Jackson gasped and fell off of the bed. He scrambled as far away from the eyes as he could until he hit a wall. He tried to control his fear and his breathing as the eyes came closer. The window opened suddenly, and the eyes darted towards the window, glaring and then disappearing.
A big man came through the window and put a hand on Jackson's shoulder. Jackson shook under the touch.
"It's okay, my boy," the man with the Russian voice gently smiled. He had bright, big blue eyes that shined in the darkness. They helped Jackson calm down. "You must listen to every word I say, though."
"I'll be back in a couple days, promise!" Jackson hollered as he rushed into the field.
The Sandman had stayed with Jackson all night long, and Jackson slept through the rest of the night with fun dreams of playing with his sister. As soon as he was out of sight, he hid his gun (he had told his mother he was going hunting) and ran for the woods.
He ran to the pond where the Guardians were waiting in North's sleigh. He smiled as Bunny helped him into the sleigh and they took off.
"Where we going?" Jackson hopped around.
"North Pole," Bunny growled. "Sit down before you fall out."
Jackson rolled his eyes and plopped down where he was.
"So who was that guy?" Jackson asked.
"Pitch Black," Tooth sighed. "The Boogeyman."
"Manny sent us to protect you, Jackson," North piped up. "Pitch is after you and only Manny knows why, but he won't tell us."
Bunny's ears dropped as Jackson's eyes grew wide in fear.
"Ay, don't worry, ya ankle-biter," Bunny patted Jackson's shoulder. "We won't let him get ya. And once this is all over, it's life back to normal."
Jackson nodded with uncertainty. He looked up cautiously.
"By the way," he requested. "Call me Jack. My mother and sister call me Jackson when they're angry at me."
He all slightly smiled.
At least he trust us, Bunny thought. That's a good start.