‘White.
All I see is white.
Cold, cold. It’s cold.’
My thoughts were sporadic. How had I gotten there? Where was I?
I looked around. Snow?
‘The cabin’
The cabin! I remembered where I was. Vacationing at our summer cabin. But the snow… where had the snow come from? It was July…
I knew I needed to get back to the cabin. This was strange, it would be safe there. Mom would know what was going on.
The snow was deep, but fluffy. The worst type to walk through. I took a step and it would fly up around me, then fall into my shirt, melting and dripping down my back.
‘These trees are everywhere.’
The trees were thick, the moon barely shone through.
‘What was that?’
There was a sparkle somewhere to the left of me. I stumbled towards it. It was so cold…
The lake!
I walked up to the shore of a frozen-over lake. A gust of air hit me, small particles of ice hitting and stinging my skin.
I gazed out over the ice. The cabin! It was right across from me. I smiled, seeing smoke coming out of the chimney, it’d be warm there.
I took a step forward.
Something moved.
A movement awoke me from my thoughts of warmth and safety. It looked to be a deer,but my eyes hadn’t focused yet. The blur of the creature came into clarity and…
THAT was NOT a deer.
I stumbled back and fell into the snow.
‘What WAS that?’
It was black. It’s eyes glowed white. It had the body structure of a deer, but it’s legs were long and spindly. It’s head must have been six feet off the ground. The creature had no muscle, and even from the distance I was at, I could see its ribs and pelvis protruding from its thin, hairless skin. Antlers like thin sticks sticking up out of it’s head. The creature was far away but I could see a clear picture of it in my head.
My breath hitched, with the sight of the creature came terror. A horrible, unspeakable terror washed over me, freezing my body in place. My mouth rounded into an O, and I stared, just stared.
It was looking away from me. I stood, I had to go, had to get to the cabin. I ducked into the treeline, where I could hide but still see the shore line. I could barely see the creature, and started walking around the side of the lake that it wasn’t on.
It was cold, so cold.
I kept going through the snow, I was getting close.
The trees stopped. Only a couple hundred more feet before I could reach the cabin. I stepped forward…
SNAP!
The sound of the stick echoed across the lake. I froze, turning to where the creature was.
It slowly turned its head, looking right at me.
It took a few steps forward, long legs keeping its body steady. Reaching the edge of the lake, it began to run. I ran too, stomping through the snow, trying to make it to the cabin before the creature could get across the lake.
But it was fast.
In what seemed like only a few steps, it was across the lake. I kept running, expecting it to keep running at me. It didn’t. The creature slowed its run to a walk.
Another wave of terror, just like the one before, crashed and washed over me, just like a wave at the beach over toes.
I kept running.
Suddenly, cold radiated onto me, cold worse than that of the snow. My toes and fingers were numb, and my feet gave up, causing me to go crashing to the ground. I attempted to stand but my feet wouldn’t allow it.
The open door to the cabin was right in front of me. A few more feet and I could warm up and find out what was happening. I checked behind me, the creature was just as close as the door.
Mustering up the last of my strength, I began to crawl. I moved through the snow as fast as I could, staying just ahead of the creature. I started to feel the warmth of the cabin on my face and hands, but the cold near my feet was getting close.
Only a few feet more…
The cold was overwhelming, and it was getting darker…
Warmth…
Safety, warmth…
“We have a pulse!”
“We can still save her!”
“Heat her up!”
I made it.
I found myself curled on the floor, watching the creature disappear into thick, black smoke. The cold went away and I closed my eyes. The heat of the cabin just making me want to…
Sleep.
ONE SURVIVOR FOUND IN THE AFTERMATH OF A DOUBLE MURDER-SUICIDE
“-The girl was locked in a freezer and left to die while the mother then shot her husband and son before turning the gun on herself. The daughter, Clarice Herald, was found after a neighbor across the lake heard gunshots and alerted the authorities. She is currently in the hospital being treated for advanced stages of hypothermia. Her condition is currently stable.”
