Weres

22. In The White

Somewhere in Alaska-

Theo huffed as he took another step in the deadly snow, trying his hardest to avoid his foot getting stuck into it again. His every movement felt heavy due to the blizzard that was flowing with ferocious intensity. He saw the white covered mountains at the distance, making him grumble profanities under his breath. Still too far.

Two more miles before he could be in the safety and warmth of his bed, he cheered himself and moved ahead.

This morning he had to go out to collect woods and thankfully he had collected a lot of them. However, now he cursed himself for it. Dragging the heavy trolley made him realize that he had overestimated his strength. Few logs would have sufficed.

His brown hair fell to his eyes and he huffed blowing them away. He was twenty-one and looked like any other boy his age. His mother said that with each passing day he was becoming more like his late father. Theo took great pride in that. 

Since he had been a child, everyone engraved into his head what a wonderful man his father was. But unfortunately, he had passed away when Theo was only two, leaving no lasting memory for him. It was an avalanche that took Theo's father away. 

Life was never easy in these mountains.

Theo trudged along pulling that stupid heavy cart behind him.

After a long and heavy hour of pulling and panting, he finally reached the threshold of his small village. Something was wrong.

The dark black clouds were puffing out at the distance from every corner. Fire!

He immediately let go of the cart and ran to help his fellow villagers. His tiredness was long forgotten as adrenaline pumped into him sensing danger.

He stopped midway when his eyes fell on a black lump lying in the white snow. With careful movements, he removed the white flakes covering it.

His breath hitched once he discovered it was not a lump but a body. Not just any body but Mr. Barnsley, his old neighbor. Theo quickly pulled out his gloves and hovered his frozen palms on Mr. Barnsley's mouth. 

No heat, no breath. He was dead. As horrific realization dawned on Theo, he immediately scrambled himself away from his dead neighbor.

For a minute, Theo just sat there in shock, looking at the old Barnsley from the distance.

It took him a moment to recover and he hurriedly got up. He had to get to his mother. He could grieve his neighbour's death with others, but first he had to get to his mother.

He chose to walk this time because a small voice in his brain told him to not to rush or he could get in bigger trouble. With slow and analyzed movement, he walked toward the village. As he moved closer, he heard the ear-piercing screams and cries of help. 

His whole body shook and his heart drummed wildly inside his chest. He stalked closer even though every nerve in his body was screaming to turn around and run.

Finally, the view of the houses came into his sight. His eyes widened in horror as they fell on the scene in front of him. Without thinking, he immediately hid behind a large boulder, which fortunately was lying just beside him. After catching his breath for a few seconds, Theo tentatively peaked from the side.

A horde of strange men and women were running around, killing everyone in their path. Their faces were covered in blood and snow. Theo gasped in horror as he saw them moving around. Their speed was inhuman, too fast for anyone to anticipate their next position.

His whole village was on fire, most of the houses were already falling down into flames.

Theo's eyes fell on one of them, who was on a killing spree. Theo watched as the man took hold of a village girl and dig its elongated teeth into her neck. Theo couldn't take off his eyes from the scene, even though his gut was not strong enough to digest that grotesque scene. 

When the man threw the limp girl away, Theo got the glimpse of him. On the blood splattered face, all that was visible were his eyes. The man's eyes, they were white, pure white, not a trace of black pupil in them. Theo looked around and noted the others of his kind shared the same dead white eyes.

When the man started looking around, Theo quickly pushed himself behind the rock. He wasn't going to be the next victim.

Few moments later, he again dared to take a peek. This time his eyes fell on the roof of his village's church. There stood a tall man, clothed in all black just before the cross. His long silver hair flew with the strong wind, caressing his white marbled face. This man was different than the rest. His eyes weren't all white, they were icy blue.

Some strange authority radiated off him as he overlooked the others of his kind.

What is he? What are they?

******

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