When Pam heard the bell ring, she was all too happy to leave her friends. She hurried to class without excusing herself.

She entered the maths class, she was the first student there and she didn't care.
She closed her eyes and tried thinking about all the insanity, she wondered what was going on and how she could stop it all. More than anything she wondered why exactly she and Philip's words came to mind.

"The eyes of an outsider see clearer, do you know what I mean?"

He asked her, she sighed and the students started entering the class and took their seats.

Pamela sighed and watched as the first student entered the classroom, Blair. Today she dragged her feet which was the norm for her but something that didn't sit right with Pam was the way Blair looked today. Her eyes were large, as if in a trance, and she had dark rings around her eyes. She made her way over to Pam and just stood there.

Pamela's heart rate quickened, the cool air instantly became cold as ice. Blair gripped Pam's wrist, Pam tried to wriggle free but Blair was stronger. Blair's hand was so cold it burnt Pam's skin. "Blair, you're hurting me,"

But she didn't care, her eyes turned to ice, she slightly opened her mouth, fog escaped her lips. "Trapped, frozen, and you're the one chosen,"

She released her grip. It all happened so fast, her eyes were hazel again, and her natural lazy eyes had returned. "What happened?" She wanted to know as she removed her hand from Pam's.

Pamela shook her head, and that's when Blair went to her desk. Pamela looked at her wrist, Blair's handprint was blue on Pam's wrist, with red borders. She could still feel the cold deep within her bones. She needs to tell someone but she knows no one will believe her. Her mother won't want to move either, she's happy here. For the first time in God knows how long her mother finally prioritizes family. Even Pam doesn't want to break up a reunion so pure.

"Hey," she barely heard Roger who slammed his bag on the table and took a seat. He slouched, hid his hands in his pockets and grunted. "When will this day end, am I right?"

She grinned weakly and gave a tiny nod.

He observed her, "You look like shit, barely get sleep huh?"

She rubbed her eyes and rested her elbow on the desk, facing him. "Yeah. It's the same story each night,"

He raised his eyebrows. He didn't face her, he was staring at his bag. His mind was in another place, "Yeah, me too. I get these horrible dreams, I-I see these eyes, blue," his gaze met hers. "No, they're not blue, it's ice,"

The smallest gasp escaped her mind. Not him too. What is this?

He shook his head. "Sounds silly. A man comes into my dreams and he-he wants to speak to me but I can't hear him,"

It must be Mr Aldin Pamela thought to herself.

She leaned closer, "what's he look like?"

He stared into her eyes for the longest time before fixating on his bag again.

The tension between his eyes heightened then returned his eyes to her. "He wore beige formal pants and round glasses,"

She sat upright with large eyes, the rhythm in her chest banging louder and faster. "A white shirt with a brown v-vest?"

This seemed to alarm Roger who fixed posture. Sitting rigid, he inched closer to Pam. "Does he have blond hair?"

She nodded her hair, "Yes, with a red..."

"... tie," he finished her sentence and scoffed, "how's this possible? How are we dreaming of the same guy? Who is he?"

She shook her head and was about to say something when the teacher stepped in.

"Okay class, quiet down. I'm sorry I came late, I had to print out some exercises for you."

They decided to drop the topic and will pick it back up at lunch, with Austin there, and they did. He gawked at them as if they were crazy.

"Well," Roger interrupted the silence. "Say something,"

Austin glanced over at the table Lacey and her friends were seated. Then his eyes landed on Roger's, "two things. One, you have to try your best to communicate with Mr Aldin or whatever his name is,"

"How do I do that?"

"Try not to wake yourself up tonight if he appears. Let the dream play out like a movie, find out what he wants,"

"Okay," Pam chipped in, "that's one, what's two?"

His eyes steered towards Lacey's group again and then at Pam, "Whatever this is, they're involved. I say we follow their little cult and find out,"

Pamela shook her head, "Come on, you're not serious right?"

"Sure am, they're up to something. It's a gut feeling,"

"I'm in, I wanna know what the hell we're dealing with,"

Austin grinned. "Great. We follow them after school. I bet they're going to their spooky abandoned mansion."

And that's exactly where they went, the three followed Todd specifically. He was the only one they could find. They hid behind cars and trees on the way. He would look over his shoulder now and then but they were fast. Always finding something to cover themselves.
Todd led them to the mansion, the others were already there. Pamela, Roger and Todd found a window to peer through.

Mr Aldin floated downstairs. They all gasped slowly. Austin looked at his friends with a smug smile. He was right.
They noticed a bunch of familiar learners, including Phillip and Blair.

"I found her," Mr Aldin spoke, "she's an artist, and soon she will join us,"

The learners clapped their hands like soulless puppets.

"I'm weak my children, and soon I will have a body. A vessel, if you will, and once I have my vessel, we will move onto phase two of our plan."

Pamela stood there and watched the teenagers. All of them had ice eyes and yellow teeth. Ice zombies. What is this? She didn't know and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. Whatever it is, she knows it's evil and that made her sick. She got up and ran away. His friends followed her. She was belching somewhere in the bushes. She wiped her mouth and turned around to face them. Roger handed her a bottle of water.

She took it and drank it slowly as she started to make her way out of the yard. They followed her silently and in silence, they remained until they eventually split up into their different routes home.