Chapter 1
Shawna
“No, no, no,” I mumble the hasty prayer to the car. “Please don’t die. Not here.”
Unfortunately, it’s clear that there are no benevolent gods listening tonight. That much is apparent when the engine suddenly stutters and dies, leaving the car with no option but to roll to a stop in the middle of nowhere. I am cursed. That must be it. No one just coincidentally has the string of bad luck that I’ve had. Even the weather couldn’t cooperate. It wasn’t supposed to snow like this until the day after I was scheduled to arrive home for the holidays.
Not that I’m particularly looking forward to being thrust into the middle of Mom’s holiday madness. Every family occasion is always just on the verge of being a complete disaster in her opinion. It’s so tiring. I roll my eyes as I drop back heavily into my seat and stare out of the window. At least I have not yet been plunged into complete darkness. The headlights illuminate the thick fall of snow that the rapid swipe of the windshield wipers fail to keep pace with. I try not to think too much about the fact that the light will not last long. Nor that, at the rapid rate of snowfall, it wouldn’t be long before the car becomes obscured completely. Not only that, but the air is rapidly cooling now that the engine is off.
Fucking misery. I shiver as I stare out at the heavy fall of snowflakes.
Reaching out with one hand, I fumble my mobile phone as I pluck it from its cradle and lift it up so that its illuminated screen faces me. The current time fills the screen. 10 pm. Not too late. Someone must still be awake. I swipe my trembling finger across the screen, and my heart immediately sinks as I stare at it. No signal. Groaning, I toss the phone into the passenger seat and bury my face in my hands.
“This is what I get for insisting on driving upstate alone in the middle of winter. I should have just let Mom pay for the damned plane ticket. I’m so fucked.”
And now I’m talking to myself. Nice, Shawna.I briskly rub my arms to warm myself. I don’t think it’s my imagination that the temperature in the car has rapidly begun to plunge.
“It’s okay to talk to yourself,” I mumble. “Not like this is creepy at all. Definitely nothing out in the woods just waiting to eat me, right?”
Possessing thick thighs, as well as abundant ass and breasts, I am sure I would make a pretty enticing meal for some predator out there.
The surrounding forest regards me silently with its invisible eyes. I lean forward in my seat and stare out into the night through the windshield. The trees are nothing more than shadows, like indistinct, ghostly lines within the curtain of snowfall. But it is the eerie silence that is getting to me. The silence that penetrates my car is heavy. It is like a void consuming all sound so that even the energetic round of jingle bells playing from the radio sounds hollow and strange.
I draw in a deep breath and slowly expel it. “Okay, definitely creepy. This is messing with my mind a bit,” I mumble with a half-hearted chuckle.
It doesn’t help that I am alone on an isolated road in the middle of nowhere in the midst of a snowstorm. From what I can tell, there is nothing for miles around except trees. I haven’t come across any towns or even private drives exiting from the main road for at least two hours now, so I doubt that a kindly grandfather will come across my vehicle while returning home with a gallon of milk from the grocery store. The chance of anyone living so far out into the woods is so unfavorable that it is practically non-existent.
On the other hand, I can’t just sit here and freeze.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I quietly remind myself. “Stay with the car. Don’t go rushing blindly into the snowstorm. I’ll just freeze to death quicker out there. There is a better chance of being found eventually by just staying put and keeping warm as best as possible.”
Funny how it doesn’t make me feel any better.
Thank the gods that, one, I always have my emergency kit in my car, and two, I’m anal about using my own blankets and pillows. Because of that, I’m not completely unprepared. First things first. Unfastening my seatbelt, I twist around in my seat to reach the emergency kit on the floor behind me. Bracing my weight against the seat, I unzip the bag and yank out the flat, folded, silvery emergency blanket. I then stretch farther to snatch the folded blanket and pillow off the back seat and drag everything up to the front with me. My hands tremble from the cold as I wrap the blankets around myself and shove the pillow behind my head.
Turning my head, I give my mobile phone a glum look. No signal also means that I won’t get any use out of it to help me pass the time. Not when everything requires some sort of data connection. Sighing heavily, I shift in place and thump my head on my pillow as I try to find a comfortable position. I don’t bother turning off the headlights or windshield wipers. Atthis point, it doesn’t matter if the battery dies or not. The car isn’t going anywhere regardless, and watching the snow fall in the small, illuminated patch directly ahead of me is providing some small comfort. It is better than the alternative. It is spooky enough without being plunged into complete darkness. And it isn’t going to get any better as it looks like the snow is getting heavier.
The song on the radio shifts, crackling in and out a bit, toWinter Wonderlandas I stare out at the constant stream of large snowflakes. The song is fitting as it is actually quite beautiful. If I were snuggled beneath a throw-blanket in a cozy room with a cup of cocoa in hand, I would have enjoyed watching such a picturesque scene. It just didn’t quite have the same charm though from inside my cold car.
And it is most definitely getting colder. I know that it’s not my imagination this time. I can see the tiny ice crystals beginning to frost in the air in front of my mouth with every breath.
Fuck.
I drag the blankets up higher around my cold cheeks and blink tiredly. The temperature outside must be freezing. My eyes grow heavy as I watch the dance of fat snowflakes. They are no longer melting when they hit the windshield, so I admire the patterns they paint before they are gradually blotted out by other flakes accumulating over them, slowly blocking out the light from the headlights.
I yawn and blink again, my eyes growing heavier. My eyes remain shut. It takes too much effort to open them. Besides, I’m finally feeling a bit comfortable. Although the car is cold, the blankets around me have created a cocoon of warmth. It is so nice that I think I could happily sleep forever in it.
I drift in that dark warmth for what feels like an endless period until a sound penetrates the dark silence. It begins as asoft whisper that slowly increases as it draws from the depths of the darkness. I recognize it slowly as I surface from slumber. It is the sound of... sleigh bells? I blink groggily, my eyes opening despite the way they ache from the blast of cold air hitting them. My eyelashes feel stiff and frozen, but I blink again as I gradually regain my sense of awareness of my surroundings.
I am surrounded by absolute darkness and silence. I might have thought that my eyes were still closed, and that I was still asleep, except that I am now aware of the biting cold stinging my nose as the blanket shifts and falls away from my lower face. The radio is off. The car battery died at some point while I was sleeping. Perhaps that is why I heard the sleigh bells so clearly. My brows lower as I strain to listen. Silence follows and stretches on, but then suddenly it is there! The soft whisper of jingling bells echoing and gradually growing louder.
I shoot upright, my eyes widening as I listen. It wasn’t my imagination. Not only is it real, but it’s getting closer! I lick my cold, dry lips and tug the blankets tighter around me as I consider my options. The car is an icebox now, but it is even colder outside. It would be foolish to leave the safety of the car. On the other hand, there is someone approaching. I can hear it. What if they don’t see me? For all I know, the snow could have covered the car to the point of making it practically invisible in the dark. If I remain in the car, I will continue to stay warm within my blankets, but I could miss my chance of rescue.
Maybe I could just wait until they get a bit closer and then take my chances? The sound of sleigh bells is getting louder and, if I concentrate, I swear that I can hear the sound of the snow parting and sloughing away beneath the runners. Just a little closer. My heart races as I feel relief and excitement gathering within me, but then suddenly the sound shifts as fear strangles me. It is moving away.
“No, no, no,” I beg silently. “Where are you going? Damn it!”
Does it even matter where they are going? That question misses a crucial point. That regardless of where they are going, they are certainly not coming here.
