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Chapter 4: Haunting
"Thanks again for being there, Elsa." Anna said as they got off from The Scream. She was still a little bit shaky from the ride, but she's getting back to her composure, so she isn't worried anymore. After all, it was the last ride in the amusement park. They managed to take up the whole day hanging out, and Anna saw that the time was already 8:11 in the evening. Surprisingly, her stomach hasn't growled at all. Well, they did manage to grab some lunch and snacks in between the rides, so she still felt full.
"No problem," Elsa was about to say something else, but she closed her mouth and discontinued. She halted in the middle of walking and spotted one of the booths that had those insanely hard and challenging games, had an object she wanted.
Anna stopped as well when she noticed Elsa wasn't walking beside her anymore. She followed the direction of the blonde's stare. "You want something from the booth?"
"I can't believe it." Elsa's cobalt eyes grew wider as she walked directly to the booth filled with crazy neon lights and ridiculous sounds. She didn't notice Anna following right behind her.
"They have a snowman." Elsa finally spoke after a while of staring at the huge stuffed toy in front of her.
The snowman was divided into three round white balls that looked like snow, and three black buttons are on its body. Underneath its bottom are two stubs of the same white balls as its legs. It has two slender arms that look like sticks and three twigs on its head that resemble small strands of hair. Its head was oval-shaped with some buck teeth, and it had a carrot for a nose, which made it cuter.
"You like snowmen?" Anna went beside Elsa, asking curiously.
"I love snowmen." Elsa emphasized.
Anna held her laughter at how Elsa's face was right now. It was so priceless! Elsa was just staring at the snowman with bulging eyes, mouth opened, like she was about to jump and snatch it like some kind of lunatic that escaped the depths of a psych ward. Anna figured the snowman was probably the jackpot prize, based on how huge it was compared to the other stuffed animals in the booth.
"You two lovely ladies want to win a prize?" The stubby and long bearded man with a 10 Flags uniform approached them from the booth.
Elsa and Anna examined the game. It required the player to hit ten bottles stacked together, making sure that every single bottle falls down. Nothing should be left standing in the counter. Other folks tried to hit all the bottles, but eventually they failed. Some still had a few bottles, while the others didn't get to hit anything at all.
"Sorry, but I'm not good at these games." Elsa's eyes fell down, since she did want that snowman.
"I'll do it." Anna volunteered, giving the employee a few tokens to play the game.
"Really?" Elsa was shocked at Anna's enthusiasm.
Anna nodded and gave her a quick thumbs up. She didn't care if she was doing this for a girl her family despised, because right here, right now, she owed Elsa for putting up with her the whole day, and for being there when she felt scared. And she hated to admit it, but she kind of thinks Elsa is alright, and that she is a good person after all. "I'm gonna win you that snowman, Elsa."
Elsa's pale cheeks slowly blushed, and she let out a shy smile. Anna was a delightful sight, and she didn't know why, but that made her heart stop and melt.
"Here you go, ma'am." The employee handed Anna three balls. "You get three shots at hitting all ten."
Anna grabbed one ball and was surprised at how soft it was. How could a ball this soft hit all those bottles? No wonder people couldn't hit all ten, no matter how hard they tried.
But of course, Anna knew that when running a business like this, everything had to be sneaky to get more profit at the end of the day. She started to focus. She eyed the bottles intently, calculating each and every piece, thinking of all the numerous possibilities she would get if she hit the right side, the left side, up, down, or middle. Then she knew what she was going to do. Anna positioned her body like a softball player, cocked her head slightly, bit her lips, and threw the ball towards the target. As the ball was moving, everyone in the booth anticipated.
The ball finally hit the bottles with so much impact from Anna's tenacious throw and every single bottle fell to the floor, leaving nothing behind. All eyes were glued to Anna, with a bunch of jaw dropping due to the performance.
"Wow," The employee applauded, and soon every person in the booth followed, very impressed. "That was your first try too! Here, you deserve this."
The man handed Anna the gigantic stuffed snowman, and for an item that's really soft like a pillow, it was kind of heavy.
"That was incredible, Anna!" Elsa cheered happily, amazed at Anna's skill.
"Here you go, as promised." Anna handed her the snowman.
"Thank you so much!" Elsa giggled upon receiving the snowman. "I can't believe you're actually giving this to me."
Anna out of nowhere gave the tall girl a hug. "I should be the one thanking you. You made me conquer my fears today, it's the least I could do."
Elsa smiled at the words that came out of the girl's mouth. She wanted to hug her back tightly, but unfortunately, the snowman was too big, and it was blocking her arms from doing so.
"So, what should I call this precious thing?" Elsa asked as they both walked to the path leading to the parking lot.
"Hmm," Anna thought of possible names a snowman could have. "What about Olaf?"
Elsa paused, and gave the name a chance. "That's perfect!" She then held out Olaf's arms, faced Anna, and imitated a silly voice. "Hi I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!"
Anna chuckled and rolled her eyes at Elsa's small act. "Oh, Olaf."
"Where did you learn to throw like that?" Elsa asked, and she has been curious ever since Anna knocked all the bottles at the booth in one try.
"I think it's because I love fitness, sports, and the outdoors too much." Anna confessed.
"What sports do you play?"
Anna's brain recalls all the sports she did and ended up twitching her brows while doing so. "Basketball, volleyball, bowling, soccer, tennis, fencing, swimming, water polo, track, cross country, rock climbing, taekwondo, softball, baseball, cycling, billiards, archery, golf-,"
"Let me guess, you play everything?" Elsa interjected.
"Not everything, there are a lot of sports out there, Elsa." Anna dreamt of being able to learn every sport out there. Yes, she was such a fitness junkie and sports geek, but Anna always thought that the outdoors and being fit is the best part about life. Going to the gym, and doing extraneous activities helped her get away, after all.
"What about you?" Anna asked Elsa, since this seemed like a game of 50 questions. "You play sports?"
"I prefer not to do anything extraneous."
"Like?" Anna's eyes diverted to Elsa's fedora. Normally, she thinks most of the people who wore fedoras don't look good with the head piece, but the girl in front of her was an exception.
Elsa highbrowed. "Reading, singing, playing instruments-,"
"What instruments do you play?" It was now Anna who cuts off Elsa's sentence.
In spite being such a great guitarist, Elsa did know how to play other instruments. "Piano, ukulele, violin, clarinet, flute, bass drums, recorder, the harp, bagpipes, harmonica, guitar-,"
"Let me guess, you play everything?" Anna gave Elsa a playful smirk, teasing the older girl.
That's how you want it, aye? "Not everything, there are a lot of instruments out there, Anna." Elsa countered, giving a smile of victory.
Anna pouted out of nowhere, and it was the first time Elsa saw this action, which made her jaw clench. She couldn't help but just fall under Anna's spell. She couldn't believe Anna had so much impact on her, and they just became friends two days ago. And Anna was also a person she shouldn't be talking to because of the family situation.
"You should play me a song sometime. With your guitar. " Anna was being honest. She never heard anyone play the guitar in front of her yet, and she would want to know the feeling.
"Fine." Elsa replied, and they finally arrived at the parking lot.
"Don't worry Anna, mommy will come back soon." Anna's mother picked her from the ground and carried her for comfort.
Anna was seven years old, and even though she was getting older and taller, her mom would always carry her in her arms, knowing it was a way to make the young redhead happy. "You promise?"
"I promise." Her mother gave her a tender smile. A smile she would never forget. Her mom's smile influenced the way she smiled while growing up. The older woman had the same features Anna did, except for the hair color. She had the same rosy complexion, the same brush of freckles, and the same cerulean colored eyes. She gave Anna a quick kiss on the cheek and put her back down.
Anna wanted her mom to stay, and forget about going somewhere else. She wanted to run to the woman and hold on to her until her mom would decide to stay after all. She was going to miss her mother so much, and she knew that without her, she was going to face the horrors of the world alone.
Her mother's smile disappeared as she headed towards the doors of the airport. She held a suitcase in her hand, and looked back, giving her daughter a quick glance. Anna saw a stream of tears running down her mother's face, and she couldn't take it anymore. She ran towards her mom, screaming her name. But something stopped her from going to her mom. Someone.
Her father grabbed her shoulders, really hard, almost crushing her small and delicate bones. He was glaring at her with so much anger, and his eyes were intense and red telling her to stop calling her mom. Her sister, Ariel was there as well, laughing at her with so much mockery and enjoyment. She used all her force to break from her father's grasp, and she was freed. When she looked to see if her mom was there, no she wasn't. She was gone.
"NO! MOM! COME BACK!" Anna woke up in the middle of the night to find herself screaming. She sat up, sweating, heart beating so fast, and she felt her cheeks soaking. She was crying.
She couldn't believe it, the nightmare returned. She thought it would vanish forever, but it came back. She clicked the switch of her lampshade on the bedside table, and found her mom's picture beside it. Anna snatched the frame and stared at her mother's portrait. More and more tears came out of her eyes and she couldn't stop.
"Why didn't you just take me with you mom?" She sobbed, holding the picture close and took it to an embrace. It's the closest thing she had to getting a hug from her beloved mom. The closest thing to being in her mom's arms again.
After a moment, she dialed Kristoff's number.
Kristoff answered, voice hoarse, and was clearly half-asleep. "Anna? Seriously, it's 4 am!"
"Kristoff, I need to tell you something." Anna's tone was shaky, and faint sobs echoed.
"Anna, are you crying?" Kristoff suddenly woke up. Hearing his best friend cry bolted him out of his sleepy state.
"I had the dream again." Anna managed, wiping her tears away. "Can we meet at the park later?"
Then she hung up.
Kristoff got worried. He couldn't believe Anna was having that dream again. And after all she's been through getting rid of it.
It was about 8 in the morning, and Kristoff set out to get ready for his run with Anna. She didn't actually say they were going to exercise, but she did say they were going to meet at the park. Usually, when Anna invites him to the park, it actually meant 'hey let's go for a quick run'. If in this case Anna didn't want to go to the trail and run, then that was fine with him too. All he wanted was to be there for his best friend, like she has always been there for him.
Kristoff Bjorgman met Anna Spade in second grade and he could remember her fierce yet friendly aura, which of course, still remained within her today. Let's just say Kristoff wasn't the popular boy at elementary. He was often mistreated and harassed by other boys in his class to boost their own self esteem. He thought it was the end of the world and he didn't even want to go to school anymore. Once, he encouraged his neurosurgeon parents that he should just be homeschooled, which his mom and dad completely disagreed with the idea, saying that his education should be at a school.
But Anna helped him. She punched one of the boys who made fun of him, and the bully went home crying and came to school the next day with a broken nose. She taught him to be confident, to be able to stand up to all those bullies and to face the reality that all those mean adjectives he got weren't true. And in no time, Kristoff became much stronger, and he started to have faith in himself.
He also had his fair share of being there through Anna's ups and downs. He was the first person she ever came out to, and they were both in seventh grade back then. He knew Anna played for the other team, even before she knew it herself, so it was sort of a confirmation instead of a shocker. He was there during her first heartbreak of a girl she liked in eighth grade, he was there when she won her medal for being the best student in PE class, he was also there when she failed her Algebra 1 quiz last year, and of course, he was there during her darkest of days. Those times she cried about Mrs. Spade, the times Mr. Spade and Ariel would ignore and shut her out, and those times with the disturbing and sorrowful nightmares. And now, they reappeared.
Kristoff shuddered at the memory, and he quickly puts on a pair of gray sweatpants, the prep school's red hoodie, and he didn't mind that his blond hair looked like a mess, since he covered it with a plain old beanie. He grabbed his running shoes, and dashed out of the door, heading to the park.
He arrived and the venue was still deserted. He checked his watch.
8:37 am.
He spotted a familiar redhead sitting on one of the benches near the playground.
"Anna!" He called out and ran to her.
Anna heard her name and looked to see Kristoff panting. "Well aren't you out of shape."
"Really," Kristoff pulled the sleeve of his hoodie up and flexed his arm. A great amount of biceps arose. "Explain it to my guns, feisty-pants."
Anna returned a small smile, which he was glad to see. But he could also see that Anna's eyes were exhausted from all the tears that were probably produced. She might be smiling, but her eyes show a different story.
He sat next to her. "Anna, was it…" He couldn't even find the words to say it.
"It was mom, the same thing as before." Anna started to feel her eyes tear up again.
"Oh Anna," Kristoff squeezed her tightly. He didn't want to see her like how she was years ago. Anna couldn't help but cry again, and he patted her on the back. "Just let it out."
Anna whimpered at the comfort of Kristoff's shoulder, and she produced a sound of torment that scarred anyone who would hear her.
'You have a message!' Elsa's phone alerted.
She was already awake, but she rather chose to lie down on her bed, being the lazy ass person she is to get up and start her day. She unlocked her phone, to see that it was a message from her best friend in the whole world, Hans Westergaard. Well, no offense to Hans, whom she loved dearly like family, but she kind of hoped it was Anna who texted her.
After their time together at the amusement park yesterday, there was something that intrigued her to know more about the sophomore. Anna did tell her a few things, and the way the younger one acts shows a lot more. Elsa quickly made a mental note on stuff she knew and observed so far.
Anna was a sophomore who loved chocolate, who goes to the same school as her, who devoured an entire plate of gumbo in one bite, a girl who is terrified of extreme rides but isn't afraid of extreme sports, Anna was sarcastic…very sarcastic, but in a good way. She was strong too, due to being obsessed with the gym, which made Elsa imagine Anna in the gym itself, lifting some weights, with such a fit and toned body… She wondered how toned though.
Focus, Elsa. Can you not?
Elsa grabbed Olaf, which was right beside her on the bed, and examined him. Flashbacks of her time with Anna yesterday kept coming back. Then she continued.
Even though back then Anna usually showed a tough exterior around her, the past few days had really made Elsa's thoughts change. Anna was actually really sweet, and soft. Her cerulean eyes, and freckles added to that sweetheart look as well.
Elsa couldn't stop smiling like an idiot now. She also remembered holding Anna's hand, which was kind of sweaty, due to nervousness, but it was still soft. And the best part was Anna's hug. She could remember the floral scent Anna harbored.
Anna, why do you have to be so adorkable.
Immediately, her phone rang again, realizing she hasn't read Hans' message.
Hans: You gotta help me with the homework for Economics.
Elsa remembered she also had homework due tomorrow, and she didn't do it yet.
Elsa: I will try. Do you wanna meet up for breakfast?
Hans: Sure, in the regular place?
Elsa: You know it.