The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 25

Two things happen when I raise my hands. The first is that I can feel a strange warmth inside of me that spreads down my arms to my fingers. The tips of all of my fingers turn to ice. It is the first time in a long time that I felt the cold. The second thing that happens is the sound. It starts with a loud crash and then turns into the sound that metal makes when it is twisted in ways that it shouldn't be. It reminds me of a rusted out machine trying to become usable again, similar to a windmill that slowly turns in the breeze and lets out of constant whine of defiance.

My eyes are still closed and the feeling of ice that was once in my fingers is gone. There are three options that go through my mind. The first is that the car hit me so hard that I died instantly. The second is that the car hit me and although I am not dead, I cannot feel anything because of the shock that my body just went through after that kind of impact. Or third, the car didn't hit me. This last one is the one I hope for, but to me at this moment, it's also the most unrealistic because the car was less than ten feet from me a few seconds ago and directly on course to end me.

I slowly open my eyes and the first thing I see is Jared on the ground. He has his hands back on the ground and the color of his face is almost completely white. He is unmoving as he stares in disbelief in the direction that the car was coming from. I lower my hands and turn to look in the same direction as Jared. What I see before me is like nothing I could have ever imagined.

It is a solid wall of thick, clear ice that has completely enveloped the car. The front of the car is smashed in from the impact that it took and I can clearly see that the pieces that broke off during the crash haven't flown too far, as they too are caught in the giant ice cube.

I look into the car at the driver, whose face is still contorted in a look of anger as if trying to will the car out of the ice and whose sole purpose was to run me down. I move in a bit closer to the car and I can see that the eyes are pure black so whatever is inside of this poor man is also trapped inside. Even though the body is frozen, the eyes still seem to follow me as if they can sense where I am.

Jared struggles to get to his feet.

"W-w-what just happened? How did you do that?"

His face is white as a ghost.

"I have no idea, I just put my ice hands up to protect myself. Did you see what happened?"

"Yeah, but we can't stay here, we have to go."

Jared is right, people have begun to exit their house and look at the car that is encased in a solid cube of ice. They are getting closer and begin pulling out cameras and their phones to take pictures of the strange sight. Teenagers are posing with the cube no doubt looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. Little kids and adults alike reach out very cautiously to touch the ice to check and see if it's really there and not some kind of illusion. All of the people who touch the ice cube immediately recoil their hands and comment on how cold the ice actually is.

A group of young boys in hockey jerseys, carrying hockey sticks are trying to compete with each other about who can hold their hands on the longest. They don't last very long.

The traffic has almost completely stopped in the streets as people have exited their cars to come and see.

As the crown thickens, Jared grabs a hold of my arm and we begin to slowly make our way backwards through the crowd. I am unsure if people other than Jared saw me do this as no one seems to care about Jared and I. Every time I see a camera pointed remotely in my direction, I try to hide my face. Maybe it's me being paranoid, or maybe it's instinct but the idea of having my picture taken anywhere in this area right now, does not seem like it is a good idea.

In the distance, sirens can be heard and they sound like they are getting closer. This makes Jared and I quicken our pace a little to work our way through the mass of people that have come out. It almost feels like the entire town is now parked on this lawn trying to make sense of what happened.

"Keep your head down," whispers Jared "there are cameras everywhere."

And with that said, Jared and I steal away from the scene with our groceries in hand as quick as we can so as not to draw attention to us.

About 200 yards from the scene, I lean over to Jared and ask, "Can you please tell me what happened?"

"I have been replaying it in my head over and over again trying to make sense of what I saw. You made that solid block of ice that stopped that car with your bare hands. I saw it. It was blue light that came out of your fingers and the ice just formed around that car. How did you do it?"

"I have no idea."

I take a look around to see if any of the people who were outside on our way to the store are still outside. None are. My best guess is that they have either gone inside or they have most likely ended up at the town's newest attraction.

I look over at Jared who gives me an awkward smile. Apparently he must be freaked out by the fact that I can supposedly shoot ice out of my fingers. He almost looks uncomfortable around me now and I notice that there is a much larger distance between us when we are walking home than there was when we were walking to the store.

We walk in relative silence as we make our way to Jared's house.

As his house comes into view, I can see Alexander standing on the porch, partially dressed and not looking well. He is scanning the neighborhood. I don't know what he is looking for, but he does look like he is in a hurry to find it and getting out of bed probably wasn't easy for him, so it must be important. As Jared and I get to the driveway, Alexander spots us and he quickly motions for us to come inside. "You need to get in here, now," he says somewhat panicked. "And you need to gather your things. We have to go." I enter the house, followed by Jared and finally Alexander who has drawn all the window coverings and has locked the door behind him, only after taking one more look outside.