Frostbitten (17 page)

Slowly, Anastasia rose
from the rocking chair and crept out of her bedroom. She’d just entered the
foyer when her grandparents came down the stairs, whispering in serious tones.
Anastasia retreated until she was out of view; however, she made sure that she
could still hear what they were saying. She also watched them, noting how the
glow from a nightlight made them look like creepy shadow people.

“Why do
you
have
to be the town hero?” Mrs. Lockhart demanded. “You’re too old for this.”

“Shhh...don’t wake up
Anastasia,” Mr. Lockhart scolded as he opened the closet to retrieve his coat
and boots. “You know that I’m not trying to be a hero. There are several other
men out there who are tracking this thing. And for the record, I’m not too
old.”

“Those other men aren’t
my husband. Please, Fredrick, I can hardly sleep because of worry.”

Mr. Lockhart sighed
before stepping forward and kissing his wife’s forehead. “I don’t have a
choice. The werewolf has to be killed.”

Anastasia muffled her
gasp. If her grandfather was so convinced the werewolf was real that he’d risk
his life to find him, then it must be true. With a pounding heart and feeling
almost sick, she realized that all his odd behavior came down to the werewolf –
he was just trying to keep her safe. Suddenly, a terrifying thought entered her
mind. What if Frost had been on his way to see her when he was attacked by the
werewolf? For all she knew, he could be lying in the woods, hurt and scared, or
worse, he could already be dead. These thoughts panicked Anastasia, resulting
in an insatiable need to uncover exactly what was going on.

“Go to bed, Rose,” Mr.
Lockhart continued. “Take one of those sleeping pills, and when you wake up
tomorrow morning, we’ll hopefully have a better idea of where the beast is
hiding.”

“Be careful,” Mrs.
Lockhart begged as he exited the house.

Mr. Lockhart stopped
outside the open door to glance at his wife. “I promise,” was all he said
before disappearing into the night.

Anastasia waited
impatiently as her grandmother walked up the stairs. When she heard the bedroom
door closing, she hurried to the closet and then put on her coat and boots.
Within seconds, she was outside, searching for her grandfather, Frost and
answers.

It was a bitterly cold
night, and the crescent moon offered little light. Even the small, twinkling
stars seemed further away than usual. Still, Anastasia soon found her
grandfather scurrying toward the shed at the side of the house. Staying hidden
behind a tree, she watched as he unlocked the shed, entered and returned a moment
later with a rifle. As a child, Anastasia remembered being strictly told to
stay away from that locked shed; now she knew why.

Her grandfather
proceeded to hurry toward the road, passing so close to the tree which
Anastasia was hiding behind that she could hear his rapid breathing. It was
clear that he was nervous, and this gave her an eerie feeling; she’d never seen
him frightened before. As he went, she remained hidden, watching until he
disappeared from her sight.

Ever so carefully,
Anastasia crept over their front lawn and along the side of the road. She quickly
spotted her grandfather about a hundred feet away. It looked like he was
waiting for someone; perhaps other werewolf hunters, Anastasia guessed. Her
suspicion seemed to be confirmed as a truck sped by, hardly giving her enough
time to retreat behind the trees yet again. Her grandfather swiftly entered the
truck, and then they drove away, leaving Anastasia unable to follow him any
longer.

The frigid conditions
were starting to get the better of Anastasia as she shivered uncontrollably.
She’d never experienced coldness quite like this before, and her exposed skin,
although minimal, was already starting to feel like it was burning. She
realized that not having a car meant she wouldn’t be able to find Frost without
seriously risking frostbite. Reluctantly, Anastasia turned back, knowing that’s
what Frost would want her to do. After all, he was more than likely sound
asleep in his warm bed, while she panicked unnecessarily.

Anastasia had only taken
a few hurried steps when a rustling came from a dense patch of nearby trees.
She stopped and listened, terrified that she was being followed. The rustling
ceased, but she could hear the faint sound of someone breathing. Slowly and
numbly, Anastasia turned around, her heart racing as she scanned the area.
That’s when she saw something so shocking that she couldn’t even scream. There,
less than ten feet away, was a pair of eyes staring straight at her, as if
seeing into her very soul. These eyes belonged to an animal – there was no
doubt about that. However, from the way his eyes shone and how the rest of his
body remained unseen, Anastasia knew that this wasn’t any ordinary animal.

Not wanting to stay a
second longer, Anastasia ran as fast as she could. She was trying to return to
her house, but somehow, it seemed so far away. Anastasia was entering a state
of desperation, and she had to know if the creature was following her. She
turned around, while continuing to run, and was horrified to see what could only
be a werewolf chasing after her. The werewolf appeared like a mere shadow, with
the exception of his shining eyes, and he was big – too big.

Before Anastasia knew
what was happening, she tripped and fell to the ground, hitting her head hard.
It throbbed with pain, causing her to wince. As she lay there, stunned,
freezing and staring up at the moon and stars, everything began to spin. Among
this celestial blur appeared a beautiful white werewolf with bright blue eyes.
He seemed to gaze upon Anastasia in concern, but she couldn’t be sure. Then
everything went black.

Anastasia awoke with a
start, only to find herself in bed and dressed solely in her flannel pajamas
and fuzzy socks. Her bedroom was still dark, and as she looked at the clock,
she discovered that it was only 4:30 a.m. Vague memories from late last night
circulated in her mind, confusing her in the process. The last thing she
remembered was lying on the ground with that mesmerizing werewolf looking over
her. She’d been scared of the werewolf and was running away from him – that
much she was sure of. However, it was the image of those eyes which had truly
been imprinted in her mind. There was something kind and gentle about them, but
it was more than just that – those eyes had belonged to Frost.

Reasoning that it had
been a dream similar to the one she’d had during her first night in Cedar
Falls, Anastasia got out of bed to get a glass of water. She was momentarily
perturbed to discover that her head felt heavy, but since her throat also felt
dry, she concluded that it was due to an oncoming cold. She decided to ignore
the symptoms because her immune system usually fought off colds in no time.
Besides, she had more pressing issues to think about; despite imagining her
grandfather as a werewolf hunter and even the werewolf himself, one thing
remained true – Frost had never shown up to her window last night.

* * *

The temperature in
Cedar Falls kept decreasing until it was too cold to even snow. Although the
sky was clear and a pretty shade of blue, the air was motionless, making it
uncomfortable to breathe. It was the following morning, and the weather had
forced Anastasia to stay inside her house, watching from behind the door. She
was waiting for Frost to pick her up – that is, if he was even planning to
come. She was desperate to get an explanation from him, or at the very least,
find out if he was alright. Unfortunately, his unusual tardiness was only
causing her to become more frustrated and even anxious. When Frost’s SUV
finally pulled into her driveway, she hurried toward it, trying to ignore the
frigid air which nipped at her face.

“Sorry,” Frost mumbled
as she entered the vehicle.

“For what?” Anastasia
asked, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“I know I’m a little
late.”

“If you’re referring to
last night, I’d say you’re more than just a little late.” Anastasia continued
before Frost could respond. “You always come to my window at night, so when you
didn’t show up, I was worried. Hell, you weren’t even answering your cell
phone.”

Looking perplexed,
Frost was silent for a moment. He then faced Anastasia, speaking quietly, “I’m
sorry. I’d never intentionally worry you.”

“Where were you?”

“Working at my dad’s
hardware store until 11 p.m.,” Frost hurried to explain. “It’s unbelievably busy
with people buying extra locks and other supplies to secure their houses, all
because of some werewolf legend.” He paused, as if thinking about something
serious. Then, he added remorsefully, “I actually don’t think I’ll be able to
come to your window anymore – at least for a while.”

“What about this
weekend?” Anastasia asked, overcome with disappointment. “Are you too busy
then?”

“Nothing will stop us
from being together. We
will
have that date.”

Studying Frost,
Anastasia noted the bags under his eyes and his constant yawning. She knew that
he hadn’t slept well, if at all. Since not showing up to her window was the
first time he’d truly let her down, she decided to forget about it.

“Don’t make a habit of
standing me up,” Anastasia said sternly, while leaning in for a kiss
nonetheless.

Their lips touched for
a mere second before he pulled away and said, “We better get to school.” He
then drove away, being unusually quiet.

Anastasia repressed a
sigh. She was starting to wonder if he found her attractive. Although Frost
constantly told her how pretty she was, his inaction spoke louder than words;
they hadn’t even shared a proper kiss yet. It was beginning to get so pathetic
that Anastasia couldn’t bring herself to dwell on it any longer.

“So, what are your thoughts
on this werewolf mania?” Anastasia asked casually, despite being really curious
to hear his opinion. Although she hated to admit it even to herself, the gossip
and her dreams were starting to become unnerving.

Frost never had a
chance to reply as he suddenly broke hard, causing the SUV to swerve slightly
to the left. Anastasia gasped, quickly turning her gaze away from Frost and
onto the road ahead of them. She caught a glimpse of a white tail as a deer
dashed into the woods.

“Are you okay?” Frost asked
hurriedly.

“Yeah, fine,” Anastasia
answered, her heart rate returning to normal.

A few seconds later,
two men emerged from the woods, riding on snowmobiles. Upon seeing Frost’s SUV
idling on a skewed angle, they came to a stop and dismounted. As they took off
their helmets, Anastasia realized that it was Leo and Mike.

“Werewolf hunters,”
Frost seethed under his breath.

Before Anastasia could
say a word, Frost exited the SUV and marched toward Leo and Mike. Quickly, she
followed him. Anastasia had never seen Frost look so angry, and it worried her.
She remembered the night she’d first laid eyes upon him; he’d been the
mediator, not the one initiating the fight.

“What the hell are you
playing at?” Frost asked in a strained voice, obviously trying hard to stay
calm. “We could’ve been killed by that deer.”

“Calm down, son,” Leo
responded. “We didn’t see any deer.”

“I did, and he almost
rammed into us,” Frost argued.

“We came from a
designated snowmobile trail,” Mike spoke up. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I’ve been traveling
this road for years,” Frost snapped. “I’ve never had an issue with the wildlife
until people like you started trampling through the woods, disturbing
everything in your path. Give up this stupid werewolf hunt before someone
really gets hurt.”

“I don’t know if you’re
some type of tree-hugger or just plain nuts,” Mike snapped right back, “but
it’s
the people
like me and my brother who are trying to keep Cedar
Falls safe.”

“You’re all making a
big mistake,” Frost warned.

“And you’re in our
way,” Mike retorted, before putting his helmet back on and returning to his
snowmobile.

“This hunt is happening
whether you like it or not, Frost,” Leo added. “There’s been too much evidence
against the beast. He has to be destroyed.”

Anastasia watched as
Leo and Mike mounted their snowmobiles and then rode off into the woods. “That
was totally uncalled for,” she remarked, finally finding her voice.

“I know,” Frost said
gruffly. “They make me sick.”

“I was referring to
you!” Anastasia was flabbergasted by Frost’s behavior. Although he had her
heart, that didn’t mean she’d allow him to act like an ass. “Dammit, Frost,
they had rifles!”

“Sorry,” Frost muttered
for the third time that day. “I shouldn’t have put you in that situation.” He
hurried back to his SUV, looking very distraught.

What’s going on here?
Anastasia pondered, hardly noticing the freezing air or frosted woods which
surrounded her.
Just when I start to get my life in order, everyone else
goes completely crazy!