Chapter 13: What Happened In The Alley
Anna was walking through Arendelle Park one bright and sunny Saturday morning. Anna had come home for the weekend as she had tickets to see a musical that was being shown in Arendelle. Her Aunt Greta had gotten the tickets for her, Anna's Uncle Klaus and Anna's cousin Astrid. Anna was happy that her aunt had thought of her and included her in the plans but she had no idea what the musical was about but apparently Aunt Greta had seen the movie that was based off the musical and adored it. So that was what Anna was in store for that night. She honestly didn't know if she was excited or not. She had kind of been in passive mood ever since her father's death and Elsa's running off.
Anna had decided that a walk would do her some good which is how she found herself in Arendelle Park that day. While she was walking, she was humming It's Raining Men – the Geri Halliwell version. She had watched the video clip on YouTube that morning and thus now had the song stuck in her head. Suddenly she found herself interrupted – mid chorus – when a rather large chocolate Labrador dog came racing towards her. The dog had its tongue out and looked rather happy with its massive smile and its wagging tail. The dog almost knocked Anna over in its eagerness and soon it was bouncing up and down and barking very excitably. Anna didn't really know what to do.
"Down Sven," came a voice she recognised. That boy, Kristoff, who Anna knew was a friend of Elsa's came running towards them holding a leash. The dog, Sven, calmed down and hurried back to its master. Kristoff panted as he approached Anna. "Sorry," he continued. "Sven gets a little excited."
"It's fine," Anna smiled at Kristoff. She crouched down and started to pant Sven. This just made Sven even more excited. He licked Anna's cheek with his wet slobbery tongue which made Anna laugh. "So," she said as they continued to walk down the park together. "I gather you come here often?"
"Well Sven likes it here so I guess so," Kristoff let out a short laugh. "What about you?"
"Well since I don't actually live in Arendelle, I would say not," Anna sighed as she looked around. "However it is nice here. So calming and relaxing. I can see why Sven likes it so much."
Kristoff smiled. "Say, you wanna go grab something to eat? There is the best burger joint around not too far off here. It's nearly lunchtime anyway."
"Sure," Anna smiled back at Kristoff. She needed some food anyway.
Kristoff placed a leash on Sven before walking with Anna down through the park. Anna felt a little weird being with Kristoff as he was Elsa's friend originally but Kristoff was nice plus she loved his dog. Besides, Sven was giving her the puppy eyes and how could she refuse them?
Kristoff led Anna out of the park and down the street beyond it. He allowed Sven to pull ahead and so he did. Sven would walk with his tongue hanging out and wagging his tail whenever someone walked on by. Anna would smile at Sven every now and then. They walked for about ten minutes before Kristoff pointed out a small little café that was called The Flying Moa. Anna looked inside and saw that inside, it had various artworks on the walls that had price tags attached to them. There were several tables both inside and outside out the café. She smiled at what she saw.
"If you don't like what's here, we can go somewhere else," Kristoff said, his voice getting smaller and smaller.
"It's great," Anna replied.
They entered and they saw a woman around Elsa's age was behind the register. She had long brown hair and was wearing a black t-shirt with a name tag pinned to it. Over the top of her t-shirt and her long jeans was a green apron.
"Hey," she smiled at them, "What can I get you?"
"I'll have a coffee and one of those mince pies," Kristoff said. He turned to Anna who was carefully examining the contents on the glass case that was full of food and the specials and menu written in white chalk on the blackboard.
"I'll also have a coffee and a toasted sandwich with ham," Anna said.
"Coming right up," the girl behind the counter said as she punched in the order into the register.
She gave Kristoff a card that said '50' on it. Kristoff took it and led Anna down to a table out the front. He tied Sven's leash to one of the legs of the table before he sat down. Anna put on her sunglasses as it was a nice sunny day and the sun was shining directly at them. A small silence fell between them while the waitress brought out their food. Kristoff had this smile on his face that made Anna feel funny inside. She tried to brush away the feeling but for some strange reason it didn't go away. What was she feeling? In the end, she ignored it.
"So," she said, trying to make polite conversation, "you come here often?"
"Sometimes yeah," Kristoff nodded. "Elsa was the one who showed me this place years ago when we came here for Rapunzel's birthday."
Anna felt her heart twinge at the mention of Elsa's name. She didn't want to talk about her sister. There were still quite some painful memories there. So instead she leapt at the opportunity to change the subject.
"So how long have you had Sven?" she said, almost quite cheerily. Kristoff gave her a funny look. He knew that she had changed the subject because of the mention of Elsa but, thankfully, he didn't say anything about it.
"About three years," he said. "I always wanted a pet and my adopted parents decided to fulfil that wish."
"You're adopted?" Anna said. She was glad that the topic was taking a different route now and into something interesting.
"Yeah," Kristoff got a saddened look.
"I'm sorry if it's too painful," Anna quickly said. She had only just realised that Kristoff must have gone through something horrible.
"Nah, it's okay," Kristoff smiled again which gave Anna that feeling from before. What was that? She tried to shake it but again, it was of no use. "I don't really remember it that much. My parents died in a car crash when I was two. I was in foster care for a bit before I was adopted by some wonderful people."
"That's good," Anna said.
Kristoff opened his mouth to continue speaking – probably to go into more details – but he was interrupted by the waitress bringing their food out.
"One coffee and mince pie," she said placing it in front of Kristoff, "and one coffee with toasted cheese sandwich with ham." She placed that order in front of Anna. "Enjoy," she said in a very cherry voice.
Anna bit of a piece of her toasted sandwich. It was very good. Their conversation changed consistently while they ate but that feeling that Anna had before didn't disappear. When she bade goodbye to Kristoff an hour later, it left her thoroughly confused.
Elsa was dreading going to work. She hadn't seen or spoken in any way shape or form to Pitch since the date. She wondered how he was going to take the news. She had this nagging feeling that he wasn't going to take the news very well. On the date, she had the feeling that Pitch seemed to like her a lot but so far, he hadn't asked her out on a second date. Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe life could keep going on in the way it was going without the need for Elsa to tell Pitch that she just didn't like him in that way.
Besides, she had her mind constantly occupied by someone else these days. At least Astrid couldn't read minds. She wouldn't stop crowing if she could. Astrid wouldn't stop trying to get Elsa and Jack alone in the same room together. Two days ago (which had been several days since Elsa's date with Pitch), Astrid had invited them out to see a movie together only for her to mysteriously cancel on them. They had sat through the movie in awkward silence together. Well, at least Jack looked as embarrassed as she looked.
Elsa pulled on the black t-shirt that she wore for work before walking out into her living room where Astrid was waiting for her.
"Ready?" Astrid asked her.
"As I'll ever be," groaned Elsa.
Astrid laughed as she interlocked their arms. She marched Elsa out of their dorm room and all the way to work. On their way, they spotted Jack. Jack waved at Elsa and she gave a wave back. Astrid couldn't stop grinning.
"Stop it," Elsa muttered to Astrid as Jack walked towards them.
"I can't," Astrid said. "You're just way too easy Winters."
"You girls off to work I see," Jack said as he approached them.
"Yeah," Elsa felt herself go all weird. It always happened when she was around Jack. She couldn't stop it from happening.
"I'm off to do an assignment," Jack held up his books. One of them looked about the same thickness as a telephone book. "Who would have thought History of Art would have so much to learn?"
"We did warn you Jacky," Astrid said in a calm voice. "In fact, I specifically remember Tooth's older sister complaining about it and you being all," she deepened her voice to mock Jack, "it should be a piece of cake for someone of my talent."
"Mocking me," Jack said, "nice."
Both girls laughed.
"See you Jacky," they both said.
"Yeah, well, I hope your shift is packed!" Jack yelled after them which made both girls laugh even harder.
When they got there, Pitch was nowhere in sight. He was probably out back doing something. He often was there rather be out front dealing with customers. Dealing with customers wasn't really his forte. Elsa breathed a small breath of relief. She grabbed an apron from behind the counter and put it on. She took over from one of her co-workers who handed over the till. Elsa then happily greeted the next customer while out of the corner of her eye, she saw Astrid deliver some drinks.
Jack's wish was granted – the café was packed during Elsa's shift. Elsa hadn't known it to be this busy. There were at least seven other places where they could get coffee, was there something she wasn't aware of? Was it Drink Coffee Day or something? Elsa just sighed and went on with her shift. It didn't get any better – was Jack spreading the word around or something? They ended up having to call in some of Elsa's other co-workers to lend a hand. Every now and then, Elsa saw Pitch popping in and out of the back room. Every time they locked eyes, he would grin at her. The grin he was giving her, gave her the chills. There was something off about it. She didn't know what it was but it made her feel highly uncomfortable. She ended up avoiding his gaze.
Elsa was glad when the rush started to slow down towards the end of her shift. She finished up with her last customer – who was a bit of a relief from her previous customer who had her make his drink fifteen different ways before deciding that he liked the drink despite it being made the same way Elsa made it the first time – before starting to close down the store.
"Another day done," Astrid sighed to Elsa as she leaned against the counter.
"And like a billion more to go," Elsa replied as she started to count the day's earnings.
Astrid's phone then started to beep. She quickly opened her phone and read the message. She got this half disapproving, half amused stare on her face.
"What's happening?" Elsa asked.
"Oh Hiccup, that fool," she had this grin on her face. "He's locked himself out of his locker and he really needs his assignment so he can hand it in. He wants me to bring the spare key I have."
"You have a spare key to your boyfriend's locker?"
"I have like a spare key to everything he owns," Astrid laughed. "He's always losing his keys."
"Ah I see," Elsa was now laughing.
"You don't mind if I leave now? Hiccup is really panicking."
"No sweat," Elsa smiled at her friend. "I'll clean up here."
"Thanks," Astrid said. "I owe you."
Astrid grabbed her things and left the building as quickly as she could. Elsa could only smile as she started to wipe down the bench. Her other co-workers started to disappear as well. They all waved goodnight to Elsa as they left. Elsa wiped down the counters and the tables before locking the front door. She made sure that everything looked good for the next shift, the next day. She didn't want Pitch forcing her to re-clean something on her own time when she wasn't getting paid.
After making sure everything spic and span, she grabbed her bag and jacket from the back room before she headed out the back door as she always did after her shift. When she turned around after locking up the back door, she got a massive fright. Pitch was standing right behind her and he still had that creepy grin plastered all over his face. He looked a little bit like The Joker to her.
"Oh Pitch," Elsa's hand was over her heart. "You scared me."
"Sorry about that," he moved closer to her. Elsa had to summon up every bit of willpower she had not to step back. There was something about that grin that was making her feel very uncomfortable. "So, I was just wondering, have you been avoiding me?"
"Avoiding you?" Elsa stammered out. She forced her voice to get stronger. "No, I've just been busy. Law can be very tough."
Pitch looked happy to hear this. "I thought it would be something like that. I understand completely. For me, medicine can take up a lot of my time. I'm glad you're putting your education first."
"It's not going to interfere with my job if that is what concerns you," Elsa quickly said.
"Oh I'm not concerned about that," Pitch said. "No, what I am concerned with how it will affect other things."
"Other things?" Elsa repeated weakly. She really hoped he wasn't talking about what she thought he was talking about.
Pitch drew in closer again. Elsa could feel his cold breath on her face. She forced herself to look into his cold, black eyes. She didn't notice it before but the eyes reminded her of never ending tunnels; the kind that you would never see the light of day again and be lost to the world forever. Elsa fought the urge to shiver.
"I just thought that since we had such a great time when we went out, we could do it again."
Elsa didn't know how to reply to this. The date itself wasn't too bad but she was starting to see what the others were talking about. Pitch was creepy. Maybe she didn't want to see it before because for once she could go out and not have to deal with her father's over abuse. Maybe it was because a guy was giving her attention – well it wasn't as if back in Arendelle guys didn't want to ask her out but back then, she couldn't really give them the time of day as her father would go ballistic if she was spending her nights out with guys instead of studying. The memory of the belt was burned into her brain. Could she be going through some kind of rebellion stage? Although, her father probably would have approved of Pitch just based off the fact that he was going to medical school and had money.
"Elsa?" Pitch's voice came from nowhere. Elsa soon realised that she hadn't spoken in several minutes.
"Oh sorry," Elsa said. She tried to think fast. "I just don't think I have the time to have some fun. University work really takes it out of me."
"I see," Pitch's eyes narrowed. Elsa desperately hoped that he was buying this.
"We're starting to get into the full swing of the semester after all," Elsa added while putting on a fake smile.
"Okay," Pitch said very slowly.
"So," Elsa said slowly, "I'm gonna go."
Elsa made to leave but Pitch blocked her from going.
"I don't like it when people lie to me," Pitch said, his voice going very serious, "and I know when people are." This time Elsa took a step backwards. Pitch's smile had been completely wiped off his face. It had been replaced with a most evil look. Elsa recoiled when she saw it. Gone was the charming Pitch. He was replaced with some evil monster. "Now, let's try this again." He gave her a long glaring look. "Why won't you go out with me this weekend?"
"I told you," she stammered, "I have uni –"
"Lies!" Pitch shouted while made Elsa cower in fear. A twisted expression covered his face. "It's that Frost guy isn't it? He's the reason why you're not going out with me."
"N-no," Elsa stuttered.
"Shut up," Pitch yelled at her. He slammed his fist against the door that Elsa had come out from. Elsa flinched. "You," he pointed his finger at her, "will go out with me on Saturday."
"And if I don't?" Elsa said in a small voice.
"You will not dare to refuse me," Pitch said very dangerous. He sounded a lot like her father and that was terrifying.
A voice was telling Elsa to just to it; to cave in. However, another voice was telling her not to do what Pitch wanted – to do what she wanted. She never had any choice with her father. Now she did.
"No," she said. "Pitch you are not the man I thought you were. I don't want to date you."
"How dare you!" he screamed at her.
He grabbed her and threw her against the door. The back of her head slammed really hard into the door. She groaned as she collapsed onto the ground. Stars were starting pop up in front of her as she stared into the intimating form of Pitch Black. Pitch picked her up at the collar and pulled her close to him. A vivid outline of her father briefly appeared in front of her. Elsa felt the same fear that she once felt.
"Let her go," came a familiar voice.
Elsa looked past Pitch and saw Jack tackle Pitch. Pitch let go of Elsa and she stumbled away. Pitch fell onto the ground while Jack stood over him. Pitch stood up but Jack slammed his fist into Pitch's face. Pitch fell down again. Pitch lay on the ground and tried to click his jaw back into place. Nice shot, Elsa thought.
"You," Pitch glared at his arch rival.
"Get the fuck out of here," Jack snarled at Pitch. "Unless you want another one. Knock some of those teeth out."
Pitch didn't say anything. It looked like he was thinking on what to do next. He then got to his feet and calmly walked away. Elsa sighed with relief. She was glad that Pitch didn't do anything further. She didn't want Jack to get into any trouble – that was if he wasn't in any at the moment.
"You okay?" Jack helped Elsa to her feet.
"Yeah, I think so," Elsa said. "Thanks so much Jack. I don't know what would of happened if you hadn't gotten here."
"I do," Jack said. "Pitch can be really brutal."
"I see that," Elsa said. She nearly collapsed from her pounding head. This pain wasn't new to her. She had felt it many times before when her father pushed her around.
"I think we need to get you an ice pack or something," Jack was looking at her with concerned eyes.
"No, no, I'm okay," Elsa said trying to walk but collapsing again. She felt dizzy and had to grip her head.
"Yeah, let's get you that ice pack," Jack helped her back into the coffee shop.
Jack placed her down at one of the booths before quickly disappearing. He reappeared with some ice wrapped in a tea towel. He handed it to Elsa who muttered her thanks. Jack sat down on the table as Elsa had taken up half the booth by lying down.
"You were right about him," Elsa said after several long minutes. "He is a creep."
"Yeah he is," Jack said.
"Was he like this at school?" Elsa asked him.
"Oh yeah," Jack said. A frown appeared on his face. "He was such a jerk at school. He would charm girls into falling in love with him and then he would crush their hearts by like cheating on them or use them to his advantage."
"That's horrible."
"Of course he had them wrapped so tightly around his finger that they would do anything he asked."
"Didn't he get a reputation for this kind of thing?"
"No," Jack looked a little sour. "Girls didn't realise that's what he was doing."
"Oh wow."
"Then of course he had the teachers spun round his finger too. He would make up all kinds of stories to get out work and when he did do the work, he would just cheat."
"Nothing happened to him?" Elsa gaped at Jack.
"Nope," Jack said. "The teachers and headmaster didn't see it."
"Didn't anyone complain?"
"They were too scared of Pitch to," Jack said. "I considered it myself but I never had the guts to."
"I guess he was quite the boogieman."
"Yeah he was."
Silence fell between them. Elsa just held the ice pack against her head. It seemed to be working.
"Listen Jack," Elsa said, "please can you not mention this to anyone?"
It had been something that was prying on her mind. Jack could easily go tell someone and it wouldn't be long before it got out. Elsa didn't want to be labelled as victim. It would follow her for the rest of her life.
"Wait, what?" Jack said. He looked at her incredulously. "Elsa you gotta tell people – the Dean for starters. He could be kicked out for this. Do you want that monster walking around?"
"Please Jack," there were almost tears in her eyes. "I don't want to make a fuss."
"Elsa," Jack's voice was surprisingly calm, "you should tell someone."
"If you say anything, I'll deny it," Elsa said, firmly.
Jack looked surprised at this. "I can't make you press charges against him." Jack stood up. He looked a little disappointed in her. Elsa hated the way he was looking at her but she had no choice. She knew what she wanted. "But I think you shouldn't let him get away with this."
Jack left Elsa lying there. She knew he was angry but she just couldn't say something. She didn't want to admit why she wasn't saying anything; to be seen as a victim. Was it that hard to ask for a normal life? To just be seen as someone who hadn't been assaulted. Well at least Jack didn't know about her past – she had worked hard to keep it that way and so far, it was working. He would be up in arms if he knew the truth. However, Elsa knew that she should say something but she couldn't. All those years, she never said anything about her father and here was the same thing happening all over again. When she came to Burgess, she made a vow to herself that she would never let anyone push her around like how he did and now it had happened before.
Elsa sighed as she sat up. Her head still felt a little dizzy. Maybe she should go to the nurse or something. Making up a story wouldn't be too difficult. She could say she tripped and hit her head. Elsa walked out of the coffee shop and closed the door behind her before she locked up. Maybe she shouldn't. She didn't want to give Pitch the satisfaction. Speaking of Pitch, seeing him every time she went to work may just be too difficult for her. Her next shift was in a couple of days which gave her time to think of a reason to quit other than the night's events. Well Elsa sighed again. This means she would have to find another job which was going to be difficult. Any decent job would have been taken ages ago and it wasn't like money grew on trees. She could just tell Astrid that being around Pitch made her feel uncomfortable. Astrid would understand. Well, Astrid would see right through that. Astrid pretty much could tell whenever something was going on. It was a gift for her. Hopefully she would just nod and stay with her when it was time to close up. Well at least it could have been a lot worse than it actually was. She had endured a lot worst. If Jack hadn't shown up, who knows what could have happened?
Elsa walked down the back alleyway and into the main area of the university. There was no one about which surprised her. Usually there would be several students loitering around doing something or another. Jack was nowhere to be seen. Elsa hoped with every fibre of her being that Jack would keep his word. Jack seemed like the kind of guy that when he saw injustice, he would do everything in his power to stop it. If he did say something, Elsa would have to deny it. Her injuries could easily be explained by her tripping and hitting her head – something along those lines. Pitch certainly wouldn't back Jack up. Pitch would side with Elsa. He didn't want to Elsa to tell the truth. It would just hurt him. The only way that Elsa would ever say what really had happened, would be if Pitch decided to cause trouble for Jack. That wasn't something she wanted.
Elsa's footsteps echoed all around her. Her head was still pounding. At least that was the only injury that she had and she had survived a lot worst. Thankfully the place was empty. She didn't want to explain why she was stumbling every few footsteps and had an ice pack at her head. When Elsa returned to her dorm room, she popped her head through the doors to check to see if anyone was awake. Thankfully everyone had already gone to bed. Elsa quickly tiptoed to her bed.
Once there, she flopped down onto her bed. The images of the night's events were still haunting her brain. This whole situation seemed very strangely familiar. She had been this position before – way too many times. Even though now Jack knew about what happened, she was glad that he knew. She had just frozen. She just let Pitch do what he wanted – just like what happened with her father. She sighed very heavily. Why does this keep happening to her? Was she not allowed a normal life? Is this kind of stuff just going to keep following her? When was she going to be able to fight back? Who knew when that would happen? Also, what was she going to do now? She guessed she would do what she always did; just pretend nothing was wrong and just keep going through life normally. But could she keep doing that? Truthfully, it was all that she can do. Elsa didn't want people to know that this happens to her. She didn't want to be seen as a victim. She didn't want people to know the truth.
Elsa got into her pyjamas and under her covers. She stared at her bedroom wall for several long minutes as she tried to get Pitch's scary face out of her head. Her eyes finally drooped due to tiredness and finally closed. Her usual nightmares returned but this time there was a new villain in them; Pitch's dark, twisted and evil face kept waking her up.
Jack walked through the campus with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. He didn't know what he should do. The whole thing that had just happened with Pitch made him feel anger like he had never felt before. He had attacked one of his closest friends because she had rejected him. He let out a long groan into the night. Well, he wasn't just going to sit around and stand for it. He needed to do something about it. The only problem was that he made a promise to Elsa that he wasn't going to say anything to anyone.
Jack kicked a stone and it rolled down the pavement and into the gutter. He sighed as he leaned against the building next to him. What was he going to? Jack was bounded by his promise to Elsa. If he broke that, Elsa would hate him and he couldn't live with himself if Elsa did even if it felt morally wrong not to say something. He did another deep sigh and continued walking.
This situation was totally fucked up. How was Elsa allowing Pitch to get away with this? Why was she letting him get away with attacking her? By doing so, just sent Pitch a message saying that he could just attack her and not face any consequences. Well it is her decision to say or not to say anything. It just frustrated the hell out of him that she had chosen the latter. She needed to go to the Dean and get Pitch's arse out of here.
Jack stopped dead in his tracks. He had just thought of something that could fix this whole situation and not break his promise to Elsa. However it would require him making a huge sacrifice but it was totally worth it for Elsa. He didn't want her living in fear and be forced to see her attacker whenever she went to work. He had to do this – for her. Jack took off down the street and back towards his dorm room. He didn't see anyone – truth be told, he half expected to see Elsa making her way back to her bed but he didn't. He didn't even bother to wait for the elevator – instead he raced up the stairs and burst through his dorm room door which gave Tadashi and Honey quite a fright. Tadashi paused the movie that he and Honey were watching to give Jack a long, confused stare.
"What the…?" his voice just trailed off.
"Tadashi where are your tools?" Jack asked. Years ago, Tadashi had bought several items that Jack needed due to a little mishap when they had been at school.
"First drawer in my bedside table," Tadashi answered, still looking highly confused. "Why?"
Jack didn't even bother answering. He just sprang into action. He raced into Tadashi's room, found what he was looking for and sprinted out waving his thanks at Tadashi's bewildered stare. Jack took off as he raced out of his dorm room and out into the street beyond. There was still no one about which Jack figured to be a good thing. What he was about to do wasn't very ethical and was against the law. However, Jack was willing to risk it. Pitch needed to be taught a lesson. If Elsa didn't want to speak up, Jack was going to deliver some justice of his own. All it was going to take was a little risk on Jack's part.
Pitch's building drew nearer and nearer. Jack desperately hoped that Pitch wasn't in his dorm room. He knew that Pitch had a certain female friend that he liked to spend nights with. He hoped that he was with her tonight and not in his dorm room. Could he really be this lucky – twice? He guessed he was about to find out. When Pitch's building came into sight, Jack entered the after hour's code. He knew about it because his friend, Fred, lived in this building and he sometimes forgot how to get back in. Thankfully, Jack was there to help. The numbers just burned into his brain. The code was 1852 – the year Antoni Gaudí was born. Jack was a bit of know-it-all when it came to art and apparently so was the guy who decided on what the code should be.
Jack pulled the door open and entered the dorm room. He ducked behind a plant as he saw a security guard come his way. If that guard saw him, he could be kicked out of the building. The security guard walked down to the door and then paused there. Jack quickly ducked out from behind the plant and headed up to the stairs. The guard didn't even turn around. Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, it was late enough so there was no one around. Seeing someone may be a bit of an issue. He would have been spotted as someone who didn't belong from a mile away.
Once he appeared on the right floor, he tiptoed along it to find Pitch's room. He gently rested his fingers on the door handle and turned it. It was locked. Jack pulled out the set of tools that he got from Tadashi; his lock picking set. Years ago, Tadashi lost the key to the storage locker that he was renting. It contained anything to do with his projects including his masterpiece; Baymax – his robotic nurse as his brother Hiro often said. There was some kind of mix-up at the office and thus there was no spare key. So Tadashi bought a lock picking set just so he could get to his projects. There may have been other options at the time but Tadashi was desperate.
Jack started on the door. He looked up every few seconds to make sure no one was about. There was a small click and the door opened. Jack gently opened the door and took a peek inside. The first thing he noticed was that Pitch was not in his room. He breathed yet another sigh of relief. It would have been so awkward if he had been.
Jack quickly shut the door. He didn't know how much time he had. Pitch could just be out at some kind of study group or may just be wandering about after the little incident. Jack was hoping that he went to spend the night with that mistress of his. Jack started looking all around Pitch's room. He needed to find that proof. Pitch could have hidden it anywhere since he took it off Jack. He may not even have it anymore. For all Jack knew, he could have burnt it to make sure there was no evidence.
After searching through the closet, the drawers and the desk, Jack lay down on the bed. He wasn't sure if it was even here. The idea that Pitch could have destroyed it became more and more likely. Jack sighed as he sat up. Maybe he should get out of here. Pitch could be coming back to his dorm room. Jack was about to leave when he tripped over some clothes that Pitch had left on the ground. His fingers reached out to grab the table but all it did was grasp one of Pitch's textbooks and that too fell down onto the ground. The book sprung open. Jack picked himself off the ground and placed the book back on the table.
That's when he saw it. It was just lying there. Jack picked it up. It was a folded piece of paper. He didn't know what it was. His curiosity made him opened it. It turned out to be what he wanted; the proof that Pitch was a cheater. Jack could hardly breathe due to excitement. This was what he wanted. He quickly stuffed it into his pocket and left the room. He somehow managed to get out of the building unseen. It had been a miracle that Pitch hadn't come back – Jack knew that he had been with Katherine Night – and that he hadn't been seen by anyone.
When he entered his dorm room, he found that Tadashi and Honey were no longer on the couch. He was thankful for this. He didn't want to explain what he had been doing. He knew that Honey would have problems with what he had been doing. Jack swiftly entered his bedroom and threw himself onto his bed. The night's events were still burned into his brain. He hoped that Elsa was okay. She had been through a lot. Hopefully, what he was about to do, would make the situation slightly easier. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.
The sun shined onto his pillow and Jack quickly got up. He quickly looked at the clock; it was ten past eight. Even though he had class at nine, he didn't care. He had more important things to do, for example, going to the Dean's office before Pitch realised that Jack had been in his room again. Jack quickly got through the shower, got dressed (he had trouble with his pants and in his hurry, he had fallen onto the ground) and left the dorm. He didn't even respond to Bunnymund asking him if wanted pancakes.
Jack soon found himself outside Dean Harkon's office at five past nine. His receptionist had told him to wait as the Dean was already in a meeting. Jack was cursing under his breath. If only it hadn't taken him a while to get out of his door. The minutes ticked by and Jack felt like they were taking forever to go by. He started getting nervous. His legs started jigging and his hands wouldn't stop tapping his knees. Possible scenarios started to enter his head. What if the Dean turns on him? What if he is the one that is expelled instead of Pitch? As the minutes ticked by, that seemed to be the most likely situation.
Suddenly the door open and the Dean was walking out with a lecturer that Jack didn't know. They were shaking hands and they were finishing off their conversation. The lecturer grinned as he left. The Dean and his receptionist exchanged some words and she pointed in Jack's direction. The Dean turned around and grinned at Jack.
"Ah Mr Frost," The Dean clapped his hands together. "I hear you wish to see me."
"Yes sir," Jack responded as he jumped to his feet. "Only if you're not too busy sir."
"I have some free time," The Dean said. "I gather this is important?"
"Yes sir," Jack replied.
The Dean gestured for Jack to enter his office and Jack did so with The Dean right behind him. Jack sat down at the desk while The Dean took his usual seat behind his desk and stared at Jack as if he was trying to figure out why Jack asked for a meeting.
"So Mr Frost," The Dean said. "What can I do for you?"
"I wish you discuss a certain student with you," Jack said.
"Ah," The Dean looked intrigued. "Which student? May it be Miss Winters who I hear you have been flirting with?"
"How do you know that?" Jack was taken aback.
"I hear and see everything Mr Frost, the gossip never stops," The Dean laughed. "So which student?"
"Pitch Black," Jack said, "and I wasn't flirting by the way."
"So you say," The Dean grinned at Jack. "So Pitch Black, I understand you two have quite the history."
"Yes we do sir."
"So what seems to be the problem?" The Dean leaned forward and grasped his fingers together.
"Sir, if I may be blunt, Pitch Black has been cheating."
"Cheating?" The Dean the raised his eyebrows and looked surprised. "That is a serious accusation Mr Frost. You know that we take cheating very seriously at this university. Do you have any proof?"
"I have this," Jack handed The Dean the test paper that he found. "It's the answers to a test coming up."
The Dean looked over the test. He didn't like what he was seeing.
"I will have to confirm this with his lecturers before I can do anything," The Dean said. "How did you come by this or do I not want to know?"
"I think it's best that you don't know where I got it," Jack said, feeling a little guilty as he sunk into his chair.
"You know I have to punish you for doing what you don't want me to know about."
"Yes," Jack said wearily. He knew this was coming. He had kind of hoping it wouldn't.
"How about you 'volunteer'," he made air quotes when he spoke that word, "for the art department in helping clean-up for the next couple of weeks?"
"I could do that," Jack actually thought that wasn't a bad punishment.
Pitch woke up early one day due to knocking on the door. It had been loud that Pitch groaned when he woke up.
"Who is that?" Katherine groaned next to him.
"We'll see," Pitch threw on some clothes and opened the door. Some random man was standing behind it. "Can I help you?"
"The Dean wishes to see you," the guy said.
Pitch was confused. Why would the Dean want to see him? He quickly got dressed into something a bit more presentable – nice black pants to go with his black blazer and black shirt – before heading over the Dean's office. He had been told to wait. He was a little nervous. This had never happened to him before. He didn't know what he should say other than wait. Eventually he was told he could go in.
"Ah, Mr Black," the Dean said.
"You wanted to see me?" Pitch took a seat as the Dean sighed.
"Dreadful business Mr Black," the Dean said. He pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to Pitch. Pitch took it and recognised it straight away. "You obviously recognise it." Pitch nodded. "Then you must know what I am about to say," the Dean signed while Pitch sweated a little. "Mr Black, we take cheating very seriously here. It is not something we tolerate. We have confirmed with your lecturers that these are indeed test answers to upcoming tests and therefore it is not my pleasure to say that you have been expelled from this university."
Expelled? The word kept repeating around his head. He had been expelled? Pitch's fists clenched. How can this be happening to him? How dare they expel him! He knew who was responsible for this. Jackson Frost, Pitch thought, your days are numbered.
A few days had passed since the whole Pitch incident. The wound on the back of her head was no longer throbbing and was now healing. Somehow, Elsa was getting on with her life which was something she didn't know how she was doing that. Forgetting it, on the other hand, was a whole new problem. Every night so far, her usual nightmares had Pitch mixed in with them. Elsa groaned when she woke up. Today was her first time seeing Pitch since the assault. She didn't even want to get out of bed. She simply put her covers over her head, wishing that she would just fall asleep. She just wanted it to all go away and for her to not even have to deal with this. However her alarm clock had other plans. The constant, annoying sound it was making was making it impossible for Elsa to get back to sleep.
"Whoever's alarm clock that is, can you tell it to shut the fuck up?" Gogo's demanding voice from down the hall could be heard.
Elsa slammed her palm down on the off button to turn off her alarm. She groaned again, however, she forced herself to roll out of bed - literally. She let out a yelp as she miscalculated the roll and fell into the space between her bed and her bedside table.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit," Elsa kept muttering to herself as tried to get herself out of the situation she was in. Pain was also radiating throughout her body. She kept wincing in pain every few seconds.
"Elsa's in trouble guys," came Gogo's voice as she walked past Elsa's room.
"No she's not," Elsa called back. She managed to pull herself out of the space and back onto her feet. The only downside now was that her sides hurt. She limped towards her door. When she headed into the hallway, Elsa forced herself to stop limping. Once inside her kitchen, she collapsed down at the table.
"Okay, what is up with you?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah," agreed Honey, "you've been weird for the last few days."
"No I haven't," Elsa quickly said.
"Too be honest, you've always been weird," Gogo said as she stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth.
"This is true," Astrid said.
"You're not hiding something are you?" Honey pointed with her spoon at Elsa.
"Like what?" Elsa said.
"Like a deep dark secret," Astrid said in a mysterious voice.
"I don't have one and FYI, I wouldn't tell you even if I had one," Elsa said to Honey, "because you were the one who told me that Astrid and Hiccup had sex right outside my bedroom while I was studying."
"Honey!" exclaimed Astrid.
"You're no good either," Elsa turned to face her. "You're the one who told me that Honey skipped school to go shopping and then lied to the nurse when she found out that she had missed a quiz that was worth a part of her grade."
Honey glared at Astrid and then shrugged. "Well your secret was a lot worse than mine."
"Yeah about that," Astrid got to her feet. "How did you even know about that?"
"I came home early and saw you two going at it," Honey laughed.
"What!" Astrid shouted at Honey.
Elsa just giggled as she grabbed a cup of coffee and some toast before heading back to her room to change for work. She dragged her feet along the floor as she headed to work. Today was Astrid's day off so she wouldn't be joining her. Elsa wished she was coming with her. It would stop Pitch doing something else if Astrid was with her. Maybe she should call in sick and then head to the library to do some work. She did have an Assignment due next Monday and it was only half finished. Or she could go join Jack in the art room and help him set and clean things up. He had told her that he had volunteered there in order to make himself look good to his lecturers. However she knew she couldn't lie. It just didn't feel right. So she just continued to drag her feet along the ground.
Soon enough, the café where she works came into view. Elsa took in a few deep breaths and entered the café. The first she noticed was that Pitch wasn't there. This was highly unusual to her. Pitch never missed work. This was very peculiar. Her eyebrows narrowed in her confusion.
"Hey Julie," Elsa asked one of the other waitresses. "Where's Pitch?"
"Dunno," Julie responded with a shrug. "He never showed up this morning and hasn't been in all day. I've sent him a few texts and I know Carl called him but nothing."
"Weird," Elsa replied. "Do you know what happened to him?"
"Could be sick," Julie shrugged again. "I know there's a bug around. My boyfriend has it."
"Maybe," Elsa didn't know what to make of this.
"Oh this is for table four," Julie said as she handed Elsa a tray containing four cappuccinos, two coffees and a hot chocolate. Elsa took the tray and headed over to table four.
Overall, Elsa didn't know if she had a better day at work. Knowing that Pitch was around her, breathing down her neck allowed a smile to grow over her face. She had been dreading coming into work but now, she was having so much fun at work. Even when one of their horrible regulars was being a total arse, Elsa still managed to handle him with the biggest smiles on her face.
Elsa headed back to her dorm room at the end of her shift in very high spirits. She practically almost skipped home. She was still feeling depression about the whole incident with Pitch, just him not being at work made her feel a little better – even though she knew that she would just see Pitch in a couple of days anyway. Just the fact that she didn't have to see Pitch so sound after his assault on her was the reason for her happy mood.
"What's got into you?" Astrid asked when Elsa walked through the door. She seemed to be surprised by Elsa's good mood especially since Elsa had been in such a bad one just that morning.
"Just a good day at work," Elsa sat down at their table with a grin on her face. "But the funniest thing happened at work."
"What happened?" Honey asked.
"Pitch wasn't there today," Elsa's had said but her voice had been drowned out by the sound of the door opening and Tadashi walking in.
"So is it true?" Astrid asked as soon as he walked in. Everyone's attention was now on Tadashi.
"Is what true?" Elsa asked.
"Yep," Tadashi responded as he took a seat next to Honey and ate a bit of her food.
"Is what true?" Elsa repeated but no one was giving her any answers.
"I can't believe it," Honey said.
"Can't believe what?" Elsa asked but again, it was of no use. Everyone's eyes were firmly on Tadashi.
"Wow," Astrid leaned back in her chair. "So the little devil Pitch Black has finally been expelled."
"Pitch has been fucking what?" Elsa shouted. Her mouth was gaping open and her face had a look of pure surprise etched all over it.
"Expelled," Astrid repeated as she turned to look at Elsa.
"What?" Elsa spluttered. "When? How?"
"Turns out Pitch is a little cheater," Tadashi explained. "They found him in possession of some test answers to an upcoming test."
"When?" Elsa repeated, looking a little dumbstruck.
"Yesterday afternoon," Tadashi said. "Jack told me. Apparently he was the one who tipped off the Dean in the first place."
Jack? Elsa's mind was spinning. Was Jack the reason why Pitch was kicked out? Elsa had to find out. She quickly got to her feet and left the dorm room. She got to talk to Jack. She hoped that he hadn't mentioned anything about the incident the other day. He had promised her that he wouldn't but he didn't seem too happy about it. Jack got a surprise when she opened the door.
"Hey Elsa," he said.
"So," she said. "I heard you got Pitch kicked out."
"Well he had it coming."
"I hope you didn't do it because of me."
"Well…" Jack's voice trailed off. They both fell silent. Elsa knew that Jack helped to get Pitch expelled so that she wouldn't have to deal with him ever again. She couldn't help but feel grateful for what Jack had done for her. Not having to deal with Pitch was certainly a load off for her. Pitch had been a creep and his attack on her, had given her a good scare – one she hadn't felt since the night her father had died. With him gone, Elsa could attempt to move on. She just hoped that Jack hadn't gone to too much trouble for her. Elsa smiled at Jack before waving goodbye to him. She left feeling as if all was right with the world.
That night Elsa went to bed feeling quite content with what had happened. Pitch was gone. He could no longer bother her thanks to Jack. Pitch may be in her nightmares but she will move on from that –well that was the plan anyway. Elsa's eyes closed and she felt herself drift into dreamland.
Elsa returned home from school one day. She had a long hard, gruelling day at school. Her workload had doubled since yesterday. She didn't realise how it could have gotten this bad. Then again, she was doing extra credit work in order to get her GPA up so that she could get into a decent university plus she didn't do her homework yesterday – her father had been in a horrible mood as one of his board members wasn't doing what he wanted – and so she had hid in her closet pretending to do work so that he didn't have a reason to bother her. He never did while she worked.
She gently opened the front door and poked her head inside. Her father hadn't returned home yet. She breathed a sigh of relief. She kicked off her shoes and carefully placed them by the front door. She moved down the hallway – making a quick pit stop at her bedroom to change out of her school uniform and to drop off her bag on her bed – and into the kitchen where she got cooking. While the roast was in the oven, she made a start on her homework.
She was halfway through her calculus homework (after finishing off her chemistry mock quiz, her readings for biology and her exercises that were set for Economics) when her father walked through the door. He didn't even give her a look as he walked into the kitchen to see what was for dinner. He opened the oven and took in the smells of the roast.
"What roast is this?" he asked, not even looking in her direction.
"Lamb," Elsa said in a small voice. She knew that her father's favourite roast was lamb. Hopefully it will be enough to defuse any anger that was coursing through him. Her father then shut the oven and didn't say anything further. Elsa breathed a sigh of relief. Dinner had been a quiet affair. There wasn't a single word spoken between Elsa and her father while they ate. Elsa ate quickly; the less time she had to spend in the company of her father the better.
The rest of the evening passed away without too much interaction between Elsa and her father. Well until it was about quarter past eight in the evening. Elsa was in her room, working on the homework she had been set for today. She had managed to finish yesterday's and the day's before homework while she had been waiting for the roast to cook. She still had to do all the extra credit stuff and that was due tomorrow as well. Elsa could feel the pressure being forced down on her. Well, if it came to it, she would be working until the early hours of the morning. She couldn't slack now. If she did, her dreams of getting away from her father, would drift away. Besides, her father's anger may be something she couldn't do.
"Elsa," Elsa heard her father yell from his spot in the lounge. She sprinted to the lounge. Keeping him waiting wasn't a smart option. When she came into the room, she found her father holding a hot poker.
"No," she whimpered.
"You're behind on your work," he said. "You aren't doing your best. I believe it's time to teach you a lesson on what happens to slackers in this family."
"No, Papa, no," Elsa screamed. Her father grabbed her, forced her to the ground and she felt the hot poker sear into her back.
Elsa quickly sat up in bed. She could feel a searing pain in her back as if the hot poker was real and not just in her nightmare. She fell back on her pillow and tried going back to sleep but she couldn't. Maybe a walk would do some good. Elsa got out of bed and headed into her bathroom. She lifted up her pyjama top to reveal the deep long gashes and burn marks that was a constant reminder of the abuse she had to endure.
She sighed deeply. What was she going to do about the nightmares? Would she just keep having them until the end of time? Was her father just going to continue to haunt her until her own death? Elsa didn't know how much she could handle. She was already dependent on at least five cups of coffee a day just to be able to function at somewhat a normal level. The nightmares were just going to continue making life difficult for her. This needed to stop and it needed to stop now.
The door suddenly opened and Elsa quickly dropped her top as Astrid walked in. Astrid looked a little surprised to see Elsa in the bathroom.
"Oh sorry," Astrid said. "I didn't know that anyone was in here."
"It's okay," Elsa smiled at Astrid. "I was just leaving anyway."
Elsa left Astrid alone in the bathroom and headed back to her bed. She got under the covers and just stared up her ceiling. Maybe she should get some help. It would certainly be a better idea than just trying to push through it.
"Miss Waters, your four o'clock is in your office waiting for her," Miss Water's receptionist said to her as she walked towards her.
"Thanks Susie," Miss Waters replied.
Miss Waters was a woman in her early thirties. She had shining brown hair that fell gracefully down to her shoulders. She was dressed in a grey pencil skirt and a matching blazer with a black blouse underneath it to go with her black high heels. She had small golden hoop earrings that were threaded through her eyes and on her left hand, was a stunning diamond ring.
Miss Waters walked into her office where a young woman with blonde hair was waiting for her. Miss Waters smiled at her and apologised for the wait. Her lunch meeting had gone on for a little longer than she had anticipated. The woman told her to think nothing of it. Miss Waters sat behind her desk, kicked off her heels – she didn't like to wear her heels for too long – and turned on her computer. She brought up a new file for a new patient. Miss Waters asked the woman some basic questions like her name, age etc. before asking her to lie down on the couch which she did. Miss Waters pulled her chair up close to the couch. Miss Waters poised her pen just above the paper on the clipboard she was holding.
"So Elsa," Miss Waters said after a small pause. "What can I do for you?"
There was a silence that filled the room.. The other woman in the room seemed to be struggling with what she was going to say. Miss Waters knew that she was struggling with saying what she had kept hidden for probably years. Miss Waters simply just waited. If she said anything, she could scare this girl. There were a few more pauses before the other woman decided to speak.
"My father abused me," the woman, Elsa, spoke in a small voice, "and I need help with the PTSD that I have due to it."
"You," shouted a voice. "Come here!"
A small child, not seven in age trembled as he walked towards the towering man in front of him.
"Yes?" the child whispered.
"What did I tell you about leaving you toys lying about?" the man shouted.
"I'm sorry Dad," the child shouted.
"Looks like you haven't learnt you lesson from last time," the man grabbed the child's arm and twisted it so hard, the child felt a snap.
Jack woke up, covered in sweat. He lay back down on the bed, panting slightly as he did. He turned over and stared at his Middle Earth map. He forced himself to calm down and for his heart stop racing. It was just a dream, he told himself, just a dream.
Pitch sat down at one of the tables in a large grey room. Around him, was other tables with people sitting down and talking at them. On one side of the table, was a man in orange overalls with numbers in black lettering on the back. On the other side, were relatives of friends of the men in the orange overalls. Pitch entwined his hands together and rested his head on them while he waited. He was waiting for a very important person.
The door opened and a man walked in. The man was tall and built like a rugby player. He had blonde hair that was mattered and had a shaggy appearance. He was wearing the same orange overalls like the other men in the room and his hands were in chains. Pitch told the security guard who was bringing him in that the chains weren't needed. The security guard undid the chains and walked to one side of the room. The man in the orange overalls sat down at the bench that Pitch was at and stared at him with his cold, crystal blue eyes.
"Kozmotis Pitchiner," the man in the orange overalls breathed. He looked a little surprised to see Pitch had been the one who had come to see him. "It's been a long time since I saw you sitting before me."
"Indeed it has," Pitch answered. "I go by Pitch Black now by the way."
"I see," the man shuffled as he tried to get comfortable on the cold, hard seat. His eyes never left Pitch's eyes. "So what brings you here? I gather that this isn't a social visit."
"Indeed it isn't," Pitch smiled at the man. "I come bearing news about your son." He spoke that last word oh so delicately.
"My son?" this seemed to peak the man's curiosity. "What do you have to say about him?"
"Let's just say that I know where he is," Pitch paused for dramatic effect which seemed to man sitting opposite him grin, "and if you wanted to inflect any more lessons onto him, let's just say that I won't be too opposed to that."
"So," the man said in a deadly whisper. "You know where dear old Jacky boy is?"
"Indeed I do Mr Frost," Pitch said.
Vincent Frost grinned an evil grin. "Jacky boy, you will pay for putting me in here. Just you wait. One more year and I'll be free."
Pitch matched Mr Frost's evil grin with his own. Yes, Jackson Frost, he thought, soon my own revenge on you will be complete as well and I'm going to use your own father to do it for me.
A/N: I'm back guys! So sorry I've been AWOL! I've been doing university work (summer school has been annoying) plus had a little bit of writer's block didn't help. Thanks for being so patient with me! I hope that this chapter made up for my AWOLness. Well since both Christmas and New Years have both gone by (has it really been that long since I updated? Wow, super sorry again guys. Thanks for waiting.), I hope everyone had a great holiday. I sure did. It's been a nice hot summer for me, so that's been nice. Anyway, it looks like a bit of Jack's history is revealed (some people have guessed that already), Elsa is finally going to get some help and Pitch tried to do something with Elsa but thankfully Jack stepped in to save the day. What is going to happen next? I have an exam on Tuesday so my next update may be a bit away. So sorry again guys! I thank you guys so much for being so patient with me! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review =)
Reviews:
Charllote64: Thanks so much for your kind words! May have to wait to see what Hans is up to but we get a taste of what Pitch is up to. Hopefully you won't have to wait too much longer on Jelsa.
Sophia Chung: So sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoyed the update!
creepykid1102: Will do!
x treme jelsa: Wow, thanks so much.
JackElsaforeve: Hmm, interesting choice. I'll probably have Elsa sing Let It Go at some point though.
Guest (MixyBell): Not dead! Sorry for the long wait. I've been super busy. Thanks for waiting! Also thanks for the Christmas wishes, right back at you (even though Christmas was like two months ago). I hope you had a great holiday! Thanks!
Guest: Anna may have to wait on being told the truth - that is if she does. Don't slug her yet! Elsa does need her sister and Anna does need to realise the truth. Hopefully that will come to pass.
haydoll22: Thanks so much! Yeah been trying to write longer chapters. I know people enjoy them.
ZERO-xxx: Well your wish does come true in this chapter - she goes to talk to a therapist. Keeping it bottled up inside is hurting her and hopefully going to see a therapist will help that.
heartfulymi: You may have to wait and see on that one.
PrincessofNatureSilverMoon: Oh wow, that is such a compliment. Thanks so much.
QueenMaylina8Candy: Yeah that is where I got the name from. I hope you enjoy the books. Thanks so much!
sanaa11: Yeah I liked that bit too. We see a little on what Pitch is doing next but what Hans is going to do? May have to wait on that one.
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Thanks! Yeah he was. Thankfully, things are better for him in this chapter.
150Songs: Thanks!
JohnTitor: Yeah I do too. She changed her life where it needed to change. You're welcome and thanks!