My best friend Jade called and wanted to go shopping about a week later, both of us needing new clothes for the school year. When we arrived at the mall, Jade pulled me into a nearby store, her eyes caught on a cute one-piece summer outfit hanging on a nearby mannequin. "Anara, come on, these are perfect! They will look so cute on us!" My best friend handed me a hanger. I looked the outfit over. It was a black jumper with purple lace around the thighs and the halter neck, giving the piece a pretty flare of color. I smiled, accepting the hanger and walking with Jade to a nearby row of changing rooms. We each walked into one, wanting to make sure the clothing was the right size before purchasing it. I looked in the mirror as I changed into the jumper, examining my reflection. It fit really well and I liked how confident I felt in the dark ensemble. I stepped outside the door, intending on walking over to see how the outfit looked in the three-way mirror in the center of the changing hall.

The colors reminded me of the man that had been making regular visits to my home for the past week. Pitch Black. The Boogeyman. He was something, that was for sure. Certainly not what I had expected him to be. I was no longer afraid of him, but it appeared that my simple belief in him was enough to keep him well and getting stronger as he spent more and more time with me. He wasn't much of a nuisance though. He stayed out of my way and remained quiet for the most part, except for the occasional teasing remark or comment about whatever came to mind. It was actually kind of...nice...having someone there with me in the house, even if he wasn't the best person to have in your company. Yes, he was certainly a villain by all accounts, but...I liked him. He was something new and exciting in my life. Someone I could learn from. Of course, I would never tell him that.

Distracted by these thoughts, I walked directly into a familiar looking face, but not one to get excited about. "Well, well, what do we have here?" A high-pitched feminine voice came from in front of me, and I looked into the green eyes of one of the girls from my school. Priscilla Perkins. Her clique was not too far behind, all three girls laughing at the scene before them. "Anara! I haven't seen you in ages! I've been too busy hanging out with Jason every Friday night. What have you been up to lately? Studying for school to start next week?" She asked with a condescending tone that did nothing to hide how fake she was. My heart thumped harder at the mention of my ex-boyfriend, Jason. Jason had broken up with me at the end of our junior year, saying he was not ready to date anyone and had a lot to sort out in his life. A week later, pictures of him and Priscilla kissing appeared on every social media page I knew of, revealing his lie to me.

Even though I knew Jason was a douchebag, it stung to hear that she was still with him. "Hey Priscilla. I'm doing well. Yes, I've been studying. At least one of us should make it to college one day. Not everyone can focus on partying while our daddy's prepare to pay full tuition for us to go to school." I seethed, backing away from her. She flipped her bleach blonde hair over her shoulder, rolling her eyes. "What can I say, money makes the world go around...speaking of which, that outfit is cute, Anara. Where did you find it? Goths-R-US?" Her friends cackled at that. I crossed my arms. "Yea, it's an awesome store. In fact, it's right next to the place where you shop? Bimbo Boutique?" I snapped back, turning to walk away. "Ugh, you may act like you are better than me but you are nothing more than the dirt I walk on, you worthless sack of lard!" Priscilla snarled. I bit my tongue, refusing to let her know that she had hit a nerve, and I opened my mouth to reply. "You-" Before I could make a full sentence, the lights that illuminated the mirrors all simultaneously exploded, and a few rats emerged from under the platform where the mirrors sat, apparently scared from their homes. Priscilla and her friends screeched in shock and ran out of the hall. The rats suddenly stopped, glanced up at me, and scurried back from where they had come.

Confused by the turn of events, I walked back into the changing room I had left and switched back into my normal tank top and shorts, before exiting with the one piece in tow. Jade was waiting for me up at the checkout stand, her dark eyes full of concern as she noticed the look on my face. "I came out here to grab a different size. What happened? You look as though you've seen a ghost." She questioned me. I took a deep breath, "I ran into the Three Bitchketeers. Priscilla mentioned Jason and made me mad. Then some lights went off and freaked them out, along with some rats." I explained simply. Jade's face contorted into a mixture of anger and interest. "Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded, "Yeah, just startled I guess. Let's just pay for these and go..." I replied, handing the cashier the one piece and trying to clear out my thoughts.

Jade and I parted a few hours later, and I arrived home with my shopping bags in hand. Artemis and Aphrodite greeted me at the door, nearly tripping me as I made my way up to my room. To my suprise, a dark figure was already perched at my window seat, staring at my wall with a bored look on his face. "I'm surprised to see you here again so soon. It's not even close to nighttime yet." I mentioned. Pitch nodded, "Nor was it the second time I visited you." He reminded me. "True...so what have you been up to today?" I asked politely. He shrugged, "Nothing much, child. Just terrifying teenagers, from a distance that is." I nodded in understanding, moving to set the bags on my bed and withdrawing a hanger from my closet to place the one piece on so that it did not wrinkle. "That outfit looked...nice...on you earlier..." The soft voice sounded matter of fact as I whipped my head around to face the Nightmare King.

I gawked at Pitch, unused to hearing him compliment me. "How did you...?" I wasn't even sure how to complete my question. "I saw you at that dreadful place you believed to be fun earlier. Where you found that." He explained, gesturing to the bags. "Those other young women were cruel to you..." He continued, staring back at me knowingly. I swallowed and glanced away, refusing to comment on Priscilla and my confrontation. "You are not a...what was it? 'A sack of lard?' Far from it, in fact." He went on. I looked at my own reflection in the mirror, taking note of my curves and how I was nowhere near as thin as the other girls my age. I was not overweight, but I had more muscle on my thighs and arms, and my belly was soft instead of taunt. I felt a chill as Pitch approached me, the King of Darkness looking into the mirror as well, tilting his head as he looked at me with an expression resembling understanding. "I understand why you would not believe me. You have no reason to. But think of this. If I had believed there was any truth to the words that came from those brats, do you think I would have created such a scene to frighten them off?"

His words suddenly made sense, and I realized that he must have been behind the broken lights and the rats. "But...that...that was you? At the mall? You made the lights burst and scared the rats out?" I inquired with more than a little bit of surprise in my voice. Pitch smirked, his golden and silver eyes flashing with mischief. "Yes, it was." He answered honestly. My mouth hung open in shock. "But...why?" I finally managed. Pitch looked at me as though the reason was obvious. "I promised to protect you, remember? In return for you tolerating my presence. I supposed I could act on my part of the bargain. That's why I followed you, just in case you ran into trouble of your own." He explained. His words made sense, somehow, and I didn't know whether to be thankful and relieved or creeped out. But as I watched the man standing in front of me, I noticed something different in his face.

While he still held an egotistical and proud expression as he looked down at me, his eyes had softened, just slightly, as if he knew how the girls' comments had hurt me. He was serious. And I believed him. Swallowing again, I let out a sigh and nodded. "Well then...thank you, Pitch, for holding up on your end of the deal. And for the compliments. I appreciate them both." I spoke quietly, realizing just how close we were standing. Again, I wasn't sure how to react, though I couldn't necessarily complain. Pitch seemed to notice our close proximity as well, because he backed up a few steps and bowed to me. "Of course, dear Anara. It was my pleasure... " He replied, moving to go sit in his usual seat once more. "I must say though, you seemed to have most of the situation taken care of by the time that I had intervened. You've proven yourself to be a fierce little thing." This time I couldn't help but smile at his comment. "If you had been around the people I have, you wouldn't be surprised. I had to learn to toughen up." I told him. Pitch nodded, as if he understood where I was coming from.

A few moments passed before I cleared off my bed and turned on my television, waiting for my streaming services to come on. Pitch was still watching me like a hawk, just as he always did. By now I had gotten used to it. It was kind of comforting really. However, I wondered if maybe he would like to watch something more interesting than me, so I decided to do something nice for him as well. I scooted over, making room on the bed. "Would you want to watch something else besides me for once?" I gestured between myself and the tv, and Pitch cocked his head. "Does this make you uncomfortable?" He narrowed his eyes in what resembled a playful way, and I shook my head in amusement. "I mean...I don't really care. I just think I'm a pretty boring specimen for you to constantly be evaluating." I replied. Pitch shook his head from side to side, smiling with that evil grin of his. "Oh, believe me, my dear. You are far more intriguing than you think," The dark figure murmured.

Shrugging my shoulders, I left him be, curling up on my bed and turning on the newest IT movie. The movie did not frighten me, but the jump scares gave me an adrenaline boost whenever they came up, making my heart beat faster. Pitch seemed to notice this as well, as he let out a long, happy sigh, his head craned back and eyes closed. I realized that this must be what happened when the fear finally hit him. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at me intently with that same pleased expression he had every time he had succeeded in startling me. "Does my adrenaline rush affect you the same way that fear does?" I finally asked in interest. Pitch nodded again, "Yes...I believe so. It's nearly as powerful. I feel stronger by the minute..." He answered. I tilted my head, formulating a plan of my own. It's not perfect...but it could work...

The next few weeks following the mall incident went on much the same as before. The Nightmare King visited me for hours on end every day and every evening. School started up once more, my senior year beginning with this new relationship between the Guardian of Fear and I. Pitch was always in my room waiting for me when I got home, minding himself despite his flare for fright. We had developed a routine, and dare I say it...a friendship, perhaps, as time went on. I would come home every night and eat dinner with my mother, and then go upstairs to work on homework and put on a scary movie. Pitch would keep me company while I worked on my assignments, the whole time gaining strength from my adrenaline during the intense parts of the film.

This time together inevitability forced us to get to know one another, if for no other reason than to break the silence that often fell in the tiny room. I would talk about school, my likes, dislikes, friends, enemies, hobbies, interests. Pitch would mainly listen, but sometimes I could get him to tell me something about his life, mainly his relationship with the Guardians. Every now and then, I would hear him trying to discourage me from liking the Guardians, making sly comments here and there about each of their faults. I would simply brush the remarks away, reminding Pitch that everyone has faults, including him. This would usually detour the Nightmare King for making any other ill statements about them for the time being.

One evening, Pitch looked up at me, his eyes squinted as if in deep thought. "What?" I finally inquired, looking up from the english paper I had been typing. "Do you enjoy our time together?" He spoke slowly, as if gauging my reaction. I leaned back in my chair, debating my answer as I tapped the pencil against my chin.

It was a loaded question that he had given me. Although he was the Master of Fear, the Nightmare King, the Boogeyman, a being I should loath in all senses of the word, I found that I could not. The more time we spent together, the more I felt like he and I did have things in common. We were both outcasts, with a very small number of friends, and underestimated in many ways. And Pitch was not as bad as I originally believed. He treated me with respect and was genuinely interested in whatever we spoke about. At times I knew he would attempt to manipulate my beliefs of the Guardians, but it never changed my mind about the other mystical beings and all the good they represented in the world. Nevertheless, I did enjoy having the company of the dark being.

When I met the golden and silver eyes that were staring a hole through me, I nodded slowly. "I do enjoy our time together, Pitch." I answered his question. Pitch Black smirked, locking his fingers together in front of his knee, shifting in his seat. "Do you enjoy our time together?" I turned the question on him this time. He chuckled, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. You intrigue me..." I gazed at him skeptically, but then smiled. "I intrigue you? Why?" I wondered aloud. Pitch shrugged, "You are different..." He replied. "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." I retorted. "Oh, it's a compliment, my dear, make no mistake about that." He chuckled, though the barest trace of a smile graced his lips. I had to admit it was a nice feature on the brooding figure. And it made him even more attractive than he normally was. As the day faded into dusk once more, and shadows encompassed the Nightmare King, I wondered once more what I had got myself into.