Debt to Pay

Chapter 45 : Surprise, Surprise

JACK'S POV

We all stood there surprised at what the mysterious figure had said, until the words finally reached my brain.

I shook myself out of the daze and took off running in the same direction.

I heard the footsteps of the rest of the group while they ran behind me.

The figure kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure we were still chasing him.

After what seemed like forever, the mystery man took a unexpected sharp turn down an narrow alley. The alley was barely wide enough to fit my shoulders.

I abruptly came to a halt as I looked down the thin crack between two buildings. The rest of the gang came running up behind me, " What are you waiting for?!" exclaimed Merida.

I glanced at everyone else, they were all waiting for me to do something.

I took a deep breath, I was never one who enjoyed tight spaces and this certainly didn't help my ever so slight claustrophobia, but I just thought of Elsa and I knew what I had to do. I pivoted my body to go forward side ways to make sure my shoulders didn't scratch against the rough brick.

" Hiccup, Anna, Kristoff and Rapunzel, you guys should stay out here and see if there's another way into the building, " I heard Flynn say behind me, " Merida, you come with us. "

I kept creeping forward with Flynn and Merida right behind me, I had one arm out in front trying to feel my way, as my eyesight wasn't doing me any favours in the dark. I felt a light prickle on my palm as my hand felt more brick, indicating we had reached a dead end.

" It's a dead end, "  I said, alerting them that I stopped.

" What do we do now? " asked Flynn.

" Well, the man must've gone somewhere, so there has to be a door of some sort, " Merida thought out loud.

I sighed, " We can never catch a break, can we? " I had reached my limit, I didn't know what to do anymore, everything just seemed to go wrong.

Merida and Flynn didn't answer, it was obvious they weren't sure how to respond to that.

Then, as if some miracle, light flooded the alley, after being so used to the darkness the bright crisp light burned my eyes, making me cringe in pain.

I started blinking repeatedly to have my eyes adjust to the new light source and what it was. After about a minute, my eyes cleared up and I was able to see an opening in the wall right between Flynn and I.

Flynn and I exchanged glances, we knew we only had one choice, and I stepping into the building.

ELSA'S POV

My sudden rise in anger had left my head spinning, the room slowly started to turn until I felt like I was going to throw up. I sat back down not wanting to cause any more pain to myself.

There was a light knock and a click as the door started to open.

My father emerged from the other room, looking at me with cold eyes. The eyes that I grew up seeing only joy and cheer in.

" Elsa, " he began, but I didn't want to hear.

" Leave me alone, " I grumbled, averting my eyes from his stare.

He took a step closer, " Just let me explain. "

" GET AWAY FROM ME! " I screamed, standing up and moving away from him.

He stayed where he was, but he didn't even flinch from my yell, it was like he was a robot who bore a striking resemblance to my father.

" After that night, I looked everywhere for you and Anna, " he said, referring to the house fire, " but you were lost in foster care, no one believed that I was alive, they thought I was a look alike only after you girls for the money. "

" Money? Wait, what money? " I was so confused, the words didn't seem to reach my brain properly.

" The money that your mother and I spent our whole life saving so that if something ever happened you kids would be okay, not to mention the lump sum of insurance coverage you received from the fire. "

" Insurance coverage? Why haven't I seen a dim of that money? Times have been really tough for Anna and I, we could've really used it, " I said, thinking of all the trouble we've been through living on our own with barely no money.

" Because you're not 19, when we made our will we thought it best for you to be older so you could make more responsible decisions, and honestly, we thought we would've had more time, " he explained and for a second I could've swore I saw a flicker of emotion flash in his eyes.

I thought about my birthday, I was 18 right now, about to be 19 in a couple of weeks.

" Wait a minute, so you're telling me that you conveniently found Anna and I when I'm about to inherit a small fortune in a couple of weeks? " I questioned, I narrowed my eyes at him, his story didn't add up and I didn't trust him.

" Yes, I have to admit it's a strange coincidence, but this isn't a small fortune, this money has been in a high interest bank account for years, collecting enough money to probably double itself in the past five to ten years, " He had a strange look in his eyes while he said this, one I just can't put my finger on.

" Is that supposed to help your case? " I asked a question that I could answer myself, no.

" The amount doesn't matter, all that matters now is that soon we'll all be together again, " he said, and I saw the look again, only this time I knew what it was, greed.

" Stop, " I was tired of excuses, " No matter what you say that will never happen, the only real family I have is the one that must be searching for me right now. "

" Searching for you? Elsa, they don't have to look, they're already here, " he said as a sideways grin crawled across his smug face.

" What do you mean they're here? " I asked, scared of what the answer would be.

" Now what kind of family reunion would this be if you're 'real' family wasn't here too? " he made air quotations around the word real, as if to belittle what a had just said.

" What did you do to them!? " I yelled, my anger rising up again.

He laughed, " Nothing, they came on their own free will, now let's talk shall we? "

As if on que, the door opened and in walked the last person I ever wanted to see.