When I open my eyes, I'm lying on my back on the bed at the cabin, no longer staring at the ceiling, but at Alex's worried face above me. My arms rest lifelessly out to my side and, for a moment, I can't move. When Alex places his hand on my cheek, the connection launches a zap to my heart and brings my body back to life.
I gasp for air as my lungs expand and I urgently reach for my eyes to wipe away the tears that are streaming down my cheeks. Alex leans back, giving me room. Mybody aches in objection as I sit up, blinking my burning eyes.
I don't look at him, but I can feel him watching me. "I think I should go home," I say, smearing away the last of my tears onto the sleeve of my shirt.
"You're crying." He leans forward and tips his head, moving into my line of vision. His eyes scan my face. "You're really crying."
I swing my legs off the bed, attempting to stand, but my muscles are taut and I fall right back down. "People cry all the time. It's part of life."
"Yeah, but usually people cry when they're upset or when something horrible happens to them." His eyes roam to the window and he stares at the silhouettes of the trees. "Did something horrible or sad happen to you?"
I shake my head, but it feels like I'm lying as vague memories press at my mind. Even though I've never been able to feel it until now, my life hasn't been a walk in the park. I basically raised myself since I could walk, cooking dinner for myself by the age of six when I could read the instructions to the microwave dinners. I walked myself to the bus stop in the below zero weather. I sat in my room countless times, staring at the wall and wondering what I was supposed to do with myself because everything felt pointless. There isn't a single picture of me because no one has ever wanted one enough to take it. I'm told all the time that I'm not wanted. Is all this considered horrible?
He smoothes my hair out of my eyes, tensing as our skin comes into contact. "You blacked out. It took me forever to wake you up."
"I'm fine," I lie and try to get to my feet again, but my legs give out again and I collapse back onto the bed, giving up.
His tense expression alleviates and his voice is soft, begging. "Gemma, there's obviously something bothering you, so just tell me what it is."
"It's called life." I meet his eyes. "Now, would you please take me home? I feel sick."
He shakes his head. "You were fine when I left the room. What the hell happened?"
I was fine when he left, and then I wasn't. Just like when I was working at the library. Then he showed up and then left, leaving me numb. A realization clicks inside my head: what if it is him that is making me feel this way, or the absence of him anyway? "Who are you?"
His expression shifts as he looks at me like I'm crazy, making me feel small and insignificant. "I'm Alex." He speaks to me like I'm a moron.
I kneel up on the bed, trying to gain some confidence against his overbearing gaze. "I know what your name is, but what I'm wondering is, who you are as a person?"
His eyes never leave me. "Why?"
"Because I want to know."
"But, why?"
It's like a game to him. A fucking mind game. "Because ever since I met you, things in my life have gotten a little... weird."
He chews on his lip, unflustered. "Weird how?"
"You know what, let's just go." I start to get up, but his fingers snag my elbow and he yanks me back down on the bed.
"You're not going anywhere until you tell me why you were crying." He rolls on his hip, forces me on my back, and traps me beneath him.
Longing swells through my body and I bite my lip hard to suppress a moan. "Get off me."
He shakes his head as he transfers his weight so that my legs are confined underneath him and our bodies touch strategically, chest-to-chest, leg-to-leg. "Fight all you want, you can't do anything about it. I'm the one in control here." He pauses as I scowl and our chests brush as we breathe in sync. "Now, please, will you just calm down and tell me why you're flipping out? I thought I was doing well with the whole douche bag thing."
"You were." I swallow hard from the feel of his breath stroking against my cheeks and the way my nipples brush against his chest every time I take a breath. I've never been this physically close to anyone and my mind is racing with anxiety, anger and a craving to touch him everywhere. It's too much. I'm going into an emotional overload and it feels like I'm going to combust. I try to wiggle my arms between us, but he seizes my arms and lures them above my head.
"Get off me!" I need help, but I'm shit-out-of-luck. The music is so loud and it even muffles the noise in the room. "Please!"
He forces my arms together and holds them in one of his very large hands. "Not until you tell me why you're flipping out."
"Because physical contact freaks me out," I lie, arching my body into his in a lame attempt to force him off me.
He moves his body upward out of my reach, but still keeps a hand on my arms. "I can tell when you're lying by the way you're biting your lip." He lets his weightdescend back toward me. "Just like I can tell when you're pissed off by the way your jaw tenses." His body is back on me and I lay immobile beneath him as he continues with his voice softer. "Just like I can tell when I'm embarrassing you because your cheeks turn pink." His face lowers towards mine and I notice for the first time that he has a faint scar just below his eye. His breath is hot against my ear and neck; my eyes uncontrollably shut as he whispers, "Or how I can tell when you're getting turned on by the way you get distracted and how your body shudders."
The insinuation of his words encloses around me and my body shudders, just like he's accused. Something snaps inside me. I break. Splinter apart. Pieces are now missing. I raise my head and surprise him as I touch my lips against his. I push past the forceful amount of electricity slashing through me and instead of kissing him, I suck his bottom lip into my mouth.
Then I bite down hard.
I'm not even sure what the point is. Whether I'm pissed off or so turned on that I've lost the capability to rationalize my actions. I rest my head back on the mattress and wait for him to hop off and call me a freak.
Instead, he stares at me as his tongue slips out from his mouth and wets his lips. "Fuck, you drew blood."
Before I can even begin to be embarrassed, he lets out a deep growl and seconds later his lips come down on mine. Holy fucking hell. I've never felt anything like it. It's all gone; the worry, the sadness, the emptiness. I can barely breathe as his tongue slips inside my mouth and entangles with mine. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I go with it and allow his tongue to search my mouth. My skin feels like it's melting, but in a good way. As I lift my hips up, pressing our bodies together, the heat spirals out of control. I want to be closer—need to be closer—but it doesn't seem possible, since he's lying on top of me.
His hand is still holding my arms and he tightens his grip as his other hand slides down my body to my hip. He digs his fingers into my skin as he moves his legs so that mine are free. Seconds later, I have them fastened in a vice-grip around his waist. His body tenses and his breath catches in his throat. Drawing away, he looks into my eyes and I think he's going to say something insulting, but then he lets out another low growl that sends vibrations all over my skin and he crushes his lips into mine again. The innocent kiss suddenly turns reckless as his hand slips underneath my shirt and he cups my breast. I've never felt this kind of ecstasy before. It's intoxicating. Overwhelming. Complete. I finally understand what the big deal is.
"I've wanted this for forever," he murmurs, which doesn't make much sense.
But I don't really care at the moment
I writhe my hips up against him, feeling his hardness between my legs. My head becomes foggier as he kisses and feels me all over. I want to rip his shirt off, feel his skin and feel the passion, the spark, the connection. As every ounce of my self-control withers, I wiggle my hands out of his. Maneuvering them between us, I begin to fumble with the buttons of his shirt. When I reach the last one, he catches my hand and stops me.
He removes his lips from mine, props up on his arm and peers down at me. His lips are swollen and his eyes are glazed over like he barely understands what is going on. "We should slow down," he pants, looking conflicted.
I instantly frown. "Why?"
Looking torn, he glances down at my hand trapped in his and then back at me. "Because we should." He loosens his grip and frees my hand. Like a magnet, my fingers move for the last button and I flick it undone.
As my fingers graze his stomach, his lips seal against mine. His tongue urges my mouth apart and when it enters mine, the warmth nearly swallows me. Pressing my hands flat onto his stomach, I feel the rhythm of his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, the warmth of his skin.
I begin writhing my hips against his again, letting go as he moves his lips away from my mouth and start trailing kissing down my neck. Each one is soft, but full of desire. I want more—need more. I'm confused by my thoughts and what my body wants. It's like I've been starving for years, nearly dying of hunger, and his kisses are finally satisfying the ever-growing starvation.
As he approaches my collarbone and takes a nip at my skin, I delve my fingers into his shoulder blades. With one last buck of my hips, something explodes inside me and, for a second, I'm free from the world I've never felt I belonged in. There is no pain, no loneliness, no fear. Everything I'm feeling at the moment is real.
Apparently, the light bulb above our heads has the same idea. It flickers and then glass shatters everywhere. I wince as sharp, hot fragments of glass land on my skin.
I freeze. Alex freezes. Time seems to freeze. Alex shifts his weight and the next thing I know he's climbing off me, leaving me in the dark surrounded by hot glass that is sharper than the mortification I feel at the moment.
He flips a lamp on, but I don't dare look at him as I sit up, plucking the pieces of glass off me. He walks around in front of me and begins picking glass out of my hair without saying a word. The silence says more than words ever could.
"So that was..." He drops a piece of glass onto the floor and then runs his hand down his arm, brushing some off his sleeve. "Interesting."
I angle my neck back to look up at him. His hair is a mess, his lips puffy, and he looks perplexed. And lost. And, well, a little horrified. I feel suddenly ashamed. I've never felt like this before and I don't quite understand it.
"We should probably go." His eyes travel above my head to the ceiling.
I tip my head back, tracking his gaze to the broken light fixture that is making a low buzzing noise. "How do you think it happened?"
He shrugs, flicking a piece of glass off his sleeve. "Faulty wiring."
"Does that stuff cause light bulbs to explode?"
He avoids looking at me and his tone is clipped. "I don't know. I'm not an electrician."
I suck in a breath as I stand up. Running my hand down the front of my jeans, I clear the remaining glass off and then depart for the door. "Alright, let's go then."
I'm overwhelmed. Baffled. There are thoughts in my head that need resolution, but I don't know how to seek it. Tears pool in the corners of my eyes as I hurry for the door and out into the crowded hall. There are even more people littering the room than when we arrived and even more smoke filtering the air. I hold my breath and tuck in my elbows as I begin to squeeze through the sweaty bodies that smell like salt and alcohol.
Fingers wrap around my upper arm and I'm jerked back as a current of heat charges through my body. Alex guides me back toward the mellower end of the hall.
"I'm sorry," he says it so softly that I'm not sure I heard it correctly.
I look at him. "Sorry for what?" The list of reasons is endless.
Releasing my arm, he rakes his hand through his messy hair, making it stick up more than it usually does. "I just... I don't know. Panicking, I guess. But I shouldn't have snapped at you." It's physically paining him to say it. His hand falls to his side and he hesitates. "But, that can't happen again. We have to... we have to be friends. Just friends."
It sounds like a copout line. I cross my arms, trying to protect myself from the feelings of humiliation eating away at me. "I didn't even know we were that."
He huffs out a breath as his head falls back. "You're going to make this difficult, aren't you?"
I expand my hands out to the side of me, nearly hitting a woman as she whisks by. "I'm not doing anything, except being honest. I don't know you. You don't know me, at least, not very well."
He lifts his head back up and there is a frown puckering at his brow. "But, I do."
I shake my head, fighting to stay composed. "How come—" The music switches to an upbeat rhythm that pounds through the speakers and asphyxiates my tone. People start going wild, banging their heads and gyrating their bodies against each other. I inch closer to Alex, even though the heat and the disgusted look on his face is ripping my heart into a thousand pieces of nothingness. "How come you're fine one second and then suddenly, completely offish? I don't get you. At all. And it's like you do it on purpose. Like you..." I trail off as he stares at me, biting at his lip, seeming amused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
He shakes his head as he grins. "It's nothing." There's a pause and he stares at my mouth. "I just realized that I'm going to have my hands full."
I'm not sure what it is; the stifling heat or the wounding of my pride, but I suddenly lift my hand to hit him. He starts to smile, but then all humor leaves his face as his gaze dashes over my shoulder. He quickly grabs my arm and tugs me down the hall toward the bedroom door. Pressing his hands to my back, he shoves me forward. I trip over my feet and land on the bed.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I sit up as he slams the door and spins around.
He puts his finger to his lips, shushing me, then he races over to the window. Peering outside, he reaches into his pocket and draws out a small pocketknife. He flips the blade open and turns to me with the sharp end aimed at my heart.
"Is that what you stole out of the wall?" I inch away from him with my hands out in front of me.
He glances at the knife, then lowers it to his side and shakes his head. "No." His boots thud against the floor as he paces with his fists clenched. "Remember that snake-tattoo guy I was telling you about? Well, he's here."
I keep my eyes on the knife in his hand. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't..." He spins toward the window and flings it open. A nippy breeze howls at my ears and snowflakes encircle around me. "We're going to climb out the window."
There's no way I'm going to jump out the window and into the snowy forest. I've hated the forest ever since my dream. I'm already too close now. Shaking my head, I kneel up and back away across the bed. "Why can't I just walk out the door and meet you at the car? He's not after me?"
He turns to me and there's a cautious look in his eyes. "Well actually he kind of is."
I climb off the bed and stand up on the other side to maintain some distance between us. "How am I a part of this?"
He sticks out his hand. "It doesn't matter right now. You need to come with me—we need to get out of here."
I arch my eyebrows at his hand. "Not until you tell me what's going on."
Letting out a frustrated sigh, he rounds the bed in quick, determined strides, so I have little time to react. Before I know it, he's right in front of me. "That's a really long story that I don't have time to explain at the moment." He laces his fingers through mine and hauls me toward the open window. "I just need to get you out of here. I should never have brought you here."
I remove my hand from his and glance out the window at the forest that stretches aimlessly into the night. "Then why did you?"
His gaze interlocks with mine. "Because I can't seem to stay away from you for some Goddamn, annoying reason."
Uncertain how to react, I seal my lips and climb up onto the windowsill. Swinging my leg out, I glance back at him. "You're coming, too, right?"
He nods, but his gaze darts to the door as it swings open. I catch a glimpse of yellow that flickers as a cape flaps and then I'm being shoved out the window. Luckily, we are on the first floor, and the fall is short. I land in the snow bank and sink into it. Falling onto my hands and knees, I dig my nails into the snow and claw my way forward, dragging my legs out of the snow bank. Rolling onto my back, I stare up at the window I've just fallen out of. It is freezing and dark, and there are shadows moving all over inside the house. I can see two figures in the room, fighting against each other, swinging their fists and there's a lot of loud banging. I push to my feet and back away, undecided. Should I run? Or wait? As I turn toward the car, I hear a soft thud and I spin around. Alex has jumped out the window and is running for me. Within a beat, he's grabbing my hand and then we are running like hell around the house. His skin is cold and his body blurs against the darkness. I struggle to keep up, my legs stretching to their maximum length. I'm moving so quickly that I run into him as he stops and it's like colliding with a wall made of ice.
"What is it?" I stagger to the right as he begins to move again, detouring around a fence and then heading toward the trees. My legs fight to keep up with him as he picks up the pace. I can barely see anything; the sharp features of his face and the solid outline of his body blends with the dark. "We're seriously not going in there, are we?"
As we reach a small opening where the trees break apart from one another, he stops and glances from left to right. Then he releases my hand and turns in a circle, looking lost as he takes in the trees. His hair is crisped with frost and the way he moves his legs, without quite bending his knees is strange.
"What are you doing?" I breathe and the cold stings my lungs. "Did you get injured? You look like you're walking funny."
He remains silent as he hikes toward the trees, crossing his legs with each step. He no longer has the knife in his hand and there's something off about him—he is too quiet.
"Alex," I hiss and chase after him, keeping my head low to the ground because the branches of the trees clip my head. "What are we running from?"
He looks at me from over his shoulder and the moonlight reflects in his eyes. His pupils look hollow as if every last speck of emotion has been emptied. He smiles and it's like looking at a ghost. Something's wrong.
I shuffle backwards with my hands poised out to the side. The ground is slippery and snow keeps falling from the branches of the trees and down the collar of my coat. Alex doesn't utter a word to me, he only observes me. The recollection of a memory runs over me like a truck and my knees almost give out. I've dreamt about this place before. I was in the trees, it was dark, and the moon was bright. I brace a hand against a tree and squint through the dark. Through the darkness, a dim flicker of light surfaces. I want to run, but my legs are bound to the ground by my fear.
"Why did you bring me here?" I demand. "And who are you really?"
He folds his arms across his chest and stares at me, unresponsive. His stare is weighted and overpowering. My body longs to be near him, but the rage inside my head keeps me put.
"Answer me!" I shout and the sound echoes for miles and snow shivers from the bare branches of the trees. My body shakes from the wrath inside me. "Do you know what's going to happen? Is that why you brought me out here? Because you want it to happen?!"
Again he's silent, like a mummy with their lips stitched shut. The shadows of the branches cast across his face and the wind howls around us. I pry my hand away from the tree and force my feet to move. I know what is going to happen and I need to get out of here, with or without him. In a slow, lethargic movement, I rotate around and drag my feet through the deep snow. The sky is a sheet of black and my bearings are mixed up from the cold that possesses my limbs. I'm lost. I glance over my shoulder and Alex is gone. He has bailed on me; left me out here in the dark. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a frightening one.
"Shit," I curse as I circle around a tree, hunching over as I try to track my footsteps back to the cabin. The light glimmers in the distance, beckoning me to come closer and I keep winding around the trees, trying to get back to the cabin, but all that seems to happen is I grow nearer to the light. It is getting colder and the moonlight is fading behind the clouds.
I halt at the sight of lofty shadows emerging from the trees. They're just a hallucination, like in the parking lot. It has to be. However, as the figures surfaces move closer, the fear that races through my body and rams into my gut and chest is very real.
"Gemma, what are you doing out here?" Alex winds around the last of the trees and steps out into the open. The remaining stream of moonlight casts across his face and his eyes look normal again, not empty. There are scratches on his face, his jacket is torn, and his hair is disheveled. "Why the hell didn't you run to the car?"
My gaze drifts to the knife in his hand. There's blood on his knuckles and on the blade. "You took me out here."
He stops a distance away and his eyebrows dip together. "What are you talking about?" He's close enough now that I can see a thin river of blood streaming down his wrist.
"You're bleeding?" I dare a step closer to him.
His shoulder moves forward and he examines the blood pouring out of his arm. "It's just a scratch."
I shake my head. "No, it's bad."
"I'll live, but we have to get you out of here." He offers me his uninjured hand, but I don't take it. "Would you just come with me?"
"I don't know." I look over my shoulder, noting that the light in the distance has vanished. "I can't... I don't..." Confusion is overwhelming me. I want to run to where the light disappeared. I want to run away from Alex. I want to run away with Alex. I have no idea what to do. I'm pretty sure I am the most confused human being that has ever lived.
"Gemma!" Alex's angry voice cuts through the night like a knife to flesh.
Goosebumps dot my skin and my heart thrashes against my chest. I can feel my ribs about to crack, unable to endure such a heavy emotion. I back away, the snow crunching below my shoes. "I don't know what to do."
"Follow me." The voice is softer and more soothing than Alex's, yet when I turn around it is Alex standing behind me. Only he isn't injured and he doesn't have a knife. His skin looks paler, like the snow and his eyes like coals. My eyes glide back and forth. There is an Alex on each side of me, both waiting for me to take their hand.
The inevitable has finally come. I've snapped, fallen off the cliff called reality and submerged into the darkness where imaginary things walk, talk and are real to me, but no one else. It seems like everything is moving in slow motion and I'm linked to each aspect that surrounds me; the expanding of the icicles as the temperature descends, the sounds of branches snapping, the inhale and exhale of Alex's breath.
"Gemma." The injured Alex takes a cautious step forward. "Don't listen to it. It's not real."
I whip my head back and forth between them. "Listen to it? It's you. I don't..." I tug my hands through my hair and yank out the roots as I try to sort through what's happening. "Oh my God, I'm crazy."
"You're not crazy." His feet move gradually and carry him closer to me, while the other just stands there. "That thing is... well, it's a mirage, kind of like a trick of the eye. It doesn't really exist. I promise." With each step, he leaves a trail of blood in the snow, which makes him seem realer than the other. He bleeds, has veins and a pumping heart. I know because I can suddenly hear it.
"Don't listen to it." The mirage-in-question purrs. "You need to come with me." His voice sounds controlled and his face flickers, fading in and out. Shock waves through me and I stumble backward away from him. He isn't real. He's a ghost, unruffled and transparent. "Don't run. If you do, you'll die."
My head snaps in the other direction and I do the exact opposite. I run like hell toward the injured Alex. Before I know it my hand is in his and we are running away from the mirage.
"What's going on!" A branch snags my cheek and splits open my skin. I cup it as warm blood pools out of my skin.
He shakes his head, the blood from his arm dripping onto me, the liquid warm against my skin. "I'll explain later..." His words are sucked away by the sound of the wind.
As the heaviness of the cold presses down on my body, I realize I know what's going to happen because I've dreamt about it only days ago.
The ground begins to quake as tall figures march through the trees. Their eyes glow across the snow and icicles begin to crisp the trees that surround us. Fog snakes through the trunks, coiling and spiraling, heading in our direction. Alex speeds up, moving at a pace I'm not capable of keeping.
"Alex," I choke against the cold as my feet slip out from under me. His hand glides up my arm and he helps me get my balance before I fall. "I can't..."
He practically lifts me up and carries me, my feet leaving the ground. Moments later, we break out from the trees and into the yard of the cabin. My feet touch the ground again and I'm moving on my own. The car isn't too far off and Aislin stands beside the driver's side, bundled up in a coat and hat, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.
"What the hell were you thinking?" She moves away from the car and stomps toward us, tightening the scarf around her neck. "Bringing her up here."
Alex sprints toward her with me in tow as the people on the porch of the cabin watch us. "Now's not the time for lectures." Alex doesn't slow down, nearly running over her, and she has to jump out of his way.
"What the hell is going on?" She rushes after us with worry written all over her face.
Alex slams to a halt when we reach his car. "Gemma's seeing mirages."
Aislin's head whips in my direction. "You did what?"
Before I can respond, Alex interrupts, "And they've found her." He pats his pockets and then takes out his keys.
The color drains from Aislin's face and beneath the cast of the porch light, her skin looks green. "The Death Walkers? How?"
My insides weave into knots like they are made of thorns that want to tear at my insides. "Death Walkers?"
Alex swings his car door open, dives in over the console and reaches toward the glove compartment. "Yeah, big, tall creatures that look like the walking dead." He takes something out, slams the console shut, and jumps out of the car.
My heart stills as his words echo in my head. I glance at the trees, the people on the porch, and then back at Alex. "And have glowing eyes?"
Alex and Aislin freeze and they look at me as if I'm nuts. Maybe I am. Perhaps this is another dream and I'm going to wake up at any moment. "How do you... never mind. You can explain later." He turns to Aislin. "You gotta transport us out of here."
"Transport?" I ask at the same time Aislin says, "Why?"
Alex's fingers close around my upper arm and his eyes stay on Aislin. "Because there's no way in hell we're going to out run them."
I lurch my shoulder forward, trying to wiggle my arm free from his grip, but his fingertips dig deeper into the fabric of my coat. "What the hell is going on? Someone better start explaining or I swear to God—"
"Or, you'll what?" Alex waits with a condescending look on his face.
Furious, I lift my knee and move my foot toward his shin. He dodges out of my way and then drags me around to the passenger side. Aislin chases after us as she retrieves a purple object from her pocket. "I only have the amethyst with me. I'm not sure it's powerful enough to take all three of us anywhere."
"Make it work." Alex's voice is piercing as he yanks open the door. "We need to..." His eyes widen as they zone in on the trees behind us.
I track his gaze and every last hope for my sanity evaporates. Frost webs along the fence that encloses the cabin and moves in contours and patterns across the ground toward our feet. The frozen air intoxicates my lungs and bites my skin. A screech rattles the air and hundreds of yellow eyes flash through the forest. I can hear Alex and Aislin talking... something about getting out of here and transporting again, but I can't focus on anything but the glowing eyes. The other Alex is standing out in the middle with them, as if he's on their side.
"Why are you out there?" I ask as Alex steers me by the shoulders toward the open door. Aislin has climbed into the backseat from the driver's side and has a crystal and a black candle on the center console. He gently pushes my head down with his hand and shoves me into the front seat. I fall in and bang my head on the roof as he slams the door shut. I sit up as he hurries around the car, climbs into the car and slams the door.
He hammers his fist against the lock on the door. "Lock your door," he commands and I obey without hesitation.
"A mirage." Aislin leans over the console and stares out the window at the Alex marching with the cloaked monsters. He looks almost the same, but not quite solid. "And if there's one, then that means—"
"It means we need to get the hell out of here," Alex cuts her off as he slips the keys into the ignition. He turns it and pumps the gas pedal. "So get your spell going."
Aislin kneels up on the back seat with the black candle in front of her and a chunk of amethyst in her hand. She flicks the lighter, lights the wick, and begins to mutter incoherently underneath her breath. What is she doing? Black Magic?
"I have to get out of here," I sputter as the engine revs up and then dies. "Now."
The monsters are getting closer. The ground is trembling against their steps; the trees and house shudder. Screams from inside flow to the outside as ice rushes across the ground and swallows the house. The people inside ram their bodies against the ice chunk that had once been their home. They're trapped.
"We have to help them," I mutter in horror as their bodies are crushed and blood splatters the ice. It's like watching a horror movie, only it's real and it chokes at my throat. My lungs... they don't want to work anymore. "Oh my God... we have to... we have to do something."
"Shit." Alex ignores me and punches his fist against the steering wheel when the car refuses to start. There's still blood flowing from his arm, but it has slowed to a trickle. "God dammit, Aislin, get us the hell out of here. The cold has frozen the fucking engine."
The windows frost over and I can't see the house. Fog swirls through the vents of the heater and fills up the car. The temperature bottoming below freezing. I can't feel my fingers or my lips. As the monsters near the car, I panic. I know how this will end if I don't get away. They'll kill me. I've seen it every night for the last few months.
I reach for the handle of the door, but Alex grabs my elbow. "You aren't going anywhere."
"Yes, I am. Now, move." I wrench my arm and scoot closer to the door, but his strength overpowers me and he hauls me back by the arm. "You don't understand. I have to get away from them... They'll—I..."
"No, you don't understand." Alex lugs me over the console and just about knocks the candle over. I kick my legs and twist my midsection, trying to get away from his grip, but his fingers delve into my hips. He picks me up as if I weigh nothing and sets me on his lap so I'm straddling him. "If you get out of this car you'll die."
"If I stay in this car, they'll kill me!" I clamp my hands down on his shoulders and push back until my back presses against the steering wheel. "I've seen it happen a thousand times. And they're going to kill you."
Shock masks his face. "You know what those things are?"
I crook to the side and try to duck under his arm, but he lowers it, barricading me in. "This is not the first time I've seen them... And would you please let me go. I'm not going to sit around in the Goddamn car and wait for them to come and freeze me."
"Do you have a Goddamn death wish or something?" he breathes fiercely in my ear as his arms snake around my waist. "Do yourself a favor. Shut the hell up and listen to me."
I raise my arm to slap him across the face, but he grabs my hand and clasps it in his own. "Please, let me go." I'm starting to cry and I don't understand why. Yes, I'm scared and cold, but there's also something else there I can't quite decipher; almost like I'm suddenly aware that I'm about to lose any future I have. That it will all end and the possibilities I haven't yet gotten to experience will forever remain unknown.
The temperature continues to plummet as layers of ice build over the car and the roof begins to concave under the pressure. Cloaked creatures are everywhere, their eyes flickering as aggressively as the flame of the candle. Their capes flap in the wind and create a canopy over the car. The temperature drops beyond cold. Death is in the air.
"Holy shit," I breathe, shaking my hand, which has tinted purple. "What's happening to me?"
Alex encloses his hands around mine and brings them an instant relief from the cold. "Try to relax, okay? Aislin will have us out of here in just a second." There's sincerity in his eyes which I've never seen before and the electricity connects me to him, forcing me to submit to him.
Aislin is doing some kind of voodoo witch thing with the candle and the amethyst and it's creating a cloud of violet smoke. The smoke slips into my lungs and burns like a fatal toxin.
I cough and my head falls into Alex's shoulder "What is she doing?" I whisper, clutching onto his arms.
"Just stay calm," Alex lulls as his hand runs up and down my back. Sedation takes over my mind and I slip into a state of exhaustion caused from the chill that has tugged my body close to a state of hypothermia. Or maybe I'm dying. Death. It seems right, like all the pieces of a puzzle have finally been connected. "I promise everything will be okay. Just trust me."
And I do, because at the moment he's all I have. So despite the fact that I've seen two of him and that he keeps talking about mirages, Death Walkers and transporting, I close my eyes and fall against him as my body is rendered motionless by the cold.
The car gives an abrupt jerk to the side as one of the creatures charges into it. Fog swarms beneath the crevasses of the doors and windows and ice glazes my skin and stings my lungs. I want to sleep. Forever. Yeah, that doesn't sound so bad.
"Stay awake." Alex's voice sounds so far away. I crack my eyes open and he hugs me against his chest and kisses my forehead. The gesture brings warmth, but is rapidly erased as the car rocks again "Aislin, hurry up."
"Per is calx ego lux lucis via," Aislin whispers from the backseat. The fire lights up against her face and her amplified eyes.
The ice that has built around the car begins to fracture and chip away. I can see the mirage Alex, watching me from outside, his face becoming clearer with each fragment of ice that breaks off. There's something in his eyes that tells me I'll see him again many more times and that he'll bring me harm, perhaps even kill me one day. And looking at him feels I'm finally looking into my future and instead of life, I see him and, in him, I see my death.
A purple glow erupts through the car and the windows implode. Glass flies everywhere and Alex's arm comes up over my head to protect me. I let out a scream as a thick darkness weaves into my body and steals every aspect of myself away and again, I'm left feeling numb.
