"You- what? You already knew?" Jamie spluttered, glaring at his sister. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"That's because I knew you would get all worked up like... right now," Sophie replied, with nonchalance that only angered her brother even more. "Besides, I think it's really up to dad to choose whoever he wants to be and what he wants to do."
Jamie fixed Sophie with a weird look. "You seem to forget the fact that he's your father as well," he said. "You mean, you don't care if he runs off with another woman? Or how upset he made mom? Or how she's now forced to work two jobs a day just to keep us going?"
Sophie rolled her eyes. "You're so good at overreacting, Jamie. Well, no, I have not forgotten that he's my father; I'm 11, not a century-old. Things weren't so good between him and mom, so why bother staying together? Would you like it if mom and dad quarreled and argued each day, like they've got nothing better to do? Don't you think life will be even more miserable? Your anger is clouding your ability to see reason and think properly. At least now dad's happy. For mom... well, she was kinda... I don't really know how to put it."
Jamie scowled. "You'd better tell me everything."
Sophie sighed. "Dad left us with very little. Mom keeps sending the money out to someone. Said she wanted to pay debts or something. I think she really is paying debts, but for someone else. I'm not really sure about that. But it's a lot. She won't tell dad about it, thus their arguments. Anyway, they were already drifting apart, what with dad's 24-hours-a-day job and their inability to communicate and get-along. Dad promised he'll still visit us, though."
"Yeah, and the King is my uncle," Jamie snapped. "He's gone overseas with that lady. Probably won't be back for some time. Why does everyone tell you everything anyway?"
Sophie looked slightly surprised. "Really? He has? Now, that's something no one told me," she said. "People tell me things because I ask and... well, implore, but I acquire most of the information by eavesdropping and being around instead of daydreaming and fantasizing about legends and Guardians."
In that moment of silence, the crunch of gravel from the porch could be heard distinctly, signalling that Mrs. Bennett was home. Sophie shot her brother a smile and resumed eating. Jamie, however, raced up to his bedroom, flung himself onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He didn't even notice a certain winter spirit hovering outside his window, watching him.
#
Jamie was walking through a thronged street, the buzz of chatter and rumbling sounds of passing vehicles, and the stench of exhaust filling his senses. It was a warm summer's day and beads of sweat was trickling down the side of his face. He felt weak and tired and all he wanted to do was flop down onto one of the benches at the side and drift off to sleep, but all of them seemed to be occupied by tramps dressed in costumes you would usually see on Mardi Gras.
"Jamie Bennett!"
Jamie turned sharply. He recognised that voice; well, it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it at that moment. However, upon turning, he saw that lady again, and it clicked. He scowled deeply. Why was she calling him? As he watched, a devilish smile creeped onto her face and she suddenly came charging towards him, whizzing through the crowd with ease, her hands outstretched and her nails were growing rapidly into long, sharp talons. Jamie tried to run, but it seemed like his feet had been glued to the ground, and the lady was soon beside him, her hands closing around his neck, the talons digging into his skin, when suddenly he was able to move again. He sprinted through the crowd, passing through everyone. The lady ran after him in hot pursuit. The people around him were melting into shadows as the sun was suddenly blocked out, plunging the place into total darkness, save for the lights from the shops. Jamie looked ahead and recognised the cafe he worked at and rushed into it.
The manager beamed at him from behind the bar and Jamie felt a sense of security. He turned back to see that the lady was already gone, but there was a blizzard outside. Turning back to face the front, he scanned the cafe and spotted a table in the corner occupied by five familiar figures.
"Jack! Guardians!" he exclaimed.
The five of them turned and smiled broadly upon seeing him. They waved and he ran towards them, but halfway there, the ground opened up all of a sudden and he fell through, into infinite space.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Then a living room appeared beneath him and he found himself falling straight towards a sofa. He fell onto it, the breath knocked out of him for a minute and saw, not far off, in a loveseat, his father and that same lady cuddling and looking perfectly content. Behind the sofa, his mother sat on the floor, looking frail and old and worn out. Jamie leaped to his feet and took off in the direction of the only door in the room. He pulled it open and walked straight into a bedroom he recognised. Estella's. Turning around for a moment, he discovered the door had disappeared.
"Hello, Jamie."
Jamie turned and saw, sitting on the bed, Estella, with a sleeping Sophie, who looked to be around eight. He took a few cautious steps towards them, in case the ground should open up again or something else.
"Estella! You're here!" he exclaimed.
The 12-year old still looked as radiant as ever, in a blue frock and long blonde locks framing a healthy face with rosy cheeks and smiling eyes. She looked nothing like the listless girl Jamie remembered. As he spoke, she put a finger to her lips and looked at Sophie. Just then, there was the soft clip-clopping sound of hooves and a unicorn appeared out of nowhere, cantering silently around the room.
"Yes, I am," she replied.
"Wait, does that mean that I'm dreaming?" Jamie asked.
Estella cocked her head to one side, pondering that question. "Well, you did fall through the floor of a cafe. And that door did vanish."
Jamie fixed her with a bewildered look. "A lot has happened, hasn't it?" he said, his face falling, as he remembered the scene outside the vanished door. Suddenly, he felt on the verge of tears.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Estella asked, her tone gentle.
Jamie ruminated. Perhaps he needed to cry on, and since it couldn't be Sophie, or Jack, at the moment, what about Estella? That, if she was real. "I... think so."
"Hold on a second," his cousin said, all of a sudden. "I would really like to hear about your problems and help you in any way I can, but right now, that can't happen." There was a short pause before she continued. "You're totally distressed, Jamie. We probably don't have much time before something crazy happens in your subconscious." There was a hint of a smile on her face. Jamie's eyes slowly traveled to the unicorn. "And we can't have a conversation when crazy things are happening, can we?" She gave him a sympathetic look.
"No, I guess not," Jamie replied, not sure what to say. "Is... the unicorn considered crazy?"
Before Estella could reply, the room started to rumble and all of a sudden, translucent frost rabbits started pouring out from the walls by the dozen. Jamie recognised them as the same rabbits as the one he had seen on the night he believed in Jack Frost. He turned to look at Estella, who was smiling at him.
"You need to find place in your subconscious, Jamie. Then perhaps..."
Before Estella could respond, the room began to disintegrate, along with the frost bunnies and the unicorn. A crack formed in Estella and Sophie's bodies and they began to crumble with it.
"No!" Jamie yelled, lurching forwards. Estella's mouth opened one last time...
"Toc, toc, toc." She began making soft knocking sounds and Jamie suddenly felt himself falling again...
#
Jamie woke with a start, someone knocking on the window. He didn't have to look to know it was Jack. Who else would knock on his window?
Jamie got out of bed, still feeling groggy, and let Jack in. The Guardian of Fun flew in, causing the temperature in the room to drop several degrees and perched himself on the desk. "Are you okay?" he asked, his tone dripping with concern.
Jamie flopped down onto his bed. His thoughts wandered momentarily to the dream he had. His conversation with Estella... it had seemed so real. Like she was really there. "I'm okay," he responded, though it sounded like he was obviously not.
"Tell me about it," Jack said.
"Nothing crazy will happen, right?" Jamie asked, cautiously. The winter spirit laughed.
"What sort of crazy?"
Jamie looked around, warily. "I don't know... frost bunnies?"
Jack fixed him with a weird and slightly bewildered look. "It's not Easter." He smiled a little. "Anyway, shouldn't you be getting to work?"
Jamie turned sharply to check the time and began panicking when he saw he had only five minutes before his shift began. "I'm late!" he exclaimed, as though it wasn't obvious enough, and began getting dressed at top speed, pulling on his coat and shoes as the winter spirit watched, amused. "See you later, Jack!" he called as he headed towards the door.
"Hey, Jamie!" Jack called. "It's Saturday! I don't think the cafe's opened, or did they suddenly decided to change that?"
Jamie halted in his tracks. His eyes traveled over to a calendar hanging on the wall and sure enough, it was a Saturday. The boy groaned and returned to his bedroom. "Thanks a lot, Jack," he said.
Jack let out a burst of laughter. "You should've seen yourself!"
Jamie sank into his chair at his desk. "Yeah, behold, Jamie, the world's most amusing boy," he said, in a gloomy tone.
"Is there something you need to talk about?" Jack asked again.
Jamie turned to stare at the guardian. "What was Sandman doing last night?"
"Creating dreams?"
"That's good to know. Can I, like, speak to him right now?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Had a weird dream last night?"
Jamie turned back to face the wall. "I wouldn't exactly call it a dream. More like... a semi-nightmare."
Jack got down from his perch. "Perhaps what you need is a little break. And a little fun." He dragged Jamie off the chair. "Come on."
"We already went to the arcade yesterday," the boy protested. Jamie didn't exactly feel like having fun at the moment.
"Who said anything about the arcade and other forms of fun like it? What do you say we take a trip down to... let's say, the Warren?"
Jamie looked up, his eyes lit. "Seriously?"
"No, of course not, I'm just kidding," Jack replied. "Obviously, I'm serious. I mean, you went to Tooth's palace previously, right?"
Jamie smiled slightly. "Right. Fine. Take me there."
Sorry for the late update! School has been hellish. :-(
Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! :-)