w h i s t l e .

Jeanie tugged her coat closer to her graceful neck. The bitter Alaskan cold ate away the feeling in her limbs. It was almost as if some unseen monster was slowly devouring her into nothing. The snow crunched under her shiny black boots as she willed her way home. She watched wistfully as a red truck passed her by. Brian was inside the car, drinking of course, and waving mockingly in her direction.

Her nostrils flared at the indignity of it all. Boys were simply impossible she decided. She quickened her pace. The night seemed to be growing darker, if that was at all plausible. The sole light scource beating into the darkness was those of the northern lights. They danced high in the sky, fearful of nothing, free and wild. The colors swirled and mixed, twining and untwining themselves in the stars.

Jeanie remembered the tale the elders would speak, 'The lights are powerful, and if you should whistle to them they will swoop down and get you. They are the spirits of all the creatures, evil and good.' Ha! She was far to old for fairy tales, she knew they were merely essence of carbon, neon and hydrogen gases. School takes the magic out of everything.

As if to challenge her thoughts, a sound, one that she could not describe pierced the silent night. Frightened, she tossed her head back and forth for the source.

Nothing.

Just empty roadside. She decided to veer from her standard path, just in case, and onto the more secluded and unknown side path. It was frozen ground littered with dirty, brown snow.

She was so immersed in her thoughts she walked right into the stranger. "Oh.. I'm so sorry..." she started, "I wasn't even paying any attention..." She stopped when she saw the face she was gazing up into. Frankly, he was the most handsome man she'd ever seen. He had to be around nineteen she guessed judging by his prominent cheek bones and full head of ruffled black hair. He had a slight scruff of a beard forming on his chin... And his eyes! They were captivating to Jeanie, they seemed to be blue and black, red and orange, purple and green all at once. She could not settle on a single color. Then she noticed how rude she was being, staring at him, and she blushed.Good thing it's dark and he can't tell, she thought.

"What are you, um..., doing out here?" Jeanie cursed herself the moment the words left her lips.
He thought for a moment, "Talking. Whistling." He then added with a devious smile, "And waiting for a beautiful woman such as yourself."

Jeanie found herself blushing again. "Please, I’m only seventeen."

"Still beautiful. Still a woman." Was his reply.

He seemed to spellbind her. She was entranced by his beauty, his voice even his simply words.

He was quite suddenly linking hands around her waist. The cold does entice animals to get closer for warmth, she guessed it was the same with humans. Her arms went up and looped tenderly around his neck. He leaned closer... She lost all thought of time, of anything and everything. The only thing that seemed real, that seemed to exist was this moment. He pressed his lips to hers and they seemed to melt together. Jeanie was lost in ecstasy and hardly noticed that his lips strayed to her neck. He rolled down the collar of her coat and carefully positioned his lips to her neck.

And then the spell was broken. His teeth sank into her vein, and there was an awful feeling of pleasure and of horror. The lights danced above them, twisting and turning. Jeanie fell into the snow. She glanced upwards, her vision began to blur. She saw the man lift his sleeve to his mouth and he wiped the blood, her blood, from his lips.

She pursed her lips and she whistled. She knew not what possessed her to but she did. A feeble whistle; feeble but clear and directed to the colorful lights.

And then, darkness.