No More Frozen Bones

Chapter Two

I attempted to blink away the black spots in my vision as a rough hand gripped my arm and dragged me back to my feet. I swayed. Ringing ears muffled their voices.

A bitter wind swirled around me. The disorientation of being dragged was already affecting me. I couldn't tell if the wetness on my face was blood or water. The cool substance dripped down the contour of my cheek. My shaking legs tingled with numbness.

The bleariness began to clear, and the gray face of a tall man replaced the spots. His cheeks were void of color, causing a chill to run up my spine. The only indicator of life was the rise and fall of his thin chest.

"Take her blood," he repeated.

They jerked me around, and I gasped as I made eye contact with the murky green eyes of a woman. With a thumb and a forefinger, she took hold of my chin, tilting my head from side to side. The wind disheveled some strands of her dark hair, but the rest stayed braided back. Hot pain traveled down my forearm, and I tried to rip my face away from her steel grip. I heard soft sobs echoing through the trees around me.

She tightened her grip, her nails now indenting my face. "Hush now."

It was only then that I realized the whimpering was my own. I tried to swallow the cries, but I only began choking from lack of air.

"Well?" The man let go of my elbow and turned to the woman. Red bruising formed where his harsh grip had been. My eyes fell from my bleeding arm to the snow below as the dark substance falling from me dyed it maroon. The drops froze almost immediately on impact. I resisted the urge to hold my ripped sleeve where I had the cut.

The woman bent down, cutting off the stream with a vial, which was quick to fill from the steady flow. She lifted it to the light. I flinched when the beam hit her eyes. It made the green in them shine yellow and the maroon of my blood shine a brighter red.

"Inconclusive." She brought the vial back down, the rasp of her voice sounding painful, rattling her raw throat.

I watched her movements in awe, my mouth forming a soft "o." She met my glossy eyes with a smirk.

The hollow man's punishing grip found my arm once more, pulling me so my back was against him. "You lie."

I heard quick footsteps from behind. My shoulders seized up in anticipation.

"Took you long enough to get here," the body behind me rumbled. Shoving me into one of the new men's awaiting arms. "Deal with your soul bound before I do."

The tallest figure of the three was the one to stomp across to the woman and backhand her. The wham echoed through the forest, and the force knocked her to the ground. I snapped my head to the side and screwed my eyes closed. But, the form gripping my shoulders yanked my head forward by my hair. He didn't release his grip.

The tallest man in front of me jerked the woman back up by the collar of her shirt. "You disrespect us one more time you'll wish I punched you harder." The woman didn't flinch, staring back at him, solemn, red already beginning to mark her cheek.

"It was inconclusive," she repeated. Her voice was softer. She turned to look back toward the thinner man. "You kill this kid, there's a chance you're killing a fire-blood." The blond man holding her grunted and let go.

My heart rate sped up as I took in the bony form next to her. He didn't look worried about my fate, but his thin lips pursed, and he tapped a bare finger on his chin. He turned away from us, fixing the collar of his thin jacket, looking through the trees and into a clearing. He began to saunter forward, tilting his head for the other two men to follow. They did, dragging us with ease. My knees scraped against rigid mounts of ice, leaving a trail of blood.