The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 26

"You need to see this," Alexander says as he pulls me towards a television set. On it is a breaking news story about a blue car that was frozen in a block of ice in a small Ohio town just outside of Cleveland. We watch coverage of the event that is happening just down the street from us unfold. It has been about 35 minutes since the incident and almost the whole town is out and it is becoming quite the media spectacle. They show various cell phone videos of the car and conduct interviews with people who were first on scene. There are some interesting people in these interviews.

One of the interviewees talks about aliens and finally how they are making their presence known. Another is calling it a sign that the apocalypse is near. 

Luckily, no one has mentioned either Jared or myself, nor have I seen myself in any of the home footage, which is a relief. 

Jared tells me that the female reporter we are watching is somewhat of a local celebrity who was first on the scene. She works for both the local radio station and seconds as a beat reporter for a television station that is in Cleveland. She's cute. A 20-something blonde haired girl, with dark eyes and an amazing complexion.  

A person in the crowd is able to identify the trapped man as John St. Denis. He is a 42 year old electrician. A single guy with no wife or known family in the area. They zoom in on his face and the expression has changed a bit. He no longer looks completely possessed by evil, but more in shock than anything. Both hands are gripping the steering wheel. 

It turns out that the car doesn't belong to him. It was reported stolen about an hour earlier from just down the road from the supermarket that we picked our supplies in. This makes me think that the car was taken with the sole purpose of doing this. When I saw this guy in the grocery store, he looked nervous the moment that we made eye contact.

"How did this happen?" asks Alexander. 

Jared and I will spend the next 10 minutes filling Alexander in on our quick trip to the store. He doesn't look overly happy with the choice that we made and finally blurts it out.  He looks more and more confused about the events and after we finally finish the story, he reaches into his pockets and pulls out a gold necklace. "I don't understand how your element worked? From everything I've read, the elemental needs their necklace to be on them in order to control their elements. Maybe you were close enough for its power to help? Either way, I think it's time you put this back on. Your dad gave it to me right before I left the shelter to come and find you in the woods. He said that you would be needing it if you were planning on keeping safe."

He hands me my necklace and I can feel the immediate comfort of it being back in my possession. The second it hits my hands, I feel different. I feel more confident and more able to deal with things. 

I slide the necklace over my head and it immediately begins to glow a faint blue color before quickly vanishing back into that chunk of clear rock.

"We haven't even been here for two days and already we are going to have to move again. I wouldn't be surprised if this place is swarming with Achlys already. These kinds of things," he says pointing to the television, "don't just happen and as you can notice it's causing quite a scene. It's going to be much harder to hide if you're going to be making the news. We have to go, we can't stay here. This place is too dangerous now."

I feel a little embarrassed. I don't know why because if I hadn't of frozen that car I would not be standing here getting this lecture from Alexander.

"How are you going to get out?" Jared asks. "Can you jump yet?" 

Alexander shakes his head no. 

"Well you certainly can't get out of town on foot. You'd be sitting ducks. I will drive you to where you need to be."

"Uhhh, not a chance" Alexander says.

"My parents are out of town and I have a car. You two can duck down in the car and I can get us out of town without raising any suspicion. You don't have any other option."

Alexander looks at me and I look back at him. I shrug my shoulders in a "he's got a point" kind of way. 

I can see Alexander thinking this over trying to strategize as best as he can. Finally, as though he can't take the war in his head any longer, he finally agrees with a defeated look on his face. He really has no other option and this makes sense so he nods to Jared.

"I am just going to pack some stuff," Jared says as he bounds up the stairs, two at a time. "Grab whatever you need!" he yells from upstairs. 

I look over at Alexander who is putting the finishing touches on his pack. He grabs some of the non-perishables that we had bought and stuffs them in before closing. 

Jared is not gone long, maybe only 10 minutes at the most. He comes down carrying an over the shoulder book bag and a pair of hiking boots. Attached to his book bag is a brown sleeping bag. Both Alexander and I look at him. 

"I used to be in scouts, so I always like to be prepared."

"I'm not surprised..." I hear Alexander mutter under his breath. Jared doesn't seem to notice. Or he just didn't seem to care about the backhanded comment. 

"Car's in the garage, let's go."

We make our way through the house to the garage. Inside of the garage is an older Jeep Wrangler. It's red in color and has large tires on it. It's the perfect vehicle for fighting against winter and the snow on the ground. Based on the size of the tires and the winch on the front of the truck, it's not very often that Jared has to be dug out of the snow. 

Within 10 minutes the truck is loaded and we are inside backing out of the driveway. A quick look down the road shows that the media frenzy has not yet stopped. There are flashing lights all over the place. It looks almost like a Christmas carnival with all the twinkling lights and people crowding around everything. On closer inspection it looks more like a swarm of bees working away inside of a nest. The people look like they are crawling over each other, working away without a care, all just happy to be part of something out of the ordinary, something different than they average everyday lives. 

Alexander is in the backseat crouched down trying to look out the back window for a better vantage point but the way we have our stuff packed has left little in the way of room to see out of. 

In hindsight, it's too bad that Alexander couldn't see better. If he had, he may have noticed the two men watching the Jeep from just down the street. Both men standing side by side, completely blocked from my vantage point. Neither of them seem at all interested in the party going on behind their backs. They watch and study the Jeep as it pulls away from the house and begins to move down the street. Neither one of them move as they both seem perfectly content to stare and study with their dark red eyes.