Midnight Howls

Shattered Ice

*chapter one*

[unedited]

-

I had run into the woods. I wasn't sure where I was going, or even what I would do once I got there, but it didn't matter. Anywhere was better than where I was running from. I couldn't stop to catch my breath because if I slowed for even a second, they would catch me and hurt me, and if I ever tried to go back, they would kill me.

    I kept running, it was so cold, I could see my breath and everything around me glistened with ice. I was freezing, even though my muscles burned, and sweat dripped off of my face, I was cold. I kept falling, tripping over rocks and uprooted tree roots. I couldn't see a thing, the tree branches thick above me blocking out the little light the moon provided. It didn't matter if I couldn't see because if they caught me, I would never see anything ever again.

    Finally, the branches overhead opened up, letting in light from the blood moon. I stopped looking where I was stepping and only looked ahead of me. It was the biggest mistake I had ever made. I had run onto ice, under it, freezing cold water pulsing with vicious, unforgiving currents that could drag anyone under in a matter of seconds. So strong, no human, or animal even, could survive. I tried to stop, but instead, I slipped and fell, landing on my back, as I continued to slide across the frozen river.

    A sigh escaped my lips when I stopped sliding, but the fear rose up in my throat when I heard the voices of the guards growing nearer. I quickly stood up and took a step forward, when I heard the most terrifying sound of my life, the sound of ice cracking. It cut through the air loud and clear, silencing all other sounds to a whisper. I looked down to see little, thin, white lines reaching out from my feet, branching out, and connecting to other white lines. The ice was cracking, and my life was going to fall through the cracks, slipping into the cruel hands of the harsh, violent, cold, screaming currents.

    "No," the soft whisper escaped my lips. "No!" I screamed. The ice made its final sound, like glass shattering into a million little pieces. I looked up to the full moon, which was red only a few minutes ago. It now shined bright blue. "Once in a blue moon," I whispered, shut my eyes, then fell through...

A/N

Hello, my Hunters! I hope you enjoyed the new, and much improved, first chapter of Midnight Howls! I want to know what you all thought! Comment and let me know! Don't forget to vote and add it to your reading list if you liked it! Thanks for reading!

-Bailey Mills