Midnight Ruling (31 page)

Before I could say anything, Phoebe’s weight lifted from my back.

I sat back on my haunches and watched her wriggle through the hole. She poked her head back in just as a snowflake splattered on my cheek, melting instantly.

“Just great,” I muttered, glancing down at my thin pajamas as I stood.

Joel nudged me. “I’ll help you up.”

I was about to argue when he grabbed my sides with beefy fingers and flung me up.

It was so fast that my head swam and my arms flailed. I found purchase on the opening and felt him let me go.

He hadn’t started anything since Bess. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was exhausted or if it was because of something I did.

The air was brisk up here, and the grey clouds overhead were thick, but it didn’t seem like night or as cold as I’d thought it would be.

When I shimmied through the hole, I found Phoebe standing on the slanted, shingled roof, looking out.

The view was breathtaking, though it didn’t mesh well with Phoebe’s tube top and my wet pajamas. Several feet away was a partially frozen lake. Heck, maybe it was the ocean, considering the towering icebergs in the distance. Their shiny blue sides reflected the water that bubbled, looking warm and steamy near the edge of the lake closest to us.

A large snowflake melted on my nose, and I wiped it away. “Help me with Joel,” I said to Phoebe.

Phoebe and I poked our heads through the hole.

Reaching down, I prepared myself for Joel’s weight.

It took a lot of grunting, cursing, and strength that no one had left, but we managed to get him to grip the edges. He had to pull himself up the rest of the way.

Breathing heavily, we surveyed the blowing snow that whistled until it steamed in the warm portion of the lake. The ice near the open pool was so smooth that it could have been glass. No snow touched the edges of the melting ice.

We were on the only shack. No trees for cover, no jungle, just a snowy wasteland and the House of Mirrors.

The wind pierced straight through me, making me shiver.

Sitting on the uncomfortably hard and cold roof for a few seconds longer, I noticed the white drift up the side of the building. It was practically a snowy slide that touched the ground.

The tiger sat several feet away, hunched and looking cold.

It wasn’t until the shingles beneath my frozen feet and butt started to quiver that I stood up, alert. My pajamas, which were still damp, peeled off of the freezing roof and crinkled solid against me. “It’s coming. We have to hide.”

Phoebe glanced back at the House of Mirror’s hole. “Back in there?”

Joel nodded.

“No,” I said, watching the horizon worriedly. “It’ll know.” Call it a demonic instinct. “I think we have to fight it this time.”

“How do you know?” Joel sounded suspicious.

“Because,” I said and motioned around us, “this looks like a place an abominable snowman would hang out.”

“But we haven’t found the rest of them yet,” Phoebe said, sounding equally uncertain.

The roof shuddered. I looked between the two of them. “Any other ideas?”

Phoebe stood up and walked to the edge of the roof. “Let’s hide and figure out what we can do. We need more time.”

“It must have a weakness…” I began when Joel’s snapping tone interrupted.

“Hide? That’s our solution?”

“Any other ideas?” Phoebe mimicked me and planted her fists on her hips. “We don’t have all the time in the world here, Joel. What if Cody and Robin are out here somewhere?”

As she said this, I stepped up to the edge of the roof with her.

Phoebe nodded in my direction, and we stepped off the edge. With a brief moment of weightlessness, we fell into the powdery cold and slid off the roof. Slipping to the uneven, snowy ground, I realized the frozen powder had wedged its way up my shorts despite me trying to hold my knees up.

Any other day, that might have been fun, but any other day I’d have a snowsuit.

Squealing, I stood up and shook my pjs to get the tingling cold out of my clothes. My wet shirt had already begun to stiffen, and my socks wouldn’t last much longer.

Phoebe hopped from foot to foot to dislodge the snow that had rimmed the edges of her shorts.

Teeth chattering, we glanced up to Joel, who followed with a sneer. At least that was better than arguing.

Sliding down the snow bank, he stood up with some difficulty. “I can’t run.”

“Do your best,” Phoebe said curtly and limped ahead of us.

She wouldn’t look at him as she said it. I knew she was probably thinking the same thing I was. Joel might not make it. It seemed such a perverse idea that we might not try to save him if he fell behind. My eyes shifted from him to the tiger, which had stayed on the roof but was standing, as if she expected to run.

I looked away, and we started around the lake. We could run for hours. Where would we hide?

I looked to the bubbling water and hoped not. I’d have enough water for the day.
Or Damien was testing you
. The voice came uninvited. Maybe Bess was a warning.

Before we stumbled too far, the Freeze Tag Monster made its grand appearance.

Beside the House of Mirrors, it was stark white against the grey sky and endless blowing snow.

The animal’s eyes narrowed as they spotted the three of us in the middle of the snow with no cover to hide.

Joel cursed loudly, trying to move faster, though instead he stumbled.

Phoebe grabbed for my arm as the beast lumbered in our direction.

It didn’t run; in fact, I’d never seen it move faster than an idle walk.

Rotating my vision, I tried to find something to help us.

Joel caught up, snagging the back of Phoebe’s shorts with his ice-cold fingers.

Shrieking, she stopped in her tracks, dragging me to a halt with her.

Frozen like deer, the three of us huddled close together.

“What do we do now?” Joel asked. I think he meant it to be angry, but he sounded anxious and scared instead.

“Let me go,” Phoebe demanded. “We have to run.”

“Where?” Joel countered. “It’ll catch up to us in—”

Before he could finish, the Freeze Tag Monster stopped several feet away. Two or three more steps and it would be on us. Leering with hungry triumph, the creature bared pointed teeth in a crude smile.

Phoebe whispered, “I’d rather run than just stand here for it to pick us off.” She jerked herself free of Joel’s grip, then looked dizzy.

The abominable snowman towered over us like the angry giant in
Jack and the Beanstalk
.

With slow, crippling movements, he reached down to touch one of us, inching forward. His hand, which was large for his body, could wrap around me from shoulders to knees. I thought of the bowman who’d been killed in the first Challenge.

As if we all had the same thought, we scattered in all directions. Phoebe bolted back toward the House of Mirrors. Joel veered for a series of snowdrifts to the left.

I knew that I should have followed one of them, but instead I ran for the agitated waters. The icebergs were sweating as the bubbling lake spread outward, thinning the ice.

Like I was escaping a sanitarium, I ran.

I didn’t dare look back as the ground shook. It followed one of us.

At first I had a hard time staying on my feet. The cold ground mutated my water-logged socks into blocks of ice. I couldn’t feel my toes anymore.

Numbed skin made each step forced and uncoordinated, and my blood was sludge in my veins.

Curling my toes, I urged myself to keep going and hobbled on my heels to protect my toes.

Behind me, I heard the cat’s yowl. The barbaric shriek made me want to run faster.

Daring a glance over my shoulder, I saw the tiger leaping past Joel and me.

Spinning, Joel landed in a snowdrift as the monster towered over him.

Immediately, I stopped and hunched over to grab my knees. The cold air burned my lungs when I shouted, “Run, you idiot!”

Behind the Freeze Tag Monster, Phoebe stood a ways back on top of the House of Mirror’s roof again. In her hands were snowballs.

She heaved one, and it splattered between the beast’s shoulder blades.

Before it could turn around, she got it in the side of the head before rubbing her hands vigorously and scooping up another.

The snowball that had connected threw the monster off balance. It was enough time for Joel to struggle from the snow bank. In his effort, he lost his footing and fell back into the pile.

Taking a step back, I watched the monster turn on Phoebe.

Joel lay panting in the snowdrift, pale and sweating icicles.

Phoebe, holding her stance, threw another snowball before leaping off of the roof. Arms flailing, she landed in the snow and scurried out, looking about as slow as I was.

My legs were shaking when I thought I should run to her. I knew she couldn’t run out of the monster’s reach. Inch by inch, it gained on her.

Making up my mind, I launched myself forward.

My partially frozen foot slipped beneath me. With a cry, I lurched forward, landing on my knees. My bare kneecaps cracked into the clear ice, and it took all I had not to flop forward as the hot pain streaked through my legs.

Beneath my body, I heard the vivid crack.

I looked back to see the bubbling water draw closer to the icy edge, melting it little by little.

Planting my hands on either side of my body, I struggled to stand.

Slipping again, I avoided smashed my jaw against the ice. Gasping in a breath, I managed to get onto my elbows when I realized my feet were wet. The only reason I felt it was because it was warm and streaked a sharp, pleasant pain through my toes.

The bubbling water had already caught up to me. My feet had slipped into the pool, and with each wriggle to inch away, I only managed to slide myself closer to the water’s edge. The ice I was on was starting to slant.

“Help!” I shouted. The bubbling water was loud enough to make my voice sound small even to me. On my stomach, I tried to worm my way up the slope. One wrong move was all it took.

The icy cold penetrated through my shirt and shorts, making the idea of the hot spring water almost inviting.

Shivering, I wasn’t given a choice when my grip failed me.

Plunging feet first into the bubbling water, I was aware of one thing: It was hot, scalding even. The scratches on my back were crippling for a few short seconds. My body tingled as if struck by a porcupine. Twisting wildly, I almost forgot how to swim before kicking my feet to find the surface.

As I neared it, the water grew warm, not hot, but pleasant as my body adjusted. Warming my frozen limbs, I broke the surface and was immediately greeted by the chill against my cheeks.

The first thing I saw was Phoebe running or rather hobbling in the opposite direction of the monster. I shouted for her to come near me.

She kept running, not even turning her head in my direction.

The warm water, it couldn’t be good for a Freeze Tag Monster.
We had to bring him to the water
.

As I swam to the edge, something bumped my shoulder.

Beside me, I heard a sharp intake of breath followed by desperate and wheezy attempts for air.

Screaming, I kicked to get away. Blinking away the water, I saw Cooper gripping the icy edge ahead of me.

Shocked, we stared at each other for several seconds before I cried out, “Quick! We have to get the monster here.”

“What?” he nearly shrieked. His blonde hair had formed a helmet on his head, curling at the tips. His wide eyes were fearful and blank, as if he were just coming to. Maybe he was.

I led by example. There was no time to explain.

Swimming to the edge of the water, I grabbed for the icy edge.

On my first attempt, the ice broke again, and my split nail sent a sharp pain up my hand.

I saw Cooper attempt to get on top.
Good, he is comprehending a little now.

We rolled onto the ice, one at a time, but we’d made it.

“What’s he doing here?” Cooper panted as we shifted our weight from side to side in a crawl away from the water.

Being back on the chilling ice after the warmth of the pool was unpleasant to say the least.

Shivering again, I followed Cooper’s gaze to Joel.

He was sitting up and talking, apprehension seizing his shoulders, but it was who he was talking to that put both Cooper and me on edge.

“Oh, this can’t be good.”

“Isn’t he that demon thing that…?” Cooper spit water.

“Yeah, come on, we can’t leave Phoebe running.”

Reaching the edge of the clear ice, Cooper and I stood up. Not bothering to twist the hot water from my clothes, I took off in a run, steam trailing behind.

The monster towered over Phoebe and bent to swing one heavy arm and scoop her up.

If it was possible to feel blood freeze, mine did.

My heartbeat paused in my ears upon seeing my best friend.

I wished I could say it felt like slow motion and that time allowed me to think, to breathe—but it wasn’t. It was swift and heart wrenching and unbelievable.

The animalistic shriek that escaped Phoebe echoed in my mind long after it was over.

I wasn’t foolish enough to think that I could make it. The span between the monster and me was too great, but I didn’t stop moving. I couldn’t stop picturing the bowman’s splintered remains. There was no way I could watch as that happened to Phoebe.

Cooper staggered behind me, managing to keep up.

Adrenaline beat down some of the cold, and for few sputtering seconds the power-warmth in my insides returned. It felt far away, though. It wasn’t like when reviving Joel.

Let Damien punish me; I didn’t care. I wouldn’t lose her again.

Her lips were turning blue. I could see them as I ran. Rigid, she stopped moving, stopped screaming, and began to glisten like an ice statue.

“Damien, stop that thing!” I shouted, not adding, “
Or I will
,” though it was thickly implied.

The warmth teased my fingertips and toes.