Chapter 7: Frostbite

For the first time since we got our powers, we froze up. We both realized the magnitude of the situation we were about to jump into and decided that we probably couldn’t do this like we thought we could’ve.

We peered into the station and Danny nudged my side and shook his head. We were withdrawing.

As we began creeping away, the atmosphere started feeling a little heavier and also a little colder. For me, this meant we had to leave faster but Daniel, as scared as he was, was still as reckless as ever. I noticed when we’d just gotten Nate. He paused and turned back with the air growing ever more chilly, a gust of cold wind that had no place in early summer tore through our bodies like blades. He looked back at the police station and started his way back toward it, messing up his clothes even more before I could stop him. Incidentally, we saw Frostbite taking on some of the goons, freezing them to the walls and the floors before approaching their leader, who was now shivering uncontrollably in her presence. The closer she got to him, the more he weakened and when she was close enough to touch him, he was on his knees. She seemed to say something to him before freezing his entire body. I could still see his eyes darting around in fear even though he was encased in the ice.

Danny and I thought the dust had settled on the situation because Frostbite began tending to some of the wounded police officers, however one of the stronger-looking goons busted out of his ice prison and lunged at Frostbite. I heard a gasp escape my mouth and covered it while Frostbite reacted by shooting ice beams from both her hands directly at the criminal. When she finished, he was frozen solid and his eyes weren’t moving and as she turned around to the horrified policemen, she told them that he’ll live. As the police were being treated and Danny and I couldn’t take our eyes off her. The way she moved and the precision she demonstrated were nothing less than professional. She didn’t do this as a hobby or as a gig, she was an authentic superhero and now she was our inspiration. Danny was now satisfied and began to sneak away with me behind him, but he wasn’t headed for the school grounds.

We ended up at the park again. Danny started walking backwards as he turned to talk to me.

“Alright, alright,” He sat back on what seemed to now be our meeting spot. “I’ll admit that was pretty stupid.”

“It was,” I folded my arms and sat beside him.

“But you gotta admit that was amazing though,” He leaned back on the trunk of the tree and looked at the sky through the clouds. “Frostbite is so cool.”

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, thinking back on the things we saw. I began to think that maybe things were happening a lot faster than they should’ve been, but it wasn’t something I could explicitly control yet. Danny sighed and stood up from the tree.

“Let’s go home for now Will,” He reached his hand out to me. “Don’t worry about the teachers, I’ll tell them you had a panic attack and I had to get you to the apartment.”

The sun was behind him which caused his silhouette to remind me of the dream I had when this all started. The mysterious woman, the genesis of shadows, the heavy atmosphere that almost choked me, the pools of light from the murky ground and the shadow people that came from nowhere all flooded back into my memory so fast that it gave me a headache.

When I grabbed his hand he pulled me up and we made our way to the apartment complex. It didn’t take very long for us to get there and we didn’t have to worry about Wendy or Danica being there because they were still at school for the next few hours. I opened the door to my apartment and freezing cold air did all but welcome me in. It was misty and damp and sitting on my couch was the one and only Frostbite.

My mind and my heart were racing. Why is she here? Does she know who I am? Did she find Naturite? Does she know about our powers?

“William, is it?” She stood up and started walking toward me. “We haven’t gotten a chance to talk yet.”

When she was directly in front of me I found myself unable to move. Even when she stuck out her hand for me to shake it, I could only shiver. Why can't I move? Move, Will, do something. Anything!

Slowly, my arm raised and she took my hand in hers and shook it. Her hand was probably colder than the iceberg that tipped the titanic. She let go of me after a few seconds and invited me to sit at the table and talk with her.

“Let me introduce myself. My name’s Grace,” She said. “I already know your name and your friend’s over there so there’s no need to introduce yourselves.”

I sat in utter disbelief that the Frostbite was in my apartment, at my table, talking to me.

“Do you like iced tea?” Is the first thing she asked me. “I think a lot of people think I love iced tea.”

I couldn’t speak, and I didn’t dare try.

“Truth is, I actually don’t care for it that much,” She leaned forward. “Hate the after-taste.”

If she was trying to intimidate me, it was working. I was trying harder not to wet myself than I was paying attention to her. She was staring intently at me with an expression that felt like it was trying to sink me like the titanic itself.

“Let me get to the point,” The chair squeaked as she leaned back on it. “My evac team already took Naturite and removed all evidence of his being here, but there’s one thing I stayed back for.”

I looked over at Danny and he looked at me. We were thinking the same thing.

What could it be?

“I want to know William,” She looked outside the door we left open, then turned back to me and looked directly into my eyes. “How you took him without any of us knowing.”

"How did you disappear without a trace?"