The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 8

The house is dark when I look in the window. There doesn't seem to be anyone home. Maybe Eria was wrong when she thought her dad would be home by now, maybe he had groceries to get or errands to run. I really don't want to be right and find him dead and have to break her heart like that. I reach for the doorknob and try to open it. Locked. That's a good sign. I know that if someone had tried to get into the house, they probably wouldn't take the time to lock the door behind themselves. I take another quick peek inside, see where I want to land and then jump through the door to the inside of the house.

Before I move, I stop and listen for any kinds of strange noise. Seeing is one thing, but hearing is something completely different. There are many things that can hide in the shadows and conceal their appearance, but they can't mask their sound. If there is something hiding in the darkness, I should be able to hear it by now. If I know anything about the monsters that are after Eira, it's that they are impulsive. The moment they sense a target, they get driven into a frenzy and make stupid mistakes. Well, most of them do anyway. Not the achlys. Hopefully they aren't here because if they are, there is no way we will survive this.

The kitchen is nothing special. It looks like Eira and her father live a pretty simple life. The appliances seem to be older and the house definitely has a lived in feel to it, even though I know they have only been here a year or two tops. There is no way that her dad would keep her in one spot for too long. That could be disaster if they spent too much time in one place. Her dad is smarter than that and knows it would be vital to move her around as much as possible to keep anything from getting tabs on their location.

I make my way around the island in the kitchen to the counter. It doesn't take long before I find what I am looking for, the knives. It's the only weapon that I can think to grab. I take the biggest one I can find and hold the handle so that the blade sits against my wrist. If I am wrong and Eira's dad is still alive, I certainly don't want him coming home and finding me wielding a knife in the dark. That could get ugly pretty fast.

The amount of light coming in through the windows is minimal, but enough to see that everything appears to be in order. There is unopened mail on the island and it looks like the breakfast dishes are still dirty in the sink. Another good sign that nobody has been home yet.

I begin to feel a little more at ease with the thought that maybe Eira's dad isn't here. Nothing looks out of place and there are no signs of a struggle. I cautiously and quietly make my way through the kitchen and into what appears to be a living room.

The first thing I notice is that the windows shades are drawn which makes it much darker than in the kitchen. Assuming that nothing is lurking the shadows, I find a small table lamp and flick it on. The dim lamp gives enough light to make out the arrangement of the room. The couch is tucked over by the fireplace and over top of it sits a bunch of pictures of Eira and her family. To the left of the fireplace is the thermostat. Upon quick glance it confirms my initial thoughts about this place, it's set to a mere 62 degrees. I imagine that to Eira even 62 would feel a bit warm, liveable, but warm nonetheless.

I grab one of the framed images from the mantle and take a closer look. It's a vacation picture and the family looks very happy. Eira is much younger and is standing with her mom in a forest. You can see the resemblance almost immediately. Their eyes and smiles are almost identical. The two are walking on opposite sides of a small stream holding hands over top of the water. They both look like they are tugging at one another to try and get the other to fall into the water. They're very happy. It makes me miss my family terribly and my heart breaks a little for Eira. The poor girl really has no idea why this is happening and how important she actually is.

All of a sudden, a thump' from upstairs snaps me out of thinking about my family. I tuck the photo into my coat, knowing that Eira may appreciate it as this will probably be the last time she comes to this house. I slowly make my way to the stairs peering up into the darkness of the second story. I can't see much, but I can sense that something is there, waiting. I think about leaving. It would be easy to jump back to the alley and get out of here, but if I did that Eira wouldn't know the truth about her dad and my life is nowhere near as valuable as hers.

Mustering up some courage and gripping the knife tightly, I slowly make my way up the stairs into the dark hallway keeping a visual in my mind of the alley, so that if I need to jump, I will be ready. That 'thump' sound happens again. It sounds like it is coming from the room down the hall. I make my way towards the room that I believe the sound to be coming from as slowly and quietly as I can. The hallway is long, narrow and dark. There are a few lights in various rooms that have either been left on, or turned on. I hope it's former. The light from the rooms provide just enough. There are a few pictures on the wall, mostly store bought art like Van Gogh's "Starry Night" or Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss".

The floor is either laminate or hardwood and doesn't do as good a job as carpet in masking my footsteps. I have to consciously switch the way that my feet hit the floor to try and muffle my approach. No longer does my heel hit the ground first. I try to walk on the balls of my feet so I can change weight if I need to. My goal of staying alive is predicated on trying to remain as light on my feet and vigilant as possible, so as not to alert whatever is up here to my presence.

I pass by what looks to be a guest room and pause for a moment. The curtain is open enough for me to barely see into the alley behind the house. There is no sign of Eira. She is doing a good job of hiding and staying out of sight. That is what she needs to do until she is ready to know the truth about herself, until she can figure out exactly what she is and how strong she actually can become.

Down the hall there is another 'thump'. It's a low thump and it sounds deliberate. It continues as I walk towards the last door on the left, but when I get there, it suddenly stops. This is Eira's room. The light coloured door has a white board with a marker attached to it. On the white is a message from Eira's dad. It simply says, I love you, surrounded by a heart, with "love, dad" written at the bottom.

My hand is stuck, frozen on the doorknob. The other hand closed tightly on the handle of the knife. My palms are sweaty and I can feel my heart beating hard in my chest. I place my ear to the door and listen for any commotion, there is none. The staircase down the hallway looks like it could be a thousand miles away from where I stand. Mustering up the courage to finally open the door, I slowly turn the knob, push the door open and peek inside.

The room is dark and vacant. The thump sound is no longer. I enter the room, close the door and flick on the light switch. There is no evidence of what could have been making the sound. The window is closed and the closet sits open with a light on inside. This is a typical teenage girls room. The walls are painted a slight pink and band posters adorn them, mostly boy bands. It's surprising that she would have her room decorated this way, she doesn't strike me as the kind of girl that would like such frivolous things. Maybe it's her attempt to fit in. Books sit on the nightstand beside a half drank glass of orange juice. The mirror in the room has more family pictures attached to it. It's mostly Eira and her mom and dad. There are no pictures of her with any of her friends.

Nothing looks out of place. One thing is certain, there is no chance of me letting my guard down. A quick look out the window shows that darkness has finally enveloped the alley way and I can no longer see into it.

I don't want to take anymore time from Eira, so I figure that the best course of action is to pack a bag for her. In the closet, I find a bag. It's an old Umbro gym bag that looks like it could have been used at one point or another for soccer. I rifle through the closet looking for anything that she may need. Things like clothing and extra shoes. I grab a hold of a number of items but before I can begin to put them into the bag my heart starts to race and I start to feel anxious. Something isn't right in here. That thumping sound was coming from this room, I was sure of it.

Thump!

The sound nearly stops me in my tracks. It's louder than ever and it sounds like it's just outside the door. I look out the window and try to judge where I would land if I jumped right now. I may land near the alley, I may not. It's a hard thing to judge when you can't see where you're going or you haven't studied the area enough. There is a thump on the door. I run over to the bed and grab the knife as a last resort. The moment my hand grasps the handle, the door flies open and I see it. A scout. The yellow eyes give it away. The figure is nearly six feet tall but it's not fully formed so there is nothing touching the floor. It hovers in mid air. The face looks like some kind of mutated wolf with extremely large teeth. It cocks its head sideways as if surprised to see me and then it appears to smile. The cloud in front of me starts to move and two arms appear with long razor like claws at the end of them. I grip the knife tightly in my hand and bring it up ready to defend.

A moment passes and it lets out a horrible screech as it charges at me through the air with lightning speed and deadly precision. I don't have time to react.