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So, enjoy this chapter and please, do leave a review. I love hearing from all of you readers! :)
Listen to:
Do You Believe Me? - The Juliana Theory (perfect, perfect song for this chapter)
Your head swam and sounds seemed to be layering upon itself, making it hard for you to distinguish whose voice it was.
You opened your eyes with a gasp and saw a familiar face topped with a mop of messy brown hair staring at you in concern.
But the funny thing was he had three faces instead of one and they kept on merging and diverging, making you dizzy.
"(F/N)," the voice said and finally, the echoing and dizziness stopped and you saw Jack staring at you with something akin to fear on his features.
"Ow," you whined pathetically as you attempted to sit up and you found out that you were home in your own bed.
You glanced at him in confusion. "How'd you get into my house?"
Jack gave you a sheepish smile as he held up your purse and when he shook it, the merry jangling of your keys could be heard.
You narrowed your eyes as you surveyed the room, looking anywhere but at him, willing your headache to go away.
"How are you feeling?" the brown haired boy asked softly.
"Like I got hit by a freight airplane," you mumbled, rubbing your head.
At the mention of airplanes, you tensed up as the onslaught of memories of what happened last night came crashing down upon you like a ton of bricks.
You gasped as you scrambled away from Jack, a look of apprehension written clearly on your face.
"You flew and there was this huge black dog thing and my car and the road," you babbled, "and I felt it, we were flying and- how can you fly?" you spluttered out.
Jack sighed as he took a seat beside you, making sure to keep a safe distance in case you felt uncomfortable. You were still curled in an upright fetal position as you furrowed your brow in confusion.
"If I tell you this, you gotta promise me you won't faint, okay (F/N)?" he asked in a sarcastic tone as you numbly nodded your head, not even registering the sarcasm.
Jack pondered for a minute, stalling. Faintly, you wondered why you hadn't bolted for the door yet but you knew if you were to run, you might just end up tripping from the shock and lingering dizziness.
"(F/N), tell me the truth, how much do you know about mythical legends?" he asked in a cautious turn.
You felt the blood draining from your face as you registered his double meaning.
"Oh shit," you cussed. "Please do not tell me you're a vampire," you whispered in a terrified tone.
"I don't need this shit right now," you murmured mostly to yourself as you looked up and saw Jack suppressing a laugh.
"What?" you argued defensively.
"Not those legends (F/N)," Jack said with a grin.
"Then?" you prodded and though you wouldn't admit it, you were curious and terrified at where this was going.
"So eager," Jack said, arching a brow.
You flushed and shot him a glare.
"I know your stalking me," Jack stated with a smirk as you flushed an even darker red.
"How-?" you asked, flabbergasted.
"I have my ways," he said in a breezy tone, but then fixing you with a hard look.
"Do you still remember the tales of the Easter Bunny, Santa, Sandman, Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost?" he quizzed.
You furrowed your brow as you nodded, not sure where he's going with this.
"Well, they are all part of a group called the Guardians who protect all the children in the world from evil and fear," he explained, his eyes shining, pleading for you to believe.
You frowned. "Jack, I don't get it."
He sighed as he ran his fingers through his messy brown hair, trying to find a better way to explain to you. He then started fidgeting with a plain silver bracelet on his left wrist, his eyes contemplating.
Your eyes grew wide as you took in his silver bracelet as something about that plain band looked really familiar…
"I'm not supposed to do this," he murmured as he ran a finger across they silver band.
"Do what?" you asked, your frustration at his ever elusiveness rising.
"Just… Believe I'm here, okay," he warned as you shook your head in exasperation.
"Alright, just tell me the truth okay?" you demanded. "I need to know what's going on," you almost whimpered at the thought of your rapidly changing life that you had no idea of.
Jack nodded his expression softening as he gestured for you to close your eyes.
You impatiently did as you were told.
"Open your eyes when I tell you so," he whispered.
"Just promise me you're not doing something scandalous that's enough," you muttered under your breath as you heard him chuckle.
"Okay, open them," he whispered and when you did, you found that your room was empty.
With a feeling of growing dread, you got up from your bed as you scanned the room, looking for him.
"Jack?" you called out, fear gripping your tone.
You couldn't hear anything even if you strained your ears to listen.
Silence, so loud it hurt your ears.
Jack couldn't have disappeared just like that, you rationalize at the now rising panicked part of yoru brain as you looked around the room one more time.
You then remembered his words to believe that he was still here and that was exactly what you did.
You close your eyes as you began to chant mentally, I believe, I believe, I believe.
You kept on repeating the same words over and over again until finally you felt yourself believing and when you opened your eyes, there stood Jack right in front of you, wonder etched on his face.
"You did it, (F/N)," he said as he gave you a radiant smile.
"Yay," you said weakly as you gave him a small smile.
You then noticed that something was off with Jack. He still looked the same, but there was something different about him.
His eyes were the same color, his skin was still pale except now that it had a bluish tint on the surface, his usual healthy pink lips were faintly purple but that was not what was most shocking.
The scariest thing was that his brown hair had been replaced by a mop of silver locks.
He gave you an apprehensive stare as he took in your rapidly paling face.
He then gently took you by the elbow to sit on your bed as you flinched from his cold touch. It felt as if he had bathed his hand in ice cold water when he was touching you.
With a flush that had nothing to do with the shock of the sudden cold, you sat on your bed, staring at him, trying to take it all in.
"Well," Jack said after a while, when the silence was getting suffocating. "Say something," he pleaded gently.
You put your head in your hands as you wrapped your knees around you, trying to control the hyperventilation from consuming you entirely.
"What are you?" you managed between ragged breaths, still not daring to look at him.
You heard him give a resound sigh and with a jolt you felt something cold fall on the tops of your arms and exposed neck before melting and the ice cold slush ran down your hands.
You were just about to tell Jack to stop fooling around when you were stunned into silence.
Your whole room was covered in snow and Jack was standing in the middle of it all, a reserved look on his face.
He then gestured to the snow and you took in the winter wonderland that was now your room.
Suddenly, something clicked in your head as you gasped, rounding to face him.
Your (e/c) eyes widened as you gingerly got up and stood in front of the strange boy. He towered over you as you craned your neck to look him in the eye.
"You're-" you stopped as you gulped.
His eyes were wide, silently begging you to realize.
"You're… You're Jack Frost," you whispered disbelievingly as he smile and nodded.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he hung his head and stared at you through his long lashes. "Finally, that's out," he said and relief was palpable in his tone.
At your quizzical look, Jack just laughed.
"You mean you didn't want to tell me?" you asked and couldn't stop your tone from sounding miffed.
He then broke out into a huge grin and you didn't want to admit; his smile took your breath away.
Shaking your head at your cheesy thoughts, you concentrated at the matter on hand.
"It was more like I couldn't tell you cause then I'd be breaking the oath of secrecy I took," Jack explained in a serious tone, all playfulness gone.
"Oath of secrecy?" you echoed.
"Yeah, but then you deserved to know, because this involves you too," he said in a solemn tone.
You gaped at him, perplexed.
Here he was dropping a bomb that he was the Jack Frost and now he was telling you he somehow was here because of you.
You shook your head. This was getting all too much.
"What does this have to do with me?" you asked in an exasperated tone as your head throbbed from all the revelations of tonight.
Jack looked at you strangely. "You mean you don't know?" he asked, now sounding perplexed himself.
You threw your hands up in frustration, a growl sounding from the back of your throat.
"Of COURSE I don't know what you're talking about! Jack Frost is freaking here in my room after saving me from some nightmarish mutt and all this while I thought you were some hobo from Burgess but nooo you're the freaking spirit of winter that is supposedly a legend," you ranted and Jack smiled.
"Technically I am a hobo from Burgess," he said with an elfish grin.
"Oh hallelujah, one part of the mystery solved," you said sarcastically.
"No seriously, you don't know what's happening?" he emphasized on the 'happening' as you just shook your head.
Jack then silently cussed as he looked at you with tortured eyes.
You reeled back from his sudden change of attitude from playful to agonize in a split second.
"Your mum hasn't told you then," he mumbled but it was more to himself as you sighed in exasperation.
Great, now even your mum is freaking in on this?!
"(F/N), the mutt that was after you, it was no ordinary mutt, it was a Fearling or commonly known as a Nightmare," he explained and you arched your eyebrow.
"It was created by the boogeyman or Pitch as he is known and… And… He's coming after you," Jack said in a defeated tone as your eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"He's after me, but why?" you asked, confusion plain on your features.
"Because of your father-" he said and when he saw the stubborn and frustrated look on your face, he held up his hand as if to pacify you.
"It's a long story that started from the time you were born," Jack said as he gestured to the silver band on his hand.
"See this?" he tugged on the band as you nodded. "This is an ancient magical relic that supposedly turns any spirit back into their original mortal form."
"You probably don't remember your dad because well, because he had to go back and his time were up," Jack said and when you put two and two together, you furrowed your brow.
"Is it because of that?" you asked as you gestured at the band.
Jack nodded. "Look, I should probably start from the beginning; Pitch, or as he was known as the Nightmare King, was a dark spirit, one who craved power and evil. He vowed to destroy the earth and all of mankind so that he could rule over them with fear, and that he would be believed in," Jack said as he gave a wistful look.
You listened, enraptured as he continued his tale.
"He had already been wreaking havoc on Earth and by the time he reached here, Man in Moon had had enough that he send down one of his elite moon guards to vanquish Pitch and protect this place," Jack said as he referred to your sleepy hometown.
"So he gave the guard this band so that he could resume mortal form and take care of this place without rousing any suspicion," he said.
That's when it hit you. Your dad had the exact same silver band as you remembered playing with it when you were younger but he would always warn you not to take it off.
It was one of your earliest childhood memories of your dad, and then it hit you with a jolt.
No, it couldn't be, how could…?
You couldn't technically be half spirit, it was impossible.
"My dad was the elite moon guard wasn't he?" you asked in a small tone realizing how silly it sounded but when Jack nodded, it didn't sound so silly anymore.
"So, that makes me a-"
"Half spirit, half human," Jack finished for you.
You nodded, your mind numb and unable to process so many things at once.
"What happened?" you asked in an almost inaudible whisper.
"He found Pitch and managed to temporarily defeat him, and since that day, Pitch swore revenge on your father anyway he could," Jack said solemnly.
"Shortly after the battle, your dad met your mum and they had you, but then Pitch regained his strength and found your family. Needless to say, your dad ran away to lead the monster away from his family as he told your mum to hide you as well as she could."
"But then I guess it wasn't well enough," Jack whispered that last part out.
"What do you mean?" you asked, as dread clutched your heart.
"It means that he will stop at nothing to get you," Jack said as his eyes looked conflicted.
"But he won't, not if I'm here," Jack said in a final tone.
"Why?"
"Because I was sent down here to protect you and I would not mess up on this mission," Jack deadpanned.