"Charlie there you are!" Jess looked out of breath as she charged towards her brother and Jack. The two men had barely stepped inside of the main workshop. "We've been looking everywhere for you."
"What's going on?" Charlie could hear the urgency in her voice.
"The coat is missing." Jess breathed as if she couldn't believe it herself.
"The coat…dad's coat?" He asked. "As in the coat?"
"How many other coats have you ever seen me get this upset about?" Jess huffed. "It's bad Char,"
"I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Charlie shrugged. "Who'd want to take the coat?"
"Jack Frost!" Curtis and Bernard approached their small group now followed by a team of security elves. The security team was led by Quintin.
"Charlie Calvin, Jack Green. You are being detained." Quintin told them both. He nodded and four security elves stepped forward.
"Q, come on." Jess tried to stop him from arresting her brother and his friend. "You don't actually think that Charlie or Jack took the coat."
"I'm just following orders Jess. You'll have to take it up with them." Q jabbed his chin at Curtis and Bernard. "I'll take care of them, until you can sort this all out."
"Wait, Charlie! Jack!" Holly had pushed her way through the crowd of onlookers. "What's happening? Where are they taking them?"
"To the Frost Cabin." Curtis answered. His voice dry and even.
"Curtis, come on. You don't actually think Jack or Charlie would steal the coat." Jessica tried to reason with them.
"Jessica, our priority is protecting Christmas and the North Pole no matter what the costs." He answered back.
"Bernard," Jess tried to reason with her husband.
"He's right, Jessie." Barnard agreed with Curtis. "We'll keep searching but until we find the coat, Charlie and Jack are confined to the Frost Cabin."
Quintin and the four security elves escorted Charlie and Jack back to the Frost cabin. The Christmas day celebrations were put on hold. Curtis divided all of the elves into search teams and the search for the Santa's Coat was on. Inside the Frost cabin Jack was pacing anxiously and Charlie watched him from the couch.
"What does this mean?" Jack asked the son of Santa.
"I'm not exactly sure." Charlie confessed. "It's not good, I can tell you that much. I just don't understand…" His voice seemed to fade out as Jack caught sight of himself in the mirror.
He could see himself in the pinstriped suit, but his reflection looked different. Rather than the dark brown hair he'd possessed his whole life, he could see an icy white. His green eyes were now a chilling blue. He frowned at the reflection. Charlie didn't seem to notice as Jack continued to stare at himself. His friend was too wrapped up in the coat situation.
"Now's our chance!" The jack in the mirror said. Jack looked over at Charlie, but the former Frost was acting like he hadn't heard a thing.
"Our chance for what?" Jack asked his mirror self.
"To take Santa's coat for ourselves! We deserve it!" The mirror insisted. Jack opened his mouth to respond when Charlie called out to him.
"Jack? Are you okay?" He asked.
"Me? Oh yeah." Jack lied. "Right as rain." He sat down next to Charlie. "We're really stuck in here?" He sighed.
"We are." Charlie confirmed. "Until they find the coat or Jess and Holly find proof that we had nothing to do with the coat going missing.
"I don't understand." Holly said as she and Jess searched the stables together for Santa's coat. "Charlie and Jack had no reason to take the coat. My brother wanted nothing more than to be Jack Frost and your brother was about to be gifted the coat. It makes no sense for Curtis and Bernard to accuse them."
"Which is why I tried defending them." Jess agreed. "Unfortunately, Charlie and Jack also have more of a reason than anyone to want to steal the coat."
"How so?" Holly asked. Jess looked around quickly to confirm they were the only ones in the stables.
"The Frost Curse." Jess said. "It's a curse that all of the Jack Frosts have had to grapple with. It's the reason the North Pole has to grant permission for a Frost to build their Frost Cabin anywhere near here and it's the reason that Frost and Santa have so much animosity."
"But what is The Frost Curse?" Holly wanted to know.
"The curse dates all the way back to the very first Jack Frost and the first Santa. The story goes that the two used to be very good friends who loved friendly competition. Eventually it came time do decide who would become the symbol for Christmas and who would be left with the consolation prize of becoming the Winter Herald. You can guess how that worked out. The first Jack Frost was so fueled by his own jealously, that he vowed to someday overthrow Santa as the symbol of Christmas. I don't think he realized when he retired and passed his pinstriped suit to the next Frost that his vow had become a curse. A curse that has plagued every single Frost since."
"Every single Frost?" Holly repeated. "Including…"
"Yes." Jess nodded. "Including Charlie and eventually including Jack."
"Why would Charlie do that?" Holly demanded, suddenly angry. "I mean, how could he pass something like that onto Jack knowing he'd be cursing him forever?"
"It's not as bad as it sounds." Jess promised her. "Charlie was able to fight off the curse the entire time that he was Frost. He thought long and hard about what he would do if the time ever came for him to pass on the pinstriped suit. A Jack Frost can take one of two paths when it comes to the curse. Give into the curse completely. Let your heart grown cold and focus all of your attention on stealing Christmas for yourself. That's what the Frost before Charlie did."
"The one who pushed Bernard off the roof." Holly remembered. "He really would have done anything to have things his way."
"He would have." Jess said. "But, Jack can choose to fight the curse. From what I understand it's not easy to do. Charlie said that in order to fight the curse it's important for Jack Frost to know he is loved and has support. Keeping family around is important. The most important thing though is to do the work. Make sure snow is falling where and when it's supposed to, that fields get frosted, those sorts of things. Blowing of the job is the easiest way to succumb to the curse."
"That's still a lot to put on someone." Holly told her.
"Charlie is confident Jack can handle it." Jess replied. "He said Jack is really passionate about the job and that he hasn't met anyone else who loves snow as much. During his time as Frost, he's met a lot of people who like snow. It's always why Charlie tried to make sure you supported Jack. It will only make things harder for him if he feels like he's on his own."
"Why did Curtis have Jack and Charlie arrested? Especially since Jack was clearly wearing the pinstriped suit and Charlie was slated to get the coat next." Holly wanted to know.
"Well, I haven't exactly had a chance to ask them yet." Jess frowned. "But knowing how those two think, they'll probably say one is the other's accomplice and the whole thing is a big plot to steal Christmas. Which is why it's really important that we find the coat and prove they had nothing to do with it."
A/N: The Frost Curse has been revealed! It's that time a year ago where hopefully I post a little more frequently on this story.
I want to thank starrat & ghostwriter for their reviews of Chapter 17! And a thank you to everyone else too for favoriting, following, reading and enjoying! This year makes 7 years that I've been publishing Santa Clause stories between this story and it's predecessor!