The Girl With the Icy Hair

9

It had been hours since that freak Aura had run off. Chad noticed that he could hear the clatter of birdcalls and cricket song now instead of the silent blackness that had engulfed him for so long. Not wanting to move too quickly, he slowly opened his eyes. The dwindling sunlight shone around the clearing and cast long shadows to the ground. Chad’s back ached as he sat up and looked around. The vision in his right eye was blurred slightly by droplets of blood coming from a gash in his forehead. Wiping at his eye, Chad saw the crumpled figure of Jared more clearly. He laid, face in the dirt near a large clump of gorse. The wind blew harder now, ruffling Jared’s auburn hair as low hanging clouds blocked out the sun. Finally gathering the strength to stand up, Chad wandered over to where his partner lay. Crouching down beside him, Chad’s eyes welled up with tears, and he began to sob. A low rumble of thunder filled the forest, and the birdcalls finally died with the last of the sunlight. A cold rain plummeted to the earth. The pounding of a thousand drums sounded as every droplet crashed into the tops of the large oak trees overhead.

“I’ll come back for you, and I’ll get that evil girl who did this. I promise,” Chad whimpered before turning away from the body and walking into the forest back to the ATV.

***

Aura awoke on what she assumed was the next day lying in a windowless, candlelit room on a soft bed somewhere in the caves. She vaguely remembered taking a bath the night before, and needing Breccan’s help to get out because exhaustion had taken over. She remembered walking out of the Spring Room, but she had no recollection of coming in here. I must’ve passed out, she thought. Aura realized that she was still wearing her sopping wet clothes. Sitting up in the bed, she noticed that there was a glowing white satin dress across the room with a note attached to it. She found that her backpack was on the stony floor adjacent to the bed, and Emmerson laid quietly at the foot of the bed, sound asleep. Getting up, Aura wandered over to the dress. I found this dress, and I thought it might suit you better than your other clothes. You can wear it if you like, - B. Slipping into the beautiful gown, Aura admired herself. She did a quick twirl and watched as the long skirt flowed around her.

“Breccan,” Aura called out. The wall seemed to open and out of thin air, Breccan stepped into the room. He was wearing a black shirt today, and it appeared to be the same pants and shoes, but he still looked immaculate.

“You called, Aura?” The wide smile on his face showed all his gleaming white teeth, and a couple of fangs.

“What room is this,” asked Aura.

“This is the other bedroom. Mine is down the hall, and when I first found this place, there were two bedrooms, but I never knew why,” Breccan explained. “But I do now. This is your room.”

“Where did the dress come from?”

“I found it folded in a box earlier this morning in one of the armoires down the hall a little ways,” Breccan said, looking at his feet and blushing. “I didn’t think you had any other clothes, so I put it in here for you to change into.” Breccan’s golden skin turned crimson, he looked up at Aura, and smiled again.

“That was very nice of you,” Aura said. “Thank you. It’s a lovely dress.” Aura twirled around in a circle watching the dress flow outwards once more.

“Would you like to come on a walk with me?” Breccan looked expectantly at Aura in the dim light.

“Sure,” Aura replied. Breccan opened the door for Aura and Emmerson by putting his right hand up on the wall. The hall outside was dark, and Aura held up her phosphorescent hand to see. Walking out into the Cavern of Echoed Thoughts, Breccan took the lead as they walked across the cave. Aura had to work hard to keep her thoughts quiet, even though there was so much on her mind. They squeezed through the small tunnel into the main cavern. Breccan led Aura around the corner and out of the cave and into the forest again. The sunlight warmed her chilled skin, and illuminated her ice colored hair.