the magic of ice

another nightmare and peeves

Meanwhile, back in the Kingdom of Arendelle, Anna tried to occupy herself with whatever she could think of to do, but it was hard without her sister around. Anna desperately wanted to build a snowman, but not by herself. She wanted to play with Elsa, but her older sister wasn't around. She tried doing other things: colouring, reading, she even tried cooking eggs, which her mother had taught her just over a year ago. None of them held her interest for very long, not while her sister was away.

She lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She wondered where Elsa was now, or why she even had to go in the first place. Her parents wouldn't say anything about it, but they did promise that Elsa would be back for Christmas. It cheered her up a little, but not much. Christmas was three months away. Anna didn't want to wait that long. She wanted her sister to come back now.

She looked out the window. It was pitch-black out there. There were no stars, no moon. They weren't awake. They were still sleeping. Sighing sadly, Anna reached over and drew another tally onto a piece of paper. There were eight tallies in total for the eight days that Elsa had been gone.

Yawning, she pulled her covers up to her chin and closed her eyes.

()()()

She heard laughter. It was not the kind of laughter she was used to. It made her cold all over and she shivered, bringing her coat round her tighter. She didn't know where she was. It was dark everywhere. She couldn't see a single thing and she was scared. Amidst all the laughter, she heard voices talking, and they did nothing to calm Anna down.

"Let's just kill them now," one voice said impatiently. "I'm tired of waiting."

"Have you lost your mind?" another snapped. "We have been given our orders. We are not to kill them. That is not our job. Or has that slipped your mind?"

"Of course not," the first voice replied indignantly. "I'm not an idiot, as you seem to be thinking. I'm just merely asking why we can't kill them. Is it really that big a deal that only the master can kill them?"

"Yes," the second voice sighed exasperatedly, like the answer should be obvious. "It's all part of the prophecy, remember?"

Anna tried to call out, to ask who was there and what they were talking about. But for some reason her voice was not working. All she could do was stand and listen in terror and confusion. Who were they talking about? Who were they so desperate to kill?

"I would think you would know better," another, much colder, voice interrupted the two arguing ones, "than to talk about this in front of a Muggle."

For some reason, that shut up the other two. Everything became brighter and Anna was glad to be able to use her eyes now and not just rely on her ears. Everything became brighter and Anna was glad to be able to use her eyes now and not just rely on her ears. She was in some kind of room. It was a rather unpleasant room. There were cobwebs in every corner and the wooden floorboards looked worn out. In front of her were three people. They all looked like serial killers, what with their evil grins and black torn-at-the-ends clothes. They looked at her disgustedly. At least two of them were. The third smiled at her, but it wasn't a warm smile. It sent cold chills down her spine.

"Such a young child," the smirking one said in a cold voice. "I think we could use her."

He pressed a finger to Anna's forehead and she screamed.

()()()

She woke up, still screaming. She sat up in her bed, breathing hard. The sun was up and the sky was a bright blue, but Anna didn't pay any attention to what was outside. Her mind was racing. She touched her hand to her forehead. The burning sensation was still there, but it was slowly fading, thank goodness. But they had wanted to use her for something. What did they want to use her for? And why did they call her a 'Muggle'? What was a Muggle anyway? So many questions filled her head, but she didn't think her parents would be able to answer them.