Hello again guys! You are seriously awesome and wonderful and just amazing, really. I never expected this story to get so big, but thanks to you it has. Thanks for your support, your follows, your reviews; it maked me believe I'm doing a good job whether its true or not. Thank you a lot and I hope to keep pleasing you with the turnouts in the story. Here we go with chapter five! A very long long chapter to please you all! Enjoy!
Chapter Five
The next day Easter arrived. Jack woke up early along with the other children and teens to look for the Easter eggs, or at least that's what everyone was doing. Jack was looking for something similar yet very different: E. Aster Bunnymund. He had to meet him again because he needed to get all the questions out of his head. He did know about him, Bunny did remember Jack Frost, but that fact only brought more unsolved questions to Jack. ¿Why did the Bunny remember him? ¿Why was Jack alive as a human and living with his family? ¿If Bunny remembered him, does that mean Tooth and the other guardians did as well?
However, soon the sun was setting and Jack had found no trace of the Bunny. Pippa came running at him with a basket full of Easter Eggs, smiling and jumping around in excitement. "Jack, Jack, Jack! Look!" she said and showed him the basket. Inside were at least fifteen colored eggs and Jack recognized the painting of some from the time he and the guardians went to help Bunny on the night before Easter. Even young Sophie was there, and while Jack thought about that a pang of pain crossed his heart. Still, Jack was very good at hiding his emotions, so he just smiled and praised his little sister. "Show me how many you got," she asked him while looking for his own basket. A frown crossed her face when he showed it to her and found that he only had three colored eggs inside. "Jack what's going on? This isn't like you, you always find the most eggs on Easter and brag about it to everyone," she told him worriedly.
It was true that Pippa had caught his brother acting a little strange ever since he woke up, but he figured he would just return to normal after a while. He was already returning to be the old Jackson everyone knew, but after the story the day before, he had gone back to acting strange. It was not normal for Jack to act that way. He just shrugged, not really minding it. Then he realized that he did grow up in the three hundred years of solitude, for he knew when to identify life-or-death situations from those that weren't. That, for example, wasn't life-or-death. Finding the Bunny, yes it was. "I guess I'm just tired, I guess" he replied and reclined on his staff as to prove his sister that he wasn't in his best shape just yet. That seemed convincing enough for her, even when Jack had been just acting. "Come one, let's get back home. The woods… are dangerous at night," he told her, the last part almost in a whisper, as if to keep someone else from listening. Pippa was going to say something else, but Jack was already walking his way out of the woods at a fast pace and she had to run to catch up to him.
"Jack, are you okay?" she asked him, testing if his brother would tell her what he was hiding, but he just shrugged it off. He was pissed he couldn't find Aster when he needed him, it was Easter! When would he find him if not then? Maybe I could make myself lose a tooth on purpose and see if I can make any contact with Toothiana, but he soon rejected the idea for he didn't know how he was going to explain the reasons he wanted to receive a punch hard, and painful, enough to get the tooth out. "Oh, then I suppose you don't want to hear about our adventure today, do you?" Pippa teased, trying to get his brother back into the mood.
"What did you do?" He asked half-heartedly, much to Pippa's disappointment.
"Oh, no, I won't tell you with the mood you have. You'll ruin the whole story," she said and walked faster, and now she was walking ahead of him in the direction of the town. Jack sighed. He hated disappointing his sister or making her upset.
"What did you do today, Pippa?" He asked again, trying to get interested in the story if not for him, for his sister's sake.
"We saw the Easter Bunny," she replied plainly, stopping Jack on his tracks.
"What?" he asked, as if he couldn't wrap his mind around that fact. Maybe it's true that when you do not look for something, then you find it.
"We saw something in the bushes, it was moving fast. We chased after it, but soon lost it. I don't know if it was the Easter Bunny, but a kid in the group said he saw a fluffy tail," she explained. Jack's mood went down as fast as it went up. In the end it wasn't the Bunny he was looking for. It might have been a kit of some rabbit in the forest and the children thought it was the Easter Bunny, but he knew for a fact that a kangaroo that size couldn't possibly hide in the bushes and run around without the kids noticing its real height. Still, even when Jack felt disappointed and upset, he had to make his sister believe he wasn't.
"And what do you think? Do you think it was the Easter Bunny?" Jack asked with all the interest he could muster at the moment.
"I don't know, but it would be nice to think it was him," she replied with a smile on her face and Jack couldn't help but smile too at the innocence of his younger sister. They walked the rest of the way in silence and by the time the first stars where coming out, they were at the door of their house. They waved the other children goodbye before opening the door, where their mother went to greet them with a big smile on her face.
"So, how did you do at the hunting?" she asked with genuine interest.
Immediately, Pippa started telling her in detail everything that happened since they left the house the night before. She told their mom about the bonfire, about the story, about the hunt, about the Bunny. All the while she told the story in a way her mother wouldn't suspect Jack was acting any weirder than the normal, and he thanked her for that but didn't speak. In her mind Pippa was cursing because he needed her brother to interrupt her or to correct her version of the story, but he just stayed silent. In her mid she was thinking Great, all this acting so that he can spoil everything by being quiet. What's wrong with him?
Jack, oblivious completely to her sister's plan and to the big suspicion he was arising in their mother, kept quiet. He was half listening to Pippa and half lost in his own thought. The next day he would go out alone to the woods to look again for that cryptic Bunny that was starting to piss him off. When he had enough, he excused himself and went to his bedroom, interrupting for the first time the story Pippa was telling their mom. Both females looked at him puzzled but didn't say anything. Once he was gone, the questions began.
"So, Pippa, tell me what bug bit your brother?" her mother asked innocently.
"What do you mean?" Pippa replied, half because she didn't understand the expression her mom used and half because deep down she knew what she meant but she didn't want to tell her.
"I mean what is going on with your brother? He seems… different. He seems troubled," her mother told her gently, a glimpse of worry in her chestnut eyes.
Busted! Pippa told. "Well, he… amm, he… he…" she sighed. "I don't know mom, he began acting weird after dinner yesterday. His story had a break in the middle where we ate, but he suddenly got up and went to the woods by himself telling me that he would be back soon. He barely touched his food, and when he got back he had a big frown on his face. He also looked at me as if I were unreal, as if he couldn't believe he was there with us," she explained in defeat. She didn't want to tell her mother all that because she would worry, and it might bring trouble to Jack. She didn't want that. Her mother sighed deeply and looked at her hands, which were resting on top of the table.
"So you're also noticed your brother's strange behavior," she said sadly.
"You… you too?" Pippa asked puzzled. Her mother already suspected? Why didn't she tell anything sooner?
"Sweetie, I'm a mother; not only a mother, but his mother. I know when something is bothering my children, it's my job" her mother told her while putting her hand on Pippa's cheek.
Pippa smiled. "I guess you do, then" she replied her and her mother nodded while she was caressing her daughter's cheek with her thumb. "But I don't think he'll tell us anything, mom, and that frightens me," she confessed.
"Well, let's just give him some time. He might come around if we leave him be," replied her mom and that was enough to calm Pippa's soul. "Now help me prepare dinner, your father will arrive soon," and she nodded.
Back into his room, Jack sat in the bed and thought about what had happened in the woods. What puzzled him the most was the horse he saw lingering in the woods. For his memories he knew that it was actually made out of dark dream sand, of nightmares, but he also knew that the Boogeyman had been defeated by none other than him. Then he remembered the bonfire and the way the children flinched at the mention of Pitch Black. His eyes widened when he thought about what he had done. Jack feared that because of that story, Pitch Black would rise again by feeding in the fear of those children. It didn't make any sense to him, because Pitch wasn't supposed to ever come back, but then again his life had stopped making sense a while ago.
Then he remembered the Bunny's warning: there is no time left. Had Bunny tried to warn him about Pitch's return? Jack couldn't dwell on it any longer; he had to see for himself. He had to look for that black horse and try to figure out if it meant Pitch was gaining strength or if it was just a stray nightmare. The later he thought was very unlikely. So, in a swift motion Jack put on his cloak and grabbed his staff. Almost no one knew, but he didn't need it to walk anymore, although he still faked it. No human being healed that fast, which brought again the question: was he Jack Frost the guardian or Jackson Overland the human?
Jack opened the door of his room ever so slightly and took a glimpse. His mother and sister were busy making dinner. The smell of the food made his stomach growl and it tightened in hunger, but he couldn't stay for dinner that night. "I'm sorry," he whispered to them in a low voice, knowing they would be hurt and worried once they figured out he was gone. Hopefully, nothing was wrong and by dawn he would be back in his house, his parents would scold him, he'd promise never to do it again and that would be it. On the dark side it might also be the last time he would see Pippa or her mother again. He didn't want to think like that and he didn't want his family to deal with him in danger again, yet he couldn't just leave that nightmare on its own. He would find a way to defeat it even when he didn't have his powers anymore.
Jack closed the door again slowly so that it wouldn't make any noise and he turned to the window. He took a step and the wood made a hard noise. He cursed under his breath and took off his new shoes, which used to belong to his father. Although he was used to walk barefoot, his mother wouldn't let him out of the house without shoes, so she gave them to him. He looked at them sadly, because it was a gift her mother gave him and he treasured it, more because those shoes were once used by his dad.
Now barefoot, and therefore lighter, he walked to window. He smiled when no more wood cracked under his weight and he was soon running though the village heading to the woods in the silence of the night. He never realized how cold the ground really was, because he never felt cold. Now that he could, he really regretted not bringing the shoes, but he couldn't go back and risk his parents finding out.
After some minutes of running Jack arrived to the clearing where did the bonfire panting. He never grew tired either, so now it was hard for him to acknowledge that his legs hurt while running and that he needed to stop to catch his breath. When he recovered he looked around where the forest began; he explored every inch on the border in hopes he would find something, anything, that would lead him to get some answers.
After a while he was beginning to give up. His feet ached and were cold, he had scratches in his legs and hands from walking in the bushes, the cold crept into his skin and made him shiver and the strongest of all was that he was tired. He just wanted to go back to his house and sleep under the warm covers. But maybe the answers were even most important because he didn't stop there. He tried getting further into the woods and as the night passed Jack expanded the territory he's use for his search. It was getting harder and harder, he almost couldn't see anything there and the path between trees was too narrow even for his thin frame to fit.
Then he heard noises in the distance. He thought he was imagining things, until he heard a very dark and sinister laugh. He followed the noises while hiding in the bushed. He recognized that smile, and with it his own fears coming true. Still he wasn't going to give Pitch the satisfaction of fearing him. He took a deep breath before continuing and tried to calm down. He managed after a few more breaths and he told himself that he already knew the Boogeyman and had fought and won. He could sneak up on him without him noticing as long as he wasn't afraid. And so far he managed pretty well.
He resumed his crawling in the bushes until he arrived near enough to listen and watch, but far enough to keep hidden from Pitch. He could barely see him because he was surrounded by black horses with gleaming yellow eyes. He tried to keep his breath steady and he controlled himself. If any one of those nightmares caught at least a little bit of fear in him it would be the end. He focused on Pitch and his words.
"How naïve and fool of that boy. Only he thought it would be wise to tell a bunch of kids a story about the Boogeyman. Well, thanks to that, I'm finally back, isn't that right my beautiful nightmares?" The horses nodded unsynchronized, but in the end they understood what Pitch was telling them. "Now go and hunt the dreams of the children! Raise the fear and make me stronger! Jack Frost will regret the moment he was born, or my name is not Pitch Black!" Pitch exclaimed and soon all the nightmares flew in all directions. Some were heading to Jack's town; others were heading in the opposite direction.
Jack swallowed and started to back off slowly to return to his home. A twig snapped under his right foot and Jack flinched at the noise. Pitch didn't turn to his direction, and Jack sighed in relief when he saw the Boogeyman disappear in his hole.
Unbeknown to Jack, Pitch did know he was watching and listening. He could feel the small fear he couldn't suppress because, after all, fear is always there. But if Pitch wanted his game of cat and mouse to go smoothly he needed to play blind for a while. In the meantime, Jack kept retreating further away from Pitch's lair at a fast but silent pace. He couldn't believe what he had seen, and a part of his mind did tell him that it was suspicious that Pitch didn't hear the snap. Nevertheless he hadn't the time to dwell on that in that moment, he needed to get back home. Then he'd think things through in the quiet of his room, after all he might be grounded for living in the middle of the night.
He came to a stop suddenly when he saw a nightmare in front of him. Jack tried to run in the opposite direction, but another nightmare blocked his way. He looked around him and realized he was surrounded by nightmares. He needed to get through and he decided to run forward and try to pass through the small gap between two horses. He counted to three and he launched himself to the nightmares. Yet he didn't see the end of it. The nightmare moved out of the way enough to reveal a steep slope with edgy rocks. He tried to stop but the speed and strength he had were enough to send the teen rolling down the slope. He twisted and turned in an unstoppable frenzy until he reached the bottom. He was only aware of the pain in his limbs, in his whole body, especially in his head before passing out right there, far from his home, far from his town, far from his family.
He was, once again, all alone.
So what did you think? Was it good? Was it bad? Am I such a mean author to leave you all hanging in there with an ending like that? Please review! Any comments and questions are welcome, or even a PM. See you all in the next chapter. I hope I can still upload daily, but I'll do my best.