Chapter 24

7 years later

The years had passed and the holidays had come and gone. Grace had grown up to be a beautiful red-haired, eighteen year old. Most people at her age usually stopped believing in Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, and the other holiday figures, but not her.

Grace had moved on and was now living in London, attending classes at the University of Art and she got a job as a caretaker at a private art gallery.

For the pass seven years, she had created beautiful charcoal drawings of landscapes and fantasy creatures, including the guardians, but especially that of Pitch and Erebos.

Since she arrived at the university, the headmaster had asked her to display her latest pieces in the charcoal gallery. The other students would admire her work of the boogeyman and his Pegasus, but they didn't believe he existed.

When Grace spent her first Christmas in London, she stayed in her apartment, and she was not sure if North would come and visit. He did and left Grace a lot of gifts, causing her classmates to feel jealous.

The same went for Easter. Bunnymund visited Grace and left her colored eggs. However, Grace caught him before he left. "Bunnymund, I need to tell you something," she said, "But you need to keep this a secret."

"I'm good in keeping secrets sheila," he said in his Australian accent.

Grace whispered something in Bunnymund's long ear and he looked surprised when she was finished. "Oh sheila, you mean it?" he asked and she nodded.

"You also have to promise to not tell this to anyone, only if my life or Pitch's life is in danger," Grace replied and Bunnymund nodded.

"Don't worry sheila, nothing bad's going to happen," he said and he went on his way.

Sandy also visited the young woman and gave her good dreams when she slept.

Grace still believed in the tooth fairy, despite having lost her last baby tooth when she turned thirteen. She also didn't lose faith in Jack Frost, as he would bring the coldest winters just for Grace to enjoy.

As for Pitch, he carried on with his duty of bringing Halloween to life by illuminating Jack-o-lanterns, releasing the spirits of the dead for the mortals to see, and giving the children a good scare.

The children believed in his existence, but for those who were always good, believed he only punished those who have been bad, and they admired him.

Pitch stayed true to his master's word of limiting his time with Grace, but when he saw Grace growing up, he could not ignore the feeling anymore. He realized that he had fallen in love with Grace.

However, he had the sense of fear that Mora would come back and take Grace. He also feared that the other guardians would not accept his love for a mortal girl.

For the pass seven years, Pitch and the guardians had not heard of anything about Mora, but they had fought against the night terrors.

Now it was a few days after Halloween and Jack Frost brought in chilly weather to London. Grace, at times, did not like the sudden change.

It was night time and Grace was still awake and she been drawing a new sketch of Pitch, but she had added herself in it.

In the drawing, Pitch held Grace in a loving embrace, as he was comforting her, but she was not finished in drawing her arms around him.

Then, the real Pitch entered her room and Grace was happy to see him.

"How was your Halloween?" he asked.

"A lot of fun, but I had been thinking of you the entire time," Grace replied.

Pitch than noticed the drawing and he could not stop staring at it.

"Did you just finish that?" he asked and she shook her head. "You best keep it hidden," he advised.

"Hidden? From whom?" Grace asked.

"Everyone, especially the guardians," Pitch answered.

"Why?" Grace asked, again.

"Please Grace, don't ask me so many questions," he replied.

"No, why do you want me to hide this? It's just a drawing," Grace said, but Pitch stared at her.

"If the guardians saw that, then they will get the idea that I…" he trailed off.

"You what? What will the guardians think? Pitch, please tell me," Grace demanded.

"I am not going to say it. What if a night terror is listening in on us?" Pitch asked.

"Mora is not here, we have not heard from her for seven years. Why can't you tell me?" Grace said, now on the verge of getting irritated.

"Enough Grace," Pitch answered and decided to leave, but she stopped him.

"Pitch, you're afraid of something, you have to tell me what it is," she demanded once more.

"I said enough!" Pitch shouted and hit Grace with the back of his hand. Grace fell back, rubbing her cheek, and she looked at Pitch in surprise. Pitch also stared back, but in shock, he regretted in hitting her.

"Grace, I'm-" "Get out!" she cut him off.

"Grace listen, I didn't mean-" "I said get out!" she shouted. Pitch did not want to leave her, but she was upset and angry at him, and he left the apartment.

"I did something real stupid Erebos," he said to the Pegasus. Erebos snorted and Pitch nodded. "I know, but what if she doesn't accept my apology? I need to talk to someone," he said and got on Erebos and they flew away, heading north.

Back inside Grace's apartment, the girl stared at the drawing she had been working on. Tears fell from her eyes and she felt stupid for crying. Without another thought, she tore the drawing out of the sketchbook, crumbling it and then opened a window, and threw it out.

Something came out of the shadows, a night terror in the form of a monkey. It took the crumbled paper and opened it and stared at the drawing. It knew right away that this was important and it decided to take it to its mistress.

In her lair, Mora had spent the pass seven years lying low, and planning. Then, the monkey night terror came up to her. "What is it?" she asked, feeling annoyed.

It showed the drawing to her and she took it. "Is that Pitch?" Mora asked, but she knew the answer. She looked at the drawing more closely and noticed that the girl's faintly drawn arms around Pitch.

"So, this Grace does have a weakness," Mora said and an idea came to her head.