Chosen to Control

The One With a Cold Heart (Redone)

Chapter 4

The One With a Cold Heart






“Hello, this is Carolina speaking.”

“Mom? Hey it’s Jessica, I’m getting off my plane right now. Meet me in the baggage claim carousel four. I’ll see you there.”

“Ok Jessica, cannot wait to see you!” Jessica hung up her cell phone and briskly walked over to the baggage claim area of the airport. As soon as she turned the corner she saw her for the first time in several years. Standing right next to the baggage carousel was her mother, Carolina. She was wearing a blue beanie and a light blue jacket and long pants anxiously looking around to see where Jessica would be arriving from. For a few seconds, Jessica just stood there in awe admiring her mother. She was beautiful. Carolina stood at just a little less than six feet in height and had beautiful long blonde hair, just like Jessica.

“Mom!” shouted Jessica running to her mom and almost tripped over her carry on bag as she ran. Carolina turned around to see Jessica running towards her. At that instant, she ran up to her and they immediately began hugging.

“I cannot believe you have gotten so big Jessica! Oh my God, you look so beautiful! Turn around let me see how you look.”

Jessica turned around like her mother suggested and then looked into her mother’s light blue eyes saw tears trickling down the side of her face. “Mom, why are you crying? You’re gonna embarrass me. Let me give you a hug.”

“It’s just that you look so beautiful and I missed you so much. I hadn’t seen you in so long at all.”

“Didn’t Dad send you a Christmas card?”

“I never got one. That doesn’t surprise me after everything that happened between us. There’s still a lot of animosity between us since he has to pay me so much alimony.”

“What?!? Dad never sent out the Christmas cards to you? He is such a jerk!” shouted Jessica beginning to get very upset.

“Don’t worry about it Jessica, all that matters is that he let you come here to spend the break with me.”

“It does matter! He knows I would write down everything that had happened to me throughout the year so you could read it and keep up with what is going on in my life!”

“Just forget it Jessica, you can tell me all about it on the ride home, right now we should just get the luggage and take it to my car. I have a little surprise for you in there,” said Carolina as she walked with her to the baggage carousel. They quickly picked up the baggage seeing as Jessica’s were just about the first suitcases on the conveyor-belt.

They began to walk towards the car garage on the other side of the airport. “Jessica, I want to see you with your jacket on before we get to the garage. Much like common belief, it is freezing in Alaska, even here in Skagway. They reached the garage and much to Jessica’s surprise, Carolina led Jessica to exit the garage on foot. They continued walking in the cold for a few more minutes until they reached a dock where several boats and a few amphibious planes awaited.

“Tell me we are not going to your house in one of these boats in this cold. I wouldn’t be able to make it,” said Jessica shaking due to the cold.

“Lucky for you, we are in that plane there at the end of the dock. It’s just a little bit more until you to see the surprise.”

“Just thought I would tell you that you owning a seaplane is enough of a surprise. How could you afford this?”

“I told you that your dad has to give me a lot of alimony. Since your father got full custody of you, I made sure he would suffer in one way or another. Lucky for me, your dad’s company has been doing really well these past few years since we have split,” explained Carolina as she was unlocking the door into her sea plane.

As soon as she opened the door two very large huskies jumped out to greet her. “Oh my God! You have dogs! I have always wanted one!” exclaimed Jessica in complete excitement.

“Yea, your father’s allergies were another problem between us two. Jessica, I would like you to meet Simon and Georgie. They are my partners for dog sledding and they are also my co-workers.”

“Wait, what do you do for a living? Dad has never mentioned it, he very rarely mentions you.”

“These here are my search dogs.” Carolina stared at the beautiful beasts. “We search for people trapped in avalanches. Now climb on into the plane. It’s way too cold out here for you.” Carolina finished putting the suitcases into the plane and climbed in quickly followed by Jessica and the two dogs.

“C’mon Jessica, you get to sit in the co-pilot seat. Put on these headphones though, you won’t be able to hear much with the propeller on.”

“But how do I get to talk to you mom?”

“They have little microphones attached so that we can still hear each other. Buckle in Jessie, it’s about a thirty minute flight to the docks and then a mile walk to the house. If we are lucky, we might be able to catch a ride on the minivan to the town center. It would pass the house on the way in; otherwise, we would have a one mile walk ahead of us in this weather.”

Carolina started up the plane and it slowly began to move further out towards the center of the lake. The plane kept going faster and faster until it finally took off into the air. “This is so exciting!” exclaimed Jessica, “I can see almost everything from here. This is really awesome Mom!”

“This’s why I love it up here. It might be brutally cold in the winter, but it really doesn’t bother me. There is this sense of freedom from restriction and other life basics that I get from living up here. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Mom, can I ask you something?” asked Jessica somewhat nervous.

“Sure Jessica, what is it?”

“What happened between you and Dad?”

“I really didn’t expect that one…” started Carolina with a deep sigh. “To tell the truth, I am still not quite sure to this day. We just kind of drifted apart. We are both very dominant people. We were always struggling to figure out who was the head of the household pretty much. I refused to back down, so I decided to leave. I never once wanted to leave you, but I couldn’t stand your father anymore. If there is anything I want you to know is that you have both my blood and your father’s blood running through your veins and that you should never let anyone be in charge. You are a strong girl Jessica. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Thanks Mom.”

“You might look like a nice blonde girl that could easily be a pushover, but never let yourself become one. You are just like me; you have a lot of inner strength and a strong wit. Remember that you are strong and other people will see it and respect you for it,” said Carolina firmly.

“I’ll remember it Mom,” said Jessica leaning over and giving Carolina a small hug so as to not disturb her flying the plane.

“We’re getting close to the dock, so hold on. We are going to begin our descent. This plane is really small so you will feel it a lot more. You should grab the armrests,” advised Carolina.

The propeller began to slow and the plane slowly descended. The plane might have looked like it was descending smoothly, however, on the inside of the plane everything was shaking and the dogs were huddled together in a corner while Jessica was holding onto her seat as if the plane were a rollercoaster.

The plane suddenly hit the water and Jessica lurched forward on her seat, staying in her seat only because of her seat belt. “Well that was a smooth landing,” said Jessica sarcastically.

“What are you talking about? That was one of my better ones,” joked her mother. The plane slowly pulled up to the dock. Once they had pulled up, Carolina turned off the engine and helped Jessica take her things out of the plane. Once Jessica had hopped out, she looked around and noticed that she was surrounded on all sides by large snow-capped mountains and beautiful pine trees. There was nothing man made for what seemed to be miles of land except for the plane.

Once everyone was out of the plane, Carolina locked it and tethered it to the dock. “Now comes the fun part Jessica. We have a walk through the forest in order to get to the house. It’s only about a fifteen minute walk though,” explained her mother grabbing one of the suitcases and heading directly into the large clump of trees with her dogs not far behind. Jessica looked down at her other suitcase regretting having packed so many clothes, grabbed it, and headed off after her mother.

As they walked through the forest, Jessica noticed the absolute silence. The only exception was the noise created by her heavy breathing and their steps in the snow. She stopped for a brief moment and looked around in complete awe at the beauty she was surrounded by.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she saw a large dark figure dart past. She turned her head in the direction of the blur, but saw absolutely nothing. She continued staring feeling a bit of panic in her. “Be strong. There is nothing to be afraid of,” she whispered to herself under her breath as she started jogging to catch up with her mother and the two dogs.

After a few more minutes of walking and no more sightings of anything unusual, they walked into a large opening probably a total of five acres of land completely cleared of trees. In the absolute center of it was a rather large two story house made seemingly out of wood. “Home, it’s good to be back,” said Carolina walking up to the front door. She quickly unlocked the door and led the way into the house. Jessica began to walk in, but the two large dogs pushed her aside and went in before her much to her surprise. As soon as she stepped in, she set down her suitcase with a loud bang and took in the magnificence of the house she was in. “This is beautiful,” she said completely awestruck. Only a few feet from the door was a large wooden staircase leading the way to the second story of the house. Hanging from the walls were large, beautiful paintings of the mountains and the animals that inhabited them. Hanging from the roof, several chandeliers made mostly of deer and elk antlers were beautifully lighting up the house.

“Come Jessica,” said Carolina beginning to walk up the stairs, “Let me show you your room.” Jessica followed her mother up the stairs with her suitcase and noticed that the upstairs part of the house was just as magnificent as the first floor but smaller. Carolina began walking to a glass door in the corner of the large spacious room in which the kitchen was nicely situated. She opened the door and there was a hallway lined with four doors.

“Jessica, there are four rooms on this side of the house and each of them has their own bathroom. I sleep over her on the right closest to the kitchen so that I do not have to walk that far to the kitchen. All you have to do is one of the three other rooms and it is yours.” Jessica hugged her mother and took off running to look at each of the rooms. The three rooms were rather similar, the main difference lied in the types of bathrooms. After a few minutes, Jessica ran back to her mother and said, “I think I’ll take the room with the balcony and the Jacuzzi in its bathroom.”

Carolina laughed, “I thought you would like that one.”

They brought the suitcases into the room and began to unpack all of Jessica’s clothes. When they finished, they each took a shower and then had a dinner composed of venison medallions and some garlic mashed potatoes. After they were done eating Jessica said, “That was close to the best meal I have ever had before I my life. I want to stay up and chat some more, but I am really tired. I think I am going to go turn in.”

“Sounds good to me honey. I’m just gonna watch some of the news and I will be going to sleep too. Good night Jessica, I love you.”

“I love you too mom.”

The next day came and Jessica awoke at around nine in the morning. She headed over to the kitchen for some breakfast. On the way there, she found a note taped to the glass door. It read:

“Dear Jessica,
I woke up at around six this morning and seeing as you were still sleeping, I decided to go and get some more firewood and groceries. I will be coming back later this afternoon. Feel free to play outside and go exploring as long as you take the dogs with you.
Love,
Mom”

Jessica went into the kitchen with her hair standing in many different directions and made herself some eggs and toast. She quickly ate them while watching some TV and headed to her room when she finished. She changed out of her pajamas and into some good winter clothes. When she was done she headed downstairs and saw that the two dogs were lying down seemingly bored beside the front door. “You guys wanna come out and play?” At this, the dogs ears perked up and they stood right in front of the door. Jessica finished going down the stairs and opened the door for them.

The dogs ran outside and Jessica followed behind them playing chase. After a few minutes she was getting a little tired and slowly followed Georgie to what seemed to be a small shed on the corner of the treeless terrain. When Jessica arrived, she opened up the shed and looked inside to find different kinds of skiing and snowboarding equipment, but what really caught her eye was that there was a dogsled. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Jessica struggled while pulling the dogsled out of the shed, but once out, she pushed it a little closer to the house. She called over the two dogs and put on their harnesses not quite sure if they were even on right. She then hooked them onto the reins of the sled and mumbled to herself as she walked to the rear end of sled, “I have always wanted to do this.”

“MUSH!” she shouted and the dogs took off. For a while they only did small circles around the house, but after a while, Jessica heard the noise of something else walking in the snow. She figured it was her mom, but the two dogs looked over in the direction of the noise and immediately took off running into the forest behind the house.

Jessica was holding on for her life and was thankful that the trees in the forest were not so close together making it possible for the dogs to maneuver the entire sled without her crashing into a tree. The dogs continued to run for a few minutes and then did a very sharp turn when they reached the base of a mountain knocking Jessica off the sled. The dogs continued to run and Jessica tried to run after them, but the dogs took off without her.

“Georgie! Simon! Come back!” she shouted with all her might. Out of the corner of her eye, Jessica saw something. She saw a black blur and heard something moving in the snow. Jessica looked around where she was standing with fear in her eyes. Then came a low, very audible, growl. She turned towards the noise coming from behind her and saw a large black panther in the snow looking ready to pounce.

“Oh my God! Help!” The panther began running at her with a loud roar. At the same time, there was another roar, but not the roar of the panther. It was a roar of the mountain. Jessica turned and ran towards the mountain away from the panther. Only then did she look up at the mountain and noticed that the other roar was that of an avalanche.

“Crap!” she mumbled to herself as she continued to run. She looked up towards the enormous mass of snow plowing down towards her and then back at the panther whose large teeth were bared. Jessica scanned the landscape for anything that might help and by luck, she saw a few yards away from her, a small hole in the snow.

She ran with all her might pumping her legs against the resistant snow, the avalanche and panther getting closer with each second. When she reached the hole, she got on all fours and crawled in as soon as she could not knowing how deep or where the hole led.

Nearly her entire body was in the hole when the panther grabbed hold of her leg with a massive claw. The second paw followed and the panther began trying to pull Jessica out with its front paws. The avalanche came right when it seemed that Jessica’s leg would’ve been in perfect reach for the panther to bite forcing it to release its grip and disappear out of Jessica’s sight.

After the avalanche seemingly passed, Jessica crawled towards the entrance to the hole and tried to push her way out of the snow, but it was packed down so heavily that it would not budge. “This sucks,” she said to herself giving up on digging her way out. At that moment, she noticed that for some reason, the snow had not blocked out all light from the hole she was in and noticed that a faint blue light was coming from what seemed to be a long, tight passageway in the hole she had crawled into.

“Looks like I’m gonna be here a while so why not take a look,” she thought out loud. She took off her jacket and left it by the entrance of the hole that way Georgie and Simon might be able to sniff her out and that way she could fit through the very tight passageway leading to the faint blue light. Jessica slowly began to crawl on all fours through the passageway feeling extremely claustrophobic. After a while, she decided to turn around and go back to the entrance, but when she tried to turn her body around in the passageway, she couldn’t. The passage was too small for her and she immediately began to panic. She felt the walls pushing in on her and she began panting trying to push them back. She crawled as fast as she could towards the light and after what seemed like an eternity, reached an opening. Jessica stood up.

“More room, thank God!” she sighed. Jessica began to take a look around and noticed that it seemed to be a small cave, but on one wall she saw large glowing symbols. She walked up to them and realized that they made absolutely no sense to her whatsoever. She stretched out her hand and felt the first etched letter. Immediately, her pupils spread open so large that her iris was no longer visible. Her hands began to move across the different words on the wall and began reading them aloud, “The door will open only for the one with a cold, dark heart.”

She took her hand off the wall and her pupils returned to normal size. She took a step back in awe that she knew what the symbols read and while she was staring at them, ice began to wedge through the stone on the walls shattering the earth that surrounded the glowing etchings. In almost no time, the entire wall that the symbols were located on had disappeared and had created a passage to a room made entirely of ice.

As Jessica stepped inside she looked at the ceiling and at the floor and took note that it was made entirely of ice. Then gazing around the walls, she saw that they were all ice as well with the exception of the portion she had just walked in through. Continuing to observe the chamber, she noticed in the center of the room was an altar with a glowing, light blue stone in it.

She walked up to it, almost as if in a trance, and picked it up. Again, her pupils shot out covering up her iris. The stone turned from a clear light blue to a solid black when she touched it. At that moment, a necklace with a clamp in the center had appeared on the altar. Jessica picked it up and placed the stone within the necklace. She then put on the necklace and said to herself in a deep voice that was not hers, “So it begins.”

Suddenly she heard a barking noise and a woman calling her name. Her pupils contracted and as if nothing had happened, Jessica ran from the room and crawled her way back to the entrance of the hole. “Mom, I’m in here!” she shouted beginning to try and dig through the snow again. After a few minutes struggle, Carolina was able to dig her up and took her out of the hole.

“Jessica are you alright?” asked Carolina, “You’re shaking really badly. I think you should come to the hospital.” Carolina put Jessica on her rescue sled, pulled by Georgie and Simon, and took her to her plane. Once there, she wrapped her up with blankets and then flew her to the dock nearest to a hospital. As they were landing, Jessica remembered seeing the lights of an ambulance and people waiting to drive her to the hospital, but then she passed out.


“Carolina, you were lucky to have found her. She was beginning to go into hypothermia and would’ve died if she were out there much longer,” said the doctor speaking with Carolina beside Jessica’s hospital bed.

“I am just glad that she is alive,” she responded.

Jessica stirred in her bed and called softly, “Mom? Where are we?”

“Oh she’s awake! We’re in the hospital dear. You were out in the cold way too long. You started to get hypothermia,” explained her mother.

“Am I gonna be ok?”

“Thankfully, yes. Jessica, you need your rest though. I’m sorry we disturbed you. The doctor and I will continue to talk outside. If you need anything, just press the button on the side of your bed all right?”

“Ok, Mom,” Jessica replied as the doctor and her mother walked outside of the room. When the two were out of sight, Jessica’s pupils expanded again to take up her entire eye and the stone that hung on the necklace around her neck turned black. A large grin spread across her face and a voice foreign to her body spoke, “So it begins…”