They Do Exist

They Do Exist (10)

Chapter 10:  Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice

The blinding light slowly disappeared, and before I could open my eyes I was hit with a harsh, cold wind.  It bit at my skin like a thousand bee stings, and my body shivered violently.  I could feel ice sickles collecting on my eyelashes, as I struggled to open my eyes.  It burned to do so, but I opened them successfully.  Gabe was standing beside me, looking out into the distance, seemingly unfazed by the bitter cold. 

“W-w-where  are we?” I asked him, as the cold ran like venom through my body.

He didn’t answer.

“This isn’t where you live, is it?”  I tried again.

He looked down at me.  “This is part of the realm that I live in, yes.  But no, my castle is not located in this specific part of our realm.”

Right…so I don’t have to stand the cold for too long… hopefully.

Wait, did he just say castle?

“Follow me.”  Was all he said as he began making his way through the snow.  The snow that covered the ground for as far as the eye could see.

I tried doing as told, but after about five minutes of walking through the snow, my shoes were already wet from the puddles in the cavern, and my jeans were getting soaked from the snow.  I had no jacket, or anything of the sort, and therefore I was freezing my booty off.

My teeth chattering must have been annoying Gabe, because he turned around with an annoyed expression on his face.  “Could you stop your shivering?  I can hear it over the wind.”

“S-sorry. I w-wish I c-could, b-b-but I’m F-F-F-F-FREEZING!”  I managed to say between chatters.

He rolled his eyes, before stopping, and shrugging off the backpack from his shoulder.  He pulled out a long, fur-like coat.  It was covered with some kind of soft, thick fur.  He handed it to me.

“Here, this should help.”

I stared at the jacket in awe.  Was he actually being nice to me?

I took it, thankful.  “T-Thank you.”  I looked up at him.  He just shrugged.  “You’re chattering would have woken up the Polar Bears if I didn’t shut you up.”

Polar Bears?

“Polar Bears??” I echoed my thoughts.

He didn’t answer me, he just kept on marching.  I slid my frail arms through the sleeves of the jacket.  Immediately, I began to get feeling back into my limbs.  After a few more minutes, my mind was able to think of other things, rather than how freaking freezing I was.  I took this time to take in my surroundings.

Gabe was marching at a steady pace, on top of the snow.  He left no footprints, none whatsoever.   I just assumed this was another part of him being super-hero-elf-guy, or whatever you want to call him.  On the other hand, I was tripping over myself, with snow nearly up to my knees.  Nothing was around.  It was like a freezing, desolate land full of ice.  I started to miss the warmth of the beach back in North Carolina.

It was so cold, that there was hardly any light.  It was practically night time, except for the creepy glow of what looked like northern lights floating in the sky, giving the surrounding pieces of land an eerie color.

Gabe hadn’t said another word to me, since he had handed me the jacket, which let me tell you—I was very grateful for.  But curiosity was eating me alive.  I had so many questions about this place, about where exactly he lived, about where my grandmother lived.  About this so called ‘castle’ he had mentioned.