Chapter Two

I’ve been fortunate enough in my 27 years of life to not have to experience the sight of something dead.  Not even a funeral.  But, all good things must end.  What stretched before me was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.  It was something that I could never imagine someone can do.  It was an incredible sight, and yet, here it was.

The smell of meat and blood filled the air around me.  It was toxic and hung off the bushes.  The steak that struck the ground pierced what was Greg’s face, forcing his mouth into an eternal scream.  His hands were thrown to his sides, and his legs were just there, opened.  Thankfully he was fully clothed, but it was gruesome nonetheless to think that someone could do THIS to another person.  I stood frozen, unable to move as I just stared at his body.  I couldn’t move my hands, my legs, nothing.  It was stuck there, just like Greg.

The air cooled, and the slight breeze began to stir the bushes.  How could this have happened?  Who would ever think to do this to someone?  So many questions ran through my head.  Was I being stalked?  Were they mad I went on a date with someone other than themselves?  This was a terrible way to show they were upset with me.

I wanted to scream, but my voice wouldn’t work.  This was awful, and I couldn’t do anything.  I couldn’t find help.  I couldn’t cry.  I could only stand there and stare at the corpse of someone who would have made someone else very happy.  I needed to call Angela.  I needed to call the police.  But first, I needed to get away from here.  Whoever did this brought me here for a reason.  They wanted to show me Greg’s body.  They knew what they were going to do, and they wanted to make sure I saw it.

F**k.

It felt like an eternity standing there, waiting for something else to happen.  I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere, not with this.  There was no way to escape this.

“You seem to be in a bit of trouble, friend.  Might you need some help?”  The voice was cold and sharp, like a dark winter night.  “I’m always willing to lend a hand to a friend in need.”

I turned my head.  The only part that did what I wanted.  I couldn’t see anyone.  “Now, now.  When someone asks you a question, it’s polite to answer them.  You wouldn’t want to come off as rude, now would you?”

“Who are you?  Did you do this?”  My voice trembled.  The air barely passed my lips.

“Oh, heavens no!  I hate blood.  It’s far too sticky for me.  If I were to kill someone, I would do it slowly.  Make sure that they felt it every step of the way.  Suffering is such a sweet thing.”

My eyes widened.  Who the f**k was this?  Were they the one texting me.  “Now, friend.  If you wouldn’t mind.  I need to know if you’ll accept my help or not.  It’s imperative that you tell me. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.  It’s been horribly boring these days.”

“Tell me your name first,” I tried.  I inched my legs, but my muscles protested.  There was no way I was going to run.

The voice laughed.  “Once you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.  Fair is fair, friend.”

“You’re not one of Angela’s friends, are you?”

“Certainly not!  I wouldn’t dare venture here tonight if I knew your sister.”

“How… did you know Angela… was my sister?”

“I’ve known about you for quite the while now.  The one thing I haven’t been able to learn is your name.”

“Wait… you’ve been following me?  For how long?  Who the hell are you?!”  My foot moved more.  Was the adrenaline finally kicking in?

“You worry too much.  If I ever meant to do you harm, I would have long ago.  Our meeting here is an indicator of that.  You are safe from me.  I’d never harm you.”

“No!  This is wrong!  You’re playing some kind of game with me now!  There’s no way that you would know anything about me if you haven’t been planning something!  You were the one sending me those texts too!  You took the picture!  You’re really fucked up, I hope you know that.”  I could hardly breathe.  “I’m going to call the police.”

He chuckled again.  “Do what you need to do to make yourself feel more comfortable.  But I assure you, I’m not here to hurt you.  Just to show you what you could be.  To bring you out of your shell a bit more.  You’ve so much potential that you’ve been hiding from yourself for so long.  It’s been a real shame.”

“F**k off!  I’m leaving, and then I’m calling the police.  There’s no reason for me to be here!  What could I do about Greg anyway?  Nothing!  S**t… Greg…”  It finally hit me that he was gone.  Though I didn’t care for him romantically, he didn’t deserve this.  Why couldn’t I keep focused on him?  Whomever this voice was, he was good at keeping me distracted.  “Why me?  What did I ever do?”

“I thought you wanted me to ‘f**k off!’”  He chuckled again.  Frosty little hisses slipped into the air, sending chills up my arms.

I couldn’t stop thinking about trying to move, and Greg, and this voice.  It had to be coming from somewhere.  He couldn’t be all around me, that was for certain.  He had to be behind one of the bushes, sitting, waiting, watching.

Just then, I heard something move.  It was a shift on the pavement.  I looked down, and Greg’s arms and legs twitched.

“Now you are faced with a choice.  You can either tell me your name or fall victim to what remained of Greg.  He’s no longer what he appears, and you need to see that now.  I can help you, or watch you die as well.  What will it be?”

I inched closer to Greg.  “How is he still alive?  This is impossible.”

“He’s no longer living, but nor is he dead.  He is nonexistent and yet he remains.  That is the same power that binds me here now, but his comes from another.  You need to choose to fall prey to him or to save him.  What do you choose?”

The happened so suddenly.  The icy tones slid down my spine.  Greg had to be dead.  Look at him?  No one could live for that long as having a steam sent through their skull.  It was impossible.  Was I going into shock?  I had to be hallucinating.

Greg’s body began to rise, steak and all.  His eyes were hollow, and blood dripped from his mouth.  He hunched over and dragged his hands mere inches above the ground.  He was moving toward me, gurgling in pain.  “Greg… are you… okay?”  He continued to bubble and bleed, but nothing else.  He stepped closer, and I stepped back.

“The time is now!  Make your choice!”  Greg leaped into the air, dropping far too much blood.  What was happening?

His body fell onto me with a hard thud.  I laid face to face with him, the steak pushing against my cheek.  His jaws tried to snap at me, but his breaking teeth were stopped by the metal between them.  “Choose!”

I couldn’t help but scream.  “Nicholas!  My name is Nicholas!”

With that, a thin fog rolled over the cement.  It was cold and reminded me of kitchen freezers when left closed for too long.  Greg’s skin began to frost.  The large eyes of his looked down and widened.  He snapped and snarled more, and the frost spread up his arms, his legs, and enveloped his chest.  His bloody drool began to freeze and harden, connecting the two of us together.  The ice burned into my chest and cracked my thin t-shirt.

“You don’t belong here anymore!”  The frozen voice screamed out.  I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.  They froze to the pool of blood beneath me.

“Help!  Help!” I screamed.  I couldn’t break free from the ice.  It was growing thick and nipped at my ears.  “Someone please help me!”  I could feel tears roll down my cheeks, then stop.  They burned into my skin, leaving streaks falling from my eyes.  “Please!  Anyone!”

“Nicholas!  Shut your mouth!  This isn’t the time to be worrying about other people!  They wouldn’t be able to help you!”  He was angry.  No, focused.  Was I distracting him?

Too f*****g bad!

“Please!  Someone!”

“No one is able to hear you!  No one ever will again if you don’t shut your mouth right now!”

I struggled with the weight and ice.  What was happening?  Where was all this cold coming from?  This wasn’t right.  This couldn’t be true.  I had to be hallucinating.  There was no explanation for any of this.

I closed my eyes and began to recite the only prayer I knew.  It was one we used to say at dinner every night.  I tried to scream the words out, reminding myself that I was still breathing.  My lungs burned as I pulled in great heaves of bitter cold.  But I prayed the best I could.

“Nicholas, I swear to all creation, if you don’t shut up, I will make you!  This isn’t the time to be difficult.  I don’t have the patience for that now.”  I continued praying, louder than I thought possible.  “Do you want to die?”

That silenced me.

Until this moment, I never thought about my own mortality.  I could die right now.  I could freeze to death in this unknown cold.  I could be crushed by the frozen Greg atop me, and no one would know until one of the prep guys threw out the night’s garbage.

I stopped praying and just sat in silence with my eyes closed.

“Finally!”  The voice screamed.  There was a loud crack above me.  Greg’s eyes widened one last time, but they struggled against the ice that encased him.  I could see that he was crying, but he wasn’t in pain.  There was something else in his face.  For all the blood and anger that forced me to the earth, I could see the face of someone feeling relief.

Did Greg, or this bastardization of him, want to die?  Did he need to die?  This was still too much to think about.  I held my lips closed and shifted the best I could.  The cold blood that connected his face to mine snapped into little icicles, falling onto my cheeks before rolling away.  I felt his body relax, and little shards of this and that fell to the ground.  His eyes were closed, and his jaw laid limp.

The fog receded it, and I sat there, frozen, and bloodied.  “You can talk now Nicholas.  He’s dead, for real this time.”

I was speechless.  For everything that would make sense in the world, this wasn’t possible.  This couldn’t have happened.  Someone would have noticed the sudden blizzard.  Someone would have heard my screams, and… why didn’t anyone see?

“I know what you’re thinking.  I have a lot to explain, but tragically no time to do so.  We need to get you back to your car so you can call Angela and tell her you’re all right.  I’ll take care of what remains of Greg, and you’ll go home.”

“I… I"”

“Don’t try to make sense of this right now.  It’ll all be clearer later, I promise.  But for now, you need to do as you’re told and return home.  There aren’t many safe places left in this world, but at least home will always be a refuge.”

Someone grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from Greg.  His back was bright red with fresh blood, and the metal tang of it all stained the inside of my nose.  I couldn’t move again, this time from shock, I was certain.  Everything around me spun around, and then all went black.

Author's Note

I'm looking for general notes. I want honest opinions from people so I know where I may have an opportunity to improve. I know that there may be some conflicting opinion, but I want to weigh all options, even the ones in my own head equally with those provided for me.

Reviews

[Evans]

Loved it, but how you bought up that you character was a little odd. I liked how he take control but it seemed a little out of place when he was so nice claim at first.
It's a great story and I can't wait to see what happens next.
-Evans