FROSTBITE

FROSTBITE

David Warren

Brighton Publishing LLC

435 N. Harris Drive

Mesa, AZ 85203

www.BrightonPublishing.com

Copyright © 2015

ISBN13: 978-1-62183-194-5

eBook

Cover design: Tom Rodriguez

All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. The characters in this book are fictitious and the creation of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Other Books by

David Warren

Jest

“It waits no longer…”

Replica

“Your Greatest Fear Lives"

A Few Reader Reviews

Baron Book Review

“Spine Tingling! Mesmerizing!”

Horror Stew - Review

“This book is a quick read that made me think it would be a great script for a slasher horror movie like Friday The 13
^th
, Night of the Demons, or even Puppetmaster. This is horror, baby! Horror Stew enjoyed it.”

The Written Universe

“If you like a fast paced read, with lively characters, a good plot, some twists and turns and some blood and guts, then this book (Jest) is for you!”

SCREAM Magazine

“A great read!

Shivers of Horror

“Jest is…exactly what a slasher movie should be!”

What a Ride!!

“Jest is like riding a roller coaster. A nice, slow build up the track, lulling you into a false sense of security, and then when you come to the top of that track...and start to go over...the hits, they just don’t quit coming.”

Phenomenal Book!

“Fast-paced, enjoyable, easy-to-read. David Warren nails it in the fright department. The characters were bigger than life, the setting was ancient and timeworn, and the storyline had me guessing in all the right places. Just fantastic!”

Rates 5 Out Of 5 Stars!

“David Warren definitely has a talent for spinning a sweet little tale into a spine-tingling thriller. His writing keeps the reader mesmerized, putting the book down is next to impossible. This book undeniably rates 5 out of 5 stars.”

A Fantastic Read!

“What a wonderful find! I could not put it down. Brilliant story with appealing characters, spectacular twists, turns, and an ending that I did not see coming! A fantastic read for teens who like thrillers or adults who are looking for an entertaining read. Thank you, Mr. Warren, for leaving me wanting more!”

Knockout Debut Novel!

“This author has a great talent for storytelling and capturing real human interaction and this is a knockout debut novel. Count me in for book two. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in good old-fashioned superbly-plotted classic thriller or horror stories.”

Fantastic
!

“Loved the suspense and a real page turner. A+ for David Warren. Great surprise ending; kept me guessing. I would recommend this book to everyone! I can’t wait for the sequel and further publications from this new uprising author. A new name to add to the Stephen King, Dean Koontz category!”

Cannot Wait For More!

“I read the entire book from cover to cover in one sitting and was in awe of the great plot and the twists that David threw in. In my opinion, Stephen King has some serious competition coming from this guy. Cannot wait for more stories from David Warren.”

Couldn’t Put The Book Down!

“I literally couldn’t put the book down. The fast pace in which the story unfolds keeps you glued to the page and I was completely engrossed from cover to cover. I look forward to reading the next book by David Warren and I recommend this book to anyone interested in a true-mystery page turner.”

Exceeded Expectations!

“This story kept me wanting to turn the page to see what came next. It exceeded expectations for a suspenseful story. I recommend this one to all who enjoy this genre, it doesn’t disappoint!”

Loved It!

“I thought this was a great book. I can’t wait till the second book in the series comes out.”

Suspenseful Anti-Bullying novel.

“Smart and imaginative David Warren does an excellent job of capturing your attention once again as he did in his last publication, "JEST.” Keeping you on the edge of your seat, he spins the narrative with skill. In this novel we see the emotional damage that can be done to a young person by bullying. Through this young adult horror story we see a social issue that our young people witness frequently in their schools, and it accurately captures how they feel. We can really relate to Gary as the suspenseful story unfolds and has you wondering what he is going to do! This story does for boys what "Carrie" did for the girls. Great job David. I'll be waiting for the next one...”

Great Fast Paced Read!!!!

“David Warren's sophomore novel, Replica-Your Greatest Fear Lives, is even better than his first! It was a fast paced read that kept me in suspense until the end. He sets up the scene very descriptively so you can easily envision what is going on in your head. I couldn't stop reading this book! You feel sorry for Gary and cheer him on when he gets his revenge! Great job David! Keep the books coming! I can't wait for the next one! I bought this for my Nook on Barnes and Noble but I was so impressed by the book I had to leave a positive review here as well.”

Quick read, but GOOD!

“This is an easy read, and you can be done in about 4 to 5 hours. It is a little out there but I liked it and would recommend it to anyone. The storyline is good and has you thinking of who did it and I did not expect the ending he gave us. Once I started reading I had a tough time to put it down because I wanted to see what happened next. Again a good book I would recommend to anyone.”

Great book.

“This is a great short story. It kept my interest and I read it in less than a week. Interesting plot and good character description.”

Loved it!

“I was a huge fan of David Warren's 1st book & this cemented it!”

Looking forward to another one of his books.

“Birthed by the imagination of a true storyteller, author David Warren delivers a mesmerizing plot with captivating characters and scenes that drip with fear.”

To Don McGuire, whose faith in me never waivers.

Acknowledgements

My wife and I were watching the SyFy Channel a few years back and a show we enjoy called
Destination Truth
was on. Josh Gates and his comrades were trying to hunt down this particular creature and I thought that it would make an interesting concept for a book so…here you are. Thanks Josh!

I was just settling down with a nice cup of tea in front of my cozy fireplace when I first heard the commotion. That’s really when all the trouble began, albeit at the time none of us knew just how much trouble.

At first, I simply ignored it. A mother calling for her daughter around lunchtime during winter break was hardly anything new. Kids were busy running around all over town this time of year. Some loved to make large snowmen, complete with the top hat and button nose. Others engaged in snowball fights while some of the smaller children simply cherished the idea of making snow angels in the sparkling, undisturbed snow.

So there I sat, sipping my tea and thinking what a marvel it was that we had so many children in a town the size of Parker Hills. What was the population? The number two thousand jumped into my head, but I wasn’t sure if that figure was at all accurate.

“Alice?” Called a voice not far from my front door. “Alice? This is enough honey, you need to come and eat your lunch. Alice?” I could tell by the voice that it belonged to Elizabeth Saunders, who ran a bakery on the south side of Main Street with her husband, Tom.

Soon her calls faded as she made her way down the street. A few minutes later, I heard Tom Saunders calling for Alice as well. Frowning, I put my tea aside and stood up. Walking over to the window, I peered out and spotted Tom across the street, scanning the Humphrey’s backyard. “Alice! Come on!”

That’s when I figured something out of the ordinary might be going on. They usually spotted the kid after a couple of minutes. Most of the time it was a simple case of the child losing track of time or they just plain didn’t hear their parents calling for them. I walked over to my coat rack and grabbed my old, tan winter jacket. Same jacket I’ve worn every winter since the late 1960’s. It was a present from my late wife Sarah, although at that time we were just keeping company.

I pulled on my coat and stepped outside just as Tom started to cross the street. “Hey Tom,” I called.

“Hey Fred,” he replied as he stepped up onto the sidewalk. “I don’t suppose you happened to have seen Alice?”

“Afraid not,” I answered him. “But I’d be more than happy to help you look for her.”

Tom’s face brightened up. “Would you? Thanks a lot. When Alice didn’t come home we closed up shop and started looking for her.”

“How long ago?”

Tom glanced at his wristwatch. “Almost an hour ago.”

Yikes, I thought. An hour is a long time, at least for this town. “Okay,” I said to Tom. “You keep on heading down that way and I’ll cut through my backyard and work my way up Maple.”

“Thanks Fred, you’re a life saver!” Tom called as he hurried down the street.

I turned and walked along side my house and into my backyard. During the summer, the first thing that would have normally have caught my eye would have been the large bed of petunias that Sarah had planted years ago. I never was much of a flower person, but ever since Sarah died, I continued to plant the flowers in memory of my wife.

Now, a thick layer of snow blanketed everything in the yard. Christmas was just over a week away and we’ve already had two feet of snowfall this year, starting in late October. The price you sometimes had to pay living so close to the Rocky Mountains, I always said. But I had never seen this much snow in such a short amount of time in my whole life.

I crossed my backyard and quickly made my way through The Johnson’s backyard as well. That brought me out to Maple Street. A cool breeze whipped up as I started walking north along Maple. If I stayed in this direction, I would eventually end up at the kids’ school. Off in the distance, I could hear Tom calling his little girl’s name.

This definitely wasn’t like Alice. She was a beautiful blonde haired eight-year-old girl who always minded her parents. I was sure that this had been a simple mix-up and not an outright attempt to upset her parents.

After a while, I crossed the street and started on another walkway that led into Duncan’s Park. It was a modest park that consisted of a half dozen benches and a large water fountain. During the summer, water would spout several feet into the air and kids would throw lucky pennies into the ankle deep bottom. Now, it was quiet and still. The snow here was mainly undisturbed, so I moved on.

As I walked, I kept darting my eyes from one direction to another. At one point, I came across a small group of kids building a snowman in front of a house that had large decorations of Santa Claus and Rudolph. I asked if they had seen Alice, but none of them had. So on I walked. Eventually, I did end up at Parker Hills Elementary School.

The school had let out for Christmas break only the day before. The playground behind the school looked deserted, but I decided to take a quick look anyway. As I made my way over, I took a deep breath and inhaled the welcoming aroma of chimney smoke.

As I neared the playground, I noticed some indentations in the snow and smiled. A little one had obviously been here. There was a small row of snow angels circling around the swing set. Then I stopped and stared at the other side of the circle.

On the opposite side of the swings, one snow angel looked different from all the others. Frowning, I made my way over. I could see that it started out like all the rest; some small child had swung both their arms and legs in unison to create the angel. But then…something happened.

The top of the angel had been wiped away. Past the angel was a smeared path of sorts, as if whoever was doing the snow angel had been suddenly dragged away head first, off into the snow. I followed the drag marks.

It only lasted several yards and then it simply disappeared. I scanned the area closely, looking for footprints or any other sign that somebody had walked through this area recently. Besides a rather large burrow nearby, the snow was completely undisturbed in the rest of the schoolyard. If somebody actually had been dragged away from the playground, neither the dragger nor the one being dragged ever walked away from this spot. This of course, made absolutely no sense.

Therefore, my only conclusion was these weren’t drag marks after all. They had to be something else. Just as I turned to go, I spotted something half buried in a lump of snow. I bent down and plucked it off the ground. It was a single pink glove with what looked like a little blood on it, and what looked like some blood smeared in the snow next to it. Just the right size for an eight-year-old girl.