What Lies In Me

Chapter 3

The snake's lidless blue eyes gleam as it stares at me. Its gaze transfixes me, nailing my feet to the pavement. All I can do is barely continue breathing the harsh air, my eyes locked on the creature that shouldn't exist. Light from the summer sun refracts through the translucent body, from its fangs to the tip of its tail, arcing this way and that as the ice cracks and pops. The snake settles and, still keeping an eye on me, hisses again. I still can't move. My mind is screaming at me, but my thoughts are scattered.

"Run, you idiot!" Jackson grabs my arm and yanks me away from the monster. I almost fall over, but then my feet catch me and I begin to run with him. I look back and see the library icing over as the scales of the snake envelop it and everyone inside. The monster is still glaring daggers in my direction. It lowers its head and bares its fangs, and I hear a sound unlike any other.

"You will not leave!" The words echo through my head. I feel them, foreign whispers within my mind, running into each other and scraping against my consciousness. I stop, Jackson and Tony with me. They heard it too? Sadie and her friend scream and run past, renewing their efforts to escape the beast.

Spikes of pain lance through my feet, and I cry out in panic, trying to lift them from the ground. They won't budge. Ice surrounds my legs, crawling up to encase my lower thighs. It stings and burns as it slows down my bloodstream, numbing and trapping my feet where I stand. I squirm, but it only makes things worse. The girls scream in panic, as they become entrapped in the ice and lifted into the air. More ice materializes under us, forming a plateau that encases the lower half of our bodies. It lifts us up almost four stories in the air, level with the eyes of the serpent. It stares at us as we squirm and scream.

"Silence... silence... SILENCE!" The voice grates again, cutting off the screams of the people and leaving them groaning in pain and fear.

"I have found you," it says. I look around, but it seems that no one else heard the voice this time. I grimace and try desperately to free myself, but to no avail. The ice is frozen solid, and touching it doesn't even cause it to melt slightly. "I have found you." I hear the voice again. I gesture to myself, hoping to communicate.

"Yes, you, born with the life water of a god's spring." I blankly stare at the serpent that shouldn't exist. It's singling me out, but I don't understand why.

"You are to come." That simple statement confirms all of my worst fears. "You are to come NOW."

"Only you are needed." Maybe this still is a dream, maybe I'm hallucinating, maybe I've died and gone to Hell. There has to be a way out.

"ANSWER ME." The voice grinds through my head, causing me more pain. Losing their composure, the four girls trapped up here with me begin to scream and struggle against the ice.

"SILENCE! NO MOVING!" The voice grates, and the ice freezes over the hands of those grasping at it. They scream in frustration and fear, but then struggle to keep silent as the snake hisses at them. I can feel the breath from its slanted nostrils, and it rips from my body whatever heat I had retained.

"What do you want!?" I yell at the serpent.

"You," answered the voice of the snake. "You will come now."

"And if I don't!?"

"You will. There is no choice. You must."

I look around on the icy plateau. Sadie is crying, Tony and Jackson are cursing and muttering, and a few of the girls have fallen silent in defeat. I look down. We are easily forty feet in the air. My mind is blank. I don't know what to do.

"Well, I'm not!" I cry, doubting my own words. My legs have lost all feeling. I probably don't have much longer to hold out.

"The others are unneeded and unwanted."

My friends and the girls began fighting the ice with renewed vigor, apparently hearing the words this time. A small amount of warmth spreads through my chest, and the ice around me feels less cold. Jackson, trapped just out of my reach, begins breathing harshly. His blue fingers ram into the ice and he frantically tries to push out of it. Tony is screaming at the snake in defiance, his voice nearly breaking. Sadie's exposed arms have lost their color, and tears have soaked her face. I can't just give in and let them all freeze here. I can't let them die!

Reaching into my pocket, I yank out my keys. I pick the sharpest object on my keychain, a tiny letter opener, and hold it to my neck, screaming with more determination than I actually feel.

"If you kill even one of these people, I will cut my throat right now! Do you hear me!?" My voice cracks. This is stupid, this will never work, what am I doing? The creature wants me, assumedly alive because I'd be dead otherwise. Holding myself hostage is a bluff, but I have to try to sell it. To make my point, I press the blade of the keychain against my neck, drawing blood. The cut stings in the bitter cold, and I can feel the warm blood running down my neck and onto my hand. It's nearly the only thing I can feel other than the never-ending pain in my legs.

The screams around me lessen, and I turn toward my fellow captives, full of apprehension. I half expect to see them fainting, losing what little heat they had to the leeching power of the ice. To my surprise, though, they're taking in lungfuls of air, some quietly crying in relief. I look up at the snake. What is that in its eyes? Is it fear? Anger?

"You must come with me." The abhorred voice whispers again, but I sense some hesitation in the sound of its words.

I put my hands down onto the ice shelf and try to push myself out of it. The ice burns against the blood on my hand, and I yank it back, but only succeed in nicking it on the small blade. I hiss in pain and irritation, hating everything about this. The snake lowers its head towards me and hisses, and I feel like I hear that hideous voice hissing at the same time. I stop nursing my hand and make one last attempt to push against the ice, expending what little strength I have left. I have to get out of this now!

Suddenly, I feel a strange tingling sensation in my legs, and the grip of the ice loosens further. The others seem to notice it too, and they renew their efforts to climb out. Then, as quickly as it had formed, the cylindrical prison melts. I am instantly soaked by the water, which is surprisingly warm. We plummet toward the cold, ice-coated ground, with little time to react.

Only one thought enters my mind as I fall. We're all going to die, and it is my fault.

I'm sorry.