Tainted Frost, page 25
“Wow. Maturity. So, what are you gonna do, enable the comments again?” I ask.
“I’ve been thinking about it, yeah. Maybe I just need more time. God, I’m such a coward.”
“You’re always calling yourself that. You need to stop.”
“No, It’s true. I am a coward, and I need to grow some balls, or whatever the equivalent of balls is for girls. Ovaries? Do I need to grow bigger ovaries?”
She asks this so earnestly, with such a hopeful look on her face, as if actually growing larger ovaries was even physically possible, that I can’t stop myself from bursting into laughter. Nat must realize the absurdity of her own question, because she cracks up, too.
“Yes,” I say, mid-laughter, “you have to literally grow bigger ovaries if you want to be less of a coward.”
“Shut up, you jerk. I obviously meant it as a metaphor.” But she can’t stop laughing either.
“I think you shouldn’t re-enable comments unless you really want to,” I tell her. “Have you felt better without Anonymous Asshole commenting all the time?”
“Yeah. I mean, yes and no. I do feel relieved that I don’t have to see nasty comments every day, but I also feel, you know, like I’m taking the easy way out.”
I nod, understanding exactly what she means.
“Maybe I should just re-enable comments. I’ll think about it some more. We’ll see. Whatever.” She looks at me, biting on her lip. “I can’t believe it’s over between you and Alex though.”
I shrug, looking much more nonchalant than I feel, I’m sure. “I’m trying to be positive. It was fun while it lasted and kissing him was great, but if it wasn’t meant to be, then it wasn’t meant to be.” It sounds like the right thing to say anyway. Mostly I want to scream and throw things and never see him again. If I could erase him from my mind and heart, I would.
“Well, that’s a good way of looking at it,” Nat says, and I nod, ignoring the lump in my throat.
On the way home from Nat’s, I get a text from David saying we should go back into the woods and blow up more inanimate objects. I am surprisingly excited about this to the point that my fingers start tingling. I text back yes, and by the time I get to our street, he’s already waiting outside.
“I thought for sure you’d say no, but I figured I’d ask anyway,” he says as he climbs into the passenger seat. He bounces with excitement.
“My hands actually started tingling when I read your text,” I tell him.
“Really? That’s so cool. You can’t deny your natural instincts, Monroe.”
“I don’t think it’s a natural instinct.”
“Whatever, that’s what I’m gonna call it.”
“Fine, fine. Call it whatever you want.”
“Lightning fingers,” he says. “Blowtorch palms. Flashlight hands!”
“All of those sound terrible.”
“Give me some time. I’ll come up with a cool name.”
“Just as long as it’s not flashlight hands. That’s ridiculous.”
“Flame phalanges!” David shouts triumphantly as I shake my head and hang a left at the end of our street, making my way toward the woods by the lake. I want to get a little farther away from my backyard this time, just in case some of our neighbors decide to wander into the forest and see me torching branches as David looks on.
“Where you driving to?” David asks.
“The lake.”
“Wait, why? Are you gonna try to unfreeze it or something?”
“No, I just want to enter the woods from there this time so we’re even farther away from civilization.”
“Got it. Good plan,” he says. After a minute he adds, “It’d be pretty cool to thaw the lake though.”
“Do you really think I could?”
“Of course. You melted snow. How hard would it be to melt a few inches of ice?”
“Hmm, I guess so.” Yesterday I was still a little scared, but today, the possibilities that my power holds continue to intrigue and excite me. I’m eager to explore its limitations.
Once we reach the lake, I park the car in a somewhat isolated area a few hundred feet past the usual spot people use as an entrance. It’s best to remain as incognito as possible. David and I trek past the lake and start for the woods. We decide to go about one mile deep to make sure to avoid any people. Though I doubt anybody will be hiking out here today. My muscles still ache from two days ago, but it’s a dull pain that’s easy to ignore, and I feel so much stronger this time around.
“So, have you heard from Alex?” David asks somewhat tentatively.
“Nope.”
“What a jerk.”
“Yup.”
“You’d think he would at least try to apologize or something. Not that it would ever excuse what he did.”
“Let’s not talk about him.”
“Okay.”
Fifteen minutes later we come upon a relatively spacious area with some fallen spruce logs on the ground, several snow-dusted boulders of varying sizes, and a narrow, frozen stream cutting across to our left. David and I both stop and survey the space.
“I like this spot,” David says. “It’s perfect. You got fallen logs for pulverizing, you got rocks, um, also for pulverizing, and you could even try to thaw the stream.”
“Yeah, why not. It’s tiny.”
David gives me an approving look. “Wow, Monroe, your attitude’s done a total 180 since yesterday. I’m proud of you. Plus, I have this theory that accepting your powers will only make them stronger.”
“And what is this theory based on?”
“Maybe it’s based on comic books. Maybe it’s based on nothing. But if I’m right, you’ll owe me.”
“And what exactly will I owe you?”
He waves my question away. “This is no time for negotiations, Monroe. We need to get down to business.”
Amused at his overly serious demeanor, I take off my gloves and prepare for the first pulverization of the day. “All right,” I say. “So, which unsuspecting inanimate object should be my first victim?”
David rubs his chin as he examines our options. “Hmm, well, why not see what happens to one of these boulders? You haven’t tried your power on any rocks yet.”
“I just have this feeling it’s going to break off into a million pieces and fly into our faces. I don’t wanna go blind.”
“Okay, you have a point, but I still think we should try it out.”
“Fine, we’ll stand as far away as possible. But I want to try a small rock first, since we have no idea what we’re doing.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” he says. “We have some idea of what we’re doing.”
“‘Some’ doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence.”
“Oh, all right. How about this one then?” He taps a rock about the size of a melon with the tip of his boot.
“Yeah, that’ll do.”
David grins. “This is my favorite part. Show that rock who’s boss, Monroe.”
I tell him to take the rock and place it as far from us as possible for safety’s sake, and as soon as he’s back by my side and I’m preparing myself mentally, my palms heat up, my fingers tingle, and I aim and fire.
My body hurtles backward, but David breaks my fall with his arms and then props me back up to a standing position. We check for the damage and find that the melon-sized rock that used to be gray is now charred and resembles a big lump of coal.
“Huh,” David says. “How anticlimactic.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Okay, what’s next?”
“You pick.”
He gets this mischievous look in his eye, and I know what he’s thinking. “The stream?” I ask.
He nods. “The stream.”
“All right, let’s do it.”
“Yes! I really do love your newfound enthusiasm about this, you know.”
“I definitely think it’s getting a little bit easier every time, even though my palms still hurt afterwards. But at least there’s plenty of snow around to help cool them down.”
“I’ll bring an ice pack when we do this in the summer,” he says, sounding a little too excited.
“We’re gonna do this in the summer?”
“I mean, yeah, why not? We’re gonna do it every season.”
“We’re just gonna go around burning stuff year-round?” I ask. “We’re eventually gonna get arrested for arson.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“See? You’re blinded by your own excitement about all this craziness.”
“You’re right. But at least I have you to set me straight.” He grins. “We make a perfect team, Monroe.”
I certainly can’t argue that. We’ve been a perfect team since we were kids. “All right, well, let’s get this stream-thawing show on the road.”
The stream is about three feet wide. I stand with my right leg bent in front of me, left leg stretched behind, like a lunge position. I figure this will keep me at least somewhat stable. David stands beside me, ready to break my fall if this position fails to prevent me from flying backwards into the ground.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod. “You?”
“Yup.”
I count down from three and blast the ice-covered stream, using all my strength to remain upright as the light shoots out of me. David’s hands on my shoulders stabilize me, and though I sway back and forth a little bit, I don’t fall. About ten feet of the stream has been thawed. There aren’t even any chunks of ice left, and the water flows just like it would in the spring, gurgling.
“Well, my hypothesis was correct,” David says. “I really should’ve brought a notebook to record all these results.”
“Nerd.”
“Don’t feel superior. You’re a nerd, too.”
“Yeah, but I’m a cool nerd.”
He socks me playfully in the arm. “You better not get a big head just because you can do a silly thing like shoot fire from your hands.”
“I’m counting on you to keep me grounded, Petrovski.”
“Oh, trust me, I will. I know all your embarrassing moments. Like the time you farted in front of the whole class in gym.”
“Oh, God.”
“And the time you forgot your lines in the school play and just stood there like an idiot for five minutes.”
“That was in kindergarten! It doesn’t count! And you wouldn’t even know about it if my dad hadn’t taped it.”
“And the time you wet the bed at Matilda’s slumber party in second grade.”
“Thanks for reminding me. I’d finally repressed that memory.”
“And the time you—“
“Okay, stop, that’s enough of a walk down hall-of-shame lane.”
He grins. “Wanna head back? I think we made decent progress today. Plus, it’ll get dark soon.”
“Yeah, I’m starved. Let’s go to Jerry’s.”
Jerry’s is about halfway packed. Even though I hate myself for doing it, I keep an eye out for Alex. Old habits die really, really hard. To distract myself, I scroll through Natalie’s incoming texts on my phone.
“Should I invite Nat? She texted me a bunch.”
David shrugs. “I don’t care.”
“I don’t have to if you don’t want her to come.”
“I said I don’t care,” he replies quickly. I decide against it and put my phone away. We both order bacon cheeseburgers and fries. Apparently, spending an hour blasting stuff works up quite the appetite. I devour half my fries as soon as the food arrives, and David takes such a huge bite of his burger that he can barely chew.
“Hungry?” I ask. He nods and mumbles something.
We’re almost done eating and about to leave when Gary walks in and heads straight toward our table. He slides in next to David without asking if he can join us, which is very uncharacteristic of him. Even David looks surprised. “Hey, man,” David says. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” Gary answers. “It’s been a pretty boring day. I know you guys can’t say the same, though.” He gives me a knowing look, and I panic a little. Does he know? He can’t know. Did he see us? I can tell from David’s shocked expression that he’s having the same thoughts.
“Yes, I know,” Gary says. I break out in a sweat. “But don’t freak out,” he adds. “I’m not gonna tell anybody.”
I know I should say something, but I’m too stunned.
“W-what are you talking about?” David asks.
“Don’t play dumb, Petrovski. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He nods at me. “And so do you, Anna.”
I feel the cheeseburger and fries rising up in my throat. “Um…” I manage to sputter. “No?”
Gary smiles and takes his car keys out of his pocket. “Follow me in your car. I wanna show you something.”
We pay for our meal, and without a word, we follow Gary out to the parking lot. “It’s a short drive,” he calls out as he gets into his truck. Inside the relative safety of my car, David and I get our voices back.
“How can he possibly know? Did he see us? But how? I kept a lookout.” David says.
“I don’t know.” I reply, gripping the steering wheel tightly. A part of me wants to drive directly home, but curiosity keeps me a few feet behind Gary’s taillights.
“What does he wanna show us?” David continues, his voice sounding more panicked with every word. “What if he’s taking us right to a group of crazy scientists who’re going to do experiments on you? What if this is all a trap?”
“I really don’t think he could’ve gotten a bunch of scientists here so fast. Also, you’re getting carried away. Maybe he doesn’t even know anything, and he just wants to show us his new, um, snowmachine or something.”
David sighs and I can practically hear him rolling his eyes. “Yeah, that’s it. He wants to show us his new snowmachine. Good one, Monroe. You cracked the case.”
“Just be cool, and let’s deny till we die. He can’t prove anything.”
“Unless he took pictures or video on his cell phone.”
“Nobody will believe that. They’ll think it was doctored or photoshopped or whatever.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” David seems relieved. “Nobody really believes anything anymore. Thanks, Adobe.”
Feeling somewhat reassured, I loosen my grip on the steering wheel, but I can’t shake the trepidation completely. Gary leads us all the way to his house, maneuvers his car into the driveway, and motions for me to park behind him. I do it, but I don’t cut the engine and neither David nor I make any move to leave the car. Gary walks toward us in that easy, loping way that he has, not at all in a rush. I lower my window all the way and he leans in, resting his arms on the sill.
“You guys gonna get out or what?” he asks.
“Can’t you just show us what you wanna show us here?” David asks.
“No, Petrovski, I can’t. Now are you coming or do I have to drag you two out?” His tone is so deadpan and final that I completely believe he’ll go through with his threat, and he could do it, too. I quickly put my window back up and get out of the car. David follows, rounding the front of the car to join us.
Gary extends his arm toward the backyard. “After you.” He stays behind us as we walk up the path, as though ensuring we won’t try to make a run for it.
“You’re not taking us some place where nobody will find our bodies, are you?” David says.
“You can be a real drama queen sometimes, Petrovski, you know that?”
“Some people say it’s one of my best qualities,” David replies. I stifle a laugh. I shouldn’t be laughing. This is serious. Plus, sometimes it seems like Gary views any sign of joy as an affront.
There’s an old rusty car in the backyard buried under two feet of snow. Random pieces of junk are everywhere: skis that haven’t been used in years, empty beer bottles strewn about, a handful of wooden crates, an ancient-looking treadmill. It’s like a mini wasteland. I feel embarrassed getting this glimpse into Gary’s personal life. I cast a glance at David to gauge his reaction, but he looks completely unperturbed by the sight. He’s probably been here before.
Gary stops us by the shed. He takes off his jacket, then strips off his t-shirt, throwing both on the ground. His muscular torso is like something out of a magazine.
“You brought us out here to show us your abs?” David says. “We get it, man. You have great muscle definition.”
Gary says nothing. He takes off his boots and socks, standing barefoot in the frost. When he starts undoing his belt, I look up and concentrate on a lone star that’s just broken through the clouds.
“Um, Gare? What are you doing?” David sounds as uncomfortable as I feel.
“Is he taking off his pants?” I whisper to him, still looking up at the sky.
“Yup.”
“This is weird.”
“That’s an understatement.”
Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupts, forcing me to cover my eyes with a hand. It’s the same type of light that accompanies Alex when he shifts. All those times I felt there was something unusual about Gary immediately make so much sense, and now I know: he can change shape just like Alex. Once the light dissipates and I can safely look again, Gary’s gone and a gray wolf stands among his discarded clothing. I gasp and take a step back, staring in disbelief. And yet there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the same gray wolf I encountered on the way back from the witch’s hut. Gary was the one who helped me find the path back home. Right away I regret all the uncharitable thoughts I ever had about him.
Beside me, David is completely dumbfounded. With his eyes wide and his mouth open, he stares and stares at the wolf that was Gary just a minute ago.
“Jesus,” he breathes. “This is insane.” He slowly walks toward the wolf, reaching a hand out to touch him, but Gary shifts back before he gets a chance. Stars dance before my eyes for a good five seconds.
