I Believe in the Boogeyman

His First Believer

You were always a child at heart, believing in things like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman; even Jack Frost after some kids started spreading news about him. You still believed in all these things...even though you were no longer a child. You were twenty two, in fact. Your friends made fun of you for it, but you ignored them. You knew they were real.

You never believed in anything silly like the Boogeyman, of course. At least, you didn't use to. There was a short span of time where you had almost given up all hope on your childhood beliefs. During that time you were struck with nightmares nightly. Terrible, horrible nightmares. You didn't usually have those. In fact, before then, the last time you had a nightmare was when you were still a young child, and even then they were scarce.

It was then you decided that if good things like Santa and the Sandman could exist, then why couldn't the bad things, like the Boogeyman? Ever since then you've been getting nightmares more and more frequently. In them, you always see a tall pale figure cloaked in shadow, two yellow eyes piercing from the dark. He never does anything, just watches you, smirking and laughing at your fear. You knew this was the Boogeyman.

And he frightened you.

Pitch had expected to feel completely forgotten after his plan was ruined. But to his surprise, he still felt the power of a believer. Even weeks after the disaster happened, the feeling didn't go away. Determined to find out who could possibly still believe in him, he began his search. With his nightmare sand safely back under his control, he sent them out in search of his believer while he searched for himself.

It was difficult, not having something like the globe to pinpoint where all the believers were. But eventually, one night while he was out, he passed by a sleeping girl's window and heard groans. He paused for a moment before looking through her window. He could see her tossing and turning restlessly. He smirked. She was having a nightmare. Curious as to the contents of this girls dream, he carefully opened her window before entering. As he approached her bed he looked down at her before he reached his hand out and gently touched her forehead, entering the girl's nightmare.

You blinked open your eyes and looked around. It was very dark. You grabbed your arms as you began walking forward, unsure as to where you were going. Suddenly as you took another step forward, you began to fall. You screamed, reaching for something to grab onto. You landed with a grunt and looked around. You stopped when you saw two piercing yellow eyes looking straight at you. Your eyes widened as you stood up and warily made your way towards the figure. You looked up at it as you neared. It stared back down at you, and in the darkness you heard a dark chuckle as you saw a bright Cheshire grin appear. You shivered. "The Boogeyman..." You whispered.

The smile suddenly disappeared, and the yellow eyes seemed to widen. The figure took a step towards you, which you then took several back. The figure glared down at your cowering frame for a few moments before merely vanishing. You looked around, but saw nothing.

Pitch took several steps away from your sleeping body. "She knows who I am." He whispered. "She said my name." Pitch looked at you for a moment before a smirk appeared on his face. "I have a believer." He said slowly. He watched you for a while longer before chuckling. "Interesting." He murmured as he made for the window. Pitch laughed as he gave you one more look over. "I believe I shall visit you again."

Sandman hovered through your hometown on a cloud of dream sand, looking over the sleeping children before getting ready to send some sand their way. As he scanned the buildings, however, he noticed a black silhouette sneak out of a window. Curious, he floated closer without alerting the other being of his presence. As he neared, his eyes widened when he recognized the figure of Pitch Black. Sandy hurriedly rushed backwards away from the other. He watched as Pitch disappeared into the shadows. After a moment to make sure he was really gone, Sandy warily approached the window he had once been at and looked in. He silently gasped when he saw the figure of a girl lying in a bed. Sandy furrowed his brow. What was he doing in there? The Guardian of Dreams slowly backed away from the window. When he was far enough away, he bit his lip while looking down worriedly at the street below. After a moment he began delivering his dream sand. As soon as he was finished, he turned his sand cloud into a plane and rushed for the North Pole.

North was humming to himself in his office as he chipped away at a block of ice. He grabbed his mini pickaxe and began shaping it into a little plane. He held the object between his fingers and smiled as he inspected it. He was about to go back to work on it when he heard a knock on his door. He sighed before turning to the door. "Yes, yes, come in." He called.

As the door opened, he was surprised to see the small Guardian of Dreams approach him and not a large yeti. North gave his friend a large grin and placed the plane gently on his desk. "Ah, Sandy, old friend!" He greeted him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" His smile turned to a frown when he noticed the Sandman wasn't smiling. "Sandy, what is wrong?" He asked.

Sandy created an image of buildings out of his sand above his head, and between them he made the silhouette of Pitch.

North's eyes widened and he took several steps towards Sandy. "Pitch Black? You saw him?" When the smaller Guardian nodded, the larger man ran his hand through his beard worriedly. "This is bad." He muttered. "Very bad."

Sandy made the image of the Northern Lights.

North nodded. "Yes. The others must know. Come." He began to exit his office, and the Sandman followed.

Sandman stood beside North in the front of the workshop anxiously as the rest of the Guardians filed in.

Tooth flew in from a window, several of her fairies, including Baby Tooth, behind her. She gave both Sandy and North a smile as she sat and waited for the other two.

Bunny came in soon behind, hopping in from the entrance, complaining about the cold as normal. "I can't bloody stand this place." He muttered as he made his way over to the fire place.

Jack came in not long after, the wind carrying him past the globe and towards the others. As he landed he gave a nod to everyone before sitting on a counter.

Once everyone got settled, North turned to them, a solemn look on his face. "I have very bad news." He started. The large man turned to Sandy. "Sandy tells me he has seen Pitch."

The three Guardians' eyes widened.

"What!?" Jack exclaimed, standing up.

"Sandy, are you sure?" Tooth asked as her fairies fluttered around her worriedly.

The Guardian nodded.

"Where?!" Jack demanded.

Sandy made images of buildings.

"Yeah that's not really helpful."

Sandy ignored Jack's comment and made an image of a window. Inside was a sleeping girl. Outside was Pitch.

Tooth gasped. "He was watching a girl?" She exclaimed.

When Sandy nodded, the rest of the Guardians looked to each other.

"Can you take us there?" Jack asked. "We have to see if she's ok."

Sandy nodded, but as they all readied to leave, he turned to them. He made an image of a child and crossed that out, then an image of an adult, and placed a check mark beside it.

Everyone was silent.

"The girl...is an adult?" Tooth asked quietly.

Sandy nodded again.

"Why in the bloody world would he be interested in an adult?" Bunny questioned.

Sandy shrugged and created a question mark above his head.

"We still have to check on her." Jack stated. "If Pitch is interested in her, then maybe we should be too."

"I agree." Tooth said. "She may not be a child, but she could still be in danger."

North nodded. "Yes. Anything concerning Pitch is worth investigating."

Bunny just mumbled under his breath as everyone began heading towards the sleigh.