I couldn't believe it.

"Natalia Dare?!?! How did you get here?"

"Do you remember how, in first grade, I told you I leaving and you wouldn't see me again?"

"Yeah," I replied, then, not putting together the connection, I asked. "What does that have to do with it?"

"The day before that, I had overheard my mom talking to my dad about me being a monster and wanting to send me to the 'Laboratory for Lucky and Interesting Kids' or LLIK for short"

Weird, I thought. She said she never knew her dad. I'll ask her another time.

So, instead of asking about it, I asked something else.

"Is that this place?"

"Duh, dummy."

"You've been here since first grade?!" I asked, horrified.

"Yeah," she said, surprisingly calmly.

"Well, it's good to see you again."

We arrived at a door marked "Laboratory". A woman in a green jumpsuit and blue boots stood in front of the door.

"I'm sure Natalia here told you that you would receive your new last name now," she said the word "Natalia" like it disgusted her.

I nodded.

"She was wrong."

"What?" Me and Natalia spoke in unison.

"You're going to be a one-namer. Your new name is Frosty. Natalia will tell you what that means. You may both go now."

Natalia grabbed my arm and in seconds we were back at our room.

"What does it mean to be a one-namer?" I asked once we were back inside.

"It means you have to - sorry get to - go on missions. Simone's one too."

"What kind of missions?"

"You don't want to know, and you'll learn tomorrow anyways."

She didn't speak as we both changed into the pajamas that had appeared on our beds and climbed onto our bunks on either side of the black-walled room. She clapped and the lights turned off. I drifted off to sleep with one disturbing thought circling in my head.

LLIK backwards is KILL.

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Hey guys!

Sorry it took me so long to update! Soon, I'm going to add my short story prologue for Iced. It's called The secret of the Dares and it is told from first-grade Natalia's point of view. Comment if you think I should add some chapters from Natalia's point of view because I honestly don't know if it's a good idea.

Christina Nightraven (Heather)