Chapter 7

Trying to keep up this time!

Jack was in trouble...and he knew he was going to need help. He was tied down, he was sure that a few bones had been damaged, and he didn't have his staff. Jamie was at the mercy of Pitch...there was only one thing that the Guardian could do. "Pitch. If you return Jamie to his family and free them all from their nightmares...I'll do whatever you want." Jack grit his teeth and drooped his head low. This was the last place he had wanted to stay. His chest began to ache…he was pretty sure that was his heart. There was a twinge of deeper pain he felt, only for a split second.

The Nightmare King could not have been happier. His cackle boomed throughout his underground kingdom. "Ah! I do so hate to force people into things…" He turned to Jack, cancelling the attack meant for Jamie. He left his arms fall gently to his sides. "It's just the only way I can get what I want. And now that I have you...this plan is going to be my greatest one yet." Pitch began to pace around. "I wonder what the Man in the Moon will do now. His star Guardian has been captured and the other ones are completely useless...we saw them in action last time." Again, another laugh echoed.

Jack raised his head and glared. "The Man in the Moon?" What in the world would Pitch do to the Man in the Moon? HOW would he do anything? The Man in the Moon was always in the sky, he had never come down, even in the Guardian's darkest hour those two years ago. Was the Man in the Moon even a person? There were so many questions that Jack never got an answer to. North, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandman all knew about him; but Jack still knew nothing.

"Oh yes. You see, we have a long history together. I do owe him one last favor. I rid him of his family, his personal guardian, and his home. I think it's time I let him join everything he lost in the Golden Age." Pitch stopped pacing directly in front of Jack. His sinister eyes met the Guardian's. "And we are going to be unstoppable!" Jack could only think to himself, 'we'? Just what did he mean by that? Jack was not going to just lend his powers for something like that. He would never go against the Man in the Moon or anyone who stood as protectors of children. "I know you are probably thinking to yourself that you aren't going to fight at my side. Well...there's something I forgot to mention…"

The swirl of sand that had been holding Jamie started to grow in height. Jack took his eyes off of Pitch and watched as Jamie disappeared. "What are you doing with him?!" Jack began struggling to break free. "Oh, don't worry! I keep my promises. He is going home where he and his family will awaken. I wouldn't want them to miss the end of such a happy age. And I especially wouldn't want Jamie to miss seeing his "best friend" take part in it!" Jack's eyes widened. That would be something he did not want Jamie to see. Never in a million years. The pain in his chest tore at his heart once more. He could feel something inside of him wanting to escape, but he couldn't gather any emotions together. His mind was scattered with panic.

"And as I was saying, now that my end of the bargain is done, we will begin with the transformation!" Pitch started towards Jack, his wave of sand following behind him. He bent down and lifted Jack up by the shoulder of his frosted hoodie. He then proceeded to walk, dragging Jack along behind him.

They went into a large, open area, where Pitch once had a mound of tooth memory boxes he had stolen from the Tooth Fairy Palace. The hollowed out map of the globe was still there, with lights flickering. "And to think...that almost went dark once." Pitch growled to himself. However, he had now found a new purpose for it. He lifted the Guardian up and roughly tossed him right into the globe. Jack landed head first on the hard iron base.

Pitch decided it would be easier to perform his task by stepping inside as well. Jack's heart began to race, pounding rapidly against his chest. "Yes, open yourself to fear! It'll consume you faster...and every moment counts." Jack was uncertain of what Pitch was going to do to him. What could he do? Pitch had to have learned something new over the years he had been gone, and this indeed struck some fear into Jack. All he could do now was believe that his friends would find him before anything terrible happened.

The wave of sand that had been following closely behind started to thin out a bit and started to take on the form of a small, slithery creature but kept its length, growing longer. The snake-like creature slithered up into the globe and came face to face with the Winter Spirit. Again, the sharp pain slammed into Jack's chest. He winced in pain, unaware of what was going to happen next. The snake could see that this would be its best time to strike. It looked up to its master before proceeding. The Nightmare King simply gave a smirk and began to step out of the globe. He took a few steps away from Jack's prison before turning. In a low voice, the words Jack dreaded to hear slipped softly from Pitch's lips. "Goodnight, Frost." He then turned again and continued on his way.

The snake began to wrap itself slowly around its victim. Once Jack's torso was fully engulfed by the snake's body, the head of the snake slowly opened. The odd creature made sure that Jack was able to see what was about to happen. Right before Jack's eyes, the head continued to open and snapped. The jaws of the snake's mouth began to tear apart. The mouth continued to open until the top of the head and the bottom jack had completely disappeared and blended with the creature's body. Four large fangs shot out from the exposed "throat" of the serpent and plunged towards Jack. Again, Jack felt the sharp pain just before the fangs drove deep into his neck. The new pain sent him reeling.

Jack tried to fight, but there was nothing he could do. As the creature began its work, Jack started to feel lightheaded. Images flashed in his mind of Jamie, the moon, Burgess, the children he had become friends with, Bunny being terrified during their first sleigh ride, the night he died, all the years of being alone. They weren't in any particular order. But finally, they began to slow. Jack was alone. He was inside of Jamie's house. He could hear Jamie running down the stairs, chasing his sister Sophie. Just as they rounded the corner, Jack turned to greet them. He had forgotten what was happening to him and was just glad to be out of that dark cave. The children were running at him. He knelt down to catch Sophie in his arms...but she just continued running. As Jamie chased behind her, Jack realized they had both run right through him. They didn't even notice he was there. Jack was left alone, stunned. They couldn't….see him anymore? A twinge of fear ran through him. The world suddenly spun as everything around him became dark. When it came to a stop, Jamie and Sophie were standing in front of him, with blank stares. Theirs eyes looked empty. The world surrounding them was dull and grey. "Hey guys, come on...don't play like that." Jack tried to smirk, but as he waved his hands in front of their eye, they were still unmoving. He inched closer to them and went to give Jamie a gentle pat for reassurance, but his hand went right through. Again, Jack opened himself up to fear, and the snake began to feed into it.

The darkness sand was working wonderfully. Pitch had created it to go inside a person's memories and manipulate them using their own fears against them. Eventually, Jack would become a Nightmare servant. It was an extremely painful process. Pitch had tried it on several humans over the past year before perfecting it. However, he had no use for such pitiful humans, so he let them go free. Luckily for the Nightmare King, the victims had lost all of their memories when they awoke. If all went accordingly, Jack would be a mindless slave, doing the bidding of his master. Pitch grinned as he heard Jack's agonized cries trailing off behind him. He then whispered to himself. "Don't worry, Frost. The pain you feel now will be nothing compared to what's to come…" With that, the Nightmare King left the open room and began preparations for his next move. Everything was finally going as planned. Now that the biggest problem was out of his way, Pitch could now set his plan into motion.

He walked over to another corner of his underground lair. There was a small sliver of moonlight shining brightly, filling even the darkest corners. "You are always watching me...I bet you are wondering what's happened to your little winter friend. Well, you will find out soon enough. It's time that I take my rightful place in the world. I wonder if your Guardians are ready for the challenge of defeating the Nightmare King once and for all." As he spoke, the walls surrounding him came alive. Sand began to seep from the cold stone. Each pool took its own form, some horses, snakes, shapeless blobs, and terrifying creatures. Pitch's army wasn't as large as his original one all those years ago, but it was starting to grow...and so was his power.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!~