Frozen Over

December.

What a wonderful time of the year.

Winter is truly a beautiful season. Windows of cars and houses frosting over in a thin, translucent layer of ice that you can just about see through if you press your face hard enough against the glass. The cold blasts of air rushing over your face as you walk down the deserted street, a lone streetlamp standing tall, illuminating down onto your face in a light blue tint. Frozen icicles forming on the tips of trees as they stand paralysed, unable to dance in the breeze of spine chilling wind.

Westley adored winter. He loved how the particular season had a tranquil aura to it. The boy had always been fascinated by different seasons, but one thing drew him to it.. Snow. When West was younger, he'd expected snow every December. Pretty naive, I know, but that's just how it was. But he's now realised there is more to winter than snow, and that was the start of his growing passion for winter.

"West! You've been staring out of that window for ages, What's so good to look at? There isn't even snow around here." Waylan approached the younger, more quiet boy in bounces. 

"It's peaceful, Way" West inhaled. 

"What's peaceful?" Waylan analysed the outside for a minute. "The invisible wind?" The older twin asked genuinely. Westley let out a breathy chuckle. 

"No, Way, The look of it is nice." He smiled.

"Hmm.." Way twisted his face into odd expressions, ultimately telling West that he couldn't tell what part of it looked nice.

It was understandable. Even though Waylan was the older twin, they both had completely opposite personalities. Way was loud, bubbly, the social butterfly of the family who preferred summer. West on the over hand was quiet, reserved with only a few friends and preferred winter. Because of this major personality difference, they both had a different outlook on life, Way having a more childish mindset while West: More logical.

"Never mind it." West turned so his back was against the foggy window. "Hey, the pond should be frozen over, wanna ask Echo and Mia to play some hockey with us?" A glow surrounded Waylans face after West made the suggestion. He nodded briefly before jogging up the stairs to get ready.

Sliding his hand into his pocket, West dialed Mia's number.

"West! What's up?"

"Hi Mia, I was just wondering if you wanted to play some once hockey with me and Way?" 

"Sure! Was that all?"

"Also, ask Echo if they want to come. They're good competition for Way."

~

"Hey guys.. Instead of going to the lake, I found a spot through the woods!" Waylan had suggested to the four of them.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't we just go to the lake as normal..?" Echo muttered, standing diagonally behind Mia.

"Cmon Echo! Its alright, let's go." Waylan finished.

Before anyone had a chance to process, the three of them were being pushed into the snowy Forest. 

The trees leaves were sugar coated, slipping into Echo's half red, half black, dyed hair. They followed Way's lead, each carrying heavy bags of hockey equipment. Westley had offered to carry Mia's a around 10 minutes into the journey and because of this extra weight, he'd stumble into cold, mossy tree trunks frequently.

"Its been almost 20 minutes, brother.. Are you sure you kniw where your going?" Westley questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, should be right around this corner and we are there-..." As Waylan turned left, he pulled to a halt.

Westley was sure they were lost now, and to add to the group's luck: It had started snowing again, pretty hard too. Westley scanned the area.. Nothing but miles of trees surrounding them. Westley sighed, dropping both of the bags on his shoulders in the ankle deep snow and pulled out his phone.

"Echo, try to see if you have any signal on your phone."

Echo nodded, stuffing their hands into their coat pocket and revealing their phone. Messing with the screen for a few minutes, they school their head hopelessly at West.

"Way, you got us lost..?" Mia spoke slowly.

Slouching over, Way reluctantly nodded his head yes. 

"And there's going to be a blizzard tonight. With no signal, we'd have to do the night in the freezing cold." Mia brought alight. "What are we going to do now?" She finished.

"No food, water.. These clothes aren't going to keep us warm for long.." West rubbed his temple in thought. 

As he was about to say something, a loud thud echoed out from behind them. The four simultaneously turned their heads in fright, the same puzzled expression shared between all of them.

Trees started to shake vigorously as the snow spilled effortlessly out of the sky.

"What's.. Happening..?" Echo, the youngest out of the four, stated anxiously. 

They heard faint, heavy footsteps that crunched in the snow. It wasn't just two, though, West had counted seven at a time. 

"Way, do you know if any kind of wildlife lives in this forest?" West muttered out in a hushed voice.

"Uhm, well there are some rumors this place is haunted or something.. They're all fake though, right..!?" Way chuckled nervously as one hand rubbed his neck.

They all heard the footsteps growing louder by the second. Without a word, they hurried to pull their bags back over their shoulders. West had a good sense of direction so he started leading the group the way they came from, South.

As they did, it seemed like the footsteps had multiplied.

"14.." West spoke to himself. "There's more..?" 

West's Eyes scanned the group, worry buried in them. He picked up the pace, leading north. 

The footsteps seemed to be louder than ever. West didn't spare the time to look back he just instructed to the group.

"Drop your bags and run."

The crunch of the snow as they ran through the maze of a forest. Icy air emitted from their mouths as it was a race against the unknown. It was extremely clear that if they hadn't started running when they did, they would've been dead. The dozens of footsteps rushed after the four, the sounds of trees falling could be heard.

"Split up!" West managed to yell out before turning right, Echo seeming to he following close behind him. West noticed the significant drop in footsteps, meaning there was only two of whatever unknown ice creature that they were being hunted down by.

"Echo, you go ahead. I'll catch up."

Echo nodded, trusting West to keep himself alive. As quickly as he could, west scarped a hole with his foot in the snow. He wasn't sure what kind of legs the creature had - Or if it even had legs - But he was sure a dip in the land must be enough to throw it off balance. Once satisfied with what little time he had, he ran off in front, weaving around the endless trees.

He started to hear the footstep slow down, so the dip worked. The creature must not have a good sense if balance, seeing as it had to break down trees to catch up. He saw the familiar dyed hair standing still, Mia and Way with them. 

"What's the hold up-" West quickly ended his sentence when he looked at the huge ring of ice blocking their way ti the other side.

"It dosent look safe, we can't cross it." Mia huffed out.

West heard the footsteps pick up pace again, it would be suicide if they just stood there.

"We have to, I'll go first." West rushed out.

"No!" Way grabbed his brothers wrist, stopping him from taking foot onto the ice.

"I'm the lightest here right? It would make sense for me to do this.. I'll be fine way and if I'm not, I know you can look after Mia and Echo"

West wriggled his wrist out of his twin brothers grasp he reluctantly dropped his hand. West took one look at the opaque field of ice. Tentatively lifting his foot up and placing it down, he prayed that it didn't crumble under his feet, causing him to inevitably drown..