((A/N: The usual disclaimers apply. The only thing that is mine is the writing and eventually the plot. Jack and Pitch were my favorites in the film, so I decided to write a fic with them. Enjoy~ and as always, reviews are appreciated :3))

The night air was so chilled that the windows in Jack's room were frosted over again. He didn't mind. He liked the cold. It meant ice skating and snowball fights and sledding down hills and plenty of fun that could be had at no other time than winter. His fingers trailed across the window pane as he stared up at the moon that was distorted through the ice. It felt like the moon was trying to tell him something, but Jack merely shook his head. That thought was ridiculous. All the time spent playing in the snow with his sister must have frozen his brain or something. While he sat by his window unable to sleep, his sister was in the bed next to his and sleeping soundly. The peace wouldn't last though. Unbeknownst to Jack, a shadow was creeping into their room from under the door and floating across the wooden floorboards and towards his sister. The shadow halted next to her bed and slowly merged together into a form of a dark, looming man. A smirk lit up his face as he leaned over her and focused on seeing her dream. He saw a field where she was running and playing with adorable little animals. Pitch Black rolled his golden eyes. This dream would be easy enough to ruin. He reached out and placed a single finger upon the sweet dream. He watched on in amusement as his nightmare sand corrupted the good and turned her sweet dream into a beautiful nightmare. The little bunnies she was chasing around turned into ravenous wolves out for her flesh. Spittle flew from their mouths as they turned on the girl and raced after their prey. Her scream pierced the veil between the dream world and the real world and she sat bolt upright in bed clutching at her sheets. Pitch quickly dematerialized and drifted underneath her bed after he was certain she saw him first.

"Emma! Another nightmare?" Jack asked as he rushed towards her bed and ran soothing fingers through her hair. Despite all the pranks he tended to play on her and mischief he caused, when it came to taking care of his sister, he tried his very best to be a good brother. She nodded fearfully and pointed next to her bed.

"It was the Boogeyman again!" She cried. "W-will you check under my bed and make sure he's gone?" She asked with pleading eyes lifted towards him. Jackson smiled reassuringly at her and ruffled her hair.

"Yeah – I'll make sure, and if he's still there you can sleep in my bed and he'll leave you alone, okay?" She only nodded in answer and Jack took that as his sign to check. Fear gripped him even though he knew he shouldn't still believe in the Boogeyman. That's what his friends told him at least. He knew though. He'd caught glimpses of him, and whenever Emma told him to look under her bed, he could swear he saw shadows moving under it. With a gulp, he steeled himself for whatever he might find and lifted the blankets where they touched the floor and glanced under the bed. Nothing. Just as he was about to sigh in relief though, he caught a glimpse of the moving shadows again. Rather than bolting away in fear as he usually did – claiming to his sister he merely saw a spider – he swallowed the bile in his throat and squinted into the darkness. Was it really the Boogeyman under her bed? As he stared, two golden eyes blinked at him from the darkness and a mouth opened up in a toothy grin.

"Hello, Jack," he heard the creature greet in a rough whisper that sent a chill down his spine. He yelped and shot away from the bed, letting the blankets fall to the floor. He thought he even heard a deep chuckle come from under the bed. He shook all over and paled. His sister caught onto his body language and began to cry.

"Oh he's still there isn't he, Jack? Can we sleep with mum and pop?" She asked hopefully. Jack merely shook his head and grabbed hold of her hand.

"No it was just a –ah spider. Come on, you can get in bed with me," he told her and she followed after him and he tucked them in. "The Boogeyman can't reach you here," or so he hoped. His sister fell asleep almost immediately, but Jack laid there for quite some time. Who was this Boogeyman? How did he know his name? He was trying to stay awake in order to watch out for his sister, but his eyes soon grew heavy and after a futile attempt at fighting, they closed entirely and he was lost to the world.

He was ice-skating on the lake. That was his pleasant dream. It was rather warm for a winter day, but there he was, swirling and skidding across the lake as fast as his skates would take him. He laughed in delight, but soon a shadow fell across the lake and he glanced at it and fear started to well up in him. Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound. He glanced at his feet. The ice was breaking beneath him – he was going to fall in! Jack barely had time to scream as he plunged into the freezing cold water.

"Ahh!" He yelled when he felt someone shaking him. It was the lake water jarring him left and right. Soon though, he came to his senses and realized somebody was calling his name. He opened his eyes blearily to discover his sister, fully dressed in outerwear, shaking him with eyes lit up in excitement. Morning light shone inside their room and Jack squinted against the light.

"Jack! C'mon! Get up! You're taking me ice-skating!" She exclaimed in glee and even clapped her hands together. "Mamma said we could, but you have to take me!" Jack's eyes widened in fright. His dream was far too fresh in his mind for him to want to go ice-skating so soon.

"I don't want to," he mumbled grumpily as he hopped out of bed and crossed the room to get dressed. He would just go find someone to play a prank on instead. It would distract him from the terrifying dream he'd had. Stupid Boogeyman he thought angrily. He felt his sister tug on his arm and yank him away from his destination.

"Well you have to! Mum said!" She exclaimed and ran out of the room yelling for their mother. Jack grumbled in irritation, but began pulling out his winter clothes. When she ran crying to mother, she always got what she wanted. Jack would just have to push his sudden fear aside and take her skating anyways. It wouldn't take her long before she grew tired of it and would want to go do something else. When he opened his closet, he could have sworn he felt something cold and shadowy pass over his arms as he pulled out his warmer clothes and he shivered before slamming the door closed.

After getting dressed, he walked in on a scene he expected. His mother was waiting in the kitchen for him with her arms crossed. Jack sighed as his gaze drifted to his sister standing by the door with a pair of skates clasped in her hands and a victorious smile on her face. Before his mother could chastise him, he held his hands up in surrender. "I'm going, I'm going," he said in defeat and trudged to the door to pick up his skates. His mother followed after him and stopped him in order to ruffle his hair and kiss him atop the head.

"Thank you, dear. It means a lot to us that you take such care of your sister. She looks up to you," she told him and he managed a smile in return. He shouldn't be in a funk just from a bad dream. Jack opened the door and gestured for his sister to run out first. She darted out and he followed soon after, but he gathered up a handful of snow and threw it at her. The snowball hit her in the head and she squealed. Jack laughed and ran ahead towards the lake, occasionally pausing to lob snowballs at her and dodge the ones she threw back at him. A few of hers hit him, but it was a rare few. By the time they reached the lake, they were covered in snow and breathing a bit heavily from running the entire way.

"Jack! You got snow in my hair!" Emma complained as she brushed it from her hair. Jack merely laughed and sat on the bank of the lake and patted the spot next to him so he could help Emma with her skates. She sat next to him patiently as his nimble fingers quickly laced up her skates.

"How's that?" He asked as they got to their feet and she hobbled about clumsily.

"They're good. Hey Jack, I dare you to not wear your skates!" She challenged him because it would be funny to watch him scramble about like she was sure to. He accepted her challenge and soon the two of them were out on the lake making fools of themselves. It was all fun and games until the sun came out from behind the clouds and sent unnatural warmth through the air that made Jack tense up and fall hard on the ice. He gingerly got to his feet, but soon he heard a loud crack by his sister. His head whipped up when she cried out his name in a terrified voice. Jack glanced down at the ice and his heart leapt into his throat. It was like his nightmare – only worse. Tears were streaming down her face, and Jack had to act fast.

The next few moments were a blur, one second Emma was standing on breaking ice, the next she was safe and Jack was filled to the brim with relief, and then the ice gave way beneath him and he fell in the freezing water. The last thing he heard was Emma yelling his name.

Pitch watched the scene from a shadowy area between the trees and smiled to himself. What a wonderful nightmare to torture the girl with – the death of her own brother. She was still screaming for somebody to get help and people were beginning to show up. Pitch walked away from the scene with an added spring in his step and hummed a tune under his breath. Now the boy couldn't interrupt his work.