Happy Holidays

“So that’s what ‘the throat’ was referring to.”

Aiden and Jo turned around almost simultaneously, looking at me.

“What are you talking about?” my cousin asked.

We were standing in the room the round Hobbit-door had led us to. Just like the door, it was circular and white, the walls reminding me of porcelain, though I couldn’t say what material they actually consisted of. The room was empty, except for a big well square in the middle, made from old, rough stone blocks covered in vines and dirt, as unfitting for the clean and shiny room as false lashes would be for Rambo’s face.

“Well, in the logbooks, the students sometimes called the portal ‘the throat’ and wherever we’ll end up ‘the belly’.”

“Didn’t know they had poetic aspirations,” Aiden remarked.

Akela was sniffing around the well, the only one of our group who dared go closer.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Jo remarked. “This is too easy.”

I had to agree. I had expected refined security measures, or at least a strong ward, but the portal lay before us without any hindrances.

Some portals were so easily accessible you didn’t even realize you had just passed through one - like switching street sides. Others were more elaborate, for example an elevator in which you had to choose a specific floor-number combination or a shimmering silver curtain you could only enter at midnight in the light of the full moon. Some portals went so far that one could only see or pass trough them if in possession of certain items or characteristics - such as belonging to a certain bloodline or having a gargoyles ruby heart.

That this portal was only guarded by a simple locked door and no magic traps or precautions whatsoever made me feel twitchy. Maybe the teachers didn’t feel the need the guard it any more extensively, but it made me suspicious of Ms. Jenkins reasoning once again. I doubted that she was unable to access the pocket just because of a locked door. 
Akela backed up a few steps, and before I realized what he was about to do, took a huge leap, disappearing down the well.

“Scheiße,” Jo cursed, lurching forward and grasping the waist-high ledge of the well. “I don’t see him! I don’t see anything!”

I was right behind her, and though I tried my best to make out something, the inside of the well was filled with inky blackness. For a second I almost thought it was solid, like black glass.

A hand covered my shoulder for a second, and then Aiden was stepping onto the ledge.

“Wait a second,” I cried, but it was too late. He’d already taken a step forward and fallen down the dark tunnel as well.

“Verfluchte Kack-Scheiße, bringen wir es hinter uns,” Jo was still cursing but slowly started to heave her silver-clad, clump-like body onto the ledge. Instead of standing up, she simply took a deep breath and then rolled, letting gravity cary her down the hole.

And suddenly I was the only one left.

“Okay, think about it,” I started pep-talking myself. “Senior students do this all the time. It can’t be that dangerous.”

Swallowing I knelt on the ledge, looking down. I still couldn’t hear or see anything. I brought first one then the second leg forward, letting them dangle over the seemingly endless drop. The well was huge, at least the size of a whirlpool, but still … what if I bashed my head against one of those walls? Before the darkness hid them, they consisted of unforgiving, rough stone. I was quite sure my head would loose that battle.

A cold breeze teased my ankles.

“Don’t be coward,” I told myself. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes - and then pushed away from the ledge.

The first second my brain didn’t even realize that I was falling. I was just in a strange state of vertigo, with no part of my body touching anything but air.

And then I heard the wind whistling past my ears and felt it whipping my long scarf around. Panic clammed around my chest like a tight vise, forcing my eyes open - but nothing changed, there was only blackness all around me.

I wanted to scream but didn’t manage to get enough air into my lungs - and then magic flashed through me, snapping my body like an elastic band. Suddenly I wasn’t falling down any longer, but up.

Blinking incredulously I realized my surroundings had changed from black to white, and then gravity took ahold of me. My trajectory changed mid-flight, as if some giant had thrown me upwards and now I’d reached the highest point of my ascent - and was falling back down.

This time I managed a small shriek and then two strong arms caught me. My scarf dangled down, brushing the snow-covered floor.

Aiden’s eyes were laughing at me. I knew this because he was looking right at me, being the owner of the arms who had stopped my abrupt descent. “You alright, Mags?”

“I don’t like this portal,” I told him. My voice was barely above a whisper. “I think I’ll have to call in sick a lot in my senior year.”

The smile traveled from his eyes to his mouth, making his lips twitch.

“So this is ‘the belly’, huh?” Jo remarked. I twisted my head to look at her. She wasn’t covered in snow or bruises which led me to the conclusion that Aiden must have caught her as well.

Speaking of which, it was probably time to get down from his arms. Blushing, which would hopefully be attributed to the cold, I tapped his shoulder and understanding what I wanted, he carefully set me on my feet.

“I was expecting something more creepy,” Jo continued. “It’s just a cave.”

But a beautiful one. The cave wasn’t made from stone but from clear, blueish ice. Some of the walls were transparent, like thick glass, offering a distorted view of even more ice and snow. The ceiling was covered in icy stalagmites, most bigger than me, almost like crystalline decorations. The light coming through the semi-transparent ceiling looked just like it would have underwater - blueish and ethereal. Snow powdered everything in a thin layer, diffusing the ice’s polished look. Behind us stood a twin to the well in school, same dirty stones, same vines - though these were covered with a lick of frost.

“Alright, now that we’re here, I’ll be able to scout,” Jo declared. “Give me just a second.”

She sat on the floor next to the well and closed her eyes. Akela circled around her, before settling down as well and watching the entrance to the cave, his ears pricked and alert.

Jo’s eyes started moving behind her closed lids. “Alright, snow, snow and even more snow. This isn’t the only cave by the way, there are hundreds under the surface, connected by tunnels. Okay, here we have a strange … forest? Man, it’s endless, hmm, still the forest … Ah finally … ugh, more snow.”

She stayed silent for a few seconds, before opening her eyes and looking at us. “I might have something, although I’m not sure.”

She took her bag pack and pulled a hand mirror out of an easy-access front pocket. “Okay, remember what the creepy store-lady said? They’re bees made from snow, just like the name suggests.”

Aiden and I stepped closer and she showed the mirror to us. Akela didn’t seem interested, still watching the entrance. The mirror reflected a white, snowy field undisturbed by tracks of any kind. In the distance I could make out something that looked like huge black spikes thrusting upward. Thick snowflakes were whirling through the air, dancing across the field. The sky was a deep, dark blue, reminding me of sapphires.

“I don’t see anything,” I told her, feeling a bit stupid.

Jo tapped her mirror. “The snowflakes. They’re not falling.”

I looked again and realized she was right. Though they tumbled through the air like they were carried by the wind, just before touching the snowy ground, they ascended again only to start their dance anew.

“If they don’t go faster than that, it will be easy to catch them,” Aiden remarked.

I was still watching the potential snow bees when the picture wavered and disappeared. Jo had retracted her magic and was packing the mirror away again.

“I can keep an eye on them, but I will be quite distracted. If something comes at us, you’ll have to shake me or something, otherwise I won’t even realize it.”

I nodded. “You have the jar?”

“Yeah, Colin gave it to me.”

“Then, I guess we should go.” The cold was already starting to penetrate my multiple layered clothes. It made me eager to leave this place behind, beautiful surroundings or not.

Thankfully the cave wasn’t deep or complicated; the entrance was directly opposite the well, a round hole through which a sliver of the sapphire sky was visible. I didn’t know if it was evening in this dimension, or if the sky was just generally dark.

Akela led our little expedition, followed by me who was tugging Jo along and finally Aiden, guarding our back. Exiting the cave we were greeted by a great expanse of snowy nothingness.

I finally understood why there was so little written in the log books about the dimension, ‘snow and sky’ about covered it. It was like my field of vision was split in half, the upper part deep blue and the lower reflecting white. I blinked a few times, but the blinding colors didn’t change at all.

Akela appeared to be quite at home in the deep snow, choosing where to put his paws carefully. The clumps of ice already sticking to his fur didn’t seem to bother him. With his white coat he was blending neatly into his environment.

I was the complete opposite. A pink puff, I struggled after the first few steps, always sinking more than knee-deep into the snow and then fighting to free my foot from the freezing mass for the next step. Even though a snail could have raced circles around me with the pace I was going (though it would probably also freeze to death in minutes) I was exhausted and breathing hard not ten steps away from the cave entrance.

If something chased us, there is no way I would make it far.

Jo seemed to struggle as well, and for her it was probably twice as hard, because most of her attention was on watching the snow bees via her magic.

Snow started to fall and the thick flakes whirling around us send a short stab of elation through me. Only when I tried to catch one and it melted on my purple glove did I realize that these were the real deal and not some camouflaged insect.

The snow got heavier the longer we trudged along and the former blue sky was slowly turning white as well, making me lose my orientation. The only two colors in this world were being reduced to one, and even though it sounded harmless it made my stomach clench in fear. The horizon had disappeared without me even really noticing it and suddenly it was like I was standing in front of a giant blank canvas. Even the shadows in the snow were gone. I looked at my feet and saw only very faint outlines of two black clumps.

My hand clenched around Jo’s. Akela had disappeared in the snow, so she was my only proof that I wasn’t alone in this empty, endless nothingness.

I didn’t even know if I was moving forward anymore. I was still lifting my legs, struggling with the weight of the snow, but it didn’t feel like I was moving. Snowflakes stung the exposed skin on my face, and I thought ironically: just like an angry swarm of bees.

Time lost all meaning. I could have been walking in place for all I knew. Panic was slowly starting to grow in my stomach, crawling up my throat and clenching it closed like an ice-cold hand. I was starting to lose my breath …

Something yanked at the front of my jacket.

I startled and screamed, but didn’t even hear my own voice, every sound drowned out in the howling of the wind and swallowed by the thick snow. Looking down in panic I didn’t see what had grabbed my jacket. I started swishing my hand through the air, flailing uselessly, until it connected with a soft body.

Something wet and warm rasped over the thin sliver of skin between my glove and jacket. I flinched but before I could scream again, I smelled it: wet dog.

Akela, I cried, but still I had no voice.

The dog bumped its invisible head into my hand, his tongue now licking my glove.

Oh, Akela, thank god. I think I was sobbing but couldn’t be sure. I fumbled around until I was almost positive my hand was lodged in the scruff of thick fur on his neck. The dog started moving and I moved with him, tugging Jo along, desperate to lose neither point of contact. I finally started worrying about Aiden. Hopefully he had grabbed Jo’s hand as soon as the snow had started falling.

I don’t know how long I followed Akela through the whiteout. It might only have been twenty minutes, but it could as well have been two hours. I was disoriented and cold, numb to the snow and vicious wind. My legs were heavy and trembling, but still I trudged on. The time felt endless to me, step and another step and still another one, the never-changing, blank surroundings making me feel like I was walking in circles. Because I could see neither ground nor sky, I sometimes felt my balance wobble, my head spinning, but my death-grip on Akela’s fur always saved me from falling.

When the undisturbed white around me was actually disturbed by something it took me a while to notice. But from one tortured step to the next, I realized I could faintly see the outline of Akela’s ears. Looking around I saw big black shapes, though my tired brain couldn’t categorize them yet. Trees? They seemed a bit malformed, but as the snow was lessening, I saw that these were definitely trees of some kind.

Black, giant trees with vicious, long spikes thrusting from their trunks instead of branches.

I turned around and felt a wave of relief hitting me. Not only could I finally see Jo again but also Aiden, following behind her. Our eyes met and I saw my relief mirrored on his face.

Jo was blinking. “The forest?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, a bit surprised to actually hear my voice when I was speaking. The trees were clustering around us, forming a protective shield sheltering us from the snowfall.

“Do you know where the bees are?” I asked Jo, wanting to just get what we came for as soon as possible and leave this place behind.

She nodded. “When it started to snow they also fled between the trees. I just need a second to orientate myself, then I’ll be able to lead you.”

She looked exhausted. Snow had crusted on her scarf and hair, turning them into one white form. The thin visible sliver over her face was wet and red and her usually clear eyes were clouded. I saw that she was shivering.

I probably didn’t look any better. My face felt numb and even though I tried to move them, my fingers just clenched stiffly, sending painful tingles up my arms. I couldn’t feel my feet anymore and was still astonished that I had actually made it this far with the frozen lumps stuck in my shoes.

“Wait a minute,” I told her, my teeth chattering. Jo didn’t hear me, already focused on her task.

I tried to wrestle the backpack from by shoulders, but it was frozen stiff, my wet jacket making my movements difficult.

Strong hands reached for my backpack, opening the zipper on top.

“What do you need?” Aiden asked.

“R-red flask.” I shivered. “Round.”

I felt him rummaging through the pack before his hand entered my field of vision, holding the desired flask.

I took it, and after struggling with the cork finally popped it open. A smell like cinnamon and berries wafted to my face, making me inhale deeply. I closed my eyes and took a sip.

Almost immediately warmth pooled in my stomach, spreading through my limbs. I couldn’t suppress a relieved sigh.

My fingers, now cosy warm and agile, flexed around the small flask. I could finally feel the skin on my face again and noticed I was smiling.

I offered the flask to Aiden. He looked just as frozen up as Jo and I did, maybe even worse as he wasn’t even wearing a scarf or gloves.

“Take a sip,” I told him. “It helps with the cold.”

He followed my suggestion and his tense shoulders visibly relaxed.

I waited until Jo opened her eyes, before also handing the flask to her. Needing no more prompting, she gulped the red liquid down quickly, moaning.

“I feel like I’m finally alive again,” she told us. “By the way, I got a pin on the bees. Follow me.”

With new energy she started wrestling her feet through the snow, leading us deeper into the forrest. This time we weren’t walking in a straight line, but more like a cluster, with Jo in the lead and me just behind her, Akela and Aiden to either side of us.

My feeling for time wasn’t as messed up as it had been during the whiteout, but our trek through the forest still felt like a small eternity to me. Maybe it was because the trees spooked me. They didn’t seem to consist of wood but some kind of black, glossy substance. Actually, they reminded me of a glass flask I had once filled with a miscalculated potion. The glass had splintered at some points, others melting together, creating a twisted sculpture with sharp edges oozing a blackened liquid. The further we went into the forest, the closer the trees clustered together until we were ducking through a maze of interlocking, black spikes. I felt a bit like a mouse struggling through a thorny hedge. The trees were huge, darkening our surroundings into a spooky, grey twilight.

Not only the trees were creepy, but the whole forest. I felt watched, and sometimes I imagined to hear a little scurry or snicker. When the trees rustled and their ‘branches’ grated against each other it made a high pitched ringing noise, a bit like clinking glasses. Our group in turn was silent, each of us feeling the strange atmosphere around us.

Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer. “How far to the bees?”

Jo was furrowing her brows, her voice sounding strained. “We should be there any minute. Himmel, this forest is messing with my magic.”

Someone snickered just behind me.

The fine hair on my neck stood on end and I whirled around, searching for the source.

All around me were just the black trees, their branches crossing each other, forming a complicated grid of straight, sharp lines with only a few grey spots showing light.

Akela was pacing next to me, his fur standing on end. His ears were lowered and he was baring his teeth, a growl rumbling through his chest.

“I don’t like this either,” I told him.

“Come on,” Jo was calling out, already a few hard-fought steps away from us. Aiden was standing next to her, but his gaze was focused on something behind me, his eyes almost glowing in the semi-darkness. But even though I turned around once more, before joining the two, I still couldn’t spot anything.

I took another ten minutes, before Jo finally cried: “There they are!”

Following the direction of her pointing finger, I spotted them as well: thick, lazy snowflakes whirling leisurely through the air, dancing around one of the reflecting tree trunks.

I never thought I would be so glad to see some snow in this white hell, but relief and euphoria bubbled through my veins, making me feel giddy.

Jo had set her backpack on the ground and Aiden was already opening it, lifting the jar we got from Ms. Jenkins out of it. I had also packed some butterfly nets, but Aiden didn’t even look at them.

“They’re so slow, we should be able to get them like this,” he explained. As if to demonstrated he stepped toward the tree the bees were circling and just when they were coming around, swooped the jar through the swarm, quickly screwing the lid on not a second later.

Jo and I stepped forward, staring at the transparent jar.

Small creatures were angrily buzzing around inside, bouncing against the walls. They looked more like bumblebees than honeybees but instead of black-yellow fuzz they were coated in powdery snow. Their wings resembled little, translucent chips of ice and a snowflake-pattern covered their backs.

We all blinked.

“That was pretty anti-climatic,” Jo eventually declared.

“All this trouble for that?” I asked.

“The queen wouldn’t like this,” someone rasped behind me.