Frostbite

Chapter Nine

Ahaha chapter nine! Its kind of really bad, but at least it's here I guess. :) Thank you so so much for all the support on the last chapter, you guys made my day! :)

All right stop, collaborate and listen
Ice is back with my brand new invention
Something grabs a hold of me tightly
Flow like a harpoon daily and nightly
- Vanilla ice ice baby

Chapter Nine

The entire world seemed washed out of colour; the bench I was sitting on was preserved in a thin sheet of frost that melted into glittering rivulets beneath my hands as I scraped it away so I could sit down. The branches of the trees were overburdened by the thick clumps of snow clinging to their leaves.

Carrie was talking animatedly but her words flew right past me until she snapped her fingers in front of my face, drawing me out of my daze.

"Sorry, what?"

I blinked, absentmindedly stirring my hot chocolate one hand while the other traced swirling patterns in the frost on the bench.

"I said that the lake should be frozen enough in a few weeks to go skating - and you know how much I love skating!"

Well, Carrie might love skating but I did not.

When I was eight, a few friends and I had thought it would be fun to ride our bicycles across the lake. Everyone had told us not to go on it for another week, but we were sure that it was fine to hold our weight. And it was fine, until we reached the centre and the ice cracked from underneath my feet and I went under.

My friends pulled me out immediately, and I was fine, physically at least. But I can still remember the terror I felt as the ice broke beneath me and I slid into the water.

"Please? You don't even have to skate - and I'll buy you an ice-cream!"

"With my money or yours?"

She laughed.

"Mine. Seriously though, will you come? I don't want to go alone - that would be totally lame."

I sighed, but nodded my agreement.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I stood up and shivered. Even though the sun was shining, it didn't do much to nullify the effects of the crisp winter breeze that blew through the park.

I gulped down the last of my hot chocolate, luke-warm was better than nothing I suppose, and tossed the empty cup into the trashcan a few feet away from where Carrie was sitting.

I looked over my shoulder and smiled as I saw my best friend, already engrossed in whatever she was doing on her phone.

My fingers were icy cold as I rubbed them together, trying to create a smidge of warmth in the winter air. My feet sunk into the snow as I walked a few steps into the trees.

Most people were clustered in groups at the wooden tables, or playing on the playground. A few men dressed for the cold in heavy coats were fishing down at the creek and I could hear their voices as murmurs through the trees.

Once I stepped into the shade of the canopy it was as if someone had switched a switch to turn off all noise. Everything was deathly silent, the only sound being the quiet dripdripdrip of snow melting into puddles on the ground.

Something was niggling at the back of my mind, a warning, telling me not to go any further, to turn back.

I ignored it.

I pushed through the tangle of trailing vines that sought to trip me, and then I saw it. A bloody handprint smeared across the bark of the tree. And lying in the snow beneath it was a body.

I screamed, but no noise left my mouth as a gloved hand smacked across my lips, effectively silencing me.

Strong arms pulled me back into the trees and held me still as I struggled to no avail.

"Shh. They are coming."

My eyes widened in horror as I saw who he meant.

Clumsy, shambling creatures approached from beyond the trees, hooded in dark cloaks. Clawed fingers grasped the ground in front of them as they dragged themselves forward. They reached the body, and even though I had not seen its face I knew.

It was Katie Hughes.

One of the creatures leaned forward and its hood fell back to expose the face beneath. Pale, writhing flesh, with sunken sightless eyes. Jagged teeth set behind bloody lips and a myriad of pale raised scars across its skin.

Then it spoke, and though the words that poured from its mouth were in no language I knew, I shuddered. It did not seem like it was built to speak, for the words seemed to rip themselves out of its mouth.

As a single entity, the group began to drag Katie's body away. The snow beneath her was stained dark with blood, but as I watched, that blood melted away, like sun before the darkness of night. And then they were gone, beyond the trees, and I knew, somehow, that no matter how fast I ran, no matter where I looked, I would never find them on this earth.

The hands holding me loosened, and I fell to my knees in the snow, gasping for breath.

"Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod."

The cold from the snow seeped into my bones, into my very soul and I became very still, my entire being frozen inside and out.

I turned to face the boy behind me and recoiled in shock.

"You?" I breathed, my breath misting in the air in front of me.

"You don't know me." He said, but his voice was hesitant.

"Yes, I do. I saw you, at the hospital. Days ago - you looked terrible."

"Well, thanks."

"No, I mean, how did you recover so fast?"

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out."

"Excuse me? I just saw - I don't even know what I just saw - my friend's body being dragged away by some, some freakish things, oh my god, Katie. Oh my god."

I didn't even realise that I was crying until I felt hot tears carving warm tracks across my face, melting the frost that had coated my skin.

The boy - I realised I didn't even know his name - crouched down in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"I can't tell you what those things were, okay? And I'm sorry about your friend, I'm so sorry that you got caught up in all of this. But you won't remember any of it, okay? I know that doesn't make anything better, but you won't remember any of this."

I looked up at him, confused, just in time to watch as his eyes turn from dark blue to silver shot through with veins of cobalt.

And then haze fell like snow over my mind and he was gone.

I was standing alone at the edge of the trees, and I realised that Carrie was calling out to me.

"Heather! Come on you idiot, we have to go! I have work, you know!"

I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Alright, I'm coming."

I cast one last glance towards the trees and then I jogged over to Carrie.

"I have to work as well, you idiot." I shoved her shoulder playfully and she grinned. She glanced down at her phone.

"Well, we have exactly four minutes until we have to be behind that counter, so I suggest we run."

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