Murky shapes formed around her in the wilderness, and the sheer stillness, the unpleasant quiet made her heart pound like frantic fists on locked doors. She’d heard Jack say he was on his way, but barely understood anything else, with the exception of something about five minutes, the word, ‘gas’, and some instructions regarding the car. She sat inside the vehicle with the radio on, playing upbeat jazz music she didn’t particularly care for, her phone on the mount, and the seat warmer heating her ass. She was used to the cold season, but Alaskan winters had a cruel bite to them that was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. The chill surrounded you and slowly tormented you, seeping inside. A frozen iron maiden. It was like being swallowed by a glacier.
I thought I was having a bad week. Yeah, well, it just got worse.
She sniffed, then grabbed a tissue from her glovebox and blew into it. I hate being lost. It’s… hopeless.
Blinking several times, she thought of another time when she got lost…
James and I were arguing. It was getting bad—both the weather and the argument. Snow was falling in big flakes. It was late at night. He called me out of my name. I cussed him out. He made me get out of the car. I didn’t know where I was, but he just left me there.
She’d had quite a few relationships, and most of them ended horribly. Did she attract losers, abusers, and idiots, or was she the problem? Wondering this didn’t stop her from wanting to try again and again, though. She was no quitter, but at this point, she was far from a hopeless romantic, too. Those wishes had been dashed long ago. There was no such thing as ‘the one for you.’ There was only ‘the person that may hurt you the least.’
She took a deep breath and tried to refocus.
Come on, don’t creep yourself out. Don’t make this worse. It’s just a park. A big, big park…
With nothing but snow for miles.
Alaska was so much quieter than home. She’d been doing her best to adapt to the lack of honking cars, boisterous crowds, and people yelling in tight spaces, but this brand of quiet was unsettling. It was massive. Overwhelming. Humbling. She looked up at the sky in astonishment. The trees were so damn tall, they looked like they could touch the clouds. Straight, umber and green monsters towering over her, beholding her as if she were prey.
Her heartbeat tried to outrun itself—faster and faster it thumped in her chest as she attempted to get her bearings.
The narrow, winding road she was on was covered with ice, and now, a large branch blocked part of her view. She turned around and looked out the back window of her car. Nothing but white. It also seemed as if it was getting darker faster than previous nights, but she figured it was just her frayed nerves, and her mind playing tricks on her. Soon, the world around her would be deprived of all-natural light, and all she’d have left would be her car’s headlights and the flashlight on her phone. Her fuel level was at a little under half a tank.
Eyes closed, she began some breathing exercises, like the ones she used to do right before stepping out onto the Broadway stage. She centered herself, going inward where it was safe and comforting. Daydreams emerged of warm, summer days spent at Coney Island as a child, then fun snowball fights and ice-skating. Long past happy memories resurfaced and spilled over. When she opened her eyes sometime later, she covered her mouth over a gasp, and stifled the urge to scream.
It was black.
Oh my God.
She must have drifted off for longer than a few minutes, for the darkness had come like some creeping thief and stole the sight of white blankets over the trees, the ground, the whole wide world. She turned on the headlights, shedding illumination on the branch blocking the road. Although it prevented her from moving on, the sight was familiar. Something she could focus on.
But that relief was short-lived because then she spotted a set of glowing orange eyes in the distance.
Oh shit! What is that?!
The creature of the night stood tall and large, but then lowered to the ground before starting to move slowly. She looked at her phone and knew that she was only able to finally get the call through to Jack by standing a good distance from her car. She picked it up anyway and tried to contact him.
“God, please! Please! Please!”
Nothing.
The eyes drew a bit closer, shined brighter, and the entity in front of her stood straight up…
What was it? A bear? A big ass wolf? Oh please, no. She checked her doors several times, ensuring they were locked.