Author's Note: *disclaimer: I do not own Monster High*

I have so much more planned for this story. And so many characters. So many things coming. So many.

Thanks again for all the reviews! I really enjoy them. If you're still reading this author's note, wow. I know I usually skip these when I see them. Especially when I see the author telling me to review. It's like a youtuber urging you to subscribe. But now, being on the other side of things, I get it. And if you're someone who's reading this down the line when this fic's existed for months or maybe even years, I know I'll be 100% ok with a review even then. But it's up to you. The story's here so that you enjoy it :)

Okay, enough about all that.

Here's chapter four...

Sun's down," Iris remarked as she held the door open.

"Is only five in afternoon," Abbey replied, glancing at the beat-up alarm clock near the makeshift bed I resided on. Did that clock even run on electricity? It was probably the only thing in the cave that did.

"Fangtastic. When will winter end?" Iris grumbled under her breath. Abbey ignored her and ushered her mammoth, Shiver, to a little pet bed.

"How long do you think Venus will be?" Iris asked.

"How would I be of knowing?" Abbey retorted.

I was still wrapped in my blanket on the cot on the floor, the mug I was drinking hot chocolate from set to the side. Pulling the blanket around me, I rose from the makeshift bed. "Why does she look like that?" I interjected, glancing at the two ghouls for an answer.

"Who? Venus?" Iris asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, she blames it on the Queen and how she ruined so much of her hometown, but she's been a traveling a lot ever since she's joined the group. She's been getting herself in some pretty messy situations since then. Like this one time—"

"You need rest," interrupted Abbey, ushering me back onto the mattress.

I attempted to protest, but Abbey's expression looked so sincere and concerned as if she worried I'd fall apart. I nodded and sat back down on the cot, snug in the blanket around me. I wasn't tired whatsoever and, assuming these two ghouls' theory was true, I have been unconscious for five years. I wondered how and why but, right now, asking questions I couldn't answer made my head throb.

"Oh, please don't worry, Cleo," Iris pleaded. Apparently, my discomfort was palpable to the two ghouls.

I attempted to show them otherwise, but they didn't seem to buy my sudden smile.

"We will rest as well," Abbey chimed in. "In fact, we all will be in sleep for the night now."

Abbey scurried over to a long bed at the edge of the room, its covers uncannily resembling her dress. Iris spread her coat onto the floor since I was currently occupying the spare mattress. As soon as we were settled, Abbey blew out the candle lighting the room. The cave blackened, and I inadvertently tensed. There was nothing to be afraid of, but my body acted as if there was. I felt fine. There was nothing wrong with being in the dark.

"Goodnight!"

-.-.-.-

It felt like I had been staring at up at nothingness for hours until Venus returned. Moonlight and a cold wind burst into the cave when the door opened.

"They went to sleep already?" Venus groaned. She closed the door, and darkness consumed the cave once more. I heard Venus scuffle around until a thump sounded and I jumped.

After what I assumed to be a few minutes, soft breathing joined Iris' gentle snores and Abbey's loud ones. Venus fell on the floor and slept. I held back a laugh. As odd as it was, I had to admit that it was one way to get to sleep. Everyone, even Shiver, was asleep.

Everyone except me, of course.

Left awake in the darkness, I had unwanted time to contemplate everything. It was more than enough to take in. Here I was, enclosed in an ice cave with sleeping strangers—or, monsters from my past, rather—and I had no idea who I was. Abbey said I was Cleo de Nile and, as familiar as the name was to me, it didn't quite fit. At least it didn't feel like it did. How could I have a name and not feel like it's mine? One thing was clear: I wasn't going to find any answers here.

After another eternity of staring up into nothingness, I rose from the cot; my foot hit the clock when I took a step forward. I took more steps toward the direction where I believed the door to be until I bumped into the icy cave wall. I placed my hands on the wall until I hit the crease that separated the door from the cave, and I opened it. Moonlight lit the room, and I giggled at Venus' slumped position on the cave's floor. I looked over at the clock and saw a few hours had passed since we went to bed. They shouldn't miss me. They're all asleep.

I'd be back before they knew it.

-.-.-.-

I was about thirty feet away from Abbey's cave when I regretted my decision. My clothes were not suited for this kind of weather: a short blue and gold dress with elbow-length sleeves and, unfortunately, made with thin fabric. But the gold belt was nice. Faded bandages were wrapped around my legs and the shoes, though impressively detailed, were high heel wedges meant for desert sand, not snow. I wondered how I had been capable of walking out of the room I woke up in, a crypt, with these shoes. Let alone be able to withstand the cold once I fainted... Thank Ra Abbey was there to save me.

Thank Ra. That seemed like a term Cleo de Nile would use. I smiled to myself. Maybe I was getting better.

Tonight, the sky showed only the crescent of the moon peeking out from clouds blocking the stars. The snow numbed my feet. I didn't know where I was going or what I meant by leaving, but maybe I just wanted to clear my head.

As if it wasn't already clear enough.

If I headed back to the crypt, I could try to open that sarcophagus again. Maybe the monster inside could give me clues about why I was in one earlier. I glanced at the sky as I ambled onward, but then my foot dropped into an unexpected patch of snow. I lost my balance and tumbled forward. Snow engulfed me as I rolled down the slope, and I was so numb I didn't realize when I finally stopped moving.

Shivering, I stood up and brushed snow off my rear. My teeth chattered and I couldn't feel my hands. I turned around to look back up at the mountain. Abbey's cave could barely be seen in the distance. I let out a shaky sigh. It would already take long enough to return and even longer to find the crypt. I tried to walk up the mountain, but I was so numb. What if I trekked up there but ended up losing my balance because I couldn't feel my legs? I shook off whatever snow remained on me, hoping that would help me despite the cold.

Just as I regained sensation of my limbs, an icy hand was over my mouth and someone began to pull me back. I struggled to break free but it was no use.

"You shouldn't be here," a deep voice hissed into my ear. I attempted to scream and bite into his hand but it had no affect on him. Then he released his grip. I was about to run when he shoved something soft into my face, and when I tried to get away my body grew weak.

I fell forward into the snow.

-.-.-.-

I blinked open my eyes. The floor was cold, and blurs of teal and gold formed into the decorations of a spacious, lavish room. My hands were tied behind my back, and my mind burned with an inexplicable headache. I began to stand up.

"Stay down," a voice—the same as the one who attacked me—said. I did as he commanded, fearful of the consequences. I lay awkwardly at my side as I observed what was in front of me. A—what was that? A... throne? Was I in a throne room? If that was the case then...

I raised my head from the floor and saw someone seated on the throne. She wore a long white dress with long sleeves and a teal trim; her hair was put up and on it rested an opulent gold tiara. Her outfit was stylish, but it didn't seem right to me. It didn't look like something she would wear...

I recognized her.

I wasn't aware of the name yet, but I knew her the instant I saw her.

Mint green skin, black and white hair... There was no doubt. This was the Queen, and I knew her.

Then her lips parted and she spoke,

"You may now rise before Queen Frankie Stein."