Walking towards the bed Pitch pried the boy away and placed him upon it. The Nightmare King sat down behind Jack, and tilted the guardian's head to the side. He pulled down the collar of Jack's sweatshirt and repeatedly kissed the frost elf's neck. A slight blush appeared on Jack's face, and a small gasp slipped out of his mouth.
"You're surprised Jack?" The boogeyman laughed slightly. "You're more innocent then I thought." Pitch reached his hand under Jack's shirt, and began caressing his chest, while still kissing the boy's neck. A slight moan escaped the boy's mouth. Pitch then rubbed Jack's thigh, causing the snow spirit to cringe. Despite Jack's age, he really was a kid at heart, and very unaccustomed to these sorts of sensations, so Pitch stopped, for he didn't want to overwhelm the frost elf.
The Nightmare King placed the boy on his lap, and held him like a small child. It was obvious that in their relationship Pitch was overprotective. It stayed that way for sometime, before Jack became confused. "Pitch, is something wrong?" He looked up at the Boogeyman with concern in his hypnotized eyes.
There was sadness in Pitch's expression. The Nightmare King pressed his forehead against the guardian's own. "I'm fine Jack. Just fine." Although he loved holding Jack, feeling the boy's cold body in his arms, it would be so much more satisfying if Jack was there of his own free will.
"Jack you've had a long and tiring day. Got to sleep," the boogeyman laid Jack down, and the boy instantly nodded off. Pitch sat down beside him, and pushed the guardian's bangs out of his eyes. "Sleep well Jack."
Meanwhile the guardians sat in the warren, they felt weak and looked exhausted. "What's the plan now, mate?" Bunnymund asked to no one in particular. "Pitch is stronger than ever, and he's turned Jack into a slave."
"Do you think Pitch is hurting him?" Tooth asked, worry in her face.
"I doubt it," Bunny replied. "With the way he was acting, I'd say he's treating Jack a little too friendly." Tooth's expression changed slightly, not enough for a stranger to notice, but enough for close friends to see she was furious.
"We have no way of finding him," North stated. "We need to protect the children."
"What?" Tooth asked, shocked at what she was hearing. She flew around faster than normal. "Are you saying just forget Jack? He is stuck doing whatever Pitch wants; you're going to make him suffer through that?"
The symbols that flashed above Sandman's head were the snow spirit and a question mark. It translated as: We don't know were he is.
"Sandy's right. We'd only waste precious time. We need to make the children believe," North announced, placing a hand on Tooth's shoulder. "Jack would want us to protect the children."
The guardian of memories looked devastated, but nodded in agreement. The guardians set out to return the dreams to the children of the world, hoping they'd make it before the sun came up. It was much harder this time to return the nightmares to dreams, for there were layers of ice on every last grain of sand. Dawn was approaching, and from the sleigh the guardians were pleased to see that the children were all having sweet dreams.
What was even better was that a good portion of children were believing again. Knowing that for the moment their work was done, the guardians returned to the North Pole. Once there, North had a few of his yetis' bring a large collection of maps. They crossed off all the places they already checked, hoping it would narrow down Jack's location.
There were still many forests' they had yet to look, so they planned that once their energy was regained they'd try and find the guardian of fun.
In the meantime Pitch was resting with the boy, as he saw lights on the globe beginning to flicker back to life. The Boogeyman sat up, waking up the guardian in his arms. When Jack saw the globe his eyes flashed blue, and a smile appeared on his face. However it only lasted a second before his eyes were once more white, and he was scowling at the little lights.
"Don't worry Jack, just rest." He placed his hand over the frost elf's eyes. "Tomorrow night those lights will be burned out." Feeling the warm hand over his eyes, the boy yawned slightly and once more fell asleep on Pitch's chest.
In the Boogeyman's other hand stood sand replicas of the guardians. The Nightmare King laughed as he crushed the figurines. "You'll all experience the pain of not being believed in."
