Ignore it

Within the 18th floor's briefing room, the rookies were once more left alone. After Alina had stated what was to follow she had chosen one of them, a man named Duke Wilson, and exited the room. Contracts were a private affair between the NSRA and its officers so it was only natural for their negotiation and signing to be done within Alina's office. 

Her absence had once more caused the previous chatters to reignite with new vigor. The rookies had mostly begun discussing the new information they just learnt along with exchanging what they understood regarding aberrations and espers. 

That was only around half of them since the tall man situated at the row's end had merely returned to his sleep, while Archie took out a small book to read. Then there were the two women present. Instead of discussing anything regarding the briefing, Maeve was once more bombarded with endless questions by the bubbly Cory Hudson. 

"Heh-heh, why so shy Maeve? Just give me a number. Oh, and yes, even those of your childhood count!" 

Cory's voice was sweet and filled with vigor. She had just shifted their topic of discussion into that of Maeve's romantic history. It was certainly an inappropriate subject to question when one considered the length of their status as both friends and co-workers. However, even so Cory did not care. 

She used the excuse that they were both women to pressure Maeve into answering. 

Of course, her personality helped in receiving little pushback even when Maeve clearly grew uncomfortable with her excessive questions regarding her personal life. 

However Cory could not stop, she was desperate. 

She wanted to discuss fun topics, to immerse herself in the experience of gaining new friends. Such was her honest desire. So she continued to talk, and talk, and talk some more. Even as Maeve became overwhelmed, even as her tongue began to dry up, even as her eyes continued to deceive her. 

She did so because only that was keeping her sane. 

But it was pointless. Cory could see the white steam which ejected from her mouth with every breath she took, she could feel the raging cold winds colliding with her body, and she could still see the rapid falling of the snow. 

To Cory, she was in a blizzard. The entire briefing room was… 

*****

It had begun early in the morning, just as she awakened. Back then, a cool breeze assaulted her body the moment she rose from her bed. She felt drowsy and thought little of the breeze, even after she properly bathed and changed.

It was a breeze just cool enough to make one rub their hands. Perhaps enough to cause a slight shiver. And so, she foolishly chose to equip a pair of black gloves. However, doing so only caused the breeze to enter a rage. One which brought forth falling snow.

It was only then that Cory first heard it… A whisper… It was from something which lurked in the shadow of her room. 

Cory felt her heart sink when she realized her mistake. She was hallucinating again. She was so foolish to have not questioned her reality, for not realizing that a cold breeze caressing her from her enclosed apartment was not normal. 

She had lost herself within excitement and it caused her to falter. 

However, despite realizing such, Cory still felt it was acceptable. 

I'll just ignore it… 

She did not want to miss the first day of work. She stepped outside her apartment and began heading towards The SW-4 Station. Even as she entered the city streets, the snow and cold continued to follow her. It was certainly unpleasant but bearable enough that she could easily push it back through simple distractions.

Luckily, upon her arrival at the station, she found plenty of people to enter conversations with. Most exciting of which was her fellow female co-worker, Maeve Dawson. However, when Inspector Alina arrived and began her briefing, Cory was left intensely aware of the falling snow all around her, and of the cold which it brought. It was in the middle of that briefing that Cory made her second mistake, she allowed herself a small shiver. 

It was subtle, almost imperceptible. Yet it was enough… 

The calm snowfall increased and the cold winds turned into a frenzy. Cory Hudson's personal white day had transformed into a raging blizzard. 

With that blizzard also came the voice's return. It was now far clearer than before, far more eerie as well. Cory was also able to guess what direction it was coming from. She felt an anxious tension grip her, but she held strong throughout the entire briefing. 

Inspector Alina's exit was like salvation to Cory. It meant she could jump into a distracting conversation. Yet it wasn't working so well anymore. In response to her growing desperation she talked more, giggled more, smiled more. 

Her chest ached at having her first exchanges with all these wonderful new people be sourced from a fake kindness. 

No— Cory was always kind, she genuinely meant every word she said. She wanted to befriend them all, truly she did, so for that reason she could not call her kindness fake. However, while it may have been her true desire, it was undoubtedly just a tool today.

Cory began feeling the sensation on her lips grow numb, and the tips of her fingers were engulfed by a sharp agony that was slowly spreading. It was then that she finally faltered, her eyebrows twitched as she hopelessly tried to stop her body from shivering. Her efforts failed and she trembled slightly not long after. 

Oh lord no… Please lord no!

The moment she realized it, she felt her heart sink into an ocean of deep regret. 

"Cory? Are you okay?" 

Snapping her out of her state was Maeve's neutral voice. Cory's lips felt numb but she curled them nonetheless. 

"Ah yeah, why?" 

She managed to say. Maeve stared at her with a complicated expression.

"Em, well you grew silent all of a sudden… If— If I'm boring you then don't force yourself to talk."

Huh? Since when did I stop talking? Actually since when did I stop hearing Maeve's voice? 

Panic overcame Cory and she wanted to rebuke Maeve's words, however the cold was still there, only growing worse. The voice too was still present. 

"Psst… Psst… Cory… Hey Cory…" 

Even now, it kept calling her over and over again. 

Ignore it! 

She thought, still fighting with all her might to stop her body from reacting to the cold. 

"Cory?" 

Maeve's voice then reached her once again, this time with clear concern. Cory thought Maeve was kind for worrying over her, however she remained motionless. Even if she spoke, it would not help her anymore. The cold was simply too oppressive now to drown away with simple chatter. However, doing nothing was not good either. She was near her limit. 

No! No! No!

Fear overcame her as she blankly stared at Maeve, someone who had her whole body peppered by falling snow. 

"Cory… Hey Cory…" 

The eerie voice continued, its every breath like that of shattering ice. She was now certain it was at the corner of the room, staring at her.

No! Please no!

The cold seemed to worsen yet again, growing stronger the more her terror turned into despair. Then as if to save her, the door slid open and Duke walked back inside the briefing room.

"Cory, Inspector Krutova asked me to send you over next. Her office is—" 

Without even waiting for him to finish, Cory immediately ran towards the open door. 

"I know thanks!"

She said, mustering up all that she could to bring forth her bubbly personality one last time before the steel door closed behind her. She then continued to run until she found a secluded corner. 

She was panting, her wavy long hair now slightly disheveled. 

It's so cold… 

She thought as she struggled to inhale, each breath bringing forth a sharp assault to her lungs. She closed her eyes to avoid seeing the raging snow all around her, she tensed her body in an effort to stop it from shivering, and she most of all clenched her jaw as tightly as she could. 

She struggled desperately to keep her tongue at bay and prevent the scream stuck in her throat from escaping. 

"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"

Like a broken record, her mind repeated those words endlessly. 

She had done well to hide it so far— But that was just a calm cold… What she was experiencing now was the heart of a blizzard. The first thing to falter was her body as it ignored her mental command and began shivering. That action alone made the feeling of freezing even more unbearable. Cory leaned against the wall then slid down to the floor and hugged herself, desperately trying to keep her body heat from escaping. 

The cold worsened even more. 

Cory could barely hold back her scream now. She bit deep into her lips, drawing out a stream of crimson blood. She would not scream, because her screams were real, because screaming would make everything real. Both the blizzard and the creature within it. 

It was then that the cold stirred and a sharp noise reverberated. It was that of ice carving across the floor. Then that eerie voice caught up to her once more, remaining somewhere near the corner. 

"Hey… Hey… Psst… Hey.........… Hey! Cory! Look at me Cory! LOOK AT ME!"

Cory felt the presence of that voice make her tremble even more. She focused desperately on stopping the shaking of her body. At the same time, her despair made her closed eyes begin to water. 

No! It'll cause a scene, I– I can't have them see that! They'll hate me for sure! 

It was as she was about to collapse and give in that she felt two hands grasp her shoulders. They were slender, yet powerful hands. 

*****

Alina Krutova had been waiting for a while within her office. She had already sent instructions as to who she wanted to meet with next. In front of her were the relevant files and reports of that second meeting, along with a modified contract. 

In an attempt to prepare, she had once more skimmed through the information written, however doing so had only amounted to a headache. 

She sighed. 

Damn it all, I'm too tired for this.

She thought then continued to wait. However, the person did not appear even after a few minutes came and went. Frowning slightly, Alina felt annoyance simmer inside her chest as she stood from her desk. 

"Did she get lost?" 

She murmured to herself before stepping outside her office. 

She then froze. 

Huh?

The hallway was cold, too cold. The SW-4 Station had high grade air conditioning at all times, yet upon no day did it ever reach the point where it actively made her take note of it. The frown on her beautiful face deepened further, this time sourced from an ominous premonition. 

She began tracing the coldness to its source, using the rapid dropping of the temperature as a guide. Then after a few seconds she reached the corner where it felt the most chilly and found a trembling Cory Hudson situated on the floor, seemingly on the verge of falling into despair. 

Her breathing was ragged and Alina could see steam exit her mouth with each breath. She immediately became alert and dashed towards Cory. 

Don't tell me!

Taking a tight hold of Cory's shaking shoulders she called out to her.

"Hey Cory, what are you doing here? Why didn't you come to my office?" 

Cory's shut eyelids quivered before she slowly opened them. 

"Cory, are you hallucinating? What is it?" 

Alina asked, her voice stern. 

Cory's eyes widened slightly and for a moment she almost spoke, yet she stopped herself upon hearing the eerie voice's continuous screams. She shook her head fearfully. 

"Don't worry, I'm a Second Stage Esper, I can handle it. So answer me, are you?" 

With tears swelling in her eyes, Cory at last removed the deep grip on her lips and answered with heavy mouth breaths. 

"Y-Yes, I'm in a blizzard… S-Something… S-Something is here too. It… It wants me to see it…" 

She said, her body still shivering violently. 

"I see, then I'm sorry…" 

Not waiting for Cory to inquire, Alina swiftly jabbed and knocked her unconscious. Before Cory's body could fall, Alina secured her into a princess carry. She stared upon the unconscious rookie with a complicated expression, recalling the term used to classify the woman Cory Hudson. 

"A schizophrenic seer huh…"

She sighed then began walking with Cory at hand. The signing of their contract postponed until further notice.