Chapter 2: A Night At The Musical

Elsa threaded one of her earrings into her ear and sighed. Her grim reflection looked back at her. This was a mistake but she had to start making up for all her absents over the past three years. A sigh came out of her as she stared into her broken mirror. Why is life doing this to her? Oh right, it was karma. Another sigh came out of her. Guess she better get going. She hesitated as she reached for her purse. Should she be doing this? It kept going round and round and round her head. She gazed back into the mirror. Well, at least she looked the part. Donning on a simple blue dress with matching heels, it was probably the first time she was in half-decent clothes in about three years.

Grimacing and forcing herself, she snatched up her purse and headed out the door. Anna was already in her driveway, honking the horn with a smile on her face. Last chance, Elsa thought to herself. There was a split second in which she did consider sprinting back into her house but she just kept forcing herself to keep putting one foot after the other. Opening the door, Elsa sat down on the passenger side of Anna's car.

"Hey, sis!" Anna said, a little too happily for Elsa's liking. "Ready to hit the theatre up?"

"I guess?"

The drive to the theatre was short which Elsa was grateful for. She hadn't exactly hung out with her younger sister for a while now and the silence was killing her. It wasn't like Elsa didn't notice the looks Anna was shooting her as they waited in traffic and the awkward taps she did on the steering wheel. The radio was playing some old songs from the early 2000s but Elsa wasn't really listening. She was more intent on looking out the window at the night sky.

"So, um," Elsa cast her mind around for a subject they could neutrally discuss, "what's this play we are going to?

"It's about musical a woman who is in love with her female best friend but they live in a narrowed minded town. It's supposed to be the best thing since Hamilton."

"Oh, sounds interesting."

They got to the theatre about ten minutes before the show started. Quickly rushing into the building, they managed to find their seats just before the curtain was raised and it centred on a girl walking around a town. The orchestra started to play the introduction to the first song of the night and the girl started to sing.

"Oh, love is indeed a fickle thing, everyone wants that diamond ring," the girl paused for dramatic effect and suddenly all the townspeople extras started into a group dance scene. "Swing this way, don't swing over there, it's more than I can practically bear."

Elsa let herself be consumed with the play. It was probably the first time in the last three years in which she was granted permission to think about something…. other than that. The play was actually really good although Elsa's eyes kept flicking towards the main character's little brother. He was the exact same age as…Stop it she told herself. She tried to mentally shake herself but it only got worse from there.

Intermission came and it was a chance for everyone to stretch their legs. Elsa walked over to the bar and ordered a strong drink. In the background, she could see Anna looking over at her with a sad expression. Okay, so she may have a problem but she didn't care. In fact, it had been a while since she cared about herself. Elsa drained the glass in one go and headed back to where Anna was standing holding the program.

"What do you think of the play so far?" she asked when she noticed that Elsa was back.

"It's good," Elsa shrugged. To be honest, it was a brilliant play that accurately described life for the LGBT+ community in a small town in the early sixties but Elsa's mind was hovering elsewhere. It was that boy playing the younger brother.

"You okay?" Anna seemed to notice that Elsa's mind was wandering elsewhere.

"Brilliant," Elsa lied. When she saw that Anna looked like she was going to push this further, she hurriedly opted for a change in subject. "Let's get back to our seats, it's nearly time for the third act."

Anna raised her eyebrows but she didn't say anything further. The play started back up only a few minutes after they got back to their seats. The third act passed pretty quickly but towards the end was not something Elsa expected. The whole town had found out about the two lovers and the main character's male wannabe love interest was holding a gun against her head. That's when it happened. The younger brother screamed out for his sister.

"Please stop! Please don't do this!"

Those words… sparked something in Elsa's brain.

Suddenly she was standing in front of a small boy who was screaming those exact words. Elsa could feel the sweat pouring down her face. Her whole body was twitching. The stage kept flashing in and out. Gunfire could be heard, echoing around her.

Please stop!

"Elsa?" the voice of her sister seemed so far away.

Elsa quickly ducked out of her seat and raced towards the exit. She needed to get out of there. Finding a back exit, she leaned over clutching her knees as she tried to breathe in and out. It's okay, she kept trying to tell herself. You are not there; you are back home with Anna. Everything will be okay. Slowly her vision started to come into focus and she found Anna standing over her, looking concerned.

"Elsa?" she asked gently. "What happened?"

"Nothing," the lie was out of her mouth faster than lightning.

Anna raised her eyebrows again and opened her own mouth but before she could speak, they were interrupted.

"Look what we have here," Elsa and Anna whipped around and to their horror, they found at least seven or eight guys closing in on them. They were all wearing the same black outfit; a black shirt with black combat pants. A grey 'P' was visible on their chests. It didn't take Elsa very long to recognise that symbol. Gripping her hands tightly she took a step back.

"Get back," Elsa muttered to her sister who looked scared.

It all happened incredibly fast but to Elsa, it was all in slow motion. One of the attackers pulled out a gun and pointed it towards the two sisters. In a split second, Elsa had grabbed the weapon, pulled the man forward by pulling on the gun, and then roundhouse kicking him. He collapsed in seconds.

"Elsa-what?!" Anna barely had the two words out before Elsa grabbed her by her head forcing her down.

"Get down," Elsa yelled as the others opened fire on them.

The two sisters hid behind a nearby dumpster and they could hear the bullets ricochet off the metal. Elsa got to her feet and fired three times – each time the bullet found its mark; all three were clean headshots.

"Come on men," one of them yelled. "Get her!"

Elsa ignored Anna's gaping shocked expression as she peeked around the corner of the dumpster. Within seconds, she recoiled her head as bullets sprayed in her direction. So, they wanted to do this the hard way, did they? This was going to be interesting. Quickly darting around, she moved swift and silently to the other side of the alley. When the last few men got to their feet – they had been hiding behind some metal barrels – to shoot at the dumpster, Elsa was waiting for them. They were now exposed. Her gun fired three more times and again, each bullet met its mark. The three more men fell to the ground with bullet holes in their heads.

"Run," Elsa said, grabbing Anna's hand.

Elsa didn't let go until they were safely in her car. Her sister continued to look at her with a gaping expression as Elsa floored it out of the theatre's carpark.

"Elsa what the f-"

Elsa wasn't listening. She had been too busy noticing something in her rear-view mirror; a large truck was following them. A car chase really had been lacking here. The truck jammed the boot of the car sending the two sisters flying forward. The truck then zoomed around their car to overtake them.

"Take the wheel," Elsa said, unclipping her seatbelt.

"Elsa, what-" Anna was forced to grab the wheel as Elsa opened her car door. In one swift movement, Elsa had leapt from the car and landed on the back of the truck. Anna could only gape as she witnessed what her sister was doing. Elsa edged around the truck's outer side and as she did, she could hear shouts from inside.

"I think she jumped!"

Machine gun fire burst out of the windows. Elsa paused just out of range before she made her move. Once the bullets had stopped, she quickly approached the driver's side. He looked shocked to see her.

"Surprise," she said.

Grabbing him by the cuff of his shirt, she yanked him forward, smashing his head against the wheel. He was out like a light. There were four other men in the car who opened fire against her. Using the unconscious man as a shield, she ducked out of range again as the bullets hailed towards her. Reaching for the gun she had taken earlier, she open fire herself. One, two, three, and four – with each pop of her gun, another man slumped to the ground.

Leaping back towards her own car, she slid into her seat again. In the background, the truck curved off the road and smashed into a tree. A job well done, she thought to herself as she started to speed down the road.

"What is going on?" Anna thundered at her.

Elsa didn't respond. It didn't take a genius to guess what was going on but if that was indeed what was happening then she needed help. Gritting her teeth, she realised where she needed to go. She was going to need to ask North for help. Oh, why did it have to be him of all people? Glancing sideways at her sister, it soon dawned on her that Anna was going to have to come too for her own protection. Well, Anna finding out the truth was going to happen sooner or later.

Elsa pushed down harder on the accelerator as she sped down the highway. Taking some twists and turns, she could feel an uneasiness coming over her. Never in a million years did she would return to this place. Every so often, Elsa looked over her shoulder to see if they were still being followed but luckily, they weren't.

Twenty minutes passed before Elsa pulled into a street that was filled with random-looking warehouses. Anna still looked extremely confused but Elsa kept ignoring her. They soon came to a deserted lot with a paved driveway with a small speaker box at the end. Without even bothering to explain, Elsa reached over and pulled out her swipe card from a hidden compartment of her glovebox.

"Elsa, what is going on?" again Anna asked her but again, Elsa ignored her.

Swiping her card against the box, she inputted a four-digit code; 2512. The ground opened up as a secret entrance was being revealed. Elsa drove down the pathway to reveal a secret underground building. Quickly parking her car in her usual spot, Elsa ushered Anna out of the car. Above them. The entrance was shutting itself.

"Where are we, Elsa?" Anna's voice was scared but Elsa didn't respond. Instead, she continued to usher her towards an elevator.

Inside, Elsa jabbed the button marked 'seven'. The elevator doors shut and lurching feeling told them that they were heading down. The doors opened with a small ding to reveal something out of a Marvel film. Numerous rows of people against high-tech computers were seen. In front of them was a large platform that oversaw three ginormous screens that had a world map splashed across it. As the two sisters walked towards the platform, Elsa could feel many people whispering and pointing at her. Well, her exit had been rather dramatic.

"Elsa!" a large man in a large red coat looked surprised to see her. He watched as Elsa and Anna climbed up the small steps to the platform. "I am surprised to see you here of all places. Have you reconsidered?"

"North," she said, her voice serious and low, "Pitch is back."

A/N: Here is the next chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it!