Yeah, it's me again. Kristoff, remember? So like I said, things were crazy. A drop-dead gorgeous girl with mood swings, phantom kitten, and a mysterious snowflake practically carved into the wall. And that's only my part of this!
Believe me, it'll get worse. It always does. Always, always, always. St. Arin's High School used to be the most normal place on earth. But now?
Now things are just getting weird.
St. Arin's High School, present day...
The first strike was when Duke started to follow her around. And not like the way he stalked his 'girlfriends'. No, this was just plain tailing someone until the get fed up with you and slap you.
Again.
Actually, repeatedly.
Kristoff noticed the way his eyes shifted, the way he'd slowly distance himself from his cronies, always partially focused on her. If you were within ten feet of her, take a look. Duke was always, undoubtably hidden away somewhere, watching, ever watching.
Elsa knew this.
She felt the fear she had contained for most of her life threaten to rise again, burning her insides like fire. It was agonizing, knowing that he knew, that he had found out, and was taunting her, holding those photos, those words, those secrets above her head, threatening to let them drop.
She almost couldn't take it.
He was around every corner, his presence pressing in from everywhere, always on eye on her, grinning slightly.
"I know," his face said. "I know, and if you want it to stay a secret, you'd better listen up."
Elsa had tried to stay calm, but it was hard when a life-threatening secret was being held over your head almost every moment of the day. She came close to cracking once, actually did twice, but barely managed to conceal it. She was breaking, and Duke knew.
The first order came at noon.
Anna groaned as her alarm sliced through the blissful silence, pounding the offending item with her hand until the bleeping stopped abruptly.
To sleep in, or not to sleep in, she mused, considering another five minutes. Oh, the indecision-ness is... Something or other...
She let out a soft snore, only to bolt up awake at the rapid knocking on her door. "Gyaaaaaah! I'm awake, Dad!"
"You'd better be, Anna-banana. And have you seen the F - A: Jetz? I can't find them, and The Freedom Association is expecting me to present them today." He paused, and added, "Did you borrow them?"
Anna quickly shoved the metioned items under her bed and yelled a little too quickly, "Uh, nope! No, not at all! Ah hah hah hah..."
He sighed. "Give them to me when you come out, OK?"
"Why do you always guess right?" she pouted, hopping out of bed.
Kristoff pulled out his phone again, the same spot he always waited, and, after checking that Anna was nowhere in sight, began to scroll through his emails.
"No, I don't want a new phone plan... Geez, Kevin, stop making these random memes... Get a life, Richard. Seriously. And who's this person... Wait, Snow Queen has email? WAIT, Elsa EMAILED ME?"
He frantically tapped the email, trying to open it, smudges trailing across his screen. "C'mon, c'mon..."
Bleep
"Kristoff,
I'm sorry about yesterday. Really. Tell Anna this; I couldn't find a way to get this to her. And I got your email from your website, in case you're wondering. No, I am not stalking you.
Look, I know I'm a bit different. Sometimes, though, you just have to let secrets stay secrets. If you play with fire, you'll get burned. Or, if you play with ice, you'll get frostbite.
My secret DOES bite, Kristoff. So please, for yours and Anna's sake, STAY AWAY.
I'm really sorry. I wish I could tell you more, but I can't.
Goodbye.
-Elsa"
Kristoff frowned, scrolling up to read the message again. More and more secrets... She was just an unending puzzle, wasn't she? He groaned, flipping his phone closed as the buzzer rang, letting all students know it was time to go inside.
He could think about this another day; for now, he had other things to worry about.
Like that geography test he didn't study for.
Crap.
She managed glance at her watch, checking to make sure she didn't miss it. Even a minute over, and...
Elsa squeezed her eyes shut and took a breath, forcing the thought from her mind. She had to focus on the important things right now, not the trivial.
For instance, there happened to be a trio of Duke's gang practically pinning her to the wall. Or that there was no one around to help.
Why did she have to take the long way back to the school? Sure, leave for one minute to go and grab something to eat, and BAM, you'e mobbed. Way to go, Elsa.
She sighed, trying to free her arm. No such luck. The boy only pressed harder, making her wince.
"Can I... Help you?" she asked, trying to act like everything was normal.
"You sure can, Snow Queen," the one that was up in her face growled. "You got Duke's message, didn't you?"
A pause. "And what if I did?"
He snapped his fingers, and all three stepped back, letting the significantly smaller girl go. "Then you know what to do. And, for your sake, don't mess up."
His grin was creepier than anything else she had every seen, cutting her like a dagger. "Or else it'll be the last mistake you'll ever make."
Anna rubbed her smarting forehead, making a mental note to not run into a support pillar next time she tried to rush to the front of the lunch line. Grabbing her tray, which had thankfully survived the impact, she eased her way through the crowds to plop down beside a familiar blonde-haired boy.
"Heya, Kristy!"
"Kristoff," he answered automatically, chewing on a carrot.
"Whatever. Why are you so glum today? Usually you're all sarcastic and stuff..."
"No, really!" The boy rolled his eyes irritatedly.
"Ah, never mind. You're back to normal. But in all seriousness, what's on your mind? You look like someone ran over your dog..."
He shot her a glare.
"I'm just saying!"
"No, it's fine, I'm just a bit antsy... You see, it's Elsa... I got an email from her. She said to tell you she's sorry, but..."
"But?" she prompted, leaning in. "Go on..."
"...All I got were more secrets. It's actually kind of creeping me out, what with how much that girl is hiding. I mean, kitten, gloves, mood swings, spontaneous running away... I can't take it!"
Anna gasped, putting a hand to her mouth in slightly-mock-yet-still-justified terror. "Maybe she's an evil wizard undercover on a mission to destroy us! We have to stop her!"
Kristoff gave her a look that clearly said, "Are you serious."
"Whaaaaaat? I'm just trying to think of some ideas..."
"Well, that's obviously not the case. Magic doesn't exist. Now, if you'll excuse me, lunch is over, and I'm getting the heck out of here from all this craziness."
He scraped his chair back, dragging his bag up to his shoulder and giving Anna one last 'honestly-what-the-literal-heck-is-going-on-here' eye lock, and disappeared out the door and into the senior corridor.
The girl pouted, sticking out her tongue and yelling, "Magic does so exist! Don't crush my dreams!"
Elsa appeared calm on the outside, which was good. No one noticed the slight changes in her behaviour, or the way she held herself, or the nervous glances at the clock.
Well, maybe except that blonde guy sitting behind her.
He'd been staring at her the whole time. Halfway through the period, he pulled out his phone and pointed to it wordlessly, mouthing, 'email'.
Oh. It's Kristoff.
She rolled her eyes (albeit a bit nervously) and turned back around, nervously tapping her foot. While the exterior was poised and perfect, her interior was throwing itself off the edge of a psychological cliff.
I am going to die.
She didn't know exactly what made her think that, and partially didn't realize that it was herself who had thought that until a few seconds later.
She watched time tick slowly by, finally standing up and making way for the door at her usual time, the teachers and students ignoring her, used to her regular disappearance near the end of class.
As she exited, though, closing the door, she felt a pair of eyes following her the whole time.
Kristoff stared as Elsa left the classroom, watching her retreating back. Glancing up at the clock, he noted yet again the same punctual time she had left at. 3:20. Like always.
Something nagged at the base of his skull, reminding him of something, but he waved it away, trying to concentrate.
Later, he reminded himself. I'll look into it later.
Hans grinned, pulling a football out of his bag and spinning it offhandedly. He could feel the adoring eyes of most girls on him, even the ones with boyfriends. He often wanted to behave like the 'bad-boy' most jocks were, but being polite and gentlemanly was his key to success.
It also helped that he looked fabulous.
Making his way for the change room, Hans yanked off his tie, stuffing his bags in a locker and pulling on his jersey. Today was the final practice before the season started. He wasn't going to miss it for the world.
He took a swig of his water bottle, flexing muscles and tendons proudly, dumping the rest of the liquid in his hair. Nothing could stop him now.
Then he saw him. Or more accurately, them.
OK, maybe just her.
As he left the lockers, there, at one end of the field was his team. He could jog over and be the star player, like usual. Making the team would be definite.
Or, however, he could head to the other end, miss the start, and possibly not make the team at all because he had a hand in starting a fight.
With a heavy sigh and a last longing glance at the row of boys lined up neatly and ready to go, he began to run down to the other side, focused on the pair at the end.
He knew one of them. The other was a new face.
Duke was towering over a small blonde girl, speaking to her in quiet tones. As Hans ran nearer, he caught the tail end of their conversation.
"...and you'd better keep this up. They'll find out eventually, and then we're all screwed. Well, mostly you."
"I..." She hung her head, fists clenched. "Fine. As long as you follow my one term. Don't hurt-"
She was stopped mid sentence as Duke's fist slammed into her stomach, dropping her to the ground. "Shut up, Snow Queen! You'll do what I say, and you freaking do it no matter what!"
Hans's eyes widened, and he sprinted the final few feet, yelling to the boy, "Hey!"
As Duke's head turned sharply, he was met with a fist, reeling backwards with a growl. Stepping back, he surveyed Hans, spitting out, "Don't you know it's not nice to eavsedrop?"
"Don't you know it's not nice to hit a lady?" he replied with a sort of grin, pounding one hand into the other. "You should know better!"
"You don't know what you're doing, punk! Get out of the way!" Duke charged, swinging his fist wildly in an attempt to knock the boy aside.
Hans tutted, stepping to the left and kicking Duke's legs out from under him, finishing him with a blow to the temple. "Don't you know how to fight properly? Ameture."
He gave Duke one last kick, and turned to the fallen girl, extending his hand. "Hey, are you alright?"
She looked up, startled, and Hans froze. Blue eyes, platinum hair, pale skin... She was beautiful. Shaking his head, he knelt beside her, repeating, "Are you alright?"
"I-I... I don't..." She grabbed his hand, letting him pull her up, only to fall forwards into his arms with a squeak as her legs gave out. "Sorry!"
"It's fine," he laughed, one hand on her back, holding her where she was. "I'm Hans, by the way. Nice to meet you..."
"Elsa." She sighed, shifting in his arms to try and free herself. "I should really be going. You should too; you're missing the tryouts..."
Hans gave the boys at the other end a glance, shaking his head. "I can't. I've already missed half the practice. I'm disqualified for sure."
"But..." Elsa's eyes widened, and she jerked back as if burned. "You missed it because of me, didn't you?! It's my fault! Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." She backed up, arms raised defensively. "Please forgive me! I didn't mean to-"
He grabbed her right hand, giving her a warm smile. "It's OK. It's just football."
"But..." Something seemed to flash in her eyes, and she said flatly, "Go over there."
"Excuse me?"
"There's still time. Go on, go to your teammates. I'll fix this OK?"
"I already told you, it's fine! I didn't need to-"
"Go!"
Dropping her hand, he turned, giving her one last worried glance before jogging down the field. The other boys were lining up again, which was kind of weird...
He stumbled, and for a second the lights seemed to go out. When his eyesight came back into focus, he reached the end of the line, turning to give Elsa one last what-on-earth-are-you-doing glance, but to his disappointment, she'd already disappeared.
"Glad you could make it on time, Hans!" Fredrik 'Mammoth' Leopald, the senior in charge of the team, clapped Hans on the shoulder, flashing him a thumbs-up. "I know you'll do great as always!"
Hans grinned, replying, "Thanks Fre-"
He said on time.
On time.
As in, not late.
Just what was going on here?
Kristoff tapped his foot impatiently. Waiting in line was one thing. Waiting in a line that was a mile long was another.
And waiting in a long line for a new video game that could easily sell out before you even came near the beginning was an entirely different universe.
Trying to ignore the chatters of customers around him, Kristoff banged his head against the store wall, wishing he'd brought his phone. But noooo, the stupid machine had to get left in his bag, which was consequentially still in his locker.
The loudspeaker blared out the first few chimes of the waiting bell, and the impatient line slowly shuffled forwards, muttering and grumbling the entire time. As the crowd settled, Kristoff stood on the tips of his toes, trying to see the front of the line, he could just make out...
Yes.
There it was. The bane of his existence, the sole purpose of his being. His destiny, his future, the one thing he lived for. He called it 'perfection'.
Others knew it as 'The Death Behind the Frozen Darkness'.
Anna labelled it as 'lame'.
One of the newest self-developed inventions, The Freedom Association had recently developed a type of virtual reality that could be wired straight into a headset or glasses. Portable gaming mixed with high-quality graphics, along with a heart wrenching story line made the ConNet the most popular thing since bacon on burritos.
Of course, that also meant that every kid in the entire town wanted one. And would you know it, the only place they sold it was at The Freedom Association HQ.
So after school that Friday, the day of the release, all the boys in high school, and many kids from the elementary schools, along with adults and gamer girls rushed down to the hundred-floored building downtown, trying to get the first one.
Speaking of which...
The doors slid open, and a boy stepped out, a sleek white clip attached to the frame of his glasses. Coughing nervously at the silence that had entered when he stepped out, he tapped the power button lightly, waiting as it went from blank to neon green.
Everyone held their breath.
"Oh my GOD! It works! AND I'M THE FIRST TO GET ONE!" The teen fist-pumped the air, mimicking swinging a sword around, and became the first non-AI being to ever enter the world of ConNet.
Everyone broke into applause, cheering even louder and the doors slid open, revealing a room piled high with shelves and shelves of ConNets. The mob rushed forwards, and hours later there wasn't a single one left.
The Freedom Association's profits that day stretched into the millions.
Kristoff managed to entangle himself from the crowd, leaning against the shelves with a sigh. $199 dollars (and 99 cents) down the tube. At least it was worth it, though. As soon as his money was carefully counted and put into the register, he had been sucked into the world of ConNet. Already he had created his customizable character, cleared the first part of the Death Story Arc, and added thirteen people to his active party.
He was about to fold the screen down to become one with the net again, but something caught his eye.
Two something, actually.
A blonde and a redhead, both girls, standing in the middle of the packed storeroom, arguing over headset.
Kristoff sighed, muttering to himself, "Can I go anywhere without bumping into one of these two?"
He flipped his screen down, calling up their IDs, 'snowman-hunter14' and 'RegaleRoyale'. To his surprise, there was also a painfully familiar tag connected with theirs, one Kristoff only knew too well.
After all, who forgot a name like ' . . .you'?
He sighed, entering their conversation with a wave of his hand. As soon as he did, a green bubble popped up with a ding on their screens, and every single person stopped what they were saying. Finally, the hesitant voice belonging to 'snowman-hunter14' asked, "Um, are you Kristoff?"
He groaned, and answered sarcastically, "No, obviously I'm someone else with the username 'reindeerz-r-better-dan-people' pretending to be him."
Anna laughed. "That's Kristoff alright. What's going on?"
"Uh, I'm getting the most popular thing since the internet. I assume you are too?"
There was a minuscule pause, and she replied shakily, "Something like that."
"Excuse me," Hans coughed awkwardly. "Uh, what are you doing in our conversation?"
"I... Uh, just saw Anna? She's my friend, so I thought..."
"I'm sorry, Kristoff." Anna sighed, mic crackling with faint static. "This was a kind of personal thing... We were discussing something."
Kristoff's heart sank. "Fine... See you later, I guess?"
"Sure." Elsa spoke for the first time, adding, "And don't try to hack us. Or listen in."
He bit his lip. "Alright. I get it. Goodbye." Tapping the bright green button on the side of his headset, he shot one last glance at the trio before pushing his way out of the building.
"I never needed them anyways," he mumbled.
...Right?
Elsa breathed a sigh of relief as Kristoff exited the conversation, watching his retreating figure before she turned back to Anna and her virtual companion Hans. "OK, for the last time, I can't. I wish I could, and I'm sorry, alright?"
Hans made an impatient noise, retaliating, "But what happened wasn't normal, Elsa! You did something, didn't you?! That wasn't natural!"
"I told you-"
"And you ran away without telling me anything almost three weeks ago," Anna cut in. "You've been avoiding me ever since! What's going on?"
"I..."
"What are you hiding?" he demanded.
"What aren't you telling us?" she yelled,
"What are you so afraid of?" they asked, question dripping from their lips and into her mind like poison.
"ENOUGH!" Elsa shoved her way through the mob, ignoring the two people on the other end of her ConNet. A blast of icy air hit her as she ran out into the snow, white powder swirling around her like fog. In one swift motion she yanked off the headset, stuffing it into her pocket as she continued running, not knowing where she was going, or caring.
She heard the door slam, faint and distant, and heard Anna call her name, but didn't turn back. She pushed through the storm, not seeing where she was, only moving forwards faster and faster and-
Her foot slipped.
The edge of the bridge dropped away, and before she could even scream, she began to fall, ground rushing up to meet her.
No!
There was a soft thud.
Then everything went black.
Kristoff pulled his jacket around himself, walking faster and faster. Mind wandering back to the others' conversation, he grit his teeth. He was just a part of everything as they were! Why didn't they understand he had the right to know?
Somewhere in the storm, off to the right, he heard a scream. Almost passing it off as nothing, he continued walking, but froze when he heard a familiar voice yell a just as familiar name.
Anna was out there.
Kristoff veered off course, charging into the swirling cloud, searching for the source. "Anna! Where are you?!"
"Kristoff?!" She was in front of him now. Rushing forwards, he opened his mouth to reply, only to be stopped as she screamed, "Wait!"
He froze.
"You can't go farther! There's a ledge..." Her voice cracked, and she managed to cry, "It's all my fault!"
"What? What happened?" He groped around for her, finally latching on to her sleeve and pulling her close. "Did Hans do something? Did Elsa?"
"N-no..." She wiped at her cheeks, clinging to him as powder blew at their jackets, coating their hair with white. "I... Well, Hans and I... We went too far. We were trying to get her to tell us why she was being so... Mysterious, I guess. We were pushing, and she couldn't take it, so she just ran..."
At this, Anna motioned to the drop beside them, barely visible in the storm. "I don't think she saw this... All I know is that when I chased after her, she kinda just... Disappeared." A thought struck her, and she choked, "Kristoff, what if she's hurt. Or worse?! What if she's-"
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. It's probably not that far down. After all, the city can't just go leaving hundred foot drops lying around, can they?"
She gave a small giggle, corners of her mouth perking up. "No... I guess not."
"And if Elsa ran away again, she's going to have to learn she can't just hide from problems. We'll wait until tomorrow, and when you see her, talk to her rationally, alright? It'll work out."
"OK..." Anna smiled, wrapping her arms around the older boy in a hug. "Thanks, Kristoff."
He laced his arms around her, pulling her close. "You're welcome."
Hans stared at his screen, listening as the sounds of the two people he was conversing with abruptly died away. Seeing as they weren't coming back, he sighed, placing his ConNet on the desk and pulling down the blinds. It was almost night, which meant it was time for him to unwind a bit.
He groaned as his adoptive brothers' screaming trailed up the stairs, wishing they would be quiet for once. Sure, he was the thirteenth to be taken in, but was still the oldest, meaning that they were his responsibility while the caretakers were out. Sighing, he opened his bedroom door and stuck his head out, yelling, "Dylan! Mark! Behave yourselves! You're going to wake up Kevin!"
The eldest two grinned sheepishly, and dropped the 'borrowed' action figure. "Sorry, Hans," they chorused in unison.
"Thank you very much," he replied, slamming the door. As he reached for his bookshelf, a voice crackled to life from his ConNet, snippets reaching his ears, although it was barely audible due to the storm.
"...chased her... what if she just... disappeared... ledge and..."
Hans froze, slowly pacing over to the crackling device. "What in the-"
The signal was from RegaleRoyale.
"Elsa? What's going-"
There was a crash from downstairs, followed by screaming, and the boy jumped, accidentally thumbing the power button. Cursing, he threw open the door, yelling, "DYLAN! What did I just say?!"
Beep
Elsa jerked awake, eyes flashing open at the sound of her ConNet ending a call.
I guess I forgot to turn it off.
It was dark now, everything barely visible by the pale light of the moon. The city river lapped softly on the shore beside her, twenty feet away, rhythmic and gentle. Feeling beside her, she picked up the faintly glowing headset, which had fallen out of her jacket, and flipped up the display on the side.
"Wait, what? 10:57? Ah, no! Shoot..." She glanced around, barely making out a ladder built in to the side of the wall, which lead upwards and over to the city.
Elsa moved to get up, brushing several pounds of snow off in the process, and sighed, putting one hand in front of the other as she moved towards civilization.
Behind her, in the shadows, a light flicked on.
"Hello, Elsa."
She jerked back, eyes widening, and struggled to climb faster, reaching for the last rung-
A hand wrapped around her ankle, and she flinched, yanking herself over the ledge. With one last fear-filled stare at the figure at the bottom of the 10 foot drop, she ran, ran into the silent night.
The light dimmed, and a muffled voice crackled from the pit, "We have found her. We have found the Snow Queen."
Anna sat awake on her window ledge, staring out at the stars. As her mother had once said, before her untimely death, "If the sky's awake, and you're awake, then you know it's time to play."
She couldn't tear her mind away from the moment when Elsa vanished, guilt nagging at the back of her head. Where was she? Was she hurt? Was she mad at Anna? Why did she run?"
"Ahhghhgg... Go to sleep, sky," she complained, flopping back onto her bed. "'Cause if you don't, I don't, and I need my rest for tomorrow when I talk to Elsa about what happened... Aaaaand I just realized I'm talking to an inanimate object. Or being. Or just... Gah."
Anna twisted on her bed for a minute, trying to get comfortable, to no avail. When she got one part of herself comfortable, another would protest, and she eventually toppled out of the bed.
"Hmmph." As she got up, a green light caught her eye, making her freeze. Idea sparking, a wide grin moved across her face, and she whispered, "I wonder if anyone else is up right now..."
Kristoff dreamed about normal.
Normality, that is.
He dreamed of a life without mysteries, or secrets, or vanishing students, or whatever. Like what things used to be like, before the second term. When everything made sense.
Of course, though, when his ConNet blared out the first few notes of 'Fixer', he was picked up out of perfection and thrown back into the darkness of abnormal.
Also known as life.
Ready to give the person on the other name a very angry piece of his mind, he placed the headset over his ears and barked, "What?"
"That's no way to treat a friend, Kristoff..." Anna pouted, though he could tell from her tone she was just playing around.
"Anna, it's freaking 2:30 in the morning."
A pause. Then... "So?"
He slapped his forehead, and stressed, "It's 2:30. IN THE MORNING. People are trying to SLEEP."
"Oh... So, I should speak quietly, then?"
"That's not the point!"
He could almost hear her don't-care shrug. "Whatever."
"Why on earth are you even calling me, anyways?"
"Well, these are kinda new, and I can't fall asleep, so..."
"Anna, have you actually tried?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Like, try-tried."
She paused. "Well... Kinda. Sorta. Maybe. It's just I'm so worried about Elsa, ya know? Like maybe she doesn't come back? Or maybe she's mad at me? Or... Something! I don't really know, and honestly, Kristoff... I'm kinda scared."
The boy froze. Whoa. That escalated quickly. In the most gentle voice he could manage, he said, "It's OK to be scared. Everyone has their fears. Sometimes things don't work out, sometimes they do. You just have to let time take its route and work stuff out itself, OK?"
"O-OK..."
"And Anna?"
"...Yeah?"
"You've got a good heart."
He could almost hear her blushing. At least, he hoped he almost could. After a moment, she quietly mumbled, "Thanks. See you..."
Click
Kristoff shook his head half exasperatedly, half amused. Girls were so complicated. But then again, so was everything else.
Elsa hated clocks.
Not the physical representation of them, per say, but the embodiment that they constantly reminded you of. The pressure that they held, the way they forced time onwards with a flick of their arms. The agony that built up every day as she watched a clock, any clock, slowly count down the seconds until she was almost dying of fear and terror.
So yes, she hated clocks. Why?
Even she didn't know.
That day, when she was in that ever-familiar last period, fifteen minutes after three, she stood to leave. Not a single head looked up, used to her routine disappearances, and she made it out the door, like usual. The hall clock ticked. She walked faster, biting her lip.
Finally, Elsa made it to the end of the corridor. Glancing over her shoulder, she stepped into darkened hall off to the left, ducking into a small room on the side. After passing through another series of doors, she entered into a chamber made completely of metal, small lights along the floor. Within stood a circular bubble-like object, fastened to the wall, two circular ports indented on the front.
She took a breath. "One minute. That's it."
But...
Duke wanted more. As much as possible. If she didn't give it up, then the one person she cared about...
With her heart pounding, she flicked the switch on the machine and turned the knob all the way to the right. It couldn't be that bad. He couldn't possibly... Hands shaking, she pulled off her gloves and placed her hands on the device, squeezing her eyes shut.
"A-activate..."
The doors slid shut. The light flicked off.
Then all was silent.
Kristoff paced outside his locker, waiting. The nagging thought that appeared yesterday had exploded into an all-out itch, and he struggled to think off what it was.
Something from last period. Something about Elsa. Something about... What?
He slammed his fist into the locker, irritated, mumbling nonsensical words under his breath. Grabbing his bag and throwing on his coat, he stormed out into the cold, breath hanging in clouds around him.
Why did Anna have to skip school today? She had the perfect opportunity to talk with Elsa, but she stayed home...
To yell at her, or not to yell at her. That is the question.
The burning itch erupted with more intensity, almost driving the boy mad. Practically seething, he whipped out his headset, jammed it on his head, and mashed the power button, yelling into the mic, "Call 'snowman-hunter14'!"
"Did you say, 'Call bros and men for tea?'"
"Wha- No! Call 'snowman-hunter14'!"
"Did you say, 'Call no men under four trees?'"
"Ahhgh!" Kristoff swore, cursing, "Work, you stupid machine!"
"Did you say, 'Call snowman-hunter14'?"
He stared at the ConNet, dumbfounded. "Uh... Yes. Yes! I did."
"Connecting..."
Anna flinched as her headset buzzed, almost jumping from the shock. Composing herself, she pressed the side button and whispered, "Hello?"
"Where were you today?! You said you would talk to Elsa calmly about this, and-"
"Shh! Quiet! I'm kind of busy right now! Can you, um, call me back or something?" she pleaded hopefully. "Please?"
"What are you doing that's so important that you skipped an entire DAY of school? I swear, if you've just been moping around, I'll-"
"SHHH!" Anna glanced around fervently, and mouthed almost silently into the mic, "Look, this is really important. It's even worth skipping out on Elsa, alright? I promise, I'll be there tomorrow, OK?"
"Anna."
"Uh, yeah?"
"What are you doing." It was less of a question than a commanding statement.
She sighed. "Look, you can't tell, OK? Because, well, I'm in the west hallway, across from the no-access room two doors down."
"WHAT? You skipped school for THIS?"
"No, but you see, I WAS here today! Just... sorta hiding in a closet with my phone."
"WHAT?!"
"You see, I saw-"
"It doesn't matter! What is the point of hiding in a FREAKING CLOSET all day? Checking out the cleaning materials or something?"
"Kristoff, be quiet!"
"No! You are bordering on crazy, and I will not let-"
"Elsa went into the forbidden classroom," Anna burst out. "I'm waiting for her to come out, OK? Now shut it!"
Kristoff froze. "Wha..."
"Don't freak out!"
"I'm... I'm not..." His eyes widened. "That's it!"
"What's what?"
"The itch! The nagging, annoying little itch! I finally remember!"
"...I don't follow."
Kristoff ran into the school, not caring who he bumped into, talking the whole way. "Listen, I always thought something was up when Elsa left the classroom early, right?"
"Right..."
"But I never knew exactly what! But when you said that she went into that classroom, something clicked! What I was missing wasn't the fact that she was leaving, it was where she was going!"
"Oh... OH!"
"No one knew what she was doing in those minutes she left! No one ever thought to ask, and the teachers either did know, or didn't care!"
Anna made a shuffling noise from her end, and there was a loud click, followed by a groaning creak. "So if she's been going in here the whole time, then-"
"Then the answer to our questions lies behind that door."
Elsa bit her lip as a radiant blue light burst from her fingers, trying not to black out. The first time she did, she had ended up in a locked classroom for an entire night. It was not a pleasant way to go to sleep.
She mentally counted down while watching the timer, machine's hum growing louder and louder as it absorbed even more of the power she put forth. Each second ate away at her vision, slowly tinging the room a crimson red, the ceiling starting to spin.
At the halfway mark, Elsa collapsed. On her knees with her hands locked above her head, she felt her power slowly draining away. The timer wasn't visible, so she had no way to know when it would stop, and only a few thoughts that ran through her head actually made sense among the haze of pain.
At least it's working.
Oh God, why?
I am never doing this again. No matter what.
But the last was a lie. She knew that she would endure the same agonizing process again and again, if it meant saving the last spark of hope she had.
The last spark of salvation.
The cuffs retracted. The lights flashed on. Slumping to the ground, Elsa let herself rest a moment, before unsteadily drawing herself to her feet, leaning on the wall for support.
Well, that was enlightening.
The doors slid open.
Kristoff yanked Anna out of the closet, ignoring her protests, and rammed his shoulder to the door, trying to force it open.
"C'mon..."
"Uh, Kristoff?" Anna tried to reach forwards, but he held out a hand, shouldering the door again.
"I'm concentrating. Don't distract me." He shouldered the door again, and winced. "It's a little... Sturdy."
Another ram.
"Uh, you know there's a-"
"Shh!"
After a few more seconds of fruitless shoving, Anna sighed, walking over to the side of the door and pressing the button, causing the door to slide open with an ominous hiss.
"There's a button, genius."
He blinked. "Oh... I knew that."
"You did not!"
"Whatever. At least it's open now."
They turned, Kristoff half expecting a creepy monster of some sort to yank them into an abyss of nothingness. Instead, however, a small corridor led to another door, this one seemingly locked from the inside.
He groaned. "Well this is just great. I think I'm starting to hate doors now."
"I've got this one!" Anna ran up to the door and leaped at it, shoulder aimed above the middle panel...
...just as Elsa opened the door, causing the two girls to collide in the middle, sending them both to the floor.
"Ow."
Elsa blinked for a moment, and gave a small smile to Anna. "We really need to stop meeting like this."
"Omigosh! I'm sorry! Again!" Untangling herself from the older girl, she scooted back, a sheepish look plastered on her face. "So... Next time, knock first?"
The blonde raised an eyebrow, smirking, and replied, "Yes, that'd be nicer than another crash landing."
"Hey! I said sorry!"
Interrupting, Kristoff nudged Anna impatiently, whispering, "Aren't you going to ask?"
"About what?"
"About..." He trailed off, lost in thought. Yes, there were so many questions, but how to put them? Well, simple first, right?
"Why are you in here, and what are you doing?" he finally managed, sorting out his thoughts. "This is off-limits to everyone, you know."
Her smile disappeared faster than she had yesterday, replaced with an icy frown. "I know. I have my reasons."
"OK, fine... What about yesterday? Where did you go? What happened when you slipped off the edge?"
Elsa paled, eyes widening, lips parted in a silent 'oh'. "I... Nothing. I just blacked out for a bit. That's all."
"You blacked out?" Anna scrambled to her feet, hands over her mouth. "I didn't mean to make you run off! This is all my fault! Oh, did it hurt? Are you alright? Did I-"
"Anna. It's not your fault, no, it didn't hurt for very long, and I'm fine, alright? Just forget about it." She turned for the door, clutching her bag protectively. "I need to go."
"But I still have questions!" Kristoff protested, blocking the door. "Just a few more!"
She paused, eyes narrowed. "One question."
"Do you promise to answer?"
"What do you think?"
"Please?"
Eyes rolled. "Fine."
"What are the gloves for?"
Anna perked up, grinning. "Oh yeaaaaah! What are they for, anyways?"
Elsa shrugged, and pushed open the door, exiting into the hall. "Beats me."
"Bwah?! You said-"
"I didn't say when. Now goodbye."
Kristoff face-palmed. "I fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"
He bashed his head against the doorframe, instantly regretting it as a white hot bolt of pain shot through his temples, making him wince. "OK... Not one of my best ideas."
Anna giggled, leaning against the wall to contain herself. "You think?"
Olaf snuffled around on the ground, waiting for Elsa to come back outside. He lifted his tiny head to the snow and poked his nose into it, yanking his head back as the cold hit him. Of course, being the curious little kitten he was, he glared playfully at the offending pile before jumping into it with a joyful meow.
Sploosh
Shaking his head, spraying water everywhere, he clambered through the snow, proudly stamping on the remains of his enemies. So caught up in his romp outside, he didn't notice a shadow fall across his face, nor the unfamiliar scent of someone who was certainly not Elsa.
"Here kitty kitty..."
A bag folded over the oblivious kitten, who struggled for a moment, before deciding that it couldn't be that bad to explore a new place, right?
Right?
Seconds later, Duke threw the wriggling bag into the trunk of his car, jumping into the driver's seat with a thump. "Dukie's got some plans for you, cat..."
With the high-pitched squeal of the tires, the black vehicle sped off into the rapidly darkening night.
"Olaf? I'm done with my meeting. It's time to go."
Silence.
"Olaf?"
Elsa flipped her ConNet on, shining the side light over the snow for signs of the rebellious kitten. "Where are you?"
Tiny tracks led into the side of the bank, which led into a puddle. From there on, the snow was trampled so flat from the numerous students that the paw prints were impossible to distinguish from any other mark.
Straightening up, she walked over the lawn, worry gnawing at her stomach. He was probably fine, right? Just an adorable little fuzzball, all alone or lost or wandering around or something.
Swallowing nervously, Elsa tried to distract herself by fiddling with the different commands on her headset.
Rainbow lights. Music mixer. VR Vision. X-Ray. Scan mode. Video camer-
Scan mode?
Tapping the filter, Elsa looked over the snow, watching as the computer put together a series of incidents that could have happened. Soon the screen was so crowded with possibilities that she had to zoom in on the footprints, excluding all other things from the screen.
Tracks highlighted in orange, they led into the middle of the grounds, then simply... Vanished.
Frowning, the girl tapped again, this time focusing on a small range around the prints. After scanning for a few seconds, another series popped up, this time adding a pair of blue marks that moved towards the orange and surrounded it, making it disappear.
The gnawing in Elsa's stomach increased, but she shook it off. Someone just probably took him to the animal shelter or something. After all, no one could possibly have any need for a little kitten, anyways.
She sighed, worry still lingering, and began to make her way through the dim, silent streets, coat hanging loosely from her shoulders. Another confrontation with Anna and Kristoff had left her more exhausted and nervous than ever. Even she was tiring of secrets.
Raising her head to the skies, she managed one last question, one last call to her missing friend.
Olaf, where are you?
No answer came.
Only time would tell.
Woop woop! One week! New record!
You guys are lucky. I've been running of half a tank of sleep the whole year, just to write this. BOW BEFORE ME WITH REVIEWS, OR I WILL TERMINATE YOUR PEOPLE!
JK. But please review if you liked!
Thanks to all who did, and all the followers. You are epic awesome-tastic!
Next chapter might be out in two weeks. School is... Yeah.
TEDDY DA HERO, OVER AND OUT!
