ICE (The Benders Series) (5 page)

If nothing made sense before, now it was twice as ludicrous. What had begun as a search for answers had only produced more questions and utter confusion.

CHAPTER FOUR

Vampire?

No. He didn’t seem to avoid the sun, nor did he have pointed teeth.

Zombie?

No. He wasn’t dead looking, nor did his body seem in any way decrepit or weak.

Werewolf?

No. He wasn’t particularly hairy, nor did that explain his uncommon coldness.

Well, maybe a werewolf. He was hot, arrogant, and seemed to travel in a pack. Maybe he was even an alpha as he was obviously the best-looking and most talented as compared to his blond-haired brothers. No. He clearly wasn’t warm blooded. Perhaps he was a werewolf who was also a zombie. Yes. He was definitely a zomwolf.

She sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned away from the computer screen in defeat. Kenna had probably searched a thousand different titles and read a hundred articles on paranormal beings. Unfortunately, none of them quite fit the bill. In all her research, she found not a single description of a cold-handed, snow-eating, half-frozen type of people who could withstand sub-zero water temperatures but remain subtle enough in all other aspects of life that no one would legitimately suspect that they were indeed supernatural.

She thought about asking Britney about it, but quite frankly wasn’t willing to sacrifice the friendship for her irrational instincts. And she knew she was being irrational. Indeed, Kenna realized that she had absolutely no hard evidence to prove her silly theory.

The girl reached her hand up towards her face and let her fingers brush her warm lips. The kiss had been so unexpected… and wonderful. A part of her hated how much she enjoyed the tender touching of their lips, and a part of her was in love. Jon had been so cruel to her, even embarrassed her in front of all those people. It was like he couldn’t stand to be near her. Yet, he was the one who jumped into the depths of the freezing river to rescue her. He was the one who initiated their romantic kiss.

She sighed again. Kenna had absolutely no read on the handsome Colewell, a fact that altogether frustrated her, but also intrigued her.

The girl had no intentions of forgetting the kiss or forgetting her premonitions of the paranormal. Although a part of her wanted to investigate the boy from a safe distance, another part of her sought to confront him.

You are zero for two on confronting the kid
, Kenna reminded herself as she strolled into the kitchen for a light snack.
But maybe third time is the charm
, she thought with a renewed sense of optimism.

Yes, Kenna knew that she would have to confront Jon again. If nothing else, she at least had to ask him about the kiss. That much information she knew she was entitled to.

The problem, of course, was that she had no idea how to get ahold of the Colewell, which she wanted to do this weekend or certainly before school restarted on Wednesday. Kenna supposed she could ask Britney for their address and perhaps say she found some random item at the park that she wanted to return to the Colewells. Yes, that would be her plan. She’d go directly to the Colewell house herself and get to the bottom of things.

The girl whipped out her cell phone and told Britney the fake little story to retrieve the address in question. She didn’t like that she was lying to her friend so she decided that she’d actually bring something along to pretend to give to the boy. After hanging up the phone and rummaging through a few boxes, she fell upon an old hat of her fathers and decided that it would be a suitable item.

After deciding that now was the time to act and receiving permission from her father, Kenna made her way into her vehicle.

The drive had been quite short as Kenna pulled onto a long, gravel driveway. The Colewells lived a few miles out of town, on an otherwise deserted road. Kenna could feel her stomach begin to twist into knots as she neared the house. In a matter of a few short seconds, the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and the out-of-control grove in front of the house covered any light that might have escaped their white covering.

Who would want to live in darkness like this
? Kenna asked herself as she pulled up near the modest looking house.

Had it not been encased by the blackness of the dead trees and snow-covered evergreens, it would have been a pleasant looking place. Instead, it looked threatening, cold, and malicious.

Despite her growing feelings of danger and animosity towards the home, Kenna stepped out of her vehicle, marched through the several feet of snow- which she didn’t understand could exist in such a tree protected environment- and made her way to the front door.

As she began to knock, the door creaked open, and a tall, slender woman stood before her. Though she looked to be in her mid-forties, the woman’s hair was so blond that it was practically white as it cascaded down the woman’s shoulder in an elegant braid. Her eyes glowed blue through deep and faintly wrinkled eye sockets.

Kenna swallowed hard and realized that she had been awkwardly staring at the woman. “Hi, um, I think someone may have left this at the rink,” Kenna explained quickly, holding out the old hat. “Is Jon home?” she asked, though she found herself quite intimidated by the woman.

“Who’s asking?” the woman interrogated with a frown after snatching the hat from Kenna’s hand.

Kenna was growing more uncomfortable with every passing second, feeling that this middle-aged monster had some sort of unfair hostility towards her. “Kenna,” she answered, “an acquaintance.”

“And why would an acquaintance be so bold as to come…”

“Enough Mom,” came a voice from the darkness behind the woman. Kenna quickly recognized the voice to be that of Bryce as he stepped into the entry. “Hey Kenz,” he greeted, “I’ll go grab him.”

With Bryce disappearing into the house, Kenna was left standing in the presence of Mrs. Colewell, an angry and unfriendly Mrs. Colewell. The woman didn’t say another word as they waited for Jon to come. She stood loathsomely, with her arms folded across her chest and a glare plastered across her face. Kenna did her best to avoid eye contact with the woman as she glanced around the yard trying to find something more interesting to distract her mind.

But before she could find such an object, she heard a shuffle from inside and her ‘acquaintance’ appeared. Kenna noticed the woman give her son a scowl as she turned back into the house to leave the pair to themselves.

When Jon came out, Kenna felt a gust of arctic air swing itself around her. Jon looked a bit different than the last time she’d seen him. He seemed relaxed and somewhat approachable instead of stuck-up and jerkish. His face was free of its usual tension, and he appeared much more boyish and charming.

Another difference was a very obvious injury to his perfect, pale face. Both of his lips appeared to have fragmented blisters and burns like someone had held a candle to his mouth. Kenna did her best not to stare at the wound.

“She’s a charmer,” Kenna stated sarcastically seeing that the door was fully closed and that the two were alone. She could see that Jon was nervous as he was deliberately avoiding eye contact, so she wasn’t sure how to press on with the conversation. “Are you a vampire?” she ask, jumping right to one of her several main points.

Jon looked up at her with a smile. It was the first smile she’d seen him smile. And if he’d been an eleven before, now he was a twelve. “What?” he laughed.

“Just be real with me,” she said with a touch of seriousness. “I won’t tell anyone. I mean, you are cold, good-looking, can survive extremely cold water.”

“I’m not a vampire,” Jon chuckled. “I swear,” he assured seeing that she wasn’t completely joking.

“A werewolf? A zombie? A zomwolf?” she pressed find herself growing lighthearted and less severe.

“No,” he said again. “What about you? Are you a temptress of sorts?”

“I don’t even know what a temptress is,” Kenna confessed with a shrug. She found herself once again staring at the blisters upon his once flawless lips and couldn’t help but to bring herself to ask, “So what happened to your mouth? This kiss was so bad that you had to destroy any of its possible remnants?”  The later of the questions was, of course, to add a bit of levity to the strange and daring initial inquiry.

He laughed again. “Frostbite actually. I thought the kiss was quite… fine,” he paused in an attempt to find a suitable word.

“Fine?” Kenna requested. “I guess I’ve heard worse insults.”

They both smiled, and then an awkward silence built up around them like a giant dam just waiting to burst and let the waters of truth flow from its mouth.

“Would you like to go on a date?” Jon asked, quickly releasing the dam and relieving them both of the anxiety within them.

“I don’t know if I should go on a date with a vampire, and a rude vampire at that,” she said hotly though she had every intention of accepting the offer.

“Yea, sorry about that,” he apologized. “I guess you sort of just catch me off guard in a way. And I’m not used to that I suppose.”

Pleased with the explanation, she let her lips curl into a flattered grin, “Then a date it is, I guess.”

“Awesome,” he replied with an awkward enthusiasm.

Kenna wasn’t certain if he was being sarcastic or was genuinely thrilled that she accepted the invitation. In fact, she was more uncertain about him than she was about the quadratic formula and all the other mathematical jargon that seemed to evade her usually self-assured intellect. But despite the uncertainty, she couldn’t help but to be captivated by the Colewell- unlike challenging mathematical equations- and was somewhat hopeful when it came to the idea of dating the boy. If she were to be completely honest with herself, she was very attracted to Jon and his somewhat disheveled handsomeness.

“Would there be a good day for you then?” he asked as he positioned himself face to face with the blushing girl.

Kenna quickly diverted her gaze in an attempt to hide her flushed face. She felt a nervous chill tickle her insides as his masculine body stood before her. “Next Sunday,” she answered with a hidden beam. “A week from today. We can meet at the park? I’ll call you?”

“I don’t have a phone. I always lose them. You’ll have to text Bryce. But sounds perfect,” Jon answered.

Not quite sure how to end the conversation, Kenna stepped away from her good-looking date. “See you then,” she said swiftly as she turned away from him and back towards her vehicle.

“Looking forward to it,” he added as she stepped into her still-warm car.

The girl then drove out of the trees as fast as possible, giving herself no time to reconsider her acceptance. But that was indeed what she did as soon as she pulled back onto the main road.

Kenna felt suddenly like a failure. Her mission had been to get answers and to investigate, not be swooned by Jon and his arrogant but appealing persona. The girl rolled her eyes at herself for her weakness. But in a way, she supposed that going on a date would allow her to get even closer to the Colewell and give her a convenient opportunity to further study him.

Because if there was one thing she knew, it was that Jon Colewell was not normal. Not normal at all.

CHAPTER FIVE

Tons.

Tons had happened in the past few weeks that it was becoming difficult for Kenna to process all of her memories. As she lay awake in the comfort of her bed, the girl began to relive some of the highlights of the past month.

Her first day of school.

Kenna could remember every detail as she replayed the memories like they’d been a movie in her head.

Kenna slipped on her new white jacket and tossed her bag over her shoulders. She would have been lying to herself if she said that she hadn’t been nervous. No, she felt like a chicken about to enter a fox’s pen. Her only hope was that Britney, her agile friend, might provide some means of comfort or escape.

“I’ll drive you if you want,” her father offered as he entered the sanctity of his daughter’s bedroom.

“No, I will take myself,” she had clarified without reluctance. “The last thing I need is daddy dropping me off at school like I’m in kindergarten.”

He laughed a bellied laugh. “Okay then. Just don’t be late.”

Kenna sighed, “I won’t be.” She paused for a moment as she approached her father. “Just tell me it’ll all be good.” She hugged him tightly.

Kenna couldn’t remember the last hug she’d given, or received for that matter. Her mom didn’t even hug her when Kenna boarded her flight to Minnesota. For a moment, Kenna wanted to cry, but knew that tears wouldn’t get her out of school.

“It’ll be great,” her dad comforted as he gave her a squeeze. “Are you sure daddy can’t drive you?” he joked with a grin.

“Positive,” she said upon releasing her father. “Now off I go. Pray for me,” she added as she marched downstairs and out the front door.

Although the school was only six blocks away, Kenna had no intentions of showing up to school as a frozen, teary-eyed newbie. Instead, she wanted to show up in style, in her relatively new, black Cadillac. Without further a due, she shifted into drive and began the five-minute drive to her educational destination.

With how nervous she’d been over the last few weeks, Kenna figured her blood pressure must have shot up several points. Feeling her heart rate begin to crescendo as she parked and began the walk into the building, Kenna was immediately relieved to see Britney waiting directly inside.

“Hey!” she greeted. “I was hoping I would catch you!”

Kenna tried to look relaxed. “Yea, no kidding. I mean this school is about a tenth of the size of my old one, but that doesn’t change the fact that I know where absolutely nothing is,” she admitted as she took a walk by her happy brunette friend.

“No worries,” Britney comforted. “I’m glad you showed up a little early so that I can give you a rundown of everything before the bell rings.”

With that said, Britney went into tour guide mode and proceeded to direct Kenna toward the senior hallway.

“This is your locker. Not even far from mine!” she noted, pointing at her locker that was only three stalls away. “Actually, I already organized it for you a bit. I talked to the principal and managed to get you on pretty much the same schedule as me! Well, I have band and choir during fourth hour, and you just have study hall, but otherwise it’s a match!” she explained as she handed Kenna a half sheet of paper that listed the schedule.

Kenna raised her eyebrows, a little impressed and slightly creeped out at how diligent Britney could be. “Awesome. That will definitely make things easier!”

Britney seemed pleased to see a look of relief come over her friend’s face. “Yep!” she smiled. “And you’ll have that study hall with Bryce so he can help you find that room when the time comes.”

Kenna nodded. “Thanks,” she said appreciatively. “Hopefully things with Bryce won’t be awkward or anything.”

“Awkward?” Britney asked. “Why are you two dating or something?”

She laughed out loud for a moment but hushed herself when she noticed people looking her direction. “No,” she clarified. “Jon and I have a date this weekend though, and Bryce is his brother and all.”

Britney went slack-jawed at the comment. “What?!” she burst, quickly settling her voice as well. “Congrats. You should have told me!” she said in a new hushed tone.

Kenna shrugged. “Kind of a weird thing to just blurt out I guess. But you are the only one who knows except Bryce probably so please keep it on the down-low.”

Her bubbly friend replied quickly, “Of course! But I will demand all the details afterward and of course details on how he asked you out in the first place.”

“Deal,” Kenna smiled. She couldn’t remember ever having a girlfriend that she could really confide in about boys and dating but honestly liked the thought.

And just as the conversation ended, a very standard school bell sounded throughout the hallway, signaling for the school day to officially begin.

“Well, off we go to psychology. You’ll love Mr. Schmidt. He’s a great teacher. So is Mrs. Ochs, she’s a super sweet lady. It’s Mrs. Hoffmann in math that’s the nut. You’ll have to watch out for her,” Britney stated as she grabbed her bag from her locker.

“Perfect. I’ll need all the tips I can get!” Kenna said with a grin. And together they made their way down a flight of stairs and into a small room of some forty desks facing a large white board. As the school day continued, Kenna realized that that was just about what all the rooms looked like. They were all small, all with about forty desks, a teacher’s desk, and a white board. Though it was monotonous, it was nice to know what to expect from each room.

And so, as the day progressed, she found that it was quite easy to become familiar with the small school and that navigating through it wouldn’t even qualify as a problem.

Actually, so far, she hadn’t met a single problem on her first day of school, a thought that was sure to jinx things.

As the noon bell rang and dismissed the students for lunch, Kenna and Britney made their way to their lockers to rest their books and bags. But when Kenna closed the locker door, she turned and practically ran into the large male standing behind her.

“Hey, it’s Jason. Remember me, KennDoll? I was the dude who carried you to Brit’s car the other night,” he boasted, reminding Kenna of the humiliation of the Bonfire.

“Yea, thanks,” Kenna replied though she could hardly stand the sight, sound, or over-cologned smell of the jock.

“You should come to one of my ball games. I’m due to score my thousandth point this season,” he bragged with a half-smile. Kenna could see the gum between his teeth as he sat there waiting for her response.

“I don’t know. She’s probably going to come cheer me on at all my games,” Britney said, winking at Kenna, who clearly wanted nothing to do with the conversation with Jason.

“Well, how’s about a date then? Movie at my place. Nice comfy couch. Popcorn. My awesome face kissing on your awesome face,” he jeered though completely serious.

“Sorry,” Kenna apologized, trying to turn him down kindly. After all, he was trying to be nice. Maybe he didn’t know how air-headed and arrogant he came off. “I am actually seeing someone. Kinda.”

The jock looked positively flabbergasted at her decline. “Already? Not someone as great as me? Who are you dating?”

Kenna swallowed hard and looked to Britney for help. Her friend, however, wasn’t skilled in the art of lying so was altogether quiet at this point.

“Jon,” Kenna admitted. “We’re not official or anything, but when I date someone I try to keep it at just that someone. Thanks for the offer though.”

It was blatantly obvious to the girls that Jason was not entirely used to rejection. Nevertheless, the look of anger and shock on his face was enough to cement Kenna’s feeling of impatience with the boy.

“Huh,” he finally managed to say. “That freak Colewell? Really? Oh well, don’t come begging when you realize that he’s not all that great.”

“I won’t,” Kenna smiled a smile that trumped his arrogance. And with that said, she and Britney pushed past the jock and made their way to the cafeteria.

Oh, the cafeteria. If there was one thing that would take her mind off Jason and his conceit, surely it would be food!

The pair made their way down a single flight of stairs, through a few unexciting hallways, and into a modest cafeteria. Even though Kenna was from a much larger school, she knew the significance of lunch hour in any high school.

Lunch was when everyone was free to split off into their cliques. In Florida, there were several social circles. There were the jocks, the preps, the bullies, the druggies, the geeks, the farmers, the rich kids, and too many more to list. But here, there were only ten tables, and if you weren’t apart of one of the few groups, you were an obvious outcast.

From what Kenna could make of it, there was a popular table for both boys and girls for each of the three grades having lunch. There was also a farmer’s table and a few others that she couldn’t quite define by their sitters’ appearances.

As she and Britney grabbed their plates, Kenna couldn’t help but to ask, “So where do you usually sit?”

The smiling lunch ladies proceeded to fill the girls’ plates as they chatted. “I used to sit at the end of Chelsea’s table. But I need a change of scenery. You in?”

Kenna felt a smile set upon her face. “Let’s do it.”

With that, the pair proceeded to sit on a half empty table whose other residents were a few kind-hearted outcasts.

“I’d rather sit here then listen to Chelsea’s gossip any day,” Britney commented. “I can only imagine what the witch is talking about right now.”

With that said, they turned to eye the plastic blond. As it just so happened, the popular girl was staring back at them and pointing. Her pointing quickly changed as she wrapped her hands around her throat to mock drown. Clearly, she was laughing about Kenna’s not-so-funny near death experience with the rest of the girls on the table.

Kenna rolled her eyes and shrugged off the girl’s prodding.

“Told you I can’t stand her,” Britney mentioned. “Like I said, I try to keep my distance.”

Though Kenna longed to be confrontational, for the moment, she agreed that Chelsea wasn’t worth her effort. And she hoped it would stay that way. And it did at least of the rest of the day.

Kenna felt a mixture of irritation and optimism when she thought about how her first day and first week of school had gone. No, it hadn’t been perfect, but it was much better than what she’d experienced in Florida. Britney had quickly become her best friend, and an actual friend.

She hadn’t been fake or forced or any of that. Instead, she’d been helpful and kind. Sure, Britney was a bit pushy about some things, but everyone had to have some kind of flaw, Kenna figured.

The girl rolled over again in her bed and began to ponder upon another of the recent happenings.

Her first date with Jon Colewell.

A smile came to her face at just the thought of his name.

Sunday.

Except not really a sun-day. Instead, clouds protected the winter from the sun’s shining rays. Though really it looked more like one cloud, one giant grayish white mass that seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon with no gaps, no holes, like a giant impenetrable shield.

And then there was the ice.

Ice.

So much ice.

Clearly an ice storm had passed through the night before and had coated every little thing with its clear, frozen expulsions. Kenna was quite pleased with the sight as she made her way to where she’d be meeting Jon.

Every tree, every branch, every cherry that still clung to its crippling twig was covered in the solid water. To the girl, it was almost like time stood still as she marched on, doing her best not to slip on the way of course. Not a living thing moved. Not a living thing breathed like they were afraid that the tiniest of movement might shatter their enchanted, icy cover.

Normally Kenna would be nervous for a meeting like this, but the wonder of the winter somehow had her very at ease.

Probably too at ease. For as she neared the park, she found herself suddenly rear down on the street.

“Shit,” she whispered under her breath as she hit the hard ground. But upon standing, she was grateful that such an event took place before she was with her date.

Jon Colewell.

Upon the days leading up to the date, Kenna decided that she’d do her best to leave her thoughts of the paranormal behind her…or at least inside her. Though the investigator within her longed to examine and interrogate the boy, she decided that for the time being she’d simply enjoy their outing. If she were honest with herself, enjoy would be an understatement as she was secretly thrilled to be meeting the handsome Colewell today.

Quite frankly, he was one of the best-looking people she’d ever seen. His tousled dark hair, his glowing blue eyes, his ridiculously masculine build…her mouth was watering at the thought of him!

Despite her crush, Kenna knew better than to let any boy get a big head. So for now, she’d let him play chase a little. But as she looked upon the ice rink to where the boy was waiting for her, she couldn’t help but think that hiding her feelings would be quite a difficult task, more difficult that teaching an overgrown elephant how to climb a tree.

Nevertheless, she approached Jon with a beautiful easiness with her hair and her posture very relaxed and at ease. There was silence for a moment, but Kenna interrupted the awkwardness as soon as she realized that it existed. “So, what’s on the agenda for our date?” she asked.