Jamie sat at the head of his bed, resting against the headboard, a dark blue dressing gown covered the upper part of his body with a blanket draped over his shoulders, as he stared longingly out of the window at the snow-covered landscape, hazily lit by a streetlamp, a steaming cup of hot chocolate between his small hands. The bedroom was dimly lit with an artificial yellow light from the lamp on the bedside table. It had long stopped snowing, the sky having turned to black a couple of hours ago, and Jamie dreaded the thought of going to school the next day. He knew there wasn't going to be a snow day. He had already heard the plough trucks go by, clearing the roads of snow and something told him that Jack wasn't going to be coming back that night, which meant no snow or ice.

Curling his fingers around the cup, grateful for the warmth that radiated off of it, the youngster let out a sigh. He was disappointed with how little he had seen Jack that day. Of course he was used to not seeing the winter spirit for days on end, especially during the summer months, but today had been a snow day and that usually meant that spending a vast majority of the day with Jack, having fun, building snowmen, sledging, having huge snowball fights like they were supposed to today, but instead he had been called away.

Pulling his pyjama-covered knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, making sure that he didn't spill any of his drink, Jamie let out another sigh and rested his chin on his knees. He knew he was being selfish, that Jack's role as a Guardian was more important than playing games, but maybe it was because he had become so accustomed to seeing Jack on an almost daily basis during winter that he felt the way he did.

He wondered what could be taking Jack so long. If the other Guardians had summoned him, then it had to be important, but what? From what he could tell from what Jack had told him, the Guardians didn't meet up that often since they were all incredibly busy and other than Jack, Jamie had only seen the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman because they had been in Burgess and Jack had dragged them down to say 'hello'. If they were all meeting up now, then it had to be because something was happening.

He thought back to when he had last seen all five of the together. It had been Easter, when they had all battled Pitch Black. That had been months ago. He couldn't imagine not seeing his friends for months on end. Didn't the Guardians ever get lonely? He shook his head. Of course not. Father Christmas had his yetis and elves while the Easter Bunny had those weird massive stone eggs and the Tooth Fairy had all of those little fairies. As for the Sandman, he had no idea but liked to think that he had at least someone out there and Jack had him and his friends, so no, the Guardians weren't alone. Plus they were probably too busy to even need friends. He shuddered at that, wondering what it was like to be alone. It was something he couldn't bare thinking about.

Instead, he wondered what it would be like to be a Guardian. What would he be? How would he become one? He liked the idea of being a spirit similar to Jack, being able to do what you wanted, bringing joy to children with the snow and resulting snow days and to just have fun in general. The other Guardians seemed to have jobs that took up a lot of their time and kept them busy whereas Jack's was mostly comprised of fun. Clutching his cup tighter between his fingers, he smiled. He liked the thought of that; being a Guardian of fun. He would have to ask Jack how he became a Guardian – something else to add to the list of never-ending questions he had for the winter spirit.

He took a sip of hot chocolate, feeling the warmth flow through him. That was the only downside to Jack bringing winter and snow with him – the cold. It wasn't too bad when he was outside and running around since adrenaline kept him warm, but now, he had to layer himself up with clothes and blankets in order to keep warm and that was with the heating on! But he knew that if it wasn't cold then there wouldn't be snow.

"Jamie."

The voice made the eight-year old jump, nearly spilling his drink. His brown eyes wide with surprise, he turned to see the silhouette of Sophie standing in the doorway. "What is it, Soph? You're supposed to be asleep."

Rubbing her eyes sleepily, the three-year old stepped tentatively into the room. "Can't 'eep."

Jamie sighed. She had been doing this a lot recently and rather than go to their mother, she kept coming to him.

"Wanna story."

He sighed again. Another thing she kept doing. If she didn't want to play, she wanted a story. He looked at the clock on his bedside table. It read 8:23. He let out a groan. Sophie was supposed to have been asleep ages ago. If their mother caught her in his room she would think he was keeping her up again. He looked across at his sister who was still rubbing her eyes. It was obvious that she was tired. "It's late, Soph," he told her. "You should go back to bed." He took another sip of hot chocolate. It was already cooling, losing its warmth.

She shook her head, her golden hair flying across her face. "Can't sleep. Wanna story." She yawned widely.

"Sophie, you're tired. Go to bed."

Sophie's lower lip trembled, her eyes welling with tears. "C-can't sleep. W-wanna story." Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Jamie's eyes widened. She couldn't start crying. He would be in even more trouble. But she couldn't be in here, if their mother caught them… There was only one thing to do.

Swinging his legs off of the bed (being mindful of his drink), he stood up, shrugging the blanket off of his shoulders, and walk over to his sister, holding out his free hand. She looked at him, her green eyes portraying her confusion.

"Come on," he said to her, almost reluctantly. "I'll tell you a story in your room."

Sophie stared for a moment and wiped her eyes with the back of her petite hand before a grin crossed her face, showing her rows of pearly teeth, a couple of which had a faint yellow tinge on their tips. Jamie had tried to persuade her to brush them properly as soon as he saw the yellowing tips, but Sophie didn't listen. She was still a young child, not fully understanding the importance of cleaning her teeth. Jamie just hoped the Tooth Fairy wouldn't see them, though he knew she would give his sister a stern talking to, but he also knew that Sophie was slightly scared of the bird-like fairy. The memory of being shown those teeth covered with blood and gum still stuck to them still made her shiver. Taking her brother's hand, she allowed him to steer her out of his room and back into her own.

A dull orange light from the lamp posts outside illuminated a fraction of the room, through the open curtains, the shadow of the tree outside of her room blocked most of the light. Letting go of her hand so that he could turn her bedroom light on, Jamie blinked a couple of times, allowing his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Next to him, Sophie let out another yawn and he hoped it wouldn't take too long for her to fall asleep.

Half dragging her across the room, he was glad to see that the blankets on her bed were askew, showing that she had at least made an attempt to go to sleep. Putting his half-empty cup on her bedside table, he picked his sister up and lay her down on her bed. Sophie squirmed, trying to make herself comfortable, but her pillow was cold. Jamie straightened out her blankets, pulling them up to cover her so that only her face and messy head of hair were showing. Sophie shivered. The blankets were freezing cold; it was like being dumped into a bucket of icy water. She shivered again and wrapped her arms tightly around her, trying to keep warm.

With his sister tucked in, Jamie sat on the floor and crossed his legs. He thought about reaching up for his drink but decided against it. It would be cold now and he needed warmth not something to make him colder then he already was. He let out a groan, feeling the coldness from the carpet seep into him and he clutched his dressing gown tighter to his small body, wishing he'd had the sense to bring his blanket with him. "You ready?"

Sophie rolled over so she was facing him and nodded. She nestled her head into her pillow.

Jamie glanced up at the ceiling, his gaze fixed on the glow-in-the-dark stars that were stuck up there as he thought of a good story. A smile crossed his young face as an idea struck him and he looked at Sophie, her visible eye watching him. "Ready?"

She nodded once more, snuggling into her bed. She loved listening to Jamie telling her stories.

Clearing his throat, he began. "Once upon a time in a magical land far far away there live a beautiful princess called Sophie." He knew it was a cheesy, childish beginning, but Sophie loved her fairy tales and princess stories. Usually, Jamie used her toys or himself to portray the characters and action, but since it was late, he diverted from doing so, instead he was going to tell the story as quickly as he could. It was the quickest way to get her to sleep. "She lived in a magical castle with her older brother, Prince Jamie and their mother, the Queen." He pause and looked at his sister, her eyes were watching him and she listened intently. "One day, whilst out in the forest, Princess Sophie came across an elegant young prince from the neighbouring kingdom. His name was Bunnymund." This was something else he had taken to doing, including the Guardians, especially the Easter Bunny since he knew that ever since her trip to his warren (something he found out about later and was still seriously jealous about), he had become her favourite and she loved it when he included him in the stories. Glancing at her, he could see that he eyes were lit up with the knowledge that the Easter Bunny was going to be in this story.

Shaking his head as his sister's silliness (forgetting how he too would excited whenever he saw Jack Frost), he continued, "Prince Bunnymund took the young princess to his kingdom, showing her the sights and wonders it had to offer. There were giant stone eggs that could move and rivers of creamy chocolate. Princess Sophie was in heaven. He took her to his castle and introduced her to his family; the mighty King North, the beautiful Princess Toothiana, the humble Lord Sandy and the hilarious trickster, Jack Frost." With another glance at his sister, he inwardly groaned. She was still awake. "Princess Sophie was allowed to stay at Bunnymund's castle and make friends." He paused upon seeing his little sister's eyes begin to roll, her eyelids fluttering. A smile crossed his face. She was nearly there. "Princess Sophie loved it at the castle. It was nice there and there was a lot for her to do. But, one day, a dark cloud covered the castle, darkness taking over. The evil Pitch Black, the Nightmare King, had arrived."

Sophie had fallen asleep, her eyes closed and her breathing soft and even, but Jamie didn't stop, he was getting to the best part of his story. He had to keep going.

"The kingdom was filled with fear, people's nightmares becoming a reality and Pitch loved it. It made him powerful. But there was a reason he had come to the kingdom. He wanted the Princess Sophie, to take her away and make him her bride." He cringed at this. The thought of people being in love and getting married made his stomach turn, but these things happened in fairy tales. "The kingdom was in trouble. The king became very ill because there was no wonder in the kingdom, Princess Toothiana was turned into a huge, black bird and Jack was turned into a statue. Sandy fell in an endless sleep, overcome by the fact that people's dreams became nightmares and Prince Bunnymund lost hope because of what Pitch was doing and he couldn't stop it."

He closed his eyes, picturing the world he had created. A smile crossed his face.

"Pitch Black became more powerful and he took Princess Sophie away. She screamed and begged for someone to save her. But he used his powers on her and she fell asleep, allowing him to take her to his dark castle. He locked her in a cage and she screamed and tried to claw herself free, but she couldn't. Pitch would laugh at her. She couldn't see him, it was always dark, but she could always hear him.

"Back in her home kingdom, Prince Jamie and the Queen heard about what happened and the heroic Prince Jamie set off to rescue his sister. Along the way, he met with Prince Bunnymund and together they headed towards Pitch's lair. They arrived at the large dark castle, full of cobwebs and scary black horses. Carefully they avoided the horses and crept into the castle, heading towards the dungeons, because that's where all prisoners are kept."

He couldn't stop now. He was too lost in his story.

"As they went deeper into the castle, they could someone saying the princess' name. 'Sophie… Sophie…' The air was cold but Prince Jamie and Prince Bunnymund continued on their quest. They arrived in a huge cavern. They could still hear Princess Sophie's name being called but they couldn't see anyone. Suddenly there was a flash of light!" he cried, getting carried away as he threw his arms in the air to add effect. Wincing as he realised he might have woken his sister; he peeked at her and saw, to his relief, that she was still asleep. He let out a breath and blinked. Sophie was asleep, why was he still telling the story? But he wanted to keep telling it. Even though it was his story, from his imagination, he still wanted to know how it would end: would they rescue Princess Sophie? Would Pitch be defeated? But what was the point if the person who was supposed to be listening to it was asleep?

With a groan, his joints stiff from having been sat down for so long, he stood up. He was going to finish his story in his bed. He shivered and rubbed his hands up and down his arms. He had been so lost in his story that he had forgotten how cold it was but now that he was back in reality, he was freezing. He was going to finish telling his story in his nice, warm bed. He nodded firmly. That's what he was going to do.

With one last stretch, he leaned over, checking that Sophie was actually asleep. Her breathing was steady and her eyeballs were moving beneath their lids, telling him that was asleep and dreaming. With a content smile, he quietly slipped out of her room, turning the light off as he went and closed the door, disappearing into his own room.

Sophie's eyes snapped open.

She had been awake the entire time. She had actually closed her eyes so that she could imagine the world and characters in the story. While she had been enjoying the story, she had, however, allowed her imagination to run wild and now her mind was filled of imagines of being trapped and of her name being hissed as she was surrounded by darkness. The image of Pitch Black, the man who haunted her dreams constantly flitted in her mind, the way his thin lips stretched across his face as he sneered at her, the pale waxiness of his skin as he held onto her and his cold, hollow and empty eyes. She trembled beneath her blankets and clutched them closer to her. Why did Jamie have to leave? She wanted to go and get him, bring him back and scare the nightmares away but he would angry with her since she had pretended to be asleep. She didn't want Jamie to be angry with her.

She thought about calling for her mother, but she couldn't do that either. She would have to say why she couldn't sleep and she couldn't say it was because of nightmares. Mother would blame Jamie for telling her stories. It had happened before and she didn't want Jamie to be angry with her.

Squeeaak…

She jumped, a small gasp escaping from her lips as fingers scrapped the glass of her window. Cautiously peering over the top of her blankets, her eyes flickered over to her window. Her eyes widened and she let out another gasp, diving beneath her blankets, making sure that they were completely covering her. Someone was outside of her window.

Someone was outside of her window!

Squeeeaak…

She trembled, her entire body shaking and she held onto her blanket as securely and firmly as she could. There was a figure standing outside of her window. It didn't look like a man or a woman. She could only see the dark silhouette of a figure, hunched over with a long, narrow face, almost like that of a lizard and a long, raised curved hand with long thin fingers that clawed at her window, trying to get in. Trying to get to her.

She closed her eyes as tightly as she could. Why did mama have to forget to close the curtains?

Her grip on the blanket tightened, her blunt, bitten nails digging into the woolly fabric. She could still hear the scratching on her window.

Squeeaak…

"Go away," she muttered, her voice a low whimper. "Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away."

Her eyes stung, brimming with salty tears as her fear latched hold of her. Why did Jamie have to tell her scary stories?

The image of Pitch Black, the Boogeyman, entered her mind and she let out a whine, biting back a scream. She couldn't scream, mama and Jamie couldn't know. She couldn't open her eyes in case the figure outside saw her but she couldn't keep them closed as Pitch inched closer to her, his pale hands reaching to grab hold of her and take her away.

Creak…

Her heart beat wildly against her chest as she let out a gasp, her eyes flickering open despite herself. A tear rolled down her cheek. There was someone in her room.

Her eyes darted around as her ears strained, trying to pick up any piece of sound. Under the blankets, she could only see the blackness, but the scratching had stopped. It had stopped! But that only meant one thing: whatever was outside was now inside her room! Her entire body trembled violently like a solitary leaf in a ferocious wind, her heart beating so quickly that it was almost painful. She wanted to cry out, but that would alert whoever was in the room to her presence.

Creak…

A sob escaped her lips almost instantly and she quickly shut her eyes.

Creak…

It had heard her!

Gritting her teeth together in a desperate attempt to stop herself from making a sound, she shuffled as low down in her bed as she could, wrapping herself into a tight ball, making herself as small as possible. She wasn't there. He couldn't see her. She was invisible.

"I'm not here… I'm not here… He can't see me… He can't see me…" she whispered, try to console and comfort herself. She was safe. He couldn't see her. She was safe.

In her mind, she could still see the looming figure of Pitch Black, his hands still outstretched, reaching for her, a vile smirk across his face as his yellow eyes gleamed. She clenched her eyes even tighter together. She tried to force images of things she liked, fairies, flowers, princesses, Jamie, Bunny… The Easter Rabbit, he would save her. The six-foot grey rabbit appeared in front of Pitch, who was still the taller of the two, a smirk still adorning his pasty grey lips. Bunny unsheathed one of his boomerangs, holding ready as he took up a stance, his ears folded back, ready to protect Sophie. His grip on the boomerang tightened.

Without knowing it, Sophie's imaginings turned into her dreams as sleep consumed her, the mystery monster forgotten. Her breathing evened and her grip on her blankets loosened as the power of the dream sand proved too strong.

As the youngster slept, dreaming of Prince Bunnymund protecting her from the evil Nightmare King, a long, thin hand with dull grey, pasty skin hovered over the bundle of blankets where she slept.

From the shadows, a pair of dull, yellow eyes blinked before their owner took a step forward, his hand still resting over the place where Sophie lay. The towering figure of Pitch Black, dressed in his long black robe with his black hair slicked back, looked down at the sleeping child, a smile crossing his lips. "You really think you can keep the nightmares at bay?" His voice was chastising as he spoke. He smirked and with a flick of his slender wrist, golden sand wisped from under the blankets, forming into the shape of Bunnymund, dressed in regal attire with one of his boomerangs in his paw.

Pitch let out a hollow laugh. "The Easter Bunny?" he questioned, though the tone of his voice conveyed his amusement. Both the image of the oversized rabbit and the fact that he was dressed in princely clothes brought mirth to his eyes. It was just too funny. The idea that the Easter Bunny, dressed in the clothes of a bygone age, could actually protect her was almost too much for him. Such a foolish child.

But, there was something, a reason, that had brought him to her side. Looking down at the bundle, he wasn't surprised that she had unleashed him. Her fear and belief had seen him free of his prison and for that he was grateful. But, at the same time, he despised the fact that the only reason he had released was because someone believed in him. That made him like them. Like the Guardians. That their power only came from being believed in. No. He wasn't like them. He wasn't anything like them. Their need to be believed in made them weak, they could only function if they were believed in and they craved it, but he was different. He knew that while he was imprisoned no one believed or feared him but, rather than pine away in the face of his defeat, he had made himself stronger.

A sour expression crossed his face as his eyes rested on the golden figure of the Easter Bunny. He hated them. The Guardians and their believers. If it hadn't been for them and those stupid, foolish children, then he would have won. The Guardians had been powerless and the Sandman dead but because of Jack Frost and that one remaining believer all of his plans had been scuppered and he had been defeated, trapped in a well of his own fears.

However, rather than let his fears consume him as others would have done, he realised he had nothing to fear. Sure he wasn't believed in and no one feared him (after all what was the pointing in believing in something that wasn't there to carry out the threats?), but over time, he came to realise that he still had power. The continued existence of his NightMares proved that. He created them, so he wasn't scared of them. He was their master.

But then he had heard that child's voice carried over the wind, beckoning to him. He had clearly heard the fear in the child's voice as she said his name repeatedly. Not only did the girl believe in him, she was scared of him right down to her core and it gave him a new lease of life. He brought the child's fear into himself, manifesting it and turning it into power, his power. It made him stronger and he was able to free himself from the prison after so many long months.

He had tracked the girl down and he could see why she was so terrified of him; the stories her brother told and the tricks he played had manifested into an unpronounced fear of him and he relished in it. He hadn't felt someone be this terrified of him since the Dark Ages.

Lurking in the shadows of the girl's room, he had watched as the boy told stories and played pranks on his sister throughout the day, always having the Boogeyman as the villain. A smile had crossed Pitch's face at this, watching the boy weakly pretend to be him as he scared her, leaving her with nightmares. There was a reason he was also named the Nightmare King. And the way she had cowered from the scratching of the tree's branches against her window, hiding as if there was a monster in her room, his smile widened, stretching across his face sadistically, her fears and nightmares had latched a hold of her young mind. It was so perfect.

With a curved flick of his wrist, a trail of black sand appeared. He waved it over the sleeping child and watched happily as the black sand perfectly created a form of himself next to the golden one of the Easter Bunny. He watched as the bundle beneath the blankets squirmed uncomfortably, signalling that horrors were forming in what had been a pleasant dream. With another flick of his wrist, a tall scythe with a long curved blade appeared in the 'nightmare' Pitch's hands and, in one swift movement, a smile adorning both Pitch's faces, the scythe swung in the direction of the regally dressed Easter Bunny. Sophie let out a staggered sob as the head of the Easter Bunny slowly fell from its body, disappearing in a spray of golden sand, the body then crumpling and also disappearing. Satisfied with his achievement as Sophie continued to toss and turn, a whimper escaping her sleeping lips, Pitch waved his hand a finally time and the 'nightmare' Pitch disappeared into a stream of black sand before drifting down into Sophie, taking over her dreams. This was something that he had perfected during his imprisonment. While before, he had only been able to turn dreams into nightmares, now he was able to make his nightmare sand take control of the child's dreams, dictating what happens.

He was hoping to make living dreams a nightmare as well and he while he thought he was close to it, he still had yet to test it out. Since he hated the daylight (he had stayed tucked deep in the shadows during the day as he watched Sophie), he hadn't tried it on someone who was awake. He could have used it out on the girl's brother, but he didn't just want children to be afraid, he wanted to be feared by adults as well. Soon, he thought. Very soon.

With one final look at the squirming, whimpering child, he decided to take a look around her room, curious as to why she had been dream of the Easter Bunny. She hadn't been present those few months ago when the Guardians and those idiotic children had temporarily defeated him, so how did she know exactly what the Easter Bunny looked like?

Striding across the room, his steps long and precise, the wall opposite the bed caught his attention. Stepping closer, he noticed it was covered with pieces of scrap paper each of which held a crudely drawn picture. From the way the stick figures had been drawn with thick colouring pencils, it was obvious they had been drawn by a very young child. Leaning closer with curiosity, he observed with disgust, that the pictures the child had drawn were of the five Guardians. He could see the colourful fairy with a little girl holding a tooth, obviously the Tooth Fairy, while another picture bore that of a little golden man, while another portrayed a snowy landscape with, what he assumed was, Jack Frost next to two smiling children, one boy and one girl. He also recognised Father Christmas and the Easter Rabbit in others. Taking a step back, he realised that the Guardians were in all of the pictures. He resisted the urge to spit at the pictures in anger. He frowned, looking back at the nightmare-filled child. Who was she? How did she know exactly what the Guardians looked like?

He headed back towards the girl's bed, looking at her bedside table. Usually children had trinkets and personal items on their bedside tables for comfort. Next to the lamp was a half-drunk cup of what looked like hot chocolate and a scrawny, tatty teddy bear. Such a child, he thought with a snort. Just behind the bear was what he was looking for – a photograph. He bent his thin frame over so that he could look at it closer. The picture was of the girl and her brother, standing out in the snow. His eyes rested on the face of the boy. He looked so familiar, but why? He looked back at the drawings before looking back at the photograph. What was the connection? Why did that boy look familiar? Why? Why? Wh–? He paused, momentarily frozen. His yellow eyes widened, his mouth falling open in surprise as he straightened up. Of course! He knew he recognised the girl's brother. How had he not realised sooner? Taking a step back, closing his mouth firmly so that his jaw was set, he let out a growl. It all made sense now.

The boy in the picture, he had been there when he had been defeated. That was how the girl knew what the Guardians looked like. If her brother was a believer, then that meant she was too and had seen them. But it was more than that. That boy wasn't just a believer, he had been the last light!

Sinking back into the shadows, a malicious grin on his face, Pitch Black had the perfect way to get back at the Guardians. He disappeared into the ground in a trail of black sand, the smile still plastered on his face, leaving behind a crying and withering Sophie in the darkness.