So...a little explanation for this story before you start reading it. When I posted Extracting Fear Effectively, it was meant to be a standalone story with no further chapters. However, after reading one of the reviews, an idea I had in the back of my mind became more fleshed out and I decided to take a chance and post it. This particular story draws from Pitch's threats in EFE, but that's pretty much where similarities between the two stories will end (I'd scan through EFE first only for a reminder of the threats that are alluded to in this one).

I'm warning everyone in advance that it isn't going to be a happy fanfic, and may rub some people the wrong way/upset them. Read this at your own risk, unless you happen to like horror/angst/tragedy in the things you read or want to have your emotions toyed with/become possibly distressed and/ or be horrified for the characters. And no, I'm not trying to be funny. After all, there will be character deaths in this, and the potential of an emotional roller coaster of feelings as the story progresses (that's just my opinion though).

Note 1: AikaRio's review reminded me to go back and fix the year issue in this chapter so that it matches the rest of the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Rise of the Guardians or related material. I just happened take some ideas from both of the sources and wrote a darker and more twisted story than most people would maybe want to write (or read).

X-x-x

Jack had been joyously soaring through the air on the wind, reveling in the freedom it gave him. It was a peaceful, late afternoon, and Jack's spirits were high. Creating several spectacular snow storms with resulting snow days could do that to him sometimes. The children's reactions to the snow put Jack in a good mood as well. The happiness Jack felt, however, would soon completely fade away as soon as he set foot in the forest in Burgess, when everything would start to come crumbling down around him.

Jack's plan for that evening would have been to go and visit Jamie, but Jack realized that something seemed to be amiss as soon as he had landed on solid ground. It took the winter spirit a moment before he realized that he couldn't hear any wildlife, and that struck him as strange. It wasn't too frigid out, as it was nearing the end of the winter season. It just wasn't natural that there wouldn't be a call from a bird or the rustling of a small mammal darting across the snowy ground. It was then, as Jack was puzzling over the uncharacteristic behavior of the animals, that he noticed the next thing that appeared to be out of place. In the silence of the forest, he could hear a voice speaking in what sounded like a clear, carefully spoken cadence. Jack blinked in confusion as he leaned on his staff and strained to hear what was being said. Was some kid working on a homework assignment or something? It wouldn't be the first time that a kid had been reciting in the forest what would need to be remembered from memory for a class. That would explain why some of the animals were mute, but not all of them would have been bothered by a child talking aloud in the forest.

The tone of the mystery voice struck Jack as somewhat sinister, and the longer he listened to it, the more uncomfortable Jack became. There was a warning bell going off in the back of his mind, and the winter spirit began to think that perhaps the smartest thing to do at the moment would be to vacate the forest. Before Jack could take to the wind, however, his body suddenly seized up. It was as if the words being spoken had somehow directly caused Jack to become immobile. Jack watched his staff fall out of his hand to clatter to the ground next to him. The pale teen didn't get to think much about being weaponless or how weird it was to not be able to move, as something had caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Jack spotted Pitch emerging from the shadows, and knew immediately that his sudden paralysis had been the Nightmare King's doing. What did he want now? Hadn't trapping Jack in the darkened lair and tormenting him for hours on end been enough?

Granted, it had been two years since that incident had occurred, and in that time Pitch had hardly made a move to do a similar act. Whenever the two of them had met since then, it had mainly resulted in a fierce scuffle of shadows and ice, and then they'd part to tend to any potential injuries the other had caused. Jack supposed that Pitch could have just decided on a whim that today was the day for an overdue dose of torment in the underground realm. Jack smirked inwardly, because, for one reason or another, he didn't seem to be able to make his lips move either. In any case, whatever Pitch had planned wouldn't work, since Jack knew Pitch's game now, and because of that, he wouldn't give in easily to fear. Not this time around.

It was too bad for the pale teen that Pitch had decided it was high time to change the game they had been playing to suit his own needs.

Pitch eyed Jack silently with a guarded expression, his golden eyes assessing the teen to see if there was going to be any attack forthcoming. When no retaliation occurred, Pitch's bland expression became a gleeful one, like he had just spotted a new toy. "Hello, Jack. I'd say it's nice to see you again, but considering every time we meet, you throw your frost at me, perhaps not." The words rolled off smoothly from Pitch's lips as he approached the immobilized teen. His stance was relaxed, like he knew that Jack was, at present, of no threat to him. The Nightmare King chuckled to himself as he observed his prey, seeming inwardly satisfied about something. "It's quite sad how easily it is for me to catch you off guard. I was hoping for a bit of a struggle, but perhaps it is better this way."

Jack still couldn't move, and it was a very strange sensation; one he didn't like one bit. The wind was buffeting him lightly, as if trying to encourage the winter spirit to take to the sky, but Jack found he couldn't will his body to obey the mute suggestion. The pale teen could only stare at Pitch, and the way his tormentor seemed to take delight in his confusion. Pitch's words finally sunk in, and Jack worked his jaw for a moment, ready to tell Pitch off. Thoughts of a snappy comeback died as Jack found that it was hard to even get words to form. What was going on? After a few moments, Jack finally managed to grit out, "Pitch…what…did you do?"

"Oh good, the enslavement spell I found doesn't entirely cut off speech. How lovely." This little tidbit of information seemed to please Pitch immensely, before he rolled his shoulder in a shrug, as if the idea wasn't quite so pleasing when he thought about it, "Well, either way, the longer the spell is in effect, the less you'll be able to do on your own." Pitch came forward at a leisurely pace, hands clasped behind his back, "Remember what I said to you, Frost? About finding a way to follow through on my threats? To make them a reality?" Pitch picked up the staff that had fallen out of Jack's hand, and looked at the other with a predatory gleam in his eyes, "I've found the perfect way to go through with it." Pitch held the staff within reach of Jack, and spoke curtly, "Take a hold of it." Pitch held the staff loosely, watching Jack in anticipation.

Jack felt a stab of fear as he saw his right hand reach out and close over his staff without him willing it to. Jack mutely watched as his arm settled the staff against the ground, before going still again. What the hell was going on? The winter spirit had felt his arm move, but he hadn't made it move. A horrible thought took root in Jack's mind as he realized that Pitch had mentioned something about an enslavement spell. No. Pitch didn't. He wouldn't. He wasn't so twisted that he would do that to someone. The Nightmare King wouldn't go that far, just to draw fear out of him. Jack made eye contact with a darkly smiling Pitch, and the enormity of what had happened hit the pale teen hard, and Jack was rattled so badly that he could only breathe the word "No" in a hoarse, terrified whisper.

"I think you'll find my plans for the remainder of the day quite straightforward. We'll be paying the Tooth Fairy a visit, of course. It's a part of my threat after all." Pitch spread his hands wide, a smirk evident on his face as he continued in a mock serious tone, "But then I thought, why not visit the rest of the Guardians? It doesn't seem fair that only Tooth would be graced with our…company." Pitch held out one long-fingered hand expectantly, enjoying the fact he could see the emotions swirling in Jack's eyes. "Come along now, Jack. Let's go say hello to Toothiana."

Jack panicked inwardly as he struggled to prevent his own body from responding to Pitch's words. This had to be a nightmare. It was just too terrible to be real. The loss of motor control was disturbing to Jack, even more so due to the fact that he could still feel every movement his body made.

"Jack? Let's not keep Tooth waiting. I'm sure she's dying to see you," Pitch drawled, hand still extended in Jack's direction.

Jack could only watch in dawning horror as he found himself slowly taking steps forward. The winter spirit saw that Pitch smiling triumphantly, and Jack experienced a thrill of horror race up his spine as he came to a halt before Pitch.

This was a nightmare, one that Jack didn't seem to be able to wake up from, or shut his eyes to. He was going to be forced to see all of what the Nightmare King had in store the rest of the day, and there was nothing that Jack could do that would stop it.

X-x-x

So…let's just say I liked how Pitch could use spells in the book series, and while he turned the other characters into toys, they still were compelled to answer his questions. So…I thought why not another kind of enslavement spell?

...I'm sorry Jack. I think I'm going to be writing humor fics in the future for quite awhile to make up for this story.

The next chapter will be where Pitch follows through on his threats that were mentioned in EFE, and then some. I think the next chapter and the very last chapter are the worst (read: emotionally wrenching) of the entire story. There will be twelve chapters total: ten main ones, plus the prologue and epilogue.

If you decide to review, (follow/whatever) it'd be helpful to know whether the characters are IC, and what you think of the story as I update it (and yes, I already know that I'm being terrible to the characters). I could potentially post the next chapter tomorrow, after editing it, but it'd end with a cliffhanger...so I may delay it a bit and finish the chapter after it to avoid that, 'cause I hate cliffhangers.