The Second Installment of a Series

The ice trapped her in eloquence, he said later, reassuring himself of the truths that he had committed were not subject to deceit.

That cold November day when the snow had chanced to descend the sky in a blizzard that blanketed the earth, Sol had dragged her body down to the lake. It was only a short walk from her house, where the blood stains were still fresh. The snow had made a thick layer on the ground. He took a discrete path that was routed from her house to the lake; a steep incline that weaved around tall trees. He lost his balance twice, and once the girl slipped from his grasp, tumbling down the hill only to be stopped by a tree stump. His groans resonated through the trees, picked up by branches that quivered out of cold and fear.

Making his way to what he assumed was the deepest part of the lake; Sol dragged the girl across, her body causing a path in the layer of snow that was resting on the ice. The ice creaked and sighed under the weight of him and the girl. Its protests were ignored, however, as Sol bent down on his knees and grabbed a tent pick out of his jacket pocket. He drew back and shoved it into the ice in front of him. It chipped slightly but made no show of going through. From his other pocket, Sol pulled out a large hammer. Ensuring that the pick would stand on its own in the small dent, Sol pulled back and with all his remaining effort hit the pick. The ice cracked and Sol jumped backwards, carefully where he placed his feet. He glanced at it momentarily before hitting it twice more with the hammer, each time jumping back again as the ice split and divided.

When he was finally satisfied, he went back to the girl. A moment’s inspection caused him to frown. He pulled her back to the shoreline and hid her body under some branches. Without a second thought he ran back to the house and retrieved the shovel which had been abandoned on the carpeted floor. The shovel he wanted this time for digging. It took him longer than he thought, because the ground had frozen, but he finally uprooted the stump of the tree. He rolled it down to the lake and placed it by the spot where he had cracked the ice. Then he found the girl and carefully removed the branches from her. He imagined that she would’ve gotten heavier as he dragged her because her corpse would stiffen, but he was surprised that it was as light as it was and even smiled as he drew closer to the stump and the ice. The shovel, which he had brought when he grabbed the stump, he used to break the cracked iced away. He shoved it down into the depths of the glacial water, plunging it under the other ice so that he had an adequate opening. When he was finished, he threw the shovel to the side and picked up the girl.

He kissed her frozen lips and brushed the snowflakes from her eyelashes as he said, “I’ll always know where to find you. I’m sorry this had to end, but you’re much too cold.”

He chuckled slightly to himself before moving to the hole in the ice. A sudden gust of wind caused the trees to chatter and Sol panicked and turned, dropping the girl to the ice audibly. His paranoia finally began to show and the light in his eyes dimmed considerably. Unintentionally, his whole body began to shake and he didn’t hear the tiny gasp of breath that was sought on the ice floor, or the fluttering that caused blurred sight in her eyes. His own breath coming in ragged rasps, Sol reached down and clutched her elbow, pulling her swiftly into the frigid water. He didn’t notice the way she struggled blindly to reach the surface, nor did he notice her call his name before her lips hit the lake. Perhaps he was too busy positioning the tree stump over the hole so no one would see her body, or perhaps he knew that she was alive. It was simply too late to go back.

(To be continued...)