Marie and I raced across the forest, heading for the lake. I had guessed that a group of kids had decided to be idiotic and go skating on its frozen surface. I couldn't help it; I thought of the story Jack told me about his death and becoming Jack Frost after he fell through the ice, drowning in the lake. I shuddered, pushing the thought to the back of my mind; no one was going to drown tonight. Maybe it's just some kids playing near the lake, pulling pranks on each other. In the dark. At night. I shook my head; kids were definitely out on the lake.
We burst through the foliage around the lake, and I stood frozen.
In the middle of the lake was Jackson, down on his hands and knees crying out for help. Cracks in the ice surrounded him, and I could just barely hear them continuing to split. Soon I noticed the other kids making their way to the shoreline, crawling along the ice slowly. I looked among them, spotting Lizzy, but soon panicking when realizing Nicholas was not with her. I looked back to Jackson, and now saw Nicholas crawling towards his little brother. I heard Marie hold back a sob.
"Jackson! Nicholas! No!" She rushed forward, overcoming the first shock and ran down to the edge of the lake. I followed her and quickly got down on my knees, reaching out to the children moving towards us. Once they were within arms-reach, I grabbed them and pulled them to the shore. Marie then checked each one of them over for any injury. They were all either sniffling or crying or apologizing; Marie simply shushed them and told them to wait back by the tree line. Lizzy stood next to her mother, tears running down her face.
"I-It's all my fault! It was my idea to go skating! I'm so sorry Mom! I-I thought it was safe a-and..."
Marie crouched down to her, wiping the tears away and gently shushing her. She wrapped her arms around Lizzy, and Lizzy quickly returned the act, crying once again into her coat.
"Shh... it's okay. Now isn't the time to discuss that. What matters right now is helping your brothers. I need you to do something for me, can you do that?"
Lizzy nodded.
"Can you be a brave little girl for me, and wait back with your friends?" I could hear Marie's voice breaking, trying to hold back her own tears. I looked back at her and saw her eyes watering.
Lizzy nodded again, and Marie pulled away to face me while Lizzy walked back to the other kids.
"What should we do, Jamie? I could go get help, but who knows how soon anyone would get here."
I swallowed slowly, looking around for anything that could help while trying to figure out what to do. It was then I noticed the shadows, moving slowly into the cracks of the ice. Confused, I leaned in, trying to get a closer look. The shadows then swirled together, rose up, and snapped at me; I jumped back.
"What the...? How-?" I stopped myself, trying to figure out was going on. I looked up at the sky, and clouds were now covering up the moon, making it even harder to see over by Nicholas and Jackson. Darkness surrounded us, almost unnaturally, and the shadows in the ice seemed to be getting bigger. I could hear the children behind me sniffling and shivering; they needed to get inside. It was much too late for them to be out. I turned back to the lake; Nicholas was now looking at me, same with Jackson, waiting for instruction. I stood up slowly, breathing deeply before turning to Marie.
"Marie, I want you to take the kids back into town; take them home and let their parents know what happened. Afterwards, call for help and come back. I'm going to stay here and try to help Nicholas and Jackson."
Marie nodded and quickly turned around and ran back up the other children, gathering them together and heading into the woods. Lizzy ran back down to me. I looked at her.
"Elizabeth, go with your mother. Please."
She shook her head. She had a determined look in her watery eyes. "I want to stay and help! I-It's my fault they're stuck out there anyway..."
It was clear to me by the look on her face that she wasn't going to leave. I sighed softly before nodding and motioning her over to me. I looked around again, trying to ignore the pit in my stomach. Something didn't feel right. I looked at the cracks again, with the shadows swirling inside them. That's when I realized they were widening the cracks; they weren't normal shadows.
Lizzy pulled on my sleeves, bringing me out of my thoughts. She was pointing at something, something that was moving in the shadows on the other side of the lake. Nicholas followed her eye sight, and I saw fear freeze him.
"D-Dad... wh-what's that?" Lizzy whispered. The shadows seemed to be collecting together, swirling around, and the beginnings of a figure started to form. I gently moved Lizzy behind me, the pieces starting to fit together. Terror gripped me as it dawned on me. Memories from that Easter so long ago came rushing back. I whispered the name I hadn't spoken in years.
"Pitch... The Nightmare King..."
It appeared as if the shadow heard me, and they began to swirl together faster, the figure becoming more distinct. I could now see an eerie pair of glowing, yellow eyes. Maniacal laughter filled the air, and shadows engulfed the clearing, total darkness falling over us. I wrapped my arms around Lizzy, and prayed that Nicholas and Jackson would be still be on the lake.
When the shadows finally faded, I quickly looked to the lake. Relief filled me for a moment when I saw Jackson still down on all fours on the lake. But relief soon turned to panic when I realized both Nicholas and Pitch had disappeared. I whipped around, looking all over the clearing. I yelled out frantically.
"Nicholas! Nicholas can you hear me?" I heard Jackson begin to cry again, frozen in fear.
"Dad! Dad help me! I'm scared!"
Lizzy now had her arms wrapped around my waist, hiding her face in my coat. She was shaking. I wrapped one of my arms around her and looked out at Jackson. I called out to him.
"It's okay, Jackson! I'm right here-" I was cut off as a strong gust of wind blew past us. The shadows rose up and gathered above Jackson and the lake, forming into a cloud. Pitch soon reformed within the cloud of nightmare sand, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Nicholas clutched in the boogeyman's arms; he was kicking his legs out and pushing away from the shadow man's grip, but to no avail. Pitch was chuckling.
"Why hello, Jamie. It has been a long time, hasn't it?" Pitch said calmly. "You've grown, graduated. Gotten a job, gotten married... had four lovely children."
I clenched my fists; so he knew about Katelyn.
"Oh of course I know about her. Even at her age, children can indeed have nightmares." Pitch finished with a smile, seeming to have read my mind.
I wanted to strangle him. But I couldn't, not with Nicholas in his grip. It seems Pitch knew this as well, smirking down at me.
"I'll give you a choice, Jamie; Lose your oldest," He grinned, showing me Nicholas still in his grasp, who was now hanging limply in his grip, eyes clenched shut. Pitch then motioned down towards Jackson.
"Or your youngest."
I stood shocked, unsure of what to say or do. There was no way I could choose between my two sons; I couldn't ever do that with any child! I looked up and glared at the shadow man.
"I'm not going to choose, Pitch!"
He frowned down at me, disappointed at my response. But only briefly, for he soon grinned again.
"Fair enough; I'll choose for you then!"
My eyes widened as Pitch turned and threw Nicholas down towards me. Lizzy gasped and let go of my leg while I reached up to catch him. A sudden gentle gust of wind slowed his fall, and he landed in my arms softly. His eyes were still closed, and he was shaking. But as as soon as I was sure he was secure in my arms, I looked back to the lake. Lizzy screamed, startling Nicholas awake. He pointed towards the lake and shouted.
"Jackson!"
I whipped my head towards the lake, eyes wide as I saw the shadows surrounding my youngest son. I wanted to call out, to scream to him, but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. Nicholas buried his face in my chest, and I felt Lizzy wrap her arms around me again, crying. But I didn't allow myself to look away. I stood there helpless with two of my children clinging to me, waiting for my youngest child to be engulfed in shadows once again, not to reappear.
But he never did.