The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 18

It is dark outside and I am well beyond the door that I exited only a few moments ago. The door was so well hidden that I don't think I could find it again even if I wanted to. The moment I closed it, it looked like it completely disappeared from existence right before my eyes. I try to move as quickly as I can without bringing too much attention to myself. The light of the moon through the barren trees provides me enough light that I don't have to use the flashlight, which is probably good because it's not long before I hear Alexander yelling for me in the dark. Seeing as how I can only hear Alexander, I am guessing that my dad is remaining inside.

My goal is to put as much distance between me and them in a short amount of time. Outside of that, I will try to find a place that I can stay safe for the night before trying to disappear. Who knows how I will accomplish that?

Quietly, I continue away from the voices shouting for me. I think that I am making good ground because it sounds like the voices are getting farther away. It has to be near impossible for them to actually track me in this darkness. The snow should do a good job of muffling the downed branches under it. The only thing I need to be careful of is not snapping an ankle in the darkness.

I am not quite sure how Alexander's jumping ability works totally but by the fact that he hasn't materialized in front or behind me, leads me to believe that I am safely away from him for the time being.

The further I get from the door, the more I realize that walking through the woods at nighttime can play tricks with your mind. My rapid breath and the soft crunch of my feet on the snow allow my mind to wander about what kind of "things" might be out here watching me.

My eyes begin to see shadows dancing from tree to tree. I hear the sound of animals calling in the night. Some sound like they are right behind me. I turn back periodically to make sure that I am not being followed by anything, especially anything with red eyes.

A few moments pass and I stop by a large tree to get my bearings and catch my breath. I quickly find out that doing this is a mistake because everything around me changes suddenly. It feels as if the temperature has dropped a few degrees in the last minute or so and the light of the moon has gotten slightly darker making it harder for me to see. The most peculiar thing about my stopping though is that there is complete and utter silence. There are no sounds by any nearby animals and even the wind has completely given way to the deadened sound. In all of my life, I have never heard anything so silent. In fact, it is as if this exact spot in the world has become terrified and is collectively holding its breath.

Overhead a large shadow passes through the light of the moon. I look up just in time to catch the tail end of whatever it was. It is much too large to be some kind of bat or nocturnal bird. I try to dismiss it as a trick that my brain is playing on me but it becomes tougher to do when I begin to hear the faint sounds of crunching snow from the direction that it flew.

I swear I didn't hear anything land or make a noise a few moments ago, but the crunching snow coming from all around is making me think otherwise. I quickly duck behind a tree and curl up into a ball as small as I can waiting for whatever is hunting me to pass.

The crunching snow is getting louder. Closer. Almost on top of me, when it suddenly stops. I sit for what seems like an eternity, not ready to loosen the grip on my legs and remain as small as I possibly can against the size of this tree. I am holding my breath and can feel my heart pounding in my neck. If whatever is on the other side of the tree could hear heartbeats, I would be a goner. Suddenly, I hear sniffing sounds. As if a large beastly animal has caught the scent of something. The sniffing sound is so loud that it can't be from any animal that I know.

As quickly as it began, the sniffing stops as though something has caught its attention. A few moments later, I hear the faint yells of my name tearing through the darkness. It sounds like Alexander, and he is getting closer.

With that, the creature on the other side of the tree lets out a low growl. I don't know what the creature is, but it sounds massive.

The growl intensifies and there is a scratching sound above, I am showered in splinters of tree bark. I do my best to stay still and quiet, not to give away my position.

Then it stops.

There is no more growling, no more scratching or breathing. Were it not for me being covered in tree bark, I would have thought I had been hallucinating the entire time.

I slowly peek around the corner and see nothing. Not signs of anything disturbed. Getting to my feet, I feel stiff. I must have been hanging on for dear life based on what my body feels like. My arms, shoulders and back all feel tired from the grip I was using to hide against the tree.

I take a moment to stretch out and can hear Alexander's voice again in the distance. Whatever was here, I will have to thank Alexander for scaring it away when I have a chance, if I ever have a chance.

I move out of my spot against the tree and back into the night. Curiosity has gotten the better of me so I begin to look in my bag for the flashlight. I want to see what this creature did to the tree that would cause me to be picking splinters out clothes for the next week.

I only want to take a moment having the flashlight on so as to not give away my position to anyone or anything that might be lurking in the dark, so I flick it on quickly and point it at the tree.

What I see next astounds me. I can't turn the flashlight off, I can only sit and stare at the maimed tree that has had almost all of its bark shredded off it. As I move in for a closer look, I can see that whatever did this, had razor sharp claws and must have used this tree the way a cat uses a scratching post. Although I've never seen cats do this to a post before. The tree is nearly unrecognizable as a tree. It looks as though whatever was doing this wasn't trying to scratch it, it was trying to claw straight through it.

When I thought the creature that was looking for me was massive, I think I grossly underestimated. It has to be bigger than massive and by what it did to the tree, it is angry and extremely dangerous and it is no doubt looking for me.