Chapter fourteen-Fear
On his way to Burgess he stopped to be sure the dream sand was still doing its job and he was pleasantly surprised. Shooting back to where he knew Jack would be, he stuck to the shadows until everyone went to bed. He decided Jamie might actually be his best bet.
"Pitch?" He was a bit confused, he didn't expect to see him again so soon.
"Jamie, I don't know why, but Jack is starting to forget the memories he was given of a human life. He can't remember most of them, and the rest are distant. I don't quite know how, but soon he won't remember anything past moving to your building." Pitch explained worriedly.
"Well that's good right? He'll know that he's Jack Frost then, won't he?" Jamie asked.
"That's the thing, I don't know. If we can't get him to believe before then he might just end up committed." Pitch was only half-joking, and Jamie didn't like the sound of that one bit.
"What do we do?" He asked.
"Well, we need him to believe, as soon as possible. The others already do but we need him in on it too. I'll probably need your help, too." He offered. He hadn't thought this far ahead yet, but now was as good a time as any. He was a child, after all, and Pitch still needed to re-read the oath. The added magic of Jamie's belief could really come in handy.
"Maybe we can just take him to the Pole." He suggested.
"How can we? He doesn't believe." Pitch pointed out.
"Yeah, but if I know Jack, and I like to think I can at least guess, if he sees the five of us talking to you, and maybe Sandy floating in the air with nothing under him, he will then. Plus, can't you use his magic? Make a snowflake like he always did and he'll believe!" Jamie provided, excited about his plan. It was vague enough to maybe work, and also to make Pitch more confused than he could ever remember being in his long, immortal life.
"Jamie, slow down." He tried, laughing as he did despite the seriousness of the situation. "What did Jack do?" he asked. This was the first he had ever heard about Jack's magic that wasn't just seasonal.
"He could make snowflakes and when they melted on your nose there was blue magic and it would make people see the fun in things, and him. It's what gave people that last push to believe in him when they were about to." Jamie explained choppily. He was obviously about to knock out for the night.
"Alright Jamie, I'll see about that. Remember though, he probably practiced it for a long time before he figured it out." Pitch cautioned.
"You've got a point." He shrugged tiredly.
"Alright, now you need to get some sleep. You're going to wear yourself out." Pitch teased. Jamie looked like he was about to argue but Pitch created one of Sandy's trademark balls of golden sand and bounced it a couple times with a smirk on his face. Jamie sighed and resigned to bedtime. Pitch couldn't help chuckling as he made his way back out his window. He was so much fun to be around, he could see why he and Jack had gotten on so well.
When a shadow flew past Jamie's window he felt a shiver up his spine and groaned silently. Boogey was less a threat than he was a nuisance at this point. With a quick roll of his eyes he shot out, enticing Boogey to follow him and leading him into daylight where he was forced to disband.
On his way back to Tooth Palace he mused about the possibilities for the next day. He could really help Jack, or on the other hand…
He shook out the negative thoughts he was having in favor of allowing himself to converse with the faries and distract himself from the task he was charged with. It would have become quickly overwhelming had he not been able to refocus, and thankfully the faries were more than willing to help. They loved to talk, to tell stories and laugh. He couldn't imagine how any part of him would ever have wanted to harm them. He wanted to destroy Boogey for all he had put them through. He saw Mani's light in the night sky and smiled fondly at his friend. He silently thanked him, because he knew all of this, the whole big mess, had ultimately been for family.
He had wanted the guardians to be closer as a family, that was true, but he had thought enough of Pitch to try again to dispel Boogey and it had worked. If he had thought his son lost Pitch wouldn't have blamed him and he couldn't for the life of him figure out where that hint had come from. How had he known that Pitch was still himself deep under the control of Boogey? How had he been able to see it when Pitch himself hadn't? That was why it had taken him so long, he thought. Boogey had convinced him that he was evil himself, that he had been acting on his own.
Pitch shuddered at the thought.
All I need to do is keep him weak, just a little longer. He assured himself.
Back at Jamie's place his mother was making herself some tea and reading a book when a dark shadow fell over her couch. She searched the room for the source of the shadow but found nothing. Finding nothing was almost worse than if someone had been standing over her with a weapon. She wished she knew what it was, and something in her gut was telling her it wasn't nothing. It had to be something. Had to be.
Pitch shivered, pausing in his work.
"What is it?" Baby Tooth asked, wringing her little hands, knowing something had to be wrong.
"I can feel something, like I'm still attached to him somehow." He shook his head. "It's likely nothing." He dismissed.
"With Boogey free, is that really a safe assumption to make?" She asked.
"It's never safe, but I can still feel his essence and I know he's still too weak to really do any damage." He assured her.
"And you're sure." She prodded. He sighed heavily.
"Not even a little." He shivered again, feeling the fear someone was feeling.
Jessica sat up straighter, chill working through her when a scary thought occurred to her.
"Jamie." She whispered. She had encountered this gut feeling once before, with her husband and Sophie, her youngest. She set her cup aside, putting the book down flat. After all, panic wouldn't help anyone, and she was probably imagining it. Still, that feeling wouldn't pass. As she got up she could swear the room darkened a bit.
On her way into Jamie's room the shadows seemed to thicken. Something felt very, very wrong. Jamie wasn't quick to fall asleep and she had only left him to go to bed an hour ago. He would usually still be awake, but she could hear nothing. Her heart skipped a few beats.
Pitch jumped. His heart was pounding. Something was wrong.
"Baby Tooth, I need to go. Boogey is causing fear and we're connected enough that I can feel it. Someone's in danger." He provided.
"Who?" She asked.
"I can feel him in Jack's building, I don't know where." He offered as he rocketed out of Tooth Palace in a panic.
When she opened his door she found him sleeping peacefully. She heaved a huge sigh of relief as she closed his door that didn't last long.
Pitch made it to the building in time to check around Jack's place. When he found something his sympathetic terror spiked enough to cause him to be light-headed.
"If he's not…" His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He shot out the window and up to Jamie's room.
"Why hello Madame, I don't believe we've met." A rough voice greeted Jessica. She tried to stay silent as she spun to meet the source of the sound. She then came face-to-face with Boogey. Her eyes widened and she backed up against Jamie's now closed door.
Pitch made it in, going to pull open Jamie's door when he saw that the boy was safe. Someone in this apartment was in danger.
"Who are you?" She whispered, unable to contain her fear in the presence of his raw essence of terror.
Pitch froze.
"I'm fear." He whispered, putting his hands through her head, causing her to pass out. Pitch wrenched open the door and used every ounce of magic he had to rip through Boogey before he got any farther. Jamie shot straight up in bed in time to see Boogey dissipate and his mom collapse in Pitch's arms.
I know, I know! Horrible cliffie! Please let me know what you think and definitely if this is getting confusing, please tell me! Hope you like it. Until next time! :) You are wonderful people!