Frost and Stories

by AnnaMae411

At nineteen years old, I'd thought magic had left me behind. Magic was for kids, and I wasn't one. I thought I was too old... and it killed me. Then my brother and I met Jack frost. After meeting Jack, my life changed completely. I died and became an immortal. I became stories. I was finally alive. However, life as an immortal wasn't exactly what I'd expected. (reviews appreciated)

19. The Great Prank War

I was spending the days leading up to Halloween in Burgess. I had believers there now, so I had to make regular appearances, didn't I? Jack was hanging out there too, though we weren't spending every moment together. Jamie and I had a little bit of a deal where I'd take Sophie off his hands for a little while each day, which was fine by me. She was awesome, and a really good artist. They both were, but Sophie was just a little more... spontaneous with the way she painted. I had a feeling that if she ever decided to pursue it as a career, she'd be into abstract. Jamie, on the other hand. He was definitely gonna be a concept artist, if he ever chose to pursue it. Right now he was still on the fence as to what he wanted to go in to. He still had another year to decide, being a Junior this year.

Right now I was taking a walk through the park. Jamie had just picked up Sophie and Jack was playing a game with a bunch of kids a little ways away so I had some time to myself. I was heading for the woods. My last time there I hadn't really had a chance to look around, as Jack had been chasing me. I wanted to be able to catch my bearings next time. Yes, I said next time. With Jack as my friend, there was bound to be a rematch eventually. Plus, it was the woods around Burgess. Just as the town itself was famous, the woods were more so. If only for the fact of what they held. Jack's pond being the most prominent of those things.

I won't lie, I was planning on checking it out again. Summer was still lingering around, though Jack assured me that the cold was gonna be arriving in the next few days. But the breeze was still warm and the sun was shining... so the chances of me imagining ice covering the pond were slim. I still felt bad about leading Jack there the last time, but I hadn't known. The problem was, I was still curious... which is why I was heading there while Jack was otherwise occupied. I wasn't about to pester him with questions about something I was sure he'd rather not talk about. Even if I hadn't had that bad of a time dying, how Jack had was far more traumatizing. I wasn't stupid.

As I entered the trees I had a moment where I thought I should tell Jack about my intentions then. He's a big boy. I'm a big girl, I don't need to tell him everything I do. Right, another point for inner voice. If it came up, I'd tell him. It's not like he told me to stay away from it. I was fine.

The woods were really beautiful. They showed fall in it's full glory. Every tree was some shade of red, orange or yellow, as was the ground from all the leaves that had fallen. I felt like I was walking through fire. The leaves crunched under my feet as I walked the same route I'd run two years ago. The fiery colors threw me off a little, but I could still navigate it well enough. I wondered if this was the same route Jack and his sister had taken when they went ice skating, if not that day, then another. What's it like for Jack to see kids playing there? Knowing him, he'd make sure they were having fun first, while making sure they were safe at the same time.

Eventually I got to the clearing that the pond occupied. The shock of blue amongst the warm colors of the trees was a stark contrast. I stared at what was to me the most infamous pond in the world. Had it been easier for Jack to look at it before he got his memories back? Before he remembered dying? I couldn't answer that, nor would I expect him to. I sighed, shaking my head. What was I doing? Why was I so morbidly curious? I shoved my hands in my pocket, turning on my heel before I could think about it any more.

Instead of heading back to town, I walked farther into the woods. I might as well turn my walk into something enjoyable, right? I put the thoughts of the pond aside and decided to just focus on the trees and how pretty they were. It didn't take long before I noticed that there were scarcely any animals in the area. In fact, they seemed to be avoiding it entirely. I stepped out of the trees into a clearing. Looking around I noticed a huge hole in the ground and froze. That's not what I think it is... is it? I crept closer and, sure enough... it was the entrance to Pitch's lair. If the hole looking ominous and being in the woods surrounding Burgess wasn't a good enough indicator, then the sense of foreboding it gave off cinched it. There was no doubt, even with the bed frame missing. Why was it missing? Oh, yeah, the Nightmares smashed it when they dragged him down the hole. Eugh. I cringed a bit. I'd have hated to be in his position then. Hell I'd have hated to be in his position period.

I leaned out over the hole and looked down. There was no discernible bottom to it. Then again, it could just have been shrouded in darkness... or the things hiding in it. Part of me wanted to turn around. That would be the part where my common sense lives. However, more of me wanted to take a look. If I was watching myself in a movie now, I'd be screaming 'You idiot! Don't go in there!' because, you know, there's always that person. However, I was confident that nothing down there could harm me. As far as I knew, I had no big fear... so Pitch Black had nothing to lord over me.

Before I could think about it further, I jumped. I fell down for almost three minutes. I was starting to think it would never end, but eventually I hit bottom - hard might I add. I gingerly stood up, wincing at the bruises that were quick to fade. I brushed myself off as I took a better look at my surroundings. "Looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore." The place was huge, about four stories tall with craggy walls and ceilings, stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. The cages he'd used to trap Tooth's fairies still hung everywhere, though they were empty now. His globe stood in the middle of the place, defying gravity as it glowed. An eerie, sickly yellow glow emanated from... somewhere. All in all, it was appropriately spooky.

I raised my eyebrows in approval. "Not bad... for a lair." I started walking towards the globe, looking around me as I did. It was strangely devoid of life. I'd thought for sure I'd have seen at least one fearling or Nightmare by now, but nada, zip, zilch. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. You know, you'd think, when intruding on the Boogeyman's lair, he'd greet you in some way. And yet I was getting the silent treatment. I reached the globe and glanced up at it.

Like most immortals, the lights made me feel at ease. They promised that there were still believers out there, that we were set. It must be torture for Pitch to see them, though. In his eyes, they stood for every child who thought he was nothing more than a figment. Even with the movie having opened the possibility in people's minds that immortals could exist, they still didn't want to believe the 'Bogeyman' had any substance to his myth. There goes my bleeding heart again. I turned around, glancing back towards the entrance. Where the hell were all the fearlings?

Just then I heard footsteps behind me and I spun around, taking a few steps to see around the globe. Standing at the top of a staircase was the Nightmare King himself. "To what do I owe the honor of your intrusion to my home?" Though he could have easily said the phrase with a snarky attitude, he was proper and polite in telling it. He stood ramrod straight with his hands clasped behind his back. A few fearlings curled around his feet and a Nightmare stood behind him, trailing black sand.

It took me a minute to realize I'd been staring openmouthed. When I did I shut said mouth and proceeded to introduce myself. "Sorry about that. There wasn't a door to knock on. Plus I figured you wouldn't have answered anyway if I had knocked." I took a few steps forward, so the globe was now behind me. I took another look at him. He didn't look all that different from the movie - none of them had. His eyes were a bit more sunken and there were more shadows in his face in general. Though he held himself straight I could tell he felt weary. "My name's Story Tale. I stumbled on your entrance and thought I'd drop in and say 'hi'."

Part of my mind - common sense again - was telling me to be afraid and run away. This was the sworn enemy of my best friend after all. But, I couldn't ignore the rest of me, which had no reason to be scared, and nothing to be scared of. I'll listen to the fearless half. When he hadn't answered for a bit I glanced around again. "Nice place you've got here. Very... cozy." He scrutinized me. I didn't blame him, really. No one stopped in to chat with Pitch Black. No one in their right mind anyway. Then again, I've never been in the right mind, now have I? And I have always thought that I could be friends with the devil. Pitch wasn't far off in our world.

"Are you toying with me? I really have no patience for other immortals." He started to descend the stairs towards me. "Since that incident a few years back I've taken it upon myself to stay out of sight and out of mind." He reached the bottom and paused. "Lest they think I am up to something and come after me without reason." He shot me a charming smile.

"I'm not trying to trick you, I'm being honest. I stopped in to say hi. If you want me to leave, then bye." I turned around and started back towards the hole I came in through.

Behind me, he started laughing. "Why would any immortal willingly come here to say hello? To me? I'm the Bogeyman, remember?" I turned to face him. He was smiling, but not in happiness or anything. If anything it was bitter. And this is where my bleeding heart comes out to play again.

"Look, I'm trying to be nice." He raised a brow-less brow at me. "Believe me or don't I really don't care. I just figured you might want a friend, is all." I held up my hands in surrender.

"A friend?" He laughed again. "No I know you're lying."

"No, I'm not. I'm probably the one person who could be your friend. And not just because I'm willing." He was starting to piss me off. Here I was, being overly nice to a jackass, only to have him laugh at my offer.

His laughter died down a bit, though he still wore an amused smile. "And why is that?"

"Because I'm fearless." The look of skepticism he gave me then could have made a drunk sober. "Go ahead and check if you don't believe me. See if you can sense my fears." I don't have any, but hey. I kept talking, regardless of if he was or not. "I used to be scared of a few things. They weren't really fears, you see, they were more like worries that would sadden me if they were to become reality. I used to be scared of having a boring life." I smirked at him. "Seeing as I'm an immortal, there's no chance of that ever coming true, so I got over it. I mean things can still make me jump, but nothing paralyzes me with fear." I looked him in the eye. "I can't even remember a nightmare that ever scared me."

I stopped then, and waited for his response. He stared at me, a slightly distant look on his face. I assumed he was searching for my fear. Failing, obviously, but searching nonetheless. After a while he blinked in confusion which soon turned into surprise. "Told ya, fearless."

"Everyone is scared of something." He moved closer to me, arrogance having returned to his demeanor.

"Not necessarily true. I'm sure you can attest to this factoid. Most fear stems from fear of dying or, ultimately, fear of the unknown. I enjoy the unknown and actively seek it out. I was never scared of death even when I was little and now that I've experienced it firsthand, it's actually not all that bad. I love myself and I have for as long as I can remember, which rules out all self related fears... and the stupid ones are, well, stupid. I mean, how can you be scared of clowns?I've even printed off a list of over 400 of the most common fears, none of which sent even a single hair standing at attention. I'm immune to your particular brand of power. Hence, why I could be your friend."

He stood staring at me with a slightly dazed expression. I was about to ask what was wrong when he answered for me. "Do you always speak in paragraphs? It's rather annoying."

"Oh, yeah. I know." I waved it off. I mean, I've known that forever, no big news to me. "So, what do you say? Friends?" I held out my hand, smiling

He stared at it, considering. "I don't make friends." He didn't shake my hand, instead turning and beginning back up the stairs. "I trust you can find your way out?"

Well, then. I really don't think he was expecting an answer, but I spoke anyway. "Just so you know, I'm gonna come back. You can't get rid of me that easily." With that I turned around and walked back to the bottom of the hole. I stared up, realizing my wings would never fit. Plan B, then. "Winds? Can you give me a lift?" An answering gust rushed around me and began to lift me from the ground. As I entered the tunnel, I caught a glimpse of Pitch watching me from the staircase.

When I reached the top of the hole, the winds set me down and all but waved goodbye. "Thanks!" I waved in the general direction they had gone. When I dropped my arm I glanced back down at the entrance to what I'd already started thinking of as the underworld. Why did I feel like I just made a deal with the devil? Because you sort of did. Oh yeah. Inner voice was right again.

As I walked back towards the park, a line of a song popped into my head - which of course meant the whole song did. 'I'm friends with the monster, that's under my bed. Get along with the voices inside of my head.' I started humming the tune, eventually working my way up to singing it. "You think I'm crazy, yeah you think I'm crazy. Well that's not fair!" Man, that song could be my theme.

I didn't tell Jack about my encounter. I wasn't planning on telling anyone, actually. I wasn't even sure why I'd gone down there in the first place. Yeah, I'd told Pitch that I'd wanted to be friends, but that wasn't really why. I mean, he was villain numero uno for us. And as far as I knew, I was a good guy. No, that wasn't entirely true. It was more appropriate to say I was a neutral party. Yeah, I was friends with the Guardians - and best friends with one - but I wasn't a saint. I think part of why I'd jumped down the rabbit hole was to see him for myself. Now that I had... he wasn't very intimidating. Maybe it was seeing how weak he looked, but I wasn't scared of him in the slightest. North was scarier, and he was like an uncle.

Seriously, Pitch Black wasn't scary at all. My favorite movie when I'd been little was The Black Cauldron, whose villain was the Horned King. Now there's a scary dude. He was like a walking skeleton with skin stretched over the bones. Glowing red eyes, and, of course, horns. And he'd been my favorite villain for years. He'd never scared me. By comparison, Pitch Black was a puppy.

Well, an interesting week came to a close on the night before Halloween. I'd brought Jack's costume and mine with me to Burgess, so I didn't have to fly back to my house. Jack was going as Danny Phantom, which by now was a forgotten cartoon. I was going as Sam Manson, to keep with the theme. Really, our costumes had been decided by Jack's hair. He basically vetoed a wig this year, so I was stuck wearing one instead. However, I must say, I was rocking the outfit. Jack had also vetoed the boots - again - so I'd modified his costume so that he could go barefoot.

"I honestly don't see what your problem is which shoes." We were on our way over to Jamie's house to start trick-or-treating.

"I haven't worn them in three centuries." He smirked at me. "I don't plan on starting any time soon."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yes, but wearing them for a few hours should be bearable."

"Buuut it isn't." He laughed and, even though I could have kept bickering, I ended up laughing too. I swear, Jack's laugh was the most infectious sound on the planet.

"What are you guys laughing about?" Sophie stared up at us, face painted bright green in her Elphaba costume. Their mom was a huge Wizard of Oz fan and had basically had them watch everything related to it nearly every Friday of their lives. It didn't surprise me that Sophie liked the star of Wicked.

"How Jack hates shoes." I grinned down at her. I was really starting to like Sophie, a lot. She reminded me of Alyssa when she was the same age - which of course meant she reminded me of myself.

"Is that why you never wear any?" She turned her green eyes to Jack, who was floating a few inches above the ground jest because he could.

"I do not hate shoes." He shot me a look. "I just don't like wearing them because I'm used to being barefoot, that's all." Jamie was snickering the entire time between the exchange. The older Sophie had gotten - and the more vocal - the more he'd settled for looks as opposed to words. Just like with me, when Sophie spoke, you couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Oh okay." Sophie turned to her brother, who was dressed as one of the flying monkeys because she'd guilt-ed him into it. "Can we go trick-or-treating now?"

"Yeah, lets go." He slung his arm over her shoulder as they turned and started down the street. Jack and I walked a little behind them - well, floated in Jack's case. I would have heckled him about floating when I was stuck walking, but it actually made our costumes that much more authentic. So I let it slide.

Sophie and Jamie were probably the most generous kids I'd ever met. I say that because, every other house, they each sacrificed a piece of their loot so that Jack and I could have some too. At first I was genuinely surprised and flattered... but after about half an hour, I started trying to get the better pieces. I mean, I didn't want to be stuck with all of the reject candy. Jack handed over some of his to me as well, knowing which ones were my favorites. So, basically we traded as we went.

We'd been at it for an hour when the mortals in our group sat down to take a break. There was a giant pile of hay bales in the center of town that a lot of other groups were stopped at as well. Sophie had about twice as much candy as her brother as he'd given into her puppy dog eyes. I was caught between high-fiving her and being disappointed in Jamie for giving in so easy. I mean, come on man! But I just sat back and enjoyed hanging out with them.

Kids had been running up to Jack off and on throughout the night and another did so now. This was one of the ones who believed in my now as well, so he could see all of us. "Hi, Jack! Hi, Story!"

Jack smiled at him as he ruffled his hair. "Hey Andrew. You having fun?"

"Duh!" I giggled at his response. He glanced between the two of us, eyes going back to Jack. "What are you guys dressed up as?"

"Jack's Danny Phantom and I'm Sam Manson. It was a show that was out about twenty years ago."

He squinched up his face. "That's forever ago!"

"Is not!" I did not like the insinuation that I was old. I remembered watching new episodes of Danny Phantom, okay? I wasn't old. Not by any means.

Jack smirked at me. "Is too." I glared at him as he stuck his tongue out at me.

Andrew giggled before shoving his hand into his plastic pumpkin. "Do you guys want some?"

Jack shook his head, saying that he had enough already. I, however, wasn't as frugal. "Sure." I held out my hand as he dropped a mini bag of Reese's Pieces into it. "Thanks Andrew." I smiled at him.

"You're welcome." He smiled back as he waved goodbye and ran back to his mom. I watched him go, chucking my newest piece of candy into my bag. Man, are the kids in Burgess are extremely generous or what? I was definitely trick-or-treating here as often as possible. Jamie and Jack were talking. Sophie and I were munching on our candy already. All in all, it felt normal...

That is, until a gust of wind with fall leaves caught in it dropped a pumpkin, out of nowhere, into Jack's lap. All four of us stared at it, not knowing how to react, or what had even really happened. "Uh... Where'd that come from?" I was the first to speak - no surprise.

"I have no idea - wait, yes I do." He gingerly picket up the pumpkin and started turning it around, looking for something. When he stopped it was with a small carving of his face towards him, accompanied by the words 'You took too long' carved underneath it. He grimaced and held it out like it contained the plague. "Shi-" He didn't finish his fairly obvious cuss word because the pumpkin exploded at that moment.

Sophie shrieked and dove behind Jamie, who did his best to shield her. I ducked behind one of the hay bales. Pumpkin guts flew everywhere, but mostly covering Jack. I peeked out from behind my makeshift bomb-shelter and stared open-mouthed at the aftermath. "What... just... happened?"

Jack was covered from head to toe in pumpkin innards. He slowly opened his eyes, grimace still on his face. He shook squash off of his hands before wiping them off of his mouth so me could speak. "I should have seen that coming." He tried to wipe the rest of the mess off of himself, including attempting to remove it from his hair, which was plastered backwards with orange goop. He shook himself not unlike a dog as he tried to de-goop himself. I came out from behind the hay bale and moved closer to examine the damage. When I got close to Jack my jaw dropped and I covered my mouth to try and hide my smile. I had to force myself to keep from laughing. Jack noticed my reaction and froze. "What?" He said it in alarm, which, honestly, he should have.

Sophie clamored out from behind Jamie and burst out laughing with one look at Jack. "Your face is orange!" A spurt of laughter shot out of me in the form of a snort as Jack immediately started looking for a reflective surface to see what we did.

When he finally found one his jaw dropped and his eyebrows shot skyward. The pumpkin guts had stained his face, hands and hair a bright orange color wherever it had landed... which was almost everywhere. I couldn't keep my laughter in any longer and I nearly fell over with how hard I was laughing. Jack scowled at his reflection. "That d-" He broke off whatever swearword - that I'd guessed correctly - he'd been about to use when he took notice of the kids still there.

Through my laughter, I managed to gasp out a question. "What - what was that?" And went right back to doubled over laughter.

"That," He angrily flung off more of the goop. "Was a prank." He walked over to his staff, a determined look on his face. "And now, it's time for payback!" Jack caught the wind and flew off with a mischievous smirk on his face, promising a prank for this mysterious foe.

I watched him take off and knew that I didn't want to miss this. "Sorry, guys. I'll catch ya later." I called my wings and took off after him.

"Story, your bag!" Jamie called after me.

"I'll get it later!" I called over my shoulder, but I might have been too far away by then for them to hear me. I raced after Jack, my things already forgotten. Where the heck is he going? I caught up to Jack and streaked through the sky along side him. "Why is it time for payback right now?"

"Sam is long overdue for a prank. I haven't seen him in about five years, and it's high time I took my turn!"

"Ok, first off, who is Sam? What and why is it your turn? Finally, what prompted you to decide to take your turn at this very moment?"

"That stunt back there was Sam skipping my turn and going double whammy on me. That warrants extreme measures."

"Alright, that's my third question answered. What is it your turn for?"

"Our prank war!"

Well, that answers that. "I'm gonna assume that Sam is the person you are engaged in this prank war with. Who is he?"

"The Spirit of Halloween!"

I deadpanned. The spirit of... who... WHY HAVEN'T I MET HIM BEFORE! I caught up with Jack as I attempted to process this information. "So, let me get this straight. All this time, you've known the Spirit of Halloween... and you haven't told me about him! Jack, you know Halloween's my favorite holiday!"

"I've been busy!" I still had no clue where we were going, but his throwing of my own excuse back at me hadn't passed my notice.

"So how do you know where he'll be?"

"It's Halloween, he's gotta be at his home-base trick-or-treating with his believers." For once Jack wasn't doing as many aerobatics as usual. He was still tumbling around, but he was flying in more or less a straight line.

"And where would this be?"

"Salem." I started laughing, and Jack looked at me, confused. "What?"

I shook my head. "Halloween lives in Salem." I pointed out. Then I jokingly said, "Is he a witch?"

Jack slowed down, looking a bit more serious, his tone becoming so as well. "Don't call him a witch when you meet him. That's one of his pet peeves. I don't want you getting on his bad side - not that it's much of one, but, hey."

"Alright, no calling him a witch, any other advice?"

He considered it a moment. "Don't try and sneak his candy."

I looked at him dead serious. "I would never sneak his candy, that's a capitol offense in my book. I would simply try to trick him out of it."

"That might not work with Sam. He only shares his candy when he wants to."

I grinned over at him. "Sounds like my kind of person."

The flight from Burgess to Salem, Massachusetts took us about ten minutes. Once we'd arrived, we spiraled around the city as Jack looked for his adversary. "Sooo, what does he look like." Even though Halloween was my favorite holiday and I was anxious to meet the immortal connected to it, Jack was my best friend. I had to take his side and help him out, if only for that reason.

"If I know Sam, then he's wearing a full costume this year, one that's hiding his face." I looked at him, about to ask why he thought that when he answered. "If he was planning that prank, and he totally was, then he was prepared for me to come after him."

We both looked down at the large crown of trick-or-treaters that was almost equal in the division of adults and children. Well, this is Salem. "So how do we find him if he's in full on costume?"

"Look for the most epic costume on a bigger adult and you'll most likely find Sam." Jack was scanning the crowd as he spoke, eagerly looking for Mr. Halloween.

Epic costume search? I cracked my knuckles. That I could do. I turned my eyes back on the crowd, ignoring the kids and girls, instead focusing on the guys. I saw a lot of vampires and pirates. I also saw a lot of obviously store-bought costumes. Obvious from how cheap they looked. I was a bit biased about costumes, as I made mine most of my life. I felt like buying them was coping out a little. Unless you were invited last minute like Jack had been last time we'd gone trick-or-treating with Caeden and Tanya.

There were a surprisingly low number of costumes with obvious effort put into them. I was still searching when Jack made a noise similar to 'a-ha!' and shot off towards a group of kids. I raced after him to find that, in the middle of the group, stood Optimus Prime. I'm not kidding, it looked like he'd stepped straight out of the freaking Transformers live-action Michael Bay trilogy. Holy crap, if that's not an epic costume, I don't know what is! It even had accurate wear and tear on it for crying out loud! I suddenly felt inferior in my costume making skills. However, seeing greatness like that made up for it. "Oh... my... god..."

Jack flew up to him and immediately froze his feet to the ground. As I landed near them I was torn. Yeah I was Jack's friend and I wanted to be on his side, but I knew what went into costumes. And he'd just frozen something that looked like a lot of time had been spent on it. Sam started frantically looking around until he spotted Jack in the air. "Jack! This costume took me three months!" See, I was right. He reached up and grabbed his helmet, about to take it off. I won't lie, I was excited. I wanted to see who was underneath the mask.

"That's what you get for dyeing my face!" Jack was grinning as he said it, so I knew he wasn't really mad. The kids around Sam had scattered as soon as Jack had showed up. I'd faintly heard Sam telling them to go on without him before I'd gotten there. So now it was just the three of us. He hadn't noticed me yet as his focus was still on Jack. Take the damn helmet off! As if he'd heard my thought the helmet finally came off, though he was looking away from me at Jack. Seriously? Jack swooped down and landed next to me, admiring his handiwork. "What do you think, Story? Should I leave him there until he thaws?"

Sam finally turned his face to us. "Don't you dare! Every time you do that I'm stuck in one spot until at least spring!" He looked back down at his feet, now talking more to himself as he tried to yank his legs free. "Why do you always do it right when winter's starting?"

I'd frozen during his rebuttal. Not how he was frozen, I'd stopped moving. I knew him! I'd met him before, at Legends. Sam was the guy Shady had called Owen. The one who'd almost fought Sunny when he was drunkenly hitting on me on the Solstice last year. What the hell? But... I'd thought that his name was Owen. I don't know what's going on! My mind was basically running back and forth trying to make sense of this. Meanwhile I was trying to figure out how the hell to proceed with the situation.

Sam looked up at us again - well, at Jack. "Dude, let me out."

Jack looked at me, basically asking me the same question again. "Yeah, I guess we could let him go." Jack shrugged and pointed his staff at the thick ice surrounding the lower half of Sam's legs. In an instant the ice vanished and Sam was free.

He shook out his legs that I assumed were numb from the ice and started towards us. "Sorry about the dye, man, but you took too long."

"Yeah, I figured that when I read it on the pumpkin before it exploded in my face!" Jack gestured at the bright orange splotches that still featured prominently on his face.

Sam shrugged before finally noticing me. "Oh, hi. I'm Sam Owen, Spirit of Halloween Night." He shutck out his hand, his helmet tucked under his other arm.

That explained why Shady called him Owen. I shook his hand. "We've met before. Not officially. I had no idea you were Halloween."

Jack shot me a look. "Wait, where did you meet him?"

"At Legends." I glanced at Sam who had a confused look on his face, no doubt trying to place our first meeting. "On the Solstice. Last year."

Hi eyebrows shot up as he recognized me. "Oh! You were the girl Sunny was hitting on?" I nodded, a tiny bit offended he hadn't recognized me right away. I say a tiny bit because I was in costume, so he was allowed a little leeway.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Oh, yeah, I never told Jack about that.

"Oh, I found Legends two years ago, I've been hanging out there a lot. Last year I showed up on the Summer Solstice - though I didn't know it was until I got there. Sunny was drunk off his ass and started hitting on me - twice." I rolled my eyes at the memory. I hadn't had another interaction with him yet, which was fine by me, but until that happened, my impression of the guy wasn't a good one. "The first time Scathach fought him off and the second time Sam did." I looked up at said immortal once more. "Which, as I said that night, you didn't need to. I was about to open a can of whoop-ass on him myself, but you decided to be chivalrous." I held up my hands. "Not that I mind chivalry, but I'm no helpless damsel."

From beside me, Jack snorted. "You got that right." I shot him a look, but I did agree. Something Sel and I had in common was our tendency to fight back. "So, you've met the Great Ego?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Sunny." Sam answered for him. "He's more known for his ego among us than he is for his actual legend."

"Yeah, I've met him. And I heartily agree with that nickname." I pointed at Jack. "Okay, I'm a bit confused now. You guys are acting like buddies."

"Well, we kind of are." Sam offered up.

Jack started explaining. "Sam and I have been friends for the past two hundred and seventy years, give or take. We're almost the exact same age, and basically neighbors, but we didn't meet right away."

"The first time we met I pissed him off - unknowingly - and he froze me in a block of ice and left me to thaw."

"Like he just threatened to do." I offered.

Jack was laughing and Sam nodded. "Yeah, I didn't thaw out until it was almost summer, and I wasn't warm again until the next year had rolled around." He'd sounded a bit irritated as he'd added that part of the story. I couldn't blame him.

Jack took up the story once more. "And that's what started our prank war. Sam came after me for revenge on the whole ice thing - which I'd by then forgotten about." Sam rolled his eyes at that. "So of course I had to get him back for what he did to me."

I looked at Sam. "What'd you do?"

He grinned and it was Jack's turn scowl. "I knocked him out and propped him up with a rotten pumpkin on his head with a sign that said he was 'Jack-O-Lantern'. He didn't wake up for two days." Sam was now laughing as he remembered. Jack, to his credit was laughing too.

"I have to admit, that was a good one."

"So that's why you vetoed dressing up as Jack-O-Lantern two years ago." Jack nodded in confirmation.

"Yep. But, after a few years of going back and forth with our pranks, we attempted to come to a truce."

"But we both agreed that it was too much fun. And we basically became best friends from then on." Sam had finished up the story and I could see by looking at them that they definitely were bros. Shit! That means I have competition in the best-friends-with-Jack-Frost department! However, they'd know each other longer, so I was basically stealing Sam's best friend. Woops. He glanced between Jack and I. "So, how do you guys know each other?"

"Funny story, Jack's my best friend too." Sam cocked an eyebrow at that. "We met back when I was still mortal."

"After she became an immortal I gave her a room at my place."

I shoved him. "Stop trying to make it sound like you're a saint." I looked at Sam. "I asked him for a room before he offered one."

"So you live with Jack?"

"She did." Jack's voice held an undertone of the irritation that I knew he still felt about how I'd broken the news to him.

"I got my own place about a year and a half ago. Right before the solstice, actually. That's why I was there that night, to see if Annie knew anywhere I could get furniture." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh, so where do you live?"

"Sequoia National Park. The redwoods called to me." I glanced around to see that porch-lights were beginning to go out. As well, the crowd was thinning. "I'm gonna assume, from what Jack's told me, that you live here?"

He turned and pointed up the street. "Yeah a few blocks over, actually." He glanced towards the last group of kids - the ones that had been hanging out with him earlier. "Hey, Kara!" A little girl in a pretty awesome costume looked up. "You win this year!" A gigantic smile broke out over her face as she ran over towards us. When she got closer I could tell that her costume was home-made - if only for the cardboard pieces I saw.

I watched in bemusement as Sam fished in a pocket that had, until then, been hidden. He finally pulled out a king-size candy-bar and handed it to the girl, who grinned triumphantly. "Thanks, Sam!"

He turned her back towards the others, smiling himself. "You earned it, kiddo." He looked back towards the other kids as Kara ran back to them. "Next year I wanna see some really good ones, guys!" There was a chorus of 'okay's and 'will do's and whatnot from the group as they turned to go home for the night.

I looked at Sam out of the corner of my eye. "What was that about?"

He shrugged. "I have a little bit of a competition every year with my Salem believers about who can make the best costume." He looked down at me. "I'm exempt of course, otherwise I'd win every year." Jack snorted in laugher at that. "Whoever wins gets something from my stash." He turned and gestured towards his house again. "You guys wanna stay a while?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure. It'll give me a chance to clean this off." He narrowed his eyes at Sam again, who laughed. It was sort of funny, Jack being bright orange.

"Yeah... about that..." Sam looked away guiltily.

"What?" Jack said in alarm.

"It'll wear off on it's own." Jack sighed in relief. "In three months." Before Jack could say anything, Sam was off and running. I shook my head, laughing as Jack chased after him. My only thought was 'Boys'.