Chapter29 A Frozen Room – And a Bloody Message

Anna's on the couch watching TV; holding Jean-Louise Wadell on her lap. When her shows finish, she turns off the television and starts to wonder where her parents are. She calls out for them; but, there's no answer. Anna starts feeling extremely cold…despite the fact that it's about 81 degrees outside…and, starts shivering. She calls for her parents again. "Mommy…Daddy…where are you?" Again, no answer. Unable to stop shivering, Anna balls up in the corner of the couch and closes her eyes. Soon, her teeth start chattering; and, she begins breathing heavily. Anna opens her eyes and sees her breath being expelled from her mouth…just like when she breathes outside during the winter. Anna starts looking around the room. Ice has formed on all the metal and glass surfaces; causing some of the glass items to crack and shatter. All wood surfaces have become frosted. Suddenly, the tips of her fingers and nose begin tingling; and, when she looks down at her fingertips, she sees ice crystals forming on them. She's panicking and wants to cry out; but, can't. Anna can't speak or get up from the couch. Anna's wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. Ice crystals start to develop all over her exposed skin; causing her skin to feel as if it were burning. She's finding it difficult to breathe; gasping with every labored breath she takes. Her body cramps up and aches more and more with each passing minute as the water in her muscle tissue starts freezing; becoming more solid. Her blood's becoming the consistency of slush, trudging dangerously slow through her arteries and veins; causing her to turn blue due to the lack of oxygen in her system. She's no longer conscious. Mary's standing over Anna, looking down on her listless body, smiling. She turns around. Now, she starts feeling cold…and colder…and colder. Mary vanishes. The room immediately begins warming up; and, the ice and frost begin to melt from the surfaces. Shortly after that, Anna starts thawing out. Her blood becomes fluid and courses through her body, allowing oxygen to feed her deprived cells; returning her coloring to normal. Her muscle tissue unfreezes and loosens up. Anna's breathing normally. She's yet to regain consciousness, however. A few more minutes pass, and Anna starts coming to; slowly opening her eyes. The pain's gone…although her body's still weak from the trauma its undergone…and, she's able to sit up. Anna looks around the room. There are still no signs of her parents; and now, Jean-Louise Wadell's missing as well. Anna remains seated on the couch waiting. All of a sudden, Anna feels a presence behind her. She closes her eyes and turns around; kneeling on the seat cushion with her arms and chest pressed into the back of the couch. Anna slowly opens her eyes to look. There's nothing there. She lets out a huge sigh of relief as she turns back around to sit down; only to be met by a ghastly sight. There, in front of Anna, is Chelsea. Anna wants to scream; but can't. She wants to look away…at least close her eyes… but, for some strange reason, Anna can't stop gazing upon the hideous sight of the rapidly decomposing Chelsea. Chelsea's ash-grey complexion is accentuated in various areas with deep reddish-brown colored blood stains, and dark bluish-purple lividity patches. Her body's so emaciated, that almost every bone's visible through her almost paper-thin layer of flesh. Her eyeballs so dried up that they look more like dolls' eyes than humans'…sunken deep within the sockets; leaving almost a half-inch space between the surface of her face and her eyes' lenses. Then, there's that smell. A smell so putrid…so strong…that not only are Anna's eyes are watering from it; but, it's leaving a vile taste in her mouth. Chelsea's looking at Anna, hoping to make her feel a little less frightened from her appearance by smiling; but, fails to do so as she exposes her decaying, black teeth to Anna. After seeing Anna's expression of fear and disgust on her face, Chelsea closes her mouth and stops ‘smiling'. Chelsea lumbers over to the mirror hanging on the living room wall and, for the first time since her demise, sees herself…a sight she wishes she hadn't seen. She would cry if she could; but, all she can do is look at that horrific sight in the mirror staring back with those cold, black dead eyes. Chelsea slowly lifts her arm…which trembles as she reaches out…then, drags her fingertips down along the mirror's surface from top to bottom; bringing her arm back down to her side. Chelsea looks back at Anna, and speaks in a low, raspy voice. "Anna, don't believe what Mary tells you." Chelsea turns to look at herself one last time in the mirror; and then, turns back to Anna. "Anna, no matter what; don't go into the woods with Mary." Again, Chelsea slowly raises her arm…this time pointing off to the right…trying to get Anna to look to her side. Anna realizes what Chelsea wants her to do; and, looks down on the couch. There, next to her, is Jean-Louise Wadell. Anna picks up her doll and looks back. Chelsea's gone. Anna can finally get up from the couch; and, walks over to where Chelsea was standing. Anna looks up at the mirror Chelsea was staring at. There, on the mirror's surface, written in blood… "Stay out of the woods!"