Preparations for the plan were long and tedious, between perfecting the nightmares, training, and last minute tweaks to the agenda. Annie wasn't fond of any of this. It wasn't at all fun and left her extremely bored. The repetitiveness of everything really round roughly on Annie's control over her energy. She needed fun and the ability to do as she freely wanted. It wasn't much of a selfish request, yet it still was denied. "We need to work." Pitch had said over and over. Annie always rolled her eyes at this behind closed doors, she didn't even need to work on anything. Sometimes it went well beyond eye rolling, extending into fits of rage and hatred; leaving things broken and tattered for the shadows to tidy up. She had thought about leaving many, many times, even laying out a plan as to how to go about doing so. But she never did. Leaving just wasn't an option. No, not possible. Annie's father would flip if he found out his daughter was acting like this. Like a beaten sick puppy who kept crawling back. Annie sighed at the thought, no longer denying the fact that she was totally whipped.
"What are you sighing about over there?" Pitch questioned absently as he stared down at some of his scribbles and plans. He did this several times a day; checking over his work, making sure there were no holes. There never was which was shocking to say the least. His plans always failed and yet this one seemed foolproof. Annie herself had studied it over and over and still finding no faults. It was hard to believe that Pitch actually had this one. There was no way the Guardians could actually win.
Annie was sitting on the desk, making sure not to sit on any of the papers, swinging her legs around like a child. Annie thought about the question. What was she sighing about? That she couldn't leave or that she didn't want to? The teenager settled that it was a mixture of both. She wanted to leave but she didn't. Annie shrugged and leaned back to support herself on her forearms. "Just thinking I guess." She answered simply, a bit afraid that Pitch would press her for details. He didn't and she could feel that he wouldn't. It was that damned connection.
The connection Pitch and Annie shared was made purely by accident. Annie hadn't wanted to be bonded to a man such as Pitch, someone whose one purpose was to bring fear to children. No, she would have never wanted that. She would never harm a child, leading her to believe that maybe she would hitting for the wrong team. Annie had to stifle a laugh at the ridiculous thought. No way in Hell would the Guardians ever accept someone like her.
Maybe it was better that way; to stay on the appropriate side. Annie was meant to stay here, in a relationship that was bitter and abusive. Now Annie was not about to throw Pitch under the bus, she also contributed to the physical and mental abuse. Maybe constantly reminding the poor man that his plans were awful, worthy of a toddler, were not the way to win his respect. That was something Annie was willing to admit. She wasn't perfect and neither was Pitch. But still, the bond that connection was the problem. Annie was aware that she was nothing but a pawn in Pitch's little game. Based on the observations of the plans in the past, he would probably leave her to die if it meant that he would live. It was the shock and betrayal on his grey face that punched her right in the gut every time she mentioned leaving. It convinced her that he actually did care, even if he had a funny way of showing it. It always ended with Annie comforting the older man, reassuring him that she would stay with him, and a beating of course. The teenager didn't care, it felt better to stay.
Annie shook her head a bit. What was she thinking? No. Annie thought sternly. You need him more than he needs you. With an animated snort Annie dismissed the thought. That was not true, what would he even do without her? Surely be killed by the Guardians. Anger began to bubble up in her system and she looked to her left at the large demon. She saved his ass every time. So perhaps he did need her. Though Annie would admit that she needed him too. He took her out of the village, away from all that loneliness and rotten food and gave her a home, a life. She would always be thankful for that. But still, that damn connection.
"If you want to speak like trash, you will be treated like trash!" Pitch screamed angrily, doing a great job at frightening the much smaller girl almost to the point of wetting herself. With unbelievable control she was able to connect her brain to her bladder. Now was not the place or the time. Annie knew she was stronger than that. Stronger than Pitch even. She held onto that thought with comfort. She could easily stop him if she wanted to. He advanced slowly, his aura reeking with fury and another strong emotion that she hadn't quite felt yet. It was an odd burning emotion that struck her deeply. Annie tensed considerably as a large hand rose into the air, looking about ready to smack her. He was going to hit her. Annie wasn't too fond of the idea, but she agreed that she certainly deserved it. She had spoken like trash, it was not a was for a lady to speak.
The pain of the slap never came, instead there was the warmth of lips on her own. Dumbfounded, Annie froze. She had expected a brutal strike, making the kiss a bit more stunning than it would have been otherwise. He pulled away after a minute or so, looking her straight in the eye. The fury had simmered down to dull anger but it was nearly undetectable under the blanket of the new, unfamiliar emotion. "Participate, Annie." He demanded quietly before diving right back to her mouth. It took her only a second to process his words and perform, heating the kiss.
Annie scowled at the memory. It had been lovely of course, but why. Why did it have to happen? It ws entirely her fault for not being more in control. She allowed her emotions and energy to fly off the handle. They sank deep into Pitch's body, to his very core and clicked. The pair had immediately stop there carnal movements and stared at each other in mutual understanding. They knew what had happened. Lev had talked about it before. Annie damned herself for being so stupid. She should have know to keep it in check. What was this, amature hour?
"Annie!" Pitch yelled in her ear to throw her back into reality. She got it together quickly and eyed her lover questioningly. He held is hands out to her expectantly and Annie got the picture. Energy. He heeded the energy to keep working, which was understandable considering he had being working nonstop for weeks. Annie just smiled, happy to be helping the small bit that she was, and placed her petite hands over the back of his smooth palms. Taking energy was a Hell of a lot easier than giving it, honestly making her dislike doing it so often. It left her drained because her body craved it like a drug. Drug addicts would never willingly and happily give away their stash. It was what she was made of, it wasn't just a neat trick, it was part of her. Pitch's eyes brieftly fluttered closed and he breathed deeply. He looked so vulnerable -maybe even human- in moments like this, those rare relaxed and unguarded moments. The peace was short lived, cut by his eyelids shooting open and his body twisting violently back to his work without so much as a thanks. Annie knew that he was thankful.
The pair sat like that for hours each day, Pitch working and Annie giving. Sometimes they would have small conversations. "So what exactly is my role in this?" Annie asked skeptically. She didn't seem to be doing much to help other than giving him some energy now and then. Pitch never did discuss much of the plan so she was still curious about her part in it. The older man flipped a page in a large booklet of papers, golden eyes scanning the messy writing there before turning his gaze up to her with a hand on his chin like he hadn't been paying attention to what she said. Finally it clicked.
"Oh, yes. Well for the most part you will be there to intimidate them, give energy as needed." He stated simply and waited for he response. Annie went over it in her head and shrugged. It was easy enough with very few chanced for her to mess it up. She nodded, ebony hair bouncing as she did so and Annie found herself almost excited to show the Guardians what she could really do. "Just do a few tricks to scare them, you are very powerful." He finished absently and turned back to his pages. Annie smiled at the compliment and rose to leave to room at his obvious dismissal.
"Hello Abdiel." Annie sweetly greeted the gigantic dragon and she sat in the soft grass next to it. His golden eyes rolled lazily to look at her and grunted. It was painfully clear that the reptile wasn't fond of the teenager but Annie didn't care. It was a bit better than sitting in unwanted silence with Pitch, thought it would probably be all the same with Abdiel. Annie smiled at the animal. "Am I bothering you?" She asked teasingly. The animal exhaled deeply and made a sound similar to a groan. Annie laughed at his response and he seemed to glare at her, a look at said he was very annoyed with her. She got up and strutted lazily back to the entrance of the large castle, leaving the antisocial dragon to himself.
Annie walked through the main hall and through the dinning room to the kitchen. It had changed a lot during her three-hundred years here, going from just a few fireplaces to stainless steel appliances serving gourmet meals. It was pretty amazing. In front of a counter was a shadow already preparing dinner even though it was still late morning. "Hello." It spoke to her telepathically. She smiled at it's greeting and strolled up next to him. It wasn't often that Annie ate out of boredom, Pitch was against eating unhealthily and her old village never had enough food to eat when you weren't hungry. It was a luxury when she was able to just eat.
"I'm getting a bit hungry." Annie stated simply and sat up on the counter. admittedly it wasn't the most sanitary option but it was a habit of hers. "Anything in particular?" It asked politely. She shrugged a bit and leaned back on her elbows, allowed her head rest on her shoulder. The shadow went about slicing various vegetables, occasionally slipping her a few chunks for her to munch on.
"Annie!" The sound of Pitch's voice boomed through the kitchen and echoed along with the sound of the doors slamming against the wall. Annie jumped at the sound, falling off the counter and nearly choking on the half-chewed piece of carrot in her mouth. He sprinted into kitchen and stood above her, grabbing her arm in an impressive grip and pulling her to her still unstable feet. "Pitchy, what are you doing?" She asked almost fearfully. Annie wasn't sure if she had done something wrong. Did he not like that she was eating before lunch? He didn't answer, instead continuing to draw her through the entrance of the castle. Annie gasped at the sight.
In front of the manor were hundreds of thousands of nightmares. They grunted and huffed anxiously, kicking up dirt and creating a dusty cloud. Annie wasn't afraid of them anymore, but the rumbling sounds were almost war-like. That's what frightened her. She didn't want this to be a war. Pitch turned to her with an excited smirk and grabbed her wrist, tugging her on to a dark nightmare in the front of the group. Her eyes were wide with worry and fear. "Pitch, what are you doing?" She asked through a tight throat as she wrapped her arms around his long waist. The teenager could feel the vibrations of his dark chuckles on her hands.
"We're going to the Tooth Palace." He announced loudly not only to Annie but to the nightmares as well. Annie remembered the plans, phase two. So he had already gathered the Guardians? Annie hadn't known about that. She was yanked out of her thoughts by the sudden upward movement of the nightmares as they exited the hole under the bed, sweeping out into the outside world.
This is when the actually story starts to happen, the beginning of the main plot I guess rather than all the back story stuff. This chapter was so-so, I definitely could have done better but I am in a rush to get some of these chapters out. I'm estimating that there will be around twenty chapters in this story, maybe a few more but I'm not sure. I have a lot planned for this story and I can't wait to show everyone.
Listen to Africa by Toto just because.