美雪 × Beautiful Snow

[三]

My head was pounding and my stumach was throbbing. My wrist hurt even more.
Everything was a blur and my memories even more so. All that I could remember was some idiots beating me up and a lovely melodious voice chiming through the forests, it was as if I had a bad dream that injured my physically.

But it wasn't, the weird position in my wrist said something different.

I slowly looked around, the brightness of the room overwhelmed me, I squinted my eyes and tried to take in my surroundings.
White, there was a lot of white. The house was built in typical Ying (Chinese) architecture, but the standard color scheme of red, black, gold and oak had changed to white, blue, silver and a light color of wooden plank.

I was lying on a wonderfully comfortable white bed, with white sheets and blue flowers painted on them. The paper slide doors were decorated with these same blue flowers and the various lamps throughout the room were made of silver and.. Ice. In them a blue fire burned.

It was evening, and by looking through the ice and silver decorated windows I could see snow outside on a mountainous area. Clouds hung low over the area, making it seemingly treacherous to traverse.

I slowly pushed the sheets off my body, and tried to push myself off the bed, to my dissapointment it hurted more than I thought it would.

I stopped my futile suffering at the sound of bells chiming through the halls. With each bell chime a footstep was placed on the ground, someone was approaching the room.

After a few more chimes a silhouet had appeared outside of the thin paper door. The silhouet raised it's arm, clothing draping along with the movement, and slowly the person slid the door open. It was the beautiful girl from before.. And slowly the hazy memories got clear.

My face changed from excitement to dread, as the panic slowly but surely painted over my face.
"My brother! Is he alright?!" I spoke worriedly, ready to get up and run to my brother.

Her lips curled up to a smile. "He is safe, at home." She spoke. She rose her arm, bells chiming at the movement. On the palm of her hand snow dust whirled up and formed a scene, my brother and family at home! They seemed to be devastated by something..

"The bandits have been disposed off as well, as you requested.. Now it's your turn to repay the deal." Her smile grew wider and more sinister.

"Wait- What? What deal??" I asked, my face puzzled and slightly scared at her expression.

"You sold your life to me."

"I did WHAT?! NO?? I don't remember that!!"

"You begged for the life of your brother to be spared, and for the bandits to be disposed off. That was your part of the deal. My part is you, your life, you are to lend your service to me till death do us part." She smiled sweetly as if the statement meant nothing.

"TILL I DIE?? I need to help my family!! I can't stay here!!" I exclaimed, how was I going to help mom and dad now??

"You can't go back. The deal has been made. I send your brother back home, but you 'have been tragically consumed by the snowstorm', no human could survive wandering in that snowstorm I made, nobody will question whether you're dead or not."

"Are you by any chance.. The witch of the mountain?"

She cocked an eyebrow, then crossed her arms. "Do I look like some old mean witch to you?" She chuckled at the change of my expression, "Just kidding, you did not insult me. I am indeed a witch."

"Then.. All the stories are true.. I never believed my parents.. Please let me return to them."

She shook her head. "No can do. We closed a deal, you are my servant from now on."

I gritted my teeth. "We are just low farmers with no money, I need to support my father and my ill mother!"

She shook her head again. "A deal is a deal." She pointed her fingers at me, icy magic coming out of the tips of her fingers, my body felt revitalized and stronger, she healed my injuries and pain in no time.

She let her arm down and spoke again.
"Don't get me wrong, I did not save your brother out of kindness. I did not place you here and healed you out of kindness. You are a promise to me, and I shall make sure it is kept. You are mine and when you die, your soul shall be too. You can't escape this mountain for it is enchanted, you can't escape me, ever. So give up on your family, you're mine".

I gave up, I couldn't fight a witch nor could I reason with her. All my hopes and plans for the future seemed to shatter along with her words, I felt defeated.

"What is your name, boy?"

I stared at the ground for a few seconds before looking her in her cold icy eyes, and told her my name, proudly exclaiming my last name.
"Zheng Shau. What is yours?"

Her eyebrows lifted as she blinked confused at the statement. "My.. Name?"

"Yeah? No one's asked you that?" When asking her I told it as a joke, but the slight change in her eyes said different.

She cleared her throat, thinking for a second before responding to my question. "Ahem, yes, It's..." She stared outside at the snow.
"Xue... Xuemei."