Frostbite & bruises

“WEEHEEEEE! Go Prancer! Go Blitzen! Come on Rudolph! Up, up and away!!!”

Nox rolled his eyes at the young girl’s shouting. While he found it amusing that his dogs were being compared to Santa’s reindeer, he found the bratty child incredibly annoying.

He couldn’t see the boy’s face, but from the position of his head, Nox guessed that the boy was enjoying the sun that had just broken through the clouds with his eyes closed.

Fortunately, after five minutes of singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs, the girl decided to shut up and bury her head in a book she had smuggled along.

Although the freezing cold made Nox’s eyes and nose water, it was a nice ride and he enjoyed the scenery. Since snow and ice had been allowed to form a thick, hard layer over the past five years, the paths Nox regularly followed were quite safe. As long as he could see the tops of old trees poking out of the snow, he knew he was still on the right track.

Suddenly Viggo turned to him. “What is it between you and my mother, Nox?” A pair of bright green eyes looked at him questioningly.

The child had exactly the same eyes as his mother, the tall man noticed in surprise.

Nox glanced over Viggo’s head and thought. To be honest, he didn’t feel like answering the boy, but it wouldn’t be fair if the old geezer knew about it and the boy didn’t... but what exactly should he say? I fooled around with your mum. Yes, the boy would be thrilled to hear that... not.

“Nox?” The man’s eyes slid back to the boy in front of him, catching his questioning gaze.

Nox let out a deep sigh. “Your mother and I... Jesus... I don’t really know what to say, kid, I don’t even know what’s going on between your mother and me...”

Viggo was silent for a moment, thinking. “Are you angry with her?”

Nox’s eyebrows shot up at the unexpected question and he looked at the boy in surprise. “No, why would I be angry with her?”

Viggo shrugged. “Well, just because you guys act so... so weird towards each other. You seem to be watching her every move she makes, and she looks like a rabbit scared of everything.... That’s not how I know my mother!”

The unexpected answer had to sink in for Nox for a moment and his gaze slid down to the girl who was listening to their conversation with a curious look. “Okay... Um, I wasn’t aware of that, but uhh... I’ll try not to anymore. But for the record... Morgan, sorry... your mum and I don’t have a problem, okay?”

Suddenly, much to his relief, the now snow-covered small town where the garage was located loomed in front of them.

“But we’re almost there. You better get your boots on so we can get to work as soon as we get there.”

To his relief, both children turned with a jerk and began to squeal with excitement.

After the dogs had been unhooked from the sled in a safe place and the entrance that Nox had crawled through the previous times had been cleared, the three of them crawled through the small opening one after the other.

Once the two children were through, Nox went back to the entrance to check that the supports he had placed in front of the opening were still sound.

Reassuring himself that no bad weather was coming and that the entrance would remain open, he went back to the two children.

Armed with two flashlights and the old construction lamp that usually served as a table lamp, the three of them made their way deeper and deeper into the partially collapsed garage.

At every unexpected junction, Nox made markings to help them find their way back if they got lost.

Despite the fact that the whole place was pitch black and part of this level of the garage had partially collapsed, when they shone their lights around they could see that it was still a huge, high and wide space.

There were cars everywhere, some of which had been parked neatly for ages as if nothing had happened, and in some places Nox could see that people had still tried to get away in time. Unfortunately, not everyone had been able to get out in time, as parts of the ceiling had fallen and crushed their vehicles. In some cars, he could still see the driver and other passengers.

As they shuffled past one of the cars, Nox saw that two suitcases had been ejected from a crushed car.

“Viggo...” Nox’s voice echoed eerily through the silent corridor of the garage, bouncing sharply off the ceiling and walls, and he saw the two children look around, startled, as if they feared he had awakened something dangerous.

“Hey Viggo!” The boy looked at him, startled.

“Here, hold this.” And handed his construction lamp to the boy.

“What are you going to do?” Fear was evident in Viggo’s voice as he watched the big man carefully shuffle away from them towards the twisted wreckage of a car.

With his index finger tucked into thick gloves, the man pointed to something partially hidden in the shadows. Quickly, Viggo swung his torch in the direction the man had pointed. Two large suitcases!

His heart skipped a beat with joy. Who knew what treasures were hidden inside!

Foot by foot, ears pricked for any strange sound, and looking around carefully, Nox inched closer to the trunks. To his relief, both were still intact and locked. To make sure this wasn’t an ambush, he carefully pulled the dented blue rolling suitcases towards him. But the suitcases slid towards him without a problem and he began to smirk. The wheels are still intact! he thought to himself. Good, that would save them a lot of lugging!

When he was back with the children, he tried to open the suitcases, but to no avail. Both were locked with a numbered code and a small padlock.

Not wanting to stay in the garage any longer than necessary, Nox pushed both suitcases towards Viggo.

“Here. You take these to the exit and wait for us there. I want to go a little further... Say about ten minutes, then we will also turn around and come your way. If you’re strong enough, you can already lift these cases onto the sledge.

Viggo nodded enthusiastically. “That’s a good idea! Shall I try to open them first?”

Nox began to chuckle. He could well imagine the boy’s curiosity; if he were that age, he too would want to know what treasure was inside the suitcases and nodded. “That’s all right, but don’t pull everything over!”

Together with Elise, he watched the kid until he was out of sight, then carefully continued on his way. Due to the unexpected finds they had made, Nox had not noticed that something had changed.

A few feet away, a large body emerged from the shadows and began to follow the man and the girl.