Chapter 6

Andrew

I wish I could rewind time. I wish I could rewind it back to last week, or last month, even last year. I didn't know what to do. It had been the worst 24 hours of my life, and it felt like I'd never accept the fact that my older sister was dead. I kept on thinking, surely there's been some kind of mistake or misunderstanding, but there hadn't. Billie was now gone forever, and I would just have to "man up" and accept it. But I couldn't, and I don't think I ever will. It's sick to think that yesterday when I was having fun in the snow, Billie was on the road, dead. I keep on blaming myself and thinking that it was my fault she was dead. Maybe if me and mum hadn't been singing Christmas carols she would still be alive because that was one of the reasons why she stormed out of the house.

I banged my head against the wall and let out a frustrated growl. Life was cruel and twisted. It was poisonous and sick, and I'm not sure it'll ever change. I looked up at the night sky and gazed at the view. For the past few days the sky had been pitch black with no stars shining. But now, the sky was practically glistening. The stars twinkled and sparkled. Even though they were just stars, I thought they were beautiful. One star caught my eye though. It was glittering brightly; it seemed like it was calling out to me. In that moment, a thought bounced into my head. That star was Billie, and she would always look down on me, guarding and protecting me. It was like she was some sort of Guardian. My Guardian...

Pitch

Seeing Jacks astonished face made the smirk on my face even wider.

"What's wrong, Jack?" I asked him, sniggering under my breath, "what's so important about the girl? To be honest, for one regular human being you're making an awful fuss out of her," I carried on talking, with a snide twist in my voice, "she's nothing. A big, fat NOTHING!" I projected my loud and sharp voice down onto the 5 Guardians, making them jump slightly. I laughed, and quickly jumped onto the ground so I was standing face to face with the Winter Spirit. "What's so special about her, Jack? Why do you care about her so much?" I questioned. Jack shifted slightly and his body tensed up. His bright blue eyes looked directly at me with so much focus it made me want to hurl. Thankfully, I didn't.

"You wouldn't understand." Jack replied. I noticed that his voice was unsteady and shaky, he sounded nervous and maybe, just maybe, a little bit scared. That made me smile. His gaze moved down to the floor.

I snorted, "This might surprise you, Jack, but I do understand." He immediately looked up at me, his face completely shocked. I bent down and whispered in his ear, "I know that you have feelings for her. Strong feelings." I saw Jacks eyes widen, and without moving, I looked up and saw the innocent fairy, Tooth, flinch. I laughed, and straightened up. I growled at her, and she let out a small shriek of horror. I didn't expect her to do so, but she quickly flew over and hid behind the rabbit. North noticed this too, and he instantly picked up one of his swords and pointed it at me.

"Pitch, I'm giving you one chance to explain what is going on," he said in his strong Russian accent, "You, me, my office, now."

Well I sure wasn't expecting that, but I think I owed him at least an explanation. Well, maybe...

Jack

I sat on the edge of a wooden chair, tapping my shoeless foot for every second that went by, hoping that North would come out of his office with Pitch and tell us what's going on.

Every second felt like a minute, and every minute felt like an hour. In my hand was the tiny wooden "mini-me" that North had given me last year when I had figured out what my center was. I turned it around in my hand and examined every minuscule feature that had been painted on it.

"Jack?" A silvery voice that belonged to Tooth came from behind me. I sighed,

"Please don't start-" I started to groan, but I was interrupted,

"Is it true?" She asked, "Do you have feelings for Billie?" She sounded desperate for an answer, so I turned around to look at her. I bit my lip in thought and she said,

"Please tell me. I won't be angry if you do."

I looked up at her, "Why would you be angry?" I asked her, confused as to why she had said that.

"I wouldn't!" She quickly said, "I don't know why I said that-" she paused, and then said,

"I care about you, Jack. Like how I care for Bunny and the others as well. I'd hate to see you get hurt." Her voice trailed off quietly. She shook her head, "I'm sorry if I've annoyed you in any way."

"You haven't," I said, but I don't think she heard me as Baby Tooth and Tooth's other minions came flying over to her, squeaking quickly and waving their little arms. Tooth gasped,

"Sorry! I've just been really busy!" She frantically replied back to her small helpers, "Tokyo! Rome! New York! Go!" She started shouting to the fairies who were now speeding away. She turned back to me, "Sorry Jack. I have to go and do my job-collecting teeth!" She exclaimed, and followed her fairies out of the Globe Room. Likewise, Bunny and Sandy had left earlier to make dreams and eggs for the children of the world. Therefore, I was the only one doing nothing. I figured that North and Pitch would be in the office for ages, so I thought I'd go to my sort of realm in the world which happened to be the small town of Burgess, home to many children who had faith in us Guardians, including Jamie Bennett.

Jamie

"20, 21, 22..." I counted how many days there were till Christmas on my fingers,"23 days!" I shouted to my friends in excitement. Claude and Miles did an enthusiastic "whoop" joined by Robyn and Cupcake doing a jump of joy in the air.

"Finally! I've been waiting all year for Christmas!" Bradley squealed excitedly, making his glasses slip off his nose, "whoops!"

I let out a laugh and pushed him gently, "Klutz!"

Robyn let out a loud gasp, "Look guys, it's snowing!" She was right, it was. A sudden burst of joy went through my body as I suddenly realised why it was snowing. Jack Frost was in Burgess! It had been a good long year since I had last seen Jack. He promised me that he'd visit me again, and it seemed like today was the day!

"You know what this means guys," I told the group, "Jack's paying us a visit!"

They all looked at each other and started jumping up and down. I joined the excitement for a few minutes but I noticed that I only had 5 minutes until I had to go home. It was a 5 minute walk from the park to my house so I decided to head off.

"I gotta guys. But I'll see you's at school tomorrow. Bye!" I picked up my things and walked home after saying my good byes to everyone. It was absolutely freezing, and it was even colder as I didn't have my hat, scarf and gloves with me. Well I never knew it was going to snow, did I? But I was glad it did. I just hoped that Jack would visit me later.

"Mom?" I shouted as I shut the front door and entered my house, "I'm home."

Abby, our dog, came rushing towards me, wagging her tail in excitement.

"Hey girl!" I said, while bending down and patting her on the head, "You okay?"

She barked excitedly in response. Sometimes I wonder if she actually understands what I'm saying.

"Hi Jamie," moms voice came from the kitchen, "you're back just in time. Dinner is on the table."

I took my coat off and hung it up on the coat rack and made my way into the kitchen. My little sister, Sophie, was scoffing her face with food.

"Hey Soph," I said to her as I sat down at the table and tucked into my meal. Mom was going on about how stressful her day had been, but I wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying. Instead, I was thinking about Jack, and how great it would be to see him.

North

Pitch sat opposite me on the other side of my desk, with a smug grin on his shady face. I had no patience with Pitch, and I wasn't going to play one of his sly games.

"Well?" I asked him. He let out a rather tired sigh,

"Honestly, North," he began to say, "I'm pleasantly surprised. Shocked, in fact. I would have thought that someone so smart and "high and mighty" like you would have figured this out by now," he rested his bony chin on the palm of his hand and carried on speaking, "it seems like I was mistaken. What a shame."

"What are you trying to say, Pitch?" I questioned. I was annoyed and so frustrated. Why did Pitch have to try and be so smart? He rolled his eyes, and this made me grit my teeth in anger. He noticed this and laughed.

"Oh come on, North! I was being funny. Have you never heard of a joke before?" He laughed, wildly. That was it. I had had enough of Pitch's jibber-jabber! I slammed my hand down onto the wooden desk, making it wobble slightly. Pitch jumped in his seat, unexpectedly.

"Enough!" I roared, loudly. Pitch's eyes grew wide, but then he smiled and leant back in his chair.

"Alright. Let's have it your way. You want to know about this big shenanigan, fine. But I leave without a fight. I promise you, there will be enough of them coming your way." His voice was calm, but it had a sickening twist in it.

"Fine, I'm looking forward to it. But now, you shall tell me about Billie," I told him. I watched as his lips curled into a smirk.

"Very well," he said. I sat back in my chair and waited for Pitch to start talking. He took in a deep breath and said, "I don't like kids who believe in you Guardians," he cackled under his breath, "I especially don't like teenagers who believe in you, either," he picked at his finger nails, and after what seemed like a minute he started speaking again, "normally kids stop believing in you and the other Guardians at the age of...10? Or maybe 11? But I was extremely surprised when I found that a mature 15 year old girl still believed in you. So I decided to take that belief away from her," he let out an evil chuckle and carried on, "I wanted to test my nightmares out on someone to see if I was strong enough to return from the shadows since you Guardians had once again replaced my darkness with your wonder and light, so I gave the girl the most scariest and the most traumatising nightmare I had ever given to anyone. Looks like it did the trick."

"What was the nightmare about?" I asked him, sternly.

"What would be the fun in that if I told you, eh?" Pitch said. I sent him a scowl, which he saw, and then he started to say, "the only thing you need to know about the nightmare, is that it was so awful that it made a strong believer stop believing in you." I must have pulled some confused face, because Pitch smiled and let out a small laugh. He glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "My my, look at the time! I better be going, my nightmares need me," he got up from the desk swiftly and walked towards the door, but he turned around and said, "just to let you know, this isn't the last time you'll see me. I'll see my way out, shall I?" I didn't have time to answer though as he quickly vanished out of sight. I stayed seated for a few minutes while I took in what Pitch had said. I needed to let the others know what had happened.

Jack

By the time I reached Jamie's house, the snow that I had made was about 10 inches deep. Jamie was in his room colouring in a picture he must have drawn. He was concentrating too much on his drawing, so he didn't see me land onto his bedroom window sill. I tapped lightly on his window 3 times before he looked up and saw me. His face lit up with joy. He jumped off his bed and ran to the window, opening it quickly and shouted, "Jack!" He covered his mouth when he realised how loud he had shouted my name, "whoops," he whispered. I let out a small laugh and hopped into Jamie's room. He closed it gently and turned back to me.

"I knew you were coming!" He exclaimed.

"You did?" I asked the excited child who was standing in front of me.

"Well yeah, of course I did! You made it snow, silly!" He laughed.

I was about to say something when Jamie ran up to the window and said,"Woah! I never knew you could see the Northern Lights in Burgess!"

I walked up to the window and saw a green and purple light flashing in the sky. It was North. He needed me to go to the North Pole.

"That's not the Northern Lights, Jamie," I told him," it's a sign from North,"

Jamie looked very confused, "What?" He asked.

"I need to go and see him. Something's wrong," I began to climb out the window but stopped when I heard Jamie say,

"But you just got here!"

I turned around to look at his disappointed face and said, "I know. I'll be back soon, I promise," and flew away out of Burgess to the North Pole.

I was the last one to arrive at the North Pole as Bunny, Tooth and Sandy were already there.

"Sorry I'm late," I apologised to them as I entered the Globe Room, "what's happened?" I flew over and stood next to Sandy.

"It's Pitch," North said, "he told me everything."

"What did he say?" Tooth asked, cautiously.

"Basically, Billie was just Pitch's test subject," North explained. This confused everyone.

"Huh? What d'you mean?" Bunny questioned.

Sandy conjured a question mark above his head, obviously wanting to know what North had meant as well.

"He said that he wanted to see how strong he was, so he tested his nightmares out on Billie," North told us.

"How?" I inquired, gingerly.

"He said that he give her the most traumatising nightmare he had ever given anyone," he replied, "must have been pretty bad."

"Wait a minute," Bunny began to say, "So what Pitch is trying to say is that this nightmare of his made Billie stop believing in us? Is that even possible?"

North considered this for a minute, but finally shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows."

No one spoke afterwards, probably because no one knew what to say. Sandy offered me some eggnog which I kindly took, "Thanks little man," I said to him. He gave me a smile which probably meant "you're welcome." I saw something bright in the corner of my eye. I looked up at the opening in the window and saw the moon.

"Man in Moon," I said out loud, making North turn round. He must have saw him too, because he let out a loud gasp which everyone heard.

"What?" Bunny and Tooth chorused together.

"Manny," North said, "what is wrong?"

"What's he saying?" I asked North.

"He says we need help," North responded, "that's strange,"

"What is?" Bunny demanded.

"He says that only a human can help us," North replied to Bunny.

"Help us with what, North?" Tooth questioned.

"To help us defeat Pitch."

There was no more time for any more questions, as the light from the Man in Moon shone down onto the floor, opening something from below. We all gathered round to see what was happening when the others let out a gasp.

"What is it?" I asked, confused as to what was going on.

"Oh Lord. It feels like De Ja Vu!" Bunny groaned.

Something came up from the opening in the floor. I didn't know what it was. It looked like a massive crystal, but it was hard to see what it was as it was extremely bright! It gave off a dazzling light which lit up the entire room. Tooth and Bunny look at each other, as if they knew something I didn't. Sandy and North did the same. North turned to look at me, so I mouthed, what's going on?

"It's Manny," he said, "He's choosing a new Guardian."

What? Why would Man in Moon choose a new Guardian?

"I think I know who it is!" Tooth exclaimed, with an excited smile on her face.

"Don't we all," Bunny said, not to enthusiastically.

Sandy nodded.

Something was happening above the crystal, so I took a few steps forward to get a closer look. After a couple of seconds of what just looked like rays of light on top of the crystal, it actually turned out to form a human. Wait, no, a girl. But hang on; she was half human and half a fox. Who was this girl?

"Who is that?" I asked everyone, while drinking some of the eggnog Sandy had given me earlier.

"It's Billie Valentine." North answered.

I suddenly spat out the mouthful of eggnog and dropped the cup. It broke when it hit the floor and sent pieces of shattered glass everywhere. Everyone jumped and quickly turned towards me, with shocked expressions on their faces. I wiped my mouth clean, and hissed,

"What did you just say?!"

BOOM! And the drama begins! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know I enjoyed writing this one :) Wow! This must be the longest one yet, right? haha, anyways! Please follow and leave a rewiew! I haven't been getting many reviews so please please leave one! I like getting constructive feedback :) I'm gonna try and get Chapter 7 out at around Easter so look out for that! I hope you all have a great week!(OH, and have a happy Valentines Day!) x