Sophie hurried along the second floor corridor and halted outside the door to her brother's bedroom. The latter had been out the whole day with a couple of friends and was probably taking a nap. Or daydreaming, or perhaps chatting with his imaginary friends.

Sophie pressed her ear against the wooden door, trying to catch any sounds of chatter. There was none. She couldn't help thinking that it was rather odd. The next day would be Easter, but Jamie hadn't mentioned a single thing about it, unlike how he usually would.

"No more Easter Bunny tales?" Sophie had said to herself. "Aw, that would be kind of sad. No more teasing Jamie."

The 12- year old recalled previous Easters, when their father had been with them. They would have Easter dinners along with other relatives who lived around Burgess. Then there were those effervescent egg hunts, in which Jamie and Sophie had never failed to participate in. Back then, she believed in the Easter Bunny, and that included Jamie's tales of her misadventures in the Warren. She felt like a fool.

She used to enjoy listening to Jamie's tale of the Guardians and the children battling the Nightmare King, despite having listened to it a hundred times before, as she couldn't really remember much of it, having been only two, except that there was plenty of golden sand a tall furry bunny.

"I wonder if there's a Guardian of Love," she had once said to herself, only a few months back. "Perhaps it's Cupid. But whoever it is, whether I believe in them or not, will definitely be getting a piece of my mind should I ever meet them. I'm ready to bet it was their fault mom and dad separated."

Jamie answered the door almost immediately after Sophie knocked, which meant he hadn't been taking a nap. The 12- year old cast glances around the room, wondering if there were any other supernatural beings.

"There's just me," Jamie said.

"Fine," Sophie half-snapped. "Easter is tomorrow."

"So?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "So you're not going to do anything?"

It was Jamie's turn to raise his eyebrows questioningly. "Do what? What's there to do for Easter? There's no dinner this year, many of our relatives have moved out of Burgess to further, more interesting places and dad's not going to be with us and..."

"I heard mom wanted to take us to our aunt in the countryside."

Jamie's eyes widened. "I'm not going to back to that gloomy manor!"

Sophie grinned. "Why? Afraid Estella's ghost haunts the place?"

Jamie scowled. "Not at all. I'm not afraid of ghosts. And I'm pretty sure if Estella is still there, she doesn't haunt the whole place, just her own bedroom."

"Seriously, Jamie Bennett."

"Get real, Sophie Bennett."

"No mentions of a certain rabbit? How strange..." Sophie responded, with a small smile, as she watched her brother flop down on his bed.

"It's pretty pointless, as it seems someone has already stopped believing," Jamie said, still scowling. "Tsk, tsk. What a pity. Perhaps there is a way I can make you believe?"

Sophie frowned. "No. These creatures are not real. How can you even believe in some old wives' tale? And have an imaginary friend called Jack Frost? You know, I heard from some of my friends that you were talking to yourself in the corridor in school about a week ago! That's embarrassing!"

"What's so embarrassing about it?" Jamie snapped, defensively.

"Everyone thinks I've got an insane brother who has conversations with himself and who waves at the wind outside the window!"

"Well, everyone knows I have a sister who has absolutely no idea how to have fun!"

"Of course I know how to have fun! It's you..."

Sophie was cut off by the appearance of Mrs. Bennett in the doorway of Jamie's bedroom. She seemed to be much better compared to her condition several months before. Jamie was pleased to see that those events had helped toughened her out.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking from Jamie to Sophie and back again. "Are you two fighting?"

"Nah, just having a discussion," Jamie replied, lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Then why was I able to hear your voices all the way from the bottom of the stairs?" said Mrs. Bennett. "Come on, you two, Easter is tomorrow."

Jamie sat straight up. "Mom, we're not going to the Warrens', are we?" he asked.

Sophie burst into a fit of giggles. "You completely fell for it!" Jamie eyed her with a dangerous look, which made her glare back. The boy's heart sank. The old Sophie would've cowered or ran out, or hide behind their mother. She would've been sorry. But the new Sophie, the grown-up one, was becoming rebellious.

"No, I never thought of it," Mrs. Bennett said, not noticing the death glares her children were exchanging. "But I'm glad you mentioned it, Jamie. Mrs. Warren is all alone with just the servants to accompany her. Perhaps we could go there for Easter."

"Mom!" Jamie half-yelled. "You can't be serious! It'll be the gloomiest Easter we've ever had!"

"I hear the place isn't so gloomy anymore," responded Mrs. Bennett.

"Yeah, right. After Estella died, I'm pretty sure it fell into disrepair. Anyway, I'm not going to that depressing place."

"Suit yourself," Sophie spoke. "Mom and I are going."

Mrs. Bennett nodded. "Yeah, why not? Jamie, if you don't want to come with us, it doesn't matter. You're old enough to be left on your own, right?"

"No, you can't go!" Jamie said, scrambling out of bed. "Please, mom! Don't go!"

Mrs. Bennett half-laughed. "Jamie Bennett, when you turned 15, you were begging me to let you live on your own, go out at night with friends and such. And now, I'm leaving you home alone to do whatever you like, and you don't want me to go?"

"Yeah, like I told you, mom. He's becoming odd. And that doesn't include hallucinating and talking to imaginary friends named Jack Frost," Sophie said, sticking out her tongue at Jamie like a little kid.

"Sophie, that's enough," Mrs. Bennett chided, before turning back to her son. "You sure you're not going to come with us?" she asked. "Because the more I think about it, the more I think we should go."

"I'm coming with you," Jamie said. "I'm not spending Easter alone."

"You have your friends, you won't be alone," Sophie remarked.

"Shut up, you little rugrat!" Jamie snarled at his sister, getting a look from their mother. "Sorry, mom," he mumbled. "She's just so annoying."

Mrs. Bennett chose to ignore the last line. "We'll be leaving this evening. Get packing."

As soon as both women were out of his room, Jamie hurriedly scribbled a note and stuck it to his window before starting to pack. That night, when the winter spirit came over to finalise the plans, he would see that it read, 'Change of plans. Am heading to Warren Manor. The manor, not Bunny's place, but I don't think you're that stupid. Meet me there. Old plans may still work. Yours sincerely, Jamie.'

Too many dialogues, I know. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading! Please review.