Ice Heart Prts (1-4)

Spirals of ice towered up concaving me in the mysterious ice cave. The icicle covered rocks taunted me. They blew a hyperborean breath crosswise my neck; it sent a sharp, piercing, tingle through my spine. I glanced across into the distance; my eyes met with deep clue crystal ice podium. It was central in the cave. Above it was a glistening cold bridge, perfectly constructed of pure ice. Casts of sharp hardened water, dripped down from the bridge; several little droplets landed in the core of the podium. The chilled water droplets filled it, but never did the water overspill. It was as if each tear of liquid dispersed into the ground, in formation of the cave. Each trickle that fell enclosed the forever shrinking gaps in the ceiling of the cave. With one blink it sucked every droplet from the podium and blew it across all the exits, engulfing me in the freezing den.

It was cold, so cold it froze my ankles still to the floor. Cold as death in the frame of night.

Despite the intense frost, the walls still melted, as did the bridge. I wondered if the water would ever die. It was like the earth; everlasting, invincible, eternal. During my gaze, in the right corner of my eye I caught sight of a trail of footprints. Was I not alone in this subterrane? I stalked the footsteps with my glimpse.

The footsteps stopped.

In their place, a man. He was as tall as a giraffe. His hair was black as ebony. My heart was pounding; thump, thump. He speculated the grotto, touching each morsel of ice with his unfazed bare hands. Unperturbed by the frost, his eyes glided to where mine once were. His mouth agape, he circled the podium intrigued by it. Like a lion intimidating his prey. Water fell; he violently thrusted his hand out to catch it. The man pulled a blade from his pocket, drawing blood from his palm; he dropped the blade into the podium, crafting a vibrant bright fire!

I gasped. He peered up. I was afraid. He was enraged. Our eyes met.

We stared in synchronization. That stare felt like hours, in reality it was seconds. Our deep beam was fiercely severed by his rapid dart to my eyes. “Are you frightened, little girl?” he bellowed. His voice was other worldly; it was profound and husky. My shoulders were frozen; my fear shadowed across my lips snapping them shut. The terrorizing man stepped forward. He was so close to me… too close. Blood was still dripping from his hand as he held it out to me.

He whispered in my ear “Trust me, Elizabeth”.

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In alarm, my eyes moved rapidly from his blood pouring hand up to his mysterious blue eyes. He greeted my stare with a dark grin. Who are you? How do you know me?

Something made me want to take his hand. Each time I thought of the blood running down the hand he held out to me it ordered a shiver down to mine. The way his hand was held out to me showed me he knew my exact thoughts, that I was afraid. He knew I was confused. He knew I was frozen. Encouraging me, his dark grin quickly morphed into a soft smile.

I lightly lay my hand in the palm of his. Taking it proudly, he placed a delicate kiss on my knuckles. My intense stare never moved from his eyes once. I opened my mouth to question him but he put his finger firmly to my lips, as he shushed me. Before I could query him, he spun me quickly, slamming my back to his chest. My gaze was cut short. I couldn’t see his face but I knew he was plotting something. The perplexing man brushed my hair aside, exposing the bare skin on my neck. Emitting a cold breeze along my spine, he breathed in my ear, muttering “Don’t let go, Elizabeth. Trust me.”

His words disturbed me but I felt authorized to trust him. After I clutched his hand tight, he passed a quiet laugh and an engaging smile. No words ever left my lips but he learned every response in my mind from just one glance. It was mesmerizing.

Time stopped.

I forgot the cold. I forgot the blood. I forgot the intensity. All I remembered was the protection that was wrapped around me, the eyes that stole my heart and the touch which compelled my beating heart.

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I gasped, inhaling deeply. I felt a stinging sensation pulse through my finger. There was something sharp in his pocket. A blade! I looked down at my finger and my eyes met with a trail of fresh blood pouring down from my fingertip. I bit my tongue to mask the pain but it hid nothing.

He spun my round quickly at the sound of my deep exhale. Placing his hand on my cheek, he drew his finger across my lip. We shared an intimate stare. Slowly moving his hand away from my face, he pulled my wrist to his face. I clasped my hand tight, attempting to conceal the blood on my hands.

I failed.

“You can’t hide from me, Elizabeth. No one can.” He prised my wound to his mouth, the blood lightly staining his lips. To my surprise, he took my finger in his mouth, gently sucking the blood from it. The warmth of his tongue made my body tingle. I could feel the heat of his hand seeping through my spine, as he gripped my waist tight. Inhaling quietly, he trapped my finger in his jaw.

He closed his eyes. I stared at him wide-eyed. He was calm. I was nervous.

I was trapped. He held my finger to his lips, admiring my delicate touch; opening his eyes, he returned my hand to me, pushing it fiercely to my chest. I was afraid. I didn’t understand. He was so confusing. All these thoughts running through my head forced me to flinch back; my breath quickened to what felt like a thousand breaths a minute. The deep freezing ice peeled my eyes shut before I could begin to imagine them opening again to see his face. My ears caught sound of a voice “Don’t you trust me, Elizabeth?” I opened my eyes; he was gone, but I still heard his voice thunder through my ears. “Do you tremble before me, little girl?” the voice bellowed again, it came from higher ground.

Hundreds of choruses of the same voice surrounded my from every direction, urging me to fear. Piercing my skull, each verse ran around in my mind. I dropped to my knees pleading for the pain to stop. Huge gusts of wind circled around me blowing the trails of blood from my ears off my face and winding leaves in challenging turbines around the podium. Ten frail innocent blackbirds plunged to the ground; they penetrated, one by one, through a sharp blade of ice, their blood spilling across the frozen water. I stared up to where the first voice appeared from, I screamed in sight of one titanic ice boulders charging toward me. I can’t sustain this agony any longer. Spare me.

“Make it stop! I beg of you, Argon, please!”

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Black!

That was all I saw, moments after I cried for him to spare me. Argon? How could I know his name, he’s a stranger? He’s otherworldly. He’s…

My head. The darkness was gone and replaced by a slowly fading white light. Once the light had evaporated it left a tableau of an enchanting girl and a beguiling boy.

The little girl had gorgeous capturing deep blue eyes, which left the boy star struck and captivated. She had beautiful blonde locks, shining in the amber sunlight, tumbling down her shoulders and lips as red as fresh summer roses. Her smile beamed across the meadow, her teething reflecting each ray of light, enlightening the charming spring landscape.

The boy was smiling. His smile was different… Enticing. Gripping. Alluring. Maroon, light, curls bounced off his pale inviting complexion, with each step he took closer to the girl. His eyes were a coaxing green and drew me close; they captured each essence of emerald colour around him. Extracts of malevolence surrounded him with occasional concentrations of benevolence, awakening me to reality.

“Will you run from me?” called the boy as he paced towards the smiling girl. She stopped running and turned to the boy. He was worried. She was confused. He held out his hand. She took his hand. They smiled.

The boy gently tucked the girl’s hair behind her ear, resting his hand on her check, pleadingly. The girl looked up into his eyes, lovingly placing her hand upon his, “Never.”

The boy smiled, “Good.”. Moving his hand away from her cheek to her chin, the boy breathed across the girl’s lips.

“I love you, Argon.”

“I love you, Elizabeth.”

The image disperses into a thousand pieces, like glass shattering. I feel warmth rush across my face and hands. I don't want to open my eyes but his touch incite me to. I open my eyes, to see my hands gripping Argon’s wrists tightly and him holding my face lightly close to his chest, protecting me. Noticing my open eyes, Argon pulls my chin up so our eyes meet. I can't look him in the eyes; he makes me feel so safe but undeniably frightened.

I divert my eye line away from Argon but he retaliates “Don’t look away from me, Elizabeth… I won’t hurt you.”