FROSTBITE (9 page)

“Sleep?” Stephanie almost laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that again.”

“I understand,” I said as I stared into the dim light of the candle that rested in the center of our table. It was almost hypnotic, and after a few moments I found myself relaxing. I started to remember a candlelight dinner that Sarah and I had once, shortly before we were married.

“This is suicide,” Ted’s sarcastic voice interrupted my peaceful moment.

“Why don’t you try calming down and take a seat,” I said as evenly as I could.

“I am gonna go out back, get into my car and get outta here is what I am going to do,” he retorted.

“How much snow do you think has fallen so far?” I asked, turning so I could see him.

“Huh?” he asked. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe a foot. So what?”

“It might be a foot, it might be more,” I answered. “Do you really think that you would have the time to scrape all that snow off your car and back out of the alley onto an unpaved road before
they
got you? The defroster wouldn’t be enough to clear your windshield. It is almost zero visibility out there right now as well, have you thought of that?”

Ted slumped onto a nearby stool. “So we’re stuck.”

“For now,” I replied. “Even if the snow hasn’t let up by morning, we should still be able to see fairly well and might be able to flag someone down.”

“Great,” he grumbled and then turned toward the counter and put his head down. I glanced over and saw that the boys had bundled up their coats and were apparently trying to sleep as well. Stephanie was still sitting up however.

“I’m sorry,” she said, barely above a whisper.

“For what?” I asked.

“For freaking out all night,” she said, tears shimmering in her eyes. “It’s just that, you know, I kinda liked Billy…a lot.”

“I know,” I answered. “And I know that he liked you too.”

Stephanie smiled. “You think so?”

“Absolutely,” I replied. “What’s not to like? Furthermore, you don’t need to apologize for anything. We have all been through the ringer tonight and you have acted very normal under these circumstances.”

This seemed to make her feel better. “Thanks,” she said, obviously fatigued. “I am going to try and rest now. I don’t know if I will be able to actually sleep, but I’ll try.”

“I think that would be a wise idea,” I smiled as she laid her head down on the table. I held my hands in front of the candle, trying to steal some of its warmth. Then, I tucked my head down and closed my eyes.

Whack!

My eyes fluttered open and, to my astonishment, it was daylight. I looked out the very top of my window and saw that the sun was starting its ascension into the sky. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was six thirty. Our candle was nearing the end of its wick, but was still burning. Stephanie was asleep and I turned to see that that the boys were also still slumbering.

Something had awakened me, but I couldn’t remember what. Some kind of thumping noise perhaps? Then I noticed that Ted, who apparently during the night had decided to stretch out across the counter, was now sitting up, pointing at the windows with a trembling finger.

I turned and saw the table top that he had wedged into the window had fallen, and the dead worm was gone. I quietly stood up, looked down on the floor and almost yelped. The carcass was on the floor. But what had pushed it off the table? Then I noticed a trail of slime, not unlike what a snail would make, which made its way down the room and under one of the booths further up toward the front of the diner.

I held up my hands to Ted and pointed at the floor. He hesitantly leaned over, spotted the trail and quickly leaned back. My mind was spinning. What had attracted the worm’s attention? We were as silent as church mice all night long. Could it actually have remembered that we were in here? That seemed like a long shot. I had a feeling that it was something else altogether, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it at the time.

I motioned for Ted to get down off the counter, but he vehemently shook his head no. Frowning, I snatched up the butcher knife from the table I had left it on the night before and started to slowly make my way down the aisle. About half way there, I heard a soft moaning sound. It turned my blood cold. I froze for a moment, not wanting to move on. Finally I did take another step.

That’s when the worm shot out from under the table and, like a rocket, catapulting itself directly at me. I screamed and threw myself backwards onto the cold, hard floor. The creature landed a few feet in front of me and quickly began to squirm toward me. Its suction cup mouth opened wide, and its razor sharp teeth glimmered in the early morning light. “Ted, help!” I hollered.

Ted leaned over the counter, saw my situation and jumped down. “Screw that,” he cried, “Now’s my chance!” With that statement, he spun on his heels and darted into the kitchen, which led to the rear exit to the alleyway. That’s when I felt the excruciating pain. The creature had rapidly caught up to me and bit down into my left calf. I howled loudly, trying to swing my knife down into the creature without stabbing myself.

One swing hit home, and the creature let go of my leg. It then quickly sprang up, almost like a King Cobra would do, and I could tell it was getting ready to strike the fatal blow.

That’s when I heard the screaming, except this time, it wasn’t me. From over top of my head, a large ball of fire struck the worm squarely in the face, setting it instantly ablaze. Turning, I saw Stephanie standing over me, holding our candle in one hand and a can of hairspray in the other. She was unrelenting on the worm, spraying it as much as the can would allow.

I slowly backpedaled across the floor, trying not to get caught on fire myself. The creature writhed in pain, smashing into one of the nearby stools and then onto the floor. It lunged forward, and then wriggled back again. Stephanie stood directly over top of the worm, still holding down on the aerosol as hard as she could, screaming the entire time. The worm had stopped moving; it was dead. The girl, however, continued on.

I gripped the side of a nearby table and tried to stand, but I didn’t quite make it. The pain in my leg was bad, but it was another ache that made me fall back onto the floor. This discomfort was in my chest. It suddenly felt like an elephant was sitting on top of me. My left arm started to feel funny as well, as if I had abruptly struck my funny bone. As quickly as it had come however, it disappeared. I propped myself against the far wall and shimmied myself up and stumbled over to Stephanie, who still trying to spray the worm, even though the hairspray can was now empty.

“It’s okay,” I said, lowering her hands down. “It’s okay Stephanie.”

She turned and looked at me and laid her head on my shoulder, sobbing. “I guess it was a good thing I had my purse with me,” she managed to say.

 I turned and saw that Kevin and Brad were standing by the bathroom door, a look of both horror and amazement on their young faces. “You boys okay?” They nodded.

I hugged the young girl as best I could. “You did well, Stephanie.”

“Is it…dead?” she squeaked.

“Quite,” I answered, looking down at the smoldering cadaver at my feet. I then heard the noise of a motor and, turning, I saw Ted drive by in his orange Volkswagen. He never even slowed down to see if we were alright or needed help as he drove by. I aided Stephanie into a nearby booth. “Rest here for a minute.”

“Is that it?” Brad asked, walking over to me. “Was there only two?”

“Well,” I replied. “I honestly don’t know. Ted obviously didn’t have any trouble running away.”

“He left us,” Kevin croaked.

“I know,” I said, looking over at the young boy. Then turning back to Brad I said, “There’s only one way to find out.” I reached down and plucked my good old butcher knife off the ground. Taking a long look at the three young people left in my care, I turned and started toward the front door.

It took considerable effort, but I was finally able to open the door. It was still snowing, but the wind had died down considerably and the sunlight helped make things clearer. I looked around me in all directions. There were dozens upon dozens of snow mounds, ranging in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Any one of them could have been white death in disguise.

I hesitantly took one step outside. I remembered just yesterday how silly I felt of being afraid of the snow. Now, it seemed like the most natural feeling in the world. My breathing came hard to me as I left the diner completely. I held the butcher knife up, ready to plunge it down in a second if I had to.

I walked slowly along the deeply buried sidewalk; stopping when I reached what I thought would be my car. It was hard to tell if it was in fact my vehicle, due to the large amount of acumination that smothered it during the night. Taking a quick look around, I took my hand and brushed the passenger’s side door. A large amount of snow fell off and hit the ground. I held my breath. Although it was an extremely trivial noise, it might have sounded like an earthquake to our slithering friends.

After a full minute of not moving, I dusted off some more. I could see the dark blue color of my Honda. If I could clear off the windshield then I could gather up the kids and get to safety, wherever that would be. The first stop, I assumed, would be the police station and hope that Sheriff Jones was there. I started yanking snow off the windshield of my car.

It appeared that we had received closer to two feet of snow throughout the night. I expected the county workers were already starting to plow the streets if they were able to get their trucks out of the garages on the outskirts of town. . Instinctively I turned and saw Stephanie and the Connor boys staring at me from within Lovell’s.

It was then that I heard the noise. I stopped shoveling the snow and listened keenly. It sounded like an ugly roar and I was one hundred percent sure that in a moment, an army of the creatures would be on me, tearing my flesh to bits. I closed my eyes and awaited my end. It didn’t arrive, however.

After opening my eyes again and straining my ears, I could now tell that it was a car engine, slowly coming toward me. After another moment, I spotted a green and tan police cruiser and my heart jumped a beat. I suddenly had another sharp pain, but it too quickly faded away.

The cruiser stopped in the middle of the street and in the driver’s seat, was a smiling Sheriff Alex Jones. In the passenger seat was his deputy, John Rogers. He put the car in park and stepped out of the vehicle. “Boy am I glad to see you,” he said with obvious relief.

“You have no idea Alex,” I sighed. Then, like a bolt of lightning, I suddenly realized that he was standing in the deep snow. Were there any more worms? “Get back in the car!” I yelled.

Alex’s smile vanished. “What?”

“You don’t know, do you?” I yelled, “It might not be safe!”

Instead of listening to me, he made his way over to me. “Whoa Fred, calm down,” he said, resting an arm on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“How did you know we were here?” I asked.

“Kevin and Brad’s mother called us,” he answered. “She said you guys were heading into town to the diner. I tried to reassure her that if they were with you then they were fine and then the phone lines died. We figured you guys might have gotten snowed in, like we did at the station. As the weather lightened up some, John and I dug our way out and here we are.”

“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, they’re inside along with Stephanie Adams.”

“I knew the boys were in good hands,” he said respectfully. “You okay?”

“No,” I said somberly. “We have several people dead here.”

Alex’s face lost what little color it had. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not more,” he said, more to himself than to me.

“I did my very best,” I said to him. “But, we didn’t know…”

“Didn’t know what?” he asked.

“Follow me,” I said as he motioned for John to join us. “Let’s go into the diner.”

“Sure,” he obliged and he and his deputy trudged through the snow and into Lovell’s.

“Remember Larry’s dog Spike?” I asked as we crossed the threshold.

“How could I forget?” he replied solemnly.

“Here is his killer,” I said, stepping away so he could get a look at the two dead worms on the floor.

“What on earth…” he gasped.

“This is what pinned us in the diner last night,” I continued. “We would have been able to have gotten home before the storm hit too bad, but these…things attacked us.”

“Attacked you?” John Rogers repeated, not believing what his own eyes were seeing.

“They killed Harry Meadows, Elaine Bernhard and young Billy Wilson,” I said, choking back my sorrow.

“No,” Alex said, dropping into a nearby booth. “No…” He looked at me through tear-stained eyes. “You mean Norm Donaldson and little Alice Saunders?” I nodded.

“What…what are they?” John croaked.

Glancing back at Brad Connor, I simply replied, “Some species of worm we guessed, possibly a creature that lived near the top of the mountains, out of sight, until now.”

“Why come down now?” John asked.

“Maybe the food supply ran low,” I answered. “Or perhaps the amount of snow we’ve had made them seem a little less timid; it’s anyone’s guess.”

“Unbelievable,” he muttered.

Alex looked down and saw my bleeding leg. “Fred,” he said. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s not too bad,” I lied.

“We have to get you to the hospital,” he exclaimed, jumping up.

“That’s fine,” I agreed, “But let’s take care of the kids first. They have been through quite an ordeal, and I would like them to be treated first.”

“Of course,” Alex said, motioning for the kids to follow him. “Let’s get out of here.”