Trapped by Fear

Chapter 13

(Elsa's POV)

Bunny got up from painting and walked over to a cubbyhole near the workbench. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he got something out. I saw a glint of metal and my façade crumbled. Memories came flooding back and I panicked. I ran to the other side of the Warren where I cowered behind a boulder. I curled into a ball and tried to stifle my cries. I felt a shadow loom over me and I screamed.

I think Bunny got a fright because he took a few steps back before saying, "Wit on earth is wrong wit ye shelia?"

"Please, please don't do this. I'm begging you!"

"Wit are ye goin on about?"

"Please don't hurt me, whatever I did I'm sorry."

He picked me up and plopped me in a chair. I looked up to see him crouching in front of me so that we were on eye-level with each other. His hands were empty and held up in a pacifying gesture. He waited till I calmed down a bit before saying, "Now, wey wid ya thank I wis gonna hurt ye?"

"b-b-because that's what p-p-people d-d-do. And you d-d-did it before. It was only a-a-a matter of time b-b-before you d-d-did it again."

Whatever he was going to say next never made it past his lips. He froze midway through forming his sentence once I finished speaking. For a while he just stayed there in complete silence, with deep thought etched across his face. Eventually he asked, "before?"

I nodded slowly. Then I surprised myself by adding, "all the time..." so softly that I wasn't even sure if I'd said it out loud.

He looked around the Warren till his eyes rested on something. "Ah, saw the knife did ye?"

I didn't answer but he must've been able to tell by my face. He thought deeply about something for a moment more. Meanwhile my heart felt like a bird desperately trying to escape its cage.

 Slowly he stood up and gently said to me, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinkin of ye and wat ye've been through. Sorry about how I acted but ye gotta understand I didn't know anything about ye."

He paused. then admitted, "Ok, I guess I was a bit of a jerk. But honestly the knife was just for cutting some mango see." he motioned towards some mangos that were on the top of cabinet where he got the knife from. I'm sorry about all this and how I acted before. Could we maybe start over? "

I clearly hadn't learnt my lesson about not trusting my gut because, for some reason, I believed him. We silently returned to painting eggs, with a sort of truce between us now.

When we were done, just before he took me back to the workshop he leaned down and said to me very seriously, "Listen, ye mind not telling Frost that I apologized te ye? He'd never let me live it down."

I gave him a small smile and continued walking. Behind me I could hear him shouting, "Wait! Was that a yes or a no?"

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--Pitch's lair--

Pitch had swapped his rage with cold calculation. Now that he'd finished raging about his loss it was time for revenge. He knew what he wanted to do to them. He just needed to figure out how. 

"Henchmen!" Pitch yelled.

"Boss, we have name."

"DID I ASK FOR YOUR INPUT, YOU LOUSY VERMIN!"

"No sir, sorry sir."

"AS I WAS SAYING, before I was RUDLEY interrupted, it's time for revenge. First thing's first; we need to get the girl back. Knock some sense back into her so that she will be ready for our end game. Then we need to destroy those Guardians for good."

Pitch began circling his globe. Inspecting each continent and city, looking for inspiration. Ponderingly he continues, "Perhaps turn them on each other? I don't have enough fear for a direct attack. Maybe I can destroy them one by one. They're stronger together sure, but that also means that they're weaker apart. Hmm, but that plan leaves too much room for error..."

Suddenly, Pitch Black came to a halt. A sly grin spread across his face and he laughed maniacally. "I think I've got it. The perfect plan to ensure my victory! Come you buffoons, we have work to do!" 

And with that, Pitch swept out of the room followed by his two henchmen, to enact the first phase of their new plan. No one would even see it coming...