Authors Note: Sorry that this update took so long, I just wasnt feeling it, but its done now. So yay. Hope you all enjoy Chapter 11
The apartment is dark and silent, save for the rhythmic sounds of Anna's breathing. The digital alarm clock on her bedside table glowed dimly in the blackness, dutifully telling the time, a quarter past twelve.
At the very edge of consciousness, Anna heard her door open and hurried footsteps. She forced the sounds away in an effort to sink back to sleep, put all thoughts of sleep were shattered when Oaken's hand grabbed her shoulder and shook her frantically, ripping her fully from the land of dreams. "Anna!" his voice was urgent "Anna you need to wake up, now"
Slowly the red head sat up, blinking up at the man with bleary eyes and yawned "Oaken? Whaz up?" she yawned as she took in his expression. He looked worried, and tense.
"There has been an incident at the lab, downtown" he explained slowly "It has gone critical. We need to go."
The off base lab was operated by the more commercial branch of the program, all privately funded, all about fast results damned be the consequences. Anna didn't know what is was they had been doing there, but if an incident was trouble enough that they needed her, it had to be bad. All thoughts of sleep were suddenly banished from her mind and she hurried out of bed. Oaken was already halfway out the door by the time her feet touched the floor. She dressed as quick as she could and ran a brush through her hair to tame the tangled mass of bedhead before wrestling the still unruly locks of hair into a ponytail and hurrying after the blond man to get to his car.
"Westergard Corp. has been funding a new research program" Oaken began to explain as they flew down the interstate "A study really. The team downtown has been looking into what they call the "Infraworld". The other side, Anna" he glanced over at her as he continued "They had a break through, they build a condenser, it can create portals, or more so, doorways to the other side"
Anna's gaze turned to one of horror, she had seen firsthand what could lurk behind such a doorway "They" she gulped and turned to stare ahead "They open one of these doorways?" she looked at the giant man out of the corner of her eye "Into Elsa's world? Why? Why would they-" she paused "Why would anyone do that?"
"The incident occurred sometime last night" Oaken went on, making a point to ignore her questions, there were things at work that Anna had no need to know of "A malfunction in the program. Entities began to flood through the doorway and we couldn't close it in time. No one made it out alive, two rescue teams have gone in, but that was hours ago." He was looking more and more distraught as he further explained "They want your help, Anna, I told them that is was far too dangerous nut they were insistent" he took a breath "but you are the only one who knows how to deal with what lies beyond" he finished as they slowed and pulled up to the round-about entryway of the lab.
The flashing lights of the myriad of emergency vehicles were nearly enough the blind Anna as she and Oaken hurried from the car. She had been on the scene for less than a minute and already she could tell that it was utter chaos. Gurnee's were being wheeled past, officers were trying to keep the crowd of curious citizens at bay while fire fighters were doing what they little they could to quench the flames that licked through the outside of the building.
Frost sparked from her fingers and she rubbed her hands together "it's okay, Elsa" she mumbled before hugging her arms and looking to the man who walked beside her "What am I doing here, Oaken? What do they need me for?" she asked. He had been quiet in the car, telling her nothing except that she was the only one who could help.
Oaken pulled Anna away from the crowd and spoke to her in a hurried whisper "Anna, if you don't want to do this, tell me. Tell me right now and I swear I will take you home" he searched Anna's face hoping against hope that she would set aside what sense of duty was surly settling over her mind, hoping that she would cling to him and beg to be taken home where it was safe, but that didn't happen.
"I'll do it" she whispered, turning away from his to see Sven forcing his way through the crowd of on lookers and officers, flashing his lab I.D. badge to anyone who dared try to turn him away.
"Oaken!" Sven snapped "What the hell is she doing here? It's too dangerous!"
"Don't you think I know that Sven, but she is the only one that can do it!"
The rest of her caretaker's argument was soon faded as Anna walked past them, making her way purposely towards the door. Get in, get out, and be home in time for tea. She didn't know why she was thinking of tea, she hated tea, Elsa always told her that tea was calming and that she should drink more of it since she herself could not but Anna never listened. "Great, even in my thoughts I ramble" she grumbled as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans.
An arms stretched out before her, stopping her from entering the building, Oaken had caught up to her. "They would only tell me that you need to find the control room, in the lower basement" he began, suddenly he looked more nervous then she had ever seen the man look before "Listen, Little Anna" he slipped back to her pet name "They are not like Elsa, the Entities from the doorway. They come from the dark depths of the Infraworld, we know next to nothing about them"
Anna stared hard at him "I have been living with Elsa since the day I was born, I still know nothing about her. I get it" she said as she ducked under his arm and took a step into the building "I'll be fine, Oaken" with that, Anna walked slowly through the ruined foyer and vanished from view.
Anna very nearly almost threw up when she saw the first body, all charred and broken. The same with the second and for the third as well. By the fifth she had grown used to the sight and she had made great timing, already making it to the set of elevators that were situated in the center of the building. The door to one looked like it had been blasted open and so that left her with but one choice. She looked to the dimly lit panel, scanning it for the floor she needed. With a tilt of her head, she pressed the button, and nothing happened. She scowled and pressed it again, and again and still nothing happened. Giving up on the buttons, Anna punched the door in a hit, sending a small scattering of ice across its surface. "Something blocking it!" she growled as she proceeded to pound against the door, angered by the all too soon halt in her quest.
"Elsa" she muttered as she rested her forehead against the door after she had calmed down. With a heavy sigh she rapped upon the door with a knuckle "Could you check it out?"
The elevator shaft was dark and the air still and humid, but that didn't bother Elsa as she ventured down and into the car that rested below. The door opened and closed at a steady rhythm as it beat against a forgotten briefcase. Probably abandoned by some white coat scientist, said scientist was more than likely dead. Set upon by the entities that had infested this place. She prickled angrily at the thought but suppressed it when she noticed her ice filling the elevator. Anna needed to get down, the lift had to be in one piece for her to do that.
She focused hard and coated the briefcase in a thick layer of ice and forced it out of the way and the door slide cleanly shut.
One problem down, but how many more would they have to face to please the doctor Oaken.
Anna held a hand to her heart when she felt Elsa settle, and allowed herself a smile when the door open and she gets on.
The open opens once more and Anna gasps at the sight she was greeted with and ice shoots out from her feet. Fire. She gulped and hurried out, stumbling and falling with a light squeal as a hand grabbed her ankle tightly.
A older man with shattered glasses and a broken body "Get out!" he croaked as Anna wrestled her leg free and scrambled to her feet, gasping for air "Go back! Run!" he spluttered before falling still.
Once she was stable, Anna hurried out through the door and down the hall into what seemed to be a storage room. More bodies. So many bodies.
Her way was blocked, rubble blocked the only other door which left. She looked up slowly towards the vents and frost sparked from her fingers "I know you don't like tight spaces" she shuddered "I don't either, but we have to." She whispered as she hauled herself up into the vent and set off towards the next room.
She dropped down into a shadowed room and squinted as she peered about.
It was smoky and dark and she could feel, something. She wasn't quite sure what, until it hit her.
An Entity Launched out from behind an overturned desk and struck her, sending her back into a wall of glass.
Elsa came to her defence almost instantly and began to lash out with her ice while Anna regained her footing. The ice had spread rapidly and yet she kept her footing as if it wasn't there at all. The perks of hosting a being of ice and snow. She had to get them out. Elsa was fighting, and it was her job to get them out. She glanced around quickly before she spotted a chair.
With a yell, Anna picked it up and bashed it against the glass once, twice, three times and it shattered apart and Anna went tumbling through and landed in a pile of shattered glass. She lay there for a while, she didn't know how long, until she felt Elsa move around her. "I'm okay" she mumbled as she slowly got to her feet "I'm okay Elsa" she smiled softly and looked around "Are you okay, Elsa?" a pause and she nodded "Good, let's keep going"
It wasn't long before they ran into yet another setback, fire blocked their path. Anna sighed "Elsa, can you deal with this?" ice grew and melted over the fire rapidly before it was finally extinguished "Thanks" and she hurried on.
Death and fire, fire and death. That was all that greeted Anna.
"Ah! Finally a room with a little less smoke!" she cheered as she slid down a wall to sit "and light" she sighed. A groan caught her attention and she leapt to her feet "Who's there?" she asked.
"Get out!" came an old voice as a man stood "Go back, and run!" he was shaking.
She laughed dryly "You know, you're the second white coat to say that to me today." She drawled "I know I might not look like much, but I do know what I'm doing here" she tilted her head "Are you all right?"
The man had stilled suddenly, only his hands twitched and only slightly. He turned to look at her, his eyes white and began to move swiftly towards her.
"Right, I should have listened and run." Anna stammered as she dropped to the ground to dodge the wild swing man. She felt it then, the Entity. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she held her hand out and squeezed her eyes shut "Go, Elsa!" She felt ice ripple through her veins and spike out through her fingers and through the man "I'm so sorry" the ice melted and the man fell to the ground dead.
Panting, Anna scrambled from the room. It was too much. All of this was just too much. She wanted to stop, to turn around and run, flee back to her apartment. But she knew she couldn't, she had to do this.
No sooner had they started down the hall, then they were set upon by entities. She ran as fast as she could, but it wasn't enough. "Elsa, help me" she cried and ice coated the floor all the way to the door. Anna jumped into a slide, and had to repress the small giggle of joy despite her imamate danger, before hitting the door. She fumbled and ripped it open, tumbling into the room, the door slamming behind her.
The room was frozen over, the heating systems having failed and the temperature plummeted. A few frozen corpses littered the ground and she did her best to avoid them as she made her way to the opposite door. She twisted the handle, pulled the door, and kicked the door but nothing would make the door open. She gritted her teeth as she gazed around, her face softening "A key card?" she muttered as she began to inch her way towards the nearest corpse "yes, a key card" she knelt and slowly unclipped it from the dead man's pocket, flinching as he moved.
She scrambled to the door, almost dropping the card in her mad dash to get the door open.
Closing the door, she turned to find herself exactly where she wanted to be for once. She was in the control room. The main wall was dominated by a large glass window that Anna approached slowly. She could see it, the portal and the Entities that still flowed through it. A massive ball of fiery and shadows that looked similar to an image of a black hole that she had once seen in a textbook. Just below the window was a table of switched and buttons, the main control panel. In the middle of the panel was the master switch. "Well, that was simple" she nodded as she pulled the pulled the switch and waited. Nothing happened. No changes at all. Frustrated, Anna slammed her hands on the panel, freezing it solid "Why can't at least ONE thing go right for me" she whispered "This was supposed to work."
She felt Elsa tug at her gaze and looked up and back towards the portal, eyes widening. She hadn't noticed it before due to the dominating presence of the portal itself, but now that Elsa was guiding her gaze she saw it, a booth. The secondary control panel. "Okay, okay we'll be okay Elsa" Anna walked to the door that lead out to the massive room that housed the portal "One last run, and then we're done. Then we can go home for chocolate and relax on the couch. We've earned it." An Entity slammed into the door, causing Anna to jump back "You just watch over me, and keep them off me, make sure I get there in one piece" She took a deep breath and threw open the door, dashing onto the walk way.
Elsa kept pace with Anna, bolts of ice shot in all direction, freezing the Entites where they flew. She was surprised, it was going well and she was keeping them a good distance away. This was working, they were going to make it. Almost there, just one more ladder and they would be on the last walk way, the home stretch. "Elsa!" her attention was pulled back to Anna in time to see an Entity latching onto her leg and pulling her down the ladder. No! They wouldn't take her Anna from her! A latched onto the Entity and froze it solid, crushing it into a powder and freeing her Host. Go Anna, go!
Anna scrambled up the rest of the ladder and collapsed to her knees to catch her breath. Her leg was bleeding and she saw stars when she tried to stand fully on it. She clutched at her leg and hobbled as fast as she could across the walkway. Entities rushed towards her and she dodged the ones that weren't blasted by the ice. She jumped as part of the walkway fell from beneath her and slowly crawled back up. The booth was just in front of her now. All she had to do was enter.
She slid the door shut as she stood. She was directly above the portal now, she noted with fear. She was close, to close. Unsure of what would happen, she hesitated before pulling the lever "Elsa, come back!"
The effect was instant. The portal squealed and hissed and it collapsed into itself, pulling everything in with it. Entities went hurting past the booth as they were sucked back into the Infraworld. The portal rumbled loudly before fully imploding on itself, setting off a series of explosion sending Anna flying into the glass door of the booth and knocking her out.
With great effort, Anna opened her eyes and pushed herself up as she came to. The condenser and the housing room were in ruins, flames licked up from the epicentre. The Entities were gone, all of them. She let out a sigh of relief, it was over, before she remembered that Elsa, connected to her as she was, was an Entity herself and she couldn't feel her. "Elsa!" she cried as she scrambled to her feet "Elsa where are you!" tears tracked their way down her face as she continued to cry out for the being that she once wished would leave her. Elsa was part of her, she protected her and cared for her and she couldn't imagine her life without Elsa by her side, without her constant companion.
"Elsa, please" she chokes out, gripping the ruined control panel for support as sobs racked her body.
A snowflake lands on her hand, flowed by another and then more began to float down around her. Anna let out a relieved laugh as she sat down and caught the flakes in the palms of her hands "Elsa, oh Elsa" she sniffled as she cradled her hands to her heart "Don't leave me. Don't you ever leave me!" she whispered "I'd be lost without you so you stay where you belong, you stay with my heart and you don't leave!" She sobbed as she rocked in the falling snow.
"Anna!" Oaken calls as the girl hobbled out of the front doors. She looked a little worse for wear, but she was alive. He rushed to her and pulled her into a tight hug, holding her as close as he could "Oh my little Anna, I thought you weren't coming back." She muttered "I thought you had died" the great man was crying softly into her shoulder.
She hesitated only a moment before she wrapped her arms around him "Can we go home now, Oaken?"
"Of course, Anna, of course we can" he pulled back and smiled wetly at her "Let's go home"
A.N. 2: I also figured I would start responding to reviews I get, keep the communications open, you know?
BuffaloSatan: I'm very glad that you find Elsa realistic, I'll admit I was a little worried. And tsk tsk, Buffalo, Spoilers, I will be very tight lipped about those characters but you'll meet them all soon enough, maybe.