Frozen Chains

Chapter 14

Jack was standing on the surface of frozen water. Beneath the ice, he could make out the forms of demons, beasts, nightmares, and Pitch Black.

The ice was thin. It groaned warningly beneath his feet. Slowly, Jack inched forward, even thought the frosted surface seemed to never end.

I just need to get a little farther, Jack lied to himself. Somewhere, deep in his gut, Jack knew that there was no 'little farther,' just never ending ice that threatened to drop him into the pit of nightmares below.

"Jack!" 

Freezing, Jack nearly fell over. He loathed that voice. He was terrified of that voice.

"Jack!" Pitch said again. Looking down, Jack was able to see through the frozen water and saw that Pitch was grinning sadistically at him, his face warped by the ice above him. "You are alone up there. Why don't you join me?"

Sure enough, the area around Jack was dark, and there was no people around. He began to tremble.

However, he didn't intend to go down there.

"Jack," said Pitch, "I command you to come down."

Jack couldn't disobey a direct command. That would only lead to pain. He whimpered as spiderweb-like cracks appeared in the ice.

"Besides," Pitch sneered, "We don't want to hurt your brother, do we?"

"Jay...?" Jack whispered. 

Ignoring the ever-growing cracks in the ice, Jack dropped to his knees, looking straight down.

Jay was there.

Bruised.

Bloodied.

And definitely dead.

"NO!" Jack jolted awake, shaking. Where was Jay? Why did everything hurt so much? Why was he so scared?

"Hey, calm down, Frostbite." Bunny said.

"W-where is J-Jay?" Jack whispered.

"He's right over there." Tooth said soothingly. "You can go now, Bunny. It's my shift."

Jack didn't care. He didn't care about Tooth or Bunny or their stupid shifts. He just wanted to see Jay with his own eyes, and know that his twin wasn't gone.

"Are you alright?" Tooth asked. Though it was dark, he could imagine her brow furrowing. The door opened and closed softly as Bunny left.

"I-I have to see Jay," Jack begged, "Please, l-let me see him... "

"Huh?" Tooth sounded confused. "He's right over there, Jack."

She didn't understand. She didn't understand that Pitch killed his brother. She didn't understand that he hated the darkness of the room, even at night, because it reminded him of the lair.

Tooth put a hand on his arm. Jack's breath hitched in his chest for fear, but she shushed him gently.

"Tell me what's wrong."

What was wrong? Everything was wrong!

"I... Jay... P-Pitch hurt him again... " Jack said weakly, shivering, struggling not to cry. "Hurts," He whimpered.

"Shhh, I'll get you medicine," promised Tooth, "and I swear, Jay is fine. He's right on the other side of the room, asleep."

The pain in his arms and chest increased. Jack bit his lip, shivering, struggling not to cry out. It was a deep ache that threatened to overpower him. After a moment of Tooth fumbling around in the darkness, a cup was pressed into his hand.

Jack drank all of it. He had grown to trust what was in the paper cups, even though all of his experience warned him not to. After all, what if the Guardians were waiting for him to trust it, only to put poison in the cup the last time? It seemed like something Pitch would do.

At the moment, however, Jack didn't care. He just wanted to end the pain. 

But what if Pitch was right? What if everyone really hated him? What if everyone really wanted him to die?

Would that be a good enough reason for the Guardians to kill him?

Jack shuddered.

"Go back to sleep, okay?" Tooth asked.

"I c-can't," Jack whispered.

"Why not?" 

"I-I don't want a-anymore n-nightmares," The thought made him want to curl up and die. How much fear could someone take before they went insane?

Tooth was quiet. She was probably searching for words of comfort, but the thing was, there was nothing that could be comforting. She couldn't promise that the nightmares would stop. She couldn't promise that everything would be okay.

"Sandman can't control nightmares," Tooth said finally. "He's tried, but he just can't. We're working on it. We'll find a way for you to sleep peacefully."

Sure. Of course.

Whatever.

Just another empty promise. Just another lie that was supposed to make everything better. Supposed to make him happy.

Or stall him, more like.

Jack wouldn't go back to sleep. He wouldn't have another nightmare.

He closed his eyes, evening out his breathing and keeping it steady, feigning sleep. Tooth sighed relief.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you," she murmured softly, "I'm sorry for you both. I know that saying sorry won't fix anything, but I can't help it."

Jack realized she thought he was sleeping.

"I promise you that things will get better. It might take a while, but I know it will happen."

Why was she talking to him still?

"I know I already said this, but... I'm so, so sorry."

I know, Jack thought, I am, too.