She didn't like the cold.
And that night it was terribly so. Gelid winds blew over the town, bringing with them bits of snow and frost. It knocked at the closed doors and shook the glass panes, making them jingle to their tune.
They made the leaves of the trees rustle, which made a horrid moaning sound. Darkness loomed all over, the moon invisible. Coupled with the winds, the scene verily resembled a long deserted ghost town.
It was a little after midnight and all the houses in the town were locked. The candles were blown, and the curtains were drawn as the residents of Andrasville retired for the night. All were fast asleep in the comfort of their warm beds and thick quilts, all except for one.
A solitary lady, draped in a thick crimson shawl, stood trembling by a willow tree in the garden of the only château of the town. Her pale, oval-shaped face was green with anticipation and her slender fingers fiddled with the folds in her shawl. The winds played with the cascading locks of her jet black hair.
"I had asked her to come in the morning. But she never listens," the lady mumbled to herself, chewing on her lower lip.
For a good part of the night, she had been standing out in the open, waiting for Felicity to come, but so far, there was no sign of her. It seemed incredulous that someone should make her stand in this treacherous cold for so long, especially when that someone was a dear friend.
Of course, she had no intention of leaving behind her bed and the half-read Frankenstein to come and meet Felicity at this ungodly hour. But the urgency in the letter had pricked her being continuously, making her slip out late that night, unbeknownst to her family.
Minutes bled away in silence. The lady fiddled with her shawl with more vigor, occasionally looking over her shoulder and beyond the willow tree to see whether Felicity had arrived.
Ire filled her veins. Was this some kind of jest? Had Felicity thought it would be amusing to trick her this way? She felt droopy, sleepiness reddened her eyes. This rendezvous was turning into nothing short of torture with every passing moment.
An exasperated sigh escaped her lips. She thought of waiting for a few minutes, after which she shall immediately return inside the château. Almost at the same instant, a crunch of twigs broke the silence of the night. Sharply, the lady turned around, facing the willow tree.
"Is... Is that you, Felicity?" She asked, peering into the darkness, her heart thumping ominously against her chest. No answer came. Only the crunching of the twigs continued, that heralded someone made their way towards her.
"Felicity, why do you not-" the lady called out, only to stop mid-sentence, as the silhouette of a man emerged from the darkness.
An astonished expression took hold of her face. She took a step back, gulping down hard. A sharp chill traversed the entirety of her body, making her shiver uncontrollably.
"Jonathan?" She muttered, her teeth chattering with both cold and fear. "What are you doing here so late at night?"
"Isn't that what I should ask you, Mina?" spoke the man, his voice like the tinkle of glass against each other. "What are you doing here, sister?"
"Nothing, nothing really," answered Mina. "I had just come down for a walk. I could not sleep," she lied.
"For a walk, really? In this weather?" questioned Jonathan, inching forward towards Mina, who took a few more steps back. "Do not lie to me, Mina. I can't bear it." His voice was as cold as the bits of snow falling on the ground.
"Admit the truth. You are here to meet Felicity, aren't you?" Beads of perspiration formed on Mina's forehead as Jonathan walked up right in front of her, so close that she could feel his hot breath fanning her face. "Tell me, what was this meeting supposed to be about?" he asked menacingly.
"I don't know, Jonathan!" Mina cried out, her voice shrill and ear-piercing. "She never told me why she wanted to meet."
"There is no use lying Mina, not anymore," Jonathan said, his dark eyes narrowed to slits. "It is about the estate, isn't it?"
"The estate?"
"Don't play the fool. You know well what I am talking about," Jonathan sneered. "That wretch Felicity was coming here to tell you all about it, wasn't she?"
"Stop bringing the estate into this! I know nothing about anything!" Mina roared into his face.
"Of course you do!"
"I don't!"
"You and I both know that you do! You want that for both yourself and Johansson, don't you?" Jonathan bellowed, his eyes glinting with a cunning light. "Dream about it all you want. Dream about it." A lopsided grin appeared on his razor-thin lips.
An odd feeling struck Mina, who looked at her brother with widened eyes. There was something strange about the way he was acting, she felt. He was awake so late at night. Him knowing about Felicity's coming; him bringing up the talk of the estate and this grotesque smile. There was something wrong. Mina could feel it in her bones.
"What are you up to, Jonathan?" Her voice came out in a whisper, chest heaving with fast breaths. The wintry winds howled in her ears at all the nasty possibilities, while her thudding heart warned her the danger was near.
"I am doing what every man does, Mina. I am securing myself." There was a strange, kind calm in Jonathan's voice as he spoke these words. "I have a family of my own whom I need to sustain. I have to secure them. And if I have to shut a few mouths in doing the same, I would not falter."
"What-What are you speaking about?" Despite the chill, sweat had formed on Mina's face and neck. She swiftly moved backwards as Jonathan advanced slowly towards her, his grin wider than ever.
"I know it was supposed to be divided among us three. But I need the money immediately and I need all of it." He said. "I am not sorry for what I am going to do next, sister. I promise to make it painless." And with a flourish, he took out a large knife from behind him. Its silvery edge glistened under the night sky, the wicked tip dazzling eagerly to satiate its bloodlust.
"No, Jonathan! You can't do that!" Mina yelled at the top of her lungs, her feet freezing on the spot. Although the danger stood in front of her, she failed to move even a menial inch. A chill ran down her spine.
"Felicity knew about it all. That witch overheard me." Jonathan closed in on his sister, the tip of his knife resting against her belly. "I knew she did, and I sent her far away. You are going to join her soon, little sister." He let out a chuckle, making Mina's skin crawl. His voice felt like a thousand icicles cutting her into shreds.
"No... No...you can't do this...no!" Tears streamed down Mina's cheeks. Hot, angry tears. She could not believe that she was looking at her brother. No, it could not be, no, it could not. This hulking figure, so dark and demented, with those vicious eyes and that lunatic smile...no, this was not how she remembered her brother.
"Mina... Mina... goodbye Mina!" With a burst of acidic laughter, Jonathan thrust the knife into Mina's abdomen. Before she could react or try to get away, he twisted it within her so that it may tear the vital veins, arteries, and organs, rendering the possibility of recovery.
Tremendous pain shot through her body, making her eyes dilate. She staggered back a few steps, both hands tightly clutching onto the hilt of the knife. With quivering lips, she looked down at her abdomen, the tears flowing fiercely down from her reddened pupils.
Gushes of warm, viscous blood rippled down from the wound, its redness merging with the crimson of the shawl. The sour, metallic smell of blood filled the chilly air, making Mina want to vomit. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of words, blood trickled down the corner of her lips, filling her mouth with the salty taste of blood. Her own blood.
She fell with a thud. The pain she had experienced when the knife had entered her body had gone away, numbed by the cold. Instead, a torpefying effect spread over her being, a strange iciness seeping into her bones.
Her vision grew increasingly blurry, dark splotches slowly taking over her sight. And the last thing she saw before death grappled away the remaining bits of life was the hovering face of her brother. And then the world around her went dark forever.
Mina had never liked the cold. Now, she was to become one with it.