Selena Frost vs. Alistaire Allocco

[Team Desire]

Selena Frost vs. Alistaire Allocco
 

 
2 RP Limit for singles; 4 RP Limit for tag
Noon ET Tuesday, August 21, 2018

[Adamsama]

https://scwglorious.wordpress.com/2018/0...al-desire/

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: Takes place immediately following RTG. Great to go against you again, Adam! Best of luck!

 
I of the Storm

“What Dreams May Come...”

Both Deanna and Selena had felt guilty over the prospect of missing the precise day of their son's birthday. True, the boy was just turning two and not entirely aware of the notions of birthdays, but still... 

It had just been too risky. The original plan had been to take the children to Toronto and celebrate David's birthday (which fell on the same day as Rise to Greatness) at the CN Tower – with cake and singing and cheers. That had been the plan months ago. However, with Regan Street continuously threatening the Frost children, the two mothers had, begrudgingly decided to postpone the birthday celebration until they returned from Toronto and picked up Elsianna, David and Amiliah from their neighbours, Kai and Gerda.

Selena sighed as she looked through her sunglasses at the clouds in the sky, the beautiful day in full swing. She felt the dull aches in her body and the stitches above her right eye – battle scars from Toronto – but the cool breeze bristling around her, blowing against her gray, spaghetti-strap tank top and short blue jeans and her simple platinum-blonde ponytail felt good.

That soothes the cut... she noticed as she looked down at the lit barbecue and the assorted sized burgers. There were large ones for her, Deanna and Elsianna and small ones for David – for a moment, looking at the slider burgers (which were no bigger than Selena's palm), the Snow Queen imagined a even smaller burger; like the size of a cut pickle, for babies. The idea of such a burger, complete with tiny buns and condiments (all in bottles of equal size) was silly enough to cause a smile to spread across her lips. Her youngest daughter, Ami, would still need to eat “Baby-food”, but still, it was nice to smile. To be happy.

And Selena, for the most part, was happy.

She had spent as little time recovering the last few days as necessary because she had no desire to delay her son's birthday celebration. On top of that, she had barely thought about Rise to Greatness. She would deal with that when the new SCW season started up with its teasers and “coming soons”. Now, she wanted to spend time with her family – make up for the time she had spent away to devote to SCW. 

Casting her eyes out, Selena spied her beautiful wife, Deanna – her long, red locks almost glowing with a tint of gold color in the sunlight. The redhead wore a red, one-piece bathing suit under jean shorts, but she still looked sexy as hell to the former world champion. She also wore sunglasses but these held a pinkish tint while Selena's were a bluish-green. The platinum-blonde watched her wife as Deanna sat at the docks, holding baby Ami in her arms as the younger Frost wife watched Elsianna swimming in their backyard lake (which filled the backyards of the entire neighbourhood) and David running around the backyard (he wasn't allowed to go swimming in the lake – only the controlled pool down the path from their house). 

Everyone was happy and it warmed Selena's heart as she flipped the burgers over in order to cook the other sides. Yet, as she moved towards hers (one of the larger patties) with the flipper, the piece of meat would not budge. Must be stuck... she thought, trying at a different angle to wedge the burger free. She tried with an upper angle, but that didn't work. She tried with a lower angle and that proved fruitless as well. “What the hell?” she muttered under her breath, taking her metallic spatula in both hands and driving it under the meat-patty. Sadly, that proved to work far too well, as the patty slid onto the spatula with ease, leaving Selena to stumble forward, her momentum carrying her hands onto the grill of the barbecue and drag along its ashy bars. 

Oh crap!

Instinct taking over, Selena jerked her hands back before she could even complete the thought, dropping the spatula on the grill and holding her hands together and as far away from the flames that licked the machine's surface as possible. Slowly, she looked down at her pale hands, seeing the streaks of ash that covered them – but oddly enough, she felt no pain. Not even a shock from the burn. Nothing...

Slowly, Selena eyed all the other burgers she had flipped, seeing their cooked sides and the charcoal streaks of the bars (blacker than the rest of the burgers' surfaces) racing across each one, just like on her hand. Maybe I got lucky. Or my skin is so tough from so many beatings in SCW that it doesn't register...

She found herself caring less and less, but to be on the safe side, the Snow Queen shuffled back inside her house through the basement entrance near her to disappear into the basement bathroom. Quickly, she turned the sink water on to the coldest setting that she could before running her hands underneath it. Immediately, she saw the ash wash away, leaving behind pale, untouched skin.

For a moment, Selena eyed her hands. Maybe she didn't have tanned skin like Kennedy Street or large breasts like Zoe Sperling or an entourage of people telling her how “angelically beautiful” she was like Sienna did, but Selena liked how she looked. She liked her pale skin and her sapphire eyes and the hair she had hated to be teased about as a child had become what she loved most about herself – the symbol of her heritage and her family... which had grown into a family of five of her wife and children.

I'm pretty, aren't I? she thought, lifting her head to stare at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't notice how she couldn't feel the cold of the water on her hands. Rather, still distracted, she opted to reach up and take her sunglasses off with one hand, to see her face completely. There was enough glass in the mirror so she could see her face, neck, and upper chest. She wasn't sure why she was thinking it now, especially when her one eyebrow was covered with stitches from having a monitor smashed into her head. Even so, the question stayed there. 

You're not being fair to yourself... her mind lazily teased. You're comparing yourself to other people.

It was odd – why was she comparing herself to others right now? She rarely did that – and never on such happy days like these. 

Not as strong or dangerous as Xander Valentine...
Not as experienced as Donovan Kayl...
Not as smart as Thirteen...

Why was she thinking about them? That made no sense – looks and skills to other women wrestlers, okay – but comparing her to men in the business? It was apples and oranges. She was a woman in SCW – forging her own path that few had done. No other woman had won the Best of the Best tournament. No other woman had won Trios this year. No other woman was defending SCW like she was.

Deanna thinks you're smart. she quietly reminded herself. Deanna thinks you're experienced. Deanna thinks you're strong. Deanna thinks you're beautif-

Selena's thoughts were interrupted as two arms wrapped around her waist. She immediately heard a voice humming against her ear. “Very beautiful.” purred the voice, the redhead appearing as if Selena's thoughts had conjured her up. Instinctively, Selena eyes fluttered shut as she relaxed into the embrace, her body reacting in sensations to the knowledge of her lover wrapped around her.

“How did you know I needed you?” she whispered softly.
“I know you.” came the response before Selena felt the slight pressure of lips pressing against her shoulder and neck.

“Who...” Selena tried to keep her thoughts clear but they were quickly being clouded over with the mist of desire. It wasn't that she was starving for intimacy with her wife – hell, they had just had amazing sex after the Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this week. It was just the effect Deanna had on her wife and vice versa. Be that as it may, Selena squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the thought in her head to take priority. “Who is watching the children?” she asked. 

“What children?” Deanna asked, her voice a familiar huskiness that made the Snow Queen's spine tingle.
“Our children.” Selena laughed at her wife's clear joke. “We have three of them, remember?”
“I never had children, remember? I was in all those asylums until you found me...and killed me.”

Selena's eyes shot open, the voice in her wife having changed – as had the rest of her beloved redhead. For in the reflection of the mirror, holding the Snow Queen in a lover's embrace was not Deanna Frost – but a woman of much older age! Her hair was white from said age and the wrinkles that lined her face further spoke of the woman's elderly state – decades ahead of Selena and Deanna. 

“Maybe I'll take yours...” whispered the dangerously thin woman as a bony claw of a hand reached up to grasp at Selena's pale neck. “Since you took away my chance to have any...”

Reaching up, Selena's hands clawed at her attacker before she released a gasp and spun around – only to see that she was alone in the bathroom. There was no one else there but the Snow Queen herself. Spinning back around, the platinum-blonde stared into the mirror, seeing only her reflection.

“What the hell-” she whispered. Was she seeing ghosts again? Her mind had manifested illusions before – ghosts to stave off her own loneliness in her darkest moments. Ghosts like Adrian, Dawn, her grandmother, even her own daughter Elsianna. But it had been months – years - since that had happened. Why now? And who the hell was this crazy woman that Selena was seeing?!

“SELENA!”

The voice, a cry of panic and danger, suddenly filled the Snow Queen's ears and Selena sprinted out of the room, forgetting about everything else, instead following the voice back outside to the dock where Deanna – the real Deanna, Selena was sure – stood, her hands outstretched towards the end of the docks that lead to the water of the lake. Elsianna was standing behind her mother, baby Ami in the child's arms. Oberon, their Alaskan husky, meanwhile, was barking in the same direction Deanna was pointing. 

Reaching the woman's side, Selena's eyes stared ahead, only to see the white-haired lady that had been holding her in that bathroom now holding her son, David. However, where the woman's previous embrace had been an imitation of Deanna's – that of a lover's – her (or was it an 'it') arms now locked around the young boy's fiercely, holding him up as if he were one of his own teddy-bears.

“Stop!” begged Deanna as the white-haired woman, adjourned in simple clothes of black, as if someone had dressed her and picked the easiest thing to throw on the woman. That didn't remove the wild look in the woman's eyes as she held David even closer to her chest.

“Mine now!” declared the woman. “I'm taking him away! You owe me!” 
“No! Please!” Deanna's pleas were quickly becoming sobs as she fell to her knees, her hands still outstretched towards the infant. Oberon continued to bark loudly.

“Put him down!” Ordered Selena, rushing forward towards the two on the docks. All thoughts in her head were gone – the only notion that existed was to save her child. However, as the unrecognizable woman held David by the neck, holding him above the water, Selena was forced to stop in her tracks.

“I put him down!” growled the intruder and her skeletal fingers flinched, as if he was about to release the boy into the waters of the lake, which had suddenly turned a darker black to Selena.

“NO!” both Frost wives cried out in unison, each frozen on the spot.
“What the hell do you want?” Selena asked. “Please, I'll-” she hated to say what came next but the choice had clearly been taken from her hands. “I'll do anything.”
“Give it back.” screeched the woman, the derangement of her mind becoming more and more obvious as the kidnapper seemed to become more and more unhinged. “Give it back to me!”

“Give what back?” Selena shouted – beyond confused. “I don't understand!”
“Give me back my life!” ordered the villain. “You took it!”
“I still don't know what you're talking about!” Selena stressed. “How did I ruin your life?!”
“NOT RUIN!” the woman's voice seemed to grow louder and sharper – as if every word was sharpening the knife that was her words. “TOOK! You TOOK my life!”

“I've never seen you before in my life!” shouted Selena. “How could I possibly have taken it?!”
“You...” the woman's eyes, black and lifeless orbs, seemed to almost soften the tiniest fracture, as if recalling “You let her do it – you didn't stop her!”

“Please...” came Deanna's voice again as Selena mind thought about it. “Let David go and we can talk!”
“Yes!” Selena implored in agreement – Deanna seemingly having read her mind to voice that statement. “We have dealt with killers and so much more. We can find your killer – your actual killer-”

“I want child!” hissed the angry woman. “I want my life back!”

Before either Selena or Deanna could say anymore, the woman was gone. She had not vanished like she had in the bathroom before. No, the woman merely fell back, falling into the waters below her, the child still in her arms!

“NO!” Deanna cried out but Selena was already moving, her legs pushing her forward down the wooden path and towards the darkening waters. She saw the sky become darker too, until clouds seemed to fill the sky in black. It felt more and more like the nightmare settings in the stories she had read to Elsianna during Halloween. Something straight out of Edgar Allen Poe.

None of that mattered now! What mattered was David! Saving David!

With one last step, Selena leaped off the dock, twisting her body until she was diving towards the black waters. Yet, as she broke the surface, she was stunned to suddenly feel like she was falling. Falling through the waters and into the blackness. Deeper and deeper she fell-

The water doesn't go this deep... her brain thought and, yet, deeper she plunged until she could not hold her breath anymore! She would pass out if she didn't-

Her nostrils suddenly took in air, stunning her as she continued to fall/plunge. She had no time to question the phenomenon as she suddenly saw, emerging below her, a pair of white, glowing eyes and a third glowing line that looked like the line of a mouth! The illuminated lines and spheres were huge and yet... they looked familiar...

It was then that Selena tried to stop her dive – now more of a free fall – twisting her head up see if she could swim back the way she had came.

There was nothing above her. No light from the beautiful afternoon sun. No voice of her wife telling her she was beautiful and loved. No sounds of children playing or Oberon barking.

There was only the blackness and the faceless eyes and mouth growing closer...and closer!

“What the hell is this?!” screamed the Snow Queen as she tried to fight against her fall, but to no avail.

Slowly, the mouth portion of the glowing white opened, the words echoing with the same voice that had accompanied the kidnapper.

“You killed me!” she said. “Now...I kill you!”

Before she could stop it, Selena was taken into the “mouth” section. She tried to scream, but it was as if her mouth was stuffed with some kind of cushion. She tried to move, but her limbs felt tied together! Even so, she fought. She fought and fought until all she could see was the black surround her.

I'm sorry, David... her last thoughts were. I'm sorry, Oleska. I'm sorry, Deanna... I'm sorry...Sirus...

*********************************************

Selena's eyes flew open and she pushed herself up off her bed to sit up upon it – her body and mind ignoring the still present minor aches that remained of her injuries. The whole sequence of moves was no more than half a second long and purely of instinct. It took her several seconds of breathing heavily, her heart hammering inside her rib cage, fore the nightmare – trying to prompt her to return to it before slinking away to the darkness of her mind - for the young woman to realize where she was. Even through the dim lighting, Selena could recognize the walls and the pictures hanging up on them. Pictures of a wedding, of two women holding a child in their arms, of Selena giving a piggyback ride to Elsianna. 

Twisting her head, Selena's eyes saw the woman lying beside her, her short, prickles of red hair reminding Selena of a still-growing Chia pet. Because the air-conditioner was on at a rather high power, the sleeping woman was wrapped in a t-shirt, shorts and part of the blanket that covered the big bed – the rest of the blanket had, somehow, wrapped itself around Selena's naked form as she sat on the bed, trying to urge her heart to calm its drum-like beating.

Dream... her brain tried to reason. Just another dream...

She repeated that line for several minutes, breathing through her mouth in gasps. Quickly, as the breathing slowly calmed her, Selena whispered to herself.

“Dream... Everyone is fine. David's birthday party was last week. Nothing bad happened. No monster. No lady.”

These were simple facts, but they were what kept Selena in the grasp of reality. The nightmares had started shortly after Rise to Greatness, during her recovery from the welts, bruises and cuts she had suffered. They were always different in terms of location and event, but the outcome was usually similar. The same 'lady' would appear and demand something from Selena. Her child, her wife, one time, Selena had dreamt that she had been wrestling for the United States Championship (for the first time in almost a year) and the 'lady' had appeared as her supposed opponent, demanding Selena's fame and powerbombing her through the ring and into the blackness.

That was the other constant in her nightmares. She always found herself falling into blackness. And, despite the frequency, sleep would always begin by wiping her mind clean of everything about such nightmares so that she could live through it anew all over again.

Because here and now, awake and calmer, she was not the clueless woman in her dreams. She recognized the 'lady'. She had seen the woman's face in real-life. Seen it sleeping, seen it covered by a pillow and then seen it just after the life was removed from it.

Sirus DeWinter.

The daughter of Evangeline DeWinter and Nicodemus Malko – the deep, dark secret that Selena and Deanna had discovered and tried to use to free themselves from the war between the Frost/Frostmere and the Dragon-Slayers... was gone... Dead. Selena's brain corrected.

All she had wanted to do was expose Evangeline for the hypocrite that she was – threaten her the same way she had Malcolm Scythe was his secrets and, thus, strike a deal to procure her family's freedom from another war.

She had never, in her wildest dreams, considered the option both Evangeline and her grandson, Brachiss had taken – which was simply to destroy the secret's existence. Brachiss had declared his newfound 'aunt' to be a liability to their clan and ordered his grandmother to kill her own daughter, with DeWinter did without so much as a second thought.

That image – as well as staring into the dead face after Selena had failed to revive her with CPR – that had begun the nightmares. 

With a depressed shake of her head, reaching up with her free hand to place it over the pounding pain in her head, Selena untangled herself quietly from the mummy-wraps of the blanket before gently placing it back over Deanna's entire frame. She felt the cold of the room crawl up her spine, though it wasn't as much comfort as it usually was. Nothing usually was in the wake of these nightmares. Never the less, Selena reached out to the hook on the wall near her closet, taking the royal-blue kimono off the hook and wrapping it around herself simply. 

What followed next would be a procedure – one that she had to do if she had any hopes of returning to sleep. Tying the kimono with the sash, the platinum-blonde slipped out of the room, walking the few steps along the hall of the upstairs until she stopped by the first door on the right. Carefully, Selena turned the knob as quietly as she could and, just as quietly, pushed the door open, her breath hitching in her mouth as she managed to stare into the room (they were called “irrational fears” for a reason).

The small nightlight on the far side of the room – that of Barney the Dinosaur – glowed gently in the darkness, but the light was enough for Selena to see where she was going as she slipped into the room and stood next to the crib. The wooden cradle was a large one, about six feet long and four feet wife, allowing big pillows and blankets to fill it and comfort the boy inside. And that is what the boy looked like as Selena observed him between the wooden bars. He looked comfy, content...

Safe... she breathed in relief before reaching between the bars to softly caress the two-year old's cheek. Her eyes caught the full head of blonde hair (not as white as hers) and she gently ran her hands through it softly so as not to awaken young David before withdrawing from the room as quietly as she had arrived.

That was the 'post-nightmare' procedure that had seemed to work for the Snow Queen. Disproving whatever it was she had seen. When Sirus had appeared before Selena and demanded her career, the platinum-blonde had turned to twitter – just in time to hear all the rumours regarding her potential firing from SCW due to her inability to win her match in Toronto.

This had brought on a whole new set of fears for Selena – but these were tangible fears. Things she could deal with. Talk about. Even beat. So, she had, throughout the days, sent a few phone calls to SCW and her boss, Mr. D., before finally, she had composed a long tweet addressing the concern for her fans. It hadn't helped that much, but it had dealt with the nightmare issue.

And seeing her baby boy asleep and safe, Selena could feel herself breathe again as she crept down the stairs and into the basement of her house, travelling the same path she had in her dream. It wasn't long before she had slid open the glass door and the screen door with it, allowing herself to walk outside in the warm night and down the steps to the docks.

She felt the wooden planks beneath her feet, some of them wet from the waters of the lake that ran beneath them. She smelled the slight breeze in the air and, finally, she gazed out onto the moonlit waters.

They were a beautiful dark blue. She could see the moon, in its waxing phase, in the waters' reflection and some of the stars in the sky, though she looked up at them for a moment to grant herself a better view. She ran a hand through her long mane of free, platinum-blonde hair as she spotted the constellation of Orion in the sky.

Orion...the hunter. Wasn't that what she was supposed to be? Wasn't that what Mr. D. was subtly asking her to be? In truth, Selena wasn't certain about some of the things her boss had said to her last Breakdown. She was confused at the casualness that he had handled her fears of losing her job – how aloof he seemed over not returning her phone calls when a simple five-second text would have solved all her worries. You're not fired. Something as simple as that! True, he had been supporting in declaring that he believed Selena's best moments, her best years, were still ahead of her rather than behind her – but then he had followed that up with the desire for her to still work with him in solving any of SCW's problems – Giovanni Aries being a current example of that after he had laid his hands on the Mr. Dracheywch and the board of directors.

Selena had no idea what it all meant – to be seen as not important for a text yet important enough to declare an asset to SCW – what was she to the boss? An associate? Someone he believed in? A weapon? Like a dagger of SCW? 

The Snow Queen had no idea but one thing she knew she couldn't be was afraid. She couldn't be afraid of her boss or of Giovanni, or some Wonderland, or Alistaire or whomever came next for her – and she couldn't be afraid of a damn nightmare about a dead woman.

I didn't kill you... she mentally declared. I may have brought the circumstances that lead to your death but I didn't make the choice to end your life, Sirus. Your mother and your nephew did that. Haunt them!

“Haunt them!” Selena ordered as she gazed back into the water. The order made her feel a little bit stronger, prompting her to take it one step further. With deliberate motion, she untied her sash and pulled the kimono robe off her frame, dropping it and letting pool around her feet. Her eyes quickly took in the surrounding houses on the other side of the lake, but she didn't fear anyone seeing her. Yes, there was a window with a lit light that she could see, but she was so far enough away and it was so dark that she knew no one would see her. 

Confident in that, the Snow Queen emulated her dream's movements, diving into the water, Unlike her unconscious journey in sleep, however, she felt the cold like a thousand delicious needles against her pale skin. She could see some of the stones in the beams of moonlight the streamed into the water as she swam. Her injury-aches complained a little but in the comfort of the cold, Selena ignored it, continuing to feel more and more empowered by her “dealing with nightmares method”. This was how it was supposed to go, her feeling more and more empowered until she could walk away and leave the nightmares in the dark where they belonged and thus return to sleep with her wife.

Breaking the surface of the water to take a deep breath, Selena, now further away from the docks, dove back under, diving into a deeper portion of the lake. She didn't want to swim too far, in case her injuries started acting up, but seeing the abyss of black before her – the bottom of the lake too deep for the little light from the moon to illuminate – was enough for Selena as she belted out her words under the water, creating nothing but muffled sounds.

Still, she didn't stop.

“Your mother and nephew killed you!” she proclaimed. “HAUNT....THEM!” she screamed the last part, the air escaping from her lungs as she stressed the last two words. The sound of her scream etched throughout the waters of the lake and into the blackness below. 

Out of breath and satisfied, Selena kicked her legs, ignoring the growing aches, until she broke the surface again, taking in a deep breath of air as she ran her hands through her wet hair, forcing it back and away from her face. Content, she began to swim back to the docks, her front stroke kicking closer and closer to the planks. It was done – she was done with this nightmare. Her procedure had worked again and it was just one more bad moment of ill-sleep that she would undo in the few hours of night she still had before family or SCW called.

“Maybe I'll sleep in.” she thought, her mind feeling whimsical. “Take an extra hour to enjoy-”

She didn't have time to finish her thought as she was suddenly under the water again, but this time, not by her own choice! To anyone else, it would seem as if the Snow Queen's leg had acted up and she had lost her form, causing the submerging. But to Selena, she felt something grip her calf and pull! Turning her head towards it, her eyes widened in alarm and...

Yes... as she stared into the black eyes of Sirus, there was no mistaking the fear she felt in every pore of her body. She tried to talk – to scream as confidently as before but all she could do was simply scream as she saw the lady reach up and grab Selena at the knee, followed by another clawed hand at the hip, the feeling of a crushing cramp travelling up her body.

Imposs- you're dead! Selena's mind wailed as she felt Sirus' hand along her neck.

The white-haired elderly woman smiled her crooked smile and, despite the darkness, Selena could see the equally crooked teeth, sharp enough to clearly tear flesh if the woman so chose.

“I am dead!” Sirus replied, her words clear as if they were spoken through the air. She pulled herself closer, her hands now around Selena's long, pale neck as she whispered in her ear. “So...are...you.”

Selena felt the hands tighten around her and she couldn't breath – or control the breath she was holding under the water. Despite the pain in her legs, which were now burning uncontrollably despite being in water, she kicked and turned around, trying to shake off her attacker. 

I'm going to drown... she thought with sudden clarity as she continued to kick and claw at the claws around her neck. I'm going to drown and scare my family to death when they find me...

Her dream had become her reality, the irony not being lost on her, but it was overpowered as her senses started to fade, the burning in her lungs as they begged for oxygen giving way to unconsciousness.

I'm sorry, David... her last thoughts were. I'm sorry, Oleska... I'm sorry, De-

The sound of something breaking the water's surface was the first thing she heard, breaking her train of thought. Then, feeling two strong arms pull her back and out of Sirus' grasp! As she was hauled away, Selena could swear she saw her demon-lady curse and scream in anger at losing her victim – as if demanding the Snow Queen to return to the depths of the abyss. For the briefest of moments, just before she broke the surface of the water, Selena was tempted to follow her. 

At least the nightmares would stop... she half-cried as she was pulled to the skies.

“Breathe!” came the demand as Selena felt herself being hauled the few yards to the docks. She obeyed, forcing her lungs to finally obey and breathe the air. The same two hands pushed her up onto the docks, the Snow Queen barely managing to pull herself onto them before rolling onto them and landing on her back, her naked body drenched in water.

Selena didn't notice. Nor did she notice the beautiful blue of the water or the stars or the sliver of the waxing moon. They were all gone – replaced with the black eyes and sharp teeth of her tormentor – the woman beckoning her back into the water.

The same water that had tried to take her life when she was a child...

No... Selena's mind begged as she began to feel the familiar shakes. Please, Odin, not again...

Her pleas were in vain. Before her eyes, she saw the same nightmare that had haunted her most of her life. That of her step-mother, Anastasia DeCarlo, placing her young child of a step-daughter into the full tub before slamming the large board of wood she had brought in over the top, trapping Selena inside! The sensation of clawing at the wood – like Selena had against the hands that had claimed her neck moments ago – made her fingers shake. Her neck stiffened, trying to push the head up to stay afloat in the dream – it was all like before! Like the panic-attacks she had felt before in her claustrophobia but, this time, instead of Anastasia, she could only see the soul-less black eyes of Sirus!

“...ena! Wake...” the voice was barely noticeable to Selena as she kept her eyes closed, her body refusing to stop its spastic shakes! She could still breathe, but they were short and shallow under the attacks. “Calm...please!” came the voice again and continued in its muffled way.
“I...need...”
“It's me...”
“PLEASE!”

The broken messaged poured into her ears but they might as well have been in a different language to Selena. Because she wasn't Selena the adult now – she was Selena the child, begging to be freed from her coffin of water before it consumed her entirely-

She knew, soon enough, her breath would fail her and, after a few seconds, it did, though to her surprise, it wasn't because of the water or the wood she envisioned or even the demon keeping her locked in, but something velvet and soft pressing against her lips. Despite her shakes, it was the only comfort (however slight) that Selena could feel.

Until it, too, began filling her mouth with liquid!

Immediately, Selena fought against it, her body stiffening and her shaking continuing with more vigour. But the soft velvet did not decease. It kept latched on her mouth until Selena, even in her child-like fear, had two choices. Swallow the water or drown.

She swallowed and immediately felt the burning of fire travel through her throat, filling her stomach with an unexpected warmth. Her head felt a little funny but her body started to relax on its own without her telling it to. The scene before her eyes faded away, the noise quieted, and just like she had in the waters, the demon-lady of Sirus retreated. 

Slowly, her eyes closed, Selena took a deep, full breath, feeling her lungs fill with air before she exhaled. She did it again until her heart calmed enough for her to open her eyes. 

She saw the stars. She saw the sliver of moon. She saw the short-haired woman laying over her, tears in her eyes.

“Please...” she whispered. “Talk to me.” she begged.
Slowly, her tongue very heavy, Selena opened her mouth. “D...De...” her wife's name was too long in that moment, so she settled on something shorter. “Pet.”

Deanna sighed in relief before reaching up to caress her wife's face. “Yes, minx, I'm here.” she softly spoke, before slowly helping her wife to a sitting position. 

“Wha...” Selena looked around, observing her full surroundings. “What happened?” she asked, genuinely confused. “What are you doing out here?”
“No.” Deanna replied sharply, raising a finger. Her emerald eyes bore into Selena's. “You tell me what YOU were doing out here!”
“I was...I was just...” Selena slowly pointing towards the waters, turning her head to look at them. “I was just going out for a swim. I...I had a nightmare and I...I came out here to deal with it and...”

Selena's eyes widened as the shock wore off, her brain reactivating its memory. She quickly pointed to the waters. “I saw her!” she declared. 
“Saw who?” Deanna asked, more alarmed than anything else.
“Sirus!” Selena stated. “I've been having nightmares about her since Toronto and-”
“Wait- you've had nightmares and you didn't tell me?”

“I...” Selena stopped for a moment to gaze at her wife before shaking her head and pointing back out towards the waters. “But I saw her, Deanna! She grabbed me and she pulled me under! Just like she did to David in my dream! And she- she-”

Selena gazed at the waters. Beyond a slight ruffling from all the movement, the waters had stilled back to their pristine beauty.

“There is no one there, Selena.” Deanna replied, reaching out to rub her wife's bare shoulders.
“There was! And she grabbed me, tried to choke me and drown me!” Selena implored. “I just...”
“SELENA!” 

The voice was curt and sharp as the short-haired woman grabbed her wife's face and pulled it to focus on her. “There. Is. No one. There.” she stated with finality. “You understand? Sirus is dead, okay? Evangeline killed her! She's gone!”
“But...but she blames me!” Selena tried to explain, shaking her head. “I...I know she's gone...”

“Listen to me.” Commanded Deanna. “I saw you swimming and decided to come down to join you.”
“Why?” Selena asked without thinking.
“Because you were naked and it aroused me, okay?” Deanna said with a toss of her hand. “I saw you go under and you didn't come out. Soon, I saw you struggling in the water and I thought it was your injuries. When I pulled you out, you wouldn't stop shaking.”

“I was...” Selena sighed. “I don't know what I was. Trapped? In the past? I haven't felt like this in so long.” she shook her head.
“I know. The last time was in that crypt Anastasia built to break you. Except this time, me kissing you or holding you or putting ice on you didn't work.”

Selena's eyes widened at that. Usually, a panic attack induced by her claustrophobia/past-flashbacks was solved by the presence of her wife and/or being touched by the cold. But the last one was years ago... Selena thought...

“How...” she slowly asked. “How did you wake me up then?”
Deanna looked away at that question, running a hand along the short, crisp hairs that lined the top of her head. “I...I didn't know what to do...I really didn't have any options left...”

Selena's heart skipped a beat. “Deanna, what did you-” her voice stopped as she suddenly, for the first time, spotted the bottle lying just a few feet from her and Deanna. The light from the moon illuminated the glass and brown liquid that had a sort of amber glow to it. There was enough light for Selena to read the label that was pressed over the bottle's body.

Beer Barrel Bourbon.

Selena's eyes widened in shock and alarm. That was the water she had drank and why it had burned and made her feel warm and slightly light headed. What made her body buzz a little – in a good way.

No. No. No! No! NO! NO! NO! Selena's mind screamed as she threw herself towards the end of the docks, her upper body hanging over the wooden planks as she drove two fingers into her mouth as deep as she could. Deanna's cries to her went unheard as she pushed her fingers past her knuckles into her throat until she felt the sensation in her stomach. Her body convulsed and she retched up as much of her stomach's contents as she could. But it wasn't enough, so she forced her fingers back in and made herself vomit a second time – causing her body to dry heave half-way through. 

Clutching her sides, the Snow Queen rolled over to stare at her wife, who could only sit there in absolute shock. 

“How could you give me that?” Selena slowly asked. “Why do you even have it?”
“It's for reductions.” Deanna replied slowly. “For cooking.”
“Get rid of it!” Selena commanded. “Fuck...” she muttered. “How could you...”
“I was scared!” Deanna declared defiantly. “You weren't waking up!”
“You know what I am!” Selena spat back. “You know what I deal with! I can't have that ever again! I'm too weak!”

“No you're not!”
“Yes, I am!” implored Selena. “One slip up is all it would take! One goddamn mistake!”
“I would stop you.” Deanna promised.

“YOU JUST FED IT TO ME!” Selena declared, pulling herself to her feet and grabbing the bottle. Without hesitating, she threw it as hard as she could against the nearby rocks lying against the shores. The flimsy glass shattered into pieces, creating a dark stain against the black of stone.

Releasing a sigh of relief, the exhaustion of such deliberate actions quickly overtook her. Before she could collapse, however, she felt – actually and truly felt – her wife's arms wrap around her, Selena's kimono robe slipping over to cover her form.

“I'm sorry.” Deanna whispered. “I was scared.”
Selena sighed, too tired to fight anything anymore. Instead, she nuzzled her nose into Deanna's neck. “I'm sorry too.” she whispered, though she wasn't 100% certain which part she was apologizing for.
“This isn't healthy, Selena.” Deanna whispered.
“I know.” Selena replied. “But I don't know how to make them stop.”

It wasn't even making them stop that scared Selena – it was the fact that, perhaps for the first time, she wasn't entirely sure what part of what she saw was her dream and what part of what she saw was reality. They had always been separate since Rise to Greatness. One was dreams and the other was real life. Selena would deal with the dreams in real life to remove their power.

Now...it seemed that her nightmares had had enough of that.

“Maybe it was just a fluke...” Selena replied. “That I'm... stressed about work. Going back to wrestling after so many weeks off... no real support from most of the roster...”

“Speaking of support.” Deanna tries to tease, keep her arms around Selena as she helped the Snow Queen walk along the docks towards their house. “If worse comes to worse, we'll figure it out.” she promised. “You need to always understand that.”
“I...” Selena tried but her voice died before she could finish.

Because as she walked back into the house with her wife, she turned her head to look back at the lake...

Only to see the demon-lady Sirus by the rock with the smashed glass and bourbon... laughing at the poor, poor Snow Queen.
 
___________________________________

The Royal Letter

To the True-Believers and the SCW Universe,

Well, I am here at Las Vegas for tonight's Breakdown. Cliche way to start this off? Maybe, but no more than this. Anyone know what Las Vegas is famous for? 

Gambling. The notion of risking it all for something. Putting everything you have – everything you are – on the line in a game of chance where the outcome can depend on a lucky card or, perhaps, a skillful roll of the dice - luck, skill or a combination of both.

And it is fitting that my first match in this new season of SCW begins here. Because my last one – it was a gamble. It's been talked about all over the airwaves, Twitter and all social media, the repercussions of it – my match with Regan Street was indeed a gamble. Once more playing her game of weapons against everything I could give. I gambled on myself and SCW...

And I lost...

Did it hurt? Yes. More than the physical damage, seeing that clip of my boss raising Regan's hand? Yes, it hurt. Hurt because I know that I am better than Regan. That's not even a matter of bragging, it's fact. I knew I could beat her. I KNOW I can. I have done so far more times than she has me. But that night? I couldn't.

And what hurt the most was that... well, I was afraid. I was afraid that I had gambled all and lost and that SCW would suffer the consequences. That failing SCW – standing up for them that had been wronged and all of them believing in me – letting them down – I thought SCW would become more controlled by Past, Present and Future. More under their thumb with commands and underhanded tactics denying you, the True-Believers, of the supreme wrestling you deserve and believe in and endangering the good people that make this show/my job possible.

But... that didn't happen.

I was stunned, True-Believers. I was. The very first show, their was no “dominance”. There was no “WE RUN SCW!” from Past, Present and Future. Yes, Sienna goaded Kennedy into a match and managed to steal a victory and the World title, but what else?

I saw Regan apologize to Mr. D.. I saw the Hellcat, weeks after being beaten and bloodied by me tighten her fists and, instead of me eating crow, it was her, apologizing in humility to our boss and the board of directors over and over again.

If I hadn't seen it... I wouldn't have... well, you know.

And I'm not going to mock Regan on that. Not at all – gods know I follow orders here too. But for the Hellcat to be so... effortlessly made to heel. That is truly how much more powerful SCW is than any person declaring they “ARE SCW”. It's such a pathetic pipe-dream to believe that. From the new world champion to the girl panicking last week over whether or not she still has a job, it's like I've said all along. No one, not one person, is bigger than SCW!

So, in that way, I feel like I succeeded. My mission was to stop Past, Present and Future from taking Rise to Greatness from all of you and make Regan accountable for all she did – and...I think, that's exactly what happened. Doesn't matter to me how it happened or who landed the final blow, that was the end result. And SCW is better off for it.

But with one war over... and my status seemingly not deemed as “unemployed”, I have spent the last week wondering what am I to do now? What does a defender of SCW... a weapon of SCW... do when she learns SCW can thrive and survive on its own? That it doesn't need me to be its defender, clearly, if what happened to Regan is any indication?

All night last Breakdown I wondered that, and it only played on my fears that I would, indeed, be fired. But Mr. Dracheywch, the man that has seen so many careers come and go – the hall of famers, the record holders, the greatest constant in this federation has been Mr. D., himself – wasn't quite done with me yet after telling me I still had a job here. His words to me have sat with me all week.

“Your best years are not behind you.”

You understand what that means? And Alistaire Allocco, I'm asking you this too. For months, I've been told by Past, Present and Future – by my former sisters Sienna and Regan – that my time was done. That 2016, the Year of Selena Frost, was a thing of the past and that I would never be anything as great ever again. And months of being told that, and coming up short in pay-per-views and ironwoman matches, and taking hold of the flame, and rise to greatness and gods know what else – I sort of began to believe in it a little. You hear something enough times, part of you begins to believe it. It's your whole thing, isn't Alistaire? Repeating the same schtick you threw at me back in late 2017?

So, to have someone who has seen it all and knows so much more about futures and careers than any of us tell me that something better is coming? Something bigger than Best of the Best! Bigger than winning the World Championship twice. Bigger than anything I've done in the past?

How can I not be excited?! How could I not believe in that! I can't even comprehend what that could possibly be. What could be grander than what I have done in the last two years? I don't even know...

But I know that if I am going to achieve it - if I am going to be ready for it when it comes - I can't just fight wars. I can't just be the Selena I was last SCW season. I have to do what D. – what the Board of Directors – have begged so many of us to do since Rise to Greatness. 

Move on.

I don't want last season weighing on me. The wars. The scars. The battles. A year ago at this time, I became the SCW World Champion, shocking the world by beating Ace Marshall - your 'hero', Alistaire - one on one the very show after he became World Champion. After that, I got wrapped up in wars and defending SCW – and somewhere along the way, I became more concerned about being SCW's protector when last Breakdown proved that it can survive well without me.

So what do I do? 

I think... I think I go back to where I was before. Or rather, be what I wanted to be. The best of SCW. Fighting against the best to be the best. Cliche, I know, but that was when I was at my happiest. When I was fighting to be better than everyone else. Not punishing people for trying to destroy SCW, but trying to surpass every challenge and every obstacle thrown in my way. 

So, either I'm nothing and my time has past like Regan and Sienna have claimed and I work to prove them wrong emphatically or I work harder than everyone else to prove my boss right. Seems like no matter how you look at it, fighting to be the best is the way to go.

And what a fitting way to start that this season with such a mission than with Mr. Alistaire Allocco. Yep, back to you, Alistaire. Been a while hasn't it. You reminded us all of that – a good what? Ten or so months? Now, I am somewhat surprised by you, Alistaire. According to your last promo against Jake Starr, congratulations on that win by the way, you usually start your promos with pleasantries. I believe you said things like “showing humongous respect” for your opponent? Because you're a “nice guy”.

I'm not going to lie, I would have loved some pleasantries like that after us going our separate ways for so long. I mean, I'd be happy to tell you how good you are. How good you've become. I already knew that when you won the World Championship match in your third match in SCW. I already knew that when you beat Jake Starr in Toronto. I know that now. Any man that can make a small package into his finish and win? How many times have you won this year with a pinning move like that, Alistaire? Tells me I need to look out for it, right?

Because I know you're going to pull off all the stops to take me down and stop my new direction in this new season of SCW. And I'm excited about it. I mean – what comprises the main events of the Breakdown night? You've got Kennedy, former world champion, facing the current United States Champion and then us – two former World Champions fighting it out to see who is better.

But here's the thing, Alistaire, this is where my praising of you ceases. Not because I don't think you're capable of beating me – if Ikiro Yoshiada could do it, so can you. No, my praises for you stop because that's not how you started.

No, Alistaire, you started this reunion between you and me with a bold-faced lie. You act like you've been slighted by me. That I've fooled you and wrecked your perception of me. That after all your dealings with me, I am now truly fake, right? 

Who are you trying to fool, Alistaire? Are your trying to sound like Ace still? Are you trying to sound like Regan? Because she said the exact same insults and beat me in Toronto so if you do it, it'll happen for you in Las Vegas? 

Because if you think that what you are saying is new – not only is that a lie but so is your whole perception of how you came to it. Because all I have to do is go back to Under Attack last year and pull up your promo and what will I find there?

“Selena is fake.
Selena is a liar.
DISNEY REFERENCE!”

For a man that brags about how much he has “grown” in the past ten or so months, I would have imagined you would have at least made an attempt to know me better after all this time, not reach into your old notes, dust them off and rehash the same one-liners that were old in 2017.

You want to talk about respect? About the time I kicked you in the head? You know why I did that, Alistaire? Because you decided that it was 'okay' to come down to the ring, during MY title defence and interfere in my title match with Ace Marshall. You came in and cost me the World Championship, Alistaire. Because despite your 'version' of things, what did you do right after Ace had taken the title from me? You followed him. Nevermind what he did in the ring with Cassidy and whatnot, you still followed him. So when you offered me your hand in the ring and Ace and Cassidy were there, I did the only thing I knew how to do. Remind Ace and Cassidy that I wasn't a fool and I wasn't going to fall for a fake like you.

Yes, Alistaire. Unlike you, I can back that wording up. See, you think I declare myself to be a role-model? That I say “I am a saint”? “I am a hero”? You think I say these things, Alistaire? Have you even looked through my Royal Letters? My Frozen Central segments? I'm not like you, Alistaire. I don't like proclaiming myself as such things. I'm NOT a hero! I'm NOT a saint! Get it through your over-enlarged ego!

All I have wanted – all I have ever wanted – is to fight for what I believe in. Fight for what I believe is right. That's it. Simple! 

But you? Hmmm... How do I put it? Well, I rather use your words:

“I personally believe a man is someone who acts true to himself. I believe a man is someone who stands up for his convictions and fights for what he believes in. A true man doesn’t yield his principles. He preserves. He survives. And he comes out, the same, no matter the hell he had to endure.”

Sound familiar, Alistaire? Those are the words you threw to Jake Starr for Rise to Greatness. Similar to mine, I would say...

And yet...while I could go on and on about how you 'looked the other way' when Ace and Cassidy embarrassed and disrespected this federation – I don't have to. I only need two examples, Alistaire, and you were kind enough to provide one.

The time you “humbled me”, right? In that elimination chamber? When you pinned me and became World Champion? Tell me, Alistaire – for a man that prides himself on good form and being a 'role-model' (again, it's you that's proclaiming it, not me), how did you beat me again? How did the 'honest wrestler' – the 'super man' get past me? If you don't remember, I can call up Simon Lyman, the guy that officiated the match and ask him – or I can just tell you right now.

You struck from behind with a superkick to the head before I could even get up from eliminating Ace. What kind of message is that, Alistaire? To those children you want to 'take from me'? Is it to take cheap shots? That it's justified as long as you get what you want? Is that it? Where was your honour then Alistaire? Because we all saw it! The look of disappointment on your face! Even Jonathan Knots called you on it! 

Be honest, 'honest man'! You took a cheap shot because you wanted the World title more than you cared about your 'morals'. For all your 'convictions' and 'principals', those were sold out the second a shortcut presented itself! 

I won't knock it – you won the title. You pinned me. You have that – I don't have that over you. But if you think SCW is foolish enough to believe that you care about honour and integrity? Then you are seriously not giving them enough credit and that is coming from the woman that was humbled last Breakdown watching SCW truly deal with Regan Street!

Or am I not giving YOU enough credit? After all, that was several months ago. Just because you're stuck in 2017 in your perception of me doesn't mean I have to be. One of us should show how much they've paid attention to current events and have LEARNED in those many months. So let me ask you my second example, 'man on a crusade to clean and better SCW'.

Where the hell were you when our boss was piledriven into mat?
Not recent enough? Suit yourself. Where were you when innocent SCW crew were being tossed to the floor and beaten up?
Not recent enough? Okay, where were you when a United States Title match was tainted and ruined by a bitter woman attacking a man with crutches?
Not recent enough? Fine! Where were you last week when your boss and the board of directors, INNOCENT people, were threatened and attacked by Giovanni Aries?!

Well, Alistaire? I'd like to know! You claim to be a role-model – far greater than me – you claim to be a 'real hero' here in SCW – so where the hell were you?!

Yeah, that is the difference, Alistaire. You say it. I do it. You brag about it. I exemplify it. I may fail. I may come up short. But while you were fighting your 'dream match' with Jake Starr? I was getting my head bashed in by a monitor for SCW. I was being powerbombed through a table for SCW! I was getting my head smashed in by a chair for S-C-W!!

I let my actions speak louder than my words, Alisitaire, because words are all you have and it's not because people are holding you back or because they are jealous that no one is listening. It's because it's the same crap you spewed over a year ago and since then you've done nothing to truly prove it. You've worked for yourself and been in business for yourself. Otherwise, you would have been right there in the trenches with me when innocent people were threatened. 

So, I know I'm dealing with a fraud. Not a hero but a man desperate. Just like you were in that chamber. And you know what? I actually would have preferred if you were the hero you claim you are. Because, despite all, I truly believe you are better, wiser, stronger, all the adjectives you could string together in a sentence to describe yourself. But I also know you are desperate and if that cheapshot comes out again, I know you will take it. If that shortcut presents itself again, I know you will jump on it. Because more than your morals? You care about you and you care about winning.

It just makes my job all the harder – to not give you that opening. Not give you that chance again. Because me? I'm a little different. I don't care what your mission is. I don't care what your motivation is. Believe it or not, I want you at this level of 'better' or 'best' or however you want to spin it. Because I'm on a mission too, remember? And I don't want to take a shortcut or a cheapshot to be better than you, Alistaire. 

I want to beat you and FINALLY get that pinfall win because, quite simply, I want to show I'm better than you. Not to sway people to buy my merchandise or to 'save you'. No, Alistaire. I just want my first match on the road to find what my best in SCW truly is to be a win against a former World Champion. And the thing is, for that future? I'm willing to gamble everything I am once again to make that happen – just like I did in Toronto.

Can you say the same, honest man?

Sincerely,
Selena Michelle Frost