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Sins of the Past
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Chapter Twelve
Mm. Maybe I should note that this chapter might not rate as T.
Idk.
What the hell was I doing in a t-shirt and shorts indeed. I was cold, tired, and dreadfully hungry by the time I got home.
"Mom?" I called out, as I entered through the front door.
There was no reply.
Strange. She's normally home by now.
I stepped into the empty kitchen, and found a sheet of paper weighed down by a pen staring back at me on the counter top.
"Anna." It read. "Some miracle too-good-to-be-true opportunity just dropped into my lap this afternoon, so I'm going to be out late today. You can order takeout for dinner, or reheat some of last night's leftovers if you're feeling lazy. Be back around sometime this evening. Love you! XOXO."
Mm. Well, okay.
This is new for mom. What kind of miracle opportunity could she have gotten at work? We'd only just moved in a few days ago.
My stomach grumbled.
Guess I'll find out later.
I was in the midst of reheating a plate of leftovers when Elsa materialized in the doorway, her having wandered off somewhere sometime during my nap on the bus ride home. She gave a short, polite wave when I turned in her direction.
"Greetings, Anna. What is this strange contraption?"
I followed her gaze, and found that she was staring at the humming microwave oven we'd installed shortly after moving in.
"This thing?" I asked, pointing.
The ghost nodded.
"We call it a microwave. It heats up food really fast."
"Interesting..." mused Elsa, as she then proceeded to curiously poke her head directly into the microwave oven while it was still in operation. She gasped as the timer suddenly beeped in her face, and threw herself back in surprise.
I laughed.
"It does that when it's finished. Usually only takes a few minutes for it to be done." I reached in and retrieved a steaming plate of mashed potatoes, broccoli, and meatloaf.
Elsa absentmindedly dusted herself off, despite lacking any actual dust particles on her, before doing a double-take in surprise.
"What! Only a few minutes?!" she gasped, before laughing. "What a marvelous invention! And here I had thought that I lived in an advanced age!"
I dropped myself into an elevated stool by the kitchen counter, and spooned a mouthful of meat into my mouth. As I chewed, I could only wonder at what "marvelous" inventions our own grandkids would eventually be showing us in the future.
I went upstairs to take a very desperately needed warm shower after my impromptu dinner. Arendelle really does get cold, and fast.
Elsa laughed as I stumbled my way up the steps, and made a show of ascending straight up into the air, flaunting her ability to float.
"Showoff." I muttered.
I made my way into the bathroom and shut the door, shouting "Don't peep, alright?" to Elsa as it closed. I then stripped down, shedding both Elsa's sapphire earrings and my slightly damp clothing. The jewelry was carefully set aside, whereas on the other hand the soaked garments were haphazardly thrown on the floor.
I climbed into the shower stall, turning on the beautiful, beautiful hot water.
It felt like nirvana.
I could just stand here for days, enjoying the heat.
But that wouldn't be very economical.
I began to lather myself up with soap. As I did, however, the temperature in the shower suddenly plummeted. I screamed and leaped backwards in the stall as icy cold water droplets pricked my skin.
"Elsa?! What the hell?"
The temperature stabilized shortly afterwards. God, that stupid freaking ghost.
I looked at the shampoo bottle in disdain, debating whether or not to wash my hair as well.
Sigh.
Guess I should.
I worked at my hair with a large handful of shampoo after finishing up with the soap. The temperature dropped, again, just as I began to run my hands through my hair.
"Cut that out Elsa! It's not funny!"
I shivered, waiting for the heat to return.
It never did.
"God freaking damnit..." I muttered to myself, as I struggled to rinse away the shampoo in the freezing water.
It was still freezing cold when I climbed out.
In fact, the temperature had dropped even further, further than ever before in fact.
Seriously, Elsa?
"Someone's got some serious explaining to do..." I grumbled, as I dried myself off. I threw on a fresh t-shirt and pair of underwear, before beginning to carefully wrap my hair in the towel to dry.
I noticed someone open the bathroom door in the corner of my eye, but failed to realize the implications of such an action quickly enough.
A rag was pressed over my mouth, covering the entirety of my face, and I reflexively gasped in shock, which ultimately was a bad move as it caused me to inhale whatever drug the rag was soaked in. My mind kicked into overdrive, having finally processed the fact that I was under attack.
I held my breath, seeing how this would buy me precious few minutes to escape before I lost consciousness. I kicked and struggled with all my might, but my assailant held onto my face with in an iron grip.
My efforts proved futile; I couldn't escape.
My body soon demanded air, but all that was available was more of the sickeningly sweet noxious fumes.
I couldn't help it.
Darkness overtook me.
I woke up face down on a hard surface, which I eventually was able to recognize as the bathroom floor after I sighted my dirty laundry. I could feel my hair splayed about the floor, and my arms tightly and painfully tied behind my back with something plastic, probably a zip-tie.
I had a serious headache, and the room was spinning like crazy.
It was already starting to slow down, though. Maybe I'd be able to get off soon.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead. This is no way to greet your guest of honour." Came an immediately recognizable, taunting voice from above.
Hans.
I declined to respond, trying instead to pick myself up off the floor. I was pushed back down by a foot perched on my back for my troubles.
"What's the rush?" asked Hans. "We have all the time in the world. It's not like anyone's coming home anytime soon, is it?"
Mom.
"What did you do to her?" I asked, in a low voice.
Hans merely laughed.
"Just a simple $10,000 bribe to take it easy for the night. It's funny how much stuff you can get done with a little bit of money..."
"I swear if you do anything to her..."
Hans scoffed.
"I couldn't care less about the old hag. It's you who I have issues with."
I could already imagine the sneer plastered across his face, even without looking at the douchebag.
I rolled my eyes, not that Hans could see it.
"Gee, and I haven't the faintest clue why." I spat in anger. "I didn't do shit to you."
Hans applied pressure on my back with his foot at that remark, compressing my chest cavity. I struggled to breathe.
"On the contrary..." He began. "You made me look like a gibbering fool with your 'Elsa is not real' spiel, but I know it's all a lie. I know she's real, because I heard you calling her name in the shower. You're going to make her appear, right now."
Oh for... of all the petty reasons in the world...
Wait.
Elsa.
Where is she? Is she alright?
Wait, no. She's a ghost. Of course she's fine. It's me who's in trouble.
...I suppose Elsa dropping the temperature earlier was her way of trying to warn me.
Hans gripped me by my bound wrists, and I yelped in pain as he violently pulled me to my feet and bent me over the counter.
"Call her." He growled.
I struggled to shift my view upward from the sink toward the mirror, and saw that Hans had a phone pointed at the mirror, presumably ready to capture Elsa on film should she appear. I noticed that the earrings were untouched, and where I had left them prior to my shower.
Hans shoved my face into the sink.
"Do it. Now."
Dear god. This guy's actually crazy.
But it wasn't like I had a choice in the matter, so I opened my mouth and sarcastically chanted:
"Elsa, Elsa, Elsa."
She didn't appear.
Hans huffed in frustration. "What's going on? Where is she?!" He again pressed down hard into my back, digging my stomach further into the counter top.
"She's not fucking real." I wheezed, feeling the strain on my rib cage. "You wanna let me go, before you dig your grave even further?"
Hans laughed mirthlessly.
"On the contrary, since I didn't get what I came for, we'll be doing something else instead." He leaned into my ear to whisper. "We're gonna have some fun."
His words were lost on me, and I failed to understand what he had meant until I heard the jiggling of a belt and the undoing of a zipper. I realized then, in horror, what he intended to do.
Oh god.
Oh god oh god oh god.
I struggled at my bonds with renewed vigour and desperation. I tried to shove him off, to wriggle out of his grasp, anything and everything to try to get away.
My efforts, again, proved futile.
A tear streamed down my cheek as despair ravaged my mind.
No..! Not like this! Someone please help!
My vision blurred, and for an instant I blacked out.
I woke not a second later to an extreme pain in my wrists. An excruciating pain.
These zip-ties were wrecking havoc upon my wrists.
But.. wait, what?
Why?
Why would the zip-ties now suddenly be digging into my wrists, when before they'd been merely uncomfortable?
The pain went on to rise in intensity. There was no indications that it would stop, and it was all I could do to keep myself from losing my mind. Hans was momentarily forgotten, as was his intent to do terrible things to my person. My thoughts were focused solely on this awful, awful pain destroying my wrists.
What... is going... on..?!
And then, after what felt like forever, the pain mercifully ended with a loud SNAP!
Thank god..!
I let out a sigh of relief at the same time I heard a gasp of surprise.
I saw a human shaped shadow appear and recede from underneath me, with lightning speed, from where I lay sprawled over the counter top. I suddenly then felt a sharp jab in my right fist, which was followed immediately by a pained male grunt.
Wait, a male grunt..? Was that Hans?
I cautiously rotated my head toward the door to take a peek at what was going on, just in time to see Hans reeling back in shock. His eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates, and his expression was that of pure fear. He turned and ran, frantically scrambling as fast as his feet could carry him.
My jaw plummeted to the ground in surprise when I saw someone, my presumed saviour, chase after him in pursuit...
...because that someone was...
...me?
How was that possible..?
I glanced downward and gasped at what I saw.
I could see my legs and body, but they were pale, and translucent. I whirled around, disbelieving my own eyes as I held out my arms for inspection.
Pale, and translucent.
I looked into the mirror, and what I saw all but confirmed my suspicions.
It was me.
But pale and translucent.
Just like Elsa.
Wee! What a fun chapter to write.
I admit that, as a chemistry student, looking up the effects of chloroform (my chosen compound for anesthesia) was incredibly fascinating, in a somewhat morbid way.
I hope that I didn't screw up the presentation too badly. I found it somewhat difficult to describe what was happening in the later half in the chapter, despite the scenes being quite vivid in my mind.