The Forsaken Heir of the Frozen End

Chapter 7 The Memory Beneath the Ice

“What just happened to you?”Victor Beckham’s voice sounded distant beneath the violent pounding inside Pascal’s skull. Pascal remained on one knee beside the fading Frost Script while cold sweat dripped down the side of his face. The mysterious eye had vanished from the frozen floor completely, yet the pressure it left behind still lingered inside the room like invisible hands wrapped around everyone’s throats.

Charlotte stared at him with growing fear. Not anger.Not irritation.Fear.That alone felt surreal. For years, Charlotte had looked at Pascal as though he were an obligation barely worth tolerating. Even when he excelled academically or sacrificed his own happiness for the family, her attention always drifted back toward Ben eventually.

But now her eyes held something entirely different. Because deep inside, she was beginning to understand a horrifying truth. Her adopted son was connected to this nightmare somehow. Pascal slowly forced himself upright. His heartbeat had not stabilised yet. Fragments of impossible visions still flashed through his thoughts whenever he blinked.

A frozen throne. An endless storm is swallowing continents whole. And countless monstrous beings kneeling before him beneath a black sky. The memories felt ancient. Wrong Like pieces of another life buried somewhere deep inside his soul. That terrified him more than the creatures outside. Victor tightened his grip on the handgun. “Answer me.”

Pascal looked toward the dead Frost Wretch sprawled across the marble floor. Black blood continued freezing across the tiles while pale mist drifted from the creature’s corpse unnaturally. The Frost Script was gone. But the message remained. You returned. We found you again.

Pascal’s stomach twisted. Whatever spoke through that eye knew him personally. Not from his previous life.From something older.Something tied directly to the Eternal Winter itself.“I don’t know,” Pascal lied quietly. Victor’s expression darkened immediately.

“You expect me to believe that after everything we’ve seen tonight?”

Before Pascal could answer, Ben suddenly gasped in pain.  Everyone turned instantly. The frost corruption spreading through Ben’s leg had advanced much further now. Dark crystalline veins crawled upward beneath his skin, almost to his knee, pulsing faintly with icy blue light beneath the darkness.

Thin frost spread across the floor beneath him where his body touched the marble. Charlotte immediately rushed to him again. “Ben!”His breathing had become uneven.Rapid.Shallow.Sweat covered his forehead despite the freezing air surrounding him.“It’s getting colder…” Ben whispered weakly. Pascal’s eyes narrowed.

The corruption rate was accelerating. That was not normal. Even advanced Frost infections usually took hours before reaching this stage. Something was feeding the corruption.  Then Pascal noticed it. The storm outside had become strangely quiet. That realisation disturbed him instantly.

Moments ago, violent winds battered the mansion constantly. Snow slammed against the windows hard enough to shake the glass. Now…Nothing. An unnatural stillness had settled over the estate. Victor noticed it too. The older man slowly turned toward the windows while tightening his grip on the flashlight.“Why did the storm stop?”Pascal’s chest tightened.

“It didn’t stop,” he said quietly. Charlotte looked toward him sharply. “What does that mean?”Pascal stepped closer to the frost-covered windows carefully. Outside, snow still fell steadily from the sky. But the wind had disappeared completely.

And standing throughout the courtyard beyond the mansion gates…Figures watched the house silently. Dozens of them.Wretches.They stood motionless beneath the falling snow like frozen corpses waiting for permission to move. Pale eyes reflected faintly through the darkness while icy vapour drifted from their distorted bodies.

Charlotte covered her mouth in horror.“Oh God…” Ben looked toward the windows weakly before his face drained of colour completely.“There are so many…”Pascal counted quickly. At least twenty visible.Possibly more hidden beyond the storm. That should have been impossible.

Frost Wretches normally hunted in small packs during early-stage outbreaks. Large congregations only formed near advanced Frost Nests months into the apocalypse. Yet somehow an entire swarm had gathered here already. And worse…They were not attacking. They were waiting. The realisation sent genuine dread crawling down Pascal’s spine.

Something was controlling them. Then one of the creatures slowly raised its head toward the second-floor windows. The Frost Wretch opened its mouth unnaturally wide. And smiled. A loud crash exploded from upstairs. Everyone flinched. Glass shattered somewhere deep within the mansion, followed immediately by scraping noises echoing across the upper hallway.

Victor cursed under his breath. “Another one got inside.”No,” Pascal answered immediately. Victor frowned. “What?”Pascal’s expression darkened further.“That sound was too heavy.”The room fell silent after he spoke. Because everyone understood what he meant. Something bigger had entered the mansion. Ben’s breathing quickened visibly. “What do we do?”Pascal’s mind raced rapidly.

The mansion was no longer defensible. Not with Ben infected.Not with Frost Wretches surrounding the property.And definitely not if a higher-level creature had breached the house already. They needed to leave immediately. But escaping through the storm carried its own risks.

In the previous timeline, countless survivors froze to death attempting evacuation during the opening nights of the Eternal Winter. The cold itself killed more humans than monsters initially. Another heavy impact echoed overhead. The ceiling cracked slightly near the staircase while frost spread outward across the plaster.

Charlotte began trembling visibly now.“We can’t stay here…” Victor nodded grimly. “The underground garage.”Pascal looked toward him sharply.Interesting.The Beckham mansion had a reinforced underground section. He barely remembered it from childhood because Victor rarely allowed anyone access there. Victor met Pascal’s gaze briefly before speaking again.

“The garage connects to a private emergency shelter.”

Charlotte stared at him in shock. “You never told me that existed.”Victor ignored her entirely. Pascal’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. So that was how the Beckham family survived longer during the early apocalypse in the previous timeline. Victor had hidden preparations. Not enough to save them permanently.But enough to delay death.

The older man walked quickly toward a concealed panel near the dining area and entered another security code. A section of the marble floor slowly shifted aside, revealing descending stairs beneath the mansion. Cold air drifted upward from below. Ben looked stunned. “Dad… when did you build this?”

“After the financial riots three years ago,” Victor answered flatly. “I stopped trusting society’s stability.”

Pascal almost respected him for that.Almost.Another violent crash shook the second floor. This time, accompanied by a low growling sound that definitely did not belong to a Frost Wretch. Pascal’s expression changed instantly. That noise…He remembered it. A Frost Devourer.

The creature type appeared during mid-stage corruption zones where Frost Wretches evolved through feeding. But Frost Devourers were supposed to emerge months later. Not tonight.

The accelerated timeline was becoming worse by the hour.“We move now,” Pascal said sharply. Victor looked at him carefully before nodding once. Charlotte helped Ben stand while the younger boy winced painfully. Frost spread beneath his footsteps as they moved toward the hidden staircase. Pascal remained near the living room windows for several seconds longer.

The Frost Wretches outside still had not attacked. They simply watched him.Waiting.One creature slowly tilted its head sideways. Then another copied the motion. Then the entire swarm moved identically together. Pascal’s blood ran cold. Hive behaviour. That should not exist among low-level Frost creatures. Unless a superior entity was nearby directing them.

A deep scraping sound echoed from upstairs again. Closer now. The ceiling groaned loudly above the staircase. Pascal turned immediately.“Go!”Victor led Charlotte and Ben down the hidden stairwell while Pascal followed closely behind. The concealed door slowly began sliding shut overhead.

Just before it fully closed…Something massive crossed the upstairs hallway. Pascal only saw part of it through the narrowing gap. Long pale limbs.Frozen claws dragging across the floor. And countless white eyes opening beneath stretched flesh.

The hidden entrance slammed shut completely. Darkness swallowed them instantly before emergency lights flickered on below. The underground shelter stretched farther than Pascal expected.

Concrete walls lined narrow hallways reinforced with steel support beams, while backup generators hummed faintly somewhere deeper underground. Storage shelves filled with canned food, bottled water, fuel containers, and medical supplies occupied most of the main chamber. Charlotte looked overwhelmed.

Victor remained focused. Ben collapsed weakly against one of the metal benches while frost continued spreading slowly across his skin. Pascal studied the shelter carefully. Strong enough for temporary survival. But not permanently. No shelter built by ordinary humans could withstand what was truly coming.

Victor locked the heavy steel entrance above them before turning toward Pascal again. Now that immediate danger had lessened slightly, the older man’s expression became colder. More calculating.“We’re going to talk,” Victor said quietly. Pascal met his gaze evenly. He expected this. Victor stepped closer beneath the dim emergency lighting.

“Earlier tonight, you knew the storm was dangerous before anyone else. You recognised those creatures immediately. You predicted communication collapse, the attacks, and even the infection.”The older man’s voice lowered further.“Now tell me the truth.”Charlotte looked toward Pascal nervously while Ben struggled to remain conscious nearby. Pascal considered lying again.

But before he could speak, Ben suddenly began screaming. Everyone turned instantly. The frost veins beneath Ben’s skin exploded with icy blue light while freezing mist erupted violently from his body. His eyes snapped open, glowing faintly beneath the darkness. Then he spoke. But the voice that emerged from his mouth did not belong to him.

“The Hollow Frost remembers its king.”The underground shelter fell completely silent. Charlotte staggered backwards in terror. Victor’s face hardened instantly. And Pascal felt genuine horror grip his chest for the first time since returning from the future.

Because he recognised those words.The Hollow Frost.One of the oldest names associated with the White Sovereign.The entity that destroyed humanity in his previous life. Ben’s glowing eyes slowly shifted toward Pascal. Then the corrupted voice spoke again.“We have waited for your return… White Sovereign.”