Freeze in Your Fears

[Ashla]

Solo. Rated BG-16 cause scary scenes and nightmares and stuff :P

Sunlight shone through a clear window, glazing the white walled room in a glimmering light. A small sound filled the tranquil room however, one that could make the heart go sick. It was the sound of a blade kissing flesh. A man moaned and groaned in it.

In the clean, white room, a dirty piece of art was forming on the spotless wall. A painting of man's blood. The girl stabbing him again and again wore a grim face. Her black hair was tide back, she wore a black undershirt and brown pants. As her steel dagger ripped through skin, she heard a voice in her head, screaming out to her. What you're doing is wrong!

She kept going, however. She kept stabbing. Even when a fleck of blood came up and slapped her cheek. "I don't care," she mumbled to herself, "I don't care."

Her eyes were glazed in something out of the world, she was subdued by thoughts going elsewhere. She was chillingly cold, but her her eyes wept with fear. Deep fear. She was only taking it out on this man...


~~~

Ashla awoke quietly, but quickly. A nightmare had jerked her awake. Sweat beads collected on her clammy skin. She would have sighed to let it out, but panic stayed when she realized she couldn't move. She felt something burdensome just collecting on her chest, she couldn't even breathe properly. She couldn't even close her eyes again.

She was awake and completely well. Even the nightmare that roused her had abandoned her memory. Why did she feel so uptight? She glanced around her room, everything looked normal. She was staying in the house of her boyfriend's friends. It was a crystal clear house, all gloriously clean and white. As the sun rose, things looked no different.

However, one thing was off. The grey curtain that separated her room from the rest was... gone. Mysteriously gone. In its place was a white door. The door confused the numb girl, why-

- She heard footsteps. She felt her heart pound fast as a drum. The footsteps were louder. Louder. They stopped by her bed. She already was frozen. She could do nothing. A black shadow hovered over her. The only clear thing it held was a bone knife. The knife was covered in blood.

[Ashla]

She could not move. She could not breathe. She could not call for help.

She thought this haunting figure would stab her with the knife. Yet instead, it extended a formless, colorless hand. Ashla's eyes were wide open in terror. She kept telling herself it was just a dream. However, she knew she was somehow awake.

In a flash though, something amazing happened. Everything suddenly disappeared. A light seemed to flash on inside, the girl could move again.

Ashla immediately threw herself up, pulling her dagger out from beneath her pillow. Her eyes were glazed in the color of raw ice. Her heart did not stop pounding. The sweat on her back made her sticky. She could not collect time to think at all, not before she heard a voice from behind.

She wisped around like lightning, adrenaline coursing through her as strong as her powerful blood. She saw a figure.

Seeing anyone at all was all that it took.

She raced up to him, holding her dagger firm in her hand. She stabbed it. She stabbed it again and again. She fell emotionless, she noticed the figure but didn't care. She had to eradicate it. Surely this man was the cause of her troubled sleep?

Then she heard a hoarse cry. She looked over to the curtain. That grey curtain. What she saw brought her back to her senses.

It was Mandy, the wife of the man Ashla was stabbing. Mandy was still in her nightgown, her orange hair combed back neatly. Her blue eyes were panicked though, her mouth wide in shock. Bob, his shaved head splattered with his own blood, hadn't screamed once.

Ashla dropped her knife. Her eyes were still under her family's signature glare, yet her body language said it all.

She collapsed on the floor. Letting out a cry of terror of herself. She looked up to the two people. The only words she could mumble were, "I saw something..."

[Ashla]

It took so long. So long for both people to recover. Ashla from the shock of both dream and deed, as well as Bob from being attacked. Somehow, thankfully, so out of it as she was Ashla hadn't stricken any vital spots. This man was, surprisingly, laughing now. "Kids in the mornings, recovering from their night terrors."

The girl he was sheltering now though seemed far off. The fear that had been mixed with anger and resentment was completely replaced. The girl seemed fragile, vacant, paranoid... was this such a state for an Icebreaker of Eiskalt should be seen?

Ashla didn't touch the tea she was told would relieve her. She stared off in the distance, void and frightened. The room they were in was just like her own, all white. There were clear, sliding doors that separated the rooms. She finally brought herself up to speak as Mandy tended Bob's wounds, "I-I sorry... I..."

Bob, his eyes dancing, chuckled. "You had a traumatic dream or something, dear. I doubt you would attack on purpose."

Ashla sighed, leaning back. She had a blanket over her, another thing to relieve shock. She shivered, "What I saw was real though..."

Mandy was still patching her husband up, "Ashla, you are experienced, but still very young. You may be confused."

For the first time that morning, the Icebreaker tore from her shell, "But I'm not confused! I know I was awake."

Bob scoffed, "All our five children are grown up. We've watched their baby steps and teenage dramatics. We understand you believe you see all, yet you simply don't."

The Icebreaker gritted her teeth, then sighed, "I guess you can't help me..."

Bob and Mandy shot each other an expression Ashla simply could not understand. As the birds sung outside, Ashla felt alone and abandoned inside. It was something she felt a million times, yet... she felt trapped as well. Trapped inside herself and the things she witnessed.

[Ashla]

For the rest of the day, Ashla was able to keep calm. She looked normal, yet what she woke up to see haunted her immensely. She felt threatened even more. As she helped Mandy around the bright house, she felt endangered even taking one step into the hallways or next room. She felt so anxious, afraid she was somehow exposed to a twisted dark.

Eventually, as the long day stretched, an expected visitor knocked on the door. Ashla was overjoyed that it was her beloved. Julius Tabor, the prince and final flame of Eiskalt. Ashla yearned desperately to catch him alone, to blurt out her list of unreasonable fears. Mandy, however, knew how to keep him busy as well. This would be both his and Ashla's final day here. Mandy obviously didn't want her guests to go to waste.

At last, after what was a feast of a dinner, Ashla tugged Julius by his shirt to the corner of the room while Bob and Mandy chatted. Ashla pulled Julius towards her, finally willing to break down.

Julius hugged her, "I heard you woke up startled enough that you attacked Bob."

Ashla rested her hand on his shoulder, in dire need of rest from her thoughts. "I couldn't recognize him thoroughly. When I could, I was... too far." She pulled her head up and whispered into Julius' ears, "Julius, I need you!"

[Ashla]

Ashla told Julius everything. What she saw, what she feared she would see again. She explained how, as much as she hated to admit it, she felt helpless. She couldn't move as that... thing... hung over her.

Julius held her the entire time, and while Ashla cherished it, she still felt defensive and defiant. As Julius stroked the half elf's black hair, she shuddered, "Suddenly I feel like I'm being attacked every single second of the day. Julius, even when we were apart and the Crimson Hand chased us it wasn't this bad. I'm just- I...

She finally let herself go limp on him. Julius just gave her a kiss, "I'll stick by you tonight. We're getting to the bottom of this..."

Ashla mumbled an inaudible response, worn and defeated from herself.

Julius looked back to Bob and Mandy, noting they were still talking amongst themselves. The brown haired Tabor spoke to Ashla again, "I'll ask Bob if we can stay for another night or so before we continue on."

[Ashla]

That night, Julius sat up on the, once again, plain white couch. Ashla was snuggled up to him, trying to fall asleep. Even with his arms wrapped around her though, Julius was so worried she wouldn't fade in a hurry. Bob and Mandy were just in the other room, throned in their master bed.

The lights were out, Julius had dozed off. His head was leaned against the couch, he wasn't snoring but could be close. Ashla had fallen asleep as well, but now her eyes suddenly shot open. Another nightmare she had no memory of.

She felt something though, and it wasn't Julius' arms around her waist. She felt like she was being dragged off the reclined couch. She dared to look ahead, but she saw no one. Instincts kicked in, she tried to get away. Yet she could not. If her eyes could have widened, they would of.

She could not move.
She could not close her eyes.
She could not speak.

At the moment she realized it, she tried to pull herself awake. She tried to even moan to catch Julius' attention, yet she couldn't. She could do nothing as a nameless, faceless enemy pulled her away. She tried to pull her mouth open, to scream. Despite all her strength through bloodline, she was weak.

It took everything she had, she was sweating like crazy. However, she finally managed to croak a plea for help.

At that moment, she was free. Even her enemy was gone. To her surprise even, she hadn't moved an inch.

[Ashla]

Even for a moment, Ashla could not calm down. However, Julius was right there. He still held her in a hug, he still watched her with a steady and understanding gaze. The house was now lit under lamp light, Mandy and Bob in the room.

Within all of Ashla's paranoia, Julius had a plan. A member of the Tabor family of Eiskalt, Julius' eyes were burning with one illusion upon another, he knew several things that could aid her.

"It could be a curse," Julius suggested, "Maybe I can break it."

Ashla just moaned, placing her hand on her face. She was tired, very tired, but she still could not rest in peace. "Julius, your eyes may not effect me, cause..."

Julius shook his head, "We can still try, even if you are numb..."

They both knew that the Icebreaker was numb within her head and heart. It was sometimes impossible to even reach her. It was within that though where a light clicked on inside Julius' mind. He beemed, "Hey..."

Ashla, with clear circles under her eyes, looked at him hopefully. "It's not an outside force, not an enemy," Julius realized, "I don't know how this could be, but it's you."