"Ava! My dear I simply couldn't wait to speak with you."

My head snapped up. I was lying in my bed, chains wrapped around me, holding me down to the bed. "Father." my voice betrayed a hint of fear. I was sure this was a dream, but why would my father chain me here? "What do you want from me?"

"Darling, I just wanted to talk. Your friends took you away from me once again."

"Pitch. They saved me from you. You hurt me. I know it was you that caused me that pain. It was a horrible feeling. I thought I was dying. Do you understand me? I thought you were killing me."

My father's face showed no signs of regret, he only smiled wider, "You have no idea what I did, do you?"

I scanned my brain for anything that my father could have taught me that was even similar to what I had felt. Then it clicked. He had used a memory charm. He could now see all of my memories. Past and future. "How do I stop it?" I asked, desperate to get him out of my head.

"I thought you'd never ask." my father sneered, "But I think you already know the answer."

Unfortunately I did. The only way to reverse a memory charm was to kill the caster, or the one the spell was cast on. So I had to kill my father, or die myself. My heart sank.

"You know," my father grinned manically, "there is another way to reverse the charm."

I stared at my father, not caring how I looked. I was desperate. "How?"

"If I reverse it."

Pure evil resonated on my father's face. His smile was that of a killer. I was now in the palm of his hand. No matter what I did, my father would now know what I was doing. And the only way to protect the ones I cared about was to obey him. I lowered my head in defeat. "What must I do?"

"You must carry out our plan as instructed. I can see that you have already gained the trust of our dear friend Jack. Now all you have to do is gain the trust of the Guardians. Once they are defeated, I will reverse the spell."

The small amount of hope left within me told me that there could be another way. That I had to do everything within my power to stop my father from getting revenge.

"Ok. I'll do it." I lied

My father smiled, "Good girl."

I woke panting and sweating. My sheets were a mess. "Are you ok?" Jack's voice scared me once again. I yelled and jumped back. "Holy shit! Jack! What are you doing?"

Jack, who was standing next to the door, raised his hands in defeat, "You were yelling in your sleep. I heard you and came running." I didn't know if it was the light, or did I see a slight blush on Jack's face? I shook my head and sighed, working on cooling my body down. My father was watching my memories, I was sure of it. But I had to say something. An idea came to mind. My father could see what I was seeing, but he couldn't hear what I was thinking. "Jack, do you have a piece of paper? And a pen? Sometimes I like to write my dreams down."

Jack looked puzzled but nodded, "I can try to find something."

"Thanks."

Jack returned soon after with two pieces of paper and a pencil. "Here you go."

I smiled at Jack, "Will you sit with me? That dream is still kind of getting to me."

Jack nodded and sat on the bed. I took the paper and without looking at it, wrote: Jack, my father gave me a nightmare. He told me that he cast a memory charm, which means he can see and hear my memories. He says that the only way to reverse the charm is to kill him or go through with our plan. See if Lauren has anything to help. Don't say anything about what you just read. Still not looking at the paper I slowly passed it to Jack who confusedly read the words I had written. His eyes widened for a moment before he turned the paper over. "You had a dream about meeting the Guardians?" My mind did a silent sigh of relief. He was going to help. I nodded in response to Jack's words and mouthed a silent thank you to him.

Jack smiled back at me. "I think I know a way to help get your mind off those nightmares. I'll be back." Jack stood up and left the room, taking the paper with him. I heard him go into Lauren's room, so I dove under the covers and tried my best to cover my ears. Satisfied when I was unable to hear Jack's and Lauren's voices, I waited in silence until my door opened.

I sat up and smiled when Lauren followed Jack into the room. Lauren said a few words under her breath and then pointed directly at me.

I felt a presence lift from me and waited a few moments. "I think it worked!" I shouted in excitement.

"That was much easier than I had expected." Jack said with a laugh

"I wish it was that simple." Lauren sighed, "It didn't completely erase the charm. You should be able to feel when Pitch is watching now though. I also cast a charm to block Pitch's ability to see you for the moment. When you feel his presence come back, say that you're nervous to meet the Guardians."

I nodded. Although the charm wasn't completely gone, Lauren had helped tremendously. "How does Pitch even know how to use charms?" Jack asked

"He started learning after the Guardians defeated him for the second time. He wanted a few tricks up his sleeve. He got Cassie, a human witch, to teach him. He tried to teach me, but no matter what, I couldn't cast the spells."

I felt an strange feeling come over me. It was like an angry wave washing over me, "I'm nervous to meet the Guardians." I practically belted out. Immediately Jack and Lauren went quiet. Lauren switched into character quickly, "It's alright, I'm sure they'll love you."

Jack smiled, "I know they will."