Frostbite

Chapter Ten - Cryptid

Interviewing with the officers on the site of the invasion into Stephanie's neighborhood gave me an odd sense of deja vu.

I stood by the main window of Stephanie's house, the one facing the main neighborhood street. I kept my hands in my pockets, watching the buzz outside as all the members of the neighborhood had police escorts.

I didn't understand how they didn't find this man yet. They simply don't just evaporate, it may seem like some people can just disappear if they try hard enough, but it's not possible.I heard a door open behind me, which made me turn to face the source of the sound, the dark cabin house was lit up with all the lights turned on, revealing a very concerned Stephanie. Her demeanor gave off a strange aura like she had seen a ghost.

The silence was intense, as we maintained eye contact watching each other. Stephanie slowly approached me before speaking."They found the guy."

I looked at her, a bit shocked. "The frost guy.. not the tapping thing." Stephanie clarified, seeming to pick up on my state of shock.My ray of hope disappeared for a moment. I am glad they caught the man responsible for the neighborhood going into lockdown, but my mother's murderer was still running around and knew I lived nearby.

"Where did they find the guy?" I ask, watching her approach and stand next to me. Stephanie took a deep breath and sighed. "They found him dead in a bush outside the window we heard the tapping from last night."

I looked at Stephanie, practically having a necksnap moment when she said that. "Wait are you serious?" I asked, shocked and startled at the realization. "He was dead?"Stephanie nodded gently, gesturing to herself. "About there..." She trailed off, making a circle on her stomach. "That was missing." I tilted my head, a little confused as she made that gesture. "Missing?" I asked.

"There was a chunk of his gut missing," Stephanie said gently. "Oh, what the fuck-" I said in response to that. "That's not horrifying whatsoever, like what do you mean by a chunk?" I asked her gently.

"From what my father told me, it was like a small shark took a bite from the intruder and ripped the chunk away." Stephanie made a gesture, miming the action."Is your father okay?" I asked gently, glancing over at her after looking out the window at the commotion for a while. Stephanie sighed softly. "He is alright, though a little freaked out the last time I checked on him, I don't blame him."

"Yeah, I would freak out too if I saw a corpse with a chunk missing... It implies a lot of things that are quite unsavory." I said to her softly. The silence soon quickly returned as we both listened to the commotion outside.

The silence was heavy, weighing down our shoulders as we stood side by side. The weight of the realization that a body was outside our window, sitting just a wall away from us while the murderer tormented us with taps and clicks.

To think about the idea that just a wall away, a very fragile wooden wall mind you was the only thing that kept us alive. I glanced at Stephanie once more, her gaze was focused on the information ahead.

I trailed my gaze down her arm, taking in the intricate details of her sleeves before looking at her hand. Stephanie's hand was shaking, with fear or anger I could not tell.I looked back forward, my hand slowly approaching her hand. I watched the commotion outside, before slowly taking her hand gently, her hand was warm. I quietly held her hand, trying to be calm as we stood together.