Iceheart

Prologue: Dream

Jason opened his eyes and gasped. He was in the exact same spot. The same icy field. The same field with trees barely visible from the blizzard. The same field with no light reaching the ground. The same field where he saw it every time. And right on cue, it was there.

The wolf.

Snow stung Jason's face. He could make out the silhouette of the beast, slowly loping towards him.

"What are you?" he screamed. "Why are you here? Why am I here? I didn't ask to be brought back to this forbidden wasteland every night of my life! Quit haunting my dreams, you monster!"

His cries echoed through the air. 15 years, it had happened. 15 years, he had been haunted by the wolf. 15 years, and he had dreamt the same dream every single night. And tonight was no different. Or so he thought.

Unlike every other night, there wasn't just dead silence after his cries. He was met with an answer. A howl. A morose song that shattered the whistling wind like glass. It grew closer and closer with every shallow breath Isaiah took in. And then it stopped.

For the wolf stood right in front of his eyes.

"So that's what you are," he whispered in awe. "You're not a beast at all. You're just alone. Looking for someone. But why me?"

The wolf stared at Jason. It didn't move. It didn't make a noise. It just stared.

Jason felt his heart race inside of his chest. Why wouldn't it stop staring? What did it want, and why with Jason? He wasn't special. He was just a teenager stuck inside a run-down shack in the middle of nowhere. He was alone, bullied, and afraid of his own father. Why would anyone want him?

"You are more than you think, Jason," the wolf said. Its mouth didn't move, but the voice was chilling. It had to be its, or, judging by the deep tone, his voice.

"Who are you?" Jason wheezed, a nervous asthma attack plaguing his lungs.

"You don't recognize yourself?" the wolf scoffed. "I am you, Jason. My voice may be older, and I may not be human, but then again, you have some secrets yourself."

"What secrets?" Jason cried, tears freezing on his face.

"Jason, I told you I am you," the wolf said. "But that isn't necessarily the whole of it. I'm in you. Now just let me put, and all of your problems will be gone. Your dad, the bullies, anything."

Jason listened. All of his problems? Gone? He wanted this to happen. But if he knew anything, he knew it came with a cost. Plus, he didn't even know how to unleash the wolf that was "inside of him".

As if reading his thoughts, the wolf began to speak again.

"It is for you to find out..."

The wolf turned around and began to walk away. Jason dragged himself through the snow.

"Why are you leaving me?" he wept. "You finally came, and now, you decide to leave me with barely any answers? If you really were me, you'd tell me it all!"

The wolf kept walking, until it was merely another shadow in the blinding snow. Jason began to stand, but was too weak. He crumpled to the ground. The wind picked up speed and began to push the boy towards an endless ravine. The worst things in his dream never changed.

"No..." Jason gasped. "No, no, no, no, no! NO!"

Jason groped at the ground, hoping to catch something, but only managing to cut his hands on glass shards of broken beer bottles. The pain was almost real, until he realized it was. Crimson blood stained the white snow.

"WHY?" Jason screamed as he fell into the bottomless pit.

As a perilous set of rocks grew closer and closer, Jason prepared to wake up.

"It's all a dream," he said, his doom growing closer and closer. "IT'S ALL A DREAM!"

As his body hit the rocks, Jason shot awake. He looked around. Same old dark room. Same bruises. Same gashes on his hands. Same shouting. He was in his house. But it wasn't his home. Nothing without his mom could be his home.

It would never be the same.

No dedication, no real note. I'm sorry...