p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;"Eric went first, stepping lightly and checking around the corner to see if my father or any fearlings were wandering the hall. "All clear." he whispered /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" We continued down to the door my father and Jack were in. I tried turning the knock, but knew it would be locked before I even tried. "Alright, we need to do this quick, Eric," I said, "I'm going to burn the lock off and put my father in a cage of fire. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it, so you have to be fast. Grab Jack and get out of here. I'll be right behind you." taking a deep breath, I slowly melted the iron door knob and kicked the door down. My father looked up from a chained and bloody Jack and was trapped in my fire cage before he could realize what was happening. "Hurry!" I shouted to Eric, concentrating all my powers on keeping my father trapped. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Eric rushed over to Jack and dragged him towards me as far as the chains would allow. I shot a blast of fire at the chains causing them to sizzle and melt. Jack yelled as a stray spark hit his wrist. "Ava! What are you doing?!" my father yelled, confusion and rage were clearly written all over his face./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I turned away from him, sadness and anger filling me. I didn't know who to trust. Eric had been one of my two best friends for centuries, and my father had cared for me, and I for him. Jack, on the other hand, had been my enemy for as long I could remember. Could I really trust him? Doubt mixed with the other emotions creating a hurricane within my mind. I felt Eric tug on my arm, waking me from my thoughts. "Ava! Let's go!" he shouted. Jack leaned on Eric with one arm around his neck. I heard my father's yells from my cage which was slowly losing energy. "Go! I'll be right behind you!" I yelled./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I watched Jack and Eric run down the hall and towards the exit. As they rounded the corner I turned and faced my father. "You never had to do that." for the first time in a long time, I allowed my emotions to show. I could only imagine my father seeing what was there. Anger, sadness, confusion, pain. A tear slid down my face. "Goodbye, father." I turned and ran after Eric, leaving my father behind for good. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""span style="font-size: medium;"How badly is he hurt?" I asked as I caught up to Eric. They had made good progress, and I hadn't caught up with them until they were well away from my home. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "He isn't to bad. Just a few bruises. Your father was going to give him a nightmare, that's why he's out." I glanced over at Jack, who was draped over Eric's shoulder. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" My thoughts wandered to when Eric, Sasha, and I had first met. It was the day they were created. My father had made them as playmates for me, twins who had died in a car accident. I had showed them the forest and the places that were good for hiding. We had become inseparable from that time on. "Eric, what about Sasha?" I asked, looking over at him with concern in my eyes./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "We have to leave her." I could see the tears forming in his eyes, "I told her what I was going to do, and she tried to run and tell Pitch. I locked her in my room." A tear broke from his eye and slipped down his cheek. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "I'm so sorry, Eric." I reached out and grabbed his hand. He gave me a sad smile and squeezed my hand in thanks. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I tried to change the subject, "I can't wait to see Twix." I was referring to Autumn's dog, the ghost of a dead golden brown and white border collie. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Yeah." Eric was quiet. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" We fell silent and walked awhile without conversing. After some time Jack woke up. "What.." he looked around, glancing at Eric and then to me, "What's going on? Where are you taking me?" he flew from Eric's grasp and grabbed his staff, which Eric had been carrying. Turning towards us he narrowed his eyes and pointed his staff towards us./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Calm down, we saved your ass, you should be grateful." I growled back/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "What do you mean you saved me? I thought you handed me over to Pitch. Care to explain yourselves?" he asked, still pointing his stupid stick at us./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Look, Jack. It's a long story, and I get that you don't trust us, we don't exactly trust you either, but for now I just need you to follow us and listen to what we have to say." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Jack hovered for a moment before landing and walking over to us. "Fine." he said, crossing his arms, "Say what you will, but first, tell me who you are." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I stepped forward, "First off, my name isn't actually Amber. It's Ava Black. As you may have figured out, I'm Pitch's daughter. For a long time I've grown up, hating you for what the Guardians did to my father, what you did to him. A few months ago-or a few days-I'm not sure, my father put me into a long nightmare. In the nightmare, you kidnapped me. You tortured me and beat me bloody. I suffered for a long time in that nightmare. Two days ago my father 'rescued me'" I used air quotes with my fingers on rescue, "and told me that I must put into action the plan we had been making to bring the Guardians down. I guess he wanted to make me hate you even more than I already did by making me think you had tortured me. I was going to go through with the rest of the plan when Eric here told me the truth. I don't know what to think of my father anymore." the grief and anger came back in a fresh wave as I retold the story. Jack looked a bit startled and gave me an apologetic look. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "I had no idea that Pitch had a daughter. Who's your mom?" he asked, not realizing what a blow it was to me. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "My mom...she...I don't remember her well. We used to be a great family, my parents ruled in the Dark Ages. I was born during that time, and not long after that the Guardians were made. They took my mother away from us, and I haven't seen her since." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "I'm so sorry." Jack said, walking over to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I turned away, furiously wiping tears from my eyes and pushing away Jack's affection. Eric took Jack away and explained the rest of the story to him. I sat down on a rock and tried to regain my composure. When they came back I stood and started walking down the path again. "We need to get moving." I didn't look at either of them until we came into a clearing with Halloween decorations and a old wooden house. There was a sign in front that had, "LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL CAN" written in fake blood. I smiled as I remembered when Autumn and I had made it. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I turned and smiled at Eric. "Autumn!" I yelled, running up to her porch. Twix materialized through the door, barking excitedly. I bent down and scratched his head. "Hi buddy! Long time no see!" Twix barked happily and licked my face. Autumn opened the door and smiled down at me, her arms outstretched. "Ava! It has been so long!" I stood up and hugged her, remembering all the times we had played as children. I looked down at her outfit, a stitched orange and black dress that was ripped at the bottom and at the end of the sleeves. She had long socks that matched her dress and she wore a pair of black boots. Her face would scare a mortal, she was very pale and had ruby red lips. A large smile had been carved into the sides of her face and was stitched up. She had glowing orange eyes and long dark eyelashes. She had grown very beautiful since I had seen her last. "I'm so sorry about what happened your father, Ava, darling." she said, a sad smile on her face./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" My smile faded as I remembered why we were here. I shook my head and turned to where the boys were standing. "Jack, this is Autumn, the spirit of Halloween. Autumn this is Jack Frost." she nodded and stuck her hand out. "It is very nice to finally meet the spirit who comes after my holiday." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Jack smiled back, "It's nice to meet you too." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Eric came up the porch last and smiled at Autumn. "Thank you so much for allowing us to stay. It means a lot." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Yes, thank you." I nodded to my friend, "I am in your debt." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Autumn shook her head, "Oh nonsense! We are going to have plenty of fun! Trust me, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. Why don't you all come in? Take a candy while you're at it." she motioned for us to enter. It was time to begin living without my father for the first time in my whole life. I took a deep breath and walked inside. My father was gone now./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" We continued down to the door my father and Jack were in. I tried turning the knock, but knew it would be locked before I even tried. "Alright, we need to do this quick, Eric," I said, "I'm going to burn the lock off and put my father in a cage of fire. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it, so you have to be fast. Grab Jack and get out of here. I'll be right behind you." taking a deep breath, I slowly melted the iron door knob and kicked the door down. My father looked up from a chained and bloody Jack and was trapped in my fire cage before he could realize what was happening. "Hurry!" I shouted to Eric, concentrating all my powers on keeping my father trapped. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Eric rushed over to Jack and dragged him towards me as far as the chains would allow. I shot a blast of fire at the chains causing them to sizzle and melt. Jack yelled as a stray spark hit his wrist. "Ava! What are you doing?!" my father yelled, confusion and rage were clearly written all over his face./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I turned away from him, sadness and anger filling me. I didn't know who to trust. Eric had been one of my two best friends for centuries, and my father had cared for me, and I for him. Jack, on the other hand, had been my enemy for as long I could remember. Could I really trust him? Doubt mixed with the other emotions creating a hurricane within my mind. I felt Eric tug on my arm, waking me from my thoughts. "Ava! Let's go!" he shouted. Jack leaned on Eric with one arm around his neck. I heard my father's yells from my cage which was slowly losing energy. "Go! I'll be right behind you!" I yelled./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I watched Jack and Eric run down the hall and towards the exit. As they rounded the corner I turned and faced my father. "You never had to do that." for the first time in a long time, I allowed my emotions to show. I could only imagine my father seeing what was there. Anger, sadness, confusion, pain. A tear slid down my face. "Goodbye, father." I turned and ran after Eric, leaving my father behind for good. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;""span style="font-size: medium;"How badly is he hurt?" I asked as I caught up to Eric. They had made good progress, and I hadn't caught up with them until they were well away from my home. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "He isn't to bad. Just a few bruises. Your father was going to give him a nightmare, that's why he's out." I glanced over at Jack, who was draped over Eric's shoulder. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" My thoughts wandered to when Eric, Sasha, and I had first met. It was the day they were created. My father had made them as playmates for me, twins who had died in a car accident. I had showed them the forest and the places that were good for hiding. We had become inseparable from that time on. "Eric, what about Sasha?" I asked, looking over at him with concern in my eyes./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "We have to leave her." I could see the tears forming in his eyes, "I told her what I was going to do, and she tried to run and tell Pitch. I locked her in my room." A tear broke from his eye and slipped down his cheek. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "I'm so sorry, Eric." I reached out and grabbed his hand. He gave me a sad smile and squeezed my hand in thanks. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I tried to change the subject, "I can't wait to see Twix." I was referring to Autumn's dog, the ghost of a dead golden brown and white border collie. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Yeah." Eric was quiet. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" We fell silent and walked awhile without conversing. After some time Jack woke up. "What.." he looked around, glancing at Eric and then to me, "What's going on? Where are you taking me?" he flew from Eric's grasp and grabbed his staff, which Eric had been carrying. Turning towards us he narrowed his eyes and pointed his staff towards us./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Calm down, we saved your ass, you should be grateful." I growled back/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "What do you mean you saved me? I thought you handed me over to Pitch. Care to explain yourselves?" he asked, still pointing his stupid stick at us./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Look, Jack. It's a long story, and I get that you don't trust us, we don't exactly trust you either, but for now I just need you to follow us and listen to what we have to say." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Jack hovered for a moment before landing and walking over to us. "Fine." he said, crossing his arms, "Say what you will, but first, tell me who you are." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I stepped forward, "First off, my name isn't actually Amber. It's Ava Black. As you may have figured out, I'm Pitch's daughter. For a long time I've grown up, hating you for what the Guardians did to my father, what you did to him. A few months ago-or a few days-I'm not sure, my father put me into a long nightmare. In the nightmare, you kidnapped me. You tortured me and beat me bloody. I suffered for a long time in that nightmare. Two days ago my father 'rescued me'" I used air quotes with my fingers on rescue, "and told me that I must put into action the plan we had been making to bring the Guardians down. I guess he wanted to make me hate you even more than I already did by making me think you had tortured me. I was going to go through with the rest of the plan when Eric here told me the truth. I don't know what to think of my father anymore." the grief and anger came back in a fresh wave as I retold the story. Jack looked a bit startled and gave me an apologetic look. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "I had no idea that Pitch had a daughter. Who's your mom?" he asked, not realizing what a blow it was to me. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "My mom...she...I don't remember her well. We used to be a great family, my parents ruled in the Dark Ages. I was born during that time, and not long after that the Guardians were made. They took my mother away from us, and I haven't seen her since." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "I'm so sorry." Jack said, walking over to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I turned away, furiously wiping tears from my eyes and pushing away Jack's affection. Eric took Jack away and explained the rest of the story to him. I sat down on a rock and tried to regain my composure. When they came back I stood and started walking down the path again. "We need to get moving." I didn't look at either of them until we came into a clearing with Halloween decorations and a old wooden house. There was a sign in front that had, "LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL CAN" written in fake blood. I smiled as I remembered when Autumn and I had made it. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" I turned and smiled at Eric. "Autumn!" I yelled, running up to her porch. Twix materialized through the door, barking excitedly. I bent down and scratched his head. "Hi buddy! Long time no see!" Twix barked happily and licked my face. Autumn opened the door and smiled down at me, her arms outstretched. "Ava! It has been so long!" I stood up and hugged her, remembering all the times we had played as children. I looked down at her outfit, a stitched orange and black dress that was ripped at the bottom and at the end of the sleeves. She had long socks that matched her dress and she wore a pair of black boots. Her face would scare a mortal, she was very pale and had ruby red lips. A large smile had been carved into the sides of her face and was stitched up. She had glowing orange eyes and long dark eyelashes. She had grown very beautiful since I had seen her last. "I'm so sorry about what happened your father, Ava, darling." she said, a sad smile on her face./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" My smile faded as I remembered why we were here. I shook my head and turned to where the boys were standing. "Jack, this is Autumn, the spirit of Halloween. Autumn this is Jack Frost." she nodded and stuck her hand out. "It is very nice to finally meet the spirit who comes after my holiday." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Jack smiled back, "It's nice to meet you too." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Eric came up the porch last and smiled at Autumn. "Thank you so much for allowing us to stay. It means a lot." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" "Yes, thank you." I nodded to my friend, "I am in your debt." /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"span style="font-size: medium;" Autumn shook her head, "Oh nonsense! We are going to have plenty of fun! Trust me, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. Why don't you all come in? Take a candy while you're at it." she motioned for us to enter. It was time to begin living without my father for the first time in my whole life. I took a deep breath and walked inside. My father was gone now./span/p