Her back hit the wall, eyes wide as she stared at the bloody words opposite, terror written across her face as the Dollmaker began to herd the crowd of girls away. Aldrik was on his phone, speaking in hushed tones – too occupied to notice his so-called doll sinking down against the wall. Her legs shook, ice spreading from her clenched hands digging into the warm surface of the wall.

It was too white.

Too pale.

Just like her.

"Because of me..." She buried her face in her knees, wrapping her arms around herself as the ice spread even further. "It's my fault... All my fault..."

"Uh oh..." Lake stared down at her, pulling Aldrik's attention away from the body and onto the huddled form of his doll.

"Get back." The Alpha Lord hissed, sensing how rapidly the temperature was dropping around them. "Now!" He warned, looking mildly concerned as icy shards erupted from her skin.

Icy spikes lanced out, crashing into the walls with sickening thuds, pointed tips stopping only centimetres away from where the Dollmaker had retreated to.

"Doll?" He called out, hesitant.

"Stay back, Lake." Aldrik bit his lip, concern and confusion drawn on his face as the icy wall he'd made crumbled, leaving only a thin layer of ice separating the two. "Her ice is heavily influenced by her emotions..."

"Do you really think you're the best person to go and calm her down, then?"

"Would you prefer to be impaled?"

Lake rolled his eyes. "Just smash it down so I can kiss her."

"Then we'd just have an even bigger problem when she wakes." He said, staring at the distorted image of the hunched over figure in front of him. "Leave it to me."

The Dollmaker sighed, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to stop the man. "Very well."

"Icen." Aldrik knocked on the icy wall separating them. "Oy, Icen. You asked me to call you that, didn't you, pookie?" He called, biting his lip when he didn't hear any insults thrown his way. "Don't tell me you actually like being called that?"

Ice crackled towards him, wordlessly answering his question.

"I guess that's a no, then?" He smiled, resting one hand against the icy barrier between them, shattering it with a single touch.

Electric blue eyes locked on his darker ones, widening as he stepped towards her and into the danger zone. "Stay away!" She hissed, another set of icy shards bursting from her skin as he walked towards her slowly, but it was no use.

He had the same powers as her, and he knew how to counter them perfectly. "It's OK."

The words didn't reassure her in the slightest, another round of icy pellets launched his way as he kept walking forwards. "No. Stop it!" She shook her head. "Go away! It's not safe!"

"Nu uh." He grinned, having closed the distance.

"Please..."

"You must be really out of it if you're asking me nicely." Aldrik smirked, crouching down beside her, watching as she pitifully began shuffling away. "You haven't even insulted me yet... and there's only one cure for that." He winked, throwing both his arms around her before she cold stop him. "Cuddle time."

Icen froze, snapping back to her senses in an instant.

He wasn't her.

The temperature of his body said it all, it's odd coolness reminding her exactly where and why she was there. She wasn't in the forest anymore. She wasn't the scared little girl anymore.

She was Icen, the self-proclaimed Ice Queen—both in body temperature and attitude.

So the words that slipped past her lips came as no surprise to either of the other two in the hallway. "Get your filthy paws off me, mongrel."

Aldrik grinned. "And she's back..."

-----

ILLENIS HERE

Sorry for the long wait (and for the shortish chapter, which'll probably get longer once I get around to editing this far). Revision took a hell of a lot of my writing time up, and hopefully I won't have to resit (fingers crossed). Anywho, I should be able to get back to my weekly update schedule, if all goes well.

-----