[ The Entrance to the Sanctuary of Frost ]

A Chapter by iDinoSmoar

[ The death of a loved one is a tragic one-- Especially if there is a dead guy you don't even know! ]

Nothing in life is ever truly predicted, or known before it actually happens. Such as weather; yes, we say it will ‘rain’, but with a thirty percent chance, but, you know, it won’t always go the way we plan. Why? Things are meant to be that way; secretive and surprising. Kind of like happy birthdays. You know there is going to be one, but your aren’t exactly positive. What if it was canceled? Postponed? It’s not a coincidence that it happened—it is fate.

I turned up the volume to max on my radio; my parents were singing to an old time song that they both knew and loved, while I didn’t know, but hated it.

“I just can’t wait to get on the road again,” they sang in unison. I wedged my headphones so hard into my ears, I thought they would bleed. Well, either way, they’d bleed. With, or without music.

I could see my younger sister, Carissa, kick the back of their seats, groaning and complaining. My young brother, Kelvin, just sat there, ignoring everyone. He didn’t really care for these bothersome details—but we girls did. Especially Cari.

“Stop it! You guys are so annoying,” Carissa shouted at them, having a hissy-fit. Mother just laughed, along with father. “I feel embarrassed by you two!”

Then, Kelvin shifted his hand through his short brown hair, and glared at Cari. “You are the most annoying, Carissa. At least mother and father are trying to have fun,” he snapped at her. She began to speak, but bit her tongue and crossed her arms, pouting. Kelvin smiled in triumph. Carissa, in return, let out a ‘humph’ noise.

Kelvin wasn’t your average 10-year old boy. He was clever, cunning, and knew how things worked. He is supposed to be in fourth grade, but was boosted to fifth. Always at the top of his game, he liked to ‘beat’ Carissa at things, which he did. I even kept count. It’s one hundred and four to one. Carissa only one the dress up game because Kelvin hated girly stuff like that. Kelvin was kind of pale, kind of tan, and had brown eyes.

Carissa, on the other hand, was pretty slow to catch things, bothersome, and obviously prissy. She loves playing dress up, inviting her other 8-year-old girl friends. She absolutely loves talking about boys—even at her age. I mean, not even I am interested in boys yet! But, I’m more mature than her. Too bad that Kelvin beats us all in the ‘cool and composed’ section. I am so jealous of his ‘calm composure’. Her hair is brown curly locks, while her she is tan, due to Indian traits, and gray eyes.

“Okay, okay, we’ll stop,” mother told Carissa, not wanting to upset her any further. Mother was pretty young looking having long blonde hair, being light-tanned, and having a kind of deep voice, which look doesn’t like it belonged to her, with gray eyes like Cari. Father had deep brown hair with extremely pale skin, and blue eyes. “Hey, we are almost there,” mother stated happily.

“Really?” Carissa asked excitingly. She has some of the most quickest mood swings ever known to man. Or, at least known to me.

We arrived at two semi-large houses that were in the middle of no-where, surrounding me thousands of tall crisp trees.

“Finally,” Kelvin mumble to himself as we all got out of the Blazer. I stretched—it was a long two hour drive. A bunch of short plump women and tall muscular men rushed over to us. The women pinched our cheeks, while the men gave us noogies.

“Ha-ha. We haven’t seen ya’lls in ages!” the man with rubble across his chin said. He was our Uncle Larry. He was the chubby man in the family. When I was younger, I used to act like his belly was a trampoline. It’s an even bigger one now, if you ask me. “Look at ya! Ya’re even paler than the last time I seen ya.” He pointed at me, comparing my skin to the moon. I can’t help it that my skin was even whiter than my father’s—and his is as light as computer paper!

Every one’s accent was so thick that I wanted to make them go into a twenty four hour grammar program and not let them come out until they can say ‘radio’ and not ‘radi-er’.

Mother walked over to an elderly lady and hugged her. The woman spoke loud, as if not old at all. She walked like she was twenty.

She then walked over to me and hugged me tenderly with her bear-like hands. “I missed you! When was the last time I seen you? Over ten years at the very least, dear!” she answered her own question. “Oh, your probably don’t remember me…I’m your grandmother Ellen.” She smiled an angelic look. I stared at her. “You’ve gotten much prettier…You look just like my mother, Anne.”

Not knowing how to react, I smiled. Then Ellen giggled and headed over to Carissa. She fought her to tickle her, and eventually won. Cari was crying from this and laughter filled the air, along with the smell of Uncle Larry cooking on the grill.

Everyone ate their share of food and chatted with one another. Aunt Betty—whom I never really talked to or known—was setting up children games such as ‘pin a tail on the donkey’.

“Mother, I’m going to walk into the woods,” I told her. She stared at me, confused, as if everything there was fun but not the woods. “I need a breather.” She nodded and I headed out into the massive heap of trees.

Once again, I turned on my radio and sang to all the songs I knew while staring at the numerous types of flowers and plants that I tumbled over.

The heat was unbearable, until I passed a small stream with a picket sign. I stepped over several rocks to get closer into it. It read;

BEWARE!

Sanctuary of Frost Ahead; Dare to enter?

The Sanctuary of Frost? What weirdo came up with that ridiculous name? Surely someone who has too much free time, that’s who. And ‘dare to enter’—what? There’s probably someone that is going to pop out at you screaming, then you run home, crying. That is it, right?

I stared at the large valley that was darkened and foggy; you couldn’t see anything. Curious, I stuck my hand on the sign. To my shock, it was frozen. I rubbed my hand against my thigh, for it had gone numb due to the coldness of the picket.

“What the hell!” I complained to myself. I stumbled back away from the sign, falling on one of the rocks on the way. I scraped my wrist and knee. Blood streamed down me and pain surged through me. I hurriedly tried to wash it off with the freezing water from the stream. It made it worse, not better. “Why is this even happening? What a sick joke this is…”

I kicked the water with my feet—I was angry, cold, and lost. I felt my foot hit something hard so I glanced down into the ice-like water. There was nothing. I shifted my other soon-to-be-numb hand into the stream and something took it and dragged me under. It was a ghost-like man, covered in ice, but burnt at the same time. He choked me, and I struggled to get free. “Urgh.” I gagged on water as I kicked him, but my legs went straight through him. I was terrified—I was going to die. I wanted to cry…To scream. But, the water prevented that. So, what could I do?

I could hear whist of wind, then the man suddenly let go and disappeared. I swam up unto the surface and coughed up water rapidly, trying to regain my breath. I held my throat, examining if there were any marks; there wasn’t—was I dreaming?

I laughed to my stupidity and awkwardness. “Note to self…Never go in woods without…well, without common sense maybe,” I mumbled to myself.

Noticing pain coming back, I looked down at my wounds which were in the perfect condition—not.

Annoyed by it all, I started heading home. My whole body was warmed up by the time I got back out of the horrible woods. “Mother…I’m back!” I shouted ahead. There was no answer. There was no noise. Instead, there was a mix smell of burnt meat and death.

I quickly walked up the hill where the two houses sat. I dropped to my knees—there was everyone else here alright. But dead. Carissa and Kelvin were near the ‘pin a tail on a donkey’ set, both with pins in their hearts, with blood and frozen tears dripping down their bodies. They were burnt. Father and mother were on a picnic table, with burn marks around their eyes, along with blood. They were burnt. Uncle Larry was nothing but flesh upon the grill that he cooked on. There were knives in his eye sockets. He was burnt. Grandmother Ellen stood against the wall, with her mouth open. I stood up, and ran over to her, screaming out her name. When I turned her back, there was a pitch fork in her throat. She was also burnt. I screamed at these sights, crying at their deaths, and moaned at these feelings.

Funny thing is, everyone was burnt, yet, why were they frozen solid?

I just sat there, staring at the dead bodies, crying, but not saying a word anymore. “Why…Why…Why is this all happening…!? Is this kind of sick joke?” I screamed into the sky. “Well, it’s not funny! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!” I pounded my frozen hands into the ground. I stared into the woods with an insane smirk on my face. “You! Why don’t you take me too, huh? I bet you’re all up for that! I mean, kill a whole family but one? I don’t think that is very fair of you!”

I bit my lip. “It’s…not fair.” I shook my head and tried to sit up, but I lost all strength. I mean, who wouldn’t? Losing all of what you got…

“Nothing is worse than the pain that you gave me!” I screamed into streams of trees. Why did our family have to come here? Why today? Why any day? Wait—what kind of sick person would do this anyways!? It makes no sense! Nothing makes sense anymore!

Out of the corner of my eye, there was another leg sticking out from the corner of a bush near Grandmother Ellen’s body. Maybe someone was still alive—wait, that isn’t possible, right? Maybe it’s help?

I rushed near the body—it was a boy, around seventeen, I’m guessing. I didn’t know him. He looked like some kind of frozen ice god or something. He had dirty blonde hair, and pale like me. He was covered in blood too. He looked so heavenly, (besides for the blood of course), so why did he have such a painful face on him? I held his wrist to see if he had a pulse. I flinched—his body felt like it could freeze the sun. Plus, there was no pulse. An innocent boy like him was killed too? My heart sank even more than it possibly could. Nothing will ever make me forget the look he has.

“Sorry…,” I whispered to the boy, softly, tears falling down my cheek and into him. “Sorry…God, I hate this!” Maybe I should just follow my family? And the boy? I could go where they are easily. Wait—insane people would kill their selves off. I’m not insane—yet—I think.

I sat next to the boy and stared at him. He is, err, was really good looking. Almost like a prince. “Why do you look so sad, prince of frost…?” I asked, knowing there wouldn’t be an answer. “I mean, I know you died, but, I believe it’s unfair for you to make that kind of face. I’m the one who lost her family here!” I bit on my lip so hard, that it bled. “You are making me feel worse than I already do, you know that?” I shifted my hand through my hair.

A minute later, to my imagination, the boy’s frown deepened. “I’m the one who is truly sorry,” he said, gently, his voice hurt. I stared, surprised. I guess I really am insane, huh. He turned to me, his blue like violet eyes piercing my heart. I jumped back. He grabbed my arm, his glacier-like hand numbing it. “Look…”

I shrieked.

“Why...How…What…?” I stumbled for the words. “Just…just leave me alone!” I ran, stumbling over dead bodies as I went. I fell on Carissa and Kelvin. “No! My loves...Cari, Kelvy,” I spoke softly to them as I stroked their hair. “You are in a better place, right…? Your sister will make sure you sleep well.” I got up, remembering about the dead boy. I continued into the forest, taking the same path as I did last time. A couple minutes later, I ended up at the entrance to the Sanctuary of Frost.

It seemed colder than before. As if it too had the hurt feelings that I did. As if its heart has hardened—like mine eventually will.