Chapter 3
By morning, Grace had risen from her bed and eaten her breakfast. She then went up to her work station and took a sketchbook and some charcoal pencils.
Pitch watched her from the shadows and followed her outside, with Erebos behind Pitch.
"Grace, don't go too far!" a man called out to the girl.
"I won't daddy!" Grace replied back to her father and she walked towards the wooded area.
Watching her, Pitch remained out of sight, but stayed close by and Grace stopped by the stream.
She sat down on a flat rock and began to sketch the small waterfall and the rocks surrounding it.
Pitch looked over her shoulder and was surprised of how Grace used her fingers to trace the charcoal for the landscape.
"Amazing," Pitch said and then, Grace stopped.
She turned around quick and stared up at the boogeyman. Pitch stared back in surprise, she was looking right at him.
He took a few steps backward, his back hitting Erebos. "Have you been watching me?" Grace asked.
Without another word, Pitch grabbed a handful of Erebos' mane and pulled himself on the Pegasus' back and Erebos went into a gallop.
"Wait!" Grace shouted after them, but they were gone. She ran around the woods looking for the mysterious stranger, but no sight of him.
"Who was that?" Grace asked herself and she shut her eyes. She had a good photographic memory; whoever she saw was tall with dark hair and skin, but his eyes were like bright moons being eclipsed.
Grace immediately began to draw the handsome stranger from her memory.
Meanwhile, Pitch and Erebos were far away from Grace, but the nightmare king regretted that moment of running away from her.
"I blew it, Erebos, I'm an idiot!" he said to the Pegasus, who snickered at the boogeyman.
"It's not funny!" Pitch replied and Erebos flapped his wings.
Just then, a cold wind blew through the trees and Pitch knew what the meant. He looked around and he heard the mischievous chuckle of Jack Frost.
"What's the matter? Got scared of a girl?" the winter spirit asked as he dangled from his legs on a tree branch.
"Shut up," Pitch replied and Jack floated down to the ground, it froze at his touch.
"What are you doing here?" Pitch asked.
"The boss wanted me to check on you on your first day of community service," Jack answered and the ground surrounding him frosted.
"It's not community service," the boogeyman said, feeling rather irritated.
"You know, I would've turned you into a block of ice if I had the chance," the winter spirit replied and his staff touched Pitch's chest, but he moved it away.
"Good, then it would've saved you and your friends a lot of trouble,"Pitch said, hoping that the mischievous spirit would go away.
"Oh c'mon, you really don't mean that?" Jack asked.
"No, I suppose not," Pitch answered and gave a sigh.
"This is only the beginning, you have one year, and then, you'll be king of Halloween," Jack said and floated up to a tree. "Just to warn you, the boss might send me or one of the other Guardians to check up on you from time to time. See ya," he added and a strong wind picked him up and he flew away.
Pitch felt an urge of irritation toward the mischievous spirit of winter, but he decided to ignore it and headed back to where he left Grace.
He hid behind a tree when he saw the girl, still sketching in her book, but he couldn't see what she was drawing.
Then, Grace got up and left the woods, heading back to her house.
"Mummy! Daddy!" she called out to her parents.
"What's the matter?" her father asked.
"I thought I saw the boogeyman," Grace answered and her parents looked at one another.
"He didn't hurt you did he?" her father asked, again and he reached for an umbrella.
"No, he ran off," Grace replied and her father placed the umbrella back down.
"Are you sure it was the boogeyman, because I thought he only comes out at night," Grace's mother asked her daughter.
"I'm sure it was him, because he had a winged horse with him," the girl replied and both parents gave a sigh of relief.
"Will I see him, again?" Grace asked.
"I'm sure you will, but you have to be careful, sometimes he can't be trusted," the girl's mother warned her.
"I thought you said he was good," Grace said.
"Yes I did, but you just have to keep your wits up," the woman replied.
Grace was then greeted by her Ragdoll cat, Canaletto, named after the famous Italian landscape artist, Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto. The four of them went inside and Grace went up to her work station with Canaletto in pursuit.
Grace showed the cat her sketch of the mysterious stranger and he gave a low growl. "I know, you hate strangers, but if he does come back, you be nice," she said and Canaletto rubbed his cheek against her face.
Grace looked at the sketches of what she did, but admired the one of the shadowy man.
Pitch quietly crept in like a spider and looked down from the ceiling. He saw the sketch of him and he was astonished by how Grace drew him; the sketch was like a reflection of him.
Without saying a word, Pitch went out of the room using the window and met with Erebos.
"I'll make myself known to her tonight and we'll see what happens from there," Pitch said to the Pegasus and Erebos nodded in agreement.