Ice Maiden

by Dale Mayer

  “I know,” he said, standing. “Come on. Let’s go for a short walk.”

  “I thought you had to go to work.”

  “I do,” he said, “but I can afford to take a short walk.”

  She frowned and then shrugged. She got up, put on her boots, grabbed her winter coat and her vest, and said, “Let’s go.” They made their way down to the garage and stepped outside. The snow was coming down heavily. “I don’t know why,” she said, “but I really like the snow.”

  “Well, that means you’re in the right place,” he said. “Lots of people like to come for a visit and then go home, where they can leave it all behind.”

  “Not me,” she said. “I should have been born and raised here. I’m definitely a winter bunny.”

  “At least you know it,” he said.

  “Sure, but I can’t afford to stay here, and everything that’s happened since I got here is telling me to go home, to run, and to get far away from this nightmare.”

  “Maybe,” he said quietly. “But, at the same time, maybe it’s not that bad.”

  “Oh, it’s that bad,” she said sadly. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it.” She shoved her fists into her coat pockets and tilted her head up, smiling as the snowflakes fell in her hair.

  “You’ll need a hot bath when you go back inside,” he said.

  “Maybe,” she said. Outside, the cold air was brushing through her. It was hard to even feel the cold; she felt such a sense of welcoming here.

  “Are you okay?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Of course.”

  “You’re not cold?”

  “No.” She looked at him and frowned. “Are you?”

  “A little on the chilly side,” he admitted, “but it’s not bad.”

  “We can go back if you want,” she said, hoping that he didn’t want to.

  “No, it’s fine,” he said. “I’m just surprised you’re not cold.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, your jacket is wide open, and you have no hat or gloves on,” he said, “and it’s a bitterly cold night.”

  She looked at him in surprise, down at her hands, frowned, and said, “You’re right. And normally I feel the cold. But I’m not today.”

  “Too much going on inside?”

  “Too much going on in my head, yes,” she said with a shrug. “But I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with any of it.”

  “Maybe there’s nothing you can do,” he said. “When you think about it, if that’s just what it is, then that’s just what it is.”

  “I guess I’m waiting for you to solve this thing.”

  “Believe me. We would like to.”

  “And yet you’re escorting me around on a walk.”

  “I do need some time off from work too, you know?” he reminded her gently.

  She flushed. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”

  “We often don’t get any time off in between cases like this,” he said, “and particularly right now. But everybody else is working hard, and I haven’t had a whole lot of sleep.”

  She realized that he’d taken her criticism a little harder than she’d intended. “I said I’m sorry,” she said. “Look. Why don’t you go back to work? I just want to be outside in the cold for a bit.”

  He looked at her curiously, frowned, and said, “No, that’s okay.”

  “No, I insist,” she said. “I just want to be alone. I’m really crappy company.”

  “I’m not here for the company.”

  “No, I know you’re trying to keep an eye on me, but I’m fine,” she insisted. And he hesitated still, but she said, “Go. I promise I won’t be very long. I just wanted to cool down a little bit.”

  He frowned and nodded and said, “Well, I’ll go pick up a few things at the office.”

  “Go,” she said.

  “Fine.” He turned and walked back toward the main house. She was just at the property line at the street, and, as she watched, he went into his aunt’s house. She frowned at that. Maybe he was living there? But he told her that he was thinking about selling it but hadn’t quite figured out what to do. And, for the first time, she realized he was living here himself. Somehow that made her feel even better.

  She wasn’t alone in this world, and he was nothing but a call away.

  Gabby walked down the block a little bit, where a river was more or less frozen over the top. Some really unique ice formations had been created here from the last time it was running. As she stood here, she heard his vehicle come out of the driveway. She turned to look, lifted a hand in greeting, and he drove away. She smiled at that, and, staring down at the water again, she realized that she really wasn’t cold at all. She was like warm, as in, seriously warm.

  She tilted her head back, loving the feel of the snow coming down and landing on her face. She wondered if it was safe to take off her jacket because she was very warm. So she pulled it off and laid it over the railing of the bridge and wanted to just dance with the freedom of being outside in the fresh air. Away from all that horror and nightmare going on. She didn’t know if she was going crazy or not, and, after the talk that she’d had with the shrink, she figured that she may definitely come out on the crazy side. Maybe.

  She started to laugh and dance a little more and then a little more. Finally she just sat down on the railing and stared out at the world. It was gorgeous out here. Why was everybody locked up inside? She didn’t know how long she stayed here, but eventually she heard her name. She looked over to see Damon, standing there, a frown on his face.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  She looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m out here in the snow, enjoying it.”

  “You have no coat on,” he said, in a sharp tone, his gaze searching. “You’re completely covered in snow.”

  She looked up and down and then gave her shoulders and head a shrug, and, sure enough, snow went spraying everywhere. She laughed. “I didn’t realize.”

  “How can you not realize that you’re covered in snow?” he asked, walking toward her. “Hold out your hands.”

  She did as he asked, and, taking hold of one, he bit off an oath, exclaiming, “Gabby, your hands are like ice!”

  “Sure,” she said, “I’ve been outside.”

  “No, they’re getting seriously frostbit,” he said. “What is going on?” He grabbed her other hand now.

  “Nothing,” she said, staring at him in shock. She tried to pull her hands back, but he wouldn’t let her.

  “No,” he said, “let’s get you inside.”

  “I don’t want to go,” she said stubbornly.

  He stopped, stared at her, and asked, “And why is that?”

  “I told you,” she said. “I like it out here. It’s so beautiful.”

  “It’s too cold. You need to come in. It’s not safe anymore.”

  She stared at him. “Why on earth would you say that?”

  He took a long slow deep breath. “And now you’re being argumentative, something I haven’t seen from you before.”

  “But you don’t know me that well, do you?” she said, tilting her head back up to the snow and spreading her arms wide. “It’s beautiful out here.”

  “You’re not equipped for it. You have no jacket on, and your body temperature is dropping.”

  She opened her eyes wide, turned to look at him slowly. She felt something odd inside, almost a rumbling. “I’m not sure what that means,” she said. “But, if you think I’m suicidal, you’re wrong.”

  “Good,” he said shortly, “because I’m not seeing responsible behavior out of you right now.”

  She frowned. “Wanting to be outside makes me suicidal?”

  “You’re past being outside,” he said. “Your fingers are blue. Your face is completely covered in snow, your head is wearing a big snowcap,” he said. “I doubt any of your friends would consider this normal behavior.”

  She stopped, looked at
him, and felt a tinge of fear inside. “If I’m not being normal,” she asked slowly, “what am I being?”

  He didn’t say anything and just stared at her.

  “You’d call me crazy?”

  “I didn’t say that,” he said.

  “No, but you’re thinking it.”

  “I didn’t say that either,” he said. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

  “No,” she said, as she looked down, hesitating. “Is something wrong with me?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, “but you’re really worrying me.”

  “I wonder why,” she said, sending him an odd look, catching a really curious look on his face. “What do you see?” At that moment he studied her, not with horror but with something odd in his gaze. “Damon, talk to me.”

  “I want you to step away from the river for a moment.”

  She looked at the river, shrugged, and took several steps away from the railing. “What?”

  He let out a long exhale. “I just thought I saw something there beside you.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know,” he bit off. “Now can we go inside, please?”

  She wanted to push it and still stay outside, but something else was warring inside her, telling her not to do it. Slowly she nodded. “I guess, if I have to.”

  “Thank you,” he said, but he stood there waiting for her, watching to see if she would actually follow through.

  She felt the resistance inside her, wanting to stay here. Yet at the same time something else was going on inside. “I feel really strange,” she said. “Like, really strange.”

  “I wonder why,” he muttered.

  She glared at him and took two steps, before letting out a weird sound, just before the ground rushed up to meet her face.

  Damon dropped beside her, still figuring out what had just gone on and why she’d acted so oddly. He swore to God that he saw this weird shadow behind her. And it kind of freaked him out, but he wasn’t sure if it was the light playing with his vision or something else. That’s why he had asked Gabby to move away from the river. Yet it hadn’t helped clarify anything.

  Gabby had been off since he got here. Hell, she might have been off for a long time. For the first time he wondered if maybe she could be guilty of these crimes somehow. Yet she’d been home with him at the time of the second murder, so that made no sense.

  But something was wrong, something was going on here that he needed to check out. He ran his hands over her after her collapse and couldn’t find evidence of anything being broken, but she was cold, so very cold. He hesitated, wondering if he should call for an ambulance, but decided that he’d get her into the garage apartment first.

  He picked her up, wondering how she could be so light. He raced her back to the garage as fast as he could, then made his way up to her suite, where he put her on the couch. Throwing some blankets on top of her, he then rubbed her hands, her face, and her feet, just to get some circulation going. When she finally moaned, he kept it up.

  “Stop,” she whispered, “it hurts.”

  “Maybe it hurts,” he said, “but at least you’re alive.”

  “So cold,” she said, her teeth chattering.

  “I know,” he said, “and I need you to work hard to get warmed back up again.”

  “I don’t know what happened,” she said. “How did I get so cold?”

  “Well, you were standing outside without a coat on for at least an hour,” he said. “That’ll do it.”

  “Why? That makes no sense,” she whispered. “I always wear my jacket. I know how cold it can get out there.”

  “Yeah, I hear you,” he said. “But that’s what you were doing. Since I left apparently, which means I shouldn’t have left you in the first place.”

  She opened her eyes, gave him a lopsided grin, and said, “Well, I’m still alive.”

  “Sure, but at what cost?” he said, shaking his head. “I want you to get up and move around. Get the blood circulating through your system. Then I’ll put on the teakettle.”

  He helped her to her feet and assisted her so she could move initially. “Come on. Come on. Keep walking,” he said. “Let’s push that frostbite away.”

  “Doesn’t help that I’m so c-c-cold.”

  “Once I know that you can walk by yourself,” he said, “I’ll run you a hot bath.”

  “Now that,” she said, “sounds about perfect.”

  “I don’t know about perfect,” he said, “but it’s something.”

  “And helpful,” she said.

  As soon as she could stand on her own, he got the teakettle on. Then he checked to see if she was still on her feet. She was, so he raced to the bathroom and ran the hot water in the bathtub. “Do you want some bubble bath in it?”

  “If you have some here,” she said, “then, yes. That would be great.”

  He nodded and headed back into the bathroom again, finding some stuff in the back corner that smelled like lavender. As soon as he poured in a big dollop, bubbles rose up. In a flash he stepped from the bathroom to see her huddled in a chair. He shook his head. “Move it. Come on. You’ve got to keep moving.”

  She glared at him, but, with his assistance, she stood and walked about a bit again. “Why was I out there for so long?” she muttered. “I don’t even think it’s possible that an hour went by.”

  “I was gone for an hour,” he said. “Maybe even an hour and a half.”

  She shook her head. “Not possible,” she announced.

  “Well, keep arguing with me,” he said. “It will keep your blood pressure moving.”

  “You’re making it up,” she muttered.

  “Yeah, like I’ve got time for that crap,” he snapped.

  “Maybe you do. I don’t know. Maybe you’re just making it all up.”

  “You’re the one who’s freezing, not me. Why the hell wasn’t your coat on?”

  She looked at him, surprised, and he motioned to her coat off to the side. “Feel your hair.”

  “I often go out without a hat on,” she admitted.

  “I get that,” he said. “I really do, but why on earth would you have taken off your coat?”

  “I didn’t,” she said.

  He stopped, looked at her, and said, “If you didn’t, then who did?”

  She stared at him in shock. “I didn’t have a coat on?” she asked hesitantly.

  “No. You didn’t. Check your shoulders,” he said. “You’re still in a wet sweater. I should have taken it off you as soon as I got you home.”

  She reached over and patted her shoulders. “Who took off my coat?” she asked. “I thought you took it off when you brought me inside.”

  “No,” he said, “it was off when I found you. And you were doing some weird dance movement on the bridge.”

  “Oh, hell, no,” she said. “I was doing no such thing.”

  He groaned. “I don’t have time to argue with you, Gabby,” he said. “Let’s get you stripped down and into the bath.”

  “I can do it myself,” she snapped, and she took three hesitant steps toward the bath and fell.

  Swearing, he picked her up, carried her into the bathroom, and said, “This is not the time.”

  “For what?”

  “For sensibilities and modesty,” he said. “We need to get you in that hot water. Otherwise I’m calling an ambulance, and you’re going with them.”

  “No, no, no,” she said, “I can’t afford that.”

  “I hear you,” he said, “but I don’t really care right now. You get yourself warm, and, if you can’t do it yourself, I’ll help you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Gabby didn’t know what to think. It didn’t make any sense to her. As she tried to grab her sweater with her fingers, it kept slipping from her hands. She stared up at him. “I don’t think I can do this,” she whispered.

  Immediately he had her sweater up over her head and tossed to the floor, her bra unclipped, and her pants down to her ankles. He held
her, while she stepped out of them, and he took off her socks as well. Her panties hit the floor seconds later, and she was picked up and lowered slowly into the warm water. She cried out in relief as the warm water encased her body, and her teeth started to chatter.

  “Good,” he said, “let your teeth chatter. It’s a sign that your body is trying to warm itself up.”

  “If y-you s-s-say so,” she whispered. She sank under the water to her chin and tried to get out something about a hot tub.

  He shook his head. “Nope, I don’t have one.”

  She nodded, closed her eyes, and pulled herself right under, allowing the heat to soak into her scalp. When she needed air, she came up to find him staring at her, looking worried.

  “I’m good. I’m okay,” she said. “I don’t know what that was all about, but I’m okay now.”

  “Well, when you’re feeling a little bit better,” he said, “you’ll explain to me why you were out there without your coat. Your coat was right there on the ground beside you, but why would you take it off?”

  She felt the waves of anger coming off him. But, at this point, she figured it was more worry about her than anything. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t remember taking it off.” She looked up to see that he didn’t believe her. “Honest.”

  He shook his head and disappeared.

  She figured to see to the tea. She sank back under the water, feeling the bathtub fill more and more. Some of it going into the overflow as she went under, but she didn’t care. As long as it didn’t overflow the actual bathtub, she wasn’t moving.

  When he returned, he had a hot cup of something and a shot glass. She looked at both. He bent down, turned off the water, and said, “The bathtub is full. I want you to drink this shot of whiskey, and this is hot tea for afterward.”

  She looked at the whiskey, then looked at him and said, “I really don’t like whiskey.”

  “I really don’t care,” he said. “It’ll light a fire inside.”

  She snorted.

  “Come on. Just do it already. Please?”

  She groaned, sat up slightly, took the whiskey, and threw it back, then immediately started coughing.