FicWad

Geneva shivered as she burrowed further in the fur robe. She had been traveling through the mountains of Romania when a freak snowstorm had hit. Trying to escape the snow, the driver had urged the horses to go faster. But a wheel had broken, and the driver had been thrown from the carriage. He had fallen against a hard rock and been killed instantly. The horses, driven wild with fear, broke away from the carriage and fled into the night. Now Geneva was alone, and slowly freezing to death. Finally she worked up the courage to brave the storm, in order to find some shelter. She bundled up as warmly as she cold, and climbed out of the carriage, into the storm. Slowly she inched her way down the path, growing more and more cold. Finally the frigidity overwhelmed her and she laid down in the path. Slowly her brown eyes closed and sleep overcame her, then as the snow drifted around her body, she slipped out of sleep and into the waiting arms of death.

“And,” Darren whispered softly, “they say her that although her body was found and laid to rest. Her ghost still roams these mountains, looking for somebody, anybody who can make her warm again.”
Jessica suppressed a shiver and snuggled deeper into her boyfriend Kyle’s arms.
They had just graduated from college and decided to take a month backpacking in Romania. They had passed through a small village, whose name Jessica couldn’t remember, two days ago. That was where Darren had heard the ghost story he had just told.
“That’s a total bogus story Darren,” Andie, Darren’s girlfriend said, pushing her blonde hair out of her face.
“No it’s true,” Darren insisted, pulling out a small pamphlet he had purchased at the village’s only store.
He handed it to Jessica who looked at the title.
“The Ice Maiden.”
She shivered again and handed the pamphlet to Kyle
“I agree with you, “another voice said and Jessica turned, looking at the fifth member of their party.
He sat there quietly by the fire, but when his warm green eyes met hers Jessica turned away and blushed.
“Thank you Moze,” Darren said.
“Well,” Kyle said, standing up. “I don’t think we have to worry about any snowstorms. Even though this is the time of year for them. The forecasts call for clear weather the whole time we’re here.”
Secretly Jessica was glad, as much as she didn’t want to admit she believed in the story, part of her did.
“We better get some sleep,” Moze said quietly, “we have a lot of hiking tomorrow.”
The other’s agreed, and stood up, wandering to their tents.
“Are you coming?” Kyle asked.
“Just a minute,” Jessica said, “I need to use the bathroom.”
“Ok,” he said, “but be careful.”
He ducked into their tent and Jessica hiked a short distance into the woods. She had just finished, when she heard a cracking sound, like someone stepping on a branch.
She tensed and looked around, realizing for the first time how dark the woods were.
Quickly she hurried toward the campsite, when she heard the crack again. She froze and over toward the sound, just in time to see a flash of white.
Jessica gasped with fear and began to run, then screamed, when a figure stepped into her path.
“Hey calm down,” Moze said, holding onto her arms. “It’s just me.”
“I saw something,” Jessica said, feeling a little silly now. “It startled me.”
Moze let go of her arms and stepped around her, peering into the dark woods.
“I don’t see anything,” he said looking back at her.
“It was probably nothing,” Jessica said, “let’s go back to camp.”
He nodded and walked beside her, until they entered the clearing where their tents were set up.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, and she nodded.
She began to climb into the tent, then turned around. He was still watching her, his black hair gleaming in the dying glow of the campfire and she blushed again. Quickly she climbed into the tent and pulled the zipper up, then crawled into the sleeping bag, next to Kyle and fell asleep.

She woke up early the next morning, and laid there savoring the feeling of Kyle’s arms around her. She turned and stared at him, he looked so peaceful with his brown hair curled around his face. She frowned when she found herself comparing his face, to Moze’s and she quickly got up. She grabbed a ponytail holder and pulled her long black hair back. Then after grabbing the jacket she had discarded the night before, she unzipped the tent and stepped out.
Moze and Darren were sitting by the campfire talking, and Jessica joined them. She reached over and poured herself a cup of coffee from the travel pot.
“We may have a problem,” Darren said.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, alarmed.
Moze held out a radio.
“The weather is changing,” he said quietly, “there’s a big snow storm heading our way.”
“Can we make it back to the village?” Jessica asked and both boys shrugged.
Darren took off his ball cap and smoothed down his red hair that was sticking up.
“We have to try,” he said quietly, “the closer we get to the village. The better chance we have of getting to shelter, before the storm hits.”
Jessica looked up at the sky and noticed for the first time the dark clouds. They were still far away, but they were traveling toward them fast.
Quickly they woke Kyle and Andie up, then the five of them quickly packed up the camp.
Jessica looked again at the storm clouds, noticing that they were closer and she released that the temperature had dropped.
Finally they started out, trying desperately to outrun the storm clouds.
“We can’t make it tonight,” Moze finally yelled over the rising wind.
“We need to set up a tent and huddle together for warmth,” Kyle said, “we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Quickly they set up one of the tents and bunched in together.
Jessica heard the wind pick up, then the sound of snow pelting against the tent. She closed her eyes and wished that they had never come on this trip. Who cared if hiking in Romania was cheaper then Aruba, at least there they wouldn’t freeze to death.
Kyle took one of the sleeping bags and put it over her shivering shoulders, then crawled under it with her. Finally a little warmth drifted into Jessica’s body and she nodded off to sleep.

Jessica’s eyes snapped open as dim light shone through the tent. She realized that it was morning and the snow had stopped. Suddenly she noticed that Kyle was no longer next to her, and she felt a frisson of fear.
“Guys,” she said loudly, and everyone else woke up. “Kyle’s missing.”
“Maybe he went out to relieve himself,” Moze said, “I’ll go check.”
Jessica knew that he hadn’t, and she got up, following Moze outside.
She watched as he followed Kyle’s footprints in the snow, then she noticed something strange. A second set of smaller footprints came from a different direction out of the woods.
Without thinking, Jessica followed them. She saw a mound of snow, laying by the trees, and she fell to her knees, brushing it off.
Kyle’s blue face stared up at her, his brown eyes, wide with terror. Jessica dimly heard someone screaming, then she realized with a start, that it was her.
Moze quickly lifted her away from Kyle’s cold corpse, and carried her back to the tent.
“What is it?” Darren asked, as he and Andie ran from their tent to investigate the screams.
“It’s Kyle,” Moze said tersely, carrying Jessica into the tent. “He froze to death.”
“Why would he go outside,” Darren asked, “in the middle of a fucking snowstorm?”
“I don’t know,” Moze said, staring at Darren.
He looked toward Jessica, who Andie had bundled up in a sleeping bag.
“We need to get out of here,” He said, lowering his voice.
He told Darren about the small footprints, he had seen next to Kyle’s body, and Darren’s eyes widened.
“So it’s true,” he said in fear.
“It may be her,” Moze said, “or something else, I don’t know. All I know, is that whoever, whatever is still out there. They might come back for us tonight.”
“How far are we from the last village?” Darren asked, and Moze pulled out the map he had in his pocket.
“About a day and a half,” he said, “we didn’t travel very far yesterday and by the look of those snow clouds, we won’t get to far today.”
“Then we better get going,” Darren said.
Moze nodded and folded the map back up.
They returned to the girls, and Andie looked up at them, her gray eyes wide with concern.
“I think she’s going into shock.” She said, and Moze knelt beside Jessica, wrapping his arms around her.
“Jessica,” he said softly, “we need to keep going.”
Jessica looked toward him, with tears glistening in her blue eyes. Then she nodded and stood up.
Quickly they dismantled the tent, and began to hike toward the village again.
Hours passed, and the dark clouds descended upon them.
Suddenly everything turned dim and it began to snow lightly.
“I don’t think we have time to set the tent up,” Darren yelled over the rising wind.
Moze looked around, then noticed a cave peeking out of the snow.
“Wait here,” He told the others, then he moved slowly toward the cave. He looked in, and saw, even in the dim light, that the cave was empty.
“We can huddle in here,” he yelled, and the others followed him in.
As fast as he could, he found some dry twigs, and built a fire near the mouth of the cave.
They laid out their sleeping bags, and Moze sat by the fire, keeping watch. He looked at Jessica, who had fallen asleep without eating, and felt a twinge of worry. She was still partly in shock and he feared it would get worse.

Moze jerked awake, and realized that the fire was dying. He moved to get some more wood and noticed that the sleeping bag he had given to Andie was empty.
He looked toward the mouth of the cave and saw that it was still snowing hard. He considered waking Darren, then decided against it.
Instead he took a flashlight out of a backpack then he walked outside, and looked around. In the distance he saw a figure standing in the snow, and he knew instinctively that it wasn’t Andie. Slowly he brought the flashlight up and clicked it on. He let out a startled gasp when it illuminated the blue and white face of a dead woman. She stared back at him, her brown eyes sad and her long black hair and purple dress stiff with ice and snow.
“I’m cold,” she said softly, and stepped toward him. “So cold, won’t you please warm me?”
Moze saw a dark shape at the woman’s feet and he shined his flashlight toward it. It was Andie’s body, and although it was hard to determine for certain. He was sure she was dead.
He shined his flashlight back on Geneva and realized she was watching him.
“She gave me warmth,” she said softly, “but it was for such a short time. Now I am cold again.”
She held out her hands and stepped toward him.
“Shit!” Moze yelled and turned around quickly. He slid on the snow, but gained purchase and ran into the cave. He turned around, expecting Geneva to be coming after him. But she had stopped a few feet away from the cave, unwilling, or unable to move farther.”
Moze threw wood on the fire, making the blaze bigger. Every once in awhile he would look outside, to see her standing there, but she still made no move to come inside.
He moved over and shook Darren awake, putting his finger to his lips. He motioned for Darren to follow him, and showed him Geneva’s figure standing outside.
“Holy shit,” Darren breathed.
“It gets worse,” Moze said, “she got Andie.”
Darren’s gaze flew to Moze’s, then he looked around frantically, as if Andie would magically appear.
“Why would she go out there?” He asked in anguish, and Moze shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“What are we going to do?” Darren asked, and Moze’s mouth tightened.
“Wait until morning,” he said, “then get the hell out.”
Darren looked back at the waiting figure of Geneva.
“I doubt I’ll get any more sleep tonight,” he said softly.
“Neither will I,” Moze muttered, as he watched Geneva stand there and wait.

The next morning Jessica woke up and knew as soon as she saw Darren’s face that something was wrong.
“What happened?” She asked and the two men looked at each other.
“It’s Andie,” Moze said softly, “she left the cave during the night and froze to death.”
Jessica stared at him, “there’s more that you’re not telling me.” She said, and Moze looked away.
“I saw the spirit of Geneva,” he said, “we both did. She killed Andie and possibly, Kyle.”
She looked at them incredulously.
“That’s absurd,” she said, “there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
“Jessica,” Moze said firmly, “we both saw her stand out there, waiting all night. I can assure you. This ghost is real.”
Jessica turned around and put a hand to her mouth.
“What are we going to do?” She whispered.
“We’re going to leave and head toward the village.” Moze said, “no resting tonight. We’re just going to keep hiking, until we reach safety. And we’re not going to separate. No matter what, we stay together.”
He pulled Jessica in his arms and hugged her.
“I promise,” he said, “we’re going to make it.”

They gathered up their stuff, and started out. The snow hadn’t let up and the gathering drifts made walking hard. They were still a few miles away from the village when night began to fall.
“We’re not going to make it before dark,” Darren said.
Moze’s lips tightened and he didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, full darkness fell, and the woods became eerily silent.
Moze grabbed Jessica’s hand, and helped her to move faster, over the snow.
They were close enough to see the twinkling lights of the village, when Jessica stopped.
“Oh my God,” she said, and pointed.
Geneva stood before them, her sad eyes staring at them.
“I’m cold,” she said, “I need your warmth.”
She stepped forward and the trio stared at her in horror.
“What do we do?” Jessica whimpered.
The ghost was between them and the village.
Darren pushed his hand into his jacket pocket and brought out a lighter. He flicked it on and waved it at Geneva who jumped back with a shriek.
“Go!” He yelled, moving toward Geneva so she moved away from the path.
Quickly Moze pushed Jessica toward the path. Then he hurried a squall of terror. He looked back, just as Geneva grabbed a hold of Darren. Moze watched in horror as Darren’s skin began to turn blue and he froze to death in a matter of seconds.
Suddenly Geneva’s skin turned a healthy pink and her brown eyes glittered with joy.
“I’m warm,” she said, dancing around. “Finally I’m warm.”
Turning Moze grabbed Jessica’s hand and they hurried the last few feet to the village.

A year later
“I’m telling you man,” Marcus said, showing his friend the pamphlet. “She died around here, and it gets even creepier. A year ago, three Americans were killed while hiking. They froze to death.”
“So what,” Randy said, “it happens all the time.”
“No man,” Marcus said, “they froze to death in a matter of a minute. And there were witnesses.”
Randy shivered, then shook his head and sneered at his friend.
“You’re so full of shit,” he said standing up. “I’ve gotta go take a piss.”
He left the campsite and walked a few feet into the woods. He finished urinating, and was starting back to the campsite when the sound of a snapping twig drew his attention.
“Hello?” He called, then stared in horror as the figure of a young woman stepped in front of him.
“I’m so cold,” she said softly, “will you warm me?”
Randy opened his mouth as she touched him with her cold as death hands and screamed in terror.