Night Shade

Disclaimer: I only own the plot and the OC. Sorry for the delay!

Chapter Eight

Jack awoke with a pounding headache. Groaning, he sat up, and managed to open his eyes.

He was inside an igloo, it seemed, and had been lying on top of a strange material. It was white and cold, but very soft. Where am I? Jack pondered.

He sensed movement behind him, but was far too groggy to react. As the being moved into view, he realized it was Nyx. "How's the head?" She asked, kneeling down with a warm cloth.

He groaned in response, and the former wraith smirked. Pressing the warm cloth onto his forehead, she walked over to a desk that he hadn't noticed earlier and picked up a glass of water and a potion. "Drink these, the water first."

Jack obediently swallowed them, and almost gagged. The potion tasted horrible! It tasted like wet socks and sardines, mixed with a bunch of different fungi and rotting seaweed. However, his hangover vanished, as did his appetite.

Nyx laughed at his expression, and refilled his glass with water. "You conked out after a couple of drinks. Not a lightweight," She mimicked, grinning when he turned to glare at her. "I brought you back to the North Pole. We are seven miles away from North's palace, in case you wanted to know."

"What time is it?" Jack asked hoarsely, taking a sip of his water.

"Almost noontime, why?"

That jolted Jack awake. "Crap! Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!"

He hurriedly tossed on his blue hoodie and grabbed his staff, downing the cup of water. "Whoa, boy, where're you going?" Nyx asked, surprised.

Struggling with the hoodie's zipper, he replied: "I've got a meeting today with the Guardians, and I'm not supposed to be late! Crap!"

Nyx watched, and tried hard not to laugh. "Meet you at the woods when you're done? I still got lots of fun stuff to show you."

"Sure," He replied, and bounded out of the igloo, vanishing into the sky.

A few minutes later, he landed in the meeting room. North and Bunny stopped their furious argument to look at him. "Jack!" North cried in his thick, Russian accent. "Where were you?" Before he could answer, North said: "The Nightmare's attacked last night. They captured the yetis and the tooth fairies! And the Globe…"

Jack looked at the scene with wide eyes. The room was covered in black sand, and most of the objects appeared broken. But the Globe…

The Globe was split cleanly in half, the mechanisms smoking and groaning. Black vines infiltrated the inner workings and destroyed all semblance of the Globe being anything more than a bauble. His mouth fell open, and a surge of guilt rushed over him.

"Jack!" Tooth quickly flew over to him, her eyes wide with worry and sadness. "Where were you yesterday? We were so worried, the fairies couldn't find you at Jamie's house, and we hadn't checked Antarctica, but-"

"This is YOUR fault!" Bunny grumbled. "You should've been with us, here, defending the fort! Haven't you learned to not take Pitch's bait ten years ago?"

"Wait, you guys think Nyx is working for Pitch?" Jack asked, confused. "I thought we decided to give her a chance!"

"Jack, she is Pitch's niece. Pitch's niece. He might be using her, or she might be doing this by her own will, but we haven't known her for long enough to really trust her." Tooth tried to reason with him.

"Besides, mate, she was seen by Sandy petting a Nightmare. And she was talking to shadows!" Bunny said. Sandy nodded, showing a collection of images above his head to prove his point.

"It could be completely harmless!" Jack protested, still unwilling to believe that Nyx could be playing him.

"Jack, if she was on bad terms with Pitch, the Nightmare wouldn't have let her pet it!" North said exasperatedly.

"Maybe that one didn't get the notice!"

"LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" Bunny yelled, fed up with Jack's behavior. "Do you even hear yourself mate? You sound ridiculous! You've endangered us all, and if you don't go tell that dingo to lay off, we'll have to do it the nasty way, and I really don't want to!"

Jack was stunned. What he said suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks, and he sat down hard. He nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry." Jack whispered brokenly.

The other four Guardians came to stand around him. Tooth hugged him, and North patted his back. He was forgiven.

Somewhere in the woods, Nyx started to laugh. She laughed and laughed and laughed. "Oh, Jack. The fun I could have with you!" She thought about his aura again. It was intoxicating, almost like a drug… She had to stop that train of thinking before the temptation became too dangerous. Snarling, she shook off the thoughts and instead drained a rabbit. Next time, it'll be the Easter bunny.

A rustle sounded in the bushes next to her. "Hello?" She called, slipping on a mask of faux-fear and eagerness. Of course, it was Jack. "Hey!" She said, smiling warmly. She pretended to just notice his desolation. "What's wrong?"

"Nyx," he began, "I can't do this anymore."

"What?" She faked obtuseness. "Can't do what, Jack?"

The winter spirit sighed. "I can't be seeing you anymore."

"What? Why not?" She cried, and she saw his face twist in pain.

"I can't risk the chance that I'm wrong about you."

Nyx felt rather than saw the Guardians closing in, ready to take her prisoner. "Don't you trust me, Jack? I've been honest with you, risked my life to defend you from Derrick and the Unseelie Court! How else can I prove to you that I honestly like you a lot?"

His eyes betrayed his pain and regret, even as he hardened his face. "I'm sorry." He whispered. The Guardians rushed in, and Tooth was the first to attack her. Shrieking, the fairy cut her with her sword, and North tied her hands behind her. Nyx screamed, both in pain and anger, and tried (not too hard, but just enough) to break free. Bunny opened a hole and carried the night spirit down, down, down, until they went up, up, up and into Santa's workshop, where Sandy knocked her out with the dreamsand. The last thing she heard was, "Why couldn't ya have done that earlier, you dingo?"