Untamable Resolve: The Witheridge Witches

Ch. 7 - Ice

Running in the direction of the frozen river, I know that I will be cornered when found. Maybe there is something more there that I missed that can help me escape or hide until this nightmare is all over.

Probably not, but it's better than giving up.

I do not know what I expected, but this was not it. How could they attack us like that? I guess I should not be so surprised. The werewolves did, after all, take my parents away, put them in a work camp, and probably killed them. Making matters worse, as I had predicted, the weather has taken a turn for the worst, as the wind howls, whipping snowflakes painfully into my face. I can't hear the crunching of leaves anymore. Instead, it is replaced with my quiet footsteps in the fresh powder and an eerie silence that engulfs me. The beast could easily creep up behind me and catch me.

The feeling of being a lost little girl in the woods fills me. That brave face I had put on for Delia and Claire is long gone, especially after the encounter I just had with Claire. I have never been so terrified.

Will I die today?

It was naive of me to believe that the beasts wouldn't harm us.

I notice that my right hand has been crushed. It has nearly doubled in size with all of the commotion with the rocks, and I feel it begin to throb. I pause for a moment and stick it in the piling snow, making sure to stay alert as I scan my field of view. My body is on high alert and disoriented. Us girls had been the perfect prey; just the thought is sickening.

They are going to do this every year?

Something understands subconsciously deep down inside of me that I'm not alone. With a sudden noise to my left, I stand up and bolt.

I'm running out of options. This is it, my last stand for my freedom. I pray to anyone that's listening to let it be okay, to let me make it out of here. I have to, for my grandfather's sake. But I know my fate. The moment I stepped inside of the car I had sealed it. I stop suddenly, as I realize I have made it back to the edge of the river. I wade through the shallows before climbing onto the thin shelf of ice that has formed above the running river. It's freezing.

My teeth chatter, as carefully, I stand up, trying to stabilize myself. I watch in shock as the large, black wolf morphs into a man right before of my eyes. I jump back and quickly avert my eyes. I have never seen one of them do that before, and it's a horrifying sight to see.

"Don't come any closer!" My voice wavers as I shout at him.

I inch further away from the monster. I partially lost my footing, sliding on the ice. I'm hyperventilating. I can feel the ice shifting below my feet, as well as the power of the river seeping into my body. I don't know what to do.

As he slowly stalks closer to me, he yells back, laughing, "I will say you are impressive, mate. That whole show you put on was quite entertaining."

Absolute terror grips hold of me when he utters the word that confirms my suspicions. I feel nothing for him but disgust and fear. With a look of concern on his face, he steps on the ice, cautiously testing it.

"You have nowhere to go. Come to me. It isn't safe out there." He motions with an outstretched hand for me to come to him.

"No!" I spit back, as I back further away from him.

Is this it? I rake my brain for any possible way to escape this, if only for a moment. It seems I'm out of options.

Interrupting my thoughts, he says, "I will come out there and get you if you don't come to me now."

"I would rather die."

He growls as his eyes begin to turn pitch black. He begins to move towards me again slowly. I take another step back and then gasp as I realize I can't move any further back without falling into the moving river below. The thin ice won't hold. But I will not go with him willingly. I know what I have to do. He has not caught me. Not yet.

I have an idea and only seconds to execute it. I come to terms with my decision before I look up at him, determined. He looks at me curiously, watching my internal struggle and carefully advancing closer, as I smirk at him.

His curiosity turns into panic as he realizes my plan, but it's too late. I'm already in mid-air, jumping, falling through the ice into the rapids below, being pulled down the river. quickly away from him.