Jack Frost x Reader Ch 5

“_____...” Jack murmured softly.

Your eyes widened. “Jack! Hold on, I’m going to get us out of here, alright?” You crawled back to the staff and picked it up, returning to the winter spirit’s side. He had closed his eyes again, but was breathing softly.

Shakily, you got to your feet, leaning heavily on the staff. You wondered how you would be able to escape. Even if I did use the staff, how could I support Jack all the way home? You thought.

Balancing carefully, you lifted Jack’s arm and draped it over your shoulders. Slowly, you lifted him off the ground until he was upright. To your surprise, he wasn’t as heavy as you thought he’d be.

“I hope this works...” You said, raising the staff. Concentrating hard, you felt a gust of dusty wind life your feet from the ground. You hovered shakily for a moment, still holding Jack, and started to rise higher and higher until you were able to fly up the stairs again.

The stairway grew darker as you flew up. Eventually you couldn’t see anything in front of you and had to slow to make sure you didn’t accidentally run into the walls that surrounded you on both sides. Suddenly, the staff lit up a bright blue, lighting your way somewhat. You winced at the brightness of the light, but gained speed. I didn’t know it could do that... You thought numbly.

Finally, you could see a small patch of light at the end of the long staircase. As soon as you saw it, the light on the staff flickered and died. You emerged in the forest, almost exactly where you had disappeared. The sunlight was blindingly bright, despite the overcast sky that still hung over the forest. You rose up above the trees with a strong gust of wind and flew in the direction of your house.

You landed right outside your door, not caring if anyone saw you. You fumbled for your keys that were still in your pocket, amazingly, and unlocked the door, stumbling inside. You half dragged, half carried Jack in behind you and kicked the door closed. You used the staff one more time to float up the stairs and into your room.

You leaned the staff against the wall and limped over to your bed. You lay Jack down on top of the sheets as gently as you could and sat next to him. Carefully, you lifted the leg with your injured ankle onto the bed, kicking off your sock, and looked at it. Immediately, you could see it was red and bruised. You groaned. What were you going to tell your parents?

You felt the bed move beside you and realised Jack was waking up. He groaned and opened his eyes.

You scooted closer to him, “Jack, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” He said, trying to sit up. You noticed his arms shaking with the effort.

“Don’t try to sit up just yet.” You advised, and Jack flopped back down on the bed with a puff.

Jack turned his head to look at you with his piercing blue eyes. "Is your ankle alright?"

"Yeah..." Your ankle twinged and you winced. "It's... Well it's not life threatening at least. What-" Suddenly you heard the front door open. "Crap! I forgot! What day is it? Ugh, my parents are gonna kill me! How long were we gone?" You said in a hurried whisper, eyes wide.

"Slow down! I'm sure it's the same day. If not... Just make up an excuse! You seem good at that." Jack laughed weakly.

You groaned in distress and limped towards the door, opening it quietly. "Mom?" You called down the stairs.

"I'm home!" You heard your mom reply. You stumbled down the stairs, leaning on the railing as you went.

Your mom was taking off her coat as you reached her. “Hi, sweetie, how was school today?” She smiled at you.

You blinked in surprise, “W-What?”

She looked at you quizzically, “School, how was it?”

“Fine... Thanks...” Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It’s as if she never realized I was gone... But that can’t be, I’ve been gone for at least a day! “Hey, Mom, what day is it?”

“Tuesday, why?” She walked into the kitchen and you followed, half-hopping. Tuesday... That’s the same day as when I left! You looked at the clock on the oven; 5:03, Tuesday.

You stared. It was as if no time had passed at all! “Mom, how long have I been gone?” You asked, heart beating rapidly.

She was digging around in her laptop bag for her computer, “I haven’t seen you since I left for work, so I’m assuming the whole school day? You didn’t skip, did you?” She eyed you suspiciously.

“No, nothing like that!” You said hastily.

“Are you feeling alright, _____? You look a bit pale all of a sudden and... Is that frost on your sweater?” She paused, gaze directed at your ankle, “Oh my gosh, what happened to your foot?”

“Oh, it’s-” You started, checking the sleeves of your sweater. You were cut off by your mother rushing towards you to help support you.

“Looks like you have a bad sprain. I’ll help you up to your room, then we can put some ice on that.” She said, supporting you with an arm. You leaned against her, lifting your injured foot off the ground completely. You hopped over to the staircase and slowly, the two of you made your way up the stairs.

Your mom tried to get you to lie on the bed, but you didn’t because of Jack, who had fallen unconscious again. “Come on, _____, you need to get pressure off that foot.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just sit.” You said, moving to the chair next to your desk.

In the end, you gave in, lying awkwardly next to Jack on the very edge of the bed. When your mom went to get ice, you gently moved him out of the way onto the other side. You stared up at the ceiling, not wanting to move, incase Jack awoke again.

“_____?” Jack said beside you.

You gasped slightly, “Jack! I, uh, didn’t know you were awake...” You blushed. “Are you any better?”

“Same as before... My head hurts so much. Good thing you were there to save me. I don’t know if I would have been able to get out of there, otherwise.” He said, shooting you a grateful glance and smiling.

You nodded, “I don’t get it though... How did he manage to knock you out like that? You were fighting strongly before...”

Jack opened his mouth, about to say something, when the door opened, revealing your mom holding an ice pack. “Were you talking just now?” She asked, walking to your side of the bed.

“No...” You mumbled quietly. Your mom rolled up the hem of your pants and gently placed the ice on your swollen ankle. You let out a sigh of relief.

“How did you manage to sprain it so badly?” She asked.

“I slipped and landed on it in a weird way. Then on the walk home it got a bit worse...” You said. Almost the truth...

Your mom nodded, “Did you put any ice on it at school?”

“Um, no.” You said sheepishly.

“Alright, well, I’m going downstairs to make dinner, I’ll call you when it’s ready.” And with that, she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

You looked over and saw that Jack was still awake. “I still can’t get used to the fact that my mom can’t see you.” You said. “Anyway, what were you about to say?”

“I was about to explain how Pitch could knock me out, right?” Jack asked. You nodded in response. “I have powers, but... I can’t really control them without my staff...” Jack said, avoiding your gaze.

“What?” You gasped. “Then... Then why did you give it to me?!” You said, voice little more than a whisper.

“Like I said, you needed it more than me. Besides, he wouldn’t have killed me.” Jack explained.

“But still!” You said, sitting up. “Why would he fight you like that if he didn’t want to kill you?”

“Have you ever heard of the boogie-man?” Jack asked, avoiding your question.

“U-Um, yeah...?” You said, taken aback by the question. Suddenly, it clicked, “Wait, you don’t mean... Is Pitch the boogie-man?”

Jack nodded, “Right! Have you ever... Had an encounter with him before?”

You shook your head, “No, of course not! How could I have?”

“Nevermind, I just thought that maybe that might be the reason you can see both of us.” Jack said, frowning. “I wonder why that is... Only people that believe in us can see us.”

You nodded. “So you’ve said. What’s Pitch’s deal anyway?”

“Once, ages ago, Pitch was believed in by every child in the world and reigned fear over them.” Jack said.

“Go on.” You urged.

“Then one day, the Man in the Moon chose four guardians to banish his evil...” He said, looking for your reaction. “Toothfairy, Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and North. You probably call him Santa, or something, right?”

You looked at him in confusion, “Aren’t they... Aren’t they just fairy tales and myths? I mean, I guess not. You are Jack Frost, after all, and after meeting Pitch, I’ll believe anything. But how many of you are there? How long has it been since Pitch was defeated?”

“Well, there are a lot of us.” Jack paused slightly, “Pitch has been trying to take back power for, oh, I don’t know, 400 years give or take? He’s immortal, like me. We all are.”

You nodded. “This is kind of a lot to take in...”

I’m sorry for getting you caught up in all this.” Jack said, looking at you sadly.

“What for?” You gazed up at the ceiling, “It’s my fault I got captured in the first place and you got knocked out. If you hadn’t given me the staff, you would’ve been fine.”

“It’s my fault your ankle’s almost broken.” Jack gestured towards your ankle. It still had the ice pack on it, but it was starting to ache a bit from the cold. “Here, let me help.” Jack crawled over to the foot of the bed, ignoring your protests that he was still too weak to move. He removed the ice pack and placed his hands where it had been. It was cold, but gentle, unlike the harsh feeling of the ice pack.

You sighed in contentedness. “Thanks...” Your gaze wandered over to the staff, still propped up against the wall next to your door. How was I able to use it at all?

Jack followed your gaze. “That really was something. To be honest, I didn’t think you would be able to use it!” Jack smirked.

“Gee thanks...” You mumbled.

Jack laughed, “I’m just kidding! No one else has ever tried, so I didn’t know... I’m glad you could, though.”

“Yeah, me too.” You felt a wet sensation on your arm, and your eyes wandered down the sleeve of your sweater. It was covered in water. Didn’t my mom say something about... frost on my sweater? I forgot... “Hey, Jack, my mom said I had frost on my sweater, just after I finished using your staff. Is that because of using the staff? I guess so...” You said, wondering aloud.

“Probably. I always have frost on my hoodie, but then again, I’m always holding my staff.” He smiled and shifted his grip on your ankle.

“You know, you really don’t have to do that...” You said, blushing. "Besides, you should be getting rest too."

"It's ok, really! I'm a fast healer, I'll be better in no time at all! It's the least I can do for getting you in this mess."

You nodded, eyes closing. "Okay..."

--

“_____! Wake up, I think dinner’s ready!” Jack said from above you. You rubbed your eyes sleepily and saw him sitting next to you, looking at you brightly.

“Hmm? Really?” Now that you were awake, you could smell something cooking downstairs. Your mouth started watering. When was the last time you had something to eat? Technically, it was only a few hours ago, but since you had been in Pitch’s lair for many hours... “I’m starving!”

You sat up and swung your legs out of bed, jumping up. Immediately, you fell back on the bed, ankle searing with pain. “Ouch! Ugh, I forgot my ankle was messed up...” You rubbed it gently.

“Need any help?” Jack offered, jumping to your side of the bed.

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” You said, giving him a weak smile and standing up. You hopped on one foot to the door and carefully opened it, Jack following you. You slowly made your way down the stairs, leaning on the railing as you went. Once you were at the bottom of the stairs you made your way into the kitchen, where your mom was stirring a pot of stew on the stove.

“Oh, _____!” She said as she saw you. “Perfect timing! I’m just about to dish out. Can you please set the table?”

“Uh, yeah sure.” You said, limping over to the cutlery drawer. Jack stood in the doorway, watching curiously. Once the table was set, you sat down and Jack walked over to you, leaning on the back of your chair.

“How’s your ankle, honey?” You mom called from the stove.

“It’s okay, thanks! That ice helped a bunch.” You winked up at Jack who smirked at you in return.

Your dad walked in as your mom was dishing out the food. “Hi, Dad!” You said, smiling stiffly. “How was work today?”

“Hi, _____. It was great, thanks. How was school?” He asked, sitting down. “Are you alright?” He said, noticing your slight grimace.

“Oh, uh, I’m ok.” You said, shoveling the stew into your mouth.

“______ sprained her ankle today.” You mom explained curtly. You shoved more food into your mouth quickly so as not to elaborate further. Suddenly, there was a clattering sound in the kitchen. You looked over and saw Jack standing next to a spoon on the floor, covered in stew. You laughed loudly, stifling it with your hand.

“What’s so funny?” You mom asked, looking at you curiously. “We might have ghosts, you know.”

“N-Nothing, I’ll go clean it.” You said through your laughter.

“Sorry!” Jack said, looking at you apologetically. “I was really hungry!”

You shot him an amused glance as you bent down to clean up the mess with a towel, favouring your injured ankle. “You know, you could’ve just waited until after dinner. I would’ve saved you some, you know.” You whispered.

“Oh... Is that offer still open? Cause I’m still hungry.” Jack said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

You stood up, “Sure thing.” You whispered, smirking.

When you were about halfway done your meal, you stood up, taking your plate with you, “Is it okay if I take the rest upstairs? I still have homework I have to do, and my ankle is starting to hurt again.”

“You’ll get your sheets dirty, sweetie!” Your mom said, looking at you in concern.

“The girl needs her rest, let her go.” Your dad said. You nodded hopefully.

“Fine...” Your mom sighed, admitting defeat.

You smiled, “Thanks for dinner!” You made your way upstairs with the plate, Jack following closely. Once you were in your room, you shut your door carefully, walking over to your desk.

“Your ankle seems to be a lot better.” Jack remarked, taking the plate from you.

“Yeah, that food really helped. Plus your ice hands... Whatever you want to call it.” You said, opening your math textbook. You looked over at Jack who was ignoring the fork on the side of the plate and eating with his fingers.

You shook your head, sighing. “You know, you could use a fork. It’s kinda gross...”

“Fork? Nah, I’m ok.” He said, shrugging and eating more of the stew.

Half an hour later you were finished with your homework and lay down on the bed. Jack sat next to you and you scooted over to make room for him. “You can lie down too... If you want...” You said, blushing slightly and looking away.

“Really? Thanks!” Jack said, oblivious to your embarrassment. “I still feel a little bit sick, so would it be ok if I stayed over again? I mean...” He looked away, a blush creeping up on his face, “I don’t really... Only if it’s okay with you...” His voice trailed off.

You smiled, “Yeah alright. At least you asked this time.” You yawned suddenly and looked at the clock on the wall; 9:10. “It’s a bit early for bed...” You said, glancing out your window at the cloudy sky. “Hey, Jack?” You asked, looking towards the winter spirit.

“Hmm?” He responded.

“What are we going to do about Pitch? I mean... We beat him pretty badly, but what if he comes back?” You asked, concern in your voice.

“Hold on, who said anything about we,” He gestured between the two of you, “doing anything?”

“Well of course! Did you expect just to go after him alone?” You looked at the winter spirit defiantly.

He paused for thought, “We’ll talking about it tomorrow, okay?”

You nodded, “Alright, I guess...”

There was a long silence between you before Jack said, “Listen, _____, thanks for saving me today.” He smirked, “Guess we’re even now, huh?”

You smiled back, “Yeah, I suppose so. Anyway, I’m going to bed, ok? I do have school tomorrow, after all.” You turned off the light and got under the covers, taking care of your hurt ankle.

"Okay." Jack said, lying on top of the covers, still holding his staff.

"Good night, Jack." You said sleepily, rolling over on your side.

"Night, _____." You heard Jack say behind you.

You closed your eyes, snuggling into the blankets. Suddenly, just when you were falling asleep you felt a cool tap on your shoulder. "Huh?" You murmured sleepily, rolling over to face Jack.

"Sorry..." He said apologetically, "I just, uh..." He looked away.

"What is it?" You asked curiously. “Come on, you went to the trouble of waking me up.” You said, looking at him expectantly.

“Well, uh, I just wanted to say...” Jack started, fidgeting with his staff and avoiding your eyes.

“Just say it already, will you?” You said, rubbing your eyes sleepily.

You heard Jack take a deep breath. “Nevermind...” He said after a while.

You sighed in exasperation. “Okay, then. Goodnight.” You rolled over again and fell asleep almost instantly.

---

You woke to the sound of your alarm clock ringing loudly on your bedside table. You sat up and went to turn it off, looking next to you. Jack was gone. You looked around your room for any sign of the winter spirit. You looked out your window and all you could see was white. You got out of bed and walked over to the window.

Everything was covered in snow, and lots of it. There were heaps of snow, over four feet tall on the side of the road, shoveled by a snowplow. Wow... This will mean a snow day for sure! You thought excitedly. Too bad I can’t really walk.

You left your room and walked downstairs, smiling. You saw your mom sitting at the kitchen table, “Hi, Mom!”

“Morning, ______, what’s got you in such a good mood?” Your mom asked, looking up from the newspaper she was reading.

“I’m just excited about all this snow!” You said, getting a bowl out of the cupboard.

“Really?” Your mom asked, a hint of surprise in her voice, “I thought you hated snow.”

“Well, I guess I’ve changed my mind!” You poured the cereal and the milk into the bowl and sat down at the table. “Is school cancelled today?”

“I don't know, why don't you check?" Your mom suggested.

You nodded and took your cereal to the living room where you turned on the TV and switched it to the weather channel. You scanned the screen for the school closure announcements and your heart leapt to see that your school was on the list.

“Hey, mom! School’s closed today!” You called into the kitchen.

“Alright, you can go back to bed, if you want.” You mom replied.

“It’s ok, I think I’ll stay awake.” You said, eating your cereal and reaching for the remote, stretching out on your couch.

A while later, you went back up to your room to get dressed. As you reached the top of the stairs you noticed that your bedroom door was closed. That’s weird... I don’t remember closing it. You pushed the door open and peered in.

Jack was sound asleep on your bed, staff resting in his hand. Your window was open a crack and snow was gently floating in. You walked over to it and shut it quietly, looking outside on the snow covered street. Across the road, someone was shoveling the sidewalk, piling up heaps of snow where the grass was buried. The snow on the road was thick and clear, with no tire tracks to make it muddy.

You glanced over at Jacks sleeping form. I guess all that snow tired him out again... You thought, walking over to your bed and leaning down.

"Hey, Jack." you whispered in his ear.

He bolted upright and you jumped backwards. He looked around the room, startled, until his eyes rested on you. "Oh, hey, ______." he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

You stifled a laugh. “Who did you think I was?”

“I don’t know! I was in the middle of a nice rest, and then you show up and whisper in my ear.” Jack said defensively, shooting you a disgruntled look.

“I didn’t think you were one to get startled so easily!” You smirked playfully. “Anyway, did you make all this snow?”

Jack expression instantly brightened, “Yeah, that was me, of course! Like it? I had a feeling the town needed some fresh snow in my absence.”

You glanced out the window, “It cancelled school, so I guess I can take it easy today.” You said happily. “Snow days are really rare around here. I think this is the most snow we’ve had for years! At least as far as I can remember.”

“And who do you have to thank for that?” Jack smirked at you.

“Thank you, Jack Frost.” You said, making a fake bow towards the boy. “Anyway, how are you feeling?”

He shrugged, “Not so great anymore. I feel a little dizzy right now.” He rubbed his head.

“Sorry for waking you, then...” You said, feeling slightly guilty. “Do you want any medicine or something?”

“No, thanks, I’ll be fine.” Jack replied shortly.

“Oh right, it wouldn’t work on you anyway...” You said, thinking. Suddenly, you had an idea. “I’ll be right back.” You said to Jack, and quickly left the room. A few minutes later you returned with a cup of hot tea. You returned to Jack’s side and handed him the mug.

“What’s this?” He asked, taking it gingerly. He winced slightly at the heat, and instantly, the steam rising off the liquid disappeared.

“It’s tea with a bit of honey. It should help your dizziness, you know? It’s supposed to be drunk hot but...” You said feebly, noticing frost starting to form on the mug.

Jack took a sip of the liquid and sighed contentedly. “This is really good!” He drank more.

You smiled, “Glad you like it. I sometimes drink it when I’m sick, or dizzy, or whatever.” You shrugged.

The boy took another long swig. "I think it's working." Before long, he had finished off the remainder of the tea.

He handed you the empty mug and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Thanks." He said.

You nodded, turning around to put the cup on your desk. "You want anymore? Oh..." When you turned around, you saw that Jack’s eyes were closed and he was sleeping soundly.

You made a mental note that tea puts Jack to sleep quickly and smiled in amusement.  You went downstairs again, shutting the door behind you softly. Your mom greeted you as you came down the stairs.

“______, do you think you could run to the store and pick up some milk for dinner tonight? Unless if your ankle is too painful for you to walk.” She added, glancing down at your foot.

“No, it’s okay, I’ll go.” You said. You were glad of an excuse to get out of the house, even if your ankle was still a bit sore. You pulled on your shoes and coat, bidding your mom a quick goodbye. You opened the door and stepped outside into the snow.

The snow had stopped, but an icy wind whipped your (h/c) hair and made your eyes sting. You pulled the collar of your coat tighter around your neck and walked quickly down the street, despite the thick snow and your injury.

After a few minutes of walking, you stopped to adjust your shoe. As you bent down you felt something hard strike your back, and let out a startled yelp. You stood up and looked around. A group of children across the street were looking at you with stunned expressions.

“S-Sorry!” You heard one squeak nervously from behind their friend.

“It’s alright!” You called back. You kept walking. Why were they looking at me so weirdly? You wondered, rolling your eyes. Kids these days...

You reached the grocery store shortly after, and went straight to where you knew the milk was and took a carton. As you walked to the checkout, you noticed people staring at you and stepping out of your way. You self-consciously crossed your arms. What’s wrong with everyone? I don’t have something on my face, do I? You self-consciously rubbed your cheek with the back of your hand.

You got in line at the checkout and put the carton on the conveyer belt. The cashier didn't look up until he scanned it, "Your total comes to two dollars and-" He broke off as he stared at you, mouth wide open.

You looked up at him from counting out the coins you pulled from your pocket, "Excuse me?" You glanced at the security video rolling in the corner of the store and saw yourself. Behind you was a thick dark shadow, but the moment your eyes landed on it, it disappeared.

The cashier snapped out of his daze but you hurriedly gave him the money before he could speak and rushed out of the store, clutching the milk. "What is wrong with everyone?!" You wondered angrily. "And what was that shadow? I’m not hallucinating, am I?” You glanced up at the sky. Dark clouds were gathering, and as you walked, the wind howled in your ears.

Snowstorm... You thought. You wondered what Jack was doing. Couldn’t he hold it off for a little while longer? You decided to take a shortcut through a small patch of trees on the outskirts of the forest.

You were lost in thought about the shadow. It didn’t take long to figure out. Pitch was following you again. You sighed exasperatedly, I already escaped from him once, won’t he just leave? You wondered, glancing behind you self consciously.

The dense trees shielded you from the wind and snow that started to fall. You hurried along the path, checking your ankle every few minutes. It seemed to be faring well, but the path was icy and you could slip at any moment.

You reached a fork in the path and took the left branch that led towards your house. The path became icier as you walked, and heavy pieces of snow caught in your hair, dampening it. You bent your head against the flakes and pushed on. Suddenly, your good foot caught on a branch on the ground and you stumbled forward. In front of you was a large fallen tree.

You were confused. Did I take a wrong turn...? Must be... You retraced your steps and tried the right fork instead. After a few minutes of walking, you reached a large stone cliff, covered in moss and snow.

“This... This wasn’t here before!” You said in astonishment. You stepped back from the wall and looked up its steep face. It rose about 20 feet in the air and had gleaming icicles dripping down the side. And... Something else, too...

You slowly approached the cliff. Dripping down the side was a steady trail of dark glittering sand, pooling at your feet. You gasped, recognising it. Pitch! You thought. Your heart drummed loudly in your ears as you whirled around, looking for any sign of him in the trees.

You slowly backed away from the wall. Okay, this is weird... Don’t panic... Get home first, then panic later. You said to yourself. You started walking again, following the path. You diverged off and started walking down a much smaller path that you knew led to a clearing and out of the forest.

The wind whipped snow into your face, and you slipped on an unseen tree branch sticking up out of the snow. You landed with a cry and rolled so that the milk didn’t hit the ground. You cradled it in your arms as you lay down, regaining your breath. You checked that the carton wasn’t broken, before standing up and walking on.

“This is a lot of trouble for a small carton of milk...” You said out loud. A strong gust of wind almost knocked you off your feet and the branches above you swayed precariously, threatening to drop their snow on you.

You hurried along for a few more yards. Looking around through the thick snow, you saw that you had reached the cliff again, or at least a section of it. A sudden flurry pushed you in its direction and you stumbled forward. As you got closer, you saw that there was a small cave hollowed out into the rock.

You cast your gaze around the trees, looking amongst the shadows for Pitch. I really don’t have a choice. You thought. Shelter here and take my chances with Pitch, or keep walking and freeze, or get lost...

You walked over and bent down, looking in. It was completely empty, save for a few dead leaves, and you crawled inside, crouching at the entrance. Inside, it was sheltered from the biting wind and snow. You placed the milk down next to you, feeling the walls for any of the dark sand, and finding none.

“I’ll just wait out the storm in here...” You thought outloud, getting comfortable on the cold stone. You hugged your legs and waited for the snow to lessen. It didn’t. If anything, it got worse. You wiggled your fingers and toes to try to stop them going numb. It’ll be evening by the time I get back home! You thought.

A while later, you heard soft footsteps in the snow. You sat up, alert. You refrained from calling out. It might be Pitch... You thought. He was following you, after all. You weighed up your chances. No, it was better to stay here, hidden, just in case. Not many people come by this way, especially not in this weather.

The footsteps got closer until they sounded as though they were directly above you, on the edge of the cliff. “_____?” A voice called out. Your heart leapt. You knew that voice!

“I-I’m over here.” Your voice cracked. You cleared your throat and spoke louder, “I’m over here!” From your small cave entrance, you saw a pair of pale feet land in the snow a few yards away. They walked towards your cave and bent down, revealing the rest of Jack’s body. You breathed a sigh of relief. “Hey, Jack.” You spoke, voice quiet.

“_____, what are you doing in there?” He asked, crawling into the cave next to you.

“Sheltering from this blizzard.” You said simply. “What are you even doing? I’ve never seen it snow this hard. Can you make it stop so I can go home?”

“I can’t,” Jack said, frowning. “It’s too strong. I was only planning a light dusting, but nature had other things in mind, I suppose... Once a blizzard like this starts, I can’t stop it.”

You nodded, “Alright... Plan A, then. Stay here.” You sighed, letting out a puff of steam. “It’s not like the weather can get much worse, right?” You said, laughing weakly.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It could stay like this for hours, or get even worse.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

“That doesn’t help at all!” You said indignantly.

“But look on the bright side! I found, you, didn’t I?” Jack smiled reassuringly. “At least you have someone to talk to now. It took awhile to find you, I walked all over the forest.”

You nodded, then took a sharp intake of breath, remembering the shadow and sand. “Jack, did I say how I was following a shadow the other day, before I got kidnapped?”

He shook his head, “No, but I can guess how the story goes...” He started.

You nodded, looking out at the snow on the ground. “I was walking through the forest after school, and I saw a weird shadow in the distance. I followed it, and it turned out to be Pitch. He knocked me out and took me to his lair.”

“Figured as much...” Jack said grimly, “Anyway, that’s the past. Pitch won’t be coming after you for a while.”

“But he is! I saw some of his sand a while ago, and there was this weird shadow behind me at the store. I think he’s been following me since I left the house. I went out to get this milk-” You nudged the carton, “and on the way, everyone was looking at me strangely. So finally, I managed to see some evidence of Pitch following me. I’m not going crazy, am I?”

Jack shook his head, “I doubt it.” Jack smiled, reassuringly. “Although,” He said with a puzzled expression, “how did this cliff get here? I can’t recall ever seeing it before, unless if I took a wrong turn in the snow...”

“I was wondering the same thing!” You said, surprised. “It was strange, I took a shortcut through the woods, but no matter which path I took, it always ended at a dead end. Do you think... It’s Pitch’s powers? Or is my sense of direction just awful?”

Jack laughed, then stopped abruptly, “I’m not sure. It’s snowing really heavily, I wouldn’t be surprised if you took a wrong turn. We’ll find out when the snow stops, I guess.”

You nodded, resting your head on your knees. The pair of you sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the wind rattling the snow-laden branches on the trees. You started to close your eyes, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over you.

I felt a surge of panic as I looked around blindly, trying to gain some sense of direction in the dark. I walked forward, gripping my staff tightly and gritting my teeth. The cold earth underneath my bare feet was the only thing I could feel around me. My eyes strained to find anything else in my immediate area but all I saw was darkness. I tapped my staff on the ground to gain some light, but nothing happened.

I heard a cold laugh behind me and I whirled around, swinging my staff. “Try all you want, your powers are useless here...” Suddenly, Pitch appeared out of the darkness in front of me.

“Pitch Black...” I growled angrily, “What do you want?” I pointed my staff at him, prepared to strike.

“What do I want?” The black cloaked man said, smirking. “I’m here to make you an offer.” He disappeared into the darkness again. I continued walking cautiously forward.

“What kind of offer...” I asked wearily.

Pitch’s laugh echoed throughout the darkness. “Come to my side, Jack.”

“Never...” I snarled. “Show yourself!”

“Why not? After all, what goes together better than darkness and ice?” He said, laughing. “Face it, you’re not half as strong as me. I have an entire legion of darkness, and what do you have? A few icicles and snowflakes.” He hissed.

“I have more than that! What do you know...” I said, although I wasn’t too sure myself.

“Don’t try to hide it from me, I can sense your fear.” Pitch reappeared in front of me, and I lashed out with my staff, hitting him square in the chest. He vanished with a swish of his cloak. Suddenly, the ground disappeared from under my feet, and I fell with a sharp cry into freezing water. I flailed, trying to reach the surface. I felt a force push me down, and a stream of bubbles escaped my lips. “If you won’t join me, then I’ll take the girl instead.”