Frost Bite

Mericcup

Dedicated to my dear follower and lover of suspense: MericcupJackunzel

(Thanks for reading! Now onto the story/chapter!)

Merida....

Speedin' 'round the various neighborhoods, I narrowly avoided bein' caught by the police, twice. I kept tryin' Hiccup's cell phone, hopin' that he'd answer it an' I could talk to him. Stop him.

After trying Hiccup for the fourteenth time, I temporarily gave up an' called Punzie. Nothin'. So I tried Jack. Nothin'. Anna? Nothin'. Krist? The phone kept ringin' until he answered, whisperin', "Merida? Call the cops. There's someone that keeps trying to break in. They cut the phone lines and my cell won't let me make calls- only take them." A crash sounded in the background, "No. No! Get out! Get the hell out! No. No. No! No! N-!"

The line went dead.

"Krist?! Krist!!!" I debated with myself, should I go to his house or not? I decided to side with my better judgment an' drove towards the house. Bear ran to greet me 'gain, but this time blood was clotted all over the side of his fur an' along his muzzle. "What did ye do this time Bear?" I walked towards the back door an' saw, on the balcony, a mangled squirrel. "Oh Bear. C'mon, why'd ye have to do this now?!" The answerin' machine was blinkin' and I hit the button, listenin' to it while cleanin' up the mess that Bear had gotten his paws into.

"North 42° 26 feet 52.4713 inches. West 76° 28 feet 40.7917 inches. Hurry." One of the messages proclaimed

"Merida," Punzie. "Something attacked Eugene and I- I mean Flynn- it... it... I think..." She started whispering in a scared little voice. She was on the verge of tears, "I think it ate him. I can't get off the swing I'm on. It won't leave. I think it wants to finish the job. Merida, I'm scared."

Upon hearing Punzie's voice, I stood an' ran towards the machine, "Punzie!? Punzie!" I fell onto the floor in a heap an' tried my best not to cry. First Krist an' now Flynn- who was doin' this!?

Takin' a deep breath I stood an' replayed the first message. What did the person- Unknown number- mean by 'North', 'West', an' 'Hurry'? Could it be the coordinates of Hiccup? Bear barked at me, remindin' me of the mess that he made, but I didn't care, "Bear, I'm goin' to find daddy. I'm goin' to bring him home. It's goin' to be okay."

If only I could convince myself of such.

------

Hiccup....

I shouldn't have lied to Toothless or Merida. But they didn't understand. Without my job, or Merida, I had nothing to live for. I mean, there's Bear and my family, but I haven't seen them in years. Not even a phone call or a friendly email. Heck, I bet no one in my village has an email or even a cell phone. Barely even a third of the population had a land-line, last time I was there. I didn't expect them to join me here in America, especially since dad got hurt- last time I checked- mom had a fear of flying, didn't trust boats, and gave Uncle Gobber every excuse she could possibly think of. So we, Toothless, Uncle Gobber, and I, left for the land of the free. Norway is barely a memory for me. Toothless knows more about it than I, so I used to ask him to tell me all about it. About my friends, village, language, family, pets, whatnot. When Uncle Gobber had to go home, I remember it like it was yesterday:

"I don't want you to go Uncle Gobbers." I had always liked to hang on his, bitten-off amputated-in-the-grizzliest way, arm, "Plwease stay!!!"

"Ha, Hiccup, you know Toothless' Aunt and Uncle are coming over. I need to get back to your dad, your mom said he was gettin' in a rough runt. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Why can't you stay and they go?"

"I already told you why, your mom wants me at your dad's side."

"Why can't I come with?"

"And leave Toothless alone?"

"I can't do that! How about we both come with!"

"Can't. We don't have enough money. I'm sorry Hiccup. It'll be okay."

But it wasn't okay. Once Uncle Gobber had left, we found out that Toothless' Aunt and Uncle's ship had sunk and they had perished with it. To avoid being an orphan, Toothless and I adopted each other and he became my older brother and I, his younger. Around the second year Toothless and I had lived alone, I met Merida. And holy shit was I head-over-heels. I mean, I had a girlfriend- or I think that's what we considered each other as- for a little bit but she had to go sail back home and we decided, it wouldn't work. Long distance wise. Merida didn't ask a single thing about why Toothless and my parents were never home or why our dingy two room flat looked like it had gone through a hellish tornado. She accepted me and knew what it was like to come from a sheltered European childhood. I never heard from my parents so I guess I thought they dis-owned me, but deep down, I really wished they would call and I could tell mom about Merida and dad about my new job, repairing houses.

I shook my head, the past was the past. What, it had been five years from two months ago, that I had asked Merida out. But she had gotten mad, the feminist she is, and refused to accept it. Until latter on that evening when she asked me, I had mocked having to think about it which made her mad, and long story short, I ended up having my clothes ruined- thanks to a paint-ball gun that had somehow found its way into her hands.

"Stop it Hiccup! Disregard all this nonsense! It doesn't matter! Not anymore..." I shook my head and looked around- I had almost reached my destination. I decided to walk the long way to my destination. My phone buzzed again and I realized how much I wished I had left it in that crummy taxi I took to the outskirts of the prestigious college, where my real destination- a beautiful gorge- resided. Glancing at my phone, I realized who it was. Merida. My head told me don't answer it, my hand had already put the plastic and metal object up to my ear, "Hiccup?" Merida cried onto the phone, my heart skipped a beat, "Oh Hiccup what are ye doin'?! Come home Hiccup! Please!"

"Mer, I can't do that. I let Toothless down, I hurt both you and him. I lost my job- I lost you to that blank-brained.... jerk! I can't do this anymore Mer! I can't!"

"Hiccup call ye mum."

"What?! I can't do that!"

"Before ye do anythin', call ye mum. Please, for me Hiccup. Please." She hung up on me and I turned back to the path that would lead me straight to my destination- whether that be heaven or hell...

Taking a deep breath, I dialed into the little plastic and metal death-machine.

After three rings, I heard a somewhat familiar not too distant voice- as if I was waking from a dream- "Hello?"

"Mom? Hi, it's me. Hiccup."

-------

Merida....

I raced to where the coordinates directed, tellin' Hiccup to call his mum was a brilliant idea to get me some time- an' him.

Please don't be too late, I prayed.

Please.

Drivin' there quickly, I heard a loud snap an' a tree started to fall in front of my car. I tried to hit the brakes. But a slight clickin' noise was all I got in return.

Why won't the brakes work!?

No!