Disclaimer: Frozen is copyright to disney

Chapter I: "They're creepy..."

"New neighbors?"

"Right. Moved into the old Bjorgman residence north o' here."

Anna and Olaf shared a glance between themselves. It had taken some time to shake Olaf out of his state of shock, but once he was stable, he relayed the events of the night previous to his companion. Anna put in a call with the local police; they sent Officer Oaken to take a statement.

As it turned out, this wasn't the first incident with local livestock. A month ago, Westleton, a few miles further north on the road past the Bjorgman place, lost ten heads of sheep, reporting similarly eerie sounds, and his stock going utterly insane in the middle of the night. "Weasleton" (as he was called behind his back) had been quick to throw an accusation at the new residents, stating that it must have been the large dog they kept. After all, he'd lost his sheep only days after the family moved in, they were "weird", and the canine was a "beast of an animal" that had the nerve to growl at him. The young woman had to roll her eyes at that; what dog in their right mind wouldn't threaten Westleton?

This was the first Anna or Olaf had heard of it. Had heard of the new neighbors, in fact.

"So, you haven't met them, haven't seen or heard anything suspicious?"

"No," the girl's tone was curt, "So, what? Westleton lost ten sheep, and your department didn't feel the need to inform the rest of us?"

"Ah," Oaken stammered, "No, miss. Ya see, it was a one time occurrence, and with no repeat incidents and no substantial evidence pointing toward the culprit, we felt there was really nothing to tell. Thought it was a fluke."

The redhead sucked her teeth, irked. "Right. Well, now there is. You should probably post a bulletin or whatever it is you do."

The hulk of a man swallowed, nodding stiffly as he stood from his chair at the kitchen table, "Of course, I'll be sure to do that, right away." He was just too uncomfortable to continue his line of questioning.

"Fuck it," he told himself, "This girl is scaring the piss out of me."

Olaf stood to see the officer out while Anna took a deep breath to calm her temper.

"Settle down. This isn't like you." Something about this whole situation had her on edge. She couldn't put her finger on why, but every part of the primitive rear of her brain was screaming "danger!" It was making her hostile. It felt similar to the first time she'd nearly stepped on a snake while out with her herd. Only this was persistent; there was no breath of relief to sigh as she stepped away from the threat. She didn't even know what the threat was.

When Olaf returned from showing Oaken to the door, Anna declared that they were going into town because, she "needed fuckin' ammo," as she put it.

By the time they reached civilization in the redheads junker of a truck, Olaf convinced her to let him go and get a drink from the bar across the street from the general store while she got "her fuckin' ammo". That left Anna standing in line with a pack of batteries and can of coffee at the checkout by her lonesome self.

The person in front of her moved away, and she stepped up to the register, setting the goods on the counter, "Six boxes of .270, please."

As the cashier bobbed his head and stepped into the storage room behind him, a long, low whistle behind Anna caught her attention, "That's a lot of bullets."

The girl turned to look over her shoulder, eyeing the man behind her. Friendly brown eyes, scruffy blond hair, broad shoulders. He was cute. If she wasn't in such an agitated state, she might have tried to flirt with him. Instead, she offered a droll, "Yep," as she turned to face the register again.

The man cleared his throat awkwardly, "What's uh-" ahem, "What's it for?"

"Coyotes, or something, killed a couple of my friend's herd," Anna glanced back at him again.

His smile faltered just slightly, a bare twitch, but she noticed, "Or something, huh? Like what?"

The redhead twisted to more fully face the man, "Um, animals? Duh. What else would I mean?" Now, why in the Hell had she asked that? What did that even mean? "And what is taking that cashier so damn long!?"

"Oh, uh-"

"Kristoff." A third voice interrupted their exchange. Both snapped their attention to the source, and Anna felt her breath hitch in her throat. It nearly came out as an audible hiccup.

The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, goosebumps breaking out over her arms. The woman standing off to the side was drop-dead gorgeous, and terrifically frightening. A shudder raced down Anna's spine as she stared at the cold, stoic features and blue ("Blue, blue, very blue.") eyes that briefly observed her before flicking back to the man.

"What are you doing?" Her tone was soft, but brokered no excuses. Anna felt herself tense, gaze bouncing from... Kristopher? ("Was that what she called him?") to the woman.

"Aw, nothin', Els. Just chatting up the neighbors." His tone was sheepish as his own stare dropped to the floor, scratching at the back of his head.

There was a pause while the bomb-shell took a calming breath, lifting a hand to brush her platinum blonde braid forward over her shoulder, "Neighbors, hm?"

"Yeah, I heard she lives south on the highway from us." He gestured casually with his thumb toward Anna.

Anna shot the man an incredulous look. Where had he heard that? Her gaze fell back on the woman when she realized she was being looked upon much more studiously than before. Something in the blonde's eyes was making her feel distinctly perturbed.

"I see," there was a faint flicker of a tug at the corner of her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest, holding her elbows, posture elegant. Annas eyes of aqua were pinned by those oceanic pools, "Perhaps we'll have you for lunch some time."

Anna couldn't stop her oculars from bugging when she felt herself flush from her shoulders to her hairline.

Then, with a polite nod, the woman turned to the man again, seemingly ignoring the implications of her statement, "We should go."

He nodded jerkily, turning toward the front entrance with a clumsy wave back at the redhead, "It was nice meeting you." The woman didn't spare Anna a final glance as she walked out after him.

"I hate to say it," Anna considered numbly, "But maybe Westleton was right. Those guys were super creepy."