Diamonds and Ice

Somewhere in these woods, I’m led into the mountain men’s campsite and all eyes are on me.

“We got one!” with his rifle raised in the air, their leader announces his success.

One of them gets up from his seat at a campfire and rips the scarf out of my mouth.

“Where are the rest of your friends?” A cold end of the barrel presses against the temple of my head. The sound of a click tells me I can’t afford to tease the question.

“Clayton!” the leader grabs the weapon out of the crazed man’s hands before I can utter a word. “Get out of here! I got this! I’ll get all the answers we need out of her!”

“I already told you. I’m on a diplomatic trip. I’m not what you think I am, whatever it is you think I am,” like a broken record, I find repeating myself.

“We will see about that. I’ll make you turn wolf. Silver should do the trick,” the stench of stale tobacco on his breath hits my senses.

“Should I get the rod, boss?” Mika volunteers.

“No,” he answers while staring me down. “I’ll get it. I know just the one I want to use. You take her to my tent and tie her to the post.”

“Yes sir,” Mika obeys.

He looks at me as if I never meant anything to him. As if I’m just a delegated task, a project, a job requirement. Nothing close to a human.

“Move, you beast!” there’s a certain unkindness in his nudge that I never thought he had.

If I was a wolf, I would not hesitate into turning and tearing them all apart, including Mika right here on the spot. Wish I was one, but I’m not and will have to think of how to be a sharp pain in their neck some other way.

On the way to the tent, Mika pulls a knife out of the stump catching the attention of some nearby hunters.

“A little pre-party won’t hurt anyone,” playfully, he tosses the blade in the air. “Except for her.”

They laugh with him, then look back down at their clay bowls of mystery stew.

Behind the vail of animal hide it’s just him and I. The tent is simply furnished with a straw bed, a retractable table, a kerosine lamp, and a fire pit. I bet he hopes to get a fur rug out of me to give his place a nice contrast.

“What a dump I’m going to die in,” looking around, I smirk at stupid wishful thinking of its resident. “And a dump it will stay.”

“Shut up,” shaking his head, Mika gets a better grip at the knife’s handle.

The blade is up, ready to strike as he walks towards me.

“You’re so stupid sometime,” Mika pushes me out of the way and keeps going.

The forceful ripping of leather walls makes me realize that the knife was never intended for me.

“Hurry,” Mika motions me toward this secret door he created.

“Mika, you had me fooled,” my anticipating for torture sweeps away.

“Quiet. Don’t say a word. We have to hurry,” he helps me through the cut.

Behind the tent, the forest’s dark abyss waits to swallow us. Together, we dive into it.

“Come on,” his warm hand in mine helps me keep up.

In pure dread and terror, I listen for the hunters to discover my escape and what I took from them with me. My stole-away keeps leading the way. It’s too dark for me to see where it is we’re going, but how could I be so blind not to foresee this.

Our hope for escape dies when a rally behind us starts to rise. We can hear the uprise, but wind that never stops twists and turns the words beyond comprehension. Mika and I don’t care to be close enough to find out and pick up our haste.

“You should have done what they told you, Mika,” the growing noise behind us makes me wish that I was still back at the tent. “In the end, they would have realizes that I’m not a wolf. But now you’ll have to suffer them too.”

“You’re so stupid, Victoria. I know you’re not a wolf and once they know that too, did you really think that will be it. Do you really think they would just say ‘oops, our mistake’ and let you go after what you’ve seen them do?”

“At least you’d still be safe.”

“You are really stupid sometimes, you know that?” Mika stops for a moment to get a grip of our location.

I too stand still, trying to realize whatever it is he’s trying to figure out.

“What are you doing?” my patience runs out.

“Trying to find our way back to the carriage, but the wind already had its way with the foot prints.”

“I can hear them!” I get high off the faint neigh of the horses. “This way!” reenergized, my legs take the lead.

“Oh, thank the Lord! We can skip town now!”

I wait till we reach them to ask. “Mika, what do you mean when you say skip town?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” he hurries to free the horses from the carriage.

Confused, I remind him that this is no joking matter. “Mika, you have family in our village. You have a home, brothers, mother, and father who love you. Friends who care for you and a whole community that looks up to your family name.”

“And that’s exactly why I have to leave. I can’t go back. I can’t leave a trail leading them there. This, the hunters won’t expect.” with one horse ready, he starts on the second. “Come with me,” looking dead in the eye, he smiles at the idea hoping that I’ll smile back.

“Mika, I have a well-paying job. A nice place. Stability. A certainty that I’ll eat tomorrow and always be warm. I’ve waited for so long to have that.”

“And you can still have it all with me and those hunters and your stepmother will never bother you again. I won’t get in the way of your dreams and I’ll always make sure you’re safe.”

“What are you saying?”

“Run away with me,” he hands me the rains.

But before I can take a moment to process the idea, a wingless insect zips past my ear. Like a wasp, it poisons Mika's daydream and kills its light. There’s a pause in his eye strong enough to stop time itself. His hands let go and a strange distance begins to grow between us. Helplessly, I watch the gravity claim him.

Overcome with grief, I follow down to the ground.

“Mika!!” screaming, I try to salvage what’s left.