An Arctic deal

I was walking through the Antarctic polar night with a pick axe and a backpack full of needs. 

 I was on my way to collect some more ice samples for the winter season and I wanted a last sample of the blue historical ice in the last day of the polar night in Antarctica. I wanted to see if I can find anything then a simple clear ice with frozen insects or dirt in them. I wanted to find something amazing! A discovery that could be legendary. Something to find and to profit out of for my little sister’s medicine. I heard that they pay you to just get a pick axe and collect the most treasurable thing in the world and that’s what I did. I have some knowledge of collecting ice and finding special fozilized things or even golds!

 I shiver under the coldness and rub my gloved hands together to friction the heat in my hands. I clench onto the pick axe and walk through the thick snow, using a bit of the tool in my hand to clear some of the snow. I look up and check the clear night sky, full of twinkling little gems that are so bright that you could even see part of the Milky Way. I slightly chuckle in the sight of this since my little sister would always tell me that the starts will always guide me. Our parents are up in the stars working with them to shine as bright. A small tear goes down on my cheek and I wipe it off, thinking that the emotions can’t get to me today. I start walking again through the blanket of snow and through the darkness as I stop and sit down, taking a small break. I have been walking for the past hour and I can’t find any ice. I should be there soon though…..maybe.

 After a five minute break, I stand up and start walking again, this time, walking with a flashlight in my hand. Shining the light ahead of me so I wouldn’t be on the dark anymore. The icy cold air is tightening my lungs by every minute and my outward breaths turns into frozen water vapor particles as a dragon breathing out smoke from their mouth. I clench tightly on my coat with the hand that has the pick axe shuttering along the neck of the coat, keeping my face warm. The air is so dry it is making it harder to breathe every day. My feet drag along as I stop up to a giant glacier. It gives the beautiful blue ombre affect to the ice as the light shines on it and it covers miles and miles of the ground and it’s as tall as 40 ft in the air. Pretty tall and just enough of ice but not no gold or fossils. I walk along the edges of the glacier, trying to find a cave or something interesting. 

 After 10 minutes, to my luck, I find a cave big enough to my size and not too risky of it collapsing. I kneel down and start crawling inside, checking the sides and the inside to see if there is anything to get. As I go deeper and deeper, the ombre of the ice is making me gape on how beautiful the look is but it starts to have weird patterns of glittering lights giving the affect of seeing starts in the sky through the ice. I am even more fascinated by this. I keep going in deeper and the cave enlarges by every step so at some point I stand up and walk through the rest of the path inside. I notice a dead end, thinking that there could be something there. I walk into the room of the cave and there are sparkles of light everywhere. It’s as if the cave is imitating the light sky. I look around as I gasp in shock and fascination. How could I miss this? This is amazing! I thought to myself and get a bit excited about the amazing discoveries and treasures this might hold. I put the flashlight towards the right and I scream. 

 “What is that?!” I scream as I see a person in the frozen ice. His eyes are closed and he is in a normal standing position. But he doesn’t seem to be a person. His hands are transparent, with a dark navy blue hue crawling up his arm and his bones showing through. The arm sparkling with stars and his hair white as snow. He had a simple blue pastel shirt and some sweatpants on. I am slightly shaking, trembling. I can’t tell if it’s human or creature. He looks human but the weird things about it is what makes it weird. I gulp and back up towards the entrance. I turn quickly and make a run for it but instead bump in the wall and I groan in pain. Startled, I stare at the ice and I look back quickly to look at the creature. Sounds of cracks flow around the room and I actually start seeing it in front of the creature. I gasp in a breath and stare in horror. I want to run but fear is making me numb from my legs and arms. I hold the flashlight in front of the creature as more cracks appear and I am clearly shaking now. Why am I scared? It should be dead….right? 

 Ice shatters everywhere and the creature falls forward with a thud as it stays lifeless on the ground. Pale. So pale yet he has the tint of skin in him. I shift a bit forward and hold my flashlight forward, shining it on his arms, curiosity getting to me and wanted to see them closer. I wonder if it’s only on his arms that’s transparent. The glittering light… It looks like the actual polar night right on his arms and the bones are just there to represent the snow. I lean in a bit as I stare at his arms with an expression of interest. Who knew I would be this stupid?

 I feel something yank me from my knees and pinning me against the icy wall, gasping as I drop the flashlight. The light shifts away so I couldn’t see what’s holding onto me. I feel hands wrapped around my arms and I feel panting from someone’s breath. It can’t be the creature I thought. I wince and struggle but its hold is strong. I can feel it staring at me, adjusting to the dark and can see a bit of its outlined face. His nose flaring and his chest rising and falling. It was very much alive and it was holding onto against the wall. I stare at it with horror. “D..Don’t kill me please….” I plead. “P…Please….” I beg. It stares at me and I can’t see its face but I can tell the gaze softens a bit as the grip on my hold softens. It tilts its head and leans in onto my head and I can hear it sniffing me. What the heck is going on…? Not human, definitely. Stoping and backing its head a bit as it lets out a small exhale of a breath. “Who are you…” it asks in a soft, deep voice with a malicious tone to it. He…maybe… can speak. That’s good. 

 “I…I am M..Mirabella….” I respond with stutters. 

 “Mirabella..” He repeats as a small chuckle emits from him. 

 “Such a shame…. A pretty girl going to waste….” He says as he tightens his grip and he throws me against the floor and I do a small scream. I stare up at him with horror in my eyes. “W..Wait!” I scream and try to find the pick axe I dropped earlier. He had it in his hand. The flashlight pointing to where he was standing over me and his smiles pinning me down. “Actually... I might have some use for you,” in a courteous voice but forceful tone.

 I gulp. ‘P..Please,’ I plead again.

 He ignores my pleas, looking bored. “Let’s make a deal. Give me your soul…your life and bring something of mine…. before the polar night ends… and if you succeed, you’ll live, but if you fail….. you’ll die. This or I could just leave your body here and I’ll have my breakfast!” He grins and tilts his head while holding the pick axe in the air. His teeth show and I notice his canine teeth being sharp as if having vampire teeth. Great… I’m dealing with a human eating creature. I stare at him as I think about this quickly. I could maybe do it…. “W…What is the thing you need….?”

 He stays silent for a while, scanning me and ignoring my question again emting a small chuckle. ‘Or… even better! I’ll heal your little sister,’ he says with giggles. 

 I widen my eyes. Can he read minds? I don’t know how he knows but that got to my attention. I don’t even think twice and nod, once, and slowly. He grins wider, reaching out with his hands down towards me and gently touches my chest. I gasp and the world goes black. 

*************

 I wake up. On my bed, in the little cabin I live in. I hear the alarm clock. That’s what woke me. I groan and shift across the sheets from my bed and reach up to my phone and check on it. I stop the alarm and check the time. 6:00 AM. I sigh and flop myself back into my pillow and look up into the darkness. I hold onto my chest. “Was that a dream?” I ask. Was it? I sit up and run a hand through my white pajama shirt. I let out a sigh and kick my legs to the edge of the bed and take a deep breath. I groan a bit as my chest feels a bit sore. “What the-“ I say and stand up and walk to a mirror. Checking my chest a bit as it looks a bit on the paler side. I hitch a breath and clench onto my shirt as I see the same creature figure as I saw through my ‘dream’. That night. I turn to face him and I see him smiling at me, ‘You have to know the difference between dreams and reality, Mirabella.’ 

 “Y..You… a..are real…?”

 “Oh I am real,” The creature insists. “And why don’t we start? So we can make this polar night last…. as long as forever.”