Young Writers Society

Chapter 10:

I cowered in fear behind Crystall, who stood tall, brave as a lion. He changed into his centaur form, but it didn’t reassure me too much: the Black Centaur was still larger.

“So, what do you plan on doing now?” I asked, my voice going slightly squeaky. Crystall clearly noticed this and chuckled quietly.

“Don’t worry Katrina, I’ll protect you,” he said in his clement voice. “You’re the only reason I have any food, water or shelter. Just stay behind me and look at all the furniture to make it not come alive.”

“Uh-huh,” I replied. I’d be surprised if he heard me because my voice was gone like my gold medal last season.

I gazed carefully at every oven, at every drawer, at every fridge. I studied their smooth surfaces and their modern designs. Meanwhile behind me, I heard Crystall fighting the much more powerful Black Centaur. Crystall was saying weird incantations, which I could tell were a mixture between Icelandic and Latin. I could feel the temperature around us falling to the point I could see the air I breathed out shakily. He was using ice- or cold-based magic.

Jeez, I thought, Can centaurs get any more overpowered? They’re stronger, faster and can cast spells too!

That question was answered quite quickly. The answer was yes. Crystall was hurled through the air and thrown into the nearest kitchen set. He managed to go through at least three more. It didn’t take long for me to take cover behind the nearest kitchen aisle. Of course, I was looking around paranoidly at the furniture. In the short silence, I managed to hear police sirens outside. Then it struck me. My eyes widened and my heartbeat almost stopped.

If there’s the police outside, so are the reporters… I’ll be in deep shit if they see me… Even if I manage to evade them, what will I say to cover up Crystall’s identity? What about all this destruction? I have to make sure the police see the Black Centaur somehow. Actually…

I looked at my jean pocket, in which was my phone. What? I wasn’t going to call the cops before because I’d be risking Crystall’s identity to be revealed! Besides, it’s clear someone did it for me. I quickly grabbed the phone and pulled it out of my pocket. Running out from behind the fridge, I snapped a picture of the Black Centaur and dashed down, moving from side to side like a drunk. I could already hear the Monster Furniture running after me.

At that moment, I also began to wonder:

Where are the staff?

I looked to my right to see Crystall getting up slowly from the rubble of the kitchen set.

“Don’t destroy everything!” I yelled, as I ran past him. “It’ll save us some trouble and money!”

I hoped he understood, but I was more or less focused on running. I ran through the aisle, searching for any staff: it was the only way I’d have any access to the CCTV system to delete footage from the fight and our little trek into the store. I ran through the well-lit corridor of kitchen sets, hearing them come alive behind my back. I didn’t look back, knowing I would only scar my memories further.

“Anyone alive in here?!” I screamed. There was no reply. I kept on running until I reached the stairs leading to the entrance. Of course, I didn’t run past them: I could already hear who was trying to get in: the police. The Black Centaur has probably sealed the doors with some next-level magic shit. I looked directly at the Monster Furniture, freezing them in place. From there, I had to find a way to get past the entrance. I couldn’t just run past, the police would notice me and consider me a suspect. I needed to find some sort of cover. And I found it right next to me: the Monster Furniture.

I simply turned my back to them and jumped to the side. I laid my eyes on them as soon as I landed, they covered about most of the entrance, save for a few uneven gaps. I was already imagining how strange this must look to the police outside. After making a few awkward poses, I managed to get past and carried on running and searching. I called out once more

:“Anyone here?!”

This time, I got an answer. A muffled voice cried:

“Help…!”

I rushed to where I thought I heard the voice, searching desperately. Suddenly, my eyes came to rest on something utterly terrifying: a half-mutilated human body: one of the staff. I froze there. I couldn’t move. The longer I stood there, the more I was frightened. I could already hear the stirring of the Monster Furniture around me, but I couldn’t move. On the outside, I was traumatised and disturbed. On the inside, I was screaming for my body to move and get over it. When I was about to turn and run, I realised it: the Monster Furniture was gone. In their place stood their regular furniture counterparts. I sighed in relief.

God, I swear I’ll to start going to church after this. I thought. Of course, I ended up not doing that.

Without warning, a loud yell of agony resonated through the store.

I ran as fast as I could, I was still not out of breath and I counted that as a miracle. I came to gaze at Crystall in his human form on the floor. His clothes were cut almost into shreds, but most of all: he was covered in blood. Covered in shards of glass. 

“Cry- Crystall…?” I was speechless. I fell to my knees next to him. Among all the glass, his blue eyes twinkled like stars.

“Don’t worry,” he smiled warmly, “He’s gone. You’re safe now. Though I didn’t really consider that he’d shattered the windows before disappearing.”

I started tearing up.

“We’re never doing something like this ever again!” I cried. “You could’ve gotten killed!”

“I'll regenerate in a matter of hours. Besides, it was worth it to die for someone as kind as you.”

“No it wasn’t! I was drunk and that was the only reason I let you in! I am not kind! I’m anything but kind!”

“Then why haven’t you kicked me out of your house yet?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was rudely interrupted.

“Hey! What’s going on here?!” a police chap called. I never had much respect for the police; simply because they’re just like any other person, except that they went through some kind of training, which in my world makes absolutely no difference. If anything, that training they go through is a suicide attempt with a 55% chance of working.

Anyway, Crystall and I were suddenly surrounded by four or five police officers. I stood up from Crystall and spoke:

“I ask one thing of you before we leave,” they seemed to be listening so I decided to carry on. “Send one of your vehicles around to the back. I don’t want the reporters seeing me.”

The police officers seemed to understand. One of them called their buddies on the walkie-talkie thing and told them to drive around behind the store. Another officer was about to call the ambulance to take care of Crystall, but I quickly hit his phone out of his hand. Instead of yelling, he looked at me and listened carefully:

“Don’t call them. I’ll explain everything later. Take him as he is.”

The police officers strangely complied and led us to the storage warehouse behind the store. They managed to get a passcode from one of the staff members outside. We were heading for the police station before me and Crystall knew it. I knew they weren't acting naturally. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

***

“So, what’s your take on this?” Officer McCartney asked. We were seated inside the small, dimly-lit interrogation room on either side of an iron table. McCartney was a man of average height and build, with quite a bit of stubble. He was very calm and collected in the way he presented himself. His back was straight as a lamppost and his face as emotionless as an emo.

“This isn’t something I can take lightly,” I replied. “I saw a mutilated corpse.”

“Yes, we’re working on identifying them. Anyway, let me rephrase that: What were you doing in there when clearly everyone was running out?”

“You’ve seen the CCTV tapes, haven’t you?” I asked, looking him dead in the eyes.

“What’s that to you?”

I pushed some money across the table, still looking at him. It was a mere £2,000.

“I want you to promise me that the footage will not be published. In fact, I want it deleted.”

McCartney laughed.

“You’re trying to bribe me? Are you hiding something?”

“No,” I replied calmly. “I’m trying to protect someone. Not from punishment, but from too much attention.”

“What are you trying to say?” he smiled in satisfaction. I knew what he was trying to get out of me.

“That my boyfriend is not human.”

He seemed unsatisfied by my response, despite his facial expression. He shifted in his chair a bit. I knew he expected me to say it directly, but I chose not to give him that satisfaction. Mainly because I’m an absolute bitch.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“What’s so hard to understand? Besides, why did the police officers not protest when I-”

“Don't answer a question with a question. It's considered quite rude where I come from,” he changed from slightly annoyed to bloody triggered in less than a second, which kind of freaked me out. But then I kind of made the link and saw how alike we were. To be perfectly honest, I was tempted to add something about a small village in rural Scotland, but I decided to withhold my sarcastic remarks.

"Anyway," he continued. "If they didn't protest against your will, then I'll be having a small chat with them. Now, let's say I've seen the tapes; what does that mean to you?"

“Then you should know what this all means. I don’t want anyone finding out.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’ll put my reputation and his welfare in jeopardy.”

He leaned over the table.

“What’s with the welfare part?”

“Humans are curious creatures. Sometimes too curious for their own good.”

“You’re human your-”

“How can you be certain?” this clearly threw all his theories about me and Crystall out the window. His face suddenly - and clearly - went blank. “So, if you don’t mind Mr McCartney, please tell me I can trust you to delete or manipulate that footage and fake your reports. Unless, of course, you want a free one-way ticket to the afterlife.”

“Wait wait wait, are you threatening a police officer? That’s punishable, y’know!” he was looking for a way to retort. And he picked just the right one. For me, of course.

“You’ll punish me and what? A few years in prison? Compared to the few thousand years I’ve still got to live, it’ll pass in the blink of an eye.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen or met anyone so bloody easy to bluff to. He fidgeted about in his chair, much to my amusement.

“Look, what are you trying achieve here?” he asked. I was wondering when he would ask that.

“I presented my aims to you twice already. Delete the footage and forge the reports. Then you’ll be safe.”

“Safe from what?”

I cleared my throat as a signal. Then, the four walls of the room began slowly frosting. The temperature in the room fell dramatically, I even got goosebumps. I nearly burst out laughing at McCartney’s terrified reaction. He was trembling, looking around the room like a maniac.

“So, do you agree to my terms?” I asked, a smug smile brightening my face.

“Yes ok! Just stop!”

As if at command, the frost slowly began disappearing. His breathing was sped up immensely as he hid his face in his palms.

“I expect the footage to be deleted as soon as possible. If not, I’ll make sure you see your ancestors.”

“Ok… Ok… Alright…” he said slowly. “Get out now... Before I decide to change my mind about your terms.”

“It was a pleasure to meet and talk to you, sir,” I held out my hand to him. He was quite surprised and shook it slowly. After that, I left the room and me and Crystall were allowed to leave without any drama.

I would tell you what happened during Crystall’s interrogation, but 1) I promised I’d keep it a secret and 2) you’d be scared shitless. Even I didn’t know that Crystall was capable of what he did during his interrogation.

Author's Note: Hello guys! Here I am with Chapter 10 of Ice Queen! Sorry for the inactivity, but I've been busy with life and PlanMo recently. Either way, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Please! Tell me what you'd like to see in the future in Ice Queen! It'll mean so much to me!