About the Author: Jordan Simon (Creative Writing, Class of 2019) is at home in the realm of ink and paper. He typically writes short stories of varying genres, though his most preferred is horror. Capable in poetry and comfortable with anything relating to fiction, he is a well-rounded writer with a bit of a soft-spot for the dramatic. He hopes to use his degree to further himself in the journalism field, where he hopes to write articles and art pieces for a newspaper or magazine one day.  

WARNING: This piece contains explicit content (violence, profanity) and may not be appropriate for all audiences.

Frozen

by Jordan Simon

Everything was a blur. The blackened, decaying trees and frosted grass blades swept by and by in an endless loop; yet, I could hardly be bothered to notice. I had far more pressing matters to attend to — the dreadful chill, which ripped through my body with rising intensity. It stung my face and numbed me to all but my mounting exhaustion. Yet, I didn’t stop; I couldn’t. I knew for sure that if I stopped, or even paused — even for the briefest of moments –, it would all be over.

Her ebon tresses hung limply against her face; her smile — the one I loved so dearly — was but a shadow of itself. I could tell she was only really doing it, for me.

It had started as a simple joke; a brief encounter with the school rumor mill had my two friends, Dave and Chad, and I messing around in the woods in search of a ‘beautiful spirit’. We’d laughed for a good while about it. Dave, the clown that he was, had cracked an array of jokes about it, urging us to humor it. “Ever heard of Yuki-onna?” he said, mysteriously. “Japanese folklore, boys. Legend says that on snowy days, these beautiful maidens arrive and kidnap some lucky SOB to marry forever.” we laughed at that, then he leaned in close, amusement evident on his face. “You guys feel like getting hitched?” Out of all of us, he’d probably been the most amused. It was only natural, I suppose, that he’d gone first.

His jokes normally made me laugh so hard. On this day though, they were hollow, and I was numb.

It had been all too fast for either myself or Chad to even think about doing anything about it. Like a wraith, it had swooped in and snatched him up, his strangled screams echoing in our ears. Whatever that creature was, there was nothing natural about it; and it most certainly wasn’t some beautiful maiden. I hadn’t seen much of it in that short amount of time, but I could tell, just from a glancing look at that monstrosity, that we were in deep shit. So we ran. We ran away like a bunch of cowards and left our friend to die, never even considering him until long after. We ran for what had to have been hours, never seeing it again, but knowing all the same that it was just a few paces behind.

“It’ll be okay. You still have me, right? I’ll never leave you. I promise.”

On our last legs, Chad recommended we split up. “Generic planning aside, it has some merit. That thing can’t chase the two of us, right?” It had sounded like a relatively smart decision at the time and it wasn’t like we’d really had the opportunity to think it through. That said, I found myself quickly regretting it, in hindsight. I desperately missed the meagre comfort that he had provided; the knowledge that, if nothing else, I wasn’t alone. Everything was silent, now. Somehow almost deafeningly, so.

“Y-you’re just…too much. I thought I could handle it, but I really can’t. I’m sorry b-but we’re through.”

I felt the frigid air growing colder; stabbing deeper within my body, and could only deduce that it had chosen to come after me instead of him.

“Shit.”

It was a primal, maddening feeling that welled up, inside of me. One that I could only call fear. I ran. My legs and chest pounded out of sync, adrenaline desperately dragging me for survival. Yet, the cold only seemed to grow more intense. Time became a blend and I found that I couldn’t even recall how long I’d been running. All I knew was that I felt like jelly — cold, muddy, and miserable jelly. But I couldn’t stop. I had to keep pushing. I had to keep moving forward; my life literally depended on it, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that the longer I stalled, the more time Chad would have to get possibly get away. Despite my mind-numbing fear, I wanted my friend to live. So, ignoring the crushing fear, I pushed on. I couldn’t help but laugh a little, as I raced through the woods. If nothing else, no one could ever say I was a bad friend. “Bastard better appreciate this,” I chuckled, a tad bit madly, before jumping over a small, frozen stream and back into the embrace of the rotting woods.

“It’s acute kidney failure, I’m afraid. I’m sorry, son. Perhaps if we’d recognized it sooner, we could’ve done something. I uh-I’m afraid they can only really make her comfortable. It’s best if you said your goodbyes.”

I wasn’t quite sure where I was going. I just numbly stomped ahead. I desperately needed to be doing anything but standing still, and so the frozen grass shattered as my feet pounded along to some unsure destination. In the corner of my eye, amongst the rush of dead wood and black ice, I could see the shadow of my pursuer. By now, the cold had completely numbed me of almost all feeling, and it was really a miracle that I was still moving at all. Ducking under a particularly thick branch, and ignoring the little twigs that scratched my face, I put on another burst of speed and wove through the freezing trees. Yet, the cold was only growing stronger, and I was positive that I was going to die, at this point.

“C-come o-on!” I stuttered. It was only a matter of time now. “You want me right?” but I could, at the very least, make sure that Chad had all of the time that he needed. “Then catch me, you freak!” I called over my shoulder, ducking under a thick underbrush, and rolling through it. Skidding along the icy grass, I found myself sliding painfully down a short hill. I struggled to find my footing, but ultimately fell on my face.

I crashed, bleary-eyed, against the concrete. The rain soaked my hair, mixing seamlessly with the tears of loss. “Fuck it. I think I’ll just stay here, for the night,” I heard myself mumble.

Ignoring the pain in my head and the blood in my eyes, I scrambled back to my feet and quickly staggered away, cradling my throbbing skull. By now, I could vaguely see what looked like a building in the distance.

“I can’t support us both anymore. You need to leave…”

And so, resolute, I ran. I pushed myself even harder — harder than I’d ever tried before and broke into a last-ditch sprint. Snow stung my cheeks as gunned toward the ramshackle building, its form becoming clearer with each step. Finally, I cleared the trees with a staggering leap. “A church,” I  sighed. It was better than nothing.

“Every parent has their favorites. God, for example, seems to hate some of us just a little bit more than others.”

Finally reaching the building, I burst through the doors and immediately set to barricade them with the heavy benches that littered the place. I shoved three over to the doors in just under a minute, and then the sheer exhaustion became too great for anything else. Dragging myself to the front podium, I looked to the statue of Jesus Christ and debating saying a prayer -idly noting the hypocrisy of a non-religious person praying for salvation-. I collapsed before I could decide. I was so tired; so, so very tired. I wanted to just rest, but the unbearable frigidness of the air made it impossible to even think about doing so, and the heavy weight of the very real and still-existing threat on my nerves made it pointless to try relaxing.

We’re sorry to inform you that we don’t really think you’d be a good fit, working here. Thank you for applying

It was right outside and I wondered if the benches would be enough to keep it out. Doubtful. Despite the fact that each one was incredibly heavy — almost too heavy for me to even drag — this thing had lifted one of my best friends — an 180 pound man, and practically flown off with him. Even so, aside from a brief nudging on the door, it did nothing to enter, and so I briefly considered the thought that I might actually be safe. That is, until a very horrific realization struck me. The windows began to rapidly frost over. All but one, just to the right of me.

I’m sorry, but you’re not welcome here. You need to leave.

A disfigured silhouette approached the window to the right of me. Its lanky form hobbled forward unsteadily, like a beast on stilts; much too thin and far too long. It was a bit too far for me to really make out, but I knew that simple glass wouldn’t be enough to keep the creature away. Tears stung my cheeks and froze in place. I had reached my end.

You need to stay away from her. She doesn’t want to see you. I’m sorry.

I tried to smile through the tears. Chad had definitely made it out alive. Whatever the hell this thing was, it had been chasing me the whole time. There was no way it could have gotten to Chad!

Dude, you’re scaring her. You’re scaring us. You need to chill before you do something crazy.

The creature raised one of its spindly arms and gently knocked on the window. All of my fear; all of my previous exhaustion was replaced with mounting fury in the face of such blatant taunting.. “Fuck you!” I yelled at it, angrily. “You’ve caught me, right? Isn’t that enough, you damned MONSTER?” I collapsed to my knees, weak. “Just end it already!”

“Listen man. You need help. This” He gestured to the syringe he’d snatched from me. This isn’t ok.

But it didn’t; it just kept knocking. That damned, incessant knocking on the window, as if politely asking to be let in so that it could kill me. I stumbled over to a bench and sat down. Hell if I was going to walk over and embrace my would-be killer. I wouldn’t give this thing the satisfaction of playing with its food. “You want me? You’re gonna have to come and get me.” I whispered, staring straight ahead.

I laid on my abandoned couch. No money, no home…no friends. I tried to smile; I tried to grin and bear it, the same way she used to. To pretend that it would all be okay.

I failed

The damned thing was persistent. Minutes became hours, and that god-forsaken noise was repeated until it echoed in my head like the beat of a song. Before I knew it, I found myself curled up on the old bench, shivering; that damned sound pounding in my head.

My feet hurt. The pure, white snow contrasted heavily with my bare, frostbitten feet. I ignored it, and kept walking.

“It’s not going to work,” I whispered. “You won’t break me. By now, my friend has definitely made it out and informed the authorities. People are going to come looking for me, and you’ll lose your chance, idiot.” Yeah, Chad had definitely made it out safely. People would be looking for me. As long as I remained patient, I would be fine. “What’s wrong, you afraid of a shitty old place like this? You spent all this time tormenting me. What, did you forget about my friend!?”

A length of rope in my hand

Knock.

“You idiot…”

Knock. Knock.

“You let him get away and now he’ll definitely come back for me.”

Knock. Knock.

“You idiot! You’re wasting your time!”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“CHAD WILL DEFINITELY COME, YOU BAST-” I was cut off as something crashed through the window. I hardly even felt the chill that entered the room, and despite the terror, I grinned with a touch of madness. In some horribly obscure way, this was an ever-so-small victory for me. I got up and laughed. “Finally gave up, huh?” I strutted over to the window, wanting to defy my killer, one last time.

A smile on my face

I was shocked, naturally, when I reached the window and realized that it wasn’t the monster that had smashed through. It was Chad.

“Oh…”

He had been hurled through the window and into the church. His lifeless eyes gazed into my own, and I knew the second I saw him that he’d been dead for some time. His skin was blue, and cracked all over. Like a mere shell of a corpse, and not the actual thing.

“When did you have time to do this?” I cried, looking up into the misshapen face of the creature. It had no eyelids, and its wide, yellow eyes glared into my own. Despite its horrific appearance, it looked oddly familiar. It was smiling, tauntingly; its lipless mouth peeling back to reveal rows of sharpened, yellowing teeth. It raised one of its bony, decaying limbs and gestured to me with its lanky hands, as if asking me to come closer. “How did you fucking find him?” I screamed, hysterically. It tilted its head, amusedly, and a loud pop sounded from its neck. Then, it leaned closer.

For the first time in months, this one…this one was real.

It made a sound, oddly resembling that of a growling chuckle. A pinkish mist slipped out of its mouth as it laughed.

I stopped at a tree. I could still make out the faint branding from all those years ago.

‘Y x A’.

I patted the tree, fondly. Then, I got to work, tossing the rope over a branch.

A pit formed in my stomach as a chorus of knocking echoed from all around me, and my head swiveled around to address those sounds. I wept as I noticed the many, similar forms behind each window — forms, just like the thing in front of me. The air was getting colder again — even colder than before –, my tears froze and shattered as they hit the wooden floor. I could practically feel my body freezing stiff. Its long, scabbed hand reached in through the window, grabbing my face, painfully, and pulling me close. I couldn’t muster up the strength, or even the will to resist. It pulled me close, its lipless mouth covering my own, and I tried to scream as I felt my blood freezing.

I stood on the branch, the rope around my neck. “Mom… I’m coming”. Just one step is all it would take.

I took it, happily.

I was freezing… Frozen… Gone…

Copyright © Jordan Simon (2018) All rights reserved.