Chilling Effects

The snow crunched below my heel as I continued to progress into unknown territory. I'm only 14, and despite my youthfulness, I've been described by many as impeccably articulate. I'm followed by several classmates of mine on this harrowing journey and am being lead by a particularly intrepid friend--Benjamin Cook. If I could call him a friend. He lead us into this frozen abyss in the name of chasing some petty shortcut to town he discovered during the summer. I suppose I am guilty of impatience--I wouldn't have came if that was fallacy. I haven't seen my father for half a year now--academy finally relieved us of our fetters mere hours ago. It is assumed that Benjamin is yanked by these same sentiments. I suppose empathy is in order. I increase my pace, nearly slipping on the snow to reach him. He immediately turns to me with a frown. He looked absolutely sickly. His pale skin is akin to the snow around him--barely opaque with a network of green veins. His blue eyes are glossy and worried. He staggered as he attempts to continue.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that there would be a blizzard." I patted him on the shoulder, barely able to freely move under my coverings. My gloved fingers felt a numbing pain.

"Don't worry. We'll get there soon."

Alex, Jones, and Michael tag along behind us. They've lost much of their earlier energy and enthusiasm. I looked forward and could barely assess my surroundings. It appeared like a slightly diluted blotch of white paint. The wind blew violently in several directions all at once; each gust chilled me to the bone. I felt like screaming, but I had strong inhibitions. I looked down to see that I had dropped one of my text books. I darted my head around only to see a seemingly eternal plane of whiteness. My father will be most displeased. I staggered to one knee and was immediately peered onto by the others. They all looked worried. I casually removed my bag pack and stuffed the books as best I could into its maw as though that is what I intended to do all along. I remove a newspaper from my bag and took a quick glance at the front page. 15th, January, 1938 Daily... I used it to wipe my nose and raised back to my feet.

Within moments of our continued progression my frigid ears were alerted by a thud in the snow behind me. I slowly turned to see Alex lying face down in the snow. His snow covered head darts up and he gasps loudly and cussed. I cringed a bit at the words. He shuffles to his back and wiggles a black cloth off his boot.

"What is that?" his soft spoken decency returns.

"I don't know." says Jones, "A sheet?"

Michael picks it up and inspects it for a moment. "Robes" he whispers. He places it back on the snow and drops his text books on it. He wraps them and flings the cloth over his shoulder.

"Santa!" says Jones managing a faint laugh.

Benjamin clumsily attempts to help Alex to his feet resulting in both of them falling. They find time to romp which seemed to reinvigorate them to some extent. Amidst the commotion I notice a silhouette below a tree.

"I see someone!" I yelled. The others look in the direction of my pointed finger and notices the figure as well. We dashed to the location, nearly slipping multiple times. The small bodied person turns to us and stands. We look at him and he looks at us. His trousers are the same as our school uniform; he is heavily clothed and has a large scarf with a hat that covers most of his light blonde hair. His emerald eyes gives us a perplexed look.

"We're lost." I said faintly. He analyzes us for a moment and then the surrounding storm. I can see his smirk stretch to the side of his profile. He extends his small ungloved hand for a hand shake, "Then you've found the right person." I shake his hand and felt warmth through my glove. He points west of where we were heading.

"There is a small hill in that direction. Reach the apex and you should be able to visualize the town." Apex, such a peculiar word. He certainly spoke unlike any other person at the all boys academy.

We slowly walked behind the boy. He skipped and pranced around--overtly overjoyed--like we were around an hour ago when academy released us. He turns to us and grin with teeth as white as the snow and out-of-season sun-kissed freckles. "How much farther?" whines Jones.

"Not much farther." replies the boy confidently.

There is something very compelling, even fascinating about him. However,I cannot pinpoint what exactly it is. "What is your name? I've never seen you at the academy before. Your accent is different from these parts." He looks at me with heavy blinking, curious eyes that seem to be endless eyelashes. It could be his strange accent or unbreakable optimism. "I'm called Meap." He looks ahead and seem to light up, "There it is! The mountain." I was elated to see that it wasn't much of an obstacle. We all run to the mountain and begin to ascend it. Meap had much more energy than we did. "What is your real name?" ask Benjamin. "Egri Rgr"

"What an odd name." replies Benjamin.

"That is why I like Meap." He laughs joyfully.

"Where are you from?" asks Alex

"Yorkshire. My parents are foreigners." He grins and grabs onto my arm to help me climb faster. I felt that same warmth from before. Perhaps he is fascinating because he doesn't seem very bothered by the storm or the simple fact that he is noticeably feminine in appearance.

"Are you Irish? Many of them have red hair." I contemplated Jonas' odd question for a moment. "red hair.." I thought. I look at Egri and yank his hat off. He looks at me and smiles for some reason, "What did you do that for?" he asks while stroking his blonde hair out of his face. We are already on the top of the hill.

"Jonas, are you blind? His hair is blonde." I said, Jonas doesn't respond. I looked behind me and saw what turn my stomach. My heart nearly jumps into my throat. They all passed out while climbing the mountain. All face down, pale as the snow. Jonas is about 15 feet behind me, yet his voice was so close. Egri and I pull them all to the top of the hill; the town was in sight. About 1.5 kilometer away. I hit Benjamin on the cheek. He doesn't respond--none of them did. They were so cold. I wept and begged them to return. "You are much more resilient than they were." whispers Egri in my ear. I swing and hit him. He slides in the snow and grabs onto his bloodied lip. His eyes become glossy as though he's about to cry.

"Who in the world says something like that?" I yelled in a jerky voice. I could feel my warm tears run down my cheeks. He slowly stands and brushes the snow off himself. He doesn't reply and casually walks to Michael and yanks the black cloth from his clenched hand. "Someone who has seen many deaths."

"What?" I ask. He removes his scarf and coat. Beneath he is only wearing the standard uniform of the academy. "You're going to freeze." I told him. I can feel myself slowly losing energy as he approaches me. I fall to my back, next to Benjamin, looking up at him. Our eyes lock. His expression is somber. "Do you want to ask me anything?"

"Who in the world are you? Father, he will be disappointed..."

"In what will be known as the second great war your father's waning thoughts will be of his vanished child. I am what they call eternity."