CHAPTER 3:THE GIRL ON ICE
1310 Words
Isla's POV
The girl vanished.
One second she was standing there.
The next, she was gone.
Isla blinked and stared through the dorm window, her fingers tightening against the cold glass.
The frozen lake lay untouched beneath the moonlight. Snow drifted lazily across the ice, and everything looked so calm that it was almost convincing. There was no sign that anyone had been there at all.
Her heartbeat refused to slow.
She leaned closer, searching the lake for any movement.
Nothing.
No footprints.
No shadow.
No girl with her face staring back at her.
A knot formed in her stomach.
Part of her wanted to believe she'd imagined it. It would have been an easier explanation. But she knew what she'd seen. She remembered those eyes meeting hers across the ice.
She remembered seeing her own face.
A floorboard creaked behind her.
Poppy groaned from her bed.
"Why are you standing by the window like a haunted Victorian child?"
Isla spun around, startled.
Poppy was sitting upright, still half asleep. Her hair stuck out in every direction, and somehow her stuffed penguin had ended up balanced on her head.
"I thought I saw something."
Poppy squinted toward the window.
"A murderer?"
"No."
"A ghost?"
"No."
"A hot hockey player climbing through the window?"
Despite everything, Isla rolled her eyes.
"Go back to sleep."
Poppy yawned.
"So that's a yes."
A second later, she collapsed back onto her pillow and was snoring again.
Isla couldn't help staring at her.
It was honestly impressive.
She doubted sleep would come that easily for her tonight.
Morning arrived far sooner than Isla wanted.
She felt as though she'd barely closed her eyes, and judging by the dark circles staring back at her in the mirror, her reflection agreed.
Poppy took one look at her over breakfast and frowned.
"You look terrible."
"Good morning to you too."
"I mean it."
She pointed her fork at Isla.
"Did you sleep?"
"Not really."
"Why?"
Isla hesitated.
She couldn't exactly admit she'd seen a girl who looked exactly like her standing on a frozen lake in the middle of the night.
Poppy would either think she'd completely lost her mind or find the whole thing fascinating enough to start an investigation herself.
Neither option sounded appealing.
"I just couldn't sleep."
Poppy narrowed her eyes.
"You know, lying works a lot better when your face doesn't disagree with you."
"My face says nothing."
"Your face is practically writing a novel."
A reluctant smile tugged at Isla's lips as she sighed.
Poppy smiled back, looking entirely too pleased with herself.
The rest of the day passed in a blur.
No matter how hard Isla tried to focus on her classes, her thoughts kept drifting back to the girl on the lake. Every time she convinced herself it couldn't have been real, she remembered those familiar eyes watching her through the darkness.
By lunchtime, she had a headache.
By afternoon, she was seriously considering dropping out and becoming a nun.
At least monasteries probably didn't come with mysterious whispers.
As she stepped out of her final class, her phone buzzed.
Poppy: Meet me outside the dorm in ten minutes.
Isla frowned and typed back.
Why?
The reply came almost immediately.
Because you need a social life.
She smiled despite herself.
I have a social life.
Three dots appeared.
Then another message.
Name one friend besides me.
Isla stared at the screen.
Annoyingly, she couldn't.
Ten minutes later, Poppy was dragging her across campus.
Again.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"I hate that answer."
"I know."
The evening air was crisp, and fresh snow crunched beneath their boots as they followed the growing crowd. Students hurried in the same direction, talking excitedly as though they were all heading toward the biggest event of the semester.
Eventually, they reached the main courtyard.
Isla stopped.
The place was packed.
Booths lined the pathways, enchanted speakers filled the air with music, and blue, silver, and white banners fluttered above the crowd.
Frosthawk colours.
Poppy spread her arms dramatically.
"Welcome to Frost Week."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes."
Isla already knew she wasn't going to enjoy this.
Everywhere she looked, students wore hockey jerseys. Some carried handmade signs, others argued excitedly about upcoming matches, while nearby booths sold everything from team scarves to enchanted snow cones and temporary magical tattoos.
She wasn't entirely sure why anyone needed a tattoo that sparkled.
College was strange.
"Silvercrest takes hockey very seriously."
The voice came from beside her.
Deep.
Familiar.
Much too close.
Isla turned and found herself face-to-face with Caspian Blackwood.
Speak of the devil.
Up close, he seemed different somehow. Not because he was better looking, though that was unfortunately true, but because he felt more real than he had from across a crowded courtyard.
It was easier to notice the small things.
The easy confidence in the way he stood.
The warmth in his eyes that didn't quite match the reputation she'd built for him in her head.
She wasn't sure she liked that.
"Hi," Caspian said.
As though this were the most ordinary conversation in the world.
"Hi."
Wonderful.
A truly unforgettable first impression.
Poppy looked far too entertained.
"Cas," she said brightly.
"Isla."
His gaze rested on Isla for a moment longer than necessary. It wasn't enough to make her uncomfortable.
Just enough to make her wonder why.
"You enjoying Frost Week?"
"No."
The corner of his mouth lifted.
"You've got to appreciate the honesty."
"You asked."
"Fair enough."
Poppy looked between them with obvious satisfaction.
Then she clapped her hands together.
"Well, I'm leaving."
Isla stared at her.
"What?"
"You two seem busy."
"We're literally just standing here."
"Exactly."
Before Isla could stop her, Poppy disappeared into the crowd.
Coward.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Cas slipped his hands into his jacket pockets.
"You don't like hockey."
It wasn't a question.
"Not particularly."
"You've never watched a game."
"How do you know?"
"You have the expression."
She frowned.
"What expression?"
"The one people get when they think hockey is just people chasing a puck."
"I mean..."
Cas laughed.
The sound caught her off guard.
It wasn't arrogant.
It wasn't mocking.
It was warm, effortless, and entirely genuine.
That was... inconvenient.
Somehow, they ended up walking through Frost Week together.
Neither of them seemed quite sure how to end the conversation, so Cas pointed out different booths instead. He explained old academy traditions, recommended which events were worth attending, and admitted which ones students only pretended to enjoy.
To Isla's annoyance, he was surprisingly easy to talk to. That made him much harder to dislike.
They stopped beside the frozen fountain in the centre of the courtyard. Music drifted through the evening air while students laughed around them, and for a brief moment everything felt almost ordinary.
Then the temperature dropped.
The change was so sudden that Isla's breath caught.
An icy chill wrapped around her, sharper than the winter air had any right to be.
She knew this cold.
Before she could stop herself, she tensed.
A whisper brushed against her ear.
"Find me."
Her pulse quickened.
The voice returned.
This time it sounded desperate.
"Find me before it wakes."
The colour drained from Isla's face.
"What?"
Cas looked at her, confused.
"What happened?"
She looked around wildly.
Students kept talking and laughing. Walking past as though nothing had changed. No one else had heard it. No one else had felt the cold.
The whisper came one last time.
Only now, it no longer sounded like a plea.
It sounded like a warning.
"It's coming."
A loud c***k split through the air.
The courtyard fell silent.
The frozen fountain fractured down the middle as glowing blue ice spread across the stone beneath it.
Isla's stomach dropped.
For the briefest second, she could have sworn something moved beneath the ice.
Watching.
Waiting.
- Writer
