Author's Note: So I recently discovered the enneagram, and oh my gosh, it's SO helpful when creating characters. QwQ How come I didn't know about this before?! I mean, MBTIs are nice, yes, but the ennagram goes more in depth with that. I even went ahead and took the test (since I wanted to see how it worked for myself).

I'm a 6 (which is called the Skeptic or Suspicious according to the website). And honestly, I think it fits pretty well, HAHAHA. I'm always worrying about the outcome of things, so much so to the point where I imagine scenarios of what could go wrong, rather than focusing on what I can control. It's quite annoying, overaccting about everything, but hey, the world's a crazy place. But I should focus on what I can control and prevent, rather than jumping to conclusions and overreacting about everything (which will take a LOT of practice ='D).

Anyway, welcome back to "The Winter Child" everyone! =D It looks like I got a lot of you guys with the last chapter (sorry not sorry! UwU), and many of you were hoping what happens next. So, down below is chapter 74 (holy crap- OuO), and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing it!


~ LXXIV ~

Losing You, Part Four

Jack had disappeared

The Guardians went to search

Jack was trapped

In the Boogeyman's lair

...

The Guardians were out in the woods looking for any sign of Jack. So far, there was nothing, but they kept looking. They had asked Katherine if she had seen where Jack could've gone. Unfortunately, Katherine didn't see which direction Jack had headed when he left.

"All I can assume is that he didn't take the path to North's," Katherine said. "Maybe you should ask if anyone else has seen him?"

So the Guardians went out and asked around. Most of the villagers had seen Jack heading to Katherine's house. A few responded saying that they had seen him heading toward the woods. This had to have been after he was finished speaking with Katherine.

And so there they were in Santoff Claussen's forests, which really shouldn't have been too dangerous. With the Bear and Spirit of the Forest on patrol, nothing could come to harm anyone in the woods.

Nothing, except for—

"I found something!" Tooth shouted suddenly, pulling North out of his thoughts. He didn't want to assume the worst, but a sinking feeling in his belly was telling him that the Boogeyman may have struck again.

The Guardians gathered over to where Tooth was hovering. His expression was solemn as she pointed to the dusting of nightmare sand scattered on the forest floor. There were soft patterns of frost that were nearly imperceptible. But Tooth had enhanced bird-like sight that allowed her to catch anything.

"That bloody bastard is really pushin' it this time," Aster growled.

"He's been pushing it since he started," Tooth said. Sandy balled his fists, nodding in agreement.

"We need to find Jack," said North staring at the black imprints on the ground. "PItch couldn't have taken him too far."

Aster sniffed the air. "Ah…we may have a slight problem, mates."

"What is it?" asked Tooth.

Aster scuffed the sand with his foot. "This sand isn't fresh," he said. "It's been sitting here for at least two hours before we arrived."

"What does that mean?" asked North.

"It means that the scent's faint," replied Aster. "And so's Frostbite's. We have no idea how long he's been gone. Not only that but—"

"Bunny, aren't you supposed to be the Guardian of Hope?" North frowned.

Aster frowned but continued. "There's a high chance that Jack might not be anywhere within radius of here," he said. "Or worse…not even in Norsurberian at all."

"So you're saying that Pitch took him somewhere…not here," said Tooth. Aster nodded, confirming her statement.

Worry and guilt gripped North tightly. If he hadn't argued with him, Jack wouldn't have run away. If he had just listened to him, none of this would've happened.

Now Jack was out there, by himself and alone. And it was all his fault.

Jack awoke with a gasp. The first thing he felt was the ropes digging into his skin. The snow sprite hissed and struggled against the suffocating bindings, but fidgeting only made them tighter.

When he stopped moving, it was then Jack realized that these weren't ropes…but nightmare sand. The grains were as dry as sandpaper and poked at the skin painfully. Jack tried to freeze the sand over, but his winter magic didn't work properly in his current position.

He was in a stone room, and many of its areas were draped in shadow. The darkness pulsed almost as if it were alive. The nightmare sand raised red flags, but Jack now knew who was behind his imprisonment.

In fact, he could even sense him right in that very room.

Dark chuckling came from the corner of the room, and Jack looked up in its direction. From the shadows rose Pitch Black himself. His smile was like a shark's, and Jack forced himself not to tremble in his presence.

"I do apologize for the current arrangements, but I needed to make sure you wouldn't escape," Pitch said with mock sympathy. Jack only glared at him.

"Oh, now don't look at me like that," Pitch said, seemingly hurt. He glided toward Jack's chair, the shadows bent and shifted to make it look as if he grew taller with every step. Jack swallowed down his fear. "I saw you wandering in the woods, where no child should be. So I brought you to my lair so you wouldn't be prey to whatever lurks in those woods."

"Let me go," Jack growled, balling his fists to the point where his knuckles turned white.

"I could…" said Pith. His amber eyes flickered with amusement. "But I won't. I have plans for you Jack. Plans for you and those pesky Guardians that continuously foil every one of my schemes. In fact, Santoff Claussen will be the first place I attack when I make my return…But fear not, I won't hurt you until I have to."

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

"The Guardians will find me before you have the chance to lay a finger on me," Jack said. "So you might as well give up now."

It was a weak statement, he knew, but with everything that happened that day, Jack was in no mood for fighting. Pitch picked up on his feelings, and the Boogeyman hummed.

"I know of the argument you had with North earlier," he said. Jack looked up, shocked. "And honestly, I think you're right. He never gives you any freedom, doesn't he? Always telling you what to do and where you can go…It's completely unfair. And besides…you don't really belong to him. To any of them. You're just a snow sprite who was lost in the woods. Abandoned by his own family."

Jack's eyes widened. "H-How…How do you know that?"

Pitch laughed. "You haven't figured it out yet? I'm the one who's responsible for the snow sprite's extinction! Tsar Lunar planned to make one a Guardian. One that would be the end of me. So I took the situation into my hands and corrupted every. Last. One."

Jack's skin paled as he recalled the nightmare he had earlier. "Y-You…Y-you turned them into—"

"Fearlings? Why of course," Pitch said with wicked nonchalance. A twisted grin crawled onto his face. "Their screams were like a symphony."

Jack trembled. If Pitch corrupted all the Fearlings, then that meant—

"My parents," Jack got out. Pitch looked down at him. Jack's eyes flashed with fury as he glared at Pitch. "What did you do to my parents?! Do you know anything about them?!"

Pitch turned away, purposefully ignoring the boy. Jack jerked in his bindings, ignoring the stinging burns that that nightmare sand left on his skin.

"ANSWER ME!" Jack shouted.

"All will be revealed in time," Pitch replied. Then, he dived into the shadows, leaving Jack alone once more.

The snow sprite sat there, trembling with rage and hurt. The darkness became overwhelming. Jack's breathing hitched and he bowed his head. Light tears rolled down his cheeks.

"North…"

"North, where are you?"


Author's Note: Poor Jackie. ='3

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203