Frostbitten: The Complete Series (25 page)

“What’s wrong?” Brittany asked.

“Why didn’t you call me when it happened?” Megan asked.

“I was just so flustered, and you were in class. I don’t know—I’ve just been a space cadet all day.”

Megan forced a smile. “We’ve always told each other everything.”

Brittany thought for a moment as she looked at her friend. In fifteen years, she’d never seen her friend so disappointed in her. “I’m sorry. I—I just feel kind of shy about the whole thing.”

Megan smiled. “Never be shy with me,” she said. “Are you excited?”

“I think so!” Brittany said. “I’m nervous.”

“Oh my God—We need to start picking out an outfit,” Megan said, springing up to her feet.

That night, Megan phoned James Enderby and told him about the shoe store boy. James did not hesitate to ask Megan out on a date. This time, Megan was happy to finally say “yes”.

What Megan Gold didn’t realize was that Robert Lawson did not exist.

Brittany made him up so that she wouldn’t have to suffer through the torture of dragging Megan down to her pitiful level. She spent that Saturday at the movie theatre, alone—occasionally messaging Megan as if she was on a real date. She’d escaped the pity, but she’d never felt like such a pathetic loser in her life.

A week later, Brittany told her friend that her relationship with “Robert Lawson” wasn’t working out, and that she was going to stop seeing him.

Megan and Brittany’s friendship was never the same. Megan started spending more and more time away with James. The occasional disagreement started to spring up between the teen girls, and Brittany was quickly beginning to resent all of the male attention Megan continued to get, despite being in a steady relationship with James Enderby.

Megan had started a different life—a life in which Brittany didn’t quite fit.

It took some convincing, but James managed to drag Megan out to a big high school party. For Megan, the party would turn out to be a major turning point in her young life. James Enderby’s best friend, Wallace Quick was throwing the night’s event.

If it wasn’t for a town-wide power outage, Brittany would have stayed at home that freezing cold winter night.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
WALLACE QUICK

Wallace Quick was the son of a well-respected army man, Sam Quick.

Sam proudly served in three different wars, across three different continents. He had acquired just about every medal there was to acquire. Each year, Sam led a parade commemorating the troops, and he ran the Quick Foundation—a charity, which provided homing for the homeless during the winter. Sam was without question the most respected man in all of Snowbrooke.

Wallace Quick, on the other hand, was anything but respectable. Before he was thirteen years old, Wallace had been expelled from two different schools, and he’d been arrested a number of times for a plethora of different reasons—assault, dealing drug, reckless endangerment—you name it.

Miraculously, Wallace had a totally clean police record. Thanks to his father’s mighty pull, Wallace was always released with nothing more than a stern warning.

The moment Wallace was released, he would always be right back on his warpath.

Ironically, it was Wallace’s incredibly heroic, honoured and respected father’s fault that Wallace was such a scuzzy little brat. Sam Quick was rarely home. When Wallace was born, Sam requested a transfer out of the line of combat. He took a different job at an army research centre—about four-hours north of the little town of Snowbrooke. Sam lived at the base for three weeks at a time, and only took about four or five days off to visit his family in Snowbrooke.

He almost never spoke about his job at the base. Supposedly, his work was extremely high profile and totally top secret. All anyone knew was that they tested aircraft, weapons and other combat gear at the northern base. Rarely, Sam would bring home prototypes for whatever was being worked on at the base—usually failed prototypes that would have otherwise become trash—little things like little water purifiers, and weather resistant work boots.

Sam and his team were responsible for the latest state-of-the-art light-weight thermal suits, which ended up being mass produced and sent to every soldier around the world. Another one of Sam’s achievements was a small electric generator that was strong enough to power an entire city block, but light enough that your grandmother could lift it with one arm. The generator used very little energy, but was made from extremely expensive materials. When Sam’s team designed the second prototype for the generator, Sam brought the old one home, and used it to cut down the expensive heating bill at his Snowbrooke home.

Sam’s wife, Barbara was also a victim of his shining career. She was constantly expected to attend events and make appearances with her husband. It didn’t help that she was obsessed over her appearance.

Barbara spent most of her time three hours south of Snowbrooke, in a small city called Earlton, where the major shopping outlets were. When she wasn’t shopping in Earlton, she was on a plane to Los Angeles, where she got regular plastic surgery with the help of Sam’s platinum credit card.

A neglected child, Wallace was free to do whatever he wanted. With his father’s high status and his mother’s constant absence, Snowbrooke was Wallace’s sandbox—freedom that no one, especially a child like Wallace should ever have.

No moment in Wallace’s short life was dull. In sixteen years, Wallace accomplished a hell of a lot. He’d stolen and wrecked cars worth half a million dollars. He was responsible for the biggest fire in Snowbrooke’s history. He’d abused and experimented with every drug you’ve ever heard of, and more.

His parents had him tested for ADHD. The doctors decided to try treating the wild boy with a particularly powerful stimulant. The attempt to calm the child down backfired, and Wallace became painfully addicted to speed—breaking his medication up and snorting it for a better high. Wallace was constantly consuming potentially deadly doses of various legal and illegal stimulants.

Had Wallace been able to focus his reckless energy on something productive and worthwhile, he could have accomplished anything he wanted. Unfortunately, “productive and worthwhile” weren’t part of Wallace Quick’s dictionary. Wallace had no interest in “changing the world for the better”. Instead, he chose to live fast and die young.

That epic high school party would be the last party Wallace ever threw—his final night of unrestrained glory.

It was one of the coldest nights in Snowbrooke’s history. The snow was coming down in a consistent thick sheet and every radio station was repeatedly broadcasting the emergency weather warning.

Wallace’s big party was only hours away, and everyone was cancelling. Wallace was upset about it. He made phone call after phone call, trying to convince people to come to his epic party.

No one was interested.

It didn’t help that the bizarre Wilkinson House Murder, just a few days before, had everyone apprehensive to stay out late. Not to mention, the radios were reporting a fatal shooting at a local gas station, just hours earlier.

To most people, it seemed crazy to not only brave the freezing snow, but to also risk being killed by a homicidal maniac—just to attend some high school party.

But Fate had a way of giving Wallace what he wanted.

Snowbrooke’s power went out as the nearby power plant became overwhelmed with snow. Everyone in the town found themselves without power and heat on the coldest night in memorable history. Police went house to house, telling everyone without a generator to seek shelter at the local library or the hospital—the only two spots with backup power strong enough to keep the much-needed heat on.

Wallace did not hesitate to crank the volume of his loud speakers. He turned on every single light in his house—including all of the colourful party lights he “borrowed” from town’s community centre—which his dad just so happened to have the key for.

As the cold town’s youth heard the music and saw the lights, they swarmed towards the Quick house like hungry moths.

To Wallace’s delight the high school party got way out of hand, way too fast.

Even Brittany ended up at the party after her power went dead. Perhaps there was something in the cold air that night, or perhaps it was the fact Wallace slyly slipped a hit of ecstasy into every bottle of liquor he put out for the guests, but after just a single drink, Brittany was feeling completely off.

As the night wore on, the tether between Brittany and Megan grew longer and longer.

Megan started chatting with a different group of people—the new friends she met through her new boyfriend, James. As Megan disappeared into the party, Brittany found herself anxiously alone—knowing nobody.

Things were getting weird quickly. Most people were having the time of their life—Brittany on the other hand, was not. She could hardly stand straight on her feet. She became incredibly nervous—unsure of what was happening around her. Everything was quickly becoming a spinning blur. Afraid, and unable to find her only friend Megan, Brittany took off for her home, where she ended up vomiting all night and passing out on the icy cold bathroom floor.

For the rest of that winter weekend, Brittany never heard from Megan. She wasn’t responding to any of Brittany’s text messages or phone calls, and she wasn’t answering her door. Brittany remained calm—many people ended up stranded that weekend—cars refused to start, and power failed to return to many of the older Snowbrooke homes.

But when the following school day rolled around, Megan was still nowhere to be seen. She didn’t show up for any of her classes and Brittany’s messages and calls continued to go unanswered. To make a tense situation worse, Megan’s new boyfriend, James Enderby, was also nowhere to be seen.

Brittany was worried sick. After a couple of days, Brittany was completely panicked. Unable to handle the stress one day after school, she knocked on Megan’s door and waited for her friend to answer. She knocked louder and louder. Eventually, Brittany simply let herself in.

The Gold’s house was dark, and Megan’s parents weren’t home. The curtains were all closed, and the furniture was pushed up against the windows, preventing any natural light from entering.

Megan’s bedroom was cold and vacant.

“Megan?” Brittany called out, growing increasingly nervous for Megan’s wellbeing. “Megan—where are you?”

There was a lingering dread in the quiet air.

Suddenly, Brittany heard noises coming from below the silent house. She made her way down the stairs into Megan’s dark, unfinished basement.

That was where she found the missing Megan Gold and James Enderby.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
ETERNAL YOUTH

Their eyes were red—glowing in the dark gloomy basement. Megan slowly looked up at Brittany and smiled. On that cold cement basement floor was a familiar student— Kristi Platelle. Her chubby lifeless skin was pale, as blood trickled down from her plump neck.

The confused Brittany’s brain couldn’t process what she was seeing. One of her classmates was dead, and her best friend was the killer.

Brittany began to step backwards, back towards the stairway. Her legs began to feel weak and her knees began to buckle.

“Where are you going?” Megan asked.

“Why—Why did you kill her?” Brittany asked.

“We made the world a better place.”

“You can’t just kill someone,” Brittany said. “Who are you? Where’s Megan?”

Megan smiled. “I’m right here, Brittany.”

“No—Megan wouldn’t do this.” Brittany’s eyes were quickly filling with tears.

Megan walked over to Brittany and placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” Megan said, trying to calm down the tense Brittany.

“Why?” Brittany asked again.

“I want to show you. Let me show you.”

“Show me what?”

“The power—the euphoria. The blood—it makes you feel like a queen.”

Brittany was too afraid to respond.

“There’s something in our bodies, Brit. Some universal energy that you can’t feel unless you let it out. It’s in everybody.” Megan looked down at Kristi’s plump, lifeless corpse. “It was in her body—completely squandered until we took it back from her.”

“You—You’re a murderer,” Brittany managed to mutter.

Megan stroked her friend’s hair.

“It makes you more confident than you can imagine. It keeps you young—and beautiful—irresistible. Don’t you want to be irresistible?” Megan asked.

James stood up and took a deep breath in. He stood tall, with perfect posture. His muscles were thick and his skin was vibrant.

“Megan,” James said.

Megan turned to her boyfriend. “Yeah?”

“I don’t think she wants it. Don’t push it on her,” James said.

“She does want it—she just doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

“Don’t forget about Wallace—it can be dangerous.”

Megan turned back to Brittany. “It’s the most incredible thing you will ever do.”

A tear fell down Brittany’s cheek.

“You hated her, Brit—I don’t understand,” Megan said.

“It’s not that!” Brittany said. “You didn’t answer any of my texts or calls. You didn’t bother to tell me what you were doing. I thought we always did everything together. I thought we were best friends for life.”

Megan looked at Brittany for a moment, her smile dissipating. “You know that I love you, Brittany. I would give my life for you.”

“I just don’t know anymore,” Brittany replied, looking down at Kristi’s body.

“Come with me,” Megan said. “Let’s do this together.”

Brittany was silent while she considered the proposal. Megan slowly walked around Brittany. Gently, she placed one of her hands on Brittany’s shoulder. She took her free hand and brought it up to her mouth. Carefully, she bit down on her thumb, piercing her skin with her razor sharp fangs.

Megan reached her hand out in front of Brittany’s face. “It will make you invincible—you won’t age, the weather won’t hurt you—a bullet won’t even kill you. You’ll be immortal,” she said. “We’ll be immortal. Just one sip.”

Brittany looked down at the blood trickling down Megan’s thumb.

“You and me—forever,” Megan said.

Brittany closed her eyes, holding back her tears.

“What’s wrong?” Megan asked.

“I’m afraid,” Brittany said.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll be here with you.”

Brittany looked back down at the blood. It seemed like the perfect solution to Brittany’s problem. All she had to do was take a little sip of Megan’s blood. It seemed like a no-brainer.

“Best friends for life,” Brittany said, forcing a smile as she leaned forward.

Brittany wasn’t prepared for the side effects—the painful withdrawals, and the intense sensitivity to sunlight.

As the vampiric blood flowed through her body, Brittany began to feel weak. She was suddenly faced with the worst headache of her entire life. She became faint, and her vision began to blur. After a moment, she’d blacked out completely on that cold basement floor.

When she woke back up, she felt different—completely revitalized, as was promised. She felt stronger and smarter. She felt a foreign confidence flowing through her body.

All around her, she could see red glowing bodies through the walls—hundreds of them all across town.

Her hands were shaking uncontrollably and a pair of sharp teeth was starting to painfully puncture through her tender gums. Brittany held her head with her hands and screamed out loud, but the pain didn’t recede.

The next thing she knew, she was out on the street—driven by a wild instinct. She quickly hunted down a jogger in the park and pounced—sucking her completely dry.

As the jogger’s blood filled her body, all of her painful symptoms went away. The strong euphoria that glowed in her spine was exactly what they said it would be—and more. As the first drop of blood touched her lips, she was obsessed.

Once the jogger was empty, she began to seek out her next victim.

The next week was a blur as Brittany roamed through the town like a rabid, feral animal. During the day, she hid in dark places around town—in alleyways, park bushes and the basements of abandoned houses—battling her screaming headaches and insatiable thirst.

At night, she ravaged the town. The blood filled her young vampire body with superhuman strength. She was able to pick up the bodies of her victims with ease.

She disposed of each corpse at a nearby sewage processing plant, where the bodies were dissolved by powerful chemicals and spewed back into the local water supply—never to be found.

But there was one symptom the blood couldn’t cure—The guilt. Every victim stung her heart a little bit worse than the last.

Brittany never saw her best friend again. She disappeared completely without as much as a note. Megan backed out on her promise. Brittany had been abandoned—left alone with a terrible addiction.

It took many painful months, but eventually Brittany managed to get her powerful thirst under control. After some searching, she found an old book from the 1500s at the local library. It contained hundreds of “spells”, “incantations” and “potion recipes” that were apparently used to deal with vampires. With the book, she learned a number of techniques to control her desires.

She drew the book’s occult symbols all over the walls of her bedroom, and kept rat’s blood in jars next to her bed—as was described in the book. As long as Brittany stayed in or around her house, her thirst remained dormant.

What she found most useful was a small artefact, made from a pure Red Sunstone. It hung on a black string, and it appeared to glow at night. The stone was supposedly infused with the blood of an Immortal Ancient—a vampire who’s reached a high level of power, only attainable by mastering one’s own vampirism.

Brittany’s nanny was afraid that the young dark-skinned had lost her mind. She took off as soon as she saw the giant pentagrams on Brittany’s walls.

Brittany was
alone
.

No family.

No friends.

She couldn’t go to school anymore because of her sensitivity to daylight. She started to show up at random high school house parties, just to feel some human interaction. But at the end of the day, it was like nothing changed—still, she was invisible to boys. She stood at the parties and watched from lonesome corners as the girls with the lowest cut tops went home with the cutest guys.

She didn’t feel comfortable wearing any of it, but she went out and bought some scandalously short skirts, deep low-cut tube tops, lewd crop-tops, and a few bralets—everything the popular girls were wearing.

Before she knew it, she was turning heads. Horny men gravitated towards Brittany, hoping for an easy lay. Even though she wasn’t getting asked out to any movies, or to any nice restaurants, the superficial attention was better than nothing at all.

The compliments from the horny men reminded her that she wasn’t just some invisible spectre.

Finally, Brittany’s phone stopped ringing over and over; leaving her alone with the silence she was all too used to. She lay back onto a large faded occult triangle that she’s painted on the floor years before.

Buzz!

There was a text message on her phone. It was from Kane.

“Please pick up. I need to talk to you,” the message read.

Brittany ignored the text message, looking back up at the ceiling. A tear trickled out of the corner of her eye and ran down her soft cheek, pulling her black makeup down with it.

Buzz!

Kane sent another message. Brittany pretended to ignore it—pretending as though she’d never met Kane. After all, she couldn’t be hung up on someone she never met—right?

Buzz!

Kane’s messaging was relentless. Brittany tried to resist the urge to look, but she wasn’t strong enough. Finally, she caved. She grabbed her phone and opened her messages.

“I’m on my way over. It’s important,” Kane’s final message read.

Brittany had to read the message twice before her brain processed it. Her heart sank into her stomach and her head started to feel light. One look inside of her house, and Kane would have ended her vampire life in a heartbeat.

She jumped to her feet and frantically looked around—what could she do? How could she hide the wall-sized pentagrams, the many jars of rat’s blood and all of the other condemning evidence?