Chapter 11: The Entrance to the Subconscious
by 4EVERA POLARBEAR LOVER

Despite the glove that wrapped solidly around his hand, the freezing cold of the ice ball emanated so strongly that Oliver was sure it would have ripped through the garment. Luckily, his dance with Death had decided to stop at the moment.

His once fast paced steps, were now hesitantly wandering the halls of his past home. The familiar dimly lit kitchen, was the last memory he had before he had left. Oliver looked about, feeling lost; he couldn't help but wonder, and his thoughts were on the verge of side tracking him. But, just as he was about to lose himself in his fuddled thoughts, he saw him.

A shadow, just a few feet farther away, but increasingly getting without of his grasp.

"Wallace." Oliver mumbled, picking up his pace. His feet began to hit against the cold ground again. A surge of courage sudden took hold of him. "STOP!" his voice louder than he remembered.

The known shadow ahead of him down the hallway dared to look back, only to quicken his pace. They were both unsteady on their feet, and Oliver still held a promising grip on the ice ball. Oliver was gaining, and the distance was closing between them. The hallway seemed to stretch for an infinite distance, that was, until Oliver caught the first steps of an upcoming staircase. Wallace's steps pounded the stairs, and Oliver followed.

Midway on the staircase, Wallace turned around, surprising the boy behind by throwing a found frame at his face. Oliver let out a yelp of surprise, but the frame landed in front of him instead. As he ran past, he couldn't help to take in the shattered image of his family photo. Oliver looked up, unintentionally stepping on the broken pieces of glass. Oliver screamed, and threw the iceball square at Wallace's back.

The man fell face first, just a few steps before reaching the top of the stairs. Oliver's quickened breaths slowed as he no longer was running. He walked the few steps up to Wallace's body. He passed it, only staying long enough to watch as the iceball consumed Wallace's limp form. He withdrew his eyes away.

He had already seen too much death.

-x-

Kaz struggled to breath, the pain in his abdomen although not as vivid, was not decreasing at all. He couldn't even sit up. His vision was influenced as well; everything in front of his eyes were unfocused and blurry.

"Kaz...Are you awake?"

Sklyar?

Kaz groaned in reply, unable to form words. His mind was too occupied by the recurrence of pain and defenselessness. He blinked, hoping to chase away some of the fuzz in his mind. However that was not to happen. Instead, Kaz found himself drifting into darkness quicker than he expected.

No. No. NO!

Kaz didn't give in too easily; he was not going down without at a fight.

-x-

Oliver walked about the hallways of his past home, lost in what was supposed to be the normal. The lights were dim, barely turned on. With Clyde gone, a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Although, not all of it.

The silence around him was eerily and much too quiet to be considered real. Oliver caught sight of a window a short distance down the hallway. He walked towards it, curiousity calling to him. Within a few strides he was besides the window, taking in the familiar streetlight scenery that he remembered.

As fingertips grazed the cool glass, and his eyes scanned the streets for any signs of life.

Instead, his scenic view was interrupted by an out of place building. It loomed above other homely structures that surrounded his block. It almost resembled the old factory that he had previously been hiding in. Oliver blinked, brows furrowed in slight confusion. An uneasy feeling began to grow within his gut, and without a second thought he raced back to the hallway, a suddenly shorter distance now and out of the house headed in the direction of the factory.

-x-

Jordan blinked, feeling slightly lightheaded. The air felt knocked out of her and pushed into her lungs all at once. She looked around, trying to grab her groundings. She was reminded of home as her eyes passed by the scenery around her.

She turned a full circle to suddenly face the closed door of the Domain, and out of built up fear, she took a few cautious steps back, nearly slamming her back into a light pole. Jordan felt cornered and fearful, and without a thought she ran blindly through the streets that were supposed to be familiar. She ran through her past life.

-x-

It was difficult to breathe, yet somehow, Kaz managed to complete the task. Skylar besides him on the floor was silent, eyes not wanting to meet his. In the silence that they were both enduring together, Kaz had found the time to take in his friend's new state.

Strands of brown hair clung to her tear streaked fast, despite not crying, her face was still soaked from her already used tears. Her skin was slightly paler, portraying the lack of energy she had to give. She had lost much of her physical form from his previous attack, and the sight of her missing limbs brought guilt to his thoughts. Still, she managed to tend to him, finding some gauze and bandages in a hidden first aid kit. He had awoken to laying rather closer to the couch then he remembered. His wound was bandaged, and placed underneath his limp hand was a small ice pack, which he instantly melted upon his revival.

"Th-thanks." Kaz's uttered words shattered the silence, immediately bring Skylar out of her submerged trance. Her eyes flickered over to him, but quickly left as soon as they were to meet his. "Thank you"

"Nothing to thank for really." Skylar replied, voice barely leaving a whisper. They were both leaning on the bottom of the couch for support, feeling overall, numb.

"What do we do now?" Skylar questioned, tired eyes staring at Horace's frozen form just a mere feet away. Kaz let out a frustrated sigh, pulling his eyes away from the doctor.

"Horace is frozen, what is there to do?" Kaz replied flustered, letting a hand fall to his side. He his head in his hand, eyes closed shut to try and tame his unstable emotions. Too many times had they gotten hold of him.

"Hey," Skylar stated, strongly. "We're not going to give it. It isn't something we do." She sat up straighter, eyes turning to land on Kaz. "We've got to find a way to thaw him." she added determinedly.

"That's impossible. That's my ice, Skylar. Mine." Kaz shot at her. He would have stood up to emphasize his point, but the beginning strain in his abdomen limited him to only movement in his arms. Kaz groaned, the pain getting to him.

Skylar sighed, her breath echoing in the newfound silence.

-x-

Jordan stared at it, feeling confused. The factory building was large, dark and intimidating. But the longer she took in its cover, the more Jordan felt that this factory was a safe haven for her.

She had spent God knows how long in this "world" and she felt the need to confine in this odd and out of place building. Jordan stepped up to the door, pushing upon it. To her disappointment she found the door jammed, and as hard as she punched, it only wobbled and heaved at her touch, never more. She punched the door in her frustration, letting her hand rest on its frame.

Suddenly, she looked up to see small bits of smoke, escape her gloved palm. She quickly removed her hand to see a burnt hole on its frame. She blinked, slightly intimidated by her strong power. With a reassuring breath she brought two fingers to the door and traced a large enough circle. It burnt through the door, and the flames settled at her command. Jordan stepped into the room.

The dimly lit space was serene and quiet. It was the exact escape that she needed. But what she received next wasn't what she wanted.

From the shadows an attacker pounced her, and in fear her powers took over. Her gloved hand was wrapped around his neck in a choke hold before she knew what was happening. As air escaped his body, her gloved hand burned his skin.

She couldn't get herself to stop.