Chapter 1

Aisling watched the snow fall outside her window in large, fluffy flakes. She liked to call this kind of snowfall "Jack Frost Snow" because it was always the best for making snowballs. It was mid-March in Wisconsin and winter was beginning to near its end. This winter had worried her. There had been many abrupt changes between warm and cold and she hoped it had nothing to do with the spirits she believed in.

Her school was in the middle of spring break and she had nothing better to do than to stare out the window and daydream of someday seeing Jack Frost. She was well aware of what others would think of her daydreams and fantasies and kept them to herself. Alone at home, she was free to daydream all she wanted.

A thump from down the hall jerked her out of her musings. "Hello?" Aisling called uncertainly, she had thought everyone else had already left for the day. There was no reply, so she decided something had fallen and went to find whatever it was. There was nothing in the hallway, so she glanced into her brother's room. It was messy, but nothing but clothes were on the floor. Her sister's room was much cleaner and there was also nothing on the ground that would have made the noise.

The hall closet was more promising. An exercise ball was lying on the floor in a position where it may have fallen off the shelf. She sighed and picked it up, putting it back on the shelf before closing the door. A niggling feeling in her put her on edge and she had a sudden urge to turn around. There was a man standing there with his arm outstretched to grab her. Her heart rate jumped and she opened her mouth. Before she could do anything, his hand had covered her mouth and he pushed her backwards into nothing.

Having expected the resistance of the closet door, she fell onto her butt on a cold metal floor, looking up at the man. His greyed skin and black hair creeped her out to no end. He backed up and seemed to melt into the shadows created by the bars that were behind him. Aisling just sat there, mind trying to figure out what had just happened. She was now in some sort of cage in a place that was clearly not her home. Through the bars, she could see other cages hung around her. As far as she could tell, she was underground.

"Hey, are you alright?" a male voice asked from behind her. She turned her body to see a boy around her age sitting cross-legged in his own cage. A blonde girl who was probably in high school was in a cage next to him.

"I think so," she replied to him, "where are we?"

"I think we're in Pitch's lair?" the brown-haired boy replied almost nonchalantly.

"As in Pitch Black?" she said, incredulous. The movie 'Rise of the Guardians' was one of her favorites and she naturally believed it to be close to a true story. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," he said, "but we won't be here long, Jack will find us."

"Like Jack Frost?" she asked.

He nodded, but the girl next to him rolled her eyes. "How is your imaginary friend supposed to do anything?" Clearly she didn't believe anymore.

"Why do you still believe in the Easter Bunny, but not Jack?" the boy shot back, annoyed.

"Because the Easter Bunny is real," she said, "he comes to visit every year."

The boy opened his mouth to argue again, but Aisling interrupted. "So, how is Jack going to know we're here?" she asked.

The boy thought about it then said hopefully, "maybe he'll notice I'm missing."

"Great," Aisling said as the other girl rolled her eyes.

"My name's Jamie by the way, and this is my sister, Sophie," he said, trying to change the subject.

"Like the movie?" Aisling asked.

He nodded.

His sister looked less enthused. "That stupid movie isn't even true, it's just based off a stupid story prompt Jamie sent into the movie company for a contest."

Jamie and Aisling just looked at her. "If it wasn't real, how do you explain this?" Aisling asked.

"It's just a bad dream," Sophie replied.

"So, realistically, how long will it take someone-preferably one of the Guardians, to notice we're missing?" Aisling asked.

"At the very least, Bunny should notice we're missing at Easter." Jamie said.

"That's like a month away. Are we going to be okay?" Aisling asked.

Neither of the siblings replied.

The first night was rough. Sophie fell asleep first while Jamie and Aisling talked about college classes. Jamie was going for a Biology major with a Psychology minor for his undergrad and wanted to become a Pediatric Psychiatrist. Aisling was a Computer Science major and wanted to be a Game Designer. They were discussing a story Jamie was writing for his creative writing class when Jamie noticed a nightmare looming over his sister.

"No!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and into the bars closest to his sister's cage, "Leave her alone!"

But there was nothing either of them could do. The girl sank into a nightmare she couldn't escape from. Jamie went back into a sitting position. They watched her fearful face in silence for the next hour. Eventually, Jamie fell asleep and a nightmare immediately tainted his sleep. Aisling worried over them for a while before falling asleep.

She fought for the control of her dreams and succeeded. For the first time in a while, she turned a nightmare into a good dream. Her dreams went back and forth, at war with the nightmares all night. When she woke again, she hadn't had a great sleep, but she didn't look nearly as bad as the other two. They both had bags under their eyes and silence reigned for a while.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is just the first chapter, hope you liked it. The next chapter is a little darker, so be warned.

Tsalyah