House Call ch. 5

   “G-Get a room you two.” Jack coughed with a smirk. Instantly, Tooth released her grip on my hands and zipped over to him, pushing him back against the sheets gently.

   “Jack!” I heard her voice break a little, “Jack you’re okay! Oh thank goodness, you looked awful when Bunny first brought you here- well, you still do but not nearly as much! Oh, I must go fetch North and Sandy, they’ll want to know you’re up!” she chirped, turning 360^o around Jack. He didn’t resist as she readjusted his sheets and hushed him up whenever we started to talk. I chuckled, more out of pity then amusement; Tooth was a mother hen to all of us.

   Tooth, once she was done fussing over the kid, scooped Baby Tooth up into her hands –much to her displeasure- and rounded on me. “Now Bunny, don’t let him get up! I’ll be right back! Sandy will probably want to do one more sweep to make sure all the nightmare sand is out of him.” Tooth commanded, giving Jack one more look over before flying to the door and out into the hall. Jack and I shared a glance.

   “How ya feelin’, mate?” I asked, hopping over to the bedside. Tooth was right; he did look much better, but the dark shadows beneath his eyes and cuts and bruises still stood out against his pale skin.

   Jack simply shrugged, or tried to and grimaced. “E-Eh,” he coughed, “Been…been better.”

   I smiled slightly, and ruffled his hair, earning a grunt of disapproval from the winter sprite. “Well, at least ya are back with the livin’. Ya had us scared for a while there, we didn’ know if ya were gonna  still be on ‘ur side.”

   Jack quirked an eyebrow at me, worry filling his features.

    “Wha…What do you mean?”

   I sighed and sat down on the bed, carefully avoiding the boy’s outstretched legs; I probably should have waited to bring this up. But, I guess he would have found out anyway, might as well tell him now.

   “Well, ya see Jack, Pitch put…a lot of nightmare sand in ya. More than we thought at first,” I started.

   “At first, our main concern was gettin’ ya patched up and lookin’ well, like you, ‘cause ya see yer hair was black and yer skin was grey, like-”

   “L-Like Pitch’s?” Jack finished, his voice faltering.

   I nodded grimly. “Yeah, like his. I thought a’ first it was just an effect of the sand, but, it di’ more than that.”

   I felt something pull at the fur on my arm, and saw Jack’s hand wrapped around it weakly. The fear in his eyes was hard to miss.

   “What…what else d-did it do, Bunny?”

   I looked at him, debating on whether or not to actually tell him. There was no guarantee it couldn’t happen again, and if he knew that then, well, there was a good chance the kid would run; we all knew it. Jack was a fight or flight person, and when it came to hurting others, I’d noticed he tried to take the flight option more often.

    The kid was a lot of talk, he really didn’t like to get into it with anyone if he didn’t have to, heck most of our arguments were just that; words than stung more than fists would anyway. He sometimes took off from those too. I suppose it came from being on his own for three hundred years; he probably learned a lot from running into other spirits, or, us on occasion.

    I wasn’t always the nicest to mischievous winter spirits.

    But it was different now; Jack was a Guardian and part of our odd little family. He was the one who got us together more often than not, he was hesitant, but we can all tell he truly loves it when we agree to hang out. I couldn’t blame him; I can’t imagine what those first three centuries must’ve been like; what I personally made them like.

    I shuddered, and pulled myself out of my thoughts. Jack was still staring at me, the fear now mixed with worry visible across his face. I sighed once more, leaning back on my free paw. Might as well get it over with.

    “Jack…he had control over ya; complete control, like ya were, well, a puppet, and Pitch was the puppeteer. He-”

    Jack had bolted upright in the bed, both his hands gripping my shoulders tightly, and I resisted the urge to shiver as I felt them start to become layered in frost. A look of panic had replaced the fear in the boy’s eyes, and he asked hastily,

    “W-What did he have me d-do?!”

    Startled, I pulled his grip off me and pushed him back against the sheets just as Tooth had done, trying to calm him. “Hush now, he didn’t make ya do much,” I explained, “He had ya get up and flaunt yer powers a bit in North’s factory, but we knocked ya back out before he could make ya do much else. Then Sandy got here and he got most of the sand outta ya, so ya should be fine now.”

    Jack looked at me, finally relaxing and sinking back into the sheets. “So…I-I didn’t hurt anyone?”

    “Yep, ya merely gave the elves and yetis a scare. ‘though, I hear ya do that often anyway.”

    That got the boy to smile a bit as a soft laugh escaped him, only to be followed by a coughing fit. I got up and tried to find something for him to drink; I wasn’t sure how nightmare sand, or dreamsand for that matter tasted like, but I didn’t imagine it to be pleasant.

    “Hold on, le’me find ya some water or somethin’…”

    Eventually his coughing fit ended, and I heard him trying to shift under the sheets. He was going to be sore for a while.

    “’ey, come on, mate. Tooth said ya gotta stay in bed for a bit, I know ya don’t wanna but-”

    “You s-said Sandy got m…most of the sand out, right?” Jack interrupted, his voice shaky again.

    I raised an eyebrow and pulled away from the cabinet I’d been looking through. I started to turn around, looking over the cup that was covered in dust in my paws. “Well yeah; Sandy told us he’d gotten all he could find outta ya. Why do ya-”

    I stopped, frozen in place as my eyes fell upon Jack. His hair was darkening once more, and he was hunched over on himself, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. His eyes were shut tightly, and I could hear whimpers escaping his lips.

    He was fighting for control.

    “SANDY!” I bellowed, racing over to Jack and trying to figure out how to help him. I glanced angrily at the door, shouting again.

    “North! Tooth! Sandy! Get in here! NOW!”

    Jack was clenching his head now, holding it in between his legs and muttering something I couldn’t understand. Suddenly I remembered the dreamsand in my pouch, and immediately pulled it out and started untying the thread.

    Bloody Hell, where are they?! Ugh, stupid paws ‘n little thread, come untied ya little- Ah, finally! I mentally cheered as it finally came unfastened and opened up the velvet packet.

    “Sorry ‘bout this, mate,” I whispered as I pushed Jack back against his pillow once more, but didn’t pull away. He started to kick out his legs and swing his arms, but I was faster and managed to get a bit of the dream dust on the boy’s head, and he fell limp against the sheets.

    “Dang…strong stuff, Sandy.” I mumbled just as the others burst through the door. Tooth was the first one over, her face panic-stricken.

    “What, what?! What happened?!” she screeched, hovering above Jack’s unconscious body.

    “Pitch got control again,” I spat out. North regarded me, as did Sandy. I glared, not necessarily angry with them, but I couldn’t help myself. Pitch was going to pay for this.

    Tooth however, regained my attention.

   “Wait, what do you mean again?!”