Rise Of The Guardians: The Celestial Awakening

Chapter X

"It's only make believe. But I believe it, I believe it. You're only make believe. But I believe in you..." – Picture Me Broken, Beautiful Disguise

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I got into my position in front of the emergency exit, hand placed on the doorknob waiting for the signal. As serious as this moment was it dawned on me that we didn't have a signal and I smacked my forehead against the door because of it. I would just have to know when to move.

With a loud bang of the front doors opening downstairs, I heard North shout at me to run.

"I guess that's the signal." I said as I pushed open the door and to my surprise the stairs were still holding up until I was half way down the stairs. That's when the rocking and creaking were happening and all I could do was hang on when a loud snap of metal made the entire staircase detach itself from the building and crash into the snow. I was lucky the snow was soft like a pillow or that could had done more damage to me than what the stairs had done already. I shook off the aches and pains from pieces of debris that came apart and landed on me then made my way into the forest.

Although the blizzard might had passed, the remains of all the snow it left still managed to slow me down, but at least those Nightmares weren't chasing me.

"Jack Frost," I grumbled to myself as I shook the snow that slipped into my boots, "He couldn't be Jack Defrost." My complaining had distracted me from the aggravating objective of finding the sleigh in all this snow, so I was relieved to see the flying machinery and all eight reindeer just in a wide-open clearing.

The reindeers were huddled together to shield themselves from the cold, one of them raised its head, shaking off the snow as it stood up. I hesitated at first, remembering the first time I saw them, very big and frightening, but now the reindeer seemed calm as it approached me. I gently extended my hand, letting it sniff me before I dare touched it. The rest of the reindeers stood up but remained where they were, then I noticed that this reindeer wasn't attached to the reins anymore.

I gave it a little scratch under the chin, "Hey there bud," I paused for a moment, "Which one are you?" It turned itself around and headed over to the rest of the reindeer who were lined up. I quickly counted them and remembered the jingle that listed all the names of the reindeer. "Blitzen," I called and the reindeer huffed in approval. "Right, you're beside Donner." I walked over and gently patted Donner on the nose, "Now let's hurry and get these reins back on you."

It took longer than I thought but I managed to hook Blitzen back on his reins. "There, all set, now let's go get everyone." I patted Blitzen on the side and right as I was about to hop in the sleigh there was a rustling and something moving within the trees. At first I was just going to ignore it thinking it was just snow falling off a branch, but the reindeer became nervous with their grunting and hooves stomping the ground. "Hey, hey it's okay." I gently went around petting the reindeer and eventually it calmed the down.

"I do apologize, I didn't mean to frighten them." Bone-chilling vocals spoke from behind me and I could feel the instant goose bumps sprout from my skin.

"North, Bunny, Tooth, Sandy?" I paused for a moment, "Jack, if this is some kind of joke, cut it out." I laughed it off but still felt the uneasiness sit in the pit of my stomach, and once I turned around there was no one in my sights. I stepped away from the reindeer and walked toward the trees where the voice had come from, but even then I couldn't see anything. I didn't want to say I imagined it because the voice sounded so real.

I shook my head. Focus! Stay on track. Find the sleigh, bring it to the planetarium, get the Guardians and get out.

Taking a deep breath I dug my heels into the snow and turned myself around to be face to face with a tall man, who stood there casually, hands behind his back.

I fell back in a panic. "Holy- Don't do that." I stood back up shaking off the snow.

He seemed too had gotten a chuckle out of my fright. "Did I scare you?"

"No I wouldn't say you scared me, it was more like you startled me."

"Interesting." He calmly spoke and again shivers ran up my spine.

There was something off about him and it wasn't only because he had sickly grey skin, black spiky hair that was slicked back, black clothing and pale yellow eyes that were looking for trouble. No, wait that was exactly it. "Well, uh sorry but I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Now, hold on," He suddenly blocked my way and examined me from head to toe, "Who might you be?"

I took a step back and gulped down the urge to call for help. "N-no one."

"Really?" He turned to the sleigh then back at me.

I bit the bottom of my lip and nervously fidgeted with my sleeves, "Yup," I cleared my throat. "A-and who are you?"

His voice deepened as he stared directly into my eyes. "Do you believe in the bogeyman?"

Suddenly, Nightmares surrounded the clearing, letting out dreadful yelps making the reindeer move restlessly.

"Watch out!" I yelled as I pointed to the creatures behind him.

"Don't worry, they won't harm me." He extended his hand and one of the Nightmares that resembled a horse made its way over.

Again, I backed up. "What the..." I mumbled.

"Beautiful aren't they, do you like them?"

This time it was my turn to chuckle. "Sure, besides the fact they almost tried to kill me and my frien- I mean companions."

Then there was a familiar nagging voice echoing around me. I looked up to see Manny, but before I could understand what he was trying to tell me the sky darkened, purple clouds swarmed in, blocking my view of Manny completely.

"Never mind him," The tall dark man said in a boring tone, but then a wicked sneer appeared showing his sharp rigid teeth. "Hope you're not afraid of the dark."

I shook my head. "No, I don't find the dark scary, I actually prefer it to be honest.

"Why is that?" He asked as I sparked his interest with my answer.

I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "Well, think of it this way, it has to be dark for the stars to show."

He seemed shocked by my comment. "Have...have we met before?"

"I think I would have remembered meeting someone like you." I bluntly put it.

He started to laugh manically and backed away until he disappeared into the forests shadows. The nightmares followed and the purple clouds that covered the sky soon vanished, and the Moon appeared once again.

The grunting of the reindeer had reminded me of what I was supposed to be doing before. "Oh no, okay, let's go!" Hoping onto the sleigh I whipped the reins and we were off.

I was able to lift the sleigh off the ground and steer but the only issue was how to land the thing. I circled the Planetarium which had thick smoke emerge from the windows, "What did they do?" I jerked the reins back in anger and the reindeers were directed downwards. The force of the impact once the sleigh hit the ground had me topple over.

"There you are!" North erupted through the front doors, both swords in his hands, while the rest of the guardians followed behind.

"What took you so long?" Jack asked with frustration in his attitude.

"I think the more important question is, what you did?!" I pointed over to the smoking building.

"Never mind that for now, time to go." North seized the reins, thankfully, and we took off into the sky.

I took a seat at the back of the sleigh, looking behind me at the Planetarium that was consumed by thick black clouds. The Planetarium, the place that had been abandoned for as long as I could remember, the place I used to call my home.