A.N: Alright guys. Here's the new update. This is where it alllllll begins. So it's time to put on your seatbelt (Lol, pun totally intended) and enjoy the ride.

Chapter 1: The Beginning-My First Encounter

One year and two months later-

Jack sat in the corner of the room, on one of those rock hard benches that hurt your butt if you sit on them for too long. He sat there with his right leg drawn up to his chest; his right hand draped lazily over it while his other leg dangled down freely.

He hid his face under his hood; just like he always did. It was more out of pure habit than anything else. He leaned back and rested his head on the wall behind him and breathed in a deep sigh.

He was at the police station… again. His uncle's gonna be pissed this time for sure and he'll probably ground him too; just like last time… and the time before that… and the time before that.

Jack pulled out his left hand slowly from his hoodie pocket and inspected it. His knuckles were covered with bruises and blood. He was sure his other hand looked pretty much the same. Not all of the blood was his though. He bunched and flexed his fingers. It didn't hurt as much but it still stung a little. Jack snorted 'Yeah, breaking noses and cheek bones will do that to you.' In his defense, the dude totally deserved it. Not that anybody else cared. In their eyes Jack was the bad guy, end of story… that's all everybody sees these days 'Might as well act the part.' Heck, they might as well blame him for all the disappearances that have been going on lately. The rumors surly do even though he had absolutely nothing to do with them.

The sound of keys jiggling and the familiar creak of the barred metal door which belonged to his temporary prison brought Jack out of his thoughts. He stood up from the accursed metal bench and pocketed his hands and walked up to the guard who stood next to door. The guard sneered at him. "You know the drill, Frost."

Jack didn't even bother making eye contact or giving any indication that he even heard the man. Jack hated this cop… Well, he hated all cops in general but this one, he despised. The cop had a tummy that Jack was sure would explode one day; someday soon hopefully. He was a lot older than the other cops in the department. His hair was all greyed out. Jack was amazed the man still had any hair at all. The silver haired teen growled low in his throat as the cop shoved him from behind. They both reached the man's desk.

Jeff Barnes-that was the fat cop's name. Jack had heard one of his cop buddies call him that on one of his first days here at the police station. Jeff had also taken some sort of a personal disliking to Jack; though he could never figure out why that was. Well, in retrospect, all the cops in this town hated his guts.

"It's a mystery to me why a good man like your uncle even bothers with a lost cause like you," Jeff snorted. "He should just leave you here to rot, you snot nosed brat."

"With a bunch of old farts like you?" Jack snorts. "Pass."

"Why you little-"

"Jack!" All heads turned towards the man who stalked straight towards his young ward. It was like déjà vu.

Jack's uncle was an average Joe kinda guy. An average build, average height, average name, average… everything. He wasn't the richest man in town but he was well respected by almost everybody; and had a thing for his Chevy car. He worked as a marketing executive and even though it was a small job, he made enough for him and Jack to get by with. Except for his bright hazel eyes nothing about him screamed uniqueness; which was exactly the way his uncle intended it to be. He wasn't that old either; just 23. Jack and David had become very close recently; they were more like brothers than anything. In fact, if Jack obeyed anyone willingly these days, it would be his uncle; even that still happened on rare occasions. Though they didn't get along at first, David was like his best friend now…

Or his only friend is more like it.

David came to a stop beside Jack and squared his shoulders. He aimed to stare down the kid but Jack hid his eyes under his white bangs which were still well protected by the blue hood. "Are you okay?"

Aside from the black eye he got from the stupid doughnut cop and the bloodied knuckled and the probably bruised ribs, he was peachy. His uncle always asked him that first before tearing him a new one. "I'm fine."

"Good… Now I can tear you a new one."

Jack let a ghost of a smile pass by his lips. Oh yeah, didn't see that one coming. Jack shrugged and began walking out of the office. He knew his uncle would finish all the formalities for him. He always did. It was like some sort of a daily messed up routine. It seemed to Jack that it was all his uncle did these days. Bail him out whenever he got into trouble. And that happened more often than not. It happened around school, around the neighborhood, around parks, you name it.

He truly wondered why his uncle still put up with him. They even raided his freaking house because of Jack for Pete's sake. The cop was right; his uncle should just leave him here to rot.

Just like his parents did…

Jack stood outside the building that he hated being in and waited for David to come out. He leaned against one of the nearby light poles. He wished things could be different with him. He wished he didn't have to stay in this god-forsaken town. He wished he could just go back to his fam-

"Let's go, Jack."

Jack turned and saw his uncle walk out the doors. Jack sighed and followed him to his car. He called it his 'Baby.'

David had saved up a lot of money to get this particular model. He wondered what his uncle saw in this one that made it so special. Jack got into the passenger seat and slumped. David got into the driver's seat and eased the car out of the crammed parking lot and into the road and began driving home.

The two of them drove in silence and Jack prayed it would remain that way till they at least reached home…

"What's the matter with you?"

… and when has any of his prayers been answered? He inwardly deadpanned. "What?"

"Don't what me…" David momentarily turned towards him. "What's going on with you, huh?"

"Like you'd wanna know," Jack rolled his eyes.

"I do wanna know," David said. When he got no reply from the passenger seat he sighed and asked. "Is it the drugs again?"

Jack huffed loudly; clearly irritated. "I sold them like ONE time… Jeez, get off my back."

"The point is that you still sold them, Jack! You know it's illegal!" David snapped at the young boy. "You could've gotten into some serious trouble if I hadn-"

"Well no one asked you to!" Jack yelled. Why the hell would anyone care about him enough to keep getting him out of trouble? Why does his uncle keep doing it? I never asked him to!

"Your parents did!" David said angrily. Why couldn't the kid understand that he was just trying to help?

Jack's features darkened at the mention of his parents. Like hell they care! Damn it! Stop thinking about them! Stop thinking, Jack! He pushed his wayward thoughts away with an almost physical force, driving it back into that far corner of his mind where so much of his past dwelt, hidden in the darkest reaches of his consciousness. He put on his stone cold faced mask and looked out the window.

David's eyes softened as he saw the defeated slope of the kid's shoulders and he saw him hide his face under that blue hood of his more, if that was even possible. "Just tell me what happened, Jack."

"You wouldn't understand…" came an emotionless whisper.

"Try me."

Jack glanced sideways at his uncle and sighed. "I was on the way to school through the park when I saw a bunch of these lame guys playing football with a dog and I…" Jack let the words float.

"Jack, don't lie to me…"

"This is exactly why I never tell you!" Jack suddenly exploded in rage. "You never listen! Nobody does!"

"Look kiddo… I'm only trying to do what's best for you. But if you keep ly-"

"Stop the car!"

David knew talking about Jack's family was a touchy subject for the kid. Heck, any subject that concerned him was a touchy subject for him. He learnt that lesson the hard way many times before. Jack had shut him out for weeks when the kid first came to live with him. "Jac-"

"I said stop the god-damn car!" Jack chastised, half turning towards his uncle while his left hand took ahold of the door handle. "Or I swear I'll jump out!"

"Alright!" came David's panicked yell. He had zero doubt in his mind that Jack would jump out of a moving car without a second thought. He slowed down and Jack was already out of the car before it came to a complete stop. He saw Jack pocket his hands and walk towards their house, which was still three miles away. He knew Jack was more than capable of walking for twenty miles straight if he had to. David quickly shut the engine off and got out. He trailed after Jack slowly. One wrong move and that's it; Game over. The kid might take off and not return home for days so he chose his words carefully. "I'm sorry alright…? You're right… I believe you. I swear I didn't mean to-"

"-call me a lying brat?"

"I never said that,"

"You might as well have."

"I'm sorry, Jack," David tried again. He was feeling very tired and just wanted to go home and rest. But he couldn't go to sleep knowing that Jack was still out here by himself. "Please, just get back to the car with me…"

Jack stopped walking. His uncle's voice sounded weird. He sounded exhausted. Jack turned slightly and saw his uncle rest his hands on his knees. Boy, today must have been a hard day… I've never seen him this tired before. We're not more than 20 feet away from the car and the guy's breathing like he just ran a marathon or something.

Jack mentally kicked himself. David was kind enough to let him live with him, let alone feed him and give him a good home and take care of him… and yet here he was, acting like a lousy brat. His uncle was a good man… he doesn't need this. Jack shook his head. "Fine, let's go."

Jack passed by his uncle who was still breathing heavily. He pretended not to notice the older man's distress. He stopped by the passenger door and waited patiently. His uncle tiredly made his way back to the car. Jack raised one of his eyebrows. "You look beat, want me to drive?" He smirked.

"You? A 17 year old without a license? And with my car?" His uncle chuckled "Keep dreaming kid."

"You can't blame me for trying," Jack shrugged and got into the car with David and they resumed driving back home. They were about half a mile from their destination when Jack spoke up.

"What took you so long anyway?" Jack asked casually.

But David knew exactly what that question actually meant… Were you planning on leaving me in jail? The poor kid has a huge case of abandonment issues. He had to make sure Jack knew that he was never gonna leave him. He cleared his throat. "I was at the hospital."

"The hospital? What for?" The words were lased with barely detectable concern; just barely. But David knew it was there. The kid cared about him even if he never showed it.

"I got jumped."

"Care to elaborate?" Jack smirked with amusement. He would have been more concerned if anything serious had happened. His uncle looked fine apart from the tiredness. Then again, doctors' poking and prodding at you would drain a guy out, apart from the 'getting jumped' part. Jack hated hospitals too… It reminded him of things he didn't want to remember.

"Do I have a choice?" David turned to Jack and saw him smirk. Shaking his head he explained. "I was unlocking my car when this guy came up from behind me and wrestled me to the ground. I managed to knock him off me long enough to get into the car and then I just kept driving. That's about it."

"So… Why the hospital?"

"Oh that… That was because he… he uh," David's face flushed a little red with embarrassment. "He bit me."

Silence followed that sentence before Jack burst into laughter. "Wait-a-second, Wait-a-second… did you just say a homeless guy bit you?" he asked and began laughing uncontrollably again.

"I'm glad you find my suffering humorous," David deadpanned but he was smiling on the inside. It was rare to see Jack laughing and smiling like this; even if it was at his expense, it was okay. At least his misfortune made someone's day.

"I can't help it if you have a 'come get me, homeless people' neon sign stuck to your forehead, Uncle D."

"Whatever," David said as he stopped the car in front of their front yard and got out just as Jack did. "Oh and by the way… You're grounded for a month!"

"No surprise there…" Jack said still smiling. In all honesty, he was expecting David to ground him for a lot longer than that.

(Next Day Morning)

The sound of breaking glass woke Jack up. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked up at the ceiling. "Mus' be dreamin…" he mumbled. Jack yawned and rolled over to the other side and was drifting off again when-

CRASH!

Jack jerked awake fully and quickly sat up straight. Okay… Not dreaming. He swung his legs off the side of his bed and heard another noise; scraping noises followed by strange thudding sounds. The noises seemed to be coming from the room below him.

He looked at the digital clock on the nightstand beside his bed. It read 9:47 AM. 'Musta slept in' thought Jack. 'And David was supposed to be at work… So who's downstairs making all that noise?'

Jack opened his bedroom door and stepped out. "David?" He walked till he reached the staircase railing and leaned forward on it to peer down into the living room. The noises could still be heard but it was coming from the kitchen this time. It could still be his uncle making breakfast or something... though his uncle wasn't normally this noisy though nor was he this late going to work.

Maybe he slept in too… Yesterday's exhaustion was getting to the poor guy.

Jack began descending the stairs. He vaguely remembered his uncle patching him up last night. David had fixed his black eye, applied some antiseptic to the scratches he had on his knuckles and bandaged his ribs. Jack had fallen asleep on the couch before the last one was finished. David must have carried him all the way up to his room. Jeez… could you have been any bigger of a burden? He asked himself.

Jack paused and looked down at himself. He still wore the same torn up jeans and hoodie as he did yesterday. He shrugged. He must have slept in them last night. Jack's repeated clothes loads of times before… so it was no biggie.

Jack reached the foot of the stairs and heard the scuffling noises again… then the sound of glass hitting the floor. Man, David's making a racket… Did he drink last night? But that was a wayward thought than anything else. His uncle never drank any form of alcohol so that made no sense and no one in their right mind would try to rob them in broad day light. Not that they had anything valuable enough to steal anyway.

He crept till he reached the kitchen entrance. With his back against the wall, he peered in stealthily. There were a number of things that Jack noticed. First, there were broken glass scattered everywhere; most of them he recognized as David's favorite coffee mugs. His grandma gave those to him… David's gonna freak-out! Second, there was a mixture of some white and orange liquid forming a huge puddle on the floor. Milk and Orange juice? What is this guy trying to do? Raid our kitchen? Third, the fridge door was open and whoever the intruder was, was behind it; throwing other food items out. Right now the guy was clearing out the egg tray; dropping them on the already messy floor too. Well, the joke's on him cause' David hasn't gotten the refrigerator working in weeks. The food they kept in there were mostly stale anyway. The kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it. The shelves were broken like someone had smashed through them with their bare fists. David's gonna have a freaking heart attack when he sees this… And that's not even the worst part; Jack will probably get blamed for this too.

Whoever this guy is, he's not even trying to stay quiet about the fact that he just broke into someone's house. Well, we do live far away from anyone else and I was supposed to be in school by now… he must've thought there was no one home. So why bother staying quite… Yeah, that made more sense. For a second Jack thought it could be the homeless guy who bit his uncle but then dismissed the thought. They were miles away from David's work place and the homeless guy couldn't possible know where they lived.

Jack could see the top of the man's head, his ankles and his feet. His hair looked like it had fallen out; only strands of short lose brownish grey hair sticking out from a few places. Judging by his bony ankles and feet, the guy must be a thin dude.

Jack was pretty confident he could take him on in a fight if it came down to it. So he stepped into the kitchen but he didn't have to clear his throat or even try to get the intruder's attention.

The muttering and the tinkering noises stopped abruptly. Silence followed as the man slowly raised his head above the small metal door and looked at the silver haired boy standing a few feet away from him.

Milky white eyes starred at icy blue ones. The younger of the two gasped. "D-David?"

Jack barely had time to dodge when the man suddenly jumped at him with full force; jaw wide open, long bony fingers stretched out in front of him ready to claw at its prey. His pointy fingers just touching Jack's sleeve as the boy flung himself sideways.

Jack slipped on the milk and orange juice and landed on the floor on his butt with a loud thud. Ow…that hurt; though his eyes never left the creature for a second.

Jack was sure this thing-whatever it was- was in fact his uncle; though David looked more alive the last time he saw him. Jack didn't know how he knew but he just did. There was no mistaking it. This thing was David! It looked like he'd been dead for years… But how is that even possible? Am I still dreaming?

Yup… That must be it… He was still dreaming.

"David… What happened to you?" Jack couldn't help but ask. He saw the creature turn towards him. Normal hazel eyes hidden behind a veil of white; it opened and closed its mouth, speaking silent words with the last shred of sanity it had left. It tilted its head sideways; arms swinging lazily from side to side. It took two slow steps towards the fallen boy before launching itself at him.

Jack quickly looked to his right and pulled a wooden chair that was sitting next to the center table. He swung the chair in front of him; hoping it would create a small momentary barricade between him and the monster. It isn't David; not anymore.

David's body caught the base of the chair; his right arm clawing at the back of the chair and the other clawing at Jack; his jaws snapping viciously at the boy; spit and saliva landing on Jack's face.

They both struggled for a short while. The only thing separating the two of them was a thin wooden plank and a thin layer of cushion. David's left hand caught hold of Jack's silvery white hair and pulled mercilessly.

Jack couldn't help the scream that left his lips. He felt like if David pulled any harder he would lose his hair for sure. Jack tried wrenching the creature's hand off but David held on with a death grip. Jack began searching the floor for something-anything that could help him. He was too young to lose hair. Luckily his fingers brushed across a glass shard. The broken coffee mug! Well… technically it's ceramic but who's complaining. Jack clawed at the sharp object until he got a good grip of it. He didn't wait as he plunged it into the arm that held painfully onto his hair. A loud animalistic cry came from the creature. If it felt pain then it wasn't completely brainless after all, not yet anyway. It let go of Jack's hair and backed off a little. This gave Jack the opportunity to draw one of his legs to his chest and held his foot to the wood keeping the monster inches away from him. Once he got a good steady grip, Jack kicked with everything he had. David and the chair were flung backwards and skidded till the creature was on the opposite side of the kitchen. Guess the gross liquids on the floor were on his side for once.

It gave Jack just enough time to get his feet under him as he scrambled across the kitchen to the far end of the table; the farthest corner away from the dead creature- which was, ironically, the liveliest thing he'd ever seen. Jack would've laughed at the irony of it all if the situation wasn't so dire.

The creature was already on its feet. It dashed madly to its right only to crash into a china cabinet adjacent to where Jack was standing. Okay, it's obviously not the most coordinated creatures he's seen; but by far the deadliest. And damn, that was David's mom's china cabinet. David was ruining his own stuff without realizing it. Jack winced.

Here he was fighting for his life and all he could care about a china cabinet? Do you even have priorities, Jack?

In a flash of a moment the monster was charging at its prey… again; this time with deadly speed. Jack had no time to get to the knives; which at this point was the only weapon he could think of. Jack looked to his left and found a toaster that sat next to a microwave. The microwave was too big so the toaster will have to do. He pulled at the machine and lifted it on top of his head and swung it down as hard and as fast as he could. Fortunately his timing was perfect as he heard a crack, a small groan and then silence. He knew the toaster had hit its target. Jack slowly opened his eyes and looked down. The creature had collapsed at his feet; mere inches away with its jaws slack. A second too late and he would have been monster chow.

Jack let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he carefully stepped away from the creature; a bloodied toaster still in his hand. Forget the heart attack, David will be lucky if he even saw straight after this. He really hoped it wasn't David though. He knew it was stupid but he hoped the dead creature was alive.

Reality finally caught up to Jack… Oh god! I just killed my uncle! With a freaking toaster! What the hell did he just do? The only man who was kind enough to watch over him was now lying dead in a small pool of his own blood.

This is not happening…

This is not happening…

This is-

Ding-Dong

Just then he heard the doorbell ring. Jack took a moment to register the doorbell and then looked down at himself. The back of his jeans was covered with milk and orange juice. At least he's hoodie seemed alright apart from the obvious dirt. 'Alright' being a very lose term.

Ding-Dong- Ding-Dong-Ding-Dong-Ding-Dong-Ding-Dong!

"Alright!" Jack yelled with frustration from the kitchen. Who the hell was that? Couldn't they let a guy panic in peace? "I'm coming!"

He looked towards the creature that tried to kill him only moments ago before setting the toaster down on the table and made his way to the front door. He looked through the peep hole and then opened the door; revealing a shaking, panting young girl.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Jack asked, not even attempting to hide his annoyance or irritation towards her. He didn't have time to deal with anyone else right now.

The girl seemed to stare at him for a moment before snapping out of her thoughts.

"I-I'm Rapunzel," She breathed out. "And I need your help."

Okay, that's it for this Chapter. YAY! This story is going to be a little Jack-centric, if you haven't guessed already. But don't worry Rapunzel, Hiccup and Merida will be given as much importance as they deserve. No one will be left behind in the fanfic. Unless I decide to kill them... but I'm not that evil... or am I? XD

Please leave me a review! They're love and a way to lemme know that you like this fic. ^_^
Thanks for reading.
Take Care
Byeee!