Here's the first real chapter. Enjoy.
I do not own anything you recognize. And some of the stuff you don't.
Jack tapped a window with his staff and smiled as the frost patterns curled across the glass. Flipping up he landed in a crouch, balancing on top of the shepherd's crook of his staff and looking around the town. Fresh snow covered the ground and more still fell; a group of children were engaged in a snowball fight near a frozen pond in the par. A frightened scream made Jack whip around and he flew over towards the pond.
A young girl slid on a track of ice that sent her spinning onto the pond. As Jack landed on the frozen surface, a small grin on his face, she shifted to her knees and a sharp crack echoed as she fell through the ice. Jack's smile vanished and he stared down into the frigid water. He could hear the other children screaming and crying as adults began racing over. Jack flew away as emergency vehicles arrived at the scene to begin breaking up the ice.
Jack was slightly surprised to find himself at the North Pole, and then wondered why: North had been telling him for four years that he could come to him with anything. And if he needed anything, he sure needed it now. He alighted on the sill of an open window, looking into the Globe Room of North's workshop. North, who was working below, looked up at the flurry of ice and snow that accompanied Jack's arrival.
"Ah, Jack! What bring you here?" He called up to the boy, opening his arms in welcome. "It been long time; how have you-" The big man trailed off when he noticed the troubled look on Jack's face. "Jack, what be wrong?" Jack jumped from the window and floated over to land in front of North. "I was in northern Germany, and-" Jack was cut off by an all-too-familiar Australian accent.
"Hey, long time no see, Frostbite. Where've you been hidin', mate?" Jack turned to see the Easter Bunny standing behind him, boomerangs, egg bombs, and all. "Well if it isn't my favorite Kangaroo!" A cocky mask replaced Jack's forlorn expression. North scowled at Bunnymund over Jack's shoulder, knowing it would be much harder to get the truth out of Jack now. Bunny immediately fired off an insult at Jack, completely oblivious to the look North was giving him.
"Jack. You were about to say what bothering you." North interrupted the banter between the two Guardians and Jack turned with an uncertain look in his eye. "Wha'? Frostbite's got a problem? Mus' be big; not much melts ya, mate." Jack hesitated and shifted his grip on his staff; then sighed and the cocky expression crumbled. "I watched a little girl die today." Jack whispered- even Bunny was caught off-guard by that- but before either of his listeners had a chance to react Jack continued. "I was in northern Germany, wrapping up a snowstorm, when she slipped and the ice on the lake broke underneath her." Bunny hopped closer to Jack and put a paw on his shoulder. "Crikey, mate. I'm sorry." North was silent, there was nothing he could say that would make it better; and he knew that.
Jack wiped a frozen tear off his cheek and locked eyes with North. "That's not the worst of it. The ice wasn't thin. It shouldn't have broken." North's eyes widened and Bunny gasped. "Tha' means-" Jack turned to look at him. "Someone's messing with MY winter. And kids are getting hurt." North's expression hardened and he went over to the control panel to activate the Aurora Borealis.
Tooth and Sandy arrived- Sandy with sand shapes flickering dizzyingly, and Tooth still giving her mini-fairies instructions. Jack told them what he had told North and Bunny; Tooth gasped while Sandy's sand shapes flashed even faster as he asked a dozen questions at once.
"Do you think Pitch is back again?" Tooth asked, fluttering over everyone's heads nervously. North shook his head. "Took him hundred of years to come back after Dark Ages. Is too soon for him to return." Jack was crouched on his staff. "Besides, isn't Pitch's thing Fear? I don't think hurting people is his style." Sandy tapped North's leg and, as everyone looked at him, he created a bat out of dreamsand. Jack frowned, not understanding the sign. "Impossible, mate. He hasn't been seen since before the Dark Ages."
"Who hasn't been seen since before the Dark Ages?" Jack shouted, pounding his staff on the ground. In an instant, the air was frigid. Tooth gasped as frost crept over her wings and she dropped to the ground. Now that he had everyone's attention, Jack asked, "Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" North went over to help Tooth thaw her wings and Bunny answered Jack. "Dracula." Jack cocked his head. "Who?" Bunny shook his head. "You need to study up on ya legends, mate. Dracula; the Vampire?" Jack frowned. "I thought that was just a book."
"Oh no. He's as real as we are, Jack. And probably more dangerous than Pitch." Tooth explained. "Dracula has not been seen since before the dark ages, as Bunny said. Chances are small that it's him." Sandy flashed a sequence of shapes and Jack nodded after deciphering them—something he had gotten quite adept at. "That's what Bunny said about Pitch. And look how well that turned out." Bunny's ears flattened slightly at Jack (and Sandy's) point.
North, Bunny, and Tooth began discussing options… well; they started out discussing options… it ended up with North and Bunny arguing while Tooth directed her mini-fairies. Jack and Sandy held their own conversation silently; Sandy using his dreamsand and Jack using Sign Language- a language only Sandy knew he could use. A soft beam of moonlight caught their attention and Sandy began looking around for an elf. Jack snickered softly and put his hand on Sandy's arm to stop him; Jack then tapped his staff on the floor, sending frost across the floor to make North slip slightly. As North regained his footing everyone looked at Jack. "Manny's here."
"How come you and Sandy're always the first ta notice?" Bunny complained as North greeted the Man in the Moon. "We're quiet. You should try it sometime." Jack turned his attention to Manny before Bunny could respond, forcing him to do the same. The moon's silvery-blue light shown down on the ground, revealing the dark form of a bat. "It IS Dracula…" Jack muttered, staring at the shadow. Bunny rolled his eyes. "Of COURSE it is…." The five Guardians waited in tense silence, but Manny told them nothing else. No new Guardian was chosen. No advice on how to fight Dracula was given. The moon's light faded and Jack and his friends were left- literally and figuratively- in the dark.
"Now what? Manny has never failed to give us advice before…" Tooth fluttered around at an even faster pace, clearly agitated. "What can you tell me about Dracula? I read the book once—shortly after it came out—but I doubt it was totally accurate."
"He's a Vampire- meaning he drinks blood. Most often women and children…" Tooth explained with a shudder. "Although I have to admit his teeth are-" "Tooth!" "Sorry…"
North was quick to give Jack his knowledge of the foe: "He is very strong - has strength of ten men. He can also change his form. That why his symbol is bat…"
"But he can change inta' mist too." Bunny added. "Meanin' he can go 'most anywhere an' 'e's bloody hard to catch. Also, he has wolves that do 'is dirty work for 'im; kinda like Pitch's Nightmares." Jack listened to each Guardian with growing horror, hoping he didn't look as scared as he felt. He didn't want to know any more. Yet, there was one last question he had to get off his chest…
"Well, vampires are scary and all, but what makes Dracula so special? What's his center? Pitch is master of fear and darkness. So what's Dracula's thing?"
"Pain." North responded simply. Jack felt his stomach drop. Pain. That was much worse than just fear. He glanced up at North's globe, speckled with pricks of light for every child who believed. If Dracula attacked, kids wouldn't just stop believing- they'd be hurt. Or even killed….
"We have to stop him!" He burst out, turning to the Big Four in desperation. "Is there anything we can do? There has to be something…"
No one spoke for awhile. Finally, Bunny shook his head in defeat. "'Fraid not, mate. Not now, at any rate. We don't know where 'e is or what exactly 'e's planning, so it'd be useless to go after 'im." "But-"
"He will make another move soon." North reassured, putting a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. "Then we will strike." Tooth nodded enthusiastically. "We just have to wait until-"
"Until what?" Jack interrupted, shoving North's hand away. "Until another kid dies? I'm not gonna do that. If you won't stop Dracula, I will." And with a cold blast of wind, Jack was gone.
OMZ (Oh My Zeus) This is honestly one of my better ideas. Hope you enjoyed this.
~~ Wavelength