Katherine and the Truth About Jack

Chapter 5: Memories and Meetings Collide

Katherine wrote out the list late into the night. The moon shone brightly in the indigo sky, silver moonbeams leaving untraceable trails in the air. On cloudless nights they were most the active. She had long since fallen asleep, arms stretched over her notebook and sketchbook. A silver moonbeam made a trail to her room, buzzing like a lost fly in her apartment. Kailash was silent, making loud honking snores as it scooted around her head.

Finally, the beam settled on Katherine temple, the pulsing glow like a heartbeat.

She fidgeted for a moment before settling into a calming dream, or more commonly, a memory.

***

This one was of her younger self, dancing in the sky with Nightlight the day after their first battle with Pitch. It had been a small victory in the hand of a more significant war. The children were safe, the world at peace; if only for a short time.

Nightlight spun her around in the air, her wavy hair tangling in the breeze. He glowed so brightly that Katherine had to squint. She laughed a little, and he stopped and looked at her as if noticing her for the first time. All at once the dream changed. His eyes became the color of copper, and his hair began to darken. "Nightlight?"

His eyes glazed over, her hand slipping from his.

Down,

             Down,

                           Down,

She fell through an endless dark tunnel.

She reached out for Nightlight, him looking down dumbly at her as she fell. She tensed, preparing for the inevitable impact of the ground. "BANG!"

Katherine woke up on the floor by her desk. Looking up she saw a buzzing silver light spin around the room and then zoom out the window chasing some black sand.

She ran a hand over her face as she let out a frustrated breath. Looking out the window she saw the moon, it's crescent tipped so that it looked like a Cheshire cat. "Honestly, you would think you can give me a night of rest."

The moon didn't respond when she noticed her alarm: Six o'clock in the morning. It was time to get up anyway, the class couldn't start without her after all. Kailash yawned trying to stretch her wings. The tips of her feathers whacked Katherine in the face as she stood up. She rubbed her face in frustration but didn't say anything as she got ready for the day. If this was going to be a precursor to how the rest of the day would go, she was not excited about it.

***

He had thought all night about what Jamie had said. Or rather...what he hadn't said. The boy's accusations seemed unnecessary. There was nothing Jack wanted more than to understand why this Miss. Guse could see him. So as he leaned from the tree watching the kids leave the school for the day he reminded himself what his focus was. And not to get his hopes up.

The idea that someone other than children could believe in him gave more questions than answers. What was belief? Did it matter for children or adults? What made a child an adult? The questions were so loud in his mind that it took him a full ten minutes before he realized all the children were gone. He jumped from the tree, landing by the front doors of the school.

He hardly made a sound. Not that anyone would hear him anyway. A strong wind pulled some red leaves from the tree as he stood in front of the school. There were very few establishments he ever entered. Most were by accident. It took him a moment to gain the courage to push through the glass doors. His hands lay flat as he drove it in the quietly lit hall.