There was nothing but black around Emiline. She peered into the dark but saw nothing, not even the outline of anything. This was always how the nightmares started but it never scared her. Emiline found all types of dreams, even nightmares, to be interesting. She liked to observe them and they fueled her stories about Pitch, the stories she never dared tell the kids for fear of frightening them. They were horrific stories to say the least and they weren't meant to be told outside of Emiline's head.

"What do you think you're doing little girl?" The voice was smooth as silk and it flowed as easily as water. "Sleeping beside that particular boy will do you no good." Eyes appeared in the darkness, eyes that always reminded Emiline of a solar eclipse. His pupils were the moon, the bright yellow around them the sun's feeble rays trying to shine through, and the grey around them the sky that's color faded without the sun's light.

Pitch had been haunting Emiline almost since the day she had moved to Burgess, just after she had first told one of her stories about the Guardians to the Bennett kids. That night she had been plagued with horrifying dreams that should have sent her into paralyzed fear but only seemed to excite her. Everything about any of the legendary people she knew so much about excited her, even if that particular person was as evil as Pitch. Emiline had thought that maybe the Boogeyman would prove fascinating (he had and she thought that it would be a very interesting event if she ever got to ask him personal questions) but Emiline had not expected the fear she felt every time he was around. It turned out that the Boogeyman himself was one of the few things she feared.

"Pitch, why don't you just leave me alone?" Emiline groaned, running her fingers over her neck like she always did when she was around the Boogeyman. To have at least a little bit of her nervous energy being used was therapeutic.

"Always the brave one at the beginning but at the end you'll be crying like the baby you are." Pitch said, reminding her of how she was always scared out of her wits by then end of his "visits." His evil smile appeared in the dark, sparking thoughts of the Cheshire Cat slowly emerging into existence.

"Not this time Pitch, I'm not going to give you the pleasure of seeing fear on my face." Emiline said defiantly, jutting out her chin as she glared at the King of Nightmares.

Pitch slowly approached her, his body becoming more and more visible as he got closer and closer. He was so skinny with limbs as nimble as a cat's. His fingers were long, perfect for gripping someone's throat. You wouldn't expect much strength from him though, despite his appearance, but if you mistook his build as weak and didn't try very hard in a fight against him then you would most definitely die. Emiline knew for a fact that his grip could crush your arm if he squeezed enough and it wouldn't take much for him to choke you to death. If you believed in him that is and, unfortunately, Emiline did believe. She had believed for so long and she had so much evidence that there was no way she could ever not believe.

As Emiline expected, Pitch pulled her fingers away from her neck to replace them with his own. He gently caressed her neck as he wrapped his hand around her throat. With a snarl, he pulled her into him and practically crushed her against his chest. The Boogeyman leaned down until his lips were brushing Emiline's ears.

"What will it be this time my dearest Emiline? Shall I bring your daddy into the nightmare or should I lock you up in a cage with a monster of my choice?" Pitch whispered in her ear in his dark lullaby voice. Emiline nearly shuddered but she forced herself still. She could feel the Fear King smile against her ear. "Or should I finally play on that big fear? You know the one. The one that combines two of your biggest fears, me and that thing all girls fear." As he said it the Boogeyman ran one of his spidery fingers over the top button on her pants. Emiline squirmed instantly, whimpering like a coward. Pitch found pleasure in her fear and it was apparent in his smile.

"I know a Guardian now Pitch. I can tell him about you." Emiline said numbly, pulling her waist away from him as much as she could which wasn't very far.

Pitch let out a sharp cold laugh. "You think ice cold Jack will save you? Or how about the fluffy Easter Bunny? Oh or maybe you think that tooth fanatic fairy?" He said, chuckling cruelly the whole time. His lips were still so close to her ear and his breath was almost as cold as Jack's, though it was a different kind of cold. It was the cold you get in your heart when fear has you in its claws. "The Guardians can't help you girl. If I killed you, they wouldn't even care." Pitch told her.

Emiline shook her head defiantly. "No, no you're wrong." She said.

"Am I?" The King of Darkness asked, pulling away so he could look her in the eye. Emiline wanted to hold his gaze but she found herself looking away. He forced her head back towards him though so that she was forced to look up at him, forced to meet the eyes that terrified her. "Where are they then you pathetic child? Where are your precious Guardians?" Pitch asked her, his voice filled with a dark triumph as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Emiline!" The shout came out of nowhere, making both of them jump. Their eyes were pulled upwards since that's where the voice had seemed to come from and Emiline was shocked to see a pinpoint of light above them. "Emiline! Wake up Emiline!" The same voice that had shouted before said, this time a bit more insistent. "Emiline!" The voice shouted, panic apparent.

Pitch growled in disgust and released her, pushing Emiline away so roughly that she stumbled backwards. "Stupid boy, always ruining things." He grumbled as the light above grew bigger and bigger by the second. "Send my regards to the snowball Emiline and don't forget to tell him that I have big plans for you girl. Very big plans." The King of Nightmares said with his signature evil grin. His eyes seemed to burn holes in her before they disappeared into the remaining blackness.

Emiline immediately jumped for the light now that Pitch was gone and grasped onto it as tightly as if she was Jack holding onto the raft at the end of the Titanic. She was blinded by it and she shut her eyes.

"Emiline wake up!" Jack's voice was so loud that Emiline's eyes flew open again. She found herself lying on the living room floor of the Bennett house, breathing heavily. Her eyes found Jack's face which was bent over hers in concern. "Thank Manny you're alright! I woke up cause I heard you say Pitch and then all of a sudden you were whimpering and calling out for me and the Guardians and—"

Jack abruptly stopped when he saw her tears. He sat up quickly with a look of panic, obviously he had no idea how to deal with girl's crying. But her tears weren't born from sadness or fear, they were created out of the pure joy she was feeling. A Guardian, one of the people she had always dreamed of meeting, had saved her. Her! Of all the people in the world who needed them and one of them had actually saved her!

Emiline shot up and wrapped her arms around Jack's neck, pulling him into a hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou!" She squealed, giving no pause. She planted a kiss on Jack's cold cheek. "You saved me. Pitch he was—he was going to—It doesn't matter!" Emiline declared. "What matters is that I'm alright and indebted to you."

A soft pink blush had risen to Jack's cheeks. He gently pried her arms off of him, smiling in a bemused but pleased kind of way. Emiline guessed he probably had girls throw themselves at him all the time, once they believed in him that is, so she didn't expect much out of him. Though she had to admit she was delighted by the blush and it made her think of the last time she had given a guy a kiss, not one to the cheek but a true kiss. It had been seventh grade, her first boyfriend who had been a complete and total jerk.

"Indebted? To me? I'd love to hear that from Bunny but not from you." Jack said. He looked thoughtful for a moment and I saw that he was biting the inside of his cheek. "Besides, I don't think North would approve." Jack added.

Emiline shook her head. "I don't care, he'll understand once I've explained it to him. You saved me from something really bad Jack and I owe you for it. I'm indebted to you for it." She said stubbornly. Her chocolate eyes stared steadily into his icy blue ones.

"I always pay my debts Jack. Always."