For as long as she can remember, it's always been Gracelynn and her parents. So when they suggest she apply for Burgess Performing Arts Academy like they did, Grace is a little skeptical. But one tour of the prestigious school and its music program and Grace can't wait to leave. She is quickly accepted, and while that means she can't go on the cruise they had been planning on for a few weeks, she is going to be accepted into her dream school. But all that changes with one call. The ship sank. There were no survivors. And Grace is left alone. But she doesn't believe the police when they tell her that her parents are dead. How can they? Call it 'in denial,' but she can't shake the feeling that something is wrong, and that her parents are somewhere out there. For now, though, she is in no way ready for the school, so she decides to wait a year and settle in the big city of Corona, Burgess, with her aunt and uncle's family.

One year later, all Grace has done is try and forget about the hopeless belief she still unwillingly clings to by drowning herself in her music. It isn't working, so what better time for her to leave for BPAA? When she gets there, she meets new and old friends, tons of interesting people, and maybe a new crush... But when a stranger comes forth and claims to be able to help her, can she force herself to lay her futile attempts at moving on to rest? Or will she continue with her efforts in secret? The choice isn't very hard, but then there's the matter of trusting the stranger and all that he tells her...

Chapter 1

The story of Jack and Elsa Frost was nearly legend. How they were both innocents caught up in a culprit's plan, how they never deserved the fate they got, but they would argue with it. Sure, Jack had gotten kidnapped (hmm...maybe it was kind of a big deal...) but they had ended up together, in the end. And now they had a family to raise.

Their daughter, Gracelynn, or Grace, was fourteen when they brought her to Burgess Performing Arts Academy. To her surprise, she loved it, and couldn't wait to go. Unfortunately, that meant she couldn't go with her parents on the cruise she had been looking forward to for a while, but if it meant she could go to her new dream school, Jack and Elsa were okay with it.

Not even a month later, Grace was left standing alone in a nice, peaceful, but incredibly depressing place filled with flowers and two holes in the ground, wishing more than anything that she could turn back the clock and make them stay with her. Yes, Jack and Elsa were on the cruise ship that sank somewhere in the Indian Ocean, Grace couldn't even bring herself to remember.

Her Aunt Anna, whom she hadn't seen since last Christmas, would be taking her in with her husband and two young children. Grace had always been home schooled, and she didn't think she was ready to attend BPAA after all.

When she arrived at Anna and Kristoff's house, she was greeted by a slobbery white dog the size of a small pony, and their two children. The first thing she did was set her things down in her new and unfamiliar room and cry.

The next; lock her door, set the collage of pictures of her and her parents on her night stand, and get out her violin to practice.

And practice, and practice, and practice.

All while a small, glittering silver snowflake ring shone up at her.

I promised, she sobbed the first night as her final thought before she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

~one year later~

"Okay, you can do this, you can do this..." Gracelynn Frost told herself, staring at her cerulean blue eyes in the mirror.

Was it possible to have a staring contest with yourself? Yes? No? Maybe so? A quote that she had seen somewhere came to mind.

'It is not sad if you argue with yourself. It is only when you argue with yourself and lose that it's sad.'

Now that she thought about it, it had really been more of a quote thought up of for laughs, but if one thought about it, it did make sense.

She substituted some words to fit her own situation.

It is not sad when you have a staring contest with yourself. It is only when you have a staring contest and you lose against yourself that it's sad.'

Grace blinked.

Did that mean she won? Or that she had lost?

With her luck, she had probably lost.

She sighed, resting her hands on her hips.

"I can't do this," she announced to herself.

"Gracie!" two small voices chirped out from down the hall, as well as a deep throated bark.

"Hey!" she put on a bright and cheerful face immediately. Nobody could see her suffering. Nobody.

"Gracie, Gracie!" Jenny, the now seven-year-old and oldest of the three Bjorgman children, was the first to scramble into Grace's room. She had a mop of stringy blonde hair with a small scatter of freckles across her nose and teal eyes, just like her mother's. She wasn't very tall but she was as skinny as a twig.

Cliff was the younger brother. Where Jenny had a mop of blonde hair, he had fine strawberry blonde hair. He had brown eyes, like Uncle Kristoff, though. He was a little heavier built, but when Grace pictured him all grown up, he was very handsome.

The Bjorgman dog, Olaf, came bounding in after them. Olaf was a snowy white malamute with puffy fur and dark, dark eyes. He nearly reached Grace's waist and was practically a horse to the children.

"Hey kid," Grace smiled, resting her hand on Olaf's furry head. Jenny hadn't seen much of her Aunt Elsa and Uncle Jack, so she didn't quite understand what was going on. And Cliff, who was only four, had still been in diapers. Neither of them were quite old enough to fully grasp what Grace had to go through, but they loved her all the same. They were part of the reason Grace had become so strong.

Jenny ran and jumped onto her bed, giggling in an innocent way that only a seven-year-old could pull off. Olaf settled down by the foot of the bed, as he was too large to hop up onto it now. Cliff came over from the door and tugged on the end of Grace's long, baby blue cardigan sweater, and she bent down to pick him up.

With Cliff resting on her hip, Grace once again stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't look much older than fifteen, but she sure felt older. That was one downfall of having blue eyes. Emotions bleed through as easily as a water through a coffee filter.

Grace had her platinum white hair in its usual messy fishtail side braid, with the tip of it nearly reaching her waist. Her mother's hair had been platinum blonde, and her father's a deep shade of brown, so she never quite understood how she ended up with almost blindingly white hair, but then again, her mother's side came from a long line of brunettes.

Grace shook the thought from her mind. She had more important things to worry about then her hair genes.

"Gracie, we're gonna miss you," Jenny said sadly.

"I'm gonna miss you, too, but I have to go to school," Grace told her, feeling bad. As long as they were quiet, Grace normally let the two of them sit in and listen.

"Alright, Cliff, down you go," she said, gently dropping him on the bed after shoving some boxes off. "I hate packing."

Jenny laughed and Cliff pouted at having to be put down, but the four-year-old simply trailed over to plop down next to the panting dog. Beforehand, Grace had been fine with being an only child. For a while, she had understood why. But then, she started to let people in and smile more, including taking part in caring for Jenny and Cliff.

Then, she had wished that she had a younger sibling for a while.

Now, though, she was glad that she did not. What she was going through...she didn't want anyone else to go through that.

"Alright, Jenny, can you help me bring these downstairs?" Grace asked, handing the little blonde a small bag holding her bathroom supplies.

Jenny nodded, her blue eyes flashing.

"Go on, Cliff, I have to get these boxes," she turned to Cliff, who obediently trailed out behind his sister.

"Olaf, out," she commanded. Olaf huffed and laid his head between his paws, pointedly refusing. She sighed. That dog had a tendancy to stay where he laid down, and most of the time that place was her room. "Fine then."

In response, Olaf rolled over on his back, looking perfectly content and happy.

"Alright, now," Grace bent to pick up the remainder of the boxes, staring one more time at herself.

Her legs were still a little gangly, as she hadn't done so well the first month or so after...the accident, so she probably wasn't as filled out as she should be in her age. She wore white jeans and some tan ankle boots with a pointed toe. She wore a royal blue long sleeve shirt with the baby blue cardigan hanging off her sides. One lucky thing in her genes, she had gotten her father's vision, which meant she didn't need glasses or contacts, like her mother.

Her mother hadn't been blind or depended on glasses to see, but they did help her. Luckily, Grace didn't need them at all. But even still, Grace had her mother's glasses tucked into her back pack. Every now and then, she would slip them on. It was probably bad for her vision, but she couldn't help it. They just reminded her of them.

She squared her shoulders, trying to look brave.

She just looked ridiculous.

She sighed once more.

"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You), Kelly Clarkson," Grace said to herself.

When faced with grief, most people just fall into a state of depression. While Grace did do that for a while, she shed it like an old pair of jeans. She had to be strong. Besides, it's not like she could forget. The only reason she tried to be depressed was because of... Well, that wasn't important.

She glanced down at the silver ring adorning her one finger.

'Be strong' it seemed to say. 'Don't give up.'

So depression hadn't worked.

For maybe about three days, she tried anger, but the first time she had thrown something it hadn't felt right, or even the in the slightest bit satisfying, so she disappeared in her music.

That had seemed to be the only thing that had worked.

For most, grief led to depression, or even insanity. In Grace's mind, she had a serious case of MD: Music Disorder.

Lyrics stuck to her mind like flies to fly paper, and she could and always would match a song to any person, scene, moment, or situation.

Right now, Stronger made her feel better.

So she went with that.

"I can do this," she said with phony bravado.

But will you? her reflection asked.

I will do it, she responded.

We will just have to wait and see.

She wanted to argue further, but she couldn't find anything to say. Then, in a 'no duh' moment, she realized that she had just been arguing with herself.

Alright, she officially considered herself 'sad'.

"I'm going to miss you all so much," Grace said honestly after she finally loaded everything (albeit almost tripping on Olaf multiple times going down the stairs. Granted, said dog didn't help much by weaving in and between her legs but whatever).

"We love you, Gracie," Jenny said sadly, looking up at her.

"I know," Grace bent down and smiled, taking her younger cousin, who might as well have been her own sister, into a hug.

"Bye," Jenny sniffed and reluctantly released Grace's hand that Grace hadn't even noticed she had grabbed.

"Bye, Cliff," Grace picked up the young child and hugged him closely before setting him back down next to his sister. He looked incredibly sad with that stuffed reindeer he had deemed 'Sven' after being shown a picture of his father's first dog.

Olaf voiced his own thoughts on her leaving and thumped his tail once, managing to look absolutely pitiful.

"Grace, come on. We're going to be late," her Aunt Anna smiled sadly. Her own strawberry blonde hair was piled in a bun and her freckles had faded slightly since a year ago. Her eyes weren't quite as bright as Grace remembered them being, but she knew that her mother and aunt had always been close.

Grace pressed her lips together and pushed the thoughts away by crushing herself into her Uncle Kristoff's tight embrace.

"Go have fun," Kristoff whispered in her ear.

Grace nodded. She deliberately didn't promise, though. Not only could she not promise that, but she strongly believed that promises were special and should only be made when the maker had absolute intentions on fulfilling it. And then they should always be kept. Always.

Grace cringed at that thought and forced the burning sensation in her eyes down. She only hoped her cheeks weren't as red as she felt they were.

She squatted down to rub Olaf's ears, while the slobbery white Malamute covered half her face in a final goodbye layer.

Anna smiled as she wiped the drool off with the back of her hand and pulled the girl in for a sideways hug. It wasn't a 'goodbye until Christmas break' hug, it was just a reassuring hug. Grace only had her permit, so she couldn't drive to BPAA herself.

Grace was just about to stuff her ear buds in when she nearly forgot.

And how in the world could she forget?

The Bjorgman's youngest child had been born only a few months after the accident, so Grace didn't feel bad about having to rest a burden down on the tiny baby's shoulder's just yet. Originally, the baby's name was going to be 'Girda', after a family friend or someone. After the accident, she overheard Anna and Kristoff replanning to name her after Grace's mother. Grace wasn't quite sure how she felt about that, so she was mostly relieved when the baby's name ended up giving her no worries. She supposed they just changed their minds, or forgot, but either way she didn't feel too offended.

Grace bent down to where the nine-moth-old lay sleeping, wrapped up in a soft pink blanket.

She butterfly-kissed her forehead, but there was no need. She was out like a light and would probably stay that way until Anna came back.

"Bye, Katie," Grace whispered.

If he thought that he had known dark before, he was wrong.

This, this was dark. Cold, lonely, and desolately dark.

Very desolate. Very, very lonely. And very, very, very cold.

He tried to blink his eyes and see if they could adjust, but the only thing that could be seen were the spots behind his eyelids, whether they were closed or not. He wondered for a moment if this was a dream. How could one place be so dark? He slowly brought his hand to pinch his wrist, but he didn't even make it that far.

He would have cried out in pain if his voice wasn't so suddenly hoarse and dry.

He grimaced in pain after a few minutes had passed and he tried to move his one arm again.

Ow. Probably broken. How in the world did that happen? he thought.

He realized that he was laying down, so, gingerly protecting his arm, he brought himself up in a sitting positing, propping himself up on the wall that he had moved back into.

Other than his arm, he seemed physically fine. Mentally, a million little evil elves kept taking sledgehammers and not waiting their turns to pound against his skull.

He didn't know where he was, and he didn't quite remember how he had gotten there (not that he could see where exactly 'there' was), but he did know that wherever he was and whatever had happened, he was probably royally screwed.

So quiet he almost missed it, a small and soft fluttery breath caught his attention.

Someone else was in the dark with him...

He froze, listening for something else.

He counted to one hundred and forty-seven before he heard another noise, something so soft he couldn't even identify it.

"H-hello?" he called out, forcing his voice to work. It cracked, but it still worked.

Ignoring the sharp pain in his arm, he slowly made his way where he thought the noise had come from.

"Hello?" he could only whisper this time.

Nice going. That's always how they die in the horror movies.

He felt like thinking something back sarcastic, but that would mean that he was losing it and that he would admit that this was real and very, truly frightening.

But this wasn't a horror movie. This was worse because it was real and it was happening and he couldn't remember anything and his head just hurt and-

He fingers grazed over something scratchy, and worn.

He froze once again.

Another fluttery breath came out, a little louder, right in front of him.

Oh my god.

Suddenly, he remembered everything, and he forgot the pain in his arm, and the pain in his head, and the pain in his mind. He even forgot that his throat was so hoarse he couldn't even talk.

His didn't whisper this time, and his voice didn't crack, either.

"Elsa..."

Ta-da! Did I just kill all of you TSOKH readers? :D

Lol, I just solve my writer's block by adding to my list of stories to write...I really need to do something about this.

Anyways, hello everyone, welcome to The Promise of Gracelynn Frost (which will from now on be referred to as TPOGF starting...now)! I am Pearlness4700 and I will be narrating this story for us all! In case you do not already know, this is the sequel to The Secret of Katrian Hope (TSOKH), and if you have not read that then I would highly suggest it to you. Some things just will not make sense without having previous knowledge. About this title chapter when I come out with the second chapter, yes, I mentioned Stronger by Kelly Clarkson, but I only mentioned it. Since Grace has MD (a totally original figment of Grace's imagination, not a real mental diagnosis) there will be a lot of song mention-ings...sure that's a word... Only if a song gets its lyrics in the chapter will the chapter be titled after it.

Okay, so...updating schedules. I have been terrible and did not update for like, almost a month, so, hopefully that will not happen again. But, please know that I am in school now and very, very busy so Fanfiction cannot be my main priority. Thanks for understanding and I will hopefully update often enough to satisfy you all.

Also, like TSOKH, this story will kind of start out to be really depressing. I tried to lift the mood with Jenny, Cliff, and Olaf, so hopefully that made some difference.

Alright, it's officially started! Oh my gosh, breathe. Okay...see you all next time!

Please tell me what you think!

~Pearlness4700