Chapter 24: You And What Army?
Bunnymund tumbled out of the tunnel, blinded by the sudden flash of light. He rolled in the grass, relieved to be out of the nightmarish situation. He immediately sat up, panting, holding his head in is paws. It was terrifying, and so real. After 70 years she came back with the brute force of a sandstorm, more powerful than ever. She'd even used the object of his depression against him, his father. It tortured him.
He then noticed the Moon above, it was nighttime. How had it been so bright? He must've been too absorbed in his emotions. In fact, he was still reeling from them. His thoughts were momentarily paused, though, when he heard something from the sky. "Remember Gemma, Aster, she needs your help." Bunny shot a glance into the sky. The voice was that of the Man in the Moon. The soothing voice calmed him down, and he suddenly remembered why he'd originally left the Warren.
Bunny shook his head, snapping himself back into his mission. He stood up, sniffing the midnight air and listening for any sign of the Scott. Her scent was strong, but she wasn't making a sound. Odd, considering how she'd left his home. He expected her to be crying. Then he heard someone calling his name. "Bunny!"
He ran towards the voice, instantly recognizing it. He quickly came to the edge of the 100' cliff where he so often sat and talked with the Moon, noticing two teenagers. One was lying in some puke, which made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. When he took a second look, though, he recognized the pale skin and fiery red hair. Gemma. And the other one was an all too familiar friend, so familiar he was more like a son to Bunny. Jedidiah White.
Jed, as Bunny called him, was kneeling next to Gemma, looking utterly confused. When he saw the rabbit, a half-hearted grin came across his tan face. "Bunny!" The teenaged boy ran over, wrapping him up in a hug. "I knew you'd come!" he said into the fur on his friend's chest. Bunny returned the hug, trying to comfort the boy. "Of course I'd come and see ya. It's been awhile."
He smiled at the tall green-eyed boy, then frowned at him. "Alright, what happened?" The look on the human's face sobered. "I came over here to think about some things…and…uh…" Bunny gave him a hard look. "What happened, Jed? I need to know." Jed looked away, obviously not liking what he was about to say. "I, um, I fell off the cliff."
Shock hit Bunny with a force like one of North's punches. Instantly, worry took over. "Jed, you weren't trying to kill yourself now, were you?" He'd known the boy suffered from depression, like he'd had, but wouldn't dream of it taking the white-haired Aussie over. When the teen didn't meet his gaze, his worries were confirmed. "Jed, look at me."
After a pause, their eyes met. Tears started to fall down the sixteen-year-old's face like a waterfall. "I, I'm sorry. I couldn't take it any longer. I miss her!" Jed began to sob, which was so unlike him but had become so frequent in recent years. He'd just recently lost his mother after an 8 year battle with MS. He'd watched his mother slowly die in front of him, watching helplessly as she slowly lost her mind. She didn't go crazy, she would just forget things, but it still was a horrible, horrible thing to watch.
It had taken its toll on Jed. He remembered his mom from before she was diagnosed, but the woman had been a drug addict, so she wasn't always there. And before he had been born, she'd been an alcoholic. The addictions had nearly destroyed her brain, and it was hard to watch Jed live with her and his father. No matter what he did, it seemed to the teen, it was wrong. In some cases, Bunny had to agree with him.
The woman that his father had fallen in love with wasn't the woman Jed knew, and Bunny even remembered her. She was shockingly different. She had been an amazing athlete, kicking everyone's butt in anything she tried. She was caring and sweet, and would've been an amazing mother. Then she started drinking, and the ball started rolling downhill. She never recovered, even after Jed was born. In fact, it got worse.
It didn't help that she was forced into a wheelchair towards the end of her life, for fear of her killing herself by accident. Unfortunately, that's what happened. She fell and hit her head on something, killing herself on impact. And that was the reason why Jed had been scared. He never had anyone over, especially after his mom had fallen down the stairs on his 11th birthday. He didn't even have a 16th birthday party last year because he was afraid of something happening to her in front of what little friends he did have. It was heartbreaking.
Bunny hated watching Jed live like this. Life wasn't fair, but it shouldn't be this way. Full of suffering, and pain, and picking up your mother after she fell out of the bathtub. Cleaning up after her messes, being yelled at, feeling unloved. She'd had the choice to change her life, exercise, get healthy, quit smoking, quit spending money on things she didn't need. But it seemed her motto was "I can do it tomorrow," and poor Jed took it very personally. Soon began to feel like his mom didn't love him, even though he loved her.
Bunny had taken Jed's mother's place in his life, or at least tried to. He cared for him, watched him grow up, and practically raised him. He truly loved the boy the way he should've been, and he never gave up trying to fill the empty place in the fellow Aussie's heart. Bunny's center was hope, and that was what he tried to give the boy along with love. But it hadn't been enough.
The Guardian of Hope grabbed Jed and pulled him into a bear hug. "I know you do, and you don't deserve the life you have." He felt warm tears seep into his fur as Jed let out another sob. He squatted down so that he was eyelevel with the teen, and stared into his green eyes. "But you can't give up. You can't give up on your dad, you can't give up on me, you can't give up on the Guardians, and you can't give up on life. You hear me? You can't give up on hope."
Jed nodded, tears still streaming down his face. "OK." "I'm serious, Jed. If you ever need me, just use the bullroarer and I'll come running. No matter what. I promise." Bunny wiped the tears off of his tan face. "Now, how are you still alive?" It was weird asking him the question, but it needed to be asked. Jed glanced at Gemma's motionless body. "Gemma saved me."
Once again, Bunny was shocked. He glanced from her, to him, and back again. He hopped over to the girl, and was relieved to see that she was still breathing. "She, she saved you? How?" "She grabbed me and made a cloud below us. But I think her powers were weak because it vaporized as we neared the top, but then the wind brought us back up here." He gave Gemma a look of gratefulness, following it with a frown. "But then she threw up and collapsed. She tried to get up, but I wouldn't let her. Something's wrong with her." He gave Bunny a confused look. "I thought you said she was lively?"
Bunny wasted no time in looking Gemma over. "She usually is. She likes to pull pranks, like Frost. He's her boyfriend, by the way." He noticed a disappointed look on Jed's face. He would've teased him about it, but let it slide. Pitch's power had been in Gemma for too long; he needed to get her to the Pole. He was about to pick her up when a thought struck him.
"Wait, she grabbed you? She didn't pass through you?" "No, quite frankly she had this epiphany and wouldn't stop hugging me. It was weird." Bunny stared at Jed, then glanced to Gemma. "What?" the teen was curious. Bunny turned back to him. "Jed, you're her first believer." His eyes widened in surprise. "You, you mean…" He glanced down at Gemma, then shook his head. "That explains a lot."
"Yes, it does." Bunny's head shot up at the voice. British. Female. Rough. It was the same voice that'd been haunting him for 500 years. The voice that had been tearing him apart. Bloody Mary. The small woman sat on a large black stallion, glaring down at them with her piercing eyes. The moonlight cast long shadows across her face, making her seem even more intimidating. Clouds billowed upwards from behind her, threatening to take out the only light to see by.
Jed took a step towards Bunny, obviously scared of the woman. Before either of them could say anything, though, Mary spoke. "So Mistress Fogg finally has someone believing in her? How sweet." She looked Jed over. "Handsome, I might add. She made a good choice." "What do you want, you bastard?" Bunny spat, stepping between her and Jed. Wrong thing to say.
"That is the last time you disrespect your Queen, rabbit!" The scream echoed over the cliff. A storm broke out above them, lightning cracking and thunder booming. The wind picked up. Bunny and Jed spun around, wide-eyed with fear. Mary began to laugh. That laugh. The same one that had been haunting him. The one he'd heard in the tunnel. Dad. Bunnymund tried to cover his ears, screaming in pain. He couldn't bare it much longer.
"Bunny?!" Jed yelled over the wind. The rabbit glanced at him, not wanting the teen to see himself like this. Jed's face was screwed in confusion and fear. Mary's laughter died down with the wind. "Oh, Jedidiah, Mister Bunny didn't tell you? He's been depressed for 500 years because of me! I've been haunting him with the death of his very own father." Jed stepped back in shock, then looked at him. "What?"
"That is correct. I, Bloody Mary, have been tearing the strongest Guardian apart at the seams without the knowledge of anyone. For his pride would not let him ask for help." Bunny glanced back at Jed, who looked a little betrayed. He realized that he could've told Jed about Mary, about his own fight, and maybe Jed could've helped him. Actually, in truth, Jed had helped. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Of course, he could have told you about me. Why he did not I do not understand. BUT I'm not finished, not yet. I have one more thing to do." Bunny glanced at Jed, then glared at her. "And what would that be?" "Oh, I simply cannot have this. As long as Mistress Fogg is alive, no human can believe in her. Her depression feeds me more than both of yours do, combined." Bunny glanced at Gemma, who was to his left, then defiantly back to Mary.
"I'm not letting you take her again, you revolting ratbag!" He tapped his foot, sending the unconscious girl through a tunnel. Mary seemed unmoved. "Bad move, rabbit." Mary looked past him. "It wasn't her I was after." Too late, he realized what she was meaning. He turned just in time to watch as blue lightning shot into Jed's left foot, surge through his body, and out of his open mouth and into the sky. Mary's horse reared in surprise. "NO!" Bunny shouted.
Jed collapsed to the ground, shocks shooting through his body. Quickly, Bunny knelt by the teenager's side. He put his paw on the boy's arm, only to pull it back after he was shocked, crying out in pain. His eyes moved from his paw to the human in horror, realizing that the boy, the boy he had raised, was gone. Forever.
Jedidiah White was dead.
Mary laughed again, but instead of his father's laugh Bunnymund heard Jed's light happy chortle. That was it. He was done playing games. He was finished with playing telephone. He needed his revenge. He stood up, keeping his head down. "I always thought I would take out my revenge on Pitch." He paused to let Mary absorb what he had said. "I will, but right now I'm getting the revenge I should've gotten when I had the chance."
He turned on Mary, reaching behind his head for his boomerangs. His eyes opened almost as wide as his mouth. He didn't feel them. He gasped, patting his body, panic setting in. Where were they? "Looking for these?" He was surprised to see them in Mary's small hands. He then remembered dropping them in the tunnel. He should've guessed that she had them, but the panic had set in.
Mary sat up, looking down at him from her large horse. "Alright, rabbit. I am offering an appeal to you. I give you your precious boomerangs for a piece of information. Then we go our separate ways, and we live on our lives as usual." He stepped forward, reaching for his father's gifts. "What kind of information?" She pulled her horse back, making it neigh. "The location of Mistress Fogg's hideaway."
"Huh?" Bunny was shocked. He was expecting the location of Pitch's hideaway, Jack, or even the Pole. Why would she want the location of Gemma's home? "You heard me." He decided to play dumb. "Uh, no I didn't, actually. Can you run that by me again?" He leaned forward, putting his right paw behind his back. Mary was annoyed. "Do I need to be blunter? Gemma's home. Her forest. Where you found her." He found what he was looking for.
"Ah, Gemma's lake. I can give you directions." He put out his left paw. "But I'm gonna need my boomerangs back, first." Mary looked surprised for a moment, but it went away in a flash. "You realize that I'm only asking you because I have the upper hand. Either you give me the location of that lake, or your pieces of wood are turned to sawdust. I can attack you easily, you would be defenseless." Did he hear what he thought he just heard? Her, a 5' woman, attack him, a 6'1" warrior Pooka with a black belt in Thai Chi?
Bunny laughed, still keeping his right paw behind his back. "You and what army?" "What army? What army?" Mary laughed, it still sounding just like Jed's. He glanced around him, looking for whatever "army" she had. She sobered immediately. "Oh, I know what rabbits fear." A pause, and then he heard it. Growling. Panting. Claws scratching against rock.
It was like some horror movie. Dogs crawled over the edge of the cliff. Big ones. Wolves. Their red eyes glowed in the night, ready for the hunt. Mary's stone face never changed as her horse pawed the ground, knowing very well what would happen next. Bunny glanced around nervously, counting about 30 wolves stalking him. He felt his fur stand up, and his ears twitched in all directions.
"I recall telling you that if I had my dogs with me, I'd be having you for dinner. If you don't tell me the location, I will enjoy a hunt tonight. If you do, I will call off my hunt." She moved to a more comfortable position in her saddle. "Your choice."
Ok c'est Chapter 24!
I'm sorry I kinda lied to you guys, but I had to finish it here, not at Ch 23.
I hope you guys don't mind if I take my break now. I need to work in school.
So 2-3 week break for now! Until then:
Please review! It helps and I enjoy it!
:)