Rise Of The Guardians: Bloody Mary

4) Fragments

The windows at The Pole burst open with a flurry of snow. A cold wind howled through the cavernous room carrying a frantic Jack Frost. North yanked his huge red coat around him defending himself from the cold, and dusted the snow from his silver beard. Jack landed in front of him wobbly and out of breath, and North instantly knew something was wrong, “Jack, what happened? Where is Bloody Mary?”

Jack steadied himself, hands on knees, “Mary’s fine. It’s Pitch. We were attacked.”

“What?! We need to call the others.”

The Guardians arrived less than an hour later. They all gladly expressed their dislike for being called to the ends of the Earth twice in the same day, but they quickly became aware of the seriousness of the situation through Jack and North’s grim expressions. When all were settled down Jack told them the whole story, exactly how he had remembered it. When finished, Jack was surprised to see them all looking at him faces in soft concern.

“Jack.” Tooth Fairy began, her shining feathers ruffling, “I’m so sorry. I tried to warn you.”

“What are you talking about?” Jack asked confused.

“Mary betrayed you.” Tooth said carefully.

“What? No she didn’t, Mary had nothing to do with this.” he said defensively.

“She’s right mate.” Bunny agreed, “It isn’t too bold to say that they could be working together. After all, they both work in the same field. Scaring children is their purpose, they have a lot in common. And don’t you think it’s kinda weird that Pitch comes out of hiding the same day that Mary shows up and lures you out into the open?”

Jack hadn’t really thought of that, but wasn’t quite ready to believe it, “Yeah, but Pitch said he was looking for the right moment to show up again anyway.”

“Think about it Jack.” Bunny continued, thumping his huge grey feet, “What made it the right moment besides the fact that Mary was there? And didn’t he talk to her like he knew her? What did you say he called her? Darling?”

“But Pitch is a creep!” Jack pleaded desperately, “She didn’t know him. She was being held hostage. And when she died, Pitch wasn’t expecting that. He…”

Sandy looked at Jack with sad eyes, and Jack felt the weight of North’s heavy hand on his shoulder, “He what, Jack?”

“He was upset.” Jack whispered to his feet, the last bits of confidence fading. He felt empty and betrayed. Maybe Pitch wasn’t expecting her to die, but he certainly treated it as a death of someone that meant something to him, “He was remorseful when she died.”

“Oh, Jack.” Tooth Fairy flew over to him, empathetically taking his hand, “There’s no way you could have known. We’ll find her. We’ll make her sorry she ever lied to you.”

Jack sighed feeling a mixture of pain and anger. On top of that he just felt stupid for not seeing it, and not trusting Tooth. Why didn’t he just trust her? Tooth and he had been friends for years, but he chose to run off with some girl he just met. He had led himself into a trap, “There’s no point looking for her now. I told her to stay hidden incase Pitch figured out she was alive. She’s probably in The Parallel, and we can’t get to her in there.”

A golden question mark flickered into existence above Sandy’s head. Jack waved his hand dismissively, “It’s complicated, but basically she’s in a giant mirror.”

“What about Pitch?” North began, “We could look for him?”

“Good idea.” Bunny agreed, “We can check that dirty hole in the ground. That isn’t too far from where Pitch showed up again isn’t it?”