Hey guys! So let me give you a little information about this fanfic. So most of the story will take place a little bit after the first Avengers movie. I know that's a while ago, but it'll make sense later. Also, it has a little bit of stuff and inspiration from the movie Frozen, but not any of the characters. This chapter may not be all that exciting, but I promise it's important for the story later on. The next chapter will be more exciting. Please don't forget to review and let me know how you like it or what I need to improve on. To grow in my writing I need feedback. And now...

The alarm went off. The beeping ringing in my ears caused me to groan. I slam my hand down on the snooze. It was too early to get up. It was Saturday, and no one deserved to get up at 5 am on a Saturday.

As I drift back to sleep, a shot of pain shoots down my neck. Nails dig into my throat. A hand that smells of stale beer covers my mouth, so the neighbors can't hear me scream. This is usually how I wake up. It's no big deal.

But today, something was off. I knew I was in for it. The beer smell was far too strong than usual. This meant Jeremy was mad at me and Carroll would be forcing me to do hard labor. It's just another wonderful morning with my foster parents.

Hands pulled me down the stairs, and then threw me on the kitchen floor. Typical. A hand lands quickly on my behind. I counted the times they landed to see why I got in trouble. Usually it would be five or six for not doing chores correctly, nine to ten for irresponsible behavior, and around twenty for disrespect.

But this morning, the hands stopped at two. This was not good. Two meant trouble. I was in for it all right, and there was no way I was going to be able to pull off their punishment this time.

"Stand up." A quiet voice said. It was Carroll, and when Carroll is quiet, you know something is definitely not going to be good. I stood up as quickly as I could, which meant another slap on the back from Jeremy. 3.

Carroll looked me straight in the eye. Yet another bad sign. What did I do? I was sure I cleaned the house, vacuumed, washed the windows, swept the walkway, and did the dishes up to their standards. I'm usually not this worried. But the fact that there is little dialogue between us this morning makes me start to sweat.

"Chair. Now." I obeyed as quickly as possible. The chair felt hard and cool against my sweaty back. Choppy sentences meant that a long punishment session was underway. I was ready.

Then Jeremy came and did his worst. There were slaps to the face, punches to the stomach, the whole shebang. My face turned numb, my arms bruised, but not a tear came down my face. Ten years with the Smiths and you learn that crying means more punching. It gets you nowhere fast.

Several bruises later, and Jeremy seemed to have cooled down. His muscled seemed to relax more, and his breathing slowed slightly. Now came the yelling. It's funny. He mutes my screams but doesn't care about his own affects on the neighbors' sleep.

"How could you do this to us?" He screamed. I was stunned.

"What did I do, sir?" I asked as politely as possible. I got a slap to the face. That was the wrong approach. I should have known better than to retaliate.

Then Carroll decided to chime in. "We are so ashamed in you! And to think, we adopted you because they said you were smart!" Now I'm just confused. I take a deep breath. My job is to learn my punishment and why.

"Please explain what I have done wrong. I don't know what you all are talking about." I said, with a sad sigh. They gave me a death glare. Why was I making all the wrong moves this morning?

"What you did," Jeremy snarled, "is get an 87 percent in MATH!" He flipped the table, our breakfast spilled onto the floor. Guess I won't be eating this morning. Carroll ran up to him, saying soothing words like, " It's okay dear, she'll be out of our hands soon." And, "don't forget the money we get from her. Let that make up for this."

I couldn't believe it. All of this because of a grade they have to share with the adoption center so they can see how they are helping me learn at school. An 87 is not going to get me out of here. I wish it would, but alas.

He turned back to me, a stern look on his face. Now it was time for the punishment. He scowled. I braced myself for what was to come.

"Because you almost RUINED our plan with you, you get to work a double shift at my job for me. We will drive you there, and you will walk home. I don't want to see you until the job is done. You understand?"

I stood up, and looked him in the eye, "Perfectly." He slammed me to the ground. Hard. The world spun. He screamed, "Don't you look me in the eye, young lady! Now go get dressed! I want you ready to go in ten minutes or you'll walk there yourself."

It's a 5 mile walk from here to the plant, so I hurry up the stairs. I quickly change, put my hair up, go to the bathroom, and get in the car. It takes them three hours to get ready, so I doze. It's a dreamless sleep.

As my foster parents get into the car yelling, "Ivory, get those cruddy shoes off the seat! Do you want to wash it when you get back?" we pull out of the driveway as Jeremy recklessly drives to his work. And to think, it's only 8 in the morning. How could this day get any worse?

I shouldn't have asked.

"I don't get why we have to drive her."

"You don't want her running away, dear."

"Still. She has legs. Ivory may be a troublemaker but she has the brains to know not to defy us"

I love it when they talk about me when I'm not around. The back of the car sure seems far enough for me not to hear. But seriously, I'm right here.

The car ride usually doesn't last long. Just ten minutes of Jeremy's reckless drunk driving and I'll end up at his job. It's a factory where they experiment frogs. My days there are usually spent freeing them. It's cruelty even if it's not a human.

My thoughts of how to free the frogs this time are interrupted by a scream. It was Carroll.

"What is the big de-" It was clear. We were passing over the bridge. It was a mile long, and a truck was coming right towards us. To be fair, we were far in its lane. I started screaming too.

Horns honked. Tires squealed. Jeremy slammed on the brakes. We spun out, stopping right before the edge. I could breath.

"Are you crazy?!" I screamed.

"Shut up! We didn't ask you for an opinion."

I looked out the car window. We were lucky. Our vehicles were the only ones on the bridge. This is a private bridge and no one usually goes on it unless they come to or from the plant. The lake we're over is actually private property. It was going to be used for dumping for the plant, but the government found out so now it's just an obstacle.

Jeremy and Carroll unbuckled. They started to head out of the car. Just before they left, Carroll turned to me.

"Don't get out of the car. We'll be back."

And with that they got out of the car, locked it, and walked over to the truck. I watched as the driver got out and they all walked to the plant. He was fired for sure.

I sat back and looked at the damage done. The truck had turned over, a gaping hole in its tank. A blue mixture poured into the lake below. Good thing the government wasn't here to see this.

Then something caught my eye. A support beam had broken. A long crack went up its metal spine. A break like that could make the bridge collapse. It isn't too bad looking I thought to myself, trying to calm the nerves in my body. It'll be okay.

Several minutes passed. Suddenly, I felt a jolt. Immediately, I turned to the beam. The crack had gotten bigger. I watched as it split open, and fell into the lake below. There was another shake. This bridge was going down. And I was locked in a car.

I tried to unlock it, but the child safety was on, and there were bars preventing me from getting to the front doors. I felt like a hamster in a cage.

I searched the car for anything heavy. I was running out of time. The car was slowly rocking. Finally I saw it: a briefcase.

I picked it up and started slamming it on the glass. Slowly but surely, the glass cracked. Finally, with one final strong blow, it shattered. Quickly, I crawled out. Pain shot through my leg. It was being cut on the glass. But I didn't have time to worry about that. I needed to get out of here. And fast.

I got up and started running for the plant. I was in the middle of the bridge, so it shouldn't take that long. I might just make it.

A large shake sent me flying to the truck. I hit it with a large bang. Then, to my dismay, the truck started to rock. Another beam broke. There was no support. I was going down.

The bridged leaned, Jeremy's car coming straight toward me. I dodged just in time. It cascaded over the edge. I started falling. I was near the edge, so there was no escape. The truck came down, and I fell along with it. I took a deep breath, and plunged into ice cold water.

I surfaced. My body was shaking. The water isn't usually this cold, I thought. But I had worse problems than that. Pieces of the bridge were starting to fall. There was no time to waste. I needed to swim to shore.

Just as I started swimming, though, a folly of rock and concrete fell on me. They were pulling me down. I landed at the bottom of the lake. Struggling, I managed to free myself, and began to swim back to the surface.

My leg started feeling heavy. I looked down. I saw a blurry vision of my leg, covered in ice. It was the mixture. It freezes things. And, of course, water. Swim faster. Things were freezing all around me. The cold ice creeped up my legs and onto my hips. The weight of the ice was pulling me down. My lungs screamed for air. But, the surface was close. There was still a chance I could make it.

I lifted my hand to break the surface when-

I felt something cold and hard.

The lake was frozen over. Ice was now up to my chest. I couldn't breathe. The weight pulled me down, and I rested on the frozen bottom of the lake.

As my body froze over completely, along with the rest of the lake, all I could feel was the cold of the ice, and the slow beating of my heart. The world turned an icy black.

That's all for now. I hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter will come in a week or so. Next week is super busy for me so I apologize in advance for making you guys wait. Please don't forget to review! Happy reading and writing! :)