In his 12 years of life, Jamie Bennett had never been so afraid. He had been afraid when the Nightmares had come two years earlier. He had been afraid when he had stood on the cracking frozen pond. He had been shocked to silence when he had painfully slammed his finger in the door. But there had never been a reason to fear. Jack was there, as a fighting soldier, a rapid flyer/diver, or even an ice pack. But now, as his home street became a mass of writhing, insane demons of terror, he knew that he was on his own.

"Jamie! Over here!" His head snapped up at the sound of his name and felt a small spark of hope in his heart. Well, not completely alone! He raced through the black fog to find Cupcake, Pippa, Claude, Caleb, and Monty huddled under the remaining street lamp, where the shadows could not penetrate the barrier of artificial light. Pippa, who had been the one that called him, cried "What's happening?! I though the boogeyman was beat!" Yes, this was definitely Pitch's work.

"The Guardians should be here soon! They'll save us!" Jamie also tried to convince himself. Suddenly, there was a violent sonic boom, and the bulb of their safe haven shattered. Tiny shards of glass hailed on them. A dark, horribly familiar figure began to take shape in the fog. Tall, imposing, menacing...Pitch.

What would Jack do? Jamie was struck by inspiration. " To the woods! We can hide there! Scatter!" The six rushed off the the tall pines that loomed, faithful silhouettes in the mist. As Jamie ran, he could feel the grit of the nightmare sand stinging his heels. He watched as his friends disbanded and dissolved into the gloom...BAM! Distracted by his friends departure, he had ran headlong into a tree! Before he could recover, HE was there. Pitch.

"We, we'll, if it isn't Frosty's little friend." He sneered.

"When Jack gets here, he'll kick your butt- again!" Snapped Jamie, acting braver than he felt as he scrambled backwards until his spine was pressed against the trunk of the offending tree.

"But Jack's dead."

Jamie stared.

"What, they didn't tell you? I finished the brat off nearly four months ago."

"L-Liar!" Cried Jamie, but a paralyzing, horribly positive weight in his chest told him otherwise. No! Not Jack! It can't be, Jack's immortal! He can't die!

A sinister chuckle was all he got from the King of Nightmares. To his horror, his attention was drawn to Pitch's hands, where a nightmare sand dagger was forming. Sensing his terror, Pitch gave a twisted smile. And with that, he raised the knife.

"JAMIE!" The Guardians, he though with half a mind as the weapon rose higher. But he knew they would not reach him in time. He would join Jack tonight.

North, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy could only watch in horror as a child was trapped by the Boogeyman. This was too much like...Jack- too much like when they were too late to save him. Tooth wanted to do more than scream as the lethal weapon arced above the boy.

Jamie squeezed his eyes shut and a waited for the pain, the agony, the death...when a howl reverberated in his skull and Pitch went down in a flash of white. A wolf- a tall, lithe creature, purely white- was standing on the boogeyman's chest. The wolf growled menacingly, snarling with fury. With that, The Nightmare King thrashed wildly, escaped the wolf's grasp, and sprinted into the woods. Jamie glimpsed the look on Pitch's face, and never knew the boogeyman himself could be so afraid.

As Pitch melted into the trees, the wolf, with its back to Jamie, let out a hair raising howl that flowed thru Jamie's ears. The pitch, the timbre, sound so familiar, but Jamie couldn't put his finger on it. He jumped when more howls answered the white wolfs. Suddenly, streaks of browns, grays, blacks, raced past Jamie in a wild drumroll thunder, who had not moved from his spot by the tree. The pack sprinted after Pitch, faster than any creatures should have been able run. Like Black, they momentarily faded into the forest. Then, Jamie heard a scream- a scream that sounded like Pitch's, shrieking above the fierce bark of the dogs. Then that too was silent.

The first wolf, its pelt shining like snow, had not moved from its stance in front of Jamie, staring towards the spot where Pitch had been taken. He let out a small yip, as if saying "good riddance.' Then, he turned to Jamie, who had risen shakily to his feet.

The 12 year old was met with brilliant, icy blue irises that glowed like the moon. Unlike many wolves, this one was strangely wiry, though the shagginess of the fur almost hid the fact. Oddly, Jamie was not afraid. He could swear the large dog was grinning at him, his head tilted and mouth open in a goofy smile. Then, with the pounding feet, the powerful creature charged straight at the defenseless boy.

"Uh oh.."

The Guardians had watched this amazing scene play out, and now as the wolf prepared to attack Jamie. Without a second thought, North yanked out his sabers and ran for all he was worth towards the rapid animal. But he was too late as the creature lunged at Jamie, knocking him onto his back and holding him in a similar position to Pitch. North was almost there-! And stopped short at the should of laughter.

Jamie giggled like crazy as the wolfs tongue slurped his face, and he wiggled in vain as he half heartedly tried to get the animal to stop. "Hehe- stop! That tickles!" Laughed Jamie. Finally, the snow colored animal stepped off and allowed Jamie to gate on his feet. The boy wasted no time in falling to his knees and throwing his arms around the wolf. "I knew he was lying, Jack!"

The wolf just nuzzled Jamie's head in response.