Hall of Shadows

The pursue

There was no time to lose. North and Sandy could be - in the worst case - dead by now. No. He couldn't fall into despair. They were still alive for sure. They need to be. For him and for the children. But what if what Tooth said was actually true? That when Jack got closer to the nightmares, the stronger they would get. The stronger Pitch would get. Jack had seen nightmares a few times, the real physical - or somewhat physical - nightmares, not the ones in dreams. He never really knew where they came from or why they were there. They just were. Without another couldn't exist the other. So there had to be dreams and there had to be nightmares. It was the order of life - and the will of the Man in the moon.

Jack heard scratching noises from a bush nearby. Had someone eavesdropped them? One of Tooth's fairies soon flew out of it. Jack got startled, but sighed with relief. For a second he thought there was something much worse hiding in those bushes. But what was the fairy doing here? Shouldn't she be working or, if she was off-duty, doing what fairies usually do when they have a free period? Jack extended his arm so that the fairy could land on it. And so she did.

The little fairy looked exhausted, as if she had flown miles and miles in a hurry. "What's wrong?" Jack asked in deep worry. Maybe she knew something about Sandy and North. The fairy's breathing gradually steadied, and she looked into Jack's eyes. It was a pity the fairies couldn't talk, but they're pretty good at telling what they want anyway - just like Sandy. The fairy pointed hastily into a specific direction as she fluttered into the air. It was obvious that she wanted Jack to follow her. He tightened his grip of the staff and flew on the heels of the fairy.

The little one flew for a long time before she really needed to land and take a break. She was so exhausted that she almost fainted out. Jack gave a worried look and battled between the thought of wanting to let her rest, and the need to find the others. He was unconsciously biting his lip furiously in a state of nervousness.

Every second felt like a minute, and every minute felt like an hour. It took about five minutes for them to continue, but to Jack it had felt like a forever. The fairy was in such a hurry that it was obvious something had happened. He could only pray it was nothing too ghastly.

Somewhere along the way Jack had experienced painful throbs in his head, forcing him to stop at times. Sometimes he would dismiss them, though, but it never did him any good. The closer they got, the more intense the throbbing progressed. Jack knew it had something to do with Pitch, but no matter how much his head told him to stop and turn around, he didn't.

If North and Sandy's lives depended on it, he wouldn't.

A Guardian has never died before, but you can't take it for too granted. They weren't as immortal as they often represented themselves as. Jack was sure there would be a loophole too, as there was in everything else as well. Pulling the strings for a long time will end you up with the right one, and once your wall of defense is down, there's nothing more you can do.

A painful throb always interfered with his thoughts. Jack almost knew they would reach the place soon. The pain told him so.

But when they landed on an alley inside a foreign city, nobody was around. The fairy looked as confused as Jack when she started looking around for the other Guardians. Jack glanced around too, but the throbbing in his head prevented him from seeing so much. His concentration was broken, and the headache wasn't helping it.

"He has to be here," Jack tried to convince himself as the fairy looked at him in wonder and worry.

Jack stumbled back a little, losing his balance every now and then. Everything around him started spinning in a way that made him feel nausea crawling up in his stomach. He had to sit down back against the wall behind him. He massaged his aching temples, trying to ease the pain in his head.

The fairy came to his aid, but there was really nothing she could do. Because even Jack didn't know what was wrong with him. Although he knew that this was somehow related to Pitch and his games. It had to be.

"He has to be here. He's the cause of this pain," Jack said in a hoarse voice while shutting his eyes.

But he wasn't so sure if he even wanted to fight against Pitch. If he got stronger when Jack was around, and the way his head throbbed around him, must mean that Pitch drains his energy. He couldn't fight like this.

"You're looking in the wrong place, Jack."

He opened his eyes at the sound of his dreams. The foreign voice that spoke to him in his dream, the unknown presence that didn't belong there. It made him paralyze, completely aware that a mistake was made.

"I was inside of your head all along, sweetheart. My very existence lies within you now. You're burdened with my soul, Jack, and there's no escape."

His words echoed through the last inch of his brain, making him loathe the feeling of it. Was the throbbing just a coincidence?

"But I'm glad you helped me get here. This is the closest place to my dear nightmares underground. I can feel them yearning for me, but I'm not ready for them yet. I need more, Jack. I need you loathing. I feed off of anger, frustration, pain. Anything that's often considered to be negative. But really, it's just a misunderstanding."

Jack rubbed his head harder and harder, trying to make the demons flee away. Every word increased the throbs, and every sound made his ears ring. Even the little fairy panicking next to him felt like someone was piercing through his eardrum. He wanted to scream, but no voice came out.

"Jack, you shouldn't be afraid of me, you know. I only want what's the best for you. But honey, sometimes success requires a tad amount of pain. Like the throbbing you're experiencing now. You're resonating with my nightmares."

Jack tried to push himself to an upright position, but his limbs went numb and there was nothing he could do. Pitch had an awfully dominant control of his body, resulting in paralysis.

"I can't let you go just yet, Jack. My nightmares are coming. They might bite you, by the way. It's not like they didn't bite me, even though they love me. Love is pain, if you know what I mean."

"You must be asking yourself: 'What does he want with the nightmares?' Yes, there is a reason for this. Did you know, that during my time uh... off the earth, my nightmares still fed from children's bad dreams? I mean, after they infect the dreams with darkness, they feed off of children's fearful and horrid feelings that are caused by them. They store them, and guess for who? For me."

Jack didn't need to ask to know what the profit was for him out of it. He would get stronger. Which was why Jack needed to find his way around the problem he was currently facing. But being numb was one hell of a big problem to begin with.

"Talk to me, Mr. Frost. I hate waiting, especially alone."

"Shut up. Your voice makes me want to vomit," Jack retorted as he groaned in pain and disgust. It wasn't a lie though, he did feel like vomiting.

"I have a bucket for you just for that."

He had to break free of Pitch's domination. It was his body after all, and he was the one who knew it the best. Like he always said, there is a loophole in everything. You just need to pull the right string. He still remembered how he used to tell that to his younger sister back when he was still human. A smile with a hint of sadness formed on his face, and right on that second, he felt like he could move his toes.

"How did you do that?"

Memories. The loophole.