Chapter Four: Something Strange

In a matter of just a few short weeks, Jack and Luna had become thick as thieves. They frequently met up for games, playing with the kids in town, or even just walks in the forest. Jack found himself thinking things like I should tell Luna about that later or Luna would have thought that was hilarious!It made him feel good to have a friend his own age, even if she was approximately 300 years his junior.

Luna, meanwhile, was finding it harder and harder to pay attention in school each day. Her thoughts were wandering further than ever before, fueled by all of the wonderful things she had discovered since her first meeting with Jack. Now, it was well-known among her classmates that Luna was a bit... odd. Although she was a very nice girl, she had a tendency to talk too much or too little, depending on the day. On too-much days, she would often go on several tangents before actually making her way back to her original point, and she also spoke very heavily with her eyes and hands, sometimes gesturing and emoting so much that it would distract people from what she was trying to say. On too-little days, she would sit quietly in class, intently focusing on something that wasn't necessarily her school work. She would visibly be thinking very hard, but never raised her hand to offer any answers. It was on these days that she was most likely to be scolded for drawing instead of taking notes or reading a novel hidden behind her school book.

Lately, it seemed that Luna was having more too-little days than normal. This was because she spent most of the school day staring out of the nearest window, hoping to catch a glimpse of a certain someone flying through the sky. She couldn't seem to get through a single class period without a teacher saying "Luna, pay attention!" or "Luna, eyes over here!" or "Luna, I asked you a question! Are you listening?" And every time it happened, the teacher's comment was followed by muffled laughter or condescending stares from particular groups of students. Luna didn't mind, though, because she had a very good reason for being so distracted.

Additionally, being the brunt of jokes was made much easier by having good friends. Luna did not have many friends, but she had as many as she needed. First, she had Lisa, who was thin and dark-haired, and whom she had known since the first grade. Lisa was very quiet, but she was very intelligent. Luna liked her because she was smarter than everyone else (and she knew it), but she only boasted it when someone really needed a bit of humility. And then she had Gerard, who was very tall and strong, with dark skin and curly black hair. Luna liked him because he was good at every sport he tried – tennis, football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and swimming (which was his favorite) – yet he, too, was very humble about it. What Luna liked best about Gerard, however, was that he was what she liked to call a "secret dork." Although he loved athletics and was big enough to beat up just about anyone he wanted, he absolutely loved cartoons, animated movies, and Dungeons and Dragons. He wasn't a secret dork because he tried to hide these things about himself, though. Rather, it was just that no one would have guessed these things about him from the surface level. Though seemingly quite different from one another, the three of them complemented each other very nicely, indeed.

One afternoon, Luna was walking out of the school with Lisa, talking loudly so as to be heard over the flood of chattering students all around them. They laughed about interesting things that had happened to them that day and ignored the annoying elbows that kept knocking against their own as they walked.

"So, you're taking the bus today?" asked Lisa.

"Yeah. Angie caught my cold and stayed home today, so I've lost my ride."

"Why don't you ask Gerard to take you?"

"He has a swim meet today, so he's not leaving school until later on," Luna said.

"Ah," said Lisa. "Well, I'll see you on Monday!"

"See ya!" Luna replied. With that, each girl was off in the direction of her own bus.

Luna had only been walking on her own for a moment when she spotted Jack sitting on the roof of the school cafeteria, his feet dangling down over the edge. He perked up when he saw her looking at him. She gave him a discreet wave, knowing that Jack would likely be unseen by anyone around her. He gestured for her to come with him, then hopped off of the roof to the back of the school. She went around the building and found her friend standing in front of a bench, twirling his staff at his side. They exchanged a smile but didn't speak, as there were a few groups of chatting people huddled nearby. Luna sat on the bench and pulled her blue scarf up over her mouth, pretending to warm her face.

"What's up?" she asked quietly, her mouth hidden behind the fabric.

"I have a surprise for you," Jack answered at a normal volume.

"Really? What is it?"

"I can't tell you now. Would you be able to sneak away for a little while tonight? At, say, ten o'clock?"

"Sure!" she whispered excitedly. "I'll be ready. See you then." With that, she stood up, gave him a small wave, and walked toward the buses, looking back to smile at him once more.

…..

That night, Luna sat at her desk wearing her all of her winter gear, unsure of where Jack was planning on taking her. After what seemed like a forever of waiting, she finally heard a tapping on her bedroom window. When she turned around, she saw that the glass had been entirely frosted over. She jumped out of her chair and bounded over to let Jack inside.

"Hey, are you all ready to go?" he asked.

"I think so! Where are we going?"

"Make sure you have some mittens," he said, ignoring her question.

"They're in my pockets. Where are we going?"

"Do you have that necklace on?" he asked. "The one with the Moon? I seriously love that thing."

"Yes, I have it on! Where are we going?" she laughed. "I'm not going to leave if I don't know where you're trying to take me. And why do I need the necklace?"

"I just thought that North would like to see it because, you know, we're going to the North Pole tonight," Jack replied, looking at his fingernails in a jokingly nonchalant manner. Luna's mouth hung open. "So, are you ready?" Jack asked again. Luna nodded her head, smiling brightly.

"How do we get there?" she wondered aloud.

"With this," Jack said, pulling a glass ball out of his hoodie pocket. "It's one of North's magic snowglobes. It can take you anywhere you want. Ready to meet another Guardian?"

"So ready!" she squealed.

Jack held the globe to his lips and whispered "The North Pole." He tossed the globe to the floor, and a kaleidoscopic portal burst out in front of them. Jack gestured as if to say 'after you,' and Luna cautiously walked into the portal. She felt a strange, whirling sensation as a million colors spun around her. It made her slightly dizzy, but also seemed to tickle her face and toss her hair about. The next thing she knew, she was tossed out of the portal and went tumbling onto an unfamiliar floor. As she looked up, her breath caught in her chest. The building she was in was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was beautiful; the lovely reds and browns brought her immediate comfort, while thousands of twinkling lights winked at her from all around. As she stood up, she saw the most awe-inspiring thing yet – a huge Globe at the center of a lively and bustling workshop. She heard an odd sound behind her, and turned to see Jack emerge from the portal just before it disappeared.

"Jack!" some voices shouted. Luna turned and was surprised to see Jamie and Sophie, clad in pajamas, running toward them. "You're back!"

"And look who I brought!" he said. Luna waved at the kids, who happily greeted her. "So, what do you guys think?" Jack began. "Do you want to give her the tour?" The siblings shouted in the affirmative, bouncing on their heels.

"Don't you think you should introduce her to the host first?" said a deep, but friendly, voice from behind. Luna whirled around and looked up – way up – to see a jolly and rosy-cheeked face gazing down on her. In that moment, a peculiar feeling came over Luna. She knew right away who he was, of course. But something about his sparkling blue eyes made a huge wave of indescribable joy wash over her. It was as if she had never felt a moment of pain or sadness in all her life when he looked at her. Suddenly, every happy thing that had happened in her life seemed to return to her. Each childhood Christmas, every bit of sunlight that had touched her face, each snowflake that had ever landed in her eyelashes – they all flashed through her mind in an instant when he smiled at her.

In a word, he was warm.

Without thinking, Luna simply wrapped her arms around the enormous man, a few tears escaping and dripping onto his red shirt as she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't really understand what had happened to her, but she wasn't embarrassed. The man hugged her back, chuckling softly and sweetly as he did so. Luna said the only words that could come into her head.

"Thank you."

…..

Luna had the time of her life that night. She was given a full tour of the Workshop, played with experimental toys with Jack and the Bennetts, was allowed to pet and feed the reindeer, and drank the most delicious hot chocolate she had ever tasted.

However, while all of this merriment was occurring at the Pole, something strange was happening back in Burgess. Everything seemed completely normal; the Christmas lights were shining, windows were lit with a warm glow, and a gentle snow was falling over the town. On the main street, a happy young couple was out on a lovely winter stroll, hand-in-hand, gazing at Christmas decorations. It was really quite a beautiful scene.

However, as the two of them walked, one of them stepped on a little crack in the sidewalk. A perfectly normal event, unnoticed by either of them. And yet, this one little action caused a very, very strange reaction. As the couple walked off blissfully, something within the crack began to move. An odd, black substance bubbled and churned out of the crack and formed itself into a small, round creature. Two white, expressionless eyes gurgled out of the head and blinked as the creature looked around. It instinctively began to move toward the outskirts of town, its near-liquid body conforming to the ground as it swiftly made its way to its destination.

As it reached the outer bounds of the town and headed toward the forest, it joined a long stream of similar creatures, all slithering in lines toward the same place. As they entered the woods, each line of little creatures met and merged into one huge stream of inky blackness, and flowed into what appeared to be a burrow at the base of a tree. Deep, deep within the burrow, a cavern had formed, completely shrouded in darkness.

And in the darkness glowed two angry, powerful, golden eyes.

Many apologies for posting this chapter one day late; I needed a bit of extra time to be sure it was of good quality. Next week's chapter will likely be posted a day early due to holiday festivities. Stay strange, and see you next week.