I watched Jack leave until he was just a dot in the sky. It felt odd knowing that we'd be separated for some time. I guess I'd just grown so use to him being there and now he wasn't going to be. I knew he'd be back as soon as he could get back. What made me feel queasy was the dreams I've been having. I wasn't sure entirely what they meant, but the woke me with a gasp during the long nights.

Sighing, I was about to turn and leave when I came to a halt. A boy was looking at me, leaning on a tree.

He smiled at me which relaxed me slightly. He didn't look evil or anything. "Hey. Sophie, right?" He didn't stop to let me answer. He strode over to me and held out his hand. Feeling confused, I took it in mine. "My name's Alvern–"

"Have we met?" I asked, cutting him off suddenly. He looked shocked for a second, but quickly got over it.

He must have seen how anxious I looked. "I'm not going to hurt you," he told me cautiously. His eyes softened. "I'm the spirit of spring. Sorry, I should have started with that." He let his hand slip from mine; my heart still hadn't settled in my chest. "I just heard that there was a new spirit for autumn. I came to see if that was true."

"Oh," I muttered feeling a little embarrassed for being so scared. "Well... Alvern, is it?" The boy nodded. "It's nice to meet you. I didn't know there was a spirit for spring."

"Seraphina may not like to admit it, but she needs help when it comes to changing the seasons."

I still felt unsure about this boy. He had light brown skin; his eyes were hazel and his hair was chestnut. He wasn't what I expected the spirit of springtime to look like at all. He was taller than me by an inch; he was probably about nineteen when he died or was recruited by the Man in the Moon. Seeing as he was young, I hoped he didn't die. The thought of death still sent a chill through my body. He looked kind enough, though.

"Well, I just thought I'd make my acquaintance. It's been over a hundred years since a new spirit has joined us," he told me.

I gasped. A hundred years? I hadn't realised that a spirit had not been anew for over one hundred years. But... then I began to wonder about something; was there an autumn spirit before me? If so, that would be quite a shock to me. Had he/she faded away over time? I'd assume so... but why? Surely an autumn spirit would always be needed even if not believed in.

I then became very wary of this boy. Why was it that he chose to introduce himself after Jack had left and I was alone? My heart began to race faster. I felt the need to leave. I knew that would probably be rude, but I didn't care. I had become very suspicious of people since Evil.

There was an awkward silence for a minute. "I- I best be off, then," I said to him, breaking the silence. "Nice meeting you."

"Oh..." He frowned at me; I felt a pang of guilt. Maybe all Alvern wanted was a friend. Maybe he was like Jack before he met Jamie and I: Alone. He quickly turned his frown into a smile. "Maybe we can talk again soon, Sophie?"

"Yeah," I replied, not giving it much thought. I was about to turn and leave when I stopped, the guilt rising up inside of me. "Um, maybe tomorrow?"

"Really?" His eyes grew wide, shocked that I actually made a plan with him. "That would be great! Um... I'll be here around midday."

I smiled at him. He looked excited and that made me feel warm inside. "I'll see you then, Alvern."

With that, I flew off in the direction of Burgess town. My face fell into a frown; what have I done? How could I know if I could trust this boy? Alvern seemed harmless, really... but still. I've watched enough crime shows with my father and Jamie over the last few weeks to know that even the innocent looking can be the most dangerous. Tomorrow I would be on my guard, ready to defend myself if necessary.

I felt a bit nutty, thinking things like that. I've just grown so... Wary of everyone lately. It's hard to know who you can trust these days.

Oh– Jamie! I forgot he said he was coming to visit me today! With that in mind I flew faster. Five minutes later I landed down in front of my house and ran inside. Jamie was sitting on the couch looking very bored. He sat up when I entered.

"Jeez, Soph," he said, "I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

"I almost did," I admitted with a smile. "I was just seeing Jack off." Jamie frowned a little. He won't admit it but I know he still doesn't exactly like Jack and I together. Even dad was now okay with me having a boyfriend.

"Cool," he muttered. "So, I was thinking we should go to the meadow and you can show me those powers of yours."

"Really!?" I exclaimed. "You want to see them?" Jamie nodded and smiled at me. "Well... Let's go then!"

I dashed back out the door not even bothering to check if Jamie was behind me. It wasn't often that Jamie and I hung out anymore. To be fair, he did have a child on the way. He's been very stressed lately. I could hear the crunching of shoes on gravel as he jogged after me.

"No flying!" he warned me just as I levitated off the ground. I gave him a look, but grinned. "That's taking the easy way. We're going to walk."

"Hmm... That's a bit mainstream, but okay." I laughed and we began walking to the meadow.

As we walked to the meadow I got a tingle at the back of my neck as though I was being watched. I thought maybe it was Alvern again but then I thought differently. Dread crept through my body. I had the worst feeling, when–

"Mund! What are you doing here?" Jamie exclaimed, jogging over to his old friend. Bunnymund's mouth stretched into a smile.

"Just checking up on everything," he told him. He turned to me. "You've done a good job, Sophie. The nymphs have nothing but good to say about your work-"

"Yeah," I cut him off, "the ones who aren't trying to get with Jack all the time." I rolled my eyes. I never realised Jack had a big fan base with the dryads. "Those dryads can be such b-"

"Sophie!" Jamie looked horrified and I laughed.

"I'm also here to keep an eye on Evil," Bunnymund admitted. "He's been a bit restless lately. 'E's been muttering in his prison a lot. The ice has gotten thin." I furrowed my brow.

"He won't be able to escape... Will he?" The worry was very audible in my voice. "Sera and Jack cast that spell together and he's underground– please! Please tell me he can't escape, Mund!"

Mund looked at me cautiously and then to Jamie and back. He inhaled deeply and began to speak again. "No. I reckon he going to be in there for another long while." I exhaled, not even aware that I had been holding my breath. "But..." Mund took another deep breath. "We believe there's something... Worse out there."

My eyes grew wide in alarm. It felt like the world was closing in around me. That couldn't be true. How on earth was there something far worse than Evil? Hadn't Evil said himself that he was the cause of wars and other stuff like that?

Unless... Unless he had been working for someone else. Pitch had been working for him; who was Evil's master?

"You don't know for certain, though, right?" Jamie asked hastily, bringing me back to reality.

"No. But you'd best be aware," Mund replied. "Be careful who you trust, all right?"

Something clicked inside me which made my palms sweat. "Alvern!" I said suddenly. Mund looked at me for a second. "Is Alvern a good person?"

"He's the spirit of springtime; I reckon he's a good guy." Mund smiled at me. "I didn't know you knew one another."

"We met this morning," I told him.

"I've worked with him for a long time now. Don't worry about him," he said. "I best be off. Spring is just around the corner, you know. Three months! Time goes by so fast."

With a final smile, he disappeared into a hole in the ground. The hole closed up and a flower appeared, right in the middle of the snow. I let out a shaky breath. Okay, Alvern is good which is great. The thought of Evil having a master worse than he was shook me up. So far, we've been lucky and haven't had any attacks, so best leave things as they are. There's no point making a big deal out of nothing, right? That other guy might not ever attack us which would be great!

"So, I've been trying to come up with some names for the baby," Jamie said, cutting the silence. I felt a little relieved he changed the subject quickly. That's the good thing about Jamie: he knows when to let a subject drop... for the moment. My eyes lit up. "Do you want to help me?" he asked.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "So... I've been thinking about names too! If it's a girl I kind of like the name Kayla! I think the name means pure or something like that!" Jamie nodded as though he approved of the name so I continued on, glad of the distraction. "Um... and if it's a boy I've been thinking of names like Ben. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it does," Jamie replied. "Ben Bennett." He chuckled. "Ben Bennett, Ben Bennett. That's catchy." I grinned; Jack and Jamie were way too alike at times that it scared me and amused me. "Kayla and Ben are great names." He sighed, frowning at the ground. "Do you think I'd be a good dad?"

I was shocked by his question. I stared at him for a minute, surprised he would ask such a question. "Wha– of course. Why would you even ask that?" I gave him a puzzled look. In my opinion, Jamie would make an amazing father.

"I'm actually kind of scared," he told me, bowing his head in shame. "What if I mess it all up?"

"Jamie Bennett, you listen to me: you will make an amazing dad," I said firmly. "That kid will be luckiest kid in the world because he'll have you as a dad, all right?" Jamie looked up and gave me a weak smile. I could see it in his eyes that he was terrified. "I promise you that everything's going to be okay. Okay?"

"Okay," he said. "I'm glad you're my sister, Soph."

"Shut up," I told him, with a smile. "You're going to make me all emotional." I pretended to wipe away tears and he laughed. "Now come on, let's do something fun. You promised me a fun day. What are we going to do?"

Jamie looked to be in thought for a second. "Well, later you're coming over to my house for dinner– no buts. I was thinking we could talk. We haven't done that in a while." He smiled. "But before that, you're going to help me design the babies room."

"Can I bring Bribry?" I asked. Yeah, I named my arctic fox Bribry. I thought it was a nice name.

"Um... Pippa isn't exactly fond of the fox," he replied. I frowned. "We can sneak him in, though." I smiled.
My brother was pretty awesome at times.

I kind of rambled on with this chapter! xD Oh well! :D Ha, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all the review, you guys! :)

I'm going to reply to the guest and such here 'cause I can't reply to them in mail, so... here:

JustPlainOldMe: Really? Gee, thanks! :) Yeah, it does! :D I did? Oh, gosh, well, thanks! :) I wasn't sure if I was doing that, but if you say so then thanks! :) I KNOW RIGHT? Baby Bennett... xD :L Hm, I'm not... But there is another name in there that's also catchy which you've obviously just read so... BEN BENNETT!? :L If it's a girl though, I might name it Bonnie, 'cause I think Jack teasing her would be very funny. :) Really? :) THANK YOU! :D

Elizabeth: I loved your list of names! I decided to use a nickname from the name Brian: Bribry (Also the nickname of one of my favourite youtubers BribryOnTour who I get to meet in JUNE! :D). Um, I'm not sure if Sophie will become a Guardian. It's a possibility, but... I'm not sure yet. Yeah, she'll help Sera in future chapters. I have plans for the fox, so you'll just have to wait and see! :P

Guest: What do you mean the 'next level'? O.o :L Sorry, I have a weird mind; you probably mean marriage or something, right? Ha. I'm not really sure yet. xD Can you imagine Jack getting married, though? :P T'would be funny! :P Thanks for the review. :D

*The rest of you will have your reply in mail! THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS GUYS! :D*