Rise Of The Guardians: Bloody Mary

3) To Appear, Disappear, And Reappear

“Pitch.” Jack said, in his deep commanding voice, “I’ll give you three seconds to get your hands off of her before beating you to a bloody pulp.”

Pitch laughed so gently Mary thought that Jack might not even be able to hear it. It was meant for her, and when he spoke it was directed at her alone, “Mary darling, why don’t you tell Jack to let us have a moment.”

“Wait, you know him?” Jack looked to her in confusion.

Mary’s mind was spinning. Fear had it’s invasive hold on her, and Jack was in danger. She was in danger as well of course, but some how only Jack’s safety mattered at the moment. Jack was here in harms way, questioning her. She felt the blade squeeze into her throat “No! I have no idea what’s going on!”

Pitch laughed again, never letting the huge scythe stray from her neck “Oh don’t be shy Mary, tell him who you really are.”

“Are you crazy? What the hell are you talking about?” Mary squirmed now, not putting much thought into the inherent danger of her own decapitation.

“Let her go Pitch.” Jack said, this time with a hint of uncertainty, “You’ve crossed the line. You should have stayed dead.”

“Dead?!” Pitch asked playfully, “You of all people should know you can’t kill fear! I was just waiting for a good moment to pop up again. Looks like I found one.”

Mary had been squirming almost idly in Pitch’s hold. Now as he and Jack spoke, a tiny voice appeared in her head: Bloody Mary. Suddenly she felt the world start to crystallize around her.“No.” she whispered out loud, and felt Pitch gaze drop from Jack to her. Bloody Mary. She felt her body start to crack as she fought the voice, if she moved now the scythe would surely slit her throat “No, please not now.”

“What’s happening?” Pitch looked to Jack for an explanation, who looked back at him and shook his head.

Bloody Mary!

“No!” Mary felt all her power erupt from within her as she fought to stay within Pitch’s reach. Glass shards flew out from her body. Jack blocked the shards just in time with a wave of his staff, but Pitch was skewered through his arm and hands. For a second Mary breathed a sigh of relief, she had been summoned but had managed to stay where she was. Her relief faded as she heard Pitch scream in agony. Mary then saw a figure in the distance, far behind Jack, and understood. She took a deep breath, and waited.

Jack was back into fighting position before Pitch had stopped yelling. He started running toward Mary, who looked to be almost asleep behind the blade. Then he heard something fly past him, slicing open his ear. A prismatic blade thrown from behind him spun menacingly at Pitch and Mary. With an unsettling ‘thunk’ it embedded itself deep into her chest. Mary opened her eyes. Pitch and Jack watched in horror as the blade set off a reaction in her. As it shattered, her body began to crack. Pieces of flesh falling off into shining pieces mirror, until she was a web of cracks and missing fragments, and shattered in Pitch’s hands.

“No.” Jack breathed as he helplessly watched his new friend crumble and disappear, “No.”

Pitch not bothering to remove the shards of glass from his arms and hands, stepped clumsily backward, confusion and disbelief filling him, “I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t mean to-”

“No!” Jack yelled again. He shot forward with his staff, ice flying out in search of vengeance. Pitch barely shielded himself in time, and even still some of the magic got through. He was pushed back further into the trees. Night had fallen completely, and shadows lurked everywhere. He had lost his pride, lost the battle, lost Bloody Mary. He stumbled and fell into the shadows, vanishing before Jack could finish him.