Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Elsa curled up in her bed, wide awake and trembling under the blankets. She listened to the sound of the pendulum swinging, back and forth, back and forth, counting down the minutes until 1:37 AM. The time that night everything had gone wrong.

Tick, tock.

The clock chimed. It was 1:30. Just a few more minutes. Elsa wished she could take the spare time to run to her parents' room and beg to sleep with them, trying to convince them she needed the reassurance. But they'd tell her she was too old to old for such things, that she had to keep trying to move on from the recent tragedy, and send her back to her room. Then there was too much of a chance she'd be out in the halls when 1:37 struck.

When that thing arrived.

So all Elsa could do was check and double check that her bedroom door was locked tight. She pushed a chair in front of the door as well, because sometimes the lock didn't hold and then all she could do when the thing came in was scream and scream and pray her parents would hear and come running.

Tick, tock.

1:34.

The eight-year-old curled up tighter, drawing her blankets up to her chin. Maybe it wouldn't come tonight. Sometimes it didn't, but Elsa was so afraid of the night now she'd taken to wearing her gloves to bed as well, lest she cover her room in frost inadvertently out of sheer terror.

"It's part of her coping process," she'd heard her mother tell her father once. "She's still having the bad nightmares about...you know. If she's scared and needs to wear the gloves to bed, we should let her. It'll pass eventually."

1:36.

Please, Elsa thought. Don't come, don't come.

1:37.

Don'tcomedon'tcomedon'tcomedon'tcome-

There was a knock on the door.

Elsa held her breath. Maybe it was one of her parents coming to check on her, just in case. It was a tiny hope, but she clung to it regardless, until...

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Her breathing hitched. Elsa suppressed a whimper and pulled her coverlet over her head. Don't let it know you're here, she thought desperately. It'll go away.

"Elsa?"

"Go away, go away," the princess whispered as quietly as possible. "Leave me alone, go away..."

"Come on, let's go and play!"

The doorknob rattled and Elsa felt the temperature in her room drop. The cold didn't bother her, of course, but it sent a stab of terror through her heart.

"I ever see you anymore!"

"Leave me alone," Elsa half sobbed.

The voice on the other side of the door was high and childish, but it was bone-chillingly cold and echoed eerily in the silence. It was also achingly familiar, but at this point Elsa was sure she never wanted to hear it again.

She longed for her sister back, but not like this.

"Why won't you play with me, Elsa?"

Cracking her eyes open, Elsa saw a tendril of ice creeping under the door and cringed. If it managed to unlock the door, would it be able to shove aside the armchair placed in front of it? Elsa herself could barely move it, and it had taken a painful amount of effort to get it where she wanted. The chair was her lifeline, her last hope, and she didn't know what she would do if this line of defense failed her.

"Come out the door, Elsa." The voice took on a singsong quality and the rattling intensified.

"Stop it!"

The lock clicked.

There was a long beat of agonizing silence, and Elsa could hear her heart pounding. The door opened half an inch, but coudn't go any further with the chair in the way. Elsa allowed herself a small sigh of relief. The moment ended abruptly, however, when there came a heavy barrage of loud pounds against the wood. The sound of a small child standing on the other side, angrily banging its fists.

"Elsa! ELSA!" the voice screamed. "It's me, Anna! Your sister! Let me in!"

Unable to take it anymore, Elsa shot up in bed and shrieked, "You're not Anna, you're not! Go away!"

"I am Anna! I wanna play! Let me in!"

"YOU'RE NOT ANNA!" Elsa choked, sobs rising rapidly in her throat. "ANNA'S DEAD!"

The child pounding on the door continued its tantrum. "I'm Anna! Anna! Anna! Anna!"

"YOU'RE DEAD!"

"ANNA! ANNA! ANNA! ANNA! ANNA!"

"GO AWAY!"

"LET ME IN!"

Elsa put her hands to her ears and screamed.

The pounding and echoing cries of "Anna!" cut off suddenly as footsteps came thundering down the hall. A moment later, the chair in front of the door was shoved aside as Elsa's father forced his way in, accompanied by her mother. Both looked frantic, and rushed forward at the sight of their daughter.

Elsa flung herself into her parents' arms and let out a hysterical wail, weeping into the king's nightshirt.

"Again?" the queen asked, stroking her pale hair. Too distraught to speak, Elsa nodded, hiccuping.

"It's worse tonight than usual," the king muttered to his wife over Elsa's head.

"We need to do something."

"But what? What can we do about night terrors like this?"

The queen bit her lip uncertainly. "Maybe...we ought to try the trolls again?"

"No," the king replied immediately, setting his jaw. "Considering how they failed to 'help' us last time."

"Last time was different. There wasn't anything anyone could have done." The queen spoke in a tremulous voice, but was composed enough to continue. "Maybe they could do something about nightmares."

"I told you." Elsa recovered enough to interrupt. "I'm not dreaming. She's really coming after me, Mama! It was my fault and now...!" Her eyes welled up with tears again and she took a shuddering breath.

"Shh, nothing was your fault," the queen soothed. "Nobody's coming after you, dear. You have reactionary stress because of the accident, like the doctor said. You're convinced you're seeing things."

"I'm not seeing things!" the little girl insisted. "I-I mean, I am, but she's real!"

"Perhaps it's this room," the king said, glancing around. "Elsa and Anna used to share it together. It might be having a negative influence.

Having no other solution in mind, the monarchs decided to move their remaining daughtre to a smaller room in another wing of the castle. The room was closer to theirs, which they hoped would provide some added security.

Elsa wasn't as hopeful or expectant, but it was better than nothing. Maybe the terrible thing with her sister's face and voice was attracted to places Anna had been familiar with. The wing her new room was in was an area they'd rarely ever ventured into whilst playing together, so maybe if it couldn't find her again it would give up for good.

But the small, fearful, rational part of her conscience told her that it was only a matter of time before the knocks came again.

And nearly a month after the move, they did.

"Elsa~! Do you wanna build a snowman?"

A/N:

I saw Frozen three times. I'm very pleased with it. Credit for this concept goes to tumblr users NipahDubs and typette. There's a link to my blog on my profile page, and once you're there search 'personal' and you'll know the post when you see it.

I might continue this, I might not. I have a lot of ideas for a plot spanning the rest of the movie if anyone wants me to, though.

Thank you for reading and please review!