Jack was visiting Burgess again. It had been months since he'd spoken with Jamie Bennett, Jack's first and oldest believer. His friends still believed but they weren't as dedicated any longer. Jamie was different. Jack saw Jamie walking home from school with a girl with long light brown hair and brown eyes. Jack smiled at the sight. Jamie was growing up. He was fifteen after all. Jack kept his distance. The two teenagers walked into the Bennett house. Jack slipped in through an open window but kept out of sight. Since Jamie believed in him, he could see Jack, so he had to be careful. Jack stepped over Abby the greyhound careful to avoid waking the sleeping dog.
Jamie and the girl went up to his room and Jack smirked. He turned as he heard the front door slam shut and Sophie came in. She brushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes and dropped her bag on the ground before looking up. She, like her brother, was a believer.
"Jack! What are you doing here?" Sophie exclaimed happily and ran forward, giving him a big hug. Jack chuckled and crouched down to her level.
"Hey Soph, just visiting. Haven't been around much lately. How are you?" Jack greeted the seven year old, nearly eight. Sophie grinned.
"Great! Look! My tooth's loose," Sophie answered and wiggled her front tooth. Jack smiled.
"Well, I'll give Tooth a heads up for when it comes out," Jack promised her kindly. Sophie nodded happily.
"Do you want me to get Jamie? He's probably in his room already," Sophie offered.
"Nah, he has a girl up there. I wouldn't want to intrude," Jack decided. Sophie giggled.
"Oh it's just his friend Diana. She's having a sleepover. Come on, I'll introduce you!" Sophie explained and grabbed Jack's hand before he could react and dragged him upstairs.
"Sophie! Sophie," Jack called, too busy laughing to sound angry or serious.
Sophie only dropped Jack's hand once they were standing in front of Jamie's closed door. Sophie knocked loudly.
"Jamie!" she shouted.
"Go away Soph! Bad time!" Jamie yelled back. Sophie frowned and looked up at Jack. He bent down to her.
"It's fine Sophie. Why don't we play in your room or in the back yard," Jack suggested. Sophie smiled and gave him a nod before running downstairs. Jack chuckled at the girl but before he could follow her, he accidently overheard Jamie.
"It's alright Di. You can tell me. What are you afraid of?" Jamie encouraged. Jack scowled. He leant against the door.
"It's just…" a girl began.
"It's alright Diana. You chose him right? You can trust him," Jack heard a third voice urge. Jack gasped. That was Danny!
"It's just… you can't tell anyone alright," Diana attempted again.
"Diana, if you don't tell him, he can't help you," Danny told her.
Jack shook his head. This didn't make sense. Jack acted without thinking. Using a cold winter wind, he threw open the door. The girl, Diana screamed and Jack glared at Danny. Danny was crouched beside Diana who was sitting under the window on the floor. Leaning against his bed, Jamie was also sitting on the floor. Danny looked up and gave Jack a furious scowl.
"Jack!" Jamie exclaimed. Danny got to his feet.
"You're starting to annoy me Frost!" Danny growled.
"You're scaring that girl aren't you?" Jack accused. Danny gritted his teeth angrily.
"Jack, who are you talking to?" Jamie asked, glancing confused at the window Jack appeared to be looking through.
"Danny, Spirit of Fear. He's scaring your friend," Jack explained. Jamie's eyes widened he looked at Diana, who was trembling beside Danny. Jamie got to his feet and held a hand out to her.
"Di, let's go outside for a bit. My room gets really dark this time of day. We can start our homework and you can try telling me what you wanted to say later, alright?" Jamie suggested. Diana looked up at Jamie and she took his hand. She grabbed her bag and shuffled out of the room with Jamie. Jack waited for the two teens to leave.
"Why are you scaring her? Why did you frighten that boy earlier?" Jack demanded, recalling the boy Danny had frightened by kicking the tin can. Danny shook his head and stepped closer to Jack.
"You don't understand me Jack. No one does. There's no point in answering you. So stop following me!" Danny growled. Jack blinked in surprise.
"Then explain yourself. I might know more than you think. And I wasn't following you, Jamie believes in me and we're good friends. I visit the Bennetts regularly. I was actually trying to give you some space to take in that you're a guardian," Jack retorted. Danny took a step back and shook his head.
"Get this through your frozen head! I am not a guardian! I do not listen to higher powers. Leave me alone!" Danny shouted angrily. Jack frowned offended.
"Frozen head? I think that was uncalled for. My head isn't frozen," Jack snapped.
"You want me to change that! You're not the only one with ice powers," Danny snarled. Jack stepped back from Danny, cursing himself for the flicker of fear he felt. Danny shook his head.
"Fine, I'm going," Danny grumbled and turned himself intangible and jumped through the window.
Jack stood frozen by shock and a little fear. He'd never been threatened like that before. Jack couldn't help but feel that Danny would have followed through too if Jack had gone after him. Jack shook his head and breathed a calming sigh before venturing downstairs. He was going to make sure that Jamie and Diana were safe from the Spirit of Fear. Even if that meant fighting Danny. He'd fought Pitch, king of nightmares, how much worse can the Spirit of Fear be?
He walked into the kitchen and saw Jamie and Diana playing with Sophie in the back yard. Jack smiled happily and sat down on the back porch watching the three children. He set down his staff and began to ponder the things he'd overheard Danny saying to Diana. The things he said hadn't sounded frightening, in fact they had seemed encouraging. Maybe Danny was more frightening when he touched Diana's shoulder and it wasn't the words but the feelings behind them. Pitch had sounded so convincing at the South Pole when Jack had messed up and ran away to be alone. The only thing stopping Jack trusting the boogieman had been the memory of how he destroyed Sandy.
So, Danny and Jack have a second clash. This is mainly because Danny's dealing with his problems… badly, and Jack is frightened of the Spirit of Fear. So let me know what you guys think.
Until the next chapter.