and harder to be more independent. Much to his protective Mother's dismay.
"Well, don't let me keep you. After you're settled in, may I recommend the restaurant just off Main Street if you get hungry. Besides my wife, of course, they have the best food in town."
"Thanks, we just might do that."
Settling into their two rooms, Ned finally gave in on the room debate-conceding to share with his mom, Melinda pondered Hannah's ghost. She had felt the sadness, that Hannah had sent before, but there was also a great amount of fear. Was she mistaking young Jamie for her son James? Melinda had dealt with mistaken family descendant identity before, or could it be something else altogether?
Dinner was delicious and the view of the town Park was quite nice. The small restaurant reminded Melinda of the Cafe back home.
Ned seemed to be watching the Bergress kids enjoying their snow day. He scarfed down his food, as fast as his mom's manners standards allowed, then asked, "Can I go play with them?"
Delia stared at her son. "You want to play? Outside?"
"Yes, mom." Ned said with thick sarcasm. "It's not that strange."
The two women shared a laugh. "Go ahead, but make sure I can see you."
"I know, I know." With that Ned ran off.
"So, Melinda. What are we going to do next?"
"I thought tomorrow I could go to the town hall and see what they have in their archives."
"Would you like some company?"
Melinda stole a glance at Ned playing with the kids in the park. Knowing Delia, she'd insist Ned stay with her. She wasn't the type to let her 12-year-old son loose in a strange town. Being a single mom she protected her son like a mother bear. Delia kept Ned on a strong leash but she was very caring and, though she preferred to be kept out of ghost activities, was a true friend everyone could count on.
"No, if Father Jake is to be believed, there won't be much to look through."
"Okay." Delia took a grateful sip of her coffee and settled in to finish her meal.
After saying good night to Ned and Delia, Melinda sat in her room with a book and waited till 10pm when she knew Jim would be getting home. She was quite enjoying herself when a sudden rush of sadness and fear came over her. "Hannah? Is that you?"
And there she was. Her face and eyes full of pleading. She opened her mouth and struggled to say three words. "Danger! Protect! Help!" Then her eyes widened in fear and she screamed. It was bone chilling, and the emotional battering ram that came with it caused Melinda to clamp her hands over her ears trying to block it out. She screamed, her eyes shut so tight she wouldn't be able to see the terror in the ghost's face. Then it stopped! Melinda opened her eyes, and ears, to see that Hannah was gone.
Jack and Maria had stuck with Jim all day. No other attacks or accidents happened. As Jim walked into his home the phone rang. He dropped his bag on the steps and went to answer it.
"Hello… Hello, Melinda! How was your day?… Okay… Boy, twice in only a few hours, you've got an active one."
As he continued his conversation, Jack and Maria spoke as well.
"That must be his wife," Jack reasoned.
"Makes sense," Maria concurred.
"Do you know where she went?"
"No, I was going to follow her, but instinct told me to watch out for him."
"Good thing you did too."
The two friends returned their attention to the phone conversation.
"My day? Usual, nothing big."
"Why is he lying?" Maria asked Jack.
Smiling as memories of his mortal life came to mind, he replied, "It's what you do when you don't want loved ones to worry."
Maria wasn't in her physical form but Jack could feel her nod in understanding.
"Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow. And see you on Sunday. Good luck with your search. I love you!… Good night, Melinda." The conversation done, Jim hung up the phone, grabbed his bag, and went upstairs to get ready for bed.
In the sky above the Guardians' signal was lighting up the night. "I better head out, the Guardians are going to want to hear what's going on."
"We'll go," Maria told Jack. "I wish to explain myself to them personally."
"What about Jim?" A small breeze blew its way into the house. Taking up the vigil that Maria had done all day.
"This is important information. I feel I must go, but my breeze will keep watch. If something happens it will let me know." The two then headed towards the North Pole.
Melinda hung up the phone and got into bed. She hadn't told Jim about how scared Hannah had seemed. She'd seen ghosts get like that but only when they had a horrific death and were reliving it, or when they were being haunted by Romano. But Hannah hadn't died a horrible death, though she may be reliving the memories of losing her brother and then her son.
Melinda felt pretty confident that Romano wasn't involved, she hadn't seen him since Andrea had gone into the light.
Her thoughts then went to the other ghost that seemed to stick around Bergress. The kids seemed pretty adamant that this Jack Frost was real. She wasn't sure about their claims about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and such but if this Jack Frost was a ghost could he be Hannah's son, or her brother? So many questions, "What have I gotten myself into?" She wondered aloud as she turned out her light.
Jack and Maria arrived at the pole with in record time.
"Jack! Did you have any luck vith Maria?" North asked when he saw the winter spirit alone.
Maria took that moment to appear in her physical form. "Yes, he found me." She then turned to Sandy who like the others was staring shocked at her sudden appearance, and curtsied. "I wish to sincerely apologize for disrupting your sand, sandman. I know how dangerous and wrong it is to do so, especially for the dreamers, but I needed to get the Guardians attention. I could not leave the people I was observing because I had a feeling they may be in danger."
"And she was right!" Jack supplied.
"Why don't you start from the beginning." Tooth suggested. Her beautiful feathers shimmering as her dragonfly-like hummingbird wings slowed to set her on the ground.
Maria told of what had led to her notifying the Guardians through Sandy's sand. Then about watching over Jim till Jack arrived.
Then the two worked together to explain the attack and the events that followed.
"So, let me get this straight," Bunny said skeptically after they had finished, his six foot one frame of fur puffed out a bit in annoyance as his ears sat half cocked on his head and his green eyes looked somewhat glassed like he was on the verge of tuning them out. "You're saying a ghost is haunting this couple. It sent a memory dream of Jack's death to the wife. Then while the husband was alone, a bunch of ghosts attacked him?"
"No!" Jack corrected in all seriousness. "They weren't ghosts. If they were, Maria would have sensed them, even if I'm the only one who can see ghosts, she is an experienced spirit and can always sense when a ghost is nearby! No, these were dark creatures but not ghosts. They looked like wraiths or blobs, pieces of the darkest darkness I've ever seen. They stood out like a sore thumb, even when they hid in the shadows."
"Let me stop you there, Jack. First off, there's no such thing as ghosts! Second, what you just described is a Fearling, and there is no way they could have been out in the daylight."
Jack heaved a sigh. "Why is it so hard for people, Legends especially, to believe in what they can't see? When a kid talks about a Legend or a friend that others can't see it's chalked up to their imagination. ghosts and us are almost identical-they live on a different plane, that's all!"
Maria's hand on his arm stopped Jack's rant. "It's okay, Jack. ghosts are beings that are hard to wrap the mind around, even a Legends mind."
"Yeah, okay."
The room filled with an awkward silence till Sandy rang an elve's bell by shaking the poor thing. The stout, huggable man made of sparkling gold sand, made the image of a sheet ghost above his head then a Fearling. Next he created a couple holding hands and a question mark.
"Sandy right." North said, clapping his hands and startling everyone into looking at the large Russian ex-bandit. His belly gave a shake as he shook an accusing finger at the fearling sand image like it had been the one to go after the Grandview couple. "Regardless of vhat is attacking them, if Maria felt led to protect them and call on us, ve should investigate."
"Then I suggest we get to your sleigh, North." Maria said. "The breeze that I left with Jim, just told me that he's in trouble.
Pitch took pride in his abilities so when he felt the shadows ripple and found out someone else was using them, he was not happy. Regardless of his weakened strength, no one used the powers of the shady man that haunted every child's closet, waited in anticipation beneath every kid's bed, and created every worst dream a young person had ever dreamt, without his permission.
He waited until dark, so he'd have the most advantage, and followed the ripples to their source. When he walked out of the shadows he smiled at where he'd landed. Shark-like teeth showed between gray lips as the pointed hair on his head gained more structured and his shadow-black robes seemed to press themselves straight.
"Well, I see why it was so strong a power ripple!" he said to himself. "Grandview: ghost hot-spot of North America, possibly the world."
The town itself wasn't all that impressive. No it was what was under it that caused ghosts to flock here. Long ago, at the peak time of the dark ages, the area that Grandview now rested was hit with a horrible plaque. After that, several other tragedies came. It got so bad that the humans just wanted to sweep it under the rug and forget it. So that's just what they did. They buried the settlement and Grandview was built right over the top. Now there was a whole town buried beneath dirt, concrete, and asphalt, and thousands of tunnels and catacombs snaked through it- just the place for ghosts to reside.
Pitch took a deep breath and savored the taste of ghost-powered fear. Each ghost was here on earth because they had unfinished business. Pitch categorized them into two types. The remorseful ghosts who want to have something found, explained, or put right with the living. They tend to hang around their family or the place they died and their presence causes unease which soon grows to fear. The other type is vengeful, the ghosts who want revenge, to kill, or to cause harm. They relish causing fear itself and the fear of death that surrounds them and their actions feels so sweet! After the initial glee, Pitch noticed there wasn't as much power as usual. There was plenty but it was still less than the last time he'd been here. Granted, it had been quite a while, and once every so often a ghost may cross into the Light, but there shouldn't have been this much of a decrease.
"Could the attack have anything to do with the decrease?" Pitch hypothesized. "Only one way to find out."
Shadow-traveling to the exact point of the attack, found himself outside a small Cafe. The residual shock from the incident was like an Echo picture to Pitch. He saw a street lamp bulb crash down the street away from where it should have fallen. He could see the target jump but remain completely unharmed.
"What made you the target, and who or what saved you?"
Memorizing the target's fear scent, Pitch began tracking. The trail led into a cozy home that showed signs of recently being remodeled. There was definitely a lot of power coming from the property but Pitch couldn't tell if it was ghost, Legend, or something else. He followed the scent and found himself beside the bed of a middle-aged man.
He seemed pretty normal to Pitch. Tall for sure, dark-haired, nice features, but nothing that made him stand out as a possible problem.
"Why were you attacked?" The bogeyman spied the golden grains swirling above the man's head, yet to truly form a dream." Maybe a little nightmare will reveal something." With a delicate touch the gold sand turned black.
A slight breeze passed by Pitch but he paid it no mind as the black nightmare took shape. Pitch cupped it in his hands, and soon he was a part of the nightmare. He would use this trick to add an extra dose of fear to certain people's sleep, but this time he was here solely as an observer. The scenery was plain, literally, there was no discerning landmarks, just a grayness. In this space two young men appeared, one a younger version of the dreamer, the other a relative-by his resemblance-of some kind. The two talked and walked, no real information passed just pleasant conversation. Then a fog rolled in, separating the two.
"Daniel," the man calls out.
"Jim? Help!" the relatives voice screams.
Jim, then ran blindly after Daniel's voice, but when he found him it was too late.
"No, no, no, no!" Jim starts to perform first aid but Daniel dies in his arms. "No, my brother!" Jim sobs.
"So you lost your brother, unable to save him even with your training." Pitch was pondering this when a new voice rang through the air.
"Jim!"
"Melinda!" Jim's tear filled eyes widened with even more fear at the sound of the woman's voice. The fog got thicker and soon Daniel's body vanished.
"Jim!"
Jim stands and runs blindly through the fog once again.
As Pitch watches he feels a foreboding presence. "Something or someone else is in here."
A hazy silhouette appears and as Jim gets closer a woman is revealed. She has long brunette hair and is wearing a simple white dress.
"Jim?" she calls.
"Malinda! Stay right there I'm coming."
Dark shapes then appear and Pitch watches as they grab and pull at Jim. Heedless or unaware of their presence Jim struggles to run to Melinda. With each movement Jim gets weaker, more tired, and sluggish. Still he struggles, seemingly oblivious to his assailants or their effect on him. The forbidding presence continues to grow and more dark creatures appear and join their comrades in sapping Jim's strength. The nightmare itself is starting to fall part.
"What's happening?!" Pitch says fearfully. Then he hears the whispers.
"He is blood to the one who deters us!"
"He will be the first to perish!"
"His life force will strengthen us!"
Then the whispers focus in on Jim.
"You failed your brother, he died because of you!"
"You will fail again!"
Melinda begins to fade into the fog.
"You failed, you killed, you failed, you killed, you failed, you killed!"
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of gold light and Pitch was thrown from the nightmare. He opened his eyes to see, vaguely, because he was still partially blinded by the light, that he was back in the real world. After shaking his head in hopes of clearing his vision, Pitch opened them again… And wished he hadn't! For, pressed to his nose was the glowing blue crook of Jack Frost's staff, and at the other end was the very angry Guardian of fun himself!