Chapter 5: Static

The gate welcomed us with an icy breath. It flowed past my neck, dragging shivers out of my spine. I pulled my coat closer to me and grumbled at Elsa. "I have no idea how you can walk around without freezing in this weather." A playful smile was my only response. "Right right, back to work."

I stepped past the gates and through the murky fog, thick enough to choke me. Through the pale screen I could make out the ordinary sights. Black rusted skeletons of cars lay upon the ruined remains of guns and claw marks. I ran my hand along a wall and felt the scars from the decades. Every step and every breath I took was the same as before, and that bothered me. I let out my frustration in a breath and Elsa stopped walking.

"Did you find something amiss, Anna?" she asked.

"Absolutely nothing." I said with a groan. "There's absolutely nothing here."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense." she said. "The next disappearance shouldn't be for a few days."

I kicked around and looked off into the urban abyss. "Is there anything you can see? I don't think we can afford to wait till Saturday"

Nodding her head at me, Elsa had her eyes closed. She was breathing evenly, tendrils of ice slowly wrapping around her skin. I looked onwards as cerulean light glowed around her, circling around her in a dance of power. Slowly the circle closed in on her before exploding outwards. I breathed in the wave of arctic air that passed over me, dispelling the fog from the area. She exhaled and the rest of the power fluttered out past her feet before she opened her eyes.

"This...district as you call it. While not as thick as home, the amount of aether here is intoxicating. No matter in what direction I extended my senses, it was all aether fog."

I pouted and bit my lip. "I thought angels were supposed to be really good at sensing through aether."

Elsa gave me a triumphant smile. "We are. I could not see anything that stood out, but I did sense some distortions towards the east. I suggest that we start our investigation there."

I swear, I could hug this girl. I thought with a giddy smile. "Alright then, let's go. To the Eastern shopping district!"

"We've been here already." I said, crunching the snow drift under my boot for the umpteenth time. "There are our footprints right there, and those buildings look way too familiar."

Elsa sighed and nodded her head at me. "I thought that it was just my imagination. We also passed through that overpass area at least twice on the way here."

I sighed and twirled one of my pigtails. The buildings loomed over me, grey tones mixed with blacked out windows. Idly, I scanned my eyes over the scenery and didn't find a shred of…whatever I was looking over.

I tapped my earpiece and waited for the buzzing to fill my ear. "Well, somebody took her sweet time calling me back." Kristoff said through a mouthful of pizza.

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder Krissy. Real talk though, where the hell are we?"

Kristoff mumbled something through cheese and bread. Keys clicked and something beeped in the distance. "The map shows you in the East District. Have you guys been walking in a circle for the last two hours?"

"Well, that certainly helps. Is there anywhere else we can go though?" I clicked my tongue as I scanned over the surroundings. "I mean the only place I see are forward and backwards. Kinda weird when I think about it."

"Well, either you need glasses or my map is wrong." He said with a huff.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, my map is saying that you should be near a T-section. You telling me you don't see anything?"

"Hmm, I'll remember to bring my glasses next time. Thanks Krissy, I'll call you when we find something." He mumbled out an affirmative before the earpiece clicked off.

I paced back to the western wall. From what I saw, it was a pretty freaking normal wall. Light grey bricks were held together by slightly greyer veins of cement. There were windows scattered along the buildings. A long cut down the center of the building. Maybe at the top of the building there were some birds or something-

"What the heck!?" I shouted.

Elsa was by my side in an instant. "Anna, are you alright? Did you find something amiss?"

"Elsa, do you see that large almost ominous gash running down the center of that building?"

"What do you me-?" Instantly Elsa froze solid, her mouth widening to a gape. "What in God's name?!"

I only nodded as I looked over the cut. It was as if a giant had cleaved through two buildings and shoved the broken halves together. They had the same color, but the more I looked the more bricks were slightly off from the others, and it started bugging me. Curious, I walked closer to the cut. The edges of it looked smooth and rounded. Actually, I guess calling it a cut wouldn't be appropriate, as it was more like a giant fold. Now as to what could actually fold buildings together, I'm not quite sure.

Something in the air tickled my nose, and I felt my hand drawn to the fold. Slowly I stuck it out, leather-clad fingers reaching towards the gap. They were at least an inch away when the sparks flew. Orange and yellow sparks jumped from the crevice, singing off my glove and running up my shoulder. I jumped back a few feet. My arm had glass shards embedded through it, or at least it felt like that. I flexed my fingers and a spike of pain tore through my arm, dragging a small groan out of my lips.

Elsa was by my side instantly. "Anna, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, waving her off with my good arm.

"Please take your health serious Anna." She said with a frown. Holding my arm by the wrist, she ran her other hand over the arm. "Your arm was hit by a powerful warding charm. Judging by the aether signatures, it was strong enough to put a normal human into a coma, but not strong enough to kill."

I shook my arm until the tingling went away. "How exactly do you know how much aether a human can take before they die?"

Elsa smirked at me. "You haven't seen me in thirty years Anna. I've picked up some tricks." My partner said with a hint of mischief. Instantly, that whimsy was gone and the air of seriousness returned. Elsa kneeled in front of the gap, a safe foot or two away from the wall. She muttered to herself, making a small crystal of ice appear. It hovered over her palm, spinning gently in place. With a quick flick of her finger the crystal shot towards the gap. It continued to spin as electric coils wrapped around it. Steam erupted from the crystal as it continued forward. The little diamond spun faster as it was disintegrated. Elsa stood up after, patting her knees.

"You know, that doesn't seem safe." I said. "I mean, someone could probably lose a finger if they got too close."

"Actually, if you were to touch the surface directly, you would lose more than your fingers."

"They definitely need to put a warning sign then. Wait, I thought you said that it wouldn't be strong enough to kill someone."

"People don't die from a few lost fingers." Elsa said matter of factly.

"Ugh. Now I really don't want to know what you've been up to." I pouted and reached my hand out toward the gap. Doesn't seem that dangerous from here. It even took that ice a few seconds to melt… wait. "Elsa, I need you to freeze my hands!" I yelled, grabbing her hands.

"What, Anna? What are you talking abou-"

"I've got a plan. Just make sure that the ice is as dense, no denser than that crystal you made." I smiled with only the smallest hint of madness.

She sighed in exasperation, but gently held my hands. The air around us began to swirl and I could see frost begin to form on my knuckles. "Congelo!" She said. Her voice resonated with power and my hands chilled more than ten degrees. I didn't feel it when she let go, but my hands almost dragged me to the ground. Pulling them up, I looked over my fingers. Each digit was covered in a translucent blue wrapping of ice, at least an inch thick. I flexed a finger and the ice moved with me. I could spend all day looking at Elsa's work, but I forced myself away. I had something incredibly stupid to do.

"Alright, let's do some science." I muttered as I walked to the gap.

"What does that mean Anna?" Elsa asked as I thrust my hands forward. "Wait, don-" Anything she said after that was drowned out by the sudden rush of sound and light . Power erupted from the gap, engulfing me in a bright white light. My eyes were forced shut, white rays threatening to singe my retinas. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a furious screaming as lightning seemed to dance around me. I could feel the ice on my hands already begin to melt. The gap was rejecting me, not wanting me to get even close to the opening.

It only got worse as I grabbed the side of the gap with my hands and pulled. Heat and numbness spread up my arms as I pulled with all my strength. Needles in my arms twisted, and I could feel my flesh rending. The wall refused to move, staying completely still as I pulled. The steam rose over to my face, tickeling my nose as I doubled my efforts. Hazarding a glance, I opened my eyes a bit. The glare was even worse than before, but through the smoke and lights I could make out movement. A small, gradual movement of concrete, but movement nonetheless.

There was more movement on the other edge of the wall. Another pair of hands, cobalt blue and rippling with energy, had grasped the side and seemed to be pulling with all the force they could muster. I smirked and planted my feet. Taking a deep breath, I pulled even harder, straining every muscle I had. I'm positive that Elsa was doing the same.

Little by little the stone began to move. I was almost at my limit when an earth shattering boom came from the gap. The force threw me back onto my back, and I rolled at least three feet before I finally came to a stop. I lay there on the ground, bells still ringing in my ears. I tried to move my arms, but all I got was an incredible sharp pang of pain from where my arms were supposed to be. I looked over and could see that: yes they were still attached to me, no my gloves and a decent part of my sleeves were not, and the back of my hands were blacker than the first meal I ever cooked.

Eventually the burning stopped and I managed to sit up. Blood rushed from my head and I almost fell back down. Thankfully I managed to keep myself up with my slightly less charred hands. Through the blotchy white spots I could make out the street around me. I strained my eyes and looked towards the gap. The gap had unfolded completely. What was a cut was now a full blown street. I laughed to myself as a warm wind blew from down the street.

The air crackled with a defeated whimper as I stood up. Bits of aether crackled around me as it slowly puttered out of existence. Something was crackling, and I think it was either the magic fizzing out or my eardrums repairing themselves. Blood and pain pounded my temples as I straightened my back, but a soft groan of pain cut through the static.

The noise came from a crumpled form on the ground. I ran faster than I should have to Elsa's side. Dropping to my knees I grabbed at her hand. She stirred at my touch and I breathed a sigh of relief. The ice around her hands was mostly intact and there wasn't a hint of a burn was a decent amount of blood on her arm, but I'm pretty sure that was from me.

She shook and turned towards me. Teal orbs looked into my blue and she broke into a relieved smile.

"You are an idiot." She said as she say up.

"Let she who has not jumped head first into a burning orange explosion of energy cast the first stone." I said with a smirk. "Jesus said that."

"That is not how the scripture goes." She said with a small smile.

"I'm sure Jesus would like my version better."

Elsa only chuckled as her gaze drifted over me. It went from my eyes and trickled down my face. I swear it almost lingered at my lips before it shot to my hands.

"Anna, you're covered in blood!" she gasped.

"Huh?" I looked down at my hands. "Oh. I'm bleeding." I said. I finally had an answer to one of Kristoff's questions: Do I look the same on the inside as normal people. The answer is, yes. My hands looked like a cheap halloween skeleton, splattered with strawberry jelly. A finger flexed and blood poured out. That certainly explains the light-headedness. I thought to myself as Elsa held my arm by the wrist.

"Anna, you're not just bleeding." she said, face paler than usual. "God, don't. I.. Oh my God."

"Hey, Elsa, relax. I've got a healing factor. It'll just take a second to heal." I said with a smile, holding up my other hand. The flesh was already beginning to form back, along with the nerves. I winced as sensation, mostly pain, started to return.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how well you can heal this. This is.. Oh my God." Elsa was shaking now. "This is…"

I am the biggest dick. I thought as I scooted closer to Elsa. "Hey… Elsa? Elsa, I'm here." She was crying now. I checked my hand and wrapped the less mangled one around her shoulder. She winced at the touch before leaning into me. "I'm sorry." I muttered into her hair. Wintergreen and static flowed into my nose as I held her close.

"Please… don't do that again." Elsa said through her shaking. "You hurt yourself that badly without even… without even thinking about it."

"Yeah… I don't exactly think things through." I said. I gently rubbed her back with my thumb. The skin had already healed, so I didn't have to worry about getting more blood over her.

"I just… I just found you again Anna. Please… don't take yourself away from me."

I reeled, feeling like I had just been slapped in the face. "What? Elsa, no! I'm not going anywhere!"

"Then, promise me you won't let yourself get hurt that badly again." She pushed off me gently and looked me in the eyes. "I know that you won't get killed. I know that you'll come back. I know that you're strong." She took my hands in hers. "I also know.. that I'm not that kind of strong. I'm not strong without you. Please don't leave me alone again."

I looked down at her hands. Elsa, my partner. Elsa my angel. I spent my time on Earth thinking, looking for the perfect angel that I knew. I think this is the first time I've really seen Elsa in thirty years.

"Hey, what are you talking about." I said with a smile. "You are plenty strong on your own. More than me, trust me. And us?" I place her hand on my shoulder. "We're stronger than anything this world, the one above or the one below have to offer."

She laughed, though it sounded more like a wheeze. "I think that's borderline heresy Anna."

"It's not heresy if it's true, right?" I smirked and stood. I held out my hand to Elsa who was still prone on the ground.

Elsa shook her head but took my hand in hers. She stood up a bit too quickly and stumbled into me. I blushed like a teenager on prom night. She stood up and smiled at me, dried tears almost completely faded.

"Well, we can't call ourselves the strongest until we figure out what's behind all of this." she said with a smile in her voice.

I laughed and tapped her in the shoulder. "Hey, you're the one that got all emotional. Come on, let's get this over with." I said as I turned towards the newly opened street. Elsa readied herself to my side. "I need to apologize for knocking their door in."

The street looked normal from a distance, but that was it. Even a normal person would know that something was severely wrong the second they laid foot on the pavement. The air reeked of death, smelling of flesh excrement and fear. There was the same overcast light across the district, but somehow it felt dimmer as soon as we entered.

Elsa coughed as we walked down the road. "The air is thick with aether." she said, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

"It's full of something. Are you sure?" I asked, but involuntarily raised my arm to my mouth as well.

"Yes, but this is a totally different kind of aether. It's thick and malicious. You can taste it too, can't you?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow in response. "The rest of the area has aether in it, but this area is positively flooded with aether. It would most likely incapacitate anyone without resistance."

"What, is it bad magic dust?"

"No, there is just far too much." She said as we both walked down the street.

Along the sidewalks there was a distinct nothingness. There were no burn marks, no demon scratches lining the walls. No puddles of blood dragged alongside the ground nor scorched remains of civilians. There was no empty beer cans or crushed french fry containers. If it were up to me, I would have said that we were the first people to set foot in this place for years.

"Elsa you getting a bad feeling about this?"

She hummed a bit. "It almost looks like something has been maintenancing the area. That could be concerning."

"Yeah, let's make sure not to bump into whoever's in charge of tha- Hey, look at that!"

In the distance I could see a body ambling about. It was stumbling along the street, arms flailing about. It clawed at it's face, letting out a hoarse scream that snaked down my spine. Elsa and I ran towards it as it, actually a he by the sound of his voice, continued screaming at the top of his lungs.

When we approached he stopped his screaming. His arms dropped to his side and he turned to us. He looked far worse up close than I imagined. He was wearing the tatters of a college sweater and torn up jeans. His skin clung to his bones like plastic wrap. Patches of dark hair was littered about his scalp and a few were held tightly in the hand by his side. His eyes darted back and forth between Elsa and I. If he looked at me any harder his eyeballs were probably going to pop out of his skull.

"Get away… away from.. run.." he said with a shaky voice.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, hand at my side, ready to draw a weapon.

"Run… away… get away." He repeated, head shaking like his voice.

"Anna, stay back." elsa said, raising an arm to my chest. "There is something wrong."

"Run… away!" he yelled, clawing at his cheeks. "Must… run away!"

"Hey, calm down. We're not going to hurt you." I said, holding my other hand out to him. "Take it easy and talk to me."

"Run away!" He screamed again, stumbling back from me. "Run awa-"

A face had appeared behind his shoulder, flashing a shark's grin. It opened it's mouth and bit down on the boy's jugular. Blood spurted in an erratic fashion, soaking the ruined sweater in it's owner's blood. The boy flailed about, screaming as tears mucus and blood poured down his face.

Elsa was the first to react, but it was too late. The boy's body slumped to the ground lifeless. Above him stood a girl with a slim build and a moldy complexion. Sharp eyes laid above the predatory grin. She cackled, sounding like rusty nails on concrete. A shadow lept from behind her. It jumped into the corpse. The corpse moved it's arms about before hopping to it's feet. It flailed about like a puppet controlled by an amateur. It stopped as sudden as it started, arms at it's side and head at a weird angle. Elsa and I stepped back as the two figures turned to us with predatory grins.

"What… do we have here?" The female figure said. Her voice was a sharp and painful to hear, like shrieking metal during a car accident. "Where… did you two come from?"

Elsa and I reached for our weapons. "We're investing the disappearances." I said with a steady voice. "I'm guessing you guys would know something about it."

The boy coughed and spat out some viscous fluid. "It... does not matter. We…. shall feast…"

Elsa had already drawn her sword. "Feast? Is that what you have been doing to the missing people?"

The girl laughed in the same painful way. "You...need not know. The master...is the one you should be asking."

"You're not going to give us a chance to ask are you?" I asked, Frostbite and Marshmallow in my hands.

"No. We will not." The girl said through dyer fangs. Her pupils had dilated, and her face seemed thinner than before. She howled into the sky and a dozen howls replied. The ground began to rumble with the stoping of hundreds of feet.

"Of course it's not going to be easy." I turned to Elsa and smiled at her. She looked back concerned before flashing me a confident smirk.

"Alright Elsa..." I said as the stomping grew louder. From down the street I could see a mob of creatures barreling down the street. The growled and howled, spittig everywhere as they scratched at the ground with sharp nails. I took a deep breath as they neared us. I could see the dilated pupils and fangs dripping with various fluids. I raised my guns and ran forward. "Showtime!"

A/N: Hi there, long time no see. If you're still following my story, thank you so much. If you're new, please note I do try to update more than once every two months. See, after I published the last chapter, I've actually been without a computer. The thing broke down the day after I posted, and it took me forever to get a new one. And then I got sick. And then I had midterms. And then somebody broke into my room and stole my computer that had the first draft of chapter 5 on it. So, yeah I typed about half of this on my phone, half at the library/ whatever laptops I could borrow. Hopefully I get a new computer soon, but here's hoping I get one sooner than later.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who left a review. I read every single one and frankly they've kept me from giving up on this story. Just knowing that somebody likes this is more than enough incentive to keep writing even if it's from my tiny phone. So to everyone who's left a review, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every word means the world to me, so thank you. And to everyone else, if you have anything to say, please leave a review if you can. I really appreciate the input, and I just like hearing from the people who see this.

Anyway, hopefully the next chapter takes less than 2 months to make, but it will definitely be faster once I get a new new laptop. Until then, thank you so much for reading and leave a review if you have anything you liked, didn't like or just wanted to say hi. Thanks for reading!