Hiya, Mysterious Sherlock here!

So, first thing's first, a few important things you need to know about this story. It's set eighteen years and about nine months after the film. Tara is not based on a real person, nor are any of the other OCs. I first started getting the ideas for this FanFiction just after I watched the film, on the 21st of December 2012. I have finally decided to write it and post it online.

For those of you who have read my other FanFiction (if any of you are reading this), then I am hoping that this one will not end up the same way. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the ideas flowing, and update regularly. Hopefully (no promises).

I don't own Rise of the Guardians, all I own are the OCs and the plot. I also don't own anything else I may make references to that I definitely don't own (eg, Moulin Rouge).

So, here it is-the first chapter of 'Friend or Foe'.

Chapter One-Running Away

Tara's POV

I looked cautiously up and down the corridor, like I had done every night since the night of my tenth birthday. Eight years ago, to the day. Like back then, there was nobody here to catch me breaking the rules.

I opened the window and climbed out onto the roof. I shut my eyes and breathed in the cold, refreshing air, enjoying the silence. Peace. There wasn't a lot of that in "Burgess' Home for the Orphaned". At least, not for me. People were always calling me names, insulting me, or just acting as though I wasn't there.

I turned and carefully pushed the window closed enough that no one would notice what I had done.

This was where I had seen them. Jack Frost, the Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy. I took my phone out of my pocket, the same one that I had received for my tenth birthday. I closed my eyes again, and remembered.

(Flashback)

I took my new mobile phone that I had received today as a tenth birthday present out of my pocket and switched it on. The screen came to life. I clicked on the 'camera' icon. I carefully held up the phone and pressed the button. I then paused to look at the photo. Perfect.

I smiled to myself. Who now would doubt that Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman were real? And in extension, who would doubt the existence of other such people, like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?

(End of flashback)

"Except nobody did believe you, Tara Lumen," said a man's voice from beside me, as though he had read my mind. "To them, the photo was just blank."

I jumped, startled, and turned to look at the man. His clothes were disheveled, dirty and torn, as was his black, shaggy hair and beard. He looked as though he hadn't seen a bed or a shower in months. I realized he must be one of the many homeless people that live in this town.

"Who are you? How did you get up here? How do you know me? How do you know about that? What do you want?!" I demanded.

He stared at me for a long moment before saying, "Who am I? That's a question I'd rather not answer at this precise moment in time. As for how I got up here, I climbed up the drainpipe. In answer to your other questions, I know everything there is to know about you, Tara. I've watched over you and protected you since the day you were born, and now, you must come with me."

I raised my eyebrows at him skeptically. "So let me get this straight, you want me to go with you, when I have no idea who you are, and the only things I do know about you is that you are creeping me out and you appear to be a tad stalker-ish. Forgive me for saying this, but the concept isn't all that appealing."

"But this is your chance-you can be free of this place! You can leave, now! What is left for you here? You have no friends; everyone shuns you and thinks you're crazy. Isn't a friend all you've ever wanted? I could be that."

How is it that he knows so much about me? "At least here the worst thing that can happen is I shunned to death. If I go with you, who knows what could happen. One day I will get away from here."

My words made me think of a song from one of my favorite films.

One day I'll fly away,

Leave all this to yesterday,

As though reading my mind, the man finished "'Why live life from dream to dream, And dread the day when dreaming ends?' Tara, you're living under the false illusion that this place is safe for you. But you're wrong. For eighteen years I have watched over you as you grew up, but I can no longer protect you from your fears, and soon, they will come for you. But if you come with me, I can protect you."

"Oh yeah?" I said, climbing back towards the window. "Well, if you're still here when I come back, then you can tell that to the police. I'll give you ten minutes-if you're not gone by then, I'm calling 911."

"If that's your choice, then so be it," he sighed. "It's such a shame really. I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but since you refuse to come with me, your fate has been decided. Farewell, Tara Lumen. I do not believe we shall meet again."

"And good riddance," I muttered as I climbed back through the orphanage window. Despite the fact I honestly didn't believe a word he was saying, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of foreboding.

I went to the bathroom, had a quick shower and got into my plain, grey pyjamas. I looked at myself in the mirror. Although I had turned eighteen today, which meant that technically I was an adult now, I didn't look or feel any different. I still had the same blonde, curly hair, the same golden eyes, the same pale skin. I slipped my feet into a pair of slippers that matched the pyjamas and exited the bathroom, stuffing my clothes into the laundry basket as I went. The orphanage staff would wash them tomorrow, as it was washday.

At the other end of the corridor, a tiny girl was stood it a pair of pyjamas that were patterned with teddy bears. She also had blonde hair, which was currently tangled and messy. I recognized her as Cassandra, a five-year-old girl whose parents died a year ago in a house fire. She appeared to be inspecting something in her hand, as though unsure as to what to do with it.

"Cassandra?" I said, "Are you okay?"

She looked up. "My tooth just came out," she said, holding it out for me to see. "What do I do with it?"

I smiled at her. "You have to put it under your pillow so that the tooth fairy can collect it."

She frowned. "But the tooth fairy isn't real, Tara. Everyone knows that. You're the only one who still believes in stories like that."

"Yes, it seems like I am," I sighed to myself, as she walked away. Cassandra was five, she should believe-any girl as young, sweet and innocent as her should. But, of course, the residents of this God-forsaken orphanage wouldn't allow it.

I walked up to the window to the roof and stuck my head out. The man had gone. I took one last breath of the fresh night air and closed it. I then silently slipped through the door to my dormitory.

Dormitory K was the eleventh of the twelve dormitories there were at Burgess' Home for the Orphaned. It was one of the six girls dormitories. Inside, there were eight beds, all of which, except mine, were currently occupied with a teenage girl. They were laughing and giggling, discussing make up, who was going out with who, which guys were hot and guys weren't. They stared at me as I walked past them to my bed by the window.

I took out of my pocket a tiny silver key, and reached under the bed. A short, silver chain wrapped around the bedpost and through two zip-pulls on a blue backpack that contained all my belongings, preventing the bag from being opened or the bag from being stolen. The ends of the chain were linked by a small padlock, which I unlocked using the silver key.

Call me paranoid for doing this, but before I had kept all my belongings under lock and key like this, things were always getting damaged or stolen. One of the many disadvantages of being the crazy kid in the orphanage full of so-called 'sane' kids is that you tend to get picked on. I learnt long ago that keeping all my belongings locked up like this was the only way to keep them safe.

I carefully put my wash-bag in, zipped and padlocked it shut and slid it back under the bed. I then got into bed, shut my eyes, and waited for matron to call lights out. She did so a couple of minutes later, and silence fell in Dormitory K.

Within a few minutes, I was fast asleep.

I was in a dark cavern. The walls were dark and rocky; they seemed to surround me, stopping me from escaping. Dark, shadowy creatures that took the form of horses with glowing eyes hid in the darkness, but worst of all was the man in the centre of the cavern. He was tall and he wore black robes that seemed to be made of the shadows and the darkness of the cave itself. He stood with his back to me, yet somehow I could feel the power and life being drained from me as though he were a vacuum. Then suddenly he turned, and I saw his face.

He had ashen-grey skin and amber, cat-like eyes. At first he just stood there, staring straight at me. And then his lips stretched into a cruel smile, showing his horrible pointed teeth, and he laughed. The horrible noise echoed throughout the cavern, until suddenly I felt like thousands of people were laughing, all surrounding me, and I felt so afraid, what were they going to do to me, were they going to hurt me or were they just going to get it over with and kill me, here and now in this dark, lonely hellhole that was my mind...

I sat bolt upright in my bed, biting back a scream. I could feel myself shaking violently. The nightmare had been worse than ever.

I had been dreaming about that cavern for almost as long as I could remember. At first the dreams weren't that frequent, I'd only get them every so often, and at first the cavern had been empty. But the more I got them, the worse they were, and the more frequently I got them.

It started out with an empty cavern. Then one night, the shadows began to move. Then, another night, they began to take shape, and gradually, over time, they became the terrible black horses. And then the man appeared for the first time. He had started out frail and weak, but every time I saw him, he was stronger. Which was ridiculous, as it was only a nightmare.

Until tonight though, he had always kept his back to me, waiting for some sign or event. Tonight had been the first time that I had seen his face, or heard his voice. I wish I hadn't. The cruel smile he'd given me, the way he'd laughed...it was like he was mocking me, like he knew something I didn't.

I quietly unlocked the padlock on my backpack and slipped it onto my back. I then sneaked out of the dormitory and into the bathroom. There was no way I would be able to sleep now, not after that nightmare, so I might as well get dressed.

I pulled out of my bag my dark blue sneakers, dark blue jeans, a white blouse and a silvery-grey jumper. I changed into them, put my pyjamas back into my bag, and dragged a brush through my hair. Once that was done, I zipped up my bag and walked into the corridor.

As usual, there was nobody here, so I walked straight up to the window and opened it, silently praying that the man who had been here earlier hadn't returned. I climbed out onto the roof and saw, to my relief, that he hadn't. I sat on the tiles and was about to lie back and gaze up at the stars, when I saw movement down below in the street.

The sense of foreboding I had felt earlier, after I told that man no, returned. I watched the street, wondering if he had returned. Nothing. It must have been my imagination. I relaxed and let out the breath that I didn't even know I'd been holding in.

Then suddenly, something in one of the shadows moved. And then, out of the shadow crept a shadowy creature, with glowing eyes. My heart skipped a terrified beat. It was a shadow-horse, from my nightmares.

The words of the strange man came back to me.

'I can no longer protect you from your fears, and soon, they will come for you.'

Had this been what he meant? Had he known about my nightmares? Or is this all just a massive coincidence? After all, I have never told anyone about the nightmares.

Another horse crept out of the shadows, and another, and another. Soon there were twelve of them, one guarding each exit of the building, and the remaining eight disintegrating and turning to streams of black sand that slipped through the cracks around the windows and doors of the orphanage.

They were looking for something, I realized.

No.

Not something.

Someone.

Me.

I had to get away from here. They were from my nightmares, therefore it would only make sense that they had come for me. That meant that me being here was a danger to everyone. I had to try to draw them away, and maybe even escape.

Of course, they would probably leave once they realized I wasn't in the building. But if they were to find me while I was up here, then I would be trapped. My best bet would be to get away without being seen, and hope that they would either give up, or find my trail and leave the children and staff in the orphanage alone.

I crept slowly and silently along the roof until I reached the edge. Here, there was an alleyway that was shadow-creature free, but no way of getting down. I looked around hopelessly, until something caught my eye.

'As for how I got up here, I climbed up the drain pipe.'

The man, who was probably a lot heavier than me, had climbed up, and presumably down, a drainpipe to get on and off the roof. And here it was, right in front of me. And if it could take his weight, then I was willing to bet that it could take mine.

I carefully repositioned my backpack so that it wouldn't cause me any troubles, then I very carefully went over the edge of the building, desperately clutching the drainpipe. I'm not afraid of heights, but I knew that if I fell from this height, then I would be extremely likely to break my neck.

I let myself slowly slide down the pipe as though it were a fireman's pole. I reached the bottom and looked around. None of the horses had noticed my stunt, but now I had to get as far away from the building as I could without them noticing.

I ran down another alleyway, and then into the main street. Past houses, then the school, then the police station, and finally into the woods that surrounded the town.

Snow was falling, spinning and twirling gracefully in its descent. It settled on the ground, the trees, the bushes, making everything look different. Soon, I was horribly lost.

The freshly fallen snow crunched underfoot, but apart from that and my ragged breathing, there was no sound. The woods were silent and void of life.

I slowed to a stop, and looked around, catching my breath. I was exhausted-the nightmares always left me more tired than I had been when I went to sleep, and for some reason tonight's one had been particularly tiring.

The woods were beautiful. Winter always has been my favorite time of year, especially when it snows. Being here in the snow-covered woods right now, I felt strangely safe, despite being completely and utterly lost, while running away from shadowy creatures. I listened carefully to the silence. No signs of any life, animal, bird or shadow-creature. Maybe I had lost them.

Even as the thought occurred to me, I heard, not too far away, the neigh of a horse, followed by an answering neigh. I turned away from the sound and ran. I was so tired that my movements felt sluggish, and I wanted to lie down on the ground and go to sleep. I forced myself to keep going.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see trails of black sand not far behind. I put on a burst of speed, but I knew it was hopeless. No one could outrun a horse, much less one that could fly, turn into streams of sand and travel at impossible speeds.

Two streams of sand over took me, stopped, and reformed into black horses, blocking my path. I skidded to a halt, and turned to see that two more were standing just behind me. I looked to the left, and then to the right, and saw that I was surrounded. Twelve of the terrifying creatures, that had haunted my dreams my whole life, were standing in a circle around me. I was trapped.

With nothing else left to do, I desperately yelled at the top of my lungs, "Help! Please, somebody, anybody, help me!"

But I knew that no help would come. I was lost and alone, in the middle of the woods at the dead of night. Everyone would be asleep in their homes. Nobody would even hear my calls, and even if they did, they would never get here in time.

One of the shadow-horses prepared to charge straight at me.

This was it. Somehow, I just knew, that this was the end.

I was going to die.

So, what do you think? How do you like Tara, as a character? Who do you think the strange homeless guy is? Will Tara survive? Please review and tell me what you think!

I apologize slightly for the Moulin Rouge reference-I was listening that song at the time, and I happened to realize how similar the first two lines of the chorus were to what Tara was saying…and how I was about to write something similar to the next two lines for the strange guy to say…and so I thought 'why not?'. I was kind of hoping that strange guy finishing it off for her would kind of add to the creepiness of the strange guy. If you haven't heard this song, and want to, just type the youtube address then copy and paste the following into the address bar.

/watch?v=4N7VK7vHwnw

The part I used is at 1:50. I apologise for not giving you the full address, but FanFiction won't let me :(. Sorry.

See you next time!