Hello everyone and welcome to my new project. This couldn't have been done without collaboration with Sweetseptemberswimmer. She's awesome, and you should check out her stories as well.

WARNINGS: This story will contain foul language, abuse and torture, drug/alcohol use, rape/attempted rape, racism, and other adult themes and content. If ANY of this bothers you, please refrain from reading as later chapters will become much more mature in nature. This story is one of despair and of the human condition when desperate. I have gone for as realistic a portrayal(well, as realistic as one can get with some magic powers)of what war can do to the innocent. This will be the only warning, as any of my fans will know that I don't typically do author's notes. So take heed. Future chapters may and will contain triggers of various types.

One final note: The views of the various characters in this story DO NOT represent my own. Racism and rape are both serious issues, and thus will be treated as such. I do not take this matter lightly, but I want all readers to know and understand that I do not condone any of these things.

With that said, please enjoy.

Prologue

A Home for the Gifted

Peering around the edge of the large, well-aged Douglas fir, a pair of cyan blue eyes scanned the fenced-in yard for their stalker. Luckily there was no sign of them. With as little noise as possible, the small coppery-haired girl skirted around the tree before making a mad dash for the lonely sandbox on the other side. The only obstacles in her way were the large metal slide and red Radio Flyer wagon tipped over on its side. One of the wheels was missing, and it had since been converted into a makeshift barricade designed to impede her progress. Or at the very least, to stop the slavering zombie hordes from invading the swing set.

Ducking behind the wagon, she took another chance to spy the rest of the backyard for her would-be assailant. Nothing. Not so much as a hint of a whisper of sound or movement was to be found. Sucking in a deep breath, the little girl took her chances and ran as hard and as fast as her short legs would allow. What she wasn't prepared for was a large mass colliding with her and the sudden impact with the ground. Pinning her to the ground was an older girl with snowy blonde hair and a victorious smirk on her lips.

"Ha! I got ya!" quipped the older girl. She was situated perfectly atop the little redhead, arms locked into place. She was panting a little, almost as if she had been doing this all day.

In fact, she had been. Ever since breakfast was finished they had been out in the yard chasing and tackling one another to the ground without tiring. It was now past noon and their mother still hadn't called them in for lunch. It wasn't unusual as the girls often ignored her in order to build forts and fight off invisible monsters. Sometimes they'd actually sit and play with their collection of various dolls and horses, but neither cared so much for that as they much preferred their wild imaginations. Anything from aliens to Lovecraftian nightmares, whatever they could conjure up in their young and fresh minds was their plaything.

After a few brief seconds, the younger girl became impatient and annoyed with her sister. "Okay, fine! You win, Elsa! Now get off!"

Knowing her sister could be a sore loser, Elsa reluctantly stood up and laughed. "How many times is that now?" Mocking her was something Elsa had taken to early on, though she only meant it in jest. She was never cruel or mean about it, at least not intentionally. But she did know how to rub her sister the wrong way, which wasn't hard to do to a five year old.

"I dunno. Like a hundred?"

Giggling, Elsa rolled her eyes at her little sister. "No, Anna, not a hundred. That's silly."

"Well, I don't know! Besides, you cheated," Anna proclaimed as she folded her arms and stuck out her tongue. She had a tendency to be stubborn, which she got from their mother.

"Whatever. What do you want to play next?"

Anna thought hard for a moment, or at least as hard as a five year old could think. Her favorite game involved robots, zombies, and pirates, but she also really liked just playing on the swings. Torn between the two, she simply shrugged her shoulders in response. Then she had a great idea.

"Oh, I know! Let's pretend we're on a spaceship!"

Shaking her head in confusion, Elsa blinked and stared blankly at Anna for a second before responding. "How are we going to do that?"

Pointing high into the air, Anna indicated the lonely fir tree nestled in the corner of the yard. "That's our spaceship."

As they walked over towards the tree, Elsa became increasingly unsure of the whole thing. She didn't like heights to begin with, and climbing trees was something she dreaded. The last time she had climbed one, she fell and sprained her ankle and ended up with several bruises. "I don't think this is a good idea Anna..."

The little redhead simply waved her sister off, only half-listening to her. "It'll be safe Elsa. Just climb like I do." Without waiting for a response, Anna ran to the tree and jumped, barely catching the lowest hanging branch and pulling herself up. "Come on Elsa! Hurry up!"

With a heavy sigh Elsa trudged her way to the tall fir. Looking up, she started to feel a little dizzy and the pit of her stomach started to ache, but she ignored it at her sister's behest and began her ascent. Every time a branch creaked or snapped, she panicked and froze in place and yelped. Then she noticed how much higher Anna had been able to climb. She wasn't about to let her sister get all the way up the tree without her.

By the time she caught up to Anna, they were roughly halfway up the length of the tree. Looking down proved to be a big mistake, as vertigo set in and she nearly lost her grip on the branch she was leaning on. "Anna, can we please go back down? I'm scared."

"But we just got here!" Anna announced excitedly. She was sprawled out on a couple branches and had big grin on her freckled face. "We need to go to the moon!"

"I don't want to go to the moon. I want to get down."

Getting annoyed with her sister's behavior, she gave out a little huff and grew slightly impatient again. "No, Elsa. We're going to the moon. Put on your space suit."

"Anna, I'm going back down. I'm scared and you should be too."

This time she was completely agitated with her older sister's cowardice. "Okay, fine! If you're so afraid we can go back down."

Without hesitation, Elsa began weaving her way back down through the jumble of branches. Every now and then one would snap under her feet, and she'd panic as she grabbed for another branch to hold onto. Her sister seemed to have no problems to speak of. It quickly became a race to the bottom, or at least it did for her, and soon she was only a few branches away to freedom.

She hadn't noticed that she left Anna so far behind, and when she looked back up she saw that her sister was tangled up by a couple of smaller branches and offshoots. The little redhead began to fuss, which soon turned into frustration.

"Elsa! Help! This stupid branch won't let go!" she cried. It was clear that she was on the verge of tears.

Taking a deep breath, Elsa begrudgingly pulled herself back up into the spider web of branches. "Alright, hold on! I'm coming!" Doing her best not to look back down, she slithered her way back through the mess of limbs that slowly spiraled back towards her baby sister.

Then there was a loud crack. Then another. Elsa stopped where she was and gripped the tree tightly, looking around to see what branch had broken. When she found none, she looked to where Anna was and saw that the smaller branches holding her up had started to snap off. She was only holding onto a single limb, which was bowing and bending under her weight. Seconds later, it too snapped and fell, and she fell with it.

Terrified, Elsa did her best to react in time. Reaching out as Anna tumbled nearby, she tried her best to catch her until the limb she was on snapped as well. Stumbling forward just a little, she threw out her hand towards her sister in a panic. But then something impossible happened.

A ball of glowing energy shot from her hand and hit Anna in the head as she landed on the ground below with a sickening thud. "Anna! No!" As fast as she could, Elsa scrambled back down the length of the tree, not caring if she fell or not. When her feet hit the ground she was instantly at her sister's side screaming for her parents.

"No! No no no! Anna! Mama! Papa! Please help!" she cried as she cradled Anna close in her arms. Seconds later the backdoor flew open and their parents were quickly at their side, and then everything became a blur.

00000

The beeps and blips of machines, the muffled and crackling voice over the intercom, and the hushed whispers of the adults kept Elsa from being able to focus on any one thing for long. The hustle and bustle of the nurses in the ER was enough to make anyone dizzy, and she swore she met twenty different people in just as many minutes. She was starting to get a little worn out introducing herself. Luckily they were only interested in her as a courtesy. They quickly ignored her afterwards.

Try as she might, Elsa could only think of two things: her sister's fall and what came out of her hand. At first she thought she imagined it like they did so many times before, but the doctors and her parents were all baffled by how cold Anna's head was. It was like she had no temperature at all, although she was completely alive. At least that's what Doctor Adams said. From what she was always told, doctors never lie about stuff like that; they have to tell the truth. She always liked going to the doctor because hers was so nice. But none of that helped explain what had happened.

When her parents finally sat down and rested their hands on her back and lap, she felt a little relieved. She didn't know why, but she felt she needed comforting just then. She hadn't allowed herself to cry yet, but for some reason she started to sob and sniffle, drawing sympathetic looks from both of her parents.

"Elsa, sweetie, it's going to be okay," her mother said in a soft tone. "The doctor said the fall wasn't that bad. She's just really bruised up, and when she wakes up she'll just have a tiny headache."

Wiping her eyes and nose on the sleeve of her coat, Elsa looked up and glanced at her sister. She was completely still, like in death, and had a tube filled with a clear fluid attached to her arm. She also had a bunch of these little white round things with wires hooked to them all over. It was like a nightmare. "It's my fault. I left her in the tree. I'm the one who hit her in the head with my powers."

Sighing, her father lifted her up and placed her on his lap, then wrapped her in a hug. "This isn't your fault. It just happened. And you didn't hit her in the head with any powers."

"Yes I did! Why do you think her head is so cold?"

"Because there isn't enough blood going to her brain."

Hopping down from her perch, Elsa looked back up at her father and grew incredibly frustrated. "You never believe me! I do too have powers! And I hurt Anna with them!"

Before either of her parents could respond, the doctor entered the room and was followed by what appeared to be another doctor in a white lab coat. The man didn't look at all friendly to Elsa, not like the other doctors. There was something different about him; he didn't look like a normal doctor. He didn't have that thing around his neck that let him listen to your heart, and he had several needles sticking out of the front pocket on his coat. This scared her a little, and she slowly backed away to seek refuge behind her father who had stood up.

He looked concerned. More so than he had earlier, and that was only a little bit ago. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting Mister and Missus Forester, this is Doctor Harvey. I thought it pertinent and prudent to bring in a specialist for this case."

Without a word the man walked right past everyone and stopped next to Anna's bed. Leaning over her, he felt her forehead with his hand, the opened her eyelids with his thumb and flashed a small light at them. Next he looked in her ears, fiddled with her hands, and kept speaking in low tones to himself. He did this for several minutes before turning back to acknowledge Elsa's parents.

"It would seem your daughter's head has been frozen from the inside. Now, you don't need me to tell you that that is physically impossible, especially given the circumstances. So I'd like to know if there are any details you have failed to mention until now." He sounded rather serious, and seemed a little rude. The man just creeped Elsa out.

"Absolutely not. We've told you everything we know," her father responded. He sounded a little upset, and she thought that maybe he didn't like the man either.

If he was angry, the man didn't seem to notice. "I see. Well, I can't explain away any of this right now. Now, I have a few serums I can try to warm her back up, which should hopefully bring her out of the coma. But I cannot proceed without your consent."

Her parents looked at one another and started talking real quietly again. This frustrated her because she didn't like being left out of everything, especially considering it was her baby sister they were talking about. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Do whatever you have to in order to save our little girl." Her father sounded like he wanted to cry. Elsa had never seen him like that before.

"Excellent," the man said as he leaned back over Anna and started poking her with the needles from his pocket. She managed to count three, but she was sure he used more than that. Whatever he did, it only took a minute before he stood back up. "There. It should only take a short time for these to take effect. I'd say thirty minutes, tops. In the meantime, I do have one question for you."

"Of course, whatever you need to know," her mother responded. She had been oddly quiet through most of this. Normally it was her father that did all the talking.

Though brief, there was a hint of a smile on the man's face for just a second before it was gone. Then it was back to that stoic, unrelenting gaze. "Who was present with Anna when this happened?"

With a worried glance, her mother looked to Elsa before responding. "Just her sister. They were climbing in a tree in our backyard, something they know they're not supposed to do." That last part made Elsa wince a little.

"May I speak to her?" he asked in a rather demanding tone.

Her parents gave each other that look again before finally agreeing to let him question her. She was petrified to talk, and it didn't help that the man was still looking at her with that lifeless stare.

Kneeling down, he got to right about Elsa's height before speaking. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Uh... E-Elsa."

"Elsa, can you tell me what happened?"

Panicking, she did her best to try and remember everything that happened. She didn't really want to think about it, but the man asked her and she had to tell him. "We were climbing the tree in our backyard and got really high. We could see over the house. Then I got scared and started climbing back down. I got to the bottom before Anna did, and then I looked back up to her and I saw she was stuck. So I climbed back up but didn't get there fast enough. The branches holding her up broke and she started to fall down. I tried to catch her, but something came out of my hand and hit her in the head."

The scary man looked at her totally perplexed. "Something came out of your hand?"

"I didn't mean to!" she pleaded. "It was an accident! I'd never hurt Anna! It just happened and I don't know why! Please don't take Anna away!"

This time the man did smile, and Elsa found it to be very creepy. It reminded her of the clowns from the circus. She hated clowns. "No one is taking Anna away. Now then, what came out of your hand?"

Ashamed, Elsa looked down at the floor and sniffled. "Magic," she whispered meekly.

There was silence for several moments as the man considered her. It was unnerving the way he watched her. She could feel his eyes on her, not blinking or wavering in any way. The longer he stared her down, the smaller and more uncomfortable she felt. She began playing with the end of her ponytail out of nervousness; anything to distract her from that gaze.

Finally he stood, pulled out a notepad from one of his pockets, and began scribbling in it. He only stopped for a brief moment to look at her. "How old are you, Elsa?"

"I-I'm eight."

"I see," he said as he resumed writing. Whatever it was he was writing down, Elsa assumed it must have been important. "How many times has this happened to you?"

Before she could answer, her father got visibly agitated and pointed at the man. "You are not going to make her believe she has any special powers. We've been doing our best to curb this nonsense, and here you are leading her on! What are you trying to pull?"

The man didn't even bother looking up from his notepad before responding. "Mister Forester, what would you say if I told you that there are in fact other children like Elsa? Others that can do what she can. Others that I help rehabilitate and teach to control their abilities. What would you say to that?"

"I'd say you're fucking insane and can get the hell away from my daughter." Elsa had never heard her father talk like that before to anyone. He almost never used that kind of language, and from the look her mother shot him, she didn't like that he had.

"That's unfortunate, because it is entirely true. We have a facility on the southern outskirts of the city just off of I-5 and we specialize in helping children just like Elsa. Her sister's condition is no coincidence. It is physically impossible for that to happen naturally. The only logical explanation is that Elsa is telling the truth." The man had finally put down his notepad and was speaking directly to her father, who still looked a little angry.

"So what are you suggesting?" her mother asked nervously. "That we send Elsa away to this rehab center to do what? Get better? How do we even know she really does have these freak powers?"

The man looked at her for a moment before returning his attention to Elsa, who was now scared out of her mind. "Elsa, can you tell me what you felt when you used your magic?"

"I, uh, I don't know. Scared mostly, and my arm tingled a little. But I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I know you didn't," he said, this time a bit more gently than he had before. "So your magic comes out when you're scared?"

Elsa couldn't peel her eyes away from her feet. No matter what, she couldn't bring herself to look the man in the eyes. "I don't know. It's never happened before."

"Could you do it again? Right now?"

She looked up and simply shook her head. Is he going to take me away?

"Well that's unfortunate. Still, I recommend you consider our facility and admitting her there for treatment." He turned his attention back to her parents, who now looked more worried than angry. "If it turns out that she really is just an ordinary child, then her visit is at no cost to you or your insurance."

Both her parents were silent for a moment before turning their attention to her. Her father placed a shaky but reassuring hand on her shoulder and drew her closer. "Look, I don't know how we're supposed to take this. You're claiming our daughter can do something that is impossible. Now you're offering to help her with a problem that doesn't and shouldn't exist?"

A shiver shot down Elsa's spine, and she suddenly felt cold. She was afraid, more so than she had been to begin with. It wasn't fair what was happening, to either her or her sister. All they wanted to do was play, but these newfound powers had to go and ruin everything. She couldn't understand why this was happening to her. She never asked to have powers.

Then she realized that everyone had grown silent. When she came out of her thoughts, she saw that they were staring right at her. Her parents looked shocked, but the strange man had a smirk on his lips that was rather unsettling. "Well," he said, "it would seem that she is indeed special."

Looking back and forth from her parents to the man, Elsa looked down at her feet to see a layer of ice shooting out across the floor in every direction. The crystals would jut upwards and form tiny needles here and there, and it sparkled oddly under the fluorescent lights. Her eyes widened and she gasped; there was no way this was real.

Quickly she started panicking and looked back up at the others. "I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to!"

"Elsa, sweetheart, it's okay," her father reassured her. "No one is mad, only surprised." He chanced a quick glance at her mother before returning his attention to the man. "I think we'll be needing some more information on this facility of yours, Doctor Harvey."

00000

Elsa never knew just how big the city was until they had to drive towards the freeway from the north side. With all the one-way streets and detours due to roadwork, there was a lot of backtracking and getting stuck in heavy afternoon traffic. They had been on the road for half an hour already. At least she had her mother's cellphone to play with.

Arendelle was as big as, if not bigger than, Seattle. Her favorite place was the waterfront and the marketplace. It wasn't as good as Pike's Place market in Seattle, but it still had some really neat stuff. There was a knickknack shop that had all sorts of weird little trinkets, and a store with all kinds of imports from out of the country. Her favorite, though, was the novelty shop. She loved everything, from whoopee cushions to wands that shot out fake flowers to little hand buzzers. The only downside was the whole market smelled old and dusty, and the stench of fish fresh off the boats was heavy. Still, it was one of her favorite places in the city.

As the trip dragged on, Elsa tried to imagine what exactly the place was going to be like. Since the only places she's ever seen doctors at were at the clinic or the hospital, she had no idea what a rehabilitation center was. She was quite nervous over the whole thing, but the one thing she wished for was for the facility to have a playground. She loved the swings back home and at school. The freedom she felt when she swung up high, and then the sudden lurch in her stomach from the descent was thrilling and fun. The best part was the challenge of going higher and higher with every swing.

Eventually the city began to fade from view as the rich greenery of the Pacific Northwest sprawled out everywhere and Mount Rainier's snow-capped peak appeared in the distance. It was picturesque, like the photos you'd find on postcards. The sky was clear except for the cloud ring snuggling against the peak of the mountain. It was late spring, so the clear and warm weather was a little unusual. It saddened Elsa a little, as it was a perfect day to be outside playing.

The car ride was mostly, quiet except for the talk radio her parents liked to listen to. It was usually the news, but Elsa paid little attention to it. They always talked about things she didn't understand. She liked the radio station that played the rock 'n roll music, but her mother didn't want her listening to it; her father always let her listen to it when he drove her to school in the morning. She didn't know any of the bands, but there were a couple songs she really liked. A couple her father said were something called metal.

She came out of her thoughts when the car slowed down and turned into a driveway just short of reaching the freeway. There was a large stone sign with a water fountain in front of it that read "Langdon Rehabilitation & Recovery Center" in stylish metal letters. The building that came into view was huge and several stories tall. It was the color of sand, like the kind you'd find at the beach, and had a sort of welcoming appeal to it. The lawn outside was green and well-kept, and the little Japanese maples that were planted in the middle were a lovely shade of pink and bright red. The only thing she didn't see was that playground she had hoped for.

As her father gathered her things from the trunk of the car, her mother held her hand tightly but reassuringly as they guided her to the large double-doors that led into the main lobby. Inside was almost as welcoming, with white fluorescent lighting that was dim enough to set a calming mood, and a bunch of ferns and other plants that lined the walls in clusters. The waiting area off to the side had several benches and chairs facing a large flat-screen TV, and there was an aquarium with some really pretty fish that Elsa didn't recognize. The lady sitting behind the front desk was busy talking on the phone and paid no attention to them as they approached the counter.

After waiting several seconds, her father cleared his throat just enough to get her attention. When she finally said goodbye to whoever she was talking to and hung up the phone, she turned towards them and smiled as if she wasn't suddenly interrupted from a very important personal call on company time. "Hello, how can I help you?" she asked, a little rudely Elsa thought.

"We're the Foresters. We made an appointment with Doctor Harvey." Her father didn't seem to notice the lady's attitude, or he simply ignored it.

"Right. Of course. He's expecting you. Take a seat and I'll let him know you're here." With that, they were dismissed as if they weren't even there, and so they found a spot near the windows to sit down and stare outside.

Elsa's stomach started to sour the more she thought about being there. From what her parents had told her, she was going to be staying there for a while so that Doctor Harvey could help her with her powers. They also said they had no idea how long "a while" was going to be, and she didn't like the sound of that. The only good part about all of this was they were allowed to visit her on the weekends, which she was thankful for. She really didn't like the idea of not seeing Anna every day though. That was going to be the hardest part.

After what felt like ages a nurse came out and gathered them up. As they followed her through the hallways, she looked around and didn't see any other kids. The only people she did see where more doctors in lab coats and nurses. None of them paid any attention to them, and she was pretty sure that the temperature dropped several degrees the further they went. Eventually they stopped in front of an empty room with a bed and wooden dresser against the far wall.

"This will be Elsa's room, so you may go ahead and put her things away. Doctor Harvey will be here shortly." Then without another word, the woman left them there.

Her parents set to work putting her clothes in the dresser and her favorite stuffed animals on the bed. She had a couple books that she liked to read, and the handheld video game device they had bought her for her birthday the year before. She hardly ever used the thing, but that was mostly because she only had two games for it, and neither were all that fun anymore.

It wasn't long before everything had found a home, and she sat on the edge of her bed kicking her feet nervously. Her parents sat next to her and tried comforting her, but she mostly ignored it. It was their fault she had to stay there, after all. She was a little angry with them. But luckily she didn't have to dwell on it long as Doctor Harvey arrived and had the biggest smile she'd seen on him yet.

"Elsa, I am so glad that you'll be staying here with us. The other kids are busy right now with classes, but once you get a chance to meet them, I'm sure you'll fit right in." There was something strange behind the way he was talking, but Elsa couldn't figure out what it was. "I hope the drive here wasn't bad."

"No, just longer than we expected," her father replied. "This is a fancy place you've got here. Are you absolutely sure that this will help Elsa?"

A smirk crept across Doctor Harvey's face, and Elsa was pretty sure he was talking directly to her. "This facility is the most hi-tech of its kind in the country. It is also one of the best research centers there is. We're going to find out everything there is to know about Elsa, and she will become the best she can possibly be while she's here. We'll take great care of her, I promise."

This seemed to be enough to reassure her parents. After a couple handshakes, they turned to Elsa and gave her lengthy hugs and kisses before saying goodbye, leaving her there all alone with Doctor Harvey. After they were shown out, the nurse from before returned with a syringe in her hand.

Doctor Harvey stared straight down at Elsa, his face completely expressionless. "Dolores, call security for me. Tell them to ready cell block four for a new arrival. We don't want another specimen to get loose like last time."

The last thing Elsa remembered before everything went black was the needle stabbing her in the neck.