Chapter 3

Gabriella had her phone attached to the machine, blasting the song Audiotool Day 2016 by Xtract.

The sun was just under the horizon, the far end of the sky with purple and orange light that reflected off of the snow covered ground, turning the white ground into very faded and faint colored ice. As she drove further and further, more color began to wash over her.

She looked back towards the facility, which had nothing but clear night sky over the speck of a building.

Gabriella’s head turned back and was locked, her eyes staring intensely forward. The large and mysterious mountain was still a solid, black obelisk of darkness surrounded by light and color.

“Alright…let’s see what the problem is…” She said to herself as she sped up the snowmobile, kicking up more of the colorful snow into the air, which fell as twinkling and sparkling snowflakes that reflected the peaceful and warm colors as they floated down to the ground.

Gabriella continued forward, but the closer and closer she got the more her music became distorted.

She looked down at her phone screen, which suddenly became static before completely going black.

At the same moment, her snowmobile suddenly petered out, the engine all of a sudden dying despite the tank of gas barely being spent.

She stayed sitting on the seat and slapped the console, hoping it would help turn the machine back on.

Yet it slid to a halt, screeching across the ice before coming to a complete stop, no sound at all.

When she tried to turn it back on, there was no noise whatsoever. Like the button had no power whatsoever over the machine.

“Alright…must be what happened to the rover.”

She slowly and carefully climbed off of the mobile, pushing it backwards until her phone began to turn back on.

“Alright, this is the limit.” She said as she lifted the machine up, clearly struggling and straining. She spun it around and left it to sit, ready to be used if she needed it once again.

She turned and stared back at the tall mountain, still cast in darkness.

The sunlight was more visible then ever as the entire sky was like a water painting with white clouds slowly moving across to break apart the orange and purple skies.

Gabriella began to march forward across the snow and ice, which felt like any other normal snow or ice in the area.

She continued on, walking with purpose to try and find what the problem was.

But as she walked, other parts of the snow began to shift.

Where she stepped left footprints, but after she continued on…

Snow washed over them, moving as fluid as water to cover and obscure them.

Pieces of flat snow began to buckle and rumble, resembling waves more than solid ice.

And some of the spots began to grow into small humps, the snow falling off of something that was hidden underneath.

Gabriella continued on, walking across the ice that crunched with every step, not feeling or noticing anything different.

The mountain was growing larger and larger with every step, the darkness becoming darker and darker.

A massive shadow stretched out across the colorful snow, a large patch of ground that had no color or light at all.

It appeared as a void that stretched on forever, ending at the base of the mountain that was impossible to see.

Except…for one thing.

A miniscule dot of blue light, smaller than the stars twinkling in the clear night sky.

It was barely visible, yet Gabriella could see it.

The still blue light that only subtly pulsated, piercing through the darkest shadows that Gabriella had ever seen.

“Well…here goes nothing.” She said to herself as she stepped into the shadows, which felt colder than anything else around her.

She stepped back, having to shake her leg to regain feeling.

“Alright…that was…cold.” She said.

She could start to hear snow shifting behind her.

Ice breaking quietly.

She slowly turned to look behind her as massive piles of snow emerged from the ground.

The snow fell off and revealed human shaped figures, dressed in white robes made of polar bear fur and skin. Kilts of white wolves were around their waists, but most of their bodies were actually uncovered, revealing pale bodies that were toned and muscular.

They all held long white spears with heads that looked to be made of ice.

Gabriella slowly raised her arms and stood with eyes open in fear.

“I…what…is…” She struggled to speak.

Over a dozen of them suddenly appeared, standing up from the snow they used as camouflage.

“Who are you?” One of them asked in a strange language that Gabriella didn’t understand.

“I…what? I don’t know what you’re saying.” She said.

“You are not supposed to be here.” Another one of them said.

Gabriella was shaking in fear as she looked around.

None of the people were moving towards the large shadow right behind her.

She took a deep breath, then jumped backwards until she was completely covered in dark, cold shadow. It felt like a thousand hands of pure ice gripping her body all over, clawing and squeezing every inch of her skin and flesh as she tried to scream, but the sound was frozen inside of her lungs.

She stared out as the people all stared at her in shock and surprise.

She couldn’t move, the shadow so cold it was beginning to freeze her blood.

Freezing her brain to prevent any of the neurons firing.

Her heart began to slow down to the point of no more pumping or beating.

The tribe of people to the edge of the shadow, yet none of them crossed the line of light and dark.

Gabriella continued to stare forward, unable to move.

Her molecules and atoms themselves were beginning to slow down, nearly stopping completely.

The people held their spears out, using them to try and hook onto her clothing and pull her forward.

One went into her sleeve, another catching the bottom of her pants and another from the side reaching out to the back of her neck.

They all grunted out something in unison before they all pulled their spears, Gabriella’s body very slowly being dragged across the snow and ice, leaving a small trail that suddenly froze over with more snow.

They grunted and pulled again, bringing her closer to the light.

More spears went out to hook around more of her body and clothing, pulling her more and more.

She began to regain feeling in her body, yet was still unable to move.

Her fingers and feet were the first things that touched the light, covered in ice crystals that faded and melted away in an instant.

Her fingers began to wiggle around as they regained control and movement.

She was fully pulled into the light, gasping for air and falling to the side.

She had wide open eyes, her body shaking and shivering.

The people stood around her, yet they seemed confused.

They shared gazes at each other back and forth as Gabriella struggled to push herself upright.

“What…the…fuck…is…happening?” She asked.

She finally forced herself to her feet, looking around while her head was spinning, making it difficult to think.

She shut her eyes tight, trying to focus and let herself regain focus and control.

But as her eyes opened, she looked around her.

All of the people, dressed in animal pelts with bodies mostly exposed to the arctic tundra…

Were all on their knees and elbows, their backs arched as they bowed in a circle around her.

She kept looking around at all of them, their faces pressed down into the snow as they stayed in bowing position.

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