The Phantom Crystal

The Ice Room

My footsteps are quiet as I creep down a strange mansion. A bright full moon gleams in through a row of windows, illuminating the long dark hallway. Thick carpet lines the floor and long shadows wave on the walls. Frost covers the windows and is creeping down the windowsill, almost reaching the wall. I rub my arms, eyes flickering around as my breath comes out in small clouds. 

"Why is this place so freaking cold?" I grumble. "Hasn't anyone told them they're supposed to insulate the walls to save energy and trap the warmth inside?"

A shiver wracks my body, forcing me to stop as I blow into my hands. I don't even know how I got here or why I'm here. All I remember is opening my eyes at the end of this hallway as if I was already wandering the halls before coming around.

But why am I here? Who brought me here?

Teeth chattering, I continue forward, wrapping my arms tighter around my lithe frame. A single door sits at the end of the hallway, half of the door flooded with moonlight. A frown tugs on my lips as I stop outside the door.

There is no door handle, merely a sleek icy blue that fades to a stark white toward the bottom. Faint snowflakes and fern patterns spread across the door’s surface. The largest snowflake sits in the center of the door, more solid than the rest of the patterns.

Curious, I reach out and brush my fingertip over one of the tips of the snowflake. I jerk my hand back. It’s wet and cold! Just like a real snowflake. But how?

CREAK.

My breath hitches as the door slowly open. A sharp, harsh wind hits me full force once the door is fully open and I curl into myself, tucking my face into my shoulder. My shivers continue even as the wind dies down and I peek into the room.

It is almost pitch black with the exception of a single glowing blue light.

“Are you going to enter?” a deep voice calls out. “Or did I just let out all of my cold air for no reason?”

My shoulders tense as I stare into the room. Peeking into the room, I timidly walk forward, my fingers aching as I clutch at my elbows. A gasp escapes me as my foot slides on the first step, my arms flapping around me. I just barely caught myself and I glide further into the room, a nervous laugh slips past my lips. My eyes flicker around the room as deep voice chuckles.

“Hello?” I call out, turning toward the blue light. My stomach drops as my eyes land on a familiar glowing blue crystal. My hand flies to my chest as I timidly walk toward it.

The blue crystal is floating above a pedestal of ice. Figures of people reaching toward the crystal are carved into the sides of the pedestal, their faces ranging from terrified to longing. Their features are so life-like and full of emotion. I reach out to touch one of the figures.

Ice-cold fingers wrap around my wrist, stopping me. Jerking, my head snaps up and I stare at the owner of the hand with wide eyes. My mouth dries.

A tall, white-haired, crimson-eyed male stares down at me. His pale skin really makes his eyes pop and stand out against my own Minnesotan pale arm. An icy blue silk long sleeve button-up is only buttoned up halfway with a pale broad chest peeking out and a single black snowflake, much like the one of the door, rests in the center of his chest. A strange and eerie aura surrounds the male causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. My eyebrows furrow, pursing my lips before dragging my eyes back to the man’s face. Heat rushes to my cheeks as I meet his gaze. A small smirk quirks the male’s face, his eyes scanning my face.

“Done ogling?”  the man asks, his voice a purr as he tugs me away from the pedestal. “But I would highly recommend not touching that pedestal. Unless you also want to become a sculpture alongside all those others?”

Voice catching in my throat, I merely shake my head and allow this stranger to tug me away. That’s when I notice that the glow from the crystal has expanded to fill the enter room. The floor is still black but there is a gleam indicating ice. The room is surprisingly barren with the walls only being covered in frost, much like the windows out in the hallway.

“I must admit,” the man says, tearing my attention away from the room. “You arrived much fast than most do. It usually takes people weeks to arrive here, and yet you arrived here only after one day. I didn’t have much time to prepare for your arrival.”

I squint at the taller male as he waves his free hand. A round table and two chairs made of ice. He gestures for me to sit, which I do reluctantly. To my surprise, the chair isn’t as cold as I was expecting.

“You knew that I was coming?” I ask, watching as the man sits with a flourish. The man twirls his hand and a glass full of a green liquid manifests in his grasp. He sips it.

“Of course, I did,” the man states, swirling his drink. “I was the one who told that imp to put my crystal inside of you, after all.”

I lean forward in my seat, anger and fear shooting through me as I turn toward the man.

“You?! You told that—that—”

“Imp,” the man supplies, hiding a smirk behind his drink. I glare at him.

“You were the one who told that imp to put that huge ass crystal inside of me? Have you seen what that crystal did to my hair? It turned my hair white!” I grab my bangs and point at them. “White! I’m only 19! I shouldn’t have white hair!”

The man shrugs, lounging back. “Ah, yes, well, that is merely a side effect of the crystal being inside of you.” Crimson eyes flicker up to my bangs. “And I’m sure that you’ve been feeling quite cold and unable to get warm.”

I nod, scowling as I cross my arms. “Another "side effect" I’m assuming?”

“Got it in one,” the man says, smirking. “Glad to know that at least you have some intelligence.”

Pursing my lips, I glare at the man. “Any other ‘side effects’ that I need to look out for?”

The smirk on the man’s face widens. “Possibly, but I think I’m going to let you figure out what it is.”

Grumbling, I slump in my chair. Great. Just great. Another thing to look out for. Eyeing the man as he continues to drain his never-ending drink.

“All right, fine,” I state. “But what I don’t understand how you managed to tell that imp to put that crystal inside me. You weren’t even there.”

“Oh, but I was,” the man says, voice low. “I just looked a little different.”

What? I glare at him, wracking my brain. The man just continues to smirk and swirl his drink, a sparkle of mirth dancing in his eyes.

“Okay, fine, I’ll bite,” I say, huffing. “What did you look like?”

The man hums, crossing his long leg over the other. “How about this, you figure out what my name is, and I’ll tell you what I looked like on that day. How does that sound?”

Why is this man so irritating? I just want answers. Why does he have to be so goddamn cryptic? Who does he think he is? Rumpelstiltskin? Can he turn straw into gold, too? The man continues to stare at me, not even bothering to hide his smirk, enjoyment clear on his face. I throw my hands in the air.

“Ugh, all right, fine. I’ll figure out what your name is and you’ll tell me where you were when you told that imp to put that weird cold crystal inside me.”

The man nods, pleased with my answer, and he twists his wrist, the glass vanishes into a puff of snow. He stands and holds his hand out to me. Instead of taking his hand, I eye it, warily. The man quirks an eyebrow.

“Do you not trust me?”

I snort, crossing my arms. 

“Uh, no, actually, I don’t. You’re the reason I have this crystal inside of me now. Why on Earth would I trust you?”

The man laughs, dropping his hand and placing it on his hip. “

All right, I can respect that.”

Smirking, I rub my eyes and stretch as the man watches me.

“Tired?” the man teases, sauntering toward me. I watch the red-eyed man approach, unease building the closer the man gets. The eerie feeling intensifies as the man stares me down. Fighting the urge to not squirm, I lean back in my chair, dropping my gaze when the man is inches from my knees.

Why is he getting so freaking close?

The man leans forward causing me to scoot down in my seat, trying hard to keep the distance between us. Cold leaks from the man into my knees and harsh shivers wrack my body, even worse than before. I peek up through my bangs at the man.

“What are you doin’?”

I yelp when fingers roughly grab my chin and force me to lift my gaze. My eyes widen as I stare up into crimson eyes, finding myself unable to look away. Freezing fingertips dig into the flesh of my face and my throat tightens as an unseen force starts wrapping around my chest. The man leans down until he is centimeters from me, our noses nearly touching. Cold breath hits my cheeks and the man smirks.

“I think it’s time for you to wake up, Jackie,” the man whispers, tilting my head back. “You’re alarm is about to go off.”

“Wha--?”

The words catch in my throat when the force increases and my eyes start to blur. My head grows heavy with the man’s fingers the only thing keeping me up. I stare up at the crimson-eyed man, eyes wide as confusion and a spike of fear twist in my gut.

“Good morning, Jackie.”

My brain screeches to a halt when ice-cold lips peck my forehead and my eyes slide shut.