Winter and Nightmares

She had been moving south for a while now. She followed the compass tied to her coat, hoping she and her furry companion would make it somewhere warmer. She had traveled from Burgess, Pennsylvania all the way to Savannah, Georgia. She would borrow vehicles and break into stores for food and some semblance warmth. So far, south wasn't much warmer than north. Actually, she was convinced it was getting colder.

She sighed, beckoning the dog to follow her. She took one last glance at the Jeep that had run out of gas before trudging through the snow towards a residential neighborhood. She hoped she could find someone—anyone. Maybe with news on the rest of the world. Or electricity of some sort. That would be awesome. She could charge her phone and check reports online. Maybe there might be some reprieve from this apocalyptic winter. Maybe there might be some news on survivors close by.

She was tired of being alone.

The eighteen year old girl wandered through the streets, looking for a home with lights on. She wasn't surprised she didn't find any, though she was a little disappointed. She found herself twisting a door knob and throwing her whole weight onto a front door before long. The powerful winds and the cold were starting to hurt. Her face was chapped, her fingers and toes numb. It was time to set up to sleep for the night.

A bag hitched on her shoulder as she let her dog in. He bound inside, glad to get away from the icy winds. Even when the floors and furniture were coated in a thick layer of frost, it still made a good place to stay. There was a fireplace in the living room. Out of habit, she called with a hoarse voice into the home.

"Hello?" she yelled as loud as she could. "Is anyone home?!"

As always, there was no answer. She knew better than to venture upstairs. So, she made her way into the kitchen to find something to start a fire. Her flashlight shook with her hand. It was so cold. Good! Matches! She was running low. Some magazines. A newspaper. … Children's books.

She grabbed the magazines and newspaper and carried them into the living room, dragging a frozen kitchen chair behind her. She threw the papers and a starter log near the fireplace into the grate along with three lit matches. As she started getting a fire going, her dog began to bark.

Sophie looked towards the doorway where Hercules was barking. He was growling, as if an intruder stood in the doorway. She couldn't count how many times he would do this. He would bark at absolutely nothing. Sophie assumed it was something that was a problem with him before she found him.

"Hercules," she called, holding up frozen meat. "Hercules, calm down!"

The dog did not let down. He instead seemed to be following the path of an invisible strangers. Sometimes, it would scare her. It was just her and Hercules after all. But maybe there was some unseen force that Hercules could sense. And that terrified her.

Sophie rubbed her arms before setting up the fire to cook/defrost food, drink, and essentials. Hercules kept barking, Sophie kept working. She guessed it was a good break in the eternal winter silence. The car radios were all white noise or emergency sounds. Hercules' barking was actually quite welcome from time to time.

After their meal, Hercules had stopped the barking, but continued to watch the invisible person that seemed to be circling them. Sophie uneasily stroked the dog's head, glad he was so furry. They cuddled on their mat and shared warmth under her blankets. Hercules snapped very close to Sophie's ear. The first time he had done that, she wanted to let him go and fend for himself.

Her brother stopped her.

She curled up against Hercules, whimpering. "I miss Jamie, Hercules…"

Three months ago was when it started. The Winter. November started like normal. Crisp, some frost here and there, leaves still falling from the trees. Then, one night, Sophie woke up from a horrific nightmare with frost covering everything. Outside, there was little snow. Just ice and fierce winds. Jamie had come into her room to make sure she was okay. He was just as shaken up, still recovering from a nightmare of his own.

They stayed up to wait for their mother who never came home from a long shift at work. They called her, to no avail. The siblings sat in the living room, anxious. The power had gone out. They prayed their mother was safe. Only when they dared venture outside when the sun was shining did they see, to their horror and grief, a woman curled up under the frost on the walkway to the porch.

She wasn't the only one. Several bodies were frozen solid where they stood, said, or laid. Animals fell from trees and shattered. Trees creaked and groaned, distant breaking was heard in the silent streets.

It took the siblings only a few hours to realize help was not coming. No one answered when they called 911. There wasn't an emergency vehicle in sight. Within days, they decided to take their own rescue into their own hands. They had to saddle the grief of their lost mother and neighbors, and see who was still alive. During those days, they hadn't seen a soul. The two put on their warmest clothes to brave the frost and knock on ice-coated doors. Breaking in terrified them. Inside, they discovered the whole inside of the home was coated with the same frost as the outside. They searched for the residents, and what they found still gave Sophie nightmares (every night brought nightmares anymore). The master bedroom had a man and a woman who appeared to be sleeping. They were frozen, along with the rest of the house. By far the worst was when they came upon another bedroom with twin beds that were still occupied. Children, no older than five and ten.

People and pets were frozen inside of their own homes.

Like the one she was in at the moment. She made a point to not venture upstairs. Most homes she found frozen like this one had the inhabitants just as icy. Sophie and Jamie had come across some survivors, but it didn't take long for them to fall.

Now it was just Sophie and Hercules. In this big house that probably had people upstairs, she was just too scared to check. In the morning, they would loot the place and move on. Find another car to hot wire. But, for now, she would fall into nightmares, just like every night since the first one.

That night, she dreamed of her brother.

Jamie and Sophie were taking a break beside a lake. They watched Hercules running around atop the frozen water, knowing he would be safe. They had crossed rivers that had frozen solid, riding in a large vehicle. If the entire lake wasn't completely made of ice, they knew it was pretty thick.

Sophie wanted to wake up right now.

But she didn't.

Jamie idly rolled a water bottle between his hands. He had that look he got whenever he contemplated their position. They had been on the move for a while and it was exhausting. They almost lost track of how long it had been.

"Did you ever think… maybe there isn't a scientific reason for it?" Jamie asked without looking at her. The two of them had this conversation before. More times than she could count. They would toss theories back and forth about what was going on and how far this cold actually reached. It was a terrifying notion to think the whole world could be like this.

"So… what?" Sophie frowned. "Magic?"

Jamie sighed, looking towards the sky. Hercules stopped where he was, ears perked. Maybe he was going into one of his fits again. "I dunno…" the twenty-four year old bit his lip. "Just… I keep thinking back to when we were kids. And… there was this boy… who would tell us stories and play games with us. He was a teenager…."

Sophie struggled to match her memory with his at the time, but before her, out on the landscape, the vision changed. Twelve year old Jamie and six year old Sophie were chasing a boy with white hair and a blue sweatshirt. His face was fuzzy, since she struggled to recall it. But she always remembered the white hair and the blue hoodie. He carried a wooden staff and always wore a smile.

"He would come around during the winter to play with us… And… then I stopped seeing him. But you didn't. You'd still come home and say you were playing with him." Jamie scratched his chin uncertainly. "I can't remember his name…"

"I don't…" Sophie at the time had no idea what he was talking about. But the scene played out with ten year old Sophie building a snow fort with the boy. The boy asked about Jamie often. Why Jamie didn't believe in him anymore. But Sophie never understood what he meant by that.

"Do you remember those games we used to play? With Santa and the Tooth Fairy and stuff?" Jamie asked. Sophie nodded, not sure where the conversation was headed. "And how the Boogeyman was always the bad guy?" Sophie nodded again. "It's weird, right? How we've been getting nightmares and with all of this snow… You'd think… You'd think the Boogeyman and Jack Frost were collaborating." Jamie laughed.

Sophie frowned, though. "But… Jack Frost was supposed to be the good guy." Sophie said, rubbing her arm. "Besides, none of that is real…."

The scene on the lake broke. Hercules began barking and snarling as he bound towards Jamie and Sophie. He sat beside Jamie protectively, snapping at something invisible. Jamie scratched Hercules behind the ear, hushing him. He sat in thoughtful silence for a moment until his brows furrowed and he began muttering. "Jack Frost… was he…? Couldn't be…" He followed Hercules' gaze.

His eyes widened. His body stiffened. The man quickly stood up, pulling Sophie along behind him. She didn't understand. What was going on?! Why was her brother suddenly acting so weird? He turned to her, fear shining in his eyes.

"Sophie," his voice was demanding. "Take Hercules and run."

But Sophie could not. She was scared. Ice began to crackle as it covered his body. He didn't scream. He only begged for Sophie to get to safety. Within seconds, his body had become an ice sculpture.

She moved to hug him, but awoke with a start. Something stuck to the skin on her cheek as she moved and it burned with the cold. In the light of the crackling embers, she could see Hercules.

He was frozen solid in her arms.

Sophie screamed, scrambling back. Her dog! Her companion! Her only friend in this world! No! NO! She lost her mother, her friends, her brother, she couldn't take losing her dog, too!

She would have broken down completely had she not heard soft chuckling from the doorway. As tears streaked down her cheeks, she turned to face a boy that leaned against the frame. White hair streaked with blacks and blues, a blue sweatshirt with frost accents and something that looked like black sand, sharp blue eyes, pale as death.

He didn't look dressed for a winter apocalypse.

His eyebrows shot into his hair as his laughing abruptly stopped. Sophie crawled back, eliciting a tiny scream that got caught in her throat. Who was he? Why was he here? Why was he laughing at her agony?! What was he?!

"W-Who are you?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"You can see me." the boy grinned from ear-to-ear in what seemed to be… relief. "You can see me!"

"Who are you?!" she screamed. She reached for the iron poker by the fireplace, ready to attack, but a cold hand stopped her. The boy was at her side in an instant, silent, as if he flew. She struggled against him as he lifted her easily to her feet, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Sophie." She froze. Oh, god, how did he know her name? "Sophie, you know who I am. If you can see me, you know." He stroked her hair gently, carefully. "Just remember. I know Jamie did."

"J-Jack Frost?" she stuttered with the cold and terror. No, it couldn't be… A voice in the back of her mind told her it was true.

"That's right!" He held her out to look at her face. "Sophie, I've been watching over you for so long. Even after you stopped believing in me. You and Jamie were my kids. My favorites. I couldn't just leave you, you know. My God, Sophie…" he pushed hair out of her face and cupped her chin. His hand felt like ice. It bit at her skin, causing her to wince at his touch. "You've grown up so beautifully…."

She continued crying. Now, she was scared. Terrified. What was he going to do to her? Was he going to kill her? She didn't want to die. Tears that streaked down her face turned to ice in his proximity.

"What happened to you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice level. She felt a sob breaking and tried to cough it down.

"Pitch helped me," Jack said evenly, brushing away the frozen tears. "The thing about being a Guardian is… you need believers to have power. Before I was a Guardian, I had so much power. Just as much power as the Guardians. You remember the Guardians, right?" Sophie nodded. Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and Jack Frost were protectors of the children across the globe. "But as soon as I became one of them, I lost it all. Only the children of Burgess really believed in me. It made me weak. So, when Pitch found me in a state like I was, he offered help. I couldn't refuse that, right? Now, I'm more powerful than ever."

"I looked up to you, Jack," Sophie whimpered, recalling how much the boy that visited during winter made such an impact on her life.

"I know," Jack smiled fondly. "You and Jamie were my favorites. Still are. Especially you." He leaned forward brushing his nose against hers playfully. "You grew up to be so gorgeous. And creative. And loving. You care so much. You're just a very good person, Sophie. I wish more people were like you." His blue eyes met her green ones. Her heart raced. She had never received compliments like that. Normally, she would be flattered. But the fact that he was watching her was simply terrifying. "I love you, Sophie."

No. No, no, no. This was a dream, right? This wasn't real. But the kiss felt so real. It hurt. As he pushed his lips against hers, she felt the moisture in them solidify. It was like pressing her lips against a frozen pole. As he pulled away, she felt skin tear and tasted copper. He came in for another kiss. Once. Twice. Three times. Her blood stained his lips, but he just did not seem to care. He licked his lips, but it did very little to clear them.

He was deranged. He was crazy, insane, and corrupted. This was not the boy she played with as a child.

"Sophie, please… please say you'll be my princess." He pulled her face into his chest. "Please. I love you. You could live with me eternally. Pitch promised he could make it happen. The Man in the Moon would never let that happen. But he will. Please, just say yes."

"You killed them," she croaked. "You killed my mother. You killed my dog. You killed all those people… Jack, you killed my brother!" She found the strength to push away from him. "No!"

Jack blinked, as if confused and hurt. "Sophie… they aren't dead." he said soundly. Like it was obvious. "They're eternal. Like me. Like Pitch." he grinned. "Now everyone will be as eternal as us. They'll know what it's like to live forever."

"Jack, no…" Sophie stepped back. "That's not living. They're frozen. They're… they're gone."

"You don't want to be my princess?" Jack advanced towards her.

She shook her head, knowing these were now her final moments. She was resigned. If those were her choices… living eternally with this boy and Pitch or becoming an ice statue, she'd rather die. Might as well take some dignity with it. She straightened herself and dried her eyes. "No, Jack Frost. I will not be your princess."

His eyes showed so much pain. He stood up with her. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she closed her eyes. The last thing she felt was lips against her forehead and a warmth spreading from there. She saw her mother, Jamie, and Hercules. They were excited to see her, beckoning for her to join them.

With that last human, the world ended. There was nothing but darkness and winter. No more nightmares. No more cold. Just a frozen wasteland, uninhabitable to any creature except for Jack Frost and Pitch Black.

They were all that was left.

A/N: This was a prompt given to me by my friend, Jeremy. Corrosion. This is for you, bro.