Hmmm... writing about cake has (not surprisingly) made me crave cake. Thanks Guest 2 from the last chapter, I guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow. Maybe some nice cupcakes...
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 16: Nightmares 2
Silence echoed around the corridors of Santoff Clausen: the grand home and workshop of Nicholas St. North, aka Santa Claus. The inhabitants slept peacefully in their rooms, all their work finished for the day. Streaks of golden sand flowed in through the windows, lighting up the rooms, gifting precious dreams to all of the deserving workers.
Yet, one single spirit did not rest peacefully. His sleep was plagued by dreams, courtesy of the Boogieman, who was lingering in the corner of the room, delighted by the mass amounts of fear coming from such a small, purposeless being. He licked his lips in joy, malice glinting in his eerily golden eyes as he directed a flock of small Nightmare horses at his victim. They charged at him, merging above his head to form a thick, black cloud of sand. It hung threateningly in the air, showering small droplets of black sand onto him. Invisible to all but the Nightmare King, the cloud grew larger with every bad dream, every doubt, every fear given off from the boy. He whimpered quietly, imagining terrible false scenarios in his head.
Unlike the poor spirit, Pitch was loving every second, growing stronger and stronger as the fear ebbed off the boy in waves. The more fear he gained, the worse the dreams got. They became more vivid, more real, until the victim felt like he wasn't even asleep anymore, just stuck in a never-ending world of terror.
Jack thrashed in his sleep, silently pleading for help. His limbs were splayed in a divot position, arms and legs sticking out at every angle. In a fit, feeling trapped and claustrophobic, he had thrown the duvet off of him. Now though, he was unable to move, unable to wake as long as the black cloud remained. He was stuck, no one would come, no one would help him.
The doubts echoed in his head, banging against his skull, and Pitch simply laughed. How pathetic he thought, watching in joy, his venomous smirk growing wider by the second. His horses whinnied in approval at the look on the boys, which was growing increasingly more panicked with every drop of Nightmare sand that landed on him.
The King of Fear's eyes sparkled in the darkness, glowing a magnificently terrifying shade of gold. With an evil cackle, he fell back, allowing his trusty shadows to catch him.
He loved his job.
The Guardians had been waiting for an hour before they had began to get worried. It wasn't uncommon for the winter spirit to be late, but he was never more than fifteen minutes off and he'd been doing much better recently. The pre-arranged table, laid for the meeting, stood abandoned in the corner of the room as the protectors of Hope, Wonder, Dreams and Memories gathered, discussing the whereabouts of their youngest member.
The colourful lights of the Aurelia Borealis still shone brightly in the sky, casting patterns of beautiful colours all over the landscape. The snow mirrored the vibrant hues of the Northern Lights, giving off a marvellous rainbow effect.
The atmosphere in the workshop was dark and gloomy - Jack was almost never late, and he was never this tardy even when he was. The hands on the clock moved dauntingly slowly, the constant tik tok tik tok mocking the Guardians.
"Are you sure you haven't seen him?" Tooth asked frantically, flying back and forth repeatedly with a small army of baby teeth following her every move. Bunnymund sighed and shook his head: the kid was such a nuisance. Still, he couldn't help the tiny hint of fear that arose when he though of something bad happening to him. The likelihood of Jack being in danger increased with every passing second.
"He was in workshop when I last saw him. I thought boy slept here." North's strong accented voice rang out, waking the Sandman from his nap.
"He must have forgot, right? Why else would he be late?" Tooth was becoming more agitated with every second. She was determined to find him. "Wait," she paused mid-flight, causing the group of baby teeth to collide behind her. She paid no notice, North's words finally registering in her brain. "you say he slept here? Let's look around the rooms, maybe he's still asleep."
Sandman yawned, not entirely listening to the conversation, but still followed his companions as they left the Globe Room, beginning their search for the missing Winter Spirit.
It was Bunny that found him, immediately calling the other Guardians. The situation did not look good. At first glance, it appeared as though the boy was just sleeping but, upon closer inspection, it was clear that this was not the case.
His face was red and puffed, frozen tear tracks remained on his face and large beads of sweat hung on his forehead. He was hot to touch (well, normal for any of the other Guardians but definitely too hot for a winter spirit) and the duvet was on a heap on the floor, as if it had suddenly been thrown off in a fit of panic. His eyes were scrunched hard together and his whole frame was trembling slightly, though he wasn't making any large movements that otherwise signalled distress.
His fists were clutched together so tightly that his knuckles had turned white from the effort and there were small droplets of blood dripping from his palms, where his nails had embedded themselves into his skin. Small brown patches of dried blood on the mattress under the boy's hands spotted Bunny's notice. He must have been this way for a while.
"Jack, wake up." Bunny's words were seemingly lost on the boy as he remained deathly still, looking too much like a corpse on the bed. Jack seemed too small, too fragile in this state, yet Bunny didn't hesitate as he took his slim shoulders in his large paws and shook him, trying to wake him up. When he received no reply, he shook him again, harder this time.
The only response was Jack's head, lolling lifelessly to the side. The Guardians stared in shock, unsure of what to do, until the Sandman stepped forward, apparently paying attention now. Ever-so-gently, he cupped Jack's face in his small hands, wiping the tears away. He had never seen him cry before. With a swish of his hand, he directed a wave of dream sand towards the boy, which glided silently over to him.
For a second, it seemed to work. Jack's features relaxed slightly as the golden substance formed a small cloud over his head and the Guardians sighed in relief, thinking the problem was over. They realised they were wrong as a loud bang echoed from the spot where the sand once was.
The cloud exploded into a thousand fragments, raining down onto the pillow below. It was no longer a bright beautiful colour but dull, grey and lifeless, more resembling particles of dust. Sandy recoiled in shock, a large exclamation mark taking shape above his head. It took him a moment to process what it meant, being centuries since this problem had last arisen. He knew who was responsible, that much was obvious, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it meant.
Once he realised, his features immediately morphed into a look of pure and utter rage.
By doing this, Pitch had declared war.