Hey people, I'm really sorry for neglecting my other stories.

For those who don't know, I have four other stories- two of which I've abandoned because I haven't gotten enough feedback, one is alive and kicking, one I really want to work on and this one is trying to make a comeback.

This newest chapter is part of that comeback.

I hope it's good.

Pitch Black was sitting in his bedroom, on his bed, with his legs crossed. He was thinking.

"Always thinking." he whispered to himself. "That's me."

Right now, he was thinking about what he was going to do once the spirit world got wind of what he had done. He knew he would have to hide, hide and hope? Was that his plan?

"Hide and hope that I don't run into anyone." he muttered sarcastically to himself. "Yes, that's a perfect life-saving plan."

He was going to have to leave, and leave soon. If he didn't get out of here, he was going to end up dead.

Pitch sighed. Hiding was the only option that presented itself. If he didn't hide, then he would have to fight. No, that was not an option. He couldn't fight, not against every single spirit in the world. That would be suicide. If he tried to fight, he'd die a gruesome death or be stripped of his powers, turned human. And that was a fate that he did not want to endure.

"To be turned human." he mused. "That would be the ultimate torture." And it would be. He would be unable to phase, unable to terrify children, unable to do all the things he enjoyed most. He would have to learn to do all those human things. Eat, sleep, breath. . . And he didn't think he could handle being taunted by the other spirits if he was turned human.

"If I must hide, then I must hide in a place where no one can find me." Pitch said. Speaking aloud made him feel more at ease. It saved him from going over everything in his head, which would drive him crazy. "Anywhere on earth is out of the question. There are spirits everywhere on this planet. But where then? I can't exactly travel through time."

"How about Mars? Hear it's lovely this time of year." A female voice said from the doorway.

Pitch opened his eyes and blinked until the black-haired, green-eyed girl before him came into focus. "Ah. I see you have your voice back." he said, uncrossing his legs and sliding off his bed and to his feet. He towered over the little girl, but he didn't turn on his benevolent fear powers. It was hard to scare a ghost. "And I thought I asked you to stay in the living room."

Anna smiled. "Heard you talking. And not completely," she said, pointing to her mouth. "Haven't- gotten hang of it yet."

Pitch nodded. "It'll take a few weeks to completely get used to your new powers."

Anna frowned. "Powers?"

"Sure." Pitch said, smiling. "Haven't you seen the movies? Levitation, teleportation, moving objects around with your mind, causing the wind to blow," he ticked off powers on his long fingers.

"Levitation?" Anna repeated. "Flying?"

"Yep. I can do it too. If I don't get murdered by the spirits of the world I'll teach you."

"Thanks!" She said gratefully.

"No problem." Pitch said. "But I did say if I don't get murdered by the spirits of the world, which is the most likely future for me."

"Murdered?" The girl asked, confused.

"Yes." Pitch said. "I killed you, and because that is the most severe crime that can be committed by anyone in the spirit-world, they will most likely kill me for it. That, or strip me of my powers and turn me human."

The girl looked so horrified that Pitch laughed. "Don't look so shocked. What does the human court system do to a child-murderer?"

"They- they send him to prison." The girl said.

"Yes, and being turned human would be the ultimate prison for me." Pitch replied.

"But, you said-"

"Yes, I said they might kill me." he repeated. "There are certain spirits out there who would gladly do worse to me, simply because they believe it to be right. There are others that would kill me for what I've done and what I've done to them personally."

"You were a bad man?" Anna asked.

Pitch laughed again. "My dear child, I'm the Boogeyman. I have terrified children all across the globe, destroyed many minds and watched civilizations rise and fall."

Anna just stared at him blankly and Pitch threw up his hands in exasperation. "Yes, I am a bad man."

"Destroyed minds?" The girl repeated, frowning.

Pitch sighed. "Little girl, a long time ago I was a wild fear spirit. Much more evil than I am now, I'm sorry to say. I send the spines of children tingling with my very breath and I was feared and worshiped across the world. One of the reasons I was feared was because I had a habit of driving people crazy. Not children, mind. There was still a sliver of humanity inside me and that stopped me from hurting children, but I destroyed adult minds by the hundreds."

The girl's eyes were wide and her hand was covering her mouth in horror.

"You drove people insane?" she whispered.

"I did indeed." said Pitch. "And I had a grand time doing it."

Anna regarded him with her wide green eyes, staying completely silent but keeping her eyes trained on his face.

"What?" Pitch finally asked, a bit irritated. "I did. It was only for a few years anyway. Then the Guardians turned up and beat me bloody. I had to tone down my fear-quota and eventually I forgot how to drive people insane. Now, I just send a few kids nightmares."

Anna sighed. "So, what you going do now?"

Pitch shrugged. "I haven't the faintest idea." he said, sitting back down on his bed. "You heard me just now. I can't hide anywhere on earth, and jumping into a time-stream is completely out of the question. Father Time dislikes me violently."

"Father Time?" Anna inquired.

"The Lord of Time, one of the elder spirits." Pitch explained. "He controls time and space."

"Huh." Anna said, nodding thoughtfully.

They were both silent for another few minutes.

Pitch was still thinking about where he could go. Nowhere with snow, that was for certain. Snow was Jack Frost's weapon. Maybe he could head to a southern state? California? No, the sun would hurt him as much as it would hurt Jack Frost. Oregon? That place was fairly warm and also fairly shadowy. Perhaps Forks, where they filmed that movie about vampires. He'd fit right in!

Anna was thinking about something a bit more important that Pitch's problems. Actually, she wasn't really thinking. She was having a vision.

Having visions wasn't something Anna normally did. Actually, she'd never had a single one in her life. No weird premonitions about tests or about whither her mom and dad were going to break up- even if they didn't- and she'd never even once wished she could have that power. She was perfectly content with being a normal girl.

She'd done to sleep thinking about her birthday tomorrow. he would be turning thirteen, a teenager. She would soon be able to break through the bonds of childhood and into the adult world. She could soon learn to drive, vote, graduate and all the other things teenagers did! It would be so amazing!

Then BANG! She was dead. She was dead and now she was in the Boogeyman, her killer,'s cave and she was having a vision sent to her by Death.

In the vision, she was floating beside a small blue ball. The ball was floating too, spinning and turning gently while still floating far above the floor. She looked down. Below her, a wide spread- arc of people sat, staring up at her. A woman in a green dress, a man in golden robes, a little girl that looked no older than her in a pink tutu with a bow and arrow, a midget woman in green tights and a shock of red hair, a tall black-cloaked figure that reminded her of the Boogeyman.

"Hello?" she said, frowning. "Can you tell me where I am?"

No one answered her. they just continued to stare up at her, with their mouths open in awe or horror, it was hard to tell from about thirty feet above them.

"Hello?" she said again. "Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

She sighed.

Then she realized something important about her voice. It was working! She wasn't skipping words like she had while talking to Pitch!

"I can speak! I can speak!" she yelled, clapping her hands. "I can-"

"Be silent." a deep baritone voice said, interrupting her joyous laughter.

She turned around, looking for the source of the voice. "Where-"

"I am right here." the deep voice said and she could detect an interesting accent in it. Jamaican?

"Where?" She asked, turning again, scanning the crowd below her. She wanted to fly down to get a better look, but she foud she could do no more than turn. She couldn't force herself downwards at all.

"Here."

Anna felt her gaze being pulled over to that strange shadowy figure, the one cloaked in black. He had something in his hands. A stick? No, a scythe! This must be the spirit Pitch had talked about! The Grimm Reaper! The spirit who had taken her from her life and turned her into a ghost!

"Are you the Grimm-" she began, but the voice of the Grimm Reaper hushed her. His hood didn't move.

"Be silent. There is something you must see."

She frowned, wondering what the spirit meant. Where am I? She wondered. Then she noticed a bright blow out of the corner of her eye, coming from behind her. She turned and saw, to her amazement, that a wide blue arc was erupting from the blue ball floating behind her. In another few seconds it was as flat and wide as a thirty-inch T.V screen.

"Watch."

She turned to give the Grimm Reaper a confused look, but he ignored her.

"Fine." she said, turning back to the screen and folding her arms.

What followed was perhaps the most emotionally stressed five minutes of Anna's life (or after-life, whatever.). She saw her own death, in wide screen. There was no sound, but she could see the real images of what happened in her own mind. She could hear it too.

"Why are you-" She asked, trying not to cry.

"Be silent." the Grimm Reaper said again.

Anna inwardly sighed. Why was this so important for her to see?! Yes, it was her death, but it wasn't like she hadn't already sen it. She'd lived it, for heaven's sake!

After her hair went shock-white, (this she watched with fascination while rubbing her real black locks,) the images ended. The screen went blank. Anna sighed. "There, was that all?"

No answer.

Anna was about to ask again when she felt a tug in her gut, like something was magnetically pulling her down. "Hey, what the-"

"Don't struggle." the voice said. "It's hard enough to bring you here without the other knowing."

She complied, letting herself float gently downward in the middle of the arc of people. They were all staring up in silence. There was a strange rainbow creature with the wings of a hummingbird and the face of a woman that was siting next to a skeleton who looked more distraught than the rest. A giant rabbit put his arm around her.

"Are these the Tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny?" she asked, turning to look at the Grimm Reaper.

"Yes."

"Why do they look sadder than the others?"

"Because the direct loss of a child who believes affects them more than the rest of us. Unlike them and your new friend, Pitch Black, we do not have to have belief to survive."

Anna frowned. "You know I'm with Pitch?"

The Grimm Reaper laughed. It was deep and rolling, like a thunder-clap. "My child, who do you think sent you to him?"

"But, I thought-"

"You thought you went to him of your own accord." the spirit finished. "How sweet. But no, that was me. I sent you to him in an effort to stop him from destroying himself."

"Destroying himself?" Anna asked, frowning.

"Yes. Pitch Black may have done some foul things in his past that even I do not condone, but he still had a sliver of humanity in him. He understands that what he did was wrong and it is eating away at him inside."

"But I forgave him!" Anna said, horrified at what the spirit was saying. "I told him it was an accident!"

"And so it was." The Grimm Reaper said. "He did not mean for you to die, but you did. All beings with humanity in them cannot stand the death of another being like them at their own hand. And since he still has humanity within him, he cannot stand the fact that he killed you, despite what he may or may not have told you."

Anna thought about this. "You mean," she said slowly. "That even if I forgive him, talk to him, he still won't forgive himself?"

The Grimm Reaper was silent. Then he sighed. The breath sounded almost sad.

"Frankly, I'm not sure. I thought that seeing you, talking to you might lessen the burden of self-blame he had created for himself but. . ." he sighed again. "Pitch Black is a stubborn man."

Anna nodded. "So, if I try to work on it with him, help him, he won't. . . destroy himself?"

"There is a chance. He is a stubborn man." the Grimm reaper repeated. Anna had a feeling he was talking about more than Pitch blaming himself for her death. There was a history between these two, one that was painful for them both to talk about. She resolved to ask Pitch, discreetly, about it later.

"So. . . what have you brought me here for?" Anna asked, trying to change the subject. She knew that the Grimm Reaper had to have a reason for pulling her out of Pitch's caves and here, to this weird meeting.

"Ah. Yes, to business," the Grimm Reaper said. "You are here, Ilana Morgan, because there is something very important about to be said here that will be useful for you and your new friend. Listen closely."

Anna nodded, not even bothering to wonder how the Grimm Reaper knew her name. He was a spirit, DER!

Before Anna could react, the whole room erupted in a broil of noises, voices, questions and complaints.

"What's going on?"

"Who was the girl?"

"Was that Pitch Black?"

"The Boogeyman?"

"Yes, I think it was."

"Is she dead?"

"THAT MONSTER KILLED HER!"

"PLEASE!" a man in a set of golden robed with a great long beard said loudly, raising his hands for silence. "PLEASE, ladies and gentlemen! We can't jump to conclusions!"

"That is Father Time?"

"Yes. Be quiet."

"Jump to conclusions?" a voice rang out. "He killed her! A spirit killed a child!"

"Aphrodite," Father Time said, staring at the a woman in a pink dress with flowing hair and a furious expression on her face. "We don't know if Pitch killed the child voluntarily or by accident!"

"ACCIDENT?" another woman shrieked. This one was short and wore green tights and had a shock of flaming red hair tied up in a ponytail. "He killed someone, Furthermore!"

"A child!" another voice spoke up.

"Yes, but we don't know-"

"He killed her!" Aphrodite said again.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" shouted the woman in rainbow feathers. "Aphrodite, I know you're shaken after what you saw. We all are, but we have to be reasonable about this."

"I agree," said a tall skeleton, standing up. "There is a chance he did not know of that machine in her chest."

"This could all be a misunderstanding." a tall woman with red hair like yarn said, standing beside the skeleton.

"A misunderstanding?!" the tiny green woman yelled angrily. "He killed her!"

"Yes," said the a tall woman in green, also standing. "He did, but there are circumstances in which he-"

"To Hell with your circumstances Gaia!" the short woman said. "There is a child dead! That was the shudder we all felt."

"We can't be sure-" Father Time began, but the short woman interrupted him. "Aster, you and Toothiana a felt it more than we did, didn't you?" she said, turning to the fairy and the giant rabbit.

The giant rabbit shuffled uncomfortable. "Yeah," He said. "I cant speak for Tooth"

"Yes, you can. I felt it, and the pin knocked me out."

"There you go!" the short woman said. "The death of a child has more serious repercussions for the Guardians than for the rest of us. They felt it!"

"But why don't we feel the death of every child that dies then?" Countered the Tooth Fairy.

"Because they weren't killed by a spirit." replied the skeleton. "This is an event never-before experienced, correct?"

"Indeed. There has never been the death of a child by a spirit's hands." Father Time agreed.

"There you go." The skeleton said, sitting back down again. "This has never happened before and I'm not sure that we even have rules to govern this type of situation. Do we?"

"No, we don't." Father Time conceded. "Everyone please, sit down. We must discuss this rationally."

Everyone sat down. The tiny woman folded her arms over her chest.

"Now," Father Time said. "We know what that twinge was that we all felt. We know who caused it, but what we don't know is why. Why would Pitch Black do such a thing?"

The others all shrugged, except for the Tooth Fairy. "He wouldn't. Plain and simple." She said. "Pitch Black is many thing, but he does not kill for the fun of it."

"We don't know that!" the tiny woman said. "Maybe he's trying to find a different way of collecting Fear and killing children is the only way he can-"

"That doesn't make sense,' Tooth argued. "He was defeated. Left to fend for himself! Why would be kill a child, just for some fear?"

"Maybe he was desperate for fear and-"

"He wouldn't be that desperate." the yarn-haired woman said. "Killing a child would alert us to his presence and why would he want that?"

"It is confusing." Father Time admitted. "We cannot assume anything."

"Why don't we talk to the master of death?" suggested one of the others in the crowd. A tall woman with the head of a cat and what looked like paws for hands. "He may have been there, it being his job and all.

Anna looked at the Grimm Reaper. He made no move.

"Grimm?" Father Time asked.

The hooded being detached himself from the shadowy walls and, without a word, walked out until he stood in the center of the room. He stood, holding his scathe loosely at his side and Anna wondered where he was looking. his head stayed motionless, but she had a feeling he was staring at each and every spirit in turn.

"I was there." he said finally. His voice was low and yet it enveloped the whole room, echoing like quiet laughter throughout the room. All speaking and muttering ceased.

"I was there." he repeated in the same echoy voice. "I saw."

"What did you see, old friend?" Father Time asked respectively.

"I saw him. He did not mean to kill her." he said.

"Well of course he didn't," Anna said tersely. "And why were you there anyway?"

"To take your spirit to the after-life. Now hush!"

"Then why aren't I-"

"I said hush!"

"Fine." Anna sulked, folding her arms over her chest.

"And how do you know his motives?" asked the woman in green. She was also acting more respectful that she had before. Maybe it has something to do with the scythe.

"He told me." The Grimm Reaper said plainly.

"That is well and good, old friend," Father Time said cautiously. "But we should have evidence, not just your word."

"Oh, and if Pitch Black tells us that he didn't mean to do it, we'll believe him?" the woman in green said, casting a nervous glance at the Grimm Reaper.

"Pitch Black does not lie." The Grimm Reaper said, surprising the listeners and Anna herself. "He spoke the truth. He did not mean to kill her."

"You seem to have spoken to him in depth," the woman said, looking at the Grimm Reaper. "Did he, perhaps, say where he was going?"

"He did not."

"Then, to make sure we have all the facts straight, we should find him and bring him back here." Toothiana said, folding her arms. "That is the most likely next step we should be taking anyway. We find him, bring him here, question him and if it can be proven that he did not intentionally kill he child, we will-"

"It doesn't matter if he did it intentionally or not!" seethed the green woman. "He did it! That's the whole point! He should be punished."

Murmurs went around the room. Murmurs of ascent.

"No," Father Time said. "He will be tried first. We do not punish without evi-"

"We're not in a human court, Father." sneered the woman in green. "He killed a child, he needs to be found. Then when he is found, he will pay. Simple as that."

"Oh?" asked the tall woman beside Father Time, cocking her head and giving the short woman in greet a scathing look. "And how will you make him pay, Patty? With bad karma?"

The short woman jumped up but Father Time banging his chair-legs on the floor. "SILENCE!"

The woman glared at each other.

Father Time sat down gently and said in a placating voice, "We will discuss Pitch Black's punishment when he is found. There is no sense doing otherwise. Right now, we must focus our efforts on finding him. All spirits withdaily jobs can search for him during their rounds. All without may focus their efforts on their perspective jobs and making preparations for their holidays and so on."

"Thith will not be necethhary," a new person said. Anna looked and saw, with horror, that the speaker was a giant spider with the head of a woman! Her body was that of a giant tarantula and she was seated next to another being with the upper body, arms and head of a handsome tanned man, but the loser body and legs of a spider!

The spider-woman skittered forward on long, hairy legs. "My thonth and daughterth can find him eathily."

Anna wondered what was making her lisp and she flew over to take a closer look. When she saw, she recoiled in horror.

Behind the heavy curtain of greasy black hair, the woman had two sharp spider-fangs elongating out of her mouth. They clicked and clacked against each other each time she spoke. They were what caused her lisp! Anna shuddered. Spiders were what she was having a nightmare about when Pitch had killed her.

"Arachne," Father Time said. "Your offer is appreciated, but will your sons and daughters be able to catch him? He is probably long-gone from his caves."

"My thonth and daughterth are quite fatht, Father Time." the spider-woman lisped. "They will bring him to uth within a day."

"Did you get that?" The Grimm Reaper's voice asked.

"Um, yeah, I got it." Anna said. "But what-"

"Anna?" A voice. Who's? Her brothers'?

No. He didn't sound like that.

Her father then. "Go away!" Anna called. "Can't you see I'm doing something important?"

"Anna!" The voice was persistent.

"Go away Jacob! I can't go outside to play with you right now!"

She turned to the Grimm Reaper again.

"What's-"

"ANNA!"

"Alright, alright, I'm awake!" Anna said angrily, wishing that Jacob would go away! Here she was, having the first really good dream in weeks, and he had to go and ruin it because he probably wanted to play Bakugan.

"Anna! Anna! Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you you dim-bulb! You're right in my ear!" Anna yelled, opening her eyes. It wasn't her brother's face she was looking into.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pitch was tired. He was tired of thinking and he just wanted to have a few minutes rest. Although his heart cried out for sleep, his mind was still thinking.

I can't go to anywhere too southern, nor anywhere too northern. Nowhere with sun all the time, and snow is absolutely out of the question! I'd be dead for sure. He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Chicago is a nice city. Windy though, and the wind is Jack Frost's ally. Canada? They have mild winters. No, too populated. Ireland is nice, and it doesn't get much snow. The same with any of the UK. Maybe UK is the place for me to go!

Then he remembered that Father Time lived in Big Ben. That ruled out London and all of England, just for good measure.

What about Africa? No, way too hot. All of South America is out, as is Australia and Asia. Russian is completely out of the question! That would be like living in North's backyard! He sighed. Where can I go?

Pitch thought and thought, becoming more and more tired with each idea his mind told him. There are other countries besides England and Asia in the east! He told himself. Spain, for one! Italy, Germany, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Portugal. . .

He sighed again. All places that he was sure hadspirits living in especially! And why was he even considering Ireland?! That was where the Leprechaun, Patrica Connors, resided. And she hated him even more than the Guardians did, on account of a cruel trick he'd played on her in his youth.

Finally he wondered if Anna had any good ideas about where he should go. She was human, so she should know plenty of good neutral-temperature climates. Didn't they teach children about climates in schools?

"Anna, where do you-" he said, turning to face the girl, then he stopped. Something was wrong with her. She had her hands clasped together around her knees and she looked like she was rocking back and forth ever so slightly. Her eyes were closed.

"Anna?" she didn't respond. He stood up, a little worried by her behavior. "Anna, are you alright?"

Nothing.

"Anna? He said again, this time trying to poke her shoulder as gently as he could and not startle her. His finger went right through her.

"That was stupid." He told himself. "Anna?"

She didn't move an inch except for to rock back and forth a few inches.

"Anna?"

"Go away!" Anna yelled without any form of warning, causing Pitch to jump about a foot. "Can't you see I'm doing something important?"

Finally a reaction! Albeit not the reaction he was looking for.

"Some thing important?" Pitch repeated. "What?"

She stayed silent.

"Anna!" Pitch said, trying to shake her shoulder but his hand passed right through. He cursed.

"Go away Jacob! I can't go outside to play with you right now!"

"Jacob?" Pitch said, puzzled. "Who is Jacob?"

Anna stayed silent.

"ANNA!"

"Alright, alright, I'm awake!" Anna said angrily, rocking back and forth harder and faster than before.

Pitch doubted it. She was either having a particularly lucid dream or she could really understand him and she was just messing with him.

"Listen little girl, if you are somehow trying to trick me," Pitch warned as she began to rock back and forth harder and harder.

No response.

"Anna! Anna! Can you hear me?" he said, again trying to grab her shoulder but failing.

"Of course I can hear you you dim-bulb! You're right in my ear!" Anna yelled, inexplicably snapping open her eyes and staring right into his bright-gold and slightly fearful ones.

Several emotions passed over the Boogeyman's face then. Shock and surprise because of how quick she snapped back to reality from wherever she'd been, confusion as to why the heck she was calling him Jacob, annoyance because she had called him a 'dim-blub', worry because of how weird she was acting and finally relief that she was back to normal- or, as normal as a ghost who was friends with the Boogeyman could be.

"Anna, what on earth was that?" Pitch asked, staring down at her.

Anna looked at him, saying nothing for the longest time.

"ANNA!" Pitch yelled, nervousness and worry creeping into his voice. "Anna!"

Silence.

"Anna, speak to me blast you!" he demanded, wishing he could give her a pinch to jolt recognition or something like that.

Nothing.

Pitch got down onto his knees so that he was eye-level with her. He tried t hold her by the arms, but his hands went right through. "ILLANA MORGAN, SPEAK TO ME!"

Anna just stared at him, then, just as he was about to turn away, she opened her mouth.

"I. . . hate. . . Grimm. . . Reaper. . ."