Hall of Shadows

Everlasting dark times

a/n: *intense drumming* Ta-da! I'm back in Wattpad again with another chapter, yay. I feel like my English skills have been getting rusty lately, hrr...
I hope you'll enjoy this chapter the same way you did the earlier ones.

------

Jack hadn't felt coldness in hundreds of years, but now he could once again feel the shivers running down his spine. They weren't necessarily caused by the weather, but something completely different. He opened his heavy eyelids and tried to see around himself. Jack's head was aching like hell now, just as if he had jumped off a building and ended up having his skull cracked. He could feel the same presence of a being as in the dream that he had. But was it a dream after all? It felt way too real to be just a dream. Maybe he was sleepwalking and hallucinated it all?

"Jack. Finally you've woken up. There's something big going on out there," it was the voice of Bunny. "North, Tooth and Sandy left already. I'm in charge of watching you, but I really don't want to miss all that they're confronting there."

Bunny was always in need of adrenaline. It could have been one of his traits from before he became the Easter Bunny. Jack didn't really know what kind of human Bunny was back then. Well, of course for a reason, because they never actually met. Bunny wasn't so keen on talking about his previous self, either.

"How long was I out?" Jack rubbed his eyes and painfully rose to sit. He couldn't help but cringe because of the pain and pressure in his skull.

"About two days or so. It really isn't the best job in the world to watch Sleeping Beauty," Bunny snickered, but looked at him with a serious expression right after it. "We need to get going. I know North insisted that you need to stay here until you're fine again, but we need you. There's chaos out there."

"Chaos? What kind of chaos are you talking about?" Jack was surprised. How could he possibly be sleeping at an important time like this?

"Nightmares. It started during the time when you were passed out. It began with just nightmares messing with children's dreams. But the nightmares have been violent lately. Destroying things and scaring the heck out of some adults, too", Bunny explained with a worried tone.

About the time that Jack was passed out. That couldn't be just a coincidence. Was there really something wrong with him? Was it really a good idea to leave the safe place now when he was so unstable? Jack didn't know what to think or do right now. But he knew he couldn't just sit back and close his eyes from the bad things. So he stood up, despite all the pain in his aching body.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bunny was the one who came up with the idea in the first place, but wasn't so convinced himself that it would be a good one.

"Of course," Jack tried to not show the pain so much. He was okay and not okay in many ways. However, pain was the least of his worries. Bunny didn't bother asking anymore, and so the both of them left the North Pole.

They traveled through a rabbit hole in just a few minutes. The two of them were headed to the same town where Jack got bitten back then. It didn't feel like a good idea to go back there, but he'd be safe with the other guardians. At least he hoped so. It's not like something bad could happen to him twice in a row, right?

Jack hopped out of the hole right after Bunny, and he watched as the cavity disappeared quickly from the ground beneath. It was a late night, but the moon shone very brightly and there was no difficulties seeing despite being so dark.

"They should be somewhere nearby. Let's check the town and see if there's something suspicious," Bunny advised and took the boomerang from the sleeve on his back. Jack tightened his grip of the staff again. He had to focus on this moment and this moment only.