Chapter Fifteen
Sandi had settled into a sleep tormented by unknown nightmares. She had seemed to be talking with someone, a conversation ending with a scream that echoed across the bare walls of the old cabin.
"Mom? Can't you see me? I'm so sorry, I'm so very sorry, please help me! Mrs. Morgendorffer, thank God! We need help. We all need help so bad, please, oh, please! No, No! It's not true, not Death, not dead, oh, please, you're scaring me, oh my God, Stacy, don't do it, don't listen to her! Daria, please, she wants Quinn, she wants all of us, eat us, body and soul, please, Daria, save Quinn! Save us, save them, oh, please!"
The howling storm outside shook the small cabin, as if to remind them of their isolation. The girls could feel the cold seeping from the walls and floor as they huddled around the rusty old stove and their shrinking supply of firewood. They had been forced to clean up the comatose Sandi as well, reminding Quinn of the worst of her babysitting jobs.
"Why do you think Sandi was asking your mom and Daria for help, Quinn?" Tiffany said, her voice even slower, more precisely paced than before.
"I don't know, Tiffany, I just don't know. Mom and Sandi seemed to get along okay, but I don't know why Sandi would be dreaming about her. Daria should be home now, unless this storm got her stuck in Boston."
Quinn abruptly got up and started pacing around the old cabin frantically. Her once elegant casual shoes were falling apart, and squeaked badly. Stacy just looked up at her dully. Tiffany sat next to Sandi, holding her hand, and murmuring quietly to her in a sing song chant a song she said was a Vietnamese lullaby, which was the only Vietnamese she knew.
"We've got to do something. We've got to do anything!" Quinn said."I've got it! First thing in the morning, we'll make a big fire, so somebody will see the smoke!"
"But, Quinn," Tiffany said. "What if its still snowing? How will anybody see the smoke? And we don't have much more wood anyway."
"We'll burn down the cabin if we have to! I don't want to spend even one more day in this place!
I'm tired of all this! I'm tired of being hungry and cold! I'm tired of nightmares, and having to take care of Sandi! What are we going to do if she gets worse? How do we know the same thing isn't going to happen to you next, or Stacy, or me? I want to go home! I'm scared, Tiffany! I've been trying my best, but I don't know what's happening anymore! I'm just a girl, for freaking sake! I'm not a priest, or a Ghostbuster or anything like that! The last time I was in anything even close to a church, was at my cousin Erin's wedding! I don't know any spells or chants or anything like that! I believed in guardian angels because I watched a TV show about them! And bad things still happened to me! Why is this happening now!?"
"Quinn, please calm down, we need you!" Tiffany pleaded. "Without you, we'd be worse than we are now. You know that in a roadside emergency, you're supposed to stay where you are, and signal for help. If you burn down the cabin, we'll freeze, and Sandi won't make it. I know, ew, that she gets all dirty, and its gross cleaning her, but we have to take care of her."
Tiffany's impassioned speech shook Stacy awake.
"Tiffany's right, Quinn, "she said. "We know you've been under a lot of stress, but you've been doing a great job, and we need you! We might not even be alive, without you now!"
"Oh, sure, a great job I've been doing! I got us lost, watched Sandi get possessed, watched you get buried alive, watched Tiffany get firewood! What have I done that's so damn important, huh?
You want to tell me what freaking good I've been doing, Stacy Rowe?!"
"You've kept us organized. That's what you've done! You've kept us from running off in different directions and getting us all lost, and you saved my life when I got buried in the snow outside! You-saved-my-life-Quinn! I know you're under a lot of strain, but we need you! You're our leader! Sandi can't do it, I'd probably mess it up, and uh, I'm sorry, Tiffany, but."
"Its okay, Stacy, " Tiffany said quietly. "We all know that I'm not a leader."
"You, see. Quinn? I'm sorry, but we need you. I'm with you. So is Tiffany, and Sandi would be too, if she was conscious. We're all tired and dirty and hungry. We're all scared of this spooky stuff. We've all gone on fasts before to lose weight. You know that people get mood swings badly when they do that. That's part of what's happening now, and you know that."
Quinn collapsed into Stacy's arms, and started to quietly sob, trembling. Stacy held onto her tightly, but gently.
"It'll be okay, it'll be all right, things will work out, you're so tired, Quinn, just rest, just for tonight, okay? Tiffany and I can handle things for at least tonight. First thing in the morning, you and I will get all the wood we can, and light that fire, if it stops snowing. We'll try to find the car too, all right? We can even try to climb a tree, and maybe our phone signal will reach somebody. So we've got lots of things to do, so you just rest and relax, all right?"
Stacy led Quinn over to one of the benches, and made her lay down, cradling Quinn's head on her lap. Stacy winced occasionally from a cramp, but stayed still to let Quinn sleep. She looked up, to see Tiffany looking at her strangely.
"What is it, Tiffany?"
Tiffany smiled at her, shaking her head.
"Stacy, with a little more practice, you'd be a really good leader, I think."
"Not right now, thank you! But, thanks anyway, Tiffany."
The night passed slowly. Tiffany slumped down next to the sleeping Sandi, and they huddled together for warmth. Stacy quietly pulled another bench up to Quinn's, and huddled next to her. No matter how close she got to the fire, the only part of her that was warm was whatever part that touched Quinn.
First thing I'm going to do when I get out of here is to take a hot bath for a whole week! She thought, barely stifling a yawn. I don't think I've ever been this, ugh, filthy.
Very slowly, Stacy noticed that her seeing shifted to the surreal vision she had earlier, with bands of color, weaving their way around the room. She was alarmed to see that Tiffany's soft glow was dimmer. Looking quickly at Quinn, she sighed with relief to see the same sunlit radiance, but then frowned. Quinn's glow had slightly faded, and even seemed to be flickering. Remembering what Sandi had said about auras', she guessed it was because of the stress Quinn was under. She sighed, and steeling herself, looked at Sandi.
The same greasy gray light still surrounded her, and it was even harder for Stacy to force her sight through it. The thinly flickering flame that was Sandi's life was even fainter, barely visible through her rib cage, the bones still dark, negative.
The throbbing, pulsing dark void deep inside Sandi's hips was even bigger, seeming to be stronger, wrenching at Stacy's strange new sight. She was filled with a strange fascination to throw herself into it, to become one with it, whatever it was. She tried to pull her eyes away but couldn't. Growing frantic, she tried harder, until it reluctantly, slowly, let her go.
What was that about?! Whatever that thing is, its getting stronger, and bigger! Its eating Sandi alive, from the inside out, like those wasps' Ms. Barch told us about once. They would sting other bugs, paralyze them, and lay their eggs inside them, ugh, eating them alive! But how is that connected with the Snow Lady? I need more information. I have to ask questions.
Stacy reluctantly sat up, looking at the front door.
I'm terrified, but I have to go outside, see if I can talk to her, whatever she is. What she gave me feels wonderful, but what if it turns into the same thing Sandi's got? Or maybe Sandi has one thing, and I have another part of it? Sandi saw something too, I think, that's why she was talking like that, but I don't dare wake her up, now, she's been in so much pain! Quinn was right, we've got to do something, but Tiffany was right too. It won't do any good to make a signal fire until the snow stops. If we burn the cabin, it leaves us outside in the snow. We could burn the shed or outhouse, but what if we need that wood for the fire?
Looking down at the sleeping Quinn, Stacy noticed that the pulsing of Quinn's glow was in time with her breathing. A child's rhyme connected with breathing came to her.
Out goes the bad air, in goes the good air.
Hm, Stacy thought. We're like little stoves, we burn what we eat and drink, the fresh air helps it burn, the bad air leaves! I guess that makes fat like wood that doesn't get burned,
She shook her head
I'm scared and I'm just delaying this. Quinn's right, we can't take much more. I've got to settle things.
Stacy gently got up from besides Quinn.The exhausted red haired girl stirred fretfully for a minute, then settled back. She moved carefully across the creaking floor until she was next to Tiffany, who sat up at her approach, blinking sleepily.
"What is it Stacy?" she whispered.
Stacy beckoned her away from the other two, and Tiffany carefully moved with Stacy to the far side of the cabin.
"Tiffany, listen to me, I'm going to go outside now, and see if I can find out what's going on."
"Ew, Stacy, you mean go talk to the ghost?"
"Tiffany, shh! Don't wake them up!"
"Eep! Sorry, but that's dangerous! Ghosts kill people, or possess them and make them do bad thingsWhat if you come back wearing a hockey mask or something else gross?"
"Tiffany, a hockey mask?"
"You know, like the movies!"
"Tiffany, just because there's a ghost, doesn't mean its going to be like a movie! This is real!"
Impulsively, Stacy gave the other girl a hug. Tiffany stiffened, but slowly returned it.
"See, Tiffany? I might be a little different, but I'm still Stacy Rowe! I want to go home, too. I want to have dates, and go to college, and go see movies, and drive cars. But I need to find things out. The Snow Lady didn't seem to hurt me beforeand I can only hope she won't hurt me now!"
"But Stacy, you said she's dead and trapped here. That means she couldn't help herself, doesn't it?"
Stacy shivered. Tiffany had just pointed out the flaw in her impulsive plan.
"You're right, Tiffany, but I've still got to try. Maybe it will help us, and then we can help her."
"How do you help a ghost, Stacy? You heard what Sandi was saying. Stacy, don't do it, and she'll eat us, body and soul! What if she wants you, Stacy! "
Tiffany's normally bland, expressionless facewas terrified, her dark eyes bright with fear, not only for herself, but for Stacy.
"I, I don't think I have a choice anymore, Tiffany. Maybe, maybe if she does take me, the rest of you guys can go, or find the car, or something."
Tiffany smiled sadly.
"You know, they are going to get so mad at you for doing this, Quinn and Sandi."
Stacy smiled back, tears running down her face.
"I know."
Stacy slowly buttoned up her light coat, looking down at the sleeping girlsThe skin on Sandi's pain ravaged face was stretched tightlyacross her skull. Her wavy brown hair showed streaks of white. Even standing where she was, Stacy could feel the waves of pure cold pouring from Sandi's belly.
Poor Sandi, all she really wanted after all was a cute little baby and some close friends. And now, her mother and brothers hate her, and she's going through hell with whatever that thing is. In spite of all the times she put me down, she really was trying to do better. I'm glad we got closer these last few months.
She looked down on the sleeping form of her closest friend.
And Quinn! You were always the ultimate girl for me, so beautiful, and so clever, I wanted to be so much like you. I'm really glad we talked so much these last few months, about life and things.
She looked up at Tiffanytrying to think of something to say, but was afraid she would start crying. Wiping tears off her face, Stacy Rowe opened the old wooden door, and closing it firmly behind her, stepped out alone into the darkness of the raging storm.