This is based on 'The Snow Queen' by Hans Christian Andersen.
Part 1 - Niklaus.
Once upon a time there was a wicked man - the most black-hearted of them all. With his jealousy and rage consuming him, Niklaus wanders into the deep dark woods that surround his village.
One day however, he's in a very good mood, for he has a mirror. Not just any mirror but one with the power to cause all that is good and beautiful when it reflects, to look ruthless and mean; but that which is ugly and good–for–nothing is magnified.
"This is glorious fun!" he exclaims, dancing around his fireplace. If a good thought passes through a man's mind, then a grin is seen in the mirror, and he laughs heartily at his clever discovery. Niklaus tucks the mirror in his pocket, pulls on his boots and heads towards the village. Night has fallen, and families are gathered in their homes, smoking meat on their fires and preparing for their evening meals.
Tonight, is the summer solstice, a night when fairies and magic come out to play. Laughter tickles his neck as he strides through the village, for once not minding the pitiful looks his neighbors cast on him as he passes.
"See here, what I have," he approaches a group of them and flashes the mirror in their faces as each one of the villagers takes a peek to see themselves.
The cursed mirror makes the most beautiful landscapes appear as a barren gray wasteland. The villagers appear as witches and ogres; their faces becoming so mangled and warped that they are rendered unrecognizable.
When Niklaus reaches a clearing in the grove, a swarm of pixies surround him. One hovers near his hand and snatches the mirror. They run about with it; and at last there is not a land or a person who is not affected, all the world distorted by the bewitched mirror.
Then they fly up to the sky, and render all the universe as dark and ugly too.
Higher and higher still they soar, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirror shakes so violently, that it flies out of their hands and crashes to the earth, where it shatters into a hundred million and more pieces.
And now it works with more menace than even Niklaus could have anticipated; for some of the pieces are no larger than a grain of sand, and they fly about in the wide world carried on air currents, storms, and gale force winds.
When they get into people's eyes, everything they see is perverted and they develop a penchant for that which is evil.
This happens because the very smallest bit has the same power which the mirror as a whole had possessed. Some unfortunate souls even get a splinter in their hearts, and then it becomes like a lump of ice.
Some of the broken pieces are so large that they are used for windowpanes, through which the occupants cannot see their friends.
The wind picks up the tiniest of pieces and flies through the air with them, spreading the splinters far and wide.
Niklaus laughs till he almost chokes, for all this tickles his fancy...
The sidewalk is slippery as she steps out of her car, and Elena carefully picks her way around the piles of plowed snow as she makes her way towards the restaurant, her bag draped over her shoulder.
"There you are," a voice causes her to look up and she squeaks in surprise, her arms and legs flying out from under her when she finds a slick spot.
A pair of strong arms grabs her around her waist, stopping her fall. She cranes her head back and smiles. "I knew it was you," she presses a quick kiss to his lips.
"Where else would I be?" Damon pulls her close as they continue down the sidewalk to enter the building. Walking into the crowded restaurant, the hostess shows them to a table, pulls out the chair for Elena, and hands them menus before she returns to her station.
The tablecloth is a magenta-colored linen weave. A candle flickers on the tabletop and low music plays in the background. Even the water glasses are stemware. Within moments, their waitress appears with a small loaf of rye bread, serrated knives, fresh butter and plates. After taking their drink orders, she smiles at the couple then moves to another table.
"What are you having to drink?" Damon asks, his eyes looking at her from above the menu.
"I think I'll start out with a glass of wine," she quirks her brows at him playfully just as a man appears.
"Your wish is my command," he winks at her and summons back the waitress to order a bottle of their best red wine.
Soon a waiter reappears and pours a tiny amount in the glass for Damon to have a taste. Elena watches Damon swirl the first glass in his hand before raising it to his nose to breathe it in.
"Your turn," he hands it to her. She stares at the way the light hits the surface, glistening as the liquid swirls in the glass, before lowering her nose to inhale.
"It smells good, fruity," she takes a sip, sighing at the sweet notes that lead to a crisp finish.
"We'll have this one," he thanks the waiter after he fills their glasses and takes their food orders.
"Enjoy your drinks, I'll be back with your entrees soon."
"Thank you," Elena smiles, watches him walk off then takes a sip, licking her lips slowly with a swipe of her tongue.
Damon has to shift in his seat at the sight.
Elena notices the flames licking at his eyes. She likes the feeling it gives her. Just then the waiter returns with their meals, sliding the plates in front of them.
They make small talk and enjoy each other's company and when they finish, Damon takes care of the bill while Elena insists on leaving the tip.
When they step outside, Elena slides her arm under his for warmth. "It's freezing," she says softly, her teeth chattering slightly.
"It is winter."
Elena rolls her eyes. "Still, it seems unseasonably cold already."
"True," Damon grabs her gloved hand in his and begins pulling her down the sidewalk.
Elena lets him drag her across the street and into a small pub. The same one where he'd kissed her for the first time. She remembers how Damon had smiled then latched onto her lips, calling it fate when they quite literally ran into each other. He helped her back to her feet then kisses her hand, holding it against his lips for what seemed like forever. She's been smitten ever since.
After sharing a drink and a dance to the vintage jukebox, they leave the building, arm in arm. From there they walk to the park that's across the street. The lights are shimmering beneath a light dusting of snow.
"I had a great time tonight," Elena professes, the words forming puffs of white clouds as her warm breath hits the frigid air around them. She pulls off one of her gloves, allowing her to bury her cold fingers in Damon's dark silky hair.
"I love you," she affirms when his bright blue eyes meet her deep brown ones.
Passing a park bench on their way out, Damon plops down and pulls Elena onto his lap. He brushes her hair back behind her ear and presses kisses on her cheeks, her temples, eyelids and cold nose.
"I love you too," he echoes her words before finally dropping his mouth to hers.
The driveway is slippery with ice as they pull up outside Damon's house. She steps out of the car to say goodnight to him.
"Such a cold night," Elena draws her collar up closer around her neck.
"Then I'd better try to keep you warm." Damon steps close to her and places his palms against her cheeks, his fingers stroking down her neck and into her hair. She moans as she slips her arms around his waist under his coat, melting into his kiss.
Their warm wet mouths seem to make the cold air around them disappear as they get lost in each other. When the porch light comes on, they split apart.
"Goodnight, Stefan," Elena calls through the door and kisses Damon one more time. "I better go," she presses her cold lips to his cheek then slides behind the wheel.
Damon pushes the door closed for her and watches her drive off, going into the house as soon as she turns at the corner.
When Elena arrives home, she hears a rustling sound and then a meow. "Who let you out?" she follows Gracie behind the house and into their wooded backyard. She jumps at a hooting sound. When she raises her phone with the flashlight on, an owl ruffles its feathers and flies away.
"Come on, Gracie, it's cold out here," she steps farther out into the woods. Icicles dangle from the shadowy skeletons of trees, each one like an ominous sword of Damocles. The river that runs behind their property is frozen solid with ice so thick that in daylight, it shows reflections as clear as a mirror of the heavy, grey sky.
The chill breeze slicing through the air seems to whisper "ice... ice... ice..."
Elena wraps her arms around herself. If Gracie doesn't come soon, she's going to go inside.
She takes another step when suddenly everything is a blur. Suspended in the air for a millisecond, she braces herself for the crash, falling face first. Her perception of time distorted, everything slows down until there is nothing, only her and the black sky above.
"Ouch!"
Elena curses as she wipes her face, wincing as a sharp pain pierces her left eye. Her vision blurs for a few moments before adjusting itself. No longer interested in finding her cat, she pockets her phone and walks back around to the front of the house.
A prickly feeling shoots up her spine and makes her look at her surroundings.
A man is standing on the sidewalk beneath one of the street lights. His skin is almost translucent, his short blonde hair glistening with snowflakes. He stares at her with frozen eyes, and after a moment, a small smile curves his pale bloodless lips.
Not sure if he's real or imagined, Elena blinks and when she looks up again, the man is gone.
Damon is starting to worry when Elena doesn't come to work. He'd spent most of his morning meeting distracted. She's never late, never skips work, she's the most dedicated person he knows. He spends the next hour looking at the parking lot below his seventh-floor window waiting for her car to pull in. Did she oversleep? Did something happen at home? She hasn't replied to any of his texts or voicemails either. It's so unlike her.
When his work day is finally over, he pushes through the double doors, not stopping til he reaches his vehicle. He turns up the heat and slowly pulls out of the parking lot, worry for Elena pulling his muscles taught. Cringe-worthy scenarios keep washing over him, freezing to death if her car skidded off the road and into a ditch, something wrong with one of her parents or Jeremy. When he parks alongside the curb in front of her house, he's relieved to see that her car is parked in the double driveway. Is she sick?
"Where have you been?" he asks her when she swings the door open for him. "I've been worried about you."
Elena looks down and mumbles something unintelligible.
"What was that?"
"You had no reason to worry. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. Why are you here anyway? I don't need a babysitter!" she huffs. Her words are clipped and the tone aggressive, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Damon reaches out to take her hand. It's icy cold and he can tell the temperature in the home has been turned way down too.
"Would you look at me?" A sick feeling swirls in his stomach, he doesn't recognize the person in front of him.
"I'm fine, Damon," she still won't look at him. "You should go."
"Elena, I don't understand. Did something happen? Did I do something to upset you somehow?"
She finally looks up, allowing Damon to see her face. Fear slides through his veins like ice, settling in the pit of his stomach like lead.
Normally her eyes remind him of a deer, thick as molasses and so beautiful. Now they just look dead... The girl who once fell off a high swing, the girl who was afraid of empty buses, the girl who worried about if her cat was lonely while she worked, is gone.
"What happened to you?" he clutches her almost frigid shoulders.
Elena pulls her gaze from Damon. "Nothing's wrong, nothing happened." She moves away from the door to go back into the house.
Damon follows, watching in consternation as she goes up and down the staircase, her palm rubbing incessantly at her left eye.
This is wrong, she should apologize... shouldn't she? Needing to get away, Elena comes down the stairs, pulls her boots on in the foyer and yanks open the front door, taking off down the sidewalk in a run.
Damon tries to follow but she outruns him, losing him when she darts down an alley and then onto another street.
Once she's sure he's not following her, she slows down but continues her quest although she's not sure what exactly that is. Soon she finds herself outside the city limits, and near the forests that surround the city.
She's deep into the woods when she finally starts to shiver.
"I can help..."
The voice is subdued and devoid of inflection. It washes over Elena like an ice bucket challenge on a hot summer afternoon.
When she turns, she recognizes the man she saw the night before, leaning against a big tree.
"With the cold," he approaches.
Elena watches as he comes closer.
His icy fingers burn as he brushes them across her cheek, and she's lost in his icy pale gaze as he leans forward and presses his bloodless lips to hers.
A warmth spreads through her from her toes to the tips of her fingers. And when he pulls away, she gasps and presses her fingertips against her mouth, already missing the heat.
By some miracle, Damon finally finds her walking aimlessly down the highway. He quickly pulls up behind her and stops his car.
"Elena...?" he runs up and grabs her arm, forcing her to face him.
She smiles, a simple pull of the corner of her mouth with no emotion behind it.
Damon feels a lump form in his throat. Something is very, very wrong with his Elena.
She's looking at something over his shoulder. Curious he looks around then suddenly he's frozen, and unable to move.
Elena steps around him and stops in front of a man, his skin is eerily white, there's no color in his cheeks, nothing to indicate he's at all affected by the cold.
He struggles to free himself from the invisible bonds that are holding him but is powerless.
"Come away with me," whispers on the wind when the man presses his mouth to Elena's ear.
He is strong and beautiful, but he is of ice, dazzling, sparkling ice; yet he lives; his eyes gaze fixedly, like two stars; but there is neither quiet nor repose in them. He nods towards the carriage, and beckons her with a crook of his finger.
Elena takes his hand and steps inside. She cuddles against him, unable to remove her gaze from him despite the insistent pull buried deep inside her chest.
When the carriage passes Damon, he's miraculously able to move. He runs to his car to go after her but before he can even slide in, snow begins to swirl and fall so thick that it limits visibility to nearly zero.
Elena's gone...
Anxious to hear your thoughts. I've been excited to post this short story.
Thanks for your help, Eva. Love you.
Have an amazing day everyone.