Chapter Thirty

Ballerina Makes The Most Sense

"What-"

Jack was cut off by Eros cheering to himself; he had managed to fire a clean, exact shot at the girls and hit the one he wanted. She was the more direct of the two girls and he hoped she'd be the better of the two to alter the direction of the friendship with the girl she had gone out with for Halloween. They were good friends but Eros knew both had stronger feelings for the other, they just weren't aware each other felt the same. He liked young love the most, when it was full of passion and easily broken hearts; young one's tended to be the most powerful in terms of magical energy.

With a pleased grin he hooked his bow over his shoulder and turned his gaze to look at her; his face fell into a frown as well. He moved quickly to grab her shoulders and check her over, seeing what wounds she had returned with.

"What the hell happened to you? Where did that fairy take you?" He asked, pulling his hands away and folding his arms over his chest, though he wanted to hold her properly. He did regard her as a little sister and he hated seeing her so battered and bruised. He had no idea how she'd react if he actually said it out loud, so he never had and he doubted he ever would.

"Fairy?" Jack asked, standing up slowly. "What fairy?"

"Autumn." She answered quickly, glancing at Eros, who was looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "She sent one of her little helpers to ask for a favour and I ran into trouble on my way back, as I tend to do."

"Autumn?"

"Yeah, she's the spirit of Fall."

"…Wait, what about Sammy?"

"Sammy's the spirit of Halloween, and Autumn is the spirit of Fall."

"…The spirit of Fall is called Autumn?" Jack asked, disbelief evident on his face. "You're not very good at jokes."

"Nonsense, of course I am." She said, smiling at him. "And I'm not joking. You'd like her, she's really nice. Isn't she, Eros?"

Jack noticed the blush creep up Eros' neck; the man shot the girl a glare but didn't say anything back to her comment.

"She's plenty nice, busy though so Idunno if you'd really get to meet her kid." Eros said to Jack, ignoring the smug look on her face behind him. "Her and Sammy get along super well, if you ask either of them for anything both will probably offer help."

"…Like the pumpkin seeds?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure he told her about them but, she tends not to get involved with other spirits. She finds them…tiring, or so she says. I think she just likes to watch the drama unfold from a safe distance."

Eros rolled his eyes but smiled at her, then looked at Jack with the same friendly smile.

"Well, we should head home, this one needs some patching up. Wanna join us, kid? Could get a hot chocolate going for you…or a cold chocolate?"

Jack gave a chuckle at Eros' slightly embarrassed offering but declined, saying he had never really explored Halloween and wanted to walk around. The blonde girl suspected that one of Jack's humans were there but she didn't say anything.

Jamie was there but only for a short while; he left before it got too late, heading back home with his parent's with a generous supply of trick or treating candy. He began the journey back to his graveyard, and once he was there he realised it was the wrong one. He had walked the wrong direction and found himself in a larger graveyard with larger, more ornate tombstones than the one he had been hiding in.

Three girls in costumes were walking around, looking at the gravestones and reading them out loud to each other, before continuing on to other sections of the graveyard. One of the girls, dressed as some sort of fairy with a ring of flowers sitting on her brown hair was shivering. One of the other girls was shivering as well, despite the heavy white jacket pulled on over her ballerina costume.

Jack blinked, staring at the ballerina girl; blonde hair, a familiar face…he'd followed her sister here, or found her here at least, without even meaning to. She seemed to have friends with her, the girl with the flower crown and the third girl, who was dressed as what looked like a bumble bee.

"Where is it?" The girl with the flowers asked.

"This way." The blonde ballerina said, smiling over at her friends.

The other two girls followed her down a pathway, all three of them giggling as they chatted amongst themselves. Finally they stopped in front of a grave stone, and the girl in the ballerina costume stepped closer, the other two staying back, and knelt down at the foot of the grave. Jack stopped behind them and pulled himself up into a tree. He settled on one of the thick branches and watched the girls.

"It's Halloween." She said. "I…I dressed as a ballerina, again. It wasn't a great idea if I'm honest…I'm freezing."

"Not the only one." The bee girl mumbled, which the ballerina laughed at. It was a bright, loud laugh that made Jack smile.

The girl stood up and pulled the coat closer around herself, smiling out from amongst the white fur that lined the inside of the hood.

"I should get going before we all freeze to death." She said, still smiling. "Do you remember that story Mum used to tell us? When we stayed outside for too long? She always told us that if were out for too long we'd get to know Jack Frost…"

What?

"I think we might tonight, we've been out for ages. I'll…I won't be able to come visit you for Christmas, I'll be in New York. We're all performing for Christmas Eve…i think you'd enjoy the show." She glanced back at her friends for a moment. She turned back and looked at the grave again. "I hope you're having a good Halloween…goodnight, Sarah."

The three girls turned and left the graveyard together, the ballerina in between the other girls as if they were protecting her.

"Come back!" Jack shouted without thinking and jumped from his tree. He ran from the graveyard and followed the girls until they reached a busy street. "No, no, no."

They had separated and gone their own ways, with the ballerina waving goodbye to her friends as they climbed into cars and left. She waited a moment before turning and walking along the sidewalk, heading away from the busy street. Jack followed, unsure why he was keeping any distance, and watched her. The way she walked reminded him of Tooth. She was so…graceful. It made him think of her on the stage, being watched by him and her sister.

"Avery!" A voice called out from behind him. "Avery!"

She turned at the voice and looked towards Jack, looking out for whoever had been shouting. Her eyebrows sat a little higher, surprised by who she saw running to catch up with her.

"Avery! Hey- are you a ballerina?" A boy asked, reaching her. He had been close to walking through Jack but the winter spirit was able to step back and avoid them meeting.

"A cold one." She said. "Not the best choice."

"No it..well, it makes sense." The boy said, slipping his hands into the pockets on his jacket. "It looks good."

"Oh-"

"I mean, it's…nice, the colour. I mean…it looks nice."

Excuse me, Jack thought, I'm trying to figure out how she knows my name. Go away.

"It's my training leotard." The girl said. "Seemed like a waste of money to buy a costume when I already own like, five of these."

"Oh right, I can…that makes sense." The boy said. "I was…wondering…with the ballet thing…are you any good at ice skating?"

"I've never done it before." She said.

She had turned so that her body was facing the boy now. He was only a few inches taller than her, with short brown hair that was somewhat longer and styled at the front.

"Oh…okay."

"Why were you wondering that?"

"I was…wondering if you'd…wanna go with me, sometime." The boy said with his eyes on the sidewalk.

"Where?"

"The lake usually starts freezing in November…but if it's not your thing I understand-"

"I'd like to." She said. "If the lake is safe, that is. Just let me know when."

"Yeah…yeah, sure! I'll see you round." The boy said, giving her a lopsided smile before darting off back the way he'd come from.

The girl shook her head but smiled before she continued on her way. Jack followed her until they reached a house, which she headed towards and went inside.

"Come back!" Jack called out. "How do you know my name?!"

Jack was confused and excited. Sure, she was a teenager but she was a human who knew his name!

He could work with this.

He could try and make someone believe.