"Whoohoo!"
Flying high above the frozen snow-covered ground, his arms outstretched as he caught the cold wind between his fingers, Jack Frost, the newest member of the legendary Guardians of Childhood, let the strong northern current carry him across the skies. Despite having done this for over three hundred years, it was still something Jack couldn't get enough of. The feeling of the cool wind between his fingers and the fact that he was flying, able to look down on the world below, well, there wasn't anything that could beat that.
It had been eight months since the winter spirit had been selected by the mighty yet distant Man in the Moon to become the fifth Guardian and, in all honestly, he didn't feel any different. Yeah it was great being believed in by an increasing amount of children, but he felt like he had been expecting more, better powers or something like that and felt slightly disappointed that a minute he had taken the vows to be a Guardian he hadn't been bestowed with any. But, for now, he was content with being believed in and not being alone anymore and the fact that he had his memories back was also a major bonus. For the first time since his death and transformation into a spirit, he actually had friends. While he still valued his freedom and spending time alone, he had to admit, it was nice to have people around him again, to have friends. While, at times, they were complete and utter pains with their crazy and eccentric ways they were, nonetheless, his friends.
Turning so that he was lying on his back, the clear blue sky reflecting in his ice-blue eyes, the young Guardian's mind reminisced about his fellow Guardians, reflecting on how the five of them were more than friends. Over the past couple of months, Jack had felt as if they all had become a lot closer turning more into a family then a group of friends; a family that, after a somewhat bumpy start what with Pitch and everything, had accepted him with open arms. A smile crossed his face. North was the father-figure of the group, taking control with his deep, booming voice, quickly dispersing arguments, be it between the elves or yetis or (and Jack's smile widened at the image) between Jack himself and Bunny. Bunny. Jack let out a snort as he thought about the 'kangaroo'. The Easter Bunny was like a disapproving uncle, so easy to upset and this was something that, along with snow days, Jack took great pleasure in accomplishing. All it took was one little word or phrase from the winter spirit and the overgrown rabbit would be spitting and foaming at the mouth in outrage. Jack let out a laugh, remembering the other week when he had accidently froze Bunny's mouth to the cup he was drinking from. Jack, of course, hadn't been able to help it. He had been caught up in the moment, waving his arms and staff around when the next thing he knew, Bunny's cup was stuck to his face. Ha, the look on the overgrown rabbit's face had been priceless.
If Bunny was the disapproving uncle, then that made Sandy the cool uncle. Ever since he had been brought back by Jamie and his friends following his sudden death at the hands of Pitch (something Jack had blamed himself for for ages until Sandy had had enough of the moping and self-blame and had given Jack a stern talking to through the use of symbols, telling him that it hadn't been his fault and that there hadn't been anything anyone could have done to prevent it from happening), the two had become close, the sandman occasionally helping him prank the elves or Bunny, not that he ever took the blame. Jack had soon found out that Sandy was able to get out of almost all trouble completely. After all, with his innocent face, no one ever dared point the finger at the oldest of the Guardians. No, Jack was the more likely suspect and rather then put up a fight, Jack took it all in his stride.
And that brought him to Tooth. Tooth was the mother or sister figure of the group, depending on how you looked at it. There were her motherly instincts such as being more attune to people's feelings and how she cared so passionately for others and then there was also how she treated the mini fairies, ensuring that they knew what they were doing and that they were all alright. It was almost as if it was in her nature to put the feelings of others first. But, as well as her motherly aspect, she felt more like a sister to Jack with her hyper activeness and how she could ramble on about anything, through primarily teeth or Jack's teeth to be specific. And while, at times, it frustrated the hell out of him, he could never bring himself to be annoyed by her. That was another thing about Tooth, no matter what, she never annoyed him. She was just too good natured with her warm, adorning smile and her sparkling amethyst eyes that seemed to light up whenever she was holding a newly fallen tooth or near Jack, who found himself increasingly unable to not smile back whenever he felt her gaze on him.
Like Sandy, Jack had found that he had become close to Tooth as well, but for a different reason. Increasingly, he found himself meeting up with her, be it encountering her whilst she was collecting teeth from Burgess or him visiting her at the Tooth Palace whenever he got too bored of spending his days in the Arctic or Antarctica during the summer months, though even now he still found himself visiting the Tooth Fairy's home regularly despite being it being winter in the northern hemisphere. He had no idea why, out of all of the Guardians, it was her whom he visited most, maybe because unlike North and Bunnymund who were constantly compulsively busy in preparing for their respective holidays, she actually made time for him no matter how busy she was (and that was always).
During the time that the two spent together, they had discussed everything and nothing at all, often spending some of their time in what began as uncomfortable silence, but, as the two grew accustomed with each other, turned into a comfortable silence. It was almost as if they knew each other so well that words didn't need to be spoken. Also, Jack had come to discover how alike they both were. Originally he had just thought that she was a hyperactive, tooth-loving fairy who could talk forever, but the more time they spent together, he realised that it was a façade. Though she never directly told him, he could tell that deep down, Tooth was just as lonely as he was. When he had found this out, he had been greatly surprised; she was surrounded by little fairies after all but she could sense that they didn't give her the comfort or companionship she needed. She was alone in a sea of faces.
Turning onto his front, he let out a heavy sigh as he gazed upon the frozen earth beneath him. He always felt a pang on his heart whenever he thought about that. Someone as kind and spirited as she was wasn't supposed to be alone. He had been alone for three-hundred years so he knew exactly what it felt like, but Tooth had been a spirit for a lot longer and he could only guess that her loneliness must be a lot worse considering she was actually surrounded by others constantly. But at least she now had him for company and he had her.
Jack shook his head. What was he doing thinking about Tooth so much? That was something he had slowly found himself doing more and more. He hoped that Sandy wouldn't find out that his thoughts were beginning to constantly drift to the Tooth Fairy. He'd never hear the end of it. How had he even arrived at thinking about her?
Ah. Family. That was it. After three-hundred years he had a family again, a dysfunctional, exuberant family but a family nonetheless. It was a nice feeling to be included once more, though he knew it would never replace his original family. Following the defeat of Pitch, Tooth had allowed him to see the remainder of his memories and, along with his sister, he had seen his parents and the loving, fun memories that he had shared with them. After, he had pleaded with Tooth to allow him to see his sister's memories, to make sure that she had been alright after his death, but she had adamantly refused. They weren't his memories to see, she had told him, though he had seen the sorrow and pity in her amethyst eyes.
He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. His thoughts were drifting back to her, again. What was the matter with him? Opening his eyes, a bright smile crossed his face and he spotted something on the horizon, his ice-blue eyes sparkling with glee. With a 'whoop', he swooped into a small town, soaring through the streets towards his destination, admiring his handiwork as he cast additional patches of ice across the ground and buildings, trying hard not to laugh as passing people slipped, but he couldn't stop the toothy, amused grin from appearing.
As the breeze carried him through the streets, his smile widened upon hearing one of his favourite sounds: the laughter of children having fun. Directing the wind in the direction of the sound, he soon arrived at the snow-covered park where a group of children were in the middle of a snowball fight. They had split into two teams, one on either side of the park, separated by two solid walls of snow, as if they had built forts.
Landing in a tree overlooking the battlefield, his feet creating a fresh, delicate pattern of ice on the thick branch, Jack tuned his ears, seeking out the laughter of a specific child and as soon as he heard the young boy's voice, he let out a snigger. Jumping into the air, the wind carried him over to one of the teams, silently landing behind the three crouched children, all of whom were dressed in thick winter coats with woolly scarves, gloves and wellie boots. Two also wore hats, one pink and woolly, the other a beige colour with a white fur trim, while the third had a crazy mass of dark hair which stuck up in all directions.
"So, who's winning?" he asked as soon as his bare feet touched the icy ground.
All three children gasped with surprise and there was a splatting sound as one of them dropped the snowball they had been about to throw. In unison, they slowly turned around, their eyes wide.
"J-Jack?" Jamie Bennett stammered as his eyes rested on the beaming Guardian. "Jack!" His face broke out into a smile as he rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Jack's waist.
The white-haired boy inwardly grimaced for the briefest of seconds. Moments of touch like this still took him by surprise, be it from Jamie or Tooth or, well, anyone, but he was slowly getting used to it. Smiling, Jack gently patted the eight-year old's shoulder. "You only saw me yesterday."
Pulling away, Jamie nodded. "I know." His cheeks had turned a reddish colour. From the cold or embarrassment, Jack couldn't tell.
"Hello Cupcake, Claude." Looking past Jamie, he waved at the youngster's two companions, both looking delighted at the fact that Jack had joined them. "So, who's winning?" he asked once more.
Cupcake frowned. "They are." She jabbed a pink-gloved finger in the direction of the other team.
"That's 'cos there's four of them," Claude pointed out, jumping slightly at the sound of a snowball hitting the wall behind him.
"We can't have that, can we?" Jack smiled and directed the head of his staff towards the ground. He moved it across the snow, snowballs suddenly appearing as the staff passed.
"Cool, thanks Jack!" Jamie beamed happily.
"No problem." He placed his hand on top of Jamie's head, feeling the soft fabric of the hat under his fingers and ruffling up the boy's hair, making his hat tilt to one side, covering his right eye.
Jamie squirmed with discomfort while Cupcake and Claude laughed at their friend, taking great pleasure in his distress.
A couple of snowballs shattered against the wall as a voice yelled, "Are you guys still playing or not?"
Straightening himself out, Jamie picked up one of the snowballs Jack had made and carefully tossed it in his hand. A menacing smile crossed his face. "Let's do this." And without further ado, he crawled to the edge of the wall before quickly standing up and throwing the ball of snow as powerfully as he could before ducking back down. They waited, listening to see if it would hit a human target. Unfortunately, they heard it hit the wall protecting the other team.
"Ha ha! Missed!"
Jamie groaned.
Claude tossed his own snowball in his hand. "Tsk. Pippa's so confident," he moaned as Cupcake threw her snowball over the wall.
Jamie nodded in agreement. "That's Pippa."
A thought suddenly crossed Jack's mind and he smile broadly. "I've got an idea," he informed them, picking up one of the snowballs. With three pairs of eyes watching him, Jack gently blew onto the ball of snow which sparkled a light blue colour. "Try this," he said, still smiling as he handed it to Jamie.
Jamie took it apprehensively, staring at it with tentative eyes. He looked up at Jack, who nodded reassuringly. Taking a breath, he stood up and threw the ball before ducking out of sight as a ball from the opposing team narrowly missed his head.
The four of them waited with abated breath. The three children were nervous while Jack looked positively excited, almost bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
"Wait for it…" he murmured under his breath.
And then they heard it. A cry of "What the –?" followed by a loud splatting sound and Pippa's scream echoing across the park.
"Boo-yah!" Jack laughed as he swung his arm in triumph.
Jamie, Cupcake and Claude stared at each other for the briefest of moments before they too started laughing. The sound resonated across the park, silencing Pippa's scream.
Claude picked up another snowball. "Let's try this." He stood up, ready to throw but instead, he let out a gasp and took a step back. "P-P-Pippa." The laughter instantly died in the back of everyone's throats.
Jamie and Cupcake quickly scrambled to their feet as Claude dropped the ball, fear etched across the trio's faces. Jack had an amused look on his face.
In front of them stood Pippa, the other girl in Jamie's group of friends. A look of utter fury was on her face and it was easy to see why. Her face was wet with flecks of snow while both the rim of her trademark white, woolen hat and the collar of her pale green coat were saturated. "Jamie Bennett!" she growled.
Jamie visibly trembled. He raised a shaking hand. "J-J-J-Jack did it."
Pippa put her hands on her hips. "Jack? Jack who?"
Jack shuddered at this, his heart skipping a beat. Had she already forgotten him? Only yesterday they had all been building snowmen together.
However, his worries were soon put to rest as her wandering eyes settled on him and rounded with surprise. Her frown instantly replaced with a smile. "Jack!" In one swift move, she bounded over the wall and ran over to the winter spirit, pushing Jamie out of the way in the process.
"Sorry Pippa. Didn't mean to get you in the face," he apologised, though the smile never left his face.
The girl shook her head. "That's alright, but," she turned, rounding on the three friends, "you had Jack Frost on your team. That's cheating! That isn't fair!"
"Yeah it is. Four against four," Jack quickly pointed out.
"What?" Pippa turned to him, confused. "Who told you that? It's only me, Monty and Caleb over there."
Jack continued to smile as he pointed at Jamie. Of course he had known that it had been three against three, but he just couldn't resist getting involved. He was the Guardian of Joy after all.
"Jamie Bennett!" Pippa picked up a snowball and chucked it directly into Jamie's face.
The young boy sputtered, wiping the freezing snow from his face. "N-no fair," he stammered, shaking from the sudden cold. "Claude's the one that said it."
Pippa turned back to Jack. "Bu you said –"
"Oops. My mistake." Jack held up his hands in his mock defence.
Pippa let out a sound that was between a frustrated groan and a scream before she started chucking snowballs as hard and fast as she could at Jamie and Claude, while Jack and Cupcake laughed. The slim girl soon had the two boys cowered at her feet, hands over their heads in a desperate attempt to protect themselves from the continuous onslaught of snow.
Still laughing heartedly, Jack back flipped, landing on the top of his staff, his balance perfect. "Why don't you go and get Monty and Caleb," he suggested to Cupcake. "We can have a big game then and I'm sure they'll want to see those two getting their asses kicked by Pippa."
Cupcake let out a gasp at the word 'asses', but Jack didn't notice as he turned back to watching Pippa and the two boys. The portly girl then nodded and took off across the snowy dunes to retrieve the remaining two members of the group. She arrived back a couple of minutes later, Pippa having finally calmed down, while Jamie and Claude were soaked with snow, their teeth chattering from the cold. Jack was still perched on top of his staff, grinning broadly. Upon seeing the state of their two friends, both Caleb and Monty had burst out laughing.
"I-i-it's n-n-ot f-f-f-funny," Claude scolded, but his teeth were chattering too much for the words to come out in an angry manner and this only caused his brother and friend to burst out into new fits of laughter.
"I-i-it's all J-J-Jack's f-f-fault," Jamie added, patting his cheeks in an attempt to get some of the feeling back.
Still laughing, Monty and Caleb turned to Jack who simply held up his hands and said, "I didn't do anything." A mischievous grin was on his face, telling the two boys that he did, in fact, play a role in what had happened. But neither of them cared who had been behind it. The fact that they had seen a magical snowball hit Pippa directly in her face and then that both Claude and Jamie had felt her wrath was more than enough for them.
Claude held a trembling out to his twin. "G-gimme y-your h-hat," he whimpered. His hair was flat against his head, weighed down by the snow and he looked almost unrecognisable.
Caleb looked aghast at this and clutched his red beanie firmly to his head. "No way." He shook his head. No way was he going to give his brother his favourite hat and get it soaked with snow.
Smiling, Monty adjusted his glasses. "So much for brotherly love."
Claude gritted his teeth.
"Let's start a new game. That'll warm everyone up," Jack suggested and upon hearing excited cries of agreement, he stood to his full height, about to jump off of his staff when something in the sky caught his attention and he paused. His pale eyes narrowing, he saw the wave of blue, pink and turquoise across the sky. It was the Northern Lights. His mouth opened slightly in surprise, feeling a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. North was summoning him, but why? It had to be important. North had told him that it was his way of summoning the Guardians which meant something must be happening. Something big. He frowned.
"Jack, what's wrong?" Jamie's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Sorry guys," he apologised, looking down at the group, "but I've got to go." He jumped off of his staff, landing on the snow-covered ground.
"Why?" Jamie whined unhappily. He hated seeing Jack leave and they had barely had any fun together today. "You only just got here."
The other five children shared Jamie's sentiments. They all looked at the winter spirit with round, pleading eyes, begging him not to go. Jack sighed. He hated saying no to them, but North was calling him. He had to go.
"Don't worry," he told them, smiling, "I'll be back before you know it." He allowed the wind to scoop him up and with a final farewell to the children, he headed off in the direction of the North Pole, becoming increasingly worried as to what was going on.
#
The North Pole was a bustle of activity. Toys of various shapes, sizes and types covered every surface with large, shaggy yetis bustling over them, adding the last minute detail before moving on to the next. Small elves weaved in between the yetis and workstations, the bells on their hats jingling merrily, through the tuneful sound could barely be heard over the commotion of toys being sorted and of the yetis mumbling and growling at each other.
North, also known as Nicholas or Father Christmas, strolled into the workshop, his thick arms swinging and his face set with determination. He was a man on a mission. He stopped at a station where a white-grey yeti was carefully finishing painting a plane a pale green colour. North frowned and raised a tattooed arm. "I do not like it. Paint it darker."
The yeti looked at him with his small beady eyes before back at the plane in his hand. It was the last one. He let out a groan and hung his head. He was going to have to repaint all of them!
North continued through the workshop, checking every single toy, giving nods and directions on where toys could be improved. He reminded the yetis that they had to hurry up. There were only a few more weeks until Christmas and there was still so much to do.
With one final glance, he checked that everything was going well before turning and pushing open the large wooden doors that led into the Globe Room. Stepping inside, the doors slamming shut behind him, he looked up at the enormous golden globe which blinked brightly with the millions of shining lights that signalled the believing children all over the world.
Looking around, he saw that Bunny was hunched in a corner of the room, carefully paining what looked like an Easter egg. North frowned.
"Bunny! Why you no paint train?" He pointed at the discarded, half finished wooden train at Bunny's feet.
At the sound of North's voice, Bunny had jumped, almost dropping the egg and knocking over the small paint pot. "Aah, ha ha. Y'see mate, Easter's coming up…" the humanoid-esqe grey bunny trailed off, picking up the pot before the paint could spill onto the floor.
"Yes, yes. But Christmas." North scolded. Christmas was much more important than Easter, it was a priority.
Bunny nodded and hastily pocketed the egg before picking up the half-finished train. Under North's stern glare, he quickly resumed his painting. Normally he would have put up more of a fight considering Easter was only three or four months after Christmas, but with the festive season so close, he knew better then to anger North.
North strolled across the room to where Sandy was floating a couple of inches above the ground – sleeping. Rolling his eyes, he nudged the golden sandman with his foot in an attempt to wake him up. It didn't work. "Sandy, wake up!" he yelled, nudging him once more.
Sandy's eyes shot open and behind him, North heard the sound of something being dropped before Bunny let out a curse word. The Guardian of Wonder closed his eyes and took a breath, praying that the giant rabbit hadn't just broken the train. Turning round, his frowned appeared once more as he saw Tooth fluttering in front of Bunny, obviously helping him with the train he had broken.
"Tooth, do not help. Bunny must fix. You too busy."
Tooth gasped and quickly turned around while Bunny shoved the train behind his back, out of North's sight. "I was just," she began, but stopped upon seeing the look on his face and she flew back to her own work station. Sandy also went back to his.
North resisted the urge to let out a groan. Christmas was only five weeks away! Sometimes he was sure that the Guardians were worse than the elves when it came to helping out. Sandy would keep falling asleep, Tooth would either be checking on her fairies or helping someone else instead of concentrating on her task while Bunny always ended up painting his eggs ready for his own holiday and Jack… wait, where was Jack?
As if on cue, the doors of the workshop burst open and two yetis appeared, one of them with brown and white fur had a firm hold on the missing Guardian while the second carried his staff. The yeti carrying Jack dumped him unceremoniously on the floor, growling to North that the young spirit had been caught sneaking in – again.
Jack frowned as he picked himself up off the floor, snatching his staff out of the other yeti's hands, resisting the urge to freeze the two. "It's not my fault you never actually told me how to get into this place," he muttered, scowling as he dusted himself off. He turned to the yeti that had carried him. "You didn't have to grip so hard, you know, Phil."
Phil let out a gruff-like sound as he rolled his eyes before storming out of the room, closely followed by the other yeti. The doors closed behind them.
"Jack Frost!" North's voice boomed with his deep Russian accent, despite being in close proximity to Jack.
"'Bout time you got here," Bunny grumbled, hopping over, leaving the broken train behind.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, looking around the room. He spotted Sandy and gave him a wave. "Hey, Sandy."
The sandman smiled and waved back.
Jack turned back to Bunny. "I just got the summons, you stupid kangaroo."
"S-stupid kangaroo?!" Bunny stuttered. He was about to retort with some choice words when Tooth whizzed past him, quickly stopping in front of Jack.
"Hello, Jack," she said, a warm smile on her face, her bright eyes scanning his pale face.
"Uh, h-hi, Tooth," he replied, tripping over his words slightly. He mentally kicked himself. What was the matter with him? He was just saying 'hi' to her, something he did a lot, but her sudden presence had startled him somewhat.
"It's nice of you to join us," she continued, apparently not noticing Jack's stumbling.
"Finally," Bunny muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jack frowned. "I just got the summons." He paused. "How long have you guys been here?"
"A day or so," Tooth replied. "It's nearly Christmas which means all hands on deck. Hang on, what do you mean 'summons'?"
"The Northern Lights," Jack replied, becoming increasingly confused. "North told me he only used them if it was something important. I thought something had happened."
Tooth turned to North. "You used the Northern Lights? Why?" She wore a look of shock on her face.
North shrugged his large shoulders. "Seemed quickest."
"Quickest?!" Bunny cried, aghast. "But, but what about sending the yetis through a portal or, or sending me? We could have brought him back quicker."
North paused, his mouth open slightly. It appeared those ideas had never crossed his mind. "Yetis busy. You busy. Does not matter," he said, waving a hand, dismissing what Bunny had said. "Jack is here now. Can put him to work."
"W-work?" Jack felt his blood drain. "But I have other things to do."
North walked over and placed his hand firmly on Jack's shoulder. "World will be fine without snow for few days. Come, I have job for you."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is going on?" He dug his heels into the ground as North began to drag him across the room to a workstation, but his efforts were futile as the large Russian was a lot stronger than him. He looked around for help, but the other three Guardians had retreated back to their work.
North stopped at a table covered with wooden nutcrackers in the shape of soldiers. "Jack, you paint," he instructed, placing a small paintbrush in the younger Guardian's hand. "Paint," he ordered, waving a hand at the nutcrackers.
Jack swallowed. He had never painted anything before. Resting his staff against the table, he picked up the nearest soldier and looked at the pallet on paint in front of him. Red, navy blue, brown, black. He sighed. Dull, boring colours. Feeling North's eyes on him, he dipped the tip of the brush into the red paint before placing the brush on the arm of the nutcracker and painted it red.
North nodded, satisfied and walked off, leaving Jack to work.
Sensing that he had gone, Jack looked across at Tooth who was closest to him. "Hey, Tooth."
She looked up at him quizzically.
"What's going on?"
She put down the doll she had been working on. "Every Christmas North forces us to help out," she told him.
"What? But what about your other jobs?"
Tooth shrugged her shoulders. "Bunny brings his work, even though he isn't supposed to and every hour or so, one of my fairies brings me an update." She glanced over at Sandy who was sorting out a pile of thick, leather bound books. "I don't really know about Sandy though." She looked back at him and gave him a small smile.
Jack let out a groan. "This is ridiculous. How long are we supposed to be here for anyway?"
The Tooth Fairy pursed her lips momentarily before replying. "Until Christmas."
Jack's jaw dropped. He was supposed to stay here and work until Christmas?! His heart began to beat wildly against his chest. He couldn't stay here for five weeks! He had to get out. He had to get out!
A petite hand on his shoulder made him jump and he turned to see Tooth hovering just behind him. She had a worried expression on her face.
"Are you alright?"
He slowly nodded. "I can't stay here for five weeks!"
She smiled brightly at him and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, feeling the coldness on her fingers. "He does let us out once in a while."
Her reassuring smile and touch seemed to having a calming effect on him and he felt his heart beat steady once more. That was the thing about Tooth, she was able to calm him down regardless.
Sensing that Jack was now alright, she said, "I'd better get back to it. North is in a bad mood as it is." She let out a soft giggle before fluttering back over to her station.
"Thank you," Jack called when she was halfway across. She turned and smiled brightly before nodding at him. He smiled back and she appeared to blush before quickly turning around. He unconsciously placed his hand on the part of his shoulder Tooth had touched. There was still a soft warmth radiating and while Jack usually hated the heat, he found Tooth's warmth natural and calming and it was surprised to have found that he didn't mind that sensation at all. His thoughts drifting back to the fairy once more, he sighed and looked back at the half painted soldier. What was he doing? He let out a groan and stretched back, looking up at the silvery moon above. It wasn't night yet but the moon was hovering directly above them. Maybe it was something it had always done, ready to call on the Guardians when needed.
As he looked up, a dark shadow crossed over the face of the moon for the briefest moment. Jack blinked and straightened up. What was that? He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was just seeing things, just a flicker of his imagination. Looking back across the room, his eyes rested on Sandy. The golden sandman was looking up at the moon, a worried look on his face which told Jack that he too had seen something. And it wasn't good.