It was just starting to lighten up when Ashley finally got out of the forest. She walked into an unfamiliar part of town, searching for someone to tell her how to get home. There was a man stumbling around, drinking something out of a paper bag, and she really didn't want to talk to him...

But, it appeared that he was her only option... He was a scruffy-looking guy, with cropped hair and sad eyes.

"Hey," she sighed, "Can you help me?"

He didn't answer, so she tried again, a little louder. "Hey dude! Hello? Help. Me. Please."

He still ignored her, and she gave up, waving her arms dismissively. She started to walk away, but paused and looked back. "Y'know, you really should stop drinking," she told him, "It isn't making your problems go away. Only you can do that."

The guy froze mid-step and looked down at his bottle. He stared at it for a few moments, contemplatively, before letting it slip out his hands. He watched the liquid run down the street for a minute before turning and stumbling away.

"Oh," Ashley said, partially playing, partially serious, "So you take my advice, but you can't give me the mo-foing time? Be that way!"

He didn't reply. Or even acknowledge her, really... She just shrugged it off. He was probably just a druggie, anyways...

Ashley turned a corner and suddenly stopped, dumbfounded. "Dude..." She breathed weakly, legs trembling as she leaned against the brick building, "I have nary a clue as to what the hell that is, but it is gorgeous!"

Glowing gold strains of what almost looked like sand drifted in and out of certain windows on the street she was on. They were constantly shifting and repositioning themselves, and strands of gold ran around the... whatever it was. She didn't know what it was, or how she had never seen it before, but gods it was beautiful...

She walked over to one of the particularly low strands of... whatever it was. Carefully, she reached out and stopped right before touching it, almost afraid to, in fear of making it disappear. She really wished she had a camera...

After a few moments of watching it, though, her curiosity got the best of her, and she let her fingers run through the stream, only to jump back with a grin.

She let out a laugh. The goofy kind of laugh people give when they're trying to contain squeals of excitement. "That... is amazing. How is this even possible?!"

A gold dragon with a tiny figure on it's back had burst through the golden light, and was now gliding in circles around her. It reared up and let out a small stream of golden fire as the tiny person waved at her, before flying back into the stream of light.

Ashley briefly considered staying there longer to play with the light, but she knew better. She needed to find Zach, and damnit, she would!

Trying to ignore the light, she ducked under it and jogged down the streets. As she jogged on, she realized just how many of those lights there were, and she wondered how in the hell had she never seen them before?!

And so she walked on through the neighborhoods, feet crunching in the snow, until she noticed that she was walking on a familiar road. She grinned to herself as she breathed in the crisp air. Finally, she knew where she was. And in result, she now knew how to get to Zach!

She whooped before breaking out into a sprint, cutting across backyards and jumping over fences. She didn't really need to do that. She could have just as easily ran on the road, but... it just wasn't as fulfilling.

Ashley had been running so fast, she almost ran right through her former home's backyard.

Skidding to a stop, she briefly considered going through the back door, like a normal person. Then laughed at herself for thinking such an absurd thought. As pumped as she was? Hell no! She's climbing up that tree and jumping in through the window- screw that! Who cares if she can only use one hand because she's gotta keep holding the trident? Not her!

With a running start, she managed to run a few steps up the trunk of the ancient tree that was near the house, and grabbed onto a limb, unable to contain her smile. How surprised would Zach be, she wondered. Most likely, he would very well nearly have a heart attack, but once he got over that, he would be ecstatic.

She couldn't wait!

Ashley scrambled up the tree like a pro, and made it to the window in record time. She opened up the window and jumped in, doing a ninja roll once her feet touch the ground. Hopping up as quietly as she could, she closed the window and turned to see how his room was with a big grin.

Her beaming face quickly fell into an expression akin to horror.

It looked like a tornado had run through his room... Large black marks ran down the walls, like someone had taken a marker and ran it down the walls in a fit of anger. Clothes were thrown about, papers were everywhere, and his toys were nowhere in sight. Someone must have shoved everything on top his desk and drawers onto the floor. And then she noticed the hooded figure sitting in the corner, and she scowled.

Some ass had the audacity to rob her house, and then chill out in her baby's room! Zach could be dead! And if Zach was dead, then so was this guy!

At the thought of Zach being hurt, red filtered her vision, and she stomped over and grabbed the person by their hood, lifting them up clean off the floor. She heard a strangled noise before all but throwing them across the room and into a wall. She allowed the person enough time to straighten themselves before pointing the trident at their throat, inches away from piercing the neck.

It wasn't until the person raised their arms in defeat, did she move the trident a bit farther away from their neck. "What have you done?!" She snarled. "If you hurt my baby, I'll fucking stomp you in the goddamn trachea!"

"Hey, take it easy, chick," The person choked out, "I didn't do this! I-I think you're in the wrong house-this kid's mom is in the other room!"

His answer hadn't been specific enough or eased her any, and she did not appreciate that. Ashley threw the trident to the ground before grabbing them by the neck. "You had better explain," She growled darkly, "And you better do it quickly."

The person grunted as he tried to pry her hands from his neck. "I didn't do anything, I swear!" He cried, "The kid asked me to stay with them until they fell asleep, and I ended up falling asleep, too! That's it, crazy lady!"

She scowled and let him go. Now was as good a time as any to test out her net-ring, she figured, so she slipped it off her thumb and threw it at the hooded figure. The person yelped as they were suddenly ensnared in the silver net, asking strainedly how that just happened.

Ashley ignored him and walked over, pulling back the blanket, only to shakily exhale in relief. Zach was there...

The relief flooded out when she looked again. He looked horrible...

He was pale, and his hair was even messier than usual. His cheeks looked sunk-in. Dark bags were under his eyes, and a few stray cuts with stitches in them were on his face. If his face looked like that, what was his leg like? She remembered that it had really been hurting him when she carried him out...

She threw off the blanket, only to fall to her knees, eyes wide in despair.

On his right leg, from the knee down, there was nothing but an empty spot. A stump, covered in bandages.

She reached a shaky hand towards his leg, only to stop and draw her hand back to her chest, face twisted with a series of emotions. She wasn't sure what to feel as she tangled her fingers in her hair and pulled.

She had been so preoccupied, she hadn't noticed the hooded person untangle themselves from the net and grab something.

No, not a single thought of the hooded man ran through her head until he spoke. "Wait a sec... You... I remember you-you're Ashley! Your Zach's sister! You're the one who gave me hot chocolate!"

Said girl tore her eyes away from Zach's leg, and looked over. The hooded person had pulled down the hood, revealing way too pale skin, and... white hair...? She had never seen this person before in her life. He looked a bit younger than her, and his voice didn't quite fit with his face. It was deeper, more mature and experienced than someone's voice should be at that age. She stared at him, and he stared at her. Another thing she noticed, was that he grabbed a stick, and was cautiously holding it out like a weapon...

... He picked up a stick, when he could have easily picked up her trident. But he decided it would be smarter to pick up a branch... What an idiot...

"Never seen you before in my life, and you're probably killing your brain cells, putting all that bleach in your hair." She finally sighed before turning back to Zach.

"Damn, babe..." She mumbled, reaching out to try and make his hair a little less messy, only to have her hand phase through his head. Her heart immediately sank into her stomach as she quickly withdrew her hand, cradling it to her chest, wondering what in the hell just happened?!

She swallowed thickly and looked over to the boy. "This is a prank, right...?" She asked weakly, "Please tell me this is a prank..."

The boy frowned and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. She turned from him back to Zach, refusing to believe it.

"Zach, baby," She choked out, "Please wake up... Tell me that this is a joke, tell me that this is a hologram- or-or something else of the like that was made in Japan!"

Zach didn't move any, and she tried to put her hand on his shoulder. It went right through. So she tried again. And again. And again. With every time that her hand went through him, her heart just sunk lower and lower.

"ZACH!" Ashley finally screamed in desperation as loud as she could, "WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

Zach stayed asleep. He didn't even stir... Her heart fell as low as it could get, and her shoulders slumped as tears welled in her eyes. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to fall through the floor. But most of all, she wanted Zach to acknowledge her. She didn't care if no one ever saw her or heard her or anything, ever again... if she could just talk to Zach for five minutes.

"Come on, babe," She choked out after a few still minutes, "Just... wake up, and look at me. Let me see your lovely green eyes, and I'll be happy. Please..."

He didn't react, just as she had feared he would. She almost forgot herself and cried, but she stayed strong in the end. She let out a quiet curse as she sucked those tears back in, swallowing thickly.

"Are you going to be okay...?"

Oh yeah... She had forgotten all about the boy. She sniffled and nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I'll be okay. A part of me just died inside, but I'll just push it off to the side for now," She rubbed her eyes and straightened up. "So, you still haven't told me who you are... And you also haven't told me why you're in here. Zach doesn't have any friends that fit you. He would have told me if he had any teenage friends, so... Explain."

He frowned. "Hey, it's okay to be a little upset, ya know..."

Ashley gave an unladylike snort. "No, it's not. Being upset is for chicks. I don't do that. What I am gonna do, is find the ass who did this to me, and I'm gonna punch them in the trachea."

He tried not to smirk as he leaned on the stick he was holding. "Two things... First, you are a chick. And what's up with you and trachey... trach... what-whatever it was you just said."

She couldn't help it... the ends of her mouth twitched up. She felt horrible, yeah, but the way the guy talked reminded her of Zach. "Tracheas." She corrected before pausing. "That's just something I've always said. And... I guess you have a point on the chick part. I still don't like acting like one, though. Chicks don't like to climb trees or to throw knives or to snowboard. They like makeup and stupidly-expensive, not to mention ugly purses. And that's no fun."

The boy laughed. He tried not to, really he did, but he couldn't help himself. "Not all girls are like that, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," She muttered, "I've heard that speech before. So seriously, dude... You'd better have a damn good reason for creeping on my baby."

He grinned and shifted, throwing the stick over his shoulder. "Come on, you haven't figured it out yet? I thought you were smart! I'm Jack!" He raised his arms like he was expecting applause. "Jack Frost!"

For a second or two, Ashley was wondering just what this guy was on... But then she made the connection. Zach's imaginary friend was supposedly Jack Frost. This guy was claiming he was Jack Frost. And he knew about the hot chocolate.

She gave him a dubious look. "You are shitting me."

The supposed winter spirit grinned cheekily in response. "Nope. If I was it would smell a lot worse in here."

Ashley had been right. It was a very long night...

Author's note~

Aha! Here we are! Some of you have been wondering when in the hell Jack would show up. I originally planned for Ashley to meet him later, but I decided that I could squeeze him in here. If I hadn't, then the whole end of the chapter would have been a lot of sadness and anger, and that would have been the end. So I guess Jack being here sooner was a pretty good thing.

So. Some of you people are making guesses and assumptions about things. Some of you are right about them (not saying any names) and some of you aren't. I don't like to spoil things, especially when those things are still being formed in my brain, but... Let me just say this:

Who said that kids are the only ones who are allowed to have something watch over them? Maybe... just maybe, there's beings out there for everyone else, too, ya dig?

That's all I have to say on that. Now, as always, tell me if I made any mistakes and maybe, if 'd like to make my job a little easier, where it is so I don't have to search through every chapter to find it. I sure as hell appreciate it. Thanks to the amazing people who favorited, followed, reviewed, and read my story.

I hope you get a few laughs out of reading this :)

,BlueAsh666