Frozen Smoke

Prologue

The snow cradled me, slowly dissolving my silhouette as the ice continued to fall in a deathly still blanket. Crystalline pine needles twinkled far above, the wind undulating each heavy branch into a sensual dance as my unseeing brown eyes stared upwards into the heavens. With each flex of the trees and each push and pull of the air, the forest seemed to breathe for me.

Somewhere in the distance, a billow of cashmere smoke pooled into the white sky, staining its perfection. If I could've seen it, I might've likened it to inkblots or a Rorschach Test, perhaps bringing my fears and dreams to life.

But I saw nothing. I felt… nothing.

Blood bubbled up between my lips and gathered between my teeth, soaking my heavy tongue.

Whoever I was before this moment, whatever thoughts and feelings I had once had, drifted upwards with that faraway smoke as numbness became my solace.

My legs were broken. I knew that.

I coughed as the blood tried to seep back down my airway, and a gruesome, involuntary splatter sprayed scarlet freckles against my cheek.

A soft thud, then a whisper of fur brushed against my unmoving outstretched hand.

I couldn't see, but I knew she was there.

I smiled softly. Even at the end of all things, she was here at my side.

I wished in that moment I had given her a name. Had told her how much I needed her and how even when I had screamed and raged against her, I never wanted her gone, not really. That even though she had frightened me, confused me, I owed her everything.

I wished I could thank her.

My fingers twitched as I strained to touch her once more. I longed to feel her silky brown fur and critical yellow eyes watching over me, as she had always done.

I coughed again, and more blood gurgled between my dripping crimson lips.

Raising my fingers, I disturbed the sparkling fabric of ice.

"Please…" I thought, "Please be with me in the end, don't leave me now."

I felt her presence near and relaxed back into my grave.

With a final, hoarse breath… I let go.

My lungs expanded for the last time, then deflated quietly. The heart I had so fiercely protected stuttered as if fighting till the end, stubborn and defiant even in its final few beats, before it too succumbed to the end of me.

In my last moments of consciousness, I felt her breath on my palm and felt comforted to not be alone.

Then and only then, when the velvet of darkness kissed me, did I feel the hideous slice of teeth and fang push into my flesh.

That beautiful expanse of velvet halted, tearing against powerful jaws and a wicked snarl.

The ice began to sting, my legs began to throb, and my heart trembled before slamming against my ribs, desperately restarting the pushing and pulling of precious blood. My lips parted in a scream as those teeth tore me apart, as if something was fighting its way inside of me.

I erupted with a deafening scream and collapsed once more into the snow.

A/N: Okay, so for the five of you that remember the first draft of the story, I hope this update made you smile. This is a complete, chapter-by-chapter rewrite. You will see new plot points and a more fully fleshed out set of characters and storyline. I've got some free time to truly focus on this, and I'll be updating once a week.