Chapter 1 - Part 2

Interior Temperature 5'C (41'F)

Warning life support error – life support assumed offline.

Executive package selected stand by for support.

Initial charges and deposit included.

Kate sighed, watching the dragon steam of her breathe. A tiny light popped up from the steering wheel, it throbbed on and off.

Their mother clapped.

"See, there we go. Hello?" She said after pressing on the centre.

"G'day ma'am."

The new voice was slow, with a drawl to it but not southern. It was like an impression of Goofy, if Goofy had had a stroke.

"It's good now, phew!" Her mother sighed, just disgustingly peppy.

"We're glad te 'elp!" Goofy said.

She tapped her finger against her pal, and flicked it up, like she was flicking a piece of paper at the wheel.

"These license work for you?"

"Why ye'es. My son's awl'ready on the way. Tryin' to expan the ol' bizniz. I'll verify what I can right 'ere."

"Why, thank you!"

Her mother was one octave short of pompoms and an extra short skirt to get the quarter back's attention.

Kate needed a shower to wash off the access syrup.

"Ya'ay, we're saved!" Griff said, punching the ceiling.

He'd taken the words right out of Kate's mouth though it lacked the sarcasm she'd so meticulously organized. Instead, she stared, unsure if he was being real. Silly went without saying.

"Saved!" Their mother said, tapping the roof in solidarity.

"We could tell ghost stories." Griff suggested.

"You know you're older than five, right?" Kate asked.

"Come on sis, you're good at it. Like actually good." Griff said bouncing.

Kate's lip twitched toward a smile, rebelling against the scowl she scheduled in advance.

"So you want me to tell you about the doting mother who lost her boy? Well, she desperately needed to pee, pulled the car over. And when she came back, her favourite child was gone. Taken and raised by the dead men and women eaten upon those same icy paths. He still looks for his mother and his mother looks for him. Both stealing, her, little boys, and him-"

There was a knock on the glass that made them scream so loud it drained away any pride she'd ever had.

There was a rather large man at the door holding what appeared to be a sledgehammer forged for the purpose of murder. Blinking couple times revealed that it was just a folded net glued to dozens of black bowling balls.

His face couldn't be seen behind a massive scarf and giant googles. But there was a glowing business logo with a spanner crossed like swords.

"Kaitlyn." Came the 'authoritative mother' voice.

Kate's heart sank.

"Get out and talk to him." Their mother ordered.

"I don't know what to say!" Kate complained.

"Use your head, I believe in you, I'll pass all the info."

There was a thud on the roof as the net with the bowling balls were laid on top.

Soon a red glow emanated.

"I'll go" Griff said suddenly puffing his chest.

Their mother's laser gaze cut through the rear mirror into Kate's soul.

If 'Kaitlyn' didn't step outside, she'd die. Her bones would be snapped and folded like twigs before a budding campfire.

Defeated Kate extended a hand and a metal wallet was passed dropped into her palm, multiple cards popped out upon her thumb touching the smooth metal. She pushed them back. The world got warmer, where the glow touched snow bubbled, steamed and melted.

"Don't forget your protection." Her mother said, chipper.

"Condom in my back pocket." Kate returned without missing a beat.

"Kaitlyn what!?"

"Kidding!"

She pulled the back of the front seat's headrest and popped it off a flap. A metal sleeve awaited, she wore the sleeve under her jacket and waited.

The gushing raw heat made short work of the doors. She could open if she wanted, but the giant man was still placing more heat on the floor. Dense mushy root, soil and millions of bark chips poked out from the blanket of ice, fat and bloated.

When he was a little further away, she made her entrance.

The world was warm, the chill pushed away. There was a duality to it, like a back and forth, a tug of war that had heat holding advantage.

"You're out, which meayns tha door works. Tha's good."

His accent was nowhere near as slow or thick but the goofiness remained. Just a couple steps short of Canadian, but with the depth of one who was clearly over six feet.

"Yeah, thanks." She said sheepish.

He kept working, drawing a separate path up the slope of forest to a six wheeled truck. It was a small beast. Angular with a square hatch filled with a dense crane arm which turned towards them as if just noticing them and about to greet.

The path got wider, the ice melting faster. The white eased into a midnight mahogany and grey, transforming from a footpath to a driveway.

The man was determined, eyes locked on the 'work'.

Finally the heaving, pulling and adjusting of all that heat and wood came to a halt and he stopped. He took a breath, pulling off the insane scarf to wrap it around his hand. The pull was tight, like a fighter putting on gloves.

He turned and her jaw dropped. He was tan, with buttery soft features, a lot about his face felt like a drawing, like someone had drawn a superhero. A meaty, dense chin, with a butt at the end. He'd clearly shaved recently because the skin around it looked as though he went to bed with a mask of needles. As for his neck, it matched the density of the pickup truck. But most interesting were the gold and green eyes, large and babyish, all of him was babyish while still being huge.

He smiled, soft, shy and mild. Too polite and awkward to actually be happy, because heaven forbid he offend someone by frowning.

Kate smiled, her body demanded a sheepish wave. She shut it down with a fist, but it'd happened too late, and she waved a fist.

"Tha anti human or fir bug hunt'n?"

She blinked, unmoving in her blankness.

He tapped his sleeve, looking at her own.

"Oh, the sleeve!" She laughed.

She lifted the sleeve to reveal, a long black cloth hiding a tube, magnets all around it and small gun.

She pointed to the gun. "That's anti-human," she pointed to the magnets. "That's anti nature."

"A knife gun?" He asked.

"It's more like a knife and gun." She said closing her sleeve and crossing her arms.

He smirked, matching hers.

"So? You scared of me?" She asked.

"A warrior who don't think and a thinker who don't fight leave a world of thinken cowards and thoughtless killers."

Her brow rose.

"That's an interesting expression." She said.

His face fell.

"Um, sorry. It's weird. I only come off as weird when I'm trying te be clever. I meant te say tha yer a badass. Umm… er… well… Didn't think you were from these parts, judging by the car, which ain't made fir this level of cold and ice. So I figured, Florida, tha South."

She laughed.

"No, this is my state, Harvard side hence the car, but also the gear but a better guess than you'd think."

He grinned, it was as big as he was. And contagious.

"So, what have you got to get rid of oddys or mother nature herself?" Kate asked.

He shrugged, his smile sly.

"Well, keep your secrets." She said with a laugh.

How many times had she laughed? It must have come off as a circus act.

A knock on the window made them both jump.

"Oh, ah, the cab. Well, yer looking for a full repair, right?" His tone gained a formality she hadn't noticed before.

"No, just enough to get us on the road to the city." Came 'chipper' mom.

"An' then?"

"Don't know, I doubt there'd be a reason to drive it much once it's there. Why? Are you planning to buy her?"

"What? No-"

He stopped, thought a moment caught between two invisible evils.

"Yeah, car- buy, yeah." He mumbled.

Kate grinned despite herself, it was important she find out his original thought. It had to be something amazing. But another knock on the window broke that train of thought.

"I'll get the pulley." He said, jogging up their new road.

The window opened and her mother stared with a raised brow.

"That's the son?" She said and whistled like a lecherous hag, "How old is he?"

Kate shrugged.

"We weren't talking that long mom, but I think late teens, early twenties. He clearly shaves."

"Judging by his size, he probably started shaving at ten."

Griff laughed with mom, who swelled with pride. She cringed, there was a scary start a stand-up performance.

"Well, mom, before he gets back. He wants to know what exactly what he's supposed to be doing?"

"Get the car moving."

"So, not a tow?"

"Why would-" She stopped.

"Were you hoping to sit in the car with him while we were dragged?" She exclaimed, the scandal in her voice left Kate red-faced.

"Shut up mom, he's coming back."

"Look at you!" Her brother cried out.

"Hell, look at him." Her mother purred.

"Mom!"