#touching ice

The first thing she noticed was a glass vase that displayed beautiful white roses on the nightstand beside the bed. It made a small smile form on her face. Rapunzel leaned forward to smell the pleasant scent of the roses. They must have been newly picked out minutes before she arrived. Upon opening her emerald eyes, she glanced at a small card with a handwritten note placed neatly between the petals. She moved to get a better look at the card.

It read:

"Dear Rapunzel, welcome!

I hope you enjoy living here. I can’t wait to be friends with you! You have no idea how important it is to have you here. The house is boring with Mister Snowman moping around. He may be a bit rough around the edges, but he means well, I promise. If you ever need anything, just ask! I am always happy to help!

Love, Anna."

Rapunzel's smile grew more at the warm greeting. The housekeeper did have an inviting atmosphere when she came to the mansion. It gave her some grain of hope that maybe living here wouldn’t be as miserable as she thought. As least she has a bedroom of her own and not the living room couch that always seemed to ache her back the next morning. In fact, now that she thought about it, her entire apartment could fit in this room. 

The blonde then walked over to the dresser where she ran her dainty fingers over the wooden surface smelling of cleaning products. When she touched a silver jewelry box, it was safe to say her curiosity was piqued. She opened it, and a small gasp escaped her lips. The box contained the most expensive jewelry money could buy. Bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and rings showed off their worth as they gleamed in the dark. Although she was taken back by it, they all meant nothing to her. 

She gently closed the cover and let out a frustrated and hurt sigh.

"Why would mother trade my freedom for hers?" She asked herself. Her step-mother always got the both of them in trouble. This situation was an all-time low, even for her.

Rapunzel turned around to see pink, rose-colored closet doors built into the wall. When she opened them, her eyes increased in shock. It was not just a closet. It was a walk-in closet meant for celebrities or one of high prestige. She flicked the light switch on for a better look. The shelves, same color as the doors, were stocked with the most expensive shoes that reached the ceiling to the floor. An actually closet, one she was familiar with, was stocked with top brand clothing of the latest fashions. As she scanned the closet that nearly matched the bedroom in size, a vanity against a wall caught her attention. It had a mirror in the middle above a countertop full of lipstick and other makeup products neatly stacked in a row. 

The annoyed blonde switched the lights off and shut the doors while shaking her head in disgust. If he thinks all these lavish things would cause her to like him, he was sadly mistaken.

She circled back to the bed, contemplating how she was going to survive living here. There's the option of running away and going back home. That plan soon was thrown out the window. She had no intention of seeing her mother at the moment. Maybe even the other way around. She did not have the choice of calling or emailing a friend about her predicament. She had none from her fancy high school. If you were not rich or beautiful, you might as well be invisible. Maybe she should lock herself in her room and never come out. Seemed reasonable, until her stomach rumbled.

Rapunzel glanced at a clock that hung above her nightstand. It read an hour before the time her warden told her dinner would start. It only meant one thing. He would be coming to her room, no doubt to order her down to eat with him in another depressing room of the mansion. How could he possibly expect her to do that after taking her freedom? The mere thought of being near him again made her cringe.

Not long after inspecting her new bedroom, she grew tired from the day's events. Rapunzel laid on her side, her back facing the door where her keeper will be when she woke up. She pushed the thought of him away, hoping that slumber can ease her crushed spirit.

~

She looked familiar, the kind that you recall back on a dream. She had a face that blended into the background but was sure to have seen before. With the name the intruder gave him, he would think he would remember a girl named from a fairy tale. Rapunzel Corona. Where could he have seen her before?

Jack walked passed his demolished bedroom further down the hall until he reached a set of stairs. They existed because of his mother, who loved the novelty of a beautiful spiral staircase descending to her favorite room.

He took the stairs and allowed the shadows to swallow him until he reached the base. His icy blue eyes looked up to the greenhouse that stood tall. Everything inside was mostly dead, with trees bare and plants brown. Withered leaves and flower petals decorated the once beautiful floral getaway.

In the center was the beautiful snow blossom tree that stood as a personal clock for him and a reminder of how fleeting his humanity was. Pink petals covered its branches that wilted and fell as time passed. 

“If you do not find someone to love you, you will be doomed to remain a monster for all time..."

Jack noticed that the branches towards the top were now bare. The hopeless teen released a sigh in defeat. It was his last year before all the petals fell.

“Will it kill you to be nice to her?” A soft voice asked. She moved into his line of sight.

“Better than staying with that horrible woman,” Jack mumbled in response, his hands deep in his hoodie's pockets.

Anna smirked, “Be careful, someone might think you care for her.” Jack rolled his eyes but smiled at her playfulness. They both were silent while watching the white petals fall to the ground.

Anna asked an agonizing question that she kept to herself, knowing it was not just her thinking it. 

"What if she's the one to break the spell?…"

~

Jack looked at the clock on the far wall with disdain. Anna fidgeted with her hands as more time went on. The third member of the group, a tall blond cook, stood off to the left with a look of boredom. A lavish buffet dinner was set out for their guest since no one knew what she liked. 

“Where is she?” Jack asked while pacing back and forth the dining room. 

“Umm, maybe she fell asleep?” Anna offered. Jack gave her a look before turning his heel to stomp where her bedroom was. His pride hurt from her blatant disrespect of his direct order.

Before this nightmare, people at school did what he said. Girls fell for his mesmerizing smile and offered whatever he desired. Jack was invisible for most of his childhood due to his overworking parents. Then finally, at school, he received the attention he deserved. That was until that she-devil ruined everything. 

After losing that power, no way is he letting some stranger run things in his home.

Jack banged his fist against the door while crystallized frost stuck to the wood. 

“Rapunzel!” He screamed. “I told you to join me for dinner! That was an hour ago!” 

The blonde woke up from being startled by the loud banging on her door. It took her a moment to realize what was going on from her disoriented state until it dawned on her that she slept past dinner time.

“I don’t care,” she responded, sitting upright and facing the door. "I'm not hungry," she added, saying it with more confidence than what she had upon entering the mansion.

Jack glared at the closed door that stood between him and his new companion. Ice crystallized around his feet as his patience wore thin. He paid no attention to the rushing footsteps of his attendants behind him. He saved her from that awful mother and brought her into his house out of the goodness of his heart. She was supposed to be grateful. She had no right to deny a direct order from him. His home was not a democracy. It goes by his rules and his alone.

"You can't make me leave this room," she said, purposely jabbing at his pride to show she will put up a fight if need be.

He gritted his teeth at her shout. Can’t make her? Just watch him.

“Can’t make you? You will come down for dinner or I'll-I'll break this god damn door down!” He shouted.

“It doesn’t work that way! You have to try asking not telling,” Anna scolded at her stubborn boss. 

Jack ran a hand down his face, glaring blue daggers at the door. Kristoff sighed at the scene. He didn't always use to be like this. He used to be a fun-loving trickster, always looking for new ways to cause trouble or make life interesting. When the curse happened, however, it changed. He changed. He became bitter and depressed. It was a downward spiral as he isolated anyone who came his way.

“At least give it a try,” Kristoff stated. He wanted to have Jack be reasonable and touch upon her perspective on the situation.

Though, he already knew how it was going to end.

Jack sighed, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth. “I would appreciate it if you joined me for–”

“I never want to see you again!” The blonde shouted, cutting Jack off from asking his question.

He gritted his sharp, canine-like teeth and raised his upper lip while balling his fists up by his sides. Thick ice crystals grew on the walls around him in his embarrassment and anger while his eyes flashed an ethereal blue. Kristoff pulled Anna behind him once the hallway filled with ice and snow. 

He interrupted his solitude and took a chance on some stranger's daughter for this stupid curse. He risked everything for her to be here. And now she doesn’t want to see him?

“Fine! Then go ahead and staaaaarve!!” He yelled, ice shooting up on the hard wood of the door, making cracked fern-like designs on the cover. He turned to his servants who looked at him in shock at his rage.

“If she doesn’t eat with me, then she doesn’t eat at all!”

With that, he stalked down the hallway toward the west wing of the mansion, ice forming under every step. He would never admit to anyone about the wet glaze that glossed his blue eyes or the feeling of disappointment and rejection in his gut. He replaced the hurt emotions with anger as it coursed through his veins.

Once he had walked away, the maid and the cook looked at each other.

"We should leave her alone. Just call it a night,” Kristoff suggested. Anna nodded her head. “You’re right,” she replied sadly. She felt her heart sink into her chest as she looked back at the closed door. The blonde has to be the one to break the spell.