Into the Unknown

Chapter 4, Part II: Fate?

"The whole country is looking for Katie Frost, a girl who supposedly has 'control over ice'. The authorities are investigating her so called accomplice Alice Wary as you are watching. Supposedly she is heading towards Ohio. If you see any trace of this girl call the authorities immediately, she is dangerous." The TV above the bar showed a sketch of Alice's face, but all it caught of Katie was a picture of her ice skating and the sketch looked nothing like her. Katie dug her face in her hand and rubbed her face stressed. "Stupid Alice" Katie mumbled into her hands, "we had a sweet deal going on and you just had to ruin it. Why do you care so much about me anyways?" Find you parents. Don't die. The words echoed in Katie's head. She thought to herself for a few minutes, thinking how Alice would respond to questions like "Why?" but never getting the answer she wanted. She was sat in a bar in the middle of nowhere drinking a water. She didn't know exactly where her parents were, but something just told her "West." She's been ice skating west for about a week now. Living off stolen food and melted ice/snow. So that's what she knew, her parents were to the west and she can't come back to Alice until she found them.

Suddenly a man appeared beside her and started with, "Having a hard day?"

"More like a hard week. You?" The reason Katie talked to this man was because... she felt that he was safe.

"I had a rough few days, things didn't go quite the way I wanted them to. Quite unlucky."

"What, got hit by a lightning bolt or something?"

"You have no idea. So, onto what I really want to talk about, Katie." Her eyes lit up and the area around her hand froze. "You misunderstand, I don't intend to report you, I intend to help." He didn't move an inch at the sight of Katie's ice.

"Help? How can you help?" Her eyes flickered out and the ice receded back into her hand.

"Well, from what you're mumbling, it's obvious that you're under the influence of mind magic which is why you can't go back to save this Alice girl. In fact she was most likely the one who casted the spell in the first place. So if I help you with this quest of yours, you can go back to Alice faster."

"How do I know that you can help me in the first place? And what's the catch?"

"There is no catch, and as for if I can help, would a useless person be able to do this?" He waved his hand and suddenly they were both on top of a large building.

"What the?! Where are we?" Katie said, she looked down and saw a beautiful snow-ridden city.

"Seer's Tower, Illinois. Farther west than Ohio."

Katie turned around and smiled at him she stuck out her hand, "What are we waiting for partner, let's go West! By the way, what do I call you, I feel 'partner' is weird. And since you know my name and all."

He shook her hand and said, "You can call me... Merrick."