Frostbite (Bk 1 of the Elementals)

Chapter 6

Ariel gagged, her whole body wrenching, but there was nothing in her stomach to expel. She turned around, and walked downstairs, just wanting some fresh air. Ariel had no idea how long she spent just sitting there, thinking; What had she gotten herself into. Ariel just let her mind wonder, drifting from one place, one idea, to the next. She thought about her friends, her horse, Nutmeg, and her parents. What were they doing right now?  Did they miss her? Had they even noticed she was gone? Ariel especially thought about the choices she made in her life, back as far as she could remember, imagining how her life would have been different, what she could have done that would have meant that she wouldn’t be here. One moment that stood out starkly in her mind was the day before her 8th birthday. Ariel had been taken down into Denver by her Uncle; at the time, this was a novel experience for her. Her Uncle had decided to take her to a movie, and then to go get ice cream. It was mid August, and the ice cream was a nice break from the heat. On the drive home her uncle had stopped the car in the middle of nowhere, and got out. He told her to stay in the car, and then disappeared in the darkness. As Ariel waited for her uncle, a growing sense of unease had grown in her stomach. She scanned the area around her, looking for her uncle, but finding only two hello pinpricks, seemingly hovering above the road. At that moment, her uncle came back to the car, and the pricks disappeared. Ariel noticed that her uncle seemed flushed, heavily perspiring, and out of breath. He picked up his phone from the console, flipped it open, and rushed to find something on it, muttering under his breath. Eventually he found what it was he was looking for, and dialed a number, cursing as he waited for the call to go through. The call must have failed, because he took the phone from his ear, and redialed, becoming more and more agitated. He retried the call one more time, and this time the other person must have picked up, because he started talking very rapidly. Her uncle took a deep breath before spouting the words, “I have, right here, I have it!” He paused, and then continued talking on the phone. After several more minutes her uncle got back into the car, and they started driving. Neither of them said anything as they drove through the mountains. The forest was different now, the spruce and fur trees being replace lodge poles, and Ariel realized she had no idea where they were. After driving for some time, her uncle pulled the car over. He was extremely agitated, and paced in front of the car briefly, before putting his head back inside the car, once again telling me to stay right there. He stopped back in from of the car, muttering something before throwing a handful of dirt on the car. 

“Where are you going?” Ariel called to her uncle. He turned and looked at her, but said nothing. He looked around one more time, and then walked into the forest. 

That was the last time Ariel saw her Uncle, he didn’t come back that night, and Ariel was found by a police car the next morning. The memorial was the next week, but Ariel didn’t remember much of it. According to the police, her uncle had slipped and fallen down a cliff, and with the way he had been acting, Ariel could certainly believe it.