Warnings: Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.
Disclaimer: I claim no copyright ownership to Rise of the Guardians or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.
Chapter Ten
A few weeks ago…
Pitch Black was a lot of things.
He was the Nightmare King. He invoked fear in children. He had a fairly high tolerance for stupidity considering he wasn't stupid and he enjoyed a good spar so long as he was on the winning side. He knew how to play his cards right because he was almost always the one who stacked the deck. He liked to think he was merciful unless they just talked too damn much in which he didn't have too much tolerance to spare. It was just a small detail he needed to work on. When he found the time.
Again, Pitch Black was a lot of things.
But patient was not one of them.
He didn't like to wait. He didn't like when things kept him waiting. Especially not in the Northern Woods where he was surrounded by dryads on all sides.
The air hummed in offense of his presence which was nothing short of annoying. He wasn't sure who he was looking for, never having actually met the man he was seeking out. He sincerely hoped it wasn't a nymph or one of the Seelie faeries, though his money was on neither considering he wasn't on good terms with either race.
The dryads were nimble and poised in stature, though their leaves twitched in warning whenever they passed by him. As if they were wary he was actually planning a blatantly obvious attack. Right out in the open. What was he going to do, burn down one of their trees and dance around the fire? He was pretty sure it was sacrilegious to stare at their branches the wrong way. He considered sticking his tongue out at the dryad who was running her wooden fingers through the flowers in her hair just to see what would happen but decided his boredom wasn't worth the effort. He wasn't in the mood to be attacked by shrubbery. The dirt was so difficult to get out of his robes.
Pitch liked to pretend that he had better places to be, more important things to do, but he'd be lying through his teeth. It took him long enough to reach the Northern Woods on foot as it was and so much time had already been wasted by him wandering aimlessly like a fool. He was more or less pissed that he'd been led on a wild goose chase for a fortnight, not having actually known who the hell he was looking for. He was given a name but at this point he couldn't be assed to remember what it was. He caught word that a man who sounded like the one he was after was doing business in the Northern Woods for whatever the fuck reason so here he was, being stared down by tree creatures and having his patience worn thin.
A twig snapped somewhere behind him and Pitch jerked his head in the direction it came, narrowing his eyes a bit as he heard bushes rustling. He was at a bit of a disadvantage at the moment, having only a mouthful of heated curse words at his disposal and maybe a few good punches. He was agitated and tired and figured that'd probably work out in his favor if it were to come to that but in a very underwhelming turn of events, a figure stalked out from between the trees with somewhat of a skip in its step.
"Pitch Black," the voice drawled. Pitch quirked an eyebrow, back stiff with wary disinterest. "The Boogeyman… the Nightmare King in the flesh, oh lucky me," it taunted in a grating, high-pitched tone that made Pitch's jaw clench.
The figure morphed into something akin to human as it stepped forth from between the shadows of the trees. Pitch eyed the thing slowly from head to toe. It was shaped like a man, a bit, except for the leathery, wrinkled ashen-skin of its face and a smile that stretched a bit too far across its cheeks with pointed teeth. It donned a dark pinstriped vest and pants to match with a collared dress shirt underneath and a pocket watch. It almost looked human except for the face with that uneasily large grin.
"Sorry," Pitched apologized even though he wasn't as he lifted his chin. "You seem to known an awful lot about me but I don't believe I know anything about you."
The thing hummed. "Call me Tom," it said, dark beady eyes shining with mirth as if the name were an inside joke. "I heard you were looking for me. Nice of you to drop by," Pitch bristled a bit, unsurprised but fairly annoyed that 'Tom' seemed to have been expecting him. "I'm a busy man, after all, kind of the customer's job to come to me," he said as if he sensed Pitch's irritation. He gave a whimsical smile and bowed his head as if giving Pitch permission to speak.
He kept his voice firm and composed. "I heard you could help me," Pitch said smoothly. He kept his eyes on the man as he stepped wordlessly towards Pitch, watching him with intense interest as his boot-clad feet crunched and thumped in the dry leaves below.
A bunch of red flags were waving in Pitch's brain and his skin crawled beneath his cloak as he followed the man as he circled him like a predator sizing up its prey. If it weren't for the fact that this was the most excitement Pitch had since Easter he would've cut the conversation short and turned away before he dug himself into a hole he couldn't climb his way out of.
If the abnormally large grin hadn't given it away, it was the thick silence that surrounded him alerting him to the fact that none of the dryads were around anymore. They'd leveled Pitch with steely glares and turned their noses up at him in disgust, but apparently they didn't even want to be near this guy. Evidence enough that he was bad news.
But Pitch wasn't usually one to walk away from a bit of danger.
"I want my powers back," he said. "My nightmare sand that those idiots so kindly stole from me."
"Oh you mean the Sandman's sand that you manipulated into your own with a bit of dark magic?" Tom pointed a long, thin finger at him, a new, more dangerous grin broadening up the side of his leathery face. His silvery-grey teeth glinted in the afternoon light as if they were tiny, sharp razor blades protruding out of his gums. He laughed a maniacal, shrilling laugh as Pitch's lips curved downward in distaste, though the rest of his expression remained stony and impassive. "If I remember the story correctly, a bunch of children turned your nightmare sand against you. Clever little things, kids are, especially when you underestimate them."
Tom leaned his shoulder against a tree, resting his body weight against the trunk and Pitch wondered if that was the end of his incessant monologue but the man continued on.
"Is this a revenge story? Is that why you want your powers back?" The idea seemed to positively thrill him. "Pardon my manners but if my math is correct, you are soulfully outnumbered."
"Will that affect your decision to help me?" Pitch countered in a very blasé, devil-may-care sort of way. In truth, he wasn't worried about that. Quite the opposite, actually.
"Of course not," Tom smirked and clasped his spindly hands together. "But I am abysmally curious."
Pitch did wonder if his answer would sway the man one way or another but decided he just didn't care. The metaphorical deck of cards in his hand was already adding up to be a full house.
"I'm not out for revenge," he relented with a roll of his eyes and Tom tilted his head with a hum. It was very childlike and innocent, that gesture, but his eyes flashed dangerously in the rays of sunlight that expelled through the treetops. "Despite however much they may deserve it. I have other matters to attend to so if you would be so kind…"
"You know what's funny?" Tom interrupted suddenly as if Pitch hadn't been in the middle of speaking. Tom obviously seemed to think whatever he was about to say was much more interesting. "The fact that you pick so many fights with the Big Four – or, rather, the Big Five now as it would seem; funny how things work out, innit? – and yet you seem to forget that you're actually one of them," he eyed Pitch with raised eyebrows and mock sympathy. "Someone an angry stepchild?"
"I don't concern myself with the details," Pitch deadpanned.
The man, if he actually was one, was sincerely mistaken if he honestly believed that was a wound he could pick at with any sort of real punishment. Pitch still remained a Guardian and that information wasn't lost on him, but it wasn't exactly a sore spot anyone could touch even with a ten foot pole, either.
"Still, it's a very romanticized concept isn't it?" said Tom airily. "The ugly duckling who doesn't quite fit in? You are, after all, the black sheep of the family. Literally and figuratively speaking," he said gleefully, as if the fact could not sound any more appealing to him than it already did.
"Fuck sake," Pitch grinded his teeth and clenched his fists. "Can you help me or not? I didn't come here to have my ear talked off all day."
Tom's idle amusement vanished and left no traces of it behind. At this point Pitch didn't care if he angered him. If he wasn't going to help him, he needed to find someone who would. Tom seemed more apt at having a pissing contest rather than actually doing anything useful.
"I'm not very fond of your tone but yes, I can help you. The question is whether or not I choose to do so."
"Appreciated," Pitch hissed. "Which is it going to be?"
Tom's black, beady eyes narrowed at the Nightmare King and he seemed to be reading further into something that Pitch couldn't quite see.
"I'll help you," he announced after an electrifying pause. "But as you know, it's not something I'm just going to do out of the kindness of my heart."
"Pity."
"You know how this works, Pitch," Tom ignored him, pushing himself away from the tree to amble casually up to Pitch, leaving only a few feet of space between them.
His face was much more grotesque and misshapen up close, his mouth and eyes not at all proportionate to his facial structure, and Pitch wrinkled his nose as the man watched him steadily. The atmosphere tensed as Tom's cheek twitched, threatening to give way to another unnerving smile.
"I bargain with people who have something worthwhile to offer," he said, shoving his hands inside his pants pockets. "Fortunately for you, you have something I want. In return, I can get your powers back."
Pitch narrowed his eyes. "How?"
Tom rocked back and forth on his heels, ever the air of childlike innocence. "Oh, it's just a matter of persuasion. With the right ammunition, I suppose you could say, I can get the parties I want talking without so much as breaking a sweat."
If that wasn't the vaguest explanation Pitch had ever heard…
It seemed as if Tom was going to elaborate on that further but he didn't say anything else and Pitch was left to ponder the implications, not that he was too concerned with the how. He was more focused on the when and how quickly it would benefit him.
"And what would this riveting something you want be?" Pitch asked sardonically.
Tom smiled, mouth stretching from ear to ear and exposing dozens of tiny, sharp teeth.
"Information."
Present Day
Alice turned the page in her storybook. It was almost fascinating reading such dark versions of household fairy tales, though only having the lamp on next to her on a cold winter's night while the rest of the house slept sort of gave her the creeps. Especially considering what she was reading. Every few minutes or so she felt the tingling sensation of eyes on the back of her neck and she had to pause, just to reassure herself that nothing else was in the house except for her and a sleeping Max in his bedroom.
"Rook di goo, rook di goo!
There's blood in the shoe.
The shoe is too tight,
This bride is not right.
Rook di goo, rook di goo!"
Alice's brows furrowed as she winced. All for a golden slipper. She couldn't imagine the willpower it took to actually slice off pieces of your foot just so it could fit into one shoe. She couldn't wrap her head around it. How had the story changed so much? Did it originally start out with Grimm's fairy tales? Or did the Grimm brothers twist the stories into something much more macabre?
Alice took a moment to wipe her eyes tiredly. She'd been so wrapped up in the book that she hadn't been able to peel herself away. She'd said goodnight to Max well over three hours ago. It was nearing midnight if it hadn't already reached it. She closed her eyes for a moment, relishing in the quiet as her mind eased and settled from all the reading. With a sigh she placed the book on the end table underneath the lamp, watching with mild interest as the golden letters glimmered and shined under the yellow light.
It was storming outside and had been for the better part of a week. The roads were slick with water and ice and the air was so cold it nipped painfully at your cheeks like cuts from tiny razors. If the schools hadn't already been out for winter break, they would've been closed due to severe weather conditions. Alice could have sworn that as she watched the large torrential downpour, the raindrops turned into long, jagged icicles as they sliced through the air. She could have been imagining it and it may have been a slight exaggeration, but the days were so cold that she wouldn't have been surprised. It seemed odd to have thunderstorms in the middle of winter. But then again, was it really? She didn't even know.
Low rumbles of thunder splintered through the sky, some reverberating off into the distance for a good minute straight and others roaring loudly and suddenly for the briefest of seconds and setting off the occasional car alarm before engulfing the world in an eerie silence. Weathermen couldn't explain the sudden weather change. Alice was taken aback by the turn it took after Christmas Day and she kept the weather channel on, leaving it as background noise whenever she was near the living room so she could listen for any news. Particularly on how much longer the storms were going to last.
She hadn't seen Jack much since he visited last time after he'd been mysteriously missing for days. The snow that continued to blanket the ground outside suggested he was still in business, but she knew (at least, she was fairly certain) that he didn't control the rain or thunder and lightning. She idly wondered if that was some other mystical fairy tale's job and if they were just in a bad mood. Clearly some higher being was angry and it was taking it out on the entire eastern hemisphere.
It was hard for Max to get to sleep on most nights. The storm continued to rage on outside his bedroom window regardless of how often he protested. Alice had to sit with him until he fell asleep and make sure that no loud claps of thunder startled him awake. Sure, it stormed in Ohio often enough but it was nothing like what Burgess had been subjected to the past week or so. On the first night, the thunder had been so loud and unexpected that it shook the house. Alice nearly had a small panic attack and Max had been forcefully woken up and spontaneously burst into tears.
A bit of thunder shook Alice out of her reverie. She blinked the film away from her eyes that had formed the second she started spacing out. A bright flash of lightning followed in the thunder's wake, setting the house ablaze with light before everything dimmed. She sighed again, figuring she should probably head to bed but feeling too lazy to make the trek all the way down the hall.
She forced herself up off the couch and made a quick detour into the kitchen to have a glass of water. There were a few dirty plates sitting in the sink that she hadn't been in the mood to clean. The dreary weather was taking its toll on her emotions. It was hard for her to get up in the morning because the clouds were so dark that it didn't even feel like the days began until almost noon. That was actually what got her into reading the Brothers Grimm. Considering the weather… why not?
Max wasn't able to play outside because of it and for the first time, he didn't seem too upset by that fact. He was too engrossed in his new Xbox to really care about anything else. Though she monitored what games he played and made sure he didn't play anything too violent or graphic, she mostly gave him free reign to do whatever he pleased because there was nothing else for him to do.
Alice leaned against the counter and sipped on her water for a few calm minutes. Her eyelids felt like weights and she was beginning to regret staying up until 12:34am.
She was dead weight on her feet by the time she finished her glass and she went to sit it down in the sink with the rest of the dishes when a high-pitched shriek shot through her core and she dropped the glass with a loud gasp, feeling her heart race beneath her cotton top. The glass hit the kitchen tile and shattered into millions of tiny, sharp pieces. Some nicked her in the ankles with fierce stings and others bounced off the cabinets, scattering about the floor in unruly constellations.
Alice didn't pay attention to the cuts or the small beads of blood that spotted along the hem of her pants. Because the sound had come from Max's room.
She quickly ran from the kitchen, ignoring the small shards of glass her sock-clad feet slammed into along the way. Her mind was blank, frozen with terror, but her legs seemed to have minds of their own as they carried her as fast as they could down the hall. She slammed the door open with her arm, breathing erratically and deeply as she did a quick scan of the room to see if anyone was in there. In the back of her mind it registered to her that she didn't have a weapon but if the adrenaline that was pumping wildly through her veins was anything to go by, she probably didn't need one.
When her brain was reassured that nothing out of the ordinary was tucked away in his room, Alice quickly scrambled over to Max's bedside and put her hands on the boy's cheeks as she looked him over. His green nightlight cast weird shadows over his face but she was able to see him clearly enough. His skin was white as a sheet, all color drained from his cheeks and his eyes were a pale, lifeless blue that she'd never seen before. He was gripping his blankets tight in his fists as he breathed unevenly. Alice was momentarily concerned that he was going to have some sort of seizure or anxiety attack and she gently placed one of her hands on his chest as if to coax his breathing into a less alarming pace.
Her eyes bore into his with a severity she didn't even know she could muster and her free hand continued to stroke his bizarrely cold cheeks in an effort to soothe him.
"What happened?" she demanded at once when she was sure he didn't have any cuts or bruises for whatever reason.
His wide eyes met hers and as if the dam had burst from physical eye contact, tears began to pour down his cheeks. Alice felt a sharp pang in her chest at the sight and her stomach clenched as she moved her hand from his chest to his hands. They were shaking. She curled her larger hands over his smaller ones that continued to grip his blankets in an iron grasp.
"Max," she said again, more firmly. "What happened?"
"I—I s-saw…" he choked a bit on his words, voice hiccupping as sobs wracked his tiny body.
Alice's forehead was pulled tight with concern, eyebrows permanently furrowed as she pulled him into her. He collapsed against her chest, cries muffling in her shirt and she stroked his hair slowly. Her jaw was tense as she clenched and unclenched it, placing a kiss on the top of his head as she helped him ride out the tears.
Her heart continued to hammer painfully behind her ribcage and she realized with a start that her own hands were shaking beyond her control. She swallowed thickly and held Max tighter as he whimpered and trembled in her arms.
"It's okay, Max, it's okay…" she chanted over and over again as she rocked him. She kissed the top of his head again and held onto him tight, vowing to never let him go.
"H-he was standing ou-outside my window," Max stuttered through shaky breaths as his fingers dug into the base of her spine. Alice swallowed.
"Who's he?" she asked, voice trembling.
"Glowy eyes," Max said and when she looked down she saw his eyes were wide as he reflected on it. "Scary face. Couldn't barely s-see him but I know he was there, I know it. He looked at me. He looked at me."
"Shh," she whispered into his ear, though her mind was running at a mile a minute. She had the faint urge to call the police and report it, but she didn't have any evidence to prove that someone was there. All she had was Max's word and she knew that wouldn't be enough.
"Don't let him take me, please don't let him take me…" Max cried, muffling his sobs into her shirt and she felt her heart shatter. A steady flow of tears streamed down her face at the boy's hysteric begging and she gripped him tight until he whined.
"I'm not going to let anyone get you, Max, I promise," she whispered fiercely.
They sat there for a few minutes. Max's cries eventually calmed into slight hiccups and she caressed his back with her fingertips which seemed to at least provide him some level of comfort.
"Well look who it is," Alice commented lightly, voice faint as she waltzed through the sliding glass door.
Jack was perched on the fence nearest to their porch the following night, idly swinging his staff about as he rested his elbows on his thighs. The heavy rainclouds were blocking the twinkling stars from view but the glow of the moon ignited a path for her amongst the ground.
Jack raised an eyebrow at her in a way of greeting, watching her with vague curiosity as she trekked through the wet, melting snow, leaving a disarray of footsteps in her wake.
"It's been a while since I've seen you," she said airily, trying to feign indifference though her eyes conveyed an ounce of hurt at the statement.
She hoped Jack wasn't able to read beyond the face value of her words, though by the looks of his eyebrows that were pulled taut as his eyes raked over her face, she realized he'd probably already decoded the underlying meaning of her words.
"Yeah, I've been around it's just," his brows furrowed even further the more he looked at her and Alice felt slightly self-conscious, as if she could feel his gaze pierce through the veil of her shielded thoughts. "It's just been really… hectic lately, I guess. Some storm, huh?" he grinned faintly and she shrugged, not able to really disagree but it was obvious she had other things on her mind. "Are you alright?" Jack asked carefully, eyes glowing with concern. He placed his staff on the ground, leaning it against the fence.
Alice shook her head, rattling her distracted thoughts loose. "I'm sorry. I'm kind of zoning out. I'm alright, it's just…" she bit the inside of her lip, wondering if she should mention what happened to Max the night before. As Jack tilted his head, she realized she'd probably feel guilty not telling him. And plus the situation was just wreaking such havoc on her mind that she felt it'd probably ease her conscience to tell someone. "It's just Max," she said finally, hugging her arms to herself. "Something happened with Max last night that's… kind of got me freaked out."
Jack was instantly on alert as his back straightened.
"What happened?" he asked, voice dropping an octave in seriousness.
Alice shuffled her feet. "I was in the kitchen getting something to drink and I heard him scream. I ran in to see what was wrong. He was a mess. He soaked my shirt from crying so much. I'd never seen him cry like that before. He said he…" she felt her skin crawl, like little bugs were moving around under her skin. "He said he saw someone outside his window."
"Someone like who?" Jack leaned forward.
She shook her head. "I don't know. He said it had these… glowing white eyes whenever the light hit them right. He said he couldn't really see its face but he said whatever it was looked right at him. After he screamed, it was gone just like that. As if it were never there."
Alice grinded her teeth to keep from letting her emotions boil over but she felt the wetness in her eyes and she quickly shook her head again, placing a hand over her mouth.
"I'm sorry," she sputtered. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry on you it's just…" she stepped back and turned away from him, closing her eyes to squeeze out the tears. She felt overwhelmed and tired and unable to cope with everything she was feeling. She pulled her hand away from her mouth to fan herself, as if to dry her eyes before any more tears fell.
Clearing her throat, she turned back around, avoiding Jack's piercing gaze as he watched her intensely.
"It's just… I don't know if he was having a nightmare and whatever he saw seemed real, or if he actually did see something because apparently monsters are real now and I don't know what to do because he doesn't want to be in his room anymore because he's afraid he's going to see it again and what if something's actually after him or what if it was just his imagination and he's freaked us both out for no reason?" she rambled nonsensically, unable to stop herself from the flood of words that poured out of her mouth.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jack slipped off his perch on the fence. There were permanent creases in his forehead as he frowned at her and Alice felt mortified that he was so concerned. She wasn't even able to keep it together for five minutes before she burst into tears. How sad was that? "It's going to be alright," he assured her again and his tone was velvety smooth like honey and made her feel like she needed to believe it whether she actually wanted to or not. He cautiously stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders to provide some level of comfort. "Did you tell anyone about what happened besides me?"
Alice sniffed and wiped the drying tears from her cheeks before shaking her head. "No, I didn't know if he just had a nightmare or not. I didn't really know who else to go to. Should I have told someone?" her voice sounded strained and on the verge of panic.
"No, no, it's okay," he said again, rubbing her arms with his fingers and the cold that emitted from his palms was oddly soothing considering it was freezing outside. "I don't think you needed to tell anyone. But you should just keep an eye out for anyone that looks like they're hanging around your house. I'll come by when I do my rounds at night and see if I notice anything strange. I'll let you know first thing if I do, I promise."
Alice nodded to herself. That sounded like a good plan. It was a good plan, right? She couldn't quite tell. His fingers were rubbing circles into her arms, making her mind feel hazy and distracted. She hadn't realized how much she craved comfort until he gave it to her. It made her feel safe knowing he was there and that he would be there every day while she needed him. And that acknowledgement alone startled her because she never took the time to revel in how much his presence has affected her the past couple of months.
She realized that yes, when he was gone she missed him. She eagerly awaited his return; found herself staring out the window some days just hoping she'd catch a glimpse of blue whizzing through the air. She wondered why she did that, wondered why she'd become so attached to him.
"Curious," she whispered as her thoughts consumed her.
"What?" Jack asked, fingers stopping their ministrations as he glanced down at her.
She looked up at him and quickly shook her head, feeling her cheeks flush. "Oh, nothing."
She certainly hadn't meant to say that out loud.
Jack eyed her skeptically. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Then all her previous worries came flooding back to her and she grimaced, rather wishing her old thoughts would return so she wouldn't have to think about it all.
"Max is inside sleeping on the couch," she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder as she motioned vaguely to the house. "He doesn't know I'm out here and if he wakes up and sees that I'm not there, he's going to panic."
Jack bit his lip. "Maybe you should go back inside then."
His hands didn't leave her shoulders. He seemed reluctant to let her go and she felt reluctant to leave him outside by himself. It wouldn't do any harm, would it? He'd been in her house before.
"Would you like to, uh, come inside?" she asked, wincing a bit and hoping the question hadn't sounded awkward. Though she didn't know why it would have.
Jack grinned a bit, his features brightening as if he'd been waiting for her to ask. "Yeah, sure."
She smiled at his enthusiasm and backed out of his reach before moving towards the house, Jack's light footfalls in tow behind her.
The house was warm (hopefully not too warm for him, she fleetingly thought) as they stepped inside. Alice quietly closed the sliding glass door behind them and made quick work of the shades, pulling the blinds taut in front of the door in case of prying eyes. She then smiled again at Jack once she turned back around who was leaning against the counter next to the door. He glanced about the area with idle curiosity and raised his eyebrows in amusement once his gaze met the cluttered sink. She rolled her eyes.
Alice tip-toed into the living room following the sound of soft snores, face softening as she saw Max curled up underneath a blanket sleeping soundly.
She heard Jack's approach before his words. "He looks peaceful," he said, coming to stand at her right.
She nodded. "Yeah. The couch isn't the softest place though."
She padded over to the sofa where the boy slept on as if she weren't in the room. She placed a hand on the small of his back before wrapping it around his waist, using her other hand to cradle his head as she lifted him. He stirred and whined softly against her neck.
"Need a hand?" Jack asked, holding out his arms as if he were ready to catch a football rather than a small child.
"No, I'm fine," she snorted inwardly and maneuvered around the winter spirit to carry Max down the hall who'd already fallen back to sleep with his nose buried in the crook of her neck.
Alice knew he didn't like sleeping in his room at the moment, but she figured her room would be fine. The faint scent of her perfume and shampoo rested on the air and supposedly that comforted Max. Like she was there even though she wasn't. If he were to wake up, he'd be less likely to panic if he knew he was in her room rather than his own. He would know she was nearby.
She placed him underneath the silky duvet, pulling the blankets and sheets up to his chin as he curled back into a ball. He stuffed his face into her pillow, breathing in the familiar scent and visibly relaxing. She smiled a little to herself at the sight and leaned forward to kiss his rosy cheek, stroking it with her finger after she pulled away.
"I love you," she whispered because she felt the need to say it. Even though he wasn't awake, she hoped the words would somehow reach him in his dreamland because no truer words had been spoken.
With one last meaningful glance, she quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door to an inch behind her, leaving a small stream of light flooding into the room. It cascaded over the boy's face just the way he liked it and she ambled back down the hall, satisfied.
Jack was lounging in the spot Max once occupied, his feet tossed up on the coffee table in front of him with his staff resting against the back of the couch.
"Made yourself comfortable, did you?" she joked.
"As comfortable as I could yeah," he wiggled around a bit with a dramatic frown. "This couch really is hard."
"Oh you have no room to complain Mister I-Sleep-On-A-Park-Bench."
"Hey," he countered in mock offense. "I told you that in confidence," a grin slipped through his lips before he could hold it back and she shook her head. "Besides, I don't really sleep. More like a brief doze than anything else."
"Really?" she asked in surprise, circling around the coffee table to sit on the free cushion next to him. She pulled her legs up into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Not at all?"
"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' like Max did. He tossed an arm over the back of the couch, hand resting near her head and taking advantage of the close proximity by tugging on her curly hair that for once wasn't in a ponytail.
"Are you not able to or do you just not need to?" she asked, swatting his hand away when he twisted one of her curls around his pointer finger.
"Don't need to," he told her, finally leaving her hair alone. "It's just a Guardian thing, I guess," he shrugged.
"I don't know if I'd like that," she admitted. "Sleeping is like my only escape. I can't imagine being forced to stick around in reality all the time. I'd probably go insane."
"Pretty sure I'm already insane," said Jack. "I like to think it's part of my charm."
"Nothing more charming than a nutcase," she squinted at him and he grinned.
"My thoughts exactly. I mean, look at you. You're talking to the spirit of winter and not ten days ago you had a conversation with Santa Claus. That just screams mental institution," he winked.
Alice grimaced. "Don't remind me. I'm still trying to convince myself that this all isn't one big hallucination. I can't believe I actually met Santa Claus."
"Hey, what about me?" he placed a pale hand over his heart in mock hurt.
"Your novelty has worn off," she said dryly and he looked properly offended.
"I resent that," he pointed at her, blue eyes shining with mirth. "I keep things interesting."
"Yeah but you're not Santa Claus," she teased.
"I could be," he raised his eyebrows, still pointing at her. "I've seen the Naughty and Nice list."
"For this year? Already?" she grinned crookedly. "Christmas is already over, remember? This isn't your turf anymore. It's almost time for Easter and spring."
"You'd be surprised how quickly names get added to that thing," Jack lamented seriously and Alice laughed. "And don't remind me about Easter. I haven't been away from Bunny long enough. I'm not ready to see him yet."
"The Easter Bunny," Alice reflected on the idea of a large warrior bunny with boomerangs strapped to his back and ears as long as her legs. "I wonder if I'll ever get to meet him?" she wondered aloud just to see Jack's reaction. She wasn't disappointed as he bristled.
"No, Sophie's his human. He doesn't get you, too," said Jack with narrowed eyes. His fingers sparked blue next to her head and she had to move out of the way.
Her eyebrows rose and her face felt hot but she tried hiding it with a taunting grin. "Oh, I'm your human am I? What about Max or Jamie?"
Jack considered this. "They're my humans too, I guess."
"Gee you sure do get around," she deadpanned though the grin remained on her lips.
He smirked boyishly. "What can I say? I'm the favorite."
A comfortable silence settled between the two of them. Frost continued to sparkle from Jack's fingertips and Alice went between watching them with a mesmerized look on her face and watching him. Jack was gazing intently at her with a look she couldn't describe. It was a lot like the ones he usually gave her—where it felt like he was trying to examine her from the inside out, trying to learn how her mind worked—but there was an edge of something else there she couldn't put her finger on. Something softer, more delicate. Kind of like the night at the Library of Congress, as if he was seeing her for the first time or in a different kind of light.
She cleared her throat, hoping to snap both of them out of their trances but his lips only quirked upward as she shifted a bit in her seat. The look was still there, but this time it was more entertained than anything else.
"You really get under my skin when you look at me like that, you know?" she muttered with chagrin. She felt like she needed to say something about it or else she'd never stop flushing every time he did it.
"Like what?" he asked innocently.
"Like that," she motioned towards his face as he tilted his head with a fond grin. "I don't know, it makes me nervous because I don't know what you're thinking."
That amazed little smile of his returned, like it was exposing so many secrets she couldn't decode. "I'm just looking at you, Alice," Jack said sincerely. She bit the inside of her cheek. "Does it bother you?" he asked, and this time it was an honest question.
She thought about it for a second. Did it really bother her? "No," she hesitated. "It's just… you're staring at me. It's a natural reaction to be nervous," she defended herself and Jack chuckled quietly. She just wanted to disappear.
"It's just, you're kind of the most interesting thing that's ever happened to me so I just have to step back and take a second sometimes," he said, so casually and so genuinely that it absolutely floored her. The statement itself carried so much weight and meaning that it physically weighed her down and she felt herself reeling from it as if she'd actually been slapped.
"That's…" she felt a bit breathless and completely at a loss for words. "That's kind of a lot to put on someone. I mean… I feel like I have to live up to myself which is weird and not something I ever thought I'd have to do," she babbled and wringed her fingers together. If she felt nervous before, she was nearly sweating with anxiety now and Jack had never looked more pleased that he'd elicited such a response out of her.
"I'm sorry," he said even though he wasn't. "Does it still make you nervous now that you know?"
"Yes, more than before," she admitted, licking her lips.
He chuckled again, deep and low in his chest. He pulled his hand away from where it'd been resting near her head and leaned his head on it instead.
"I don't think you really get it," he said and she swallowed thickly, worried that he'd go about saying something else that would end up affecting her deeply for the next few years or so. "You're the first believer any of us have ever had that was over, what, thirteen? And it's me you believed in first. Not North or Tooth, but me. The one who only just recently started being believed in in the first place. That's why Jamie means so much to me. Because he was my first believer. And it was because of me that he ended up believing in everyone else. I never thought I'd have that. He gave me this," he waved his hand around a bit as if he were trying to grab the word out of thin air, "sense of importance I never had before. Gave me a real reason to exist. I'll never be able to thank him enough for that. There's not enough time in the world for me to even try.
"But then you come along and I realize that it's so much bigger than just being believed in. It's about making a difference in someone's life. I've always been a little selfish before. I wanted to be believed in because I didn't want to be alone. But it goes both ways, you know? It's not just that they're there for me. I'm there for them too and it's because they need me. But you," he shook his head and that small smile returned, "you don't really need me and yet you believe in me anyway. And you still do which I guess means you still want me around?" he laughed a little beneath his breath. "I don't know why. I ask myself every day because I'm just waiting for the day when I see you and you don't see me back. But so far, that's not happened and I feel like it's not going to happen. Not for a while, anyway.
"And you're just sitting there being so damn sweet and wonderful and it just makes me feel so fucking grateful that you exist," Jack said vehemently and Alice felt her head spin at the emotion behind his words.
Her mouth ran dry and he breathed deeply and she had to swallow a few times to coat her throat before she started coughing or hyperventilating.
"Do you know what I'm thinking now?" he asked quietly and she nodded. He gave a small nod in return. "Good."
Alice pursed her lips and forcefully broke their gaze to let his words settle in her mind. She felt overwhelmed and strangely honored that he felt the way he did about her because she wasn't anyone special. She never had been. She wasn't someone you could pick out of a crowd. She was just Alice.
She didn't realize she said that last bit out loud until he laughed, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Just Alice is pretty damn perfect if you ask me," he said with a fond grin and she felt her eyes burning again as a fresh wave of tears threatened to escape.
"Jack…" she really needed him to stop saying such nice things to her before she said something stupid back.
She quickly wiped her eyes before the tears could fall and scooted forward a bit on her knees to wrap her arms around Jack's neck. Jack stiffened up at the contact as if he hadn't been expecting it but he returned the embrace carefully, wrapping his arms around her delicately as if afraid she would break. She squeezed him, trying to convey through the hug that she wouldn't shatter and his arms tightened around her until her stomach fluttered.
Alice sniffed and buried her face in his neck, his snowy-white hair tickling her nose. He smelled like fresh air, like the scent of the trees and rain had molded into his clothes and skin. She squeezed her eyes tight as his fingers ran along the curve of her spine, leaving tingles of both frost and warmth in their wake.
"You know how you said you could never thank Jamie enough for believing in you?" she asked quietly into his neck.
"Yeah," he said quietly back.
"Well," she smiled a bit even though he couldn't see it. "I don't think I ever could thank you for saying what you did, so… I guess you and I are kind of in the same boat."
Jack chuckled and she felt his warm breath hit the back of her neck through her hair. "I guess so."
Alice pulled back just enough to where she could see his face. His blue eyes twinkled in the low light of the lamp, his cheeks splotched with very faint traces of red that she'd never seen before. He quirked a crooked smile at her, fingers gripping the hem of her shirt tightly as he held on and her fingers absently stroked the hair at the base of his neck.
The look he was giving her was so endearing that it was nearly magnetizing. She felt hypnotized as their gaze didn't waver and she saw his throat work a bit as he swallowed, eyes mapping out her face because they'd never been so close before. His porcelain skin was peppered with light brown freckles that she had a feeling she never would have noticed before had she not been so close.
Jack raised an eyebrow at her, mouth tilting up into a mischievous grin and he bit his lip as his eyes trailed downward until they reached just above her chin. Her breathing stopped, she felt her heart hammering in her chest, and she felt hot all over as his cold hands lightly gripped the small of her back. There was a beat of silence as Jack's eyes went from her lips to her eyes as if to gauge her reaction and she didn't really know how her face looked, if her eyes were wide or if she was relaxed. She didn't know how to feel, didn't know if she wanted something like that to happen. Her mind wouldn't work. Why wouldn't her mind work? It was like the entire English language just vanished out of her frontal lobe, rendering the entire left side of her brain useless.
His eyes flickered back down to her lips again and the look on her face seemed to provide some sort of reassurance because he tilted his head a bit, leaning in closer and her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. His nose brushed against hers and her breathing suddenly quickened and she opened her mouth to accept the oxygen. She felt Jack's fingers flex, nails digging into the flesh of her back and her throat stuttered—
The shattering of glass forced them apart in an instant and Alice gasped, tossing her head back to glance in the direction it came. Jack was on his feet a second later, dragging her up with him as her arms were still attached around his neck.
"Where did that—" Jack started to demand, only to be interrupted by Alice as she whispered, horrified,
"My room."
She ripped her arms from around his neck and jumped over the coffee table, knocking a few books off and toppling them to the ground.
"Alice, wait damn it—!" Jack shouted from behind her as she stumbled down the hallway.
There was a burst of cold that darted past her as Jack forced himself in front of her, pushing her out of the way as she reached the cracked door. He placed a hand against the doorframe as he shoved the door open, blocking her from running into the room and she stuttered to a stop against his back, hands clutching his hips in a desperate attempt to root herself to the ground.
Her bedroom curtains were billowing in the nighttime breeze as another storm raged on outside, rain fluttering in from the window and wetting the carpet and shards of glass that decorated the floor beneath where the window stood.
Alice felt a scream bubble in her throat as Jack reached back with his free hand to grab onto one of her wrists. The blankets were tossed aside on the bed, sheets wrinkled and distorted to form the outline of where a small body once laid.
Max was gone.
A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I honestly thought I was going to be able to get another chapter out before the holidays but time just got away from me. I hope this chapter satisfies considering you had to wait almost a month to get it. We're finally in the double digits! I also hope everyone had a great holiday with their families. And if you don't celebrate anything, I hope your December was wonderful and had a safe New Year.
