Eyes of Ice

Soft

Although he knew that Patty would have to leave when spring came, Ronnie found it hard not to feel crushed. Patty had told him that his house was a high traffic area for all kinds of spirits and that it often wasn't safe for living things, so he couldn't just drive up to visit him whenever he wanted.

Ronnie wondered what else there was out there. When he, Ali, Ben and Foley had met his family, Patty had been on edge, constantly checking the basement to make sure his aunt and uncle were still there. He'd later explained that the spirits of their victims usually kept them down there. They weren't as powerful as Patty, but there were a lot of them, he said. Sometimes his aunt and uncle got out, though, enraged and bloodthirsty. Did others like them wander the woods?

He had a grandmother, too, though he said she'd been sleeping ever since the rest of them died. Ronnie wondered what that meant for a ghost. Patty had told him that since he didn't have a real body he didn't sleep anymore.

As spring became summer, it felt like winter's weather would never come. What if it didn't snow this time around? What if climate change finally caught up with them and he never saw Patty again? He'd always loved his cabin for the quiet peace it had, but now it felt cramped and lonely.

Sometimes Ronnie thought he felt Patty. Maybe it was his imagination, but when the feeling came he liked to think that Patty had come by in his spirit form. Did it make him crazy to try to talk to him like this? To ask him how he was doing?

All through autumn, Ronnie followed weather reports religiously, wondering how much snow Patty needed to create a vessel. The first time he was out hunting and noticed tiny specks of white falling around him he stayed up all night, praying that it would be enough. He stayed up a lot of nights like that, waiting for Patty to arrive, but even when news of another grotesque "animal" killing came and the snow continued to pile up, he didn't come.

Ali asked him how he was when they ran into each other in town.

"We've been missing you," he said, "You been alright?"

"I'm fine."

Ali didn't seem to believe him, but he dropped it. "Have you seen Patty yet?"

Ronnie shook his head wordlessly.

Ali looked around and leaned in. "They found another body," he murmured.

"I know."

"Honestly, if half of what they're saying about the bodies they found with his is true, he deserved it."

Ronnie looked at him, shocked. That wasn't like Ali at all.

He shrugged apologetically at Ronnie's expression. "It's just horrible to even think about what he did. I used to think I knew him."

"Henderson?"

"Yeah."

Ronnie was at the end of his rope. When he got home, he could barely focus on putting the food he'd bought away. He went back outside to yell at the trees. Why not? He couldn't think of any other way to get Patty's attention.

"Patty?" he shouted, watching for any sign of movement in the trees, "Patty!"

Some snow on the ground in front of him stirred and rose, forming a humanoid shape. Patty sat up, looking sad. Ronnie felt his chest tighten.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I killed someone," Patty replied, looking at the ground as he stood, "Aren't you angry? Or scared?"

"I heard about it. They found Henderson near a grave with two other bodies. People think he killed them."

Patty's expression hardened. "I saw him do it. He found them camping on his property last summer and tortured them to death. It's not the first time either. He's been on my list for a while."