"Time to pay my price, Frost. Scream loudly, for your torment is only just beginning!"
Shadows swallowed him, dragging him into a cage. Hands made of chilling deadness and darkness clawed at his flesh, and as he opened his mouth to scream, the shadows poured down his throat, drowning him in darkness.
Jack woke with a start. It was still a week away from their agreed extension of the bet. Three weeks had not been enough to establish a solid belief base, but Pitch was surprisingly patient and agreed to a full month longer than those weeks.
But no longer.
The Winter Sprite was extremely greatful. After all, he would have been a battery already if Pitch hadn't extended the bet, so any length of time extended was welcome. They had made excellent progress, it was true, and Pitch was kind enough not to count the time of Jack's 'Nightmare Prince' days as being part of the allotted time limit.
However the frost child was still wary.
Pitch had another episode, this time draining Jack of his strength and fear at the same time, forcing him on his side while he did it.
That was another thing, the Boogeyman's temporary ability to control him. A gift from his Princely jaunt around the night. Pitch could tell him to kill Jamie and he would do it. This scared him almost enough to actually summon the Nightmare King, though he knew Pitch wouldn't abuse the ability to that extent, if at all.
Pitch's episode showed Jack that even though he was trying his hardest to soften, there were still some parts of Pitch that ached to kill him, make him suffer, or enslave him. With Jack still weak from the Fearling incident, plus being privy to Pitch's commands, the Boogeyman still had a lot of temptation to overcome. Gaining believers Jack Frost the Bleeding Heart could help with, but softening the Boogeyman?
There was a challenge worthy of the Guardian of Fun!