Crimson Snow

The icy wind blows its unforgiving wave of snow. The horizontal pressure pushes Adam. He tries to take control of his footing but struggles to walk straight. The ground is covered in a blanket of white with a few footprints trails in front of him. He shivers and tucks his hands deep in his coat pockets. The crisp cold air makes it hard for him to breathe. He pulls out his right hand and slowly peels off the wool glove and checks his phone. Eight missed calls from Kaylee.

He shakes his head; Kaylee was always impatient. She was a tad selfish too, it’s not like she offered to walk through a blizzard to come to his house. She just knew because her family had money that she could have and do whatever she wanted without consequence. Regardless, Adam decided since it was their anniversary they couldn’t spend it a part. So Adam kept hiking towards Kaylee’s estate. He passed the old Mason cemetery and the children’s hospital. While hiking through the blizzard he started to rethink his life choices. He’s been dating Kaylee officially for two years today and nothing about seemed right. He wasn’t happy and she seemed to like to pick fights with him all the time. He started to think maybe he should go back home, he was freezing. The news said it was below zero; it felt like it wasn’t wearing anything. He looked down at his feet which were tingling probably from frostbite and noticed blood.

He gasped.

Adam turned around at the footprints behind him and saw blood.

“Is that mine?”

He looked under both his feet and saw no blood.

“I’m going home”

He started walking back home alongside the bloody footprints. He watched as every footstep was drizzled in crimson red. He was hoping it’d lead to whatever or whoever was bleeding. After a few more steps he noticed the footprints got more bloody, so he tried to walk faster against the wind. The wind fought back pushing him away from the trail but Adam fought harder and began sprinting. His breathing heavy and his throat burned from breathing in all the cold air. Adam ran until he saw a body laying in front of the Good Faith Church.

“This….wasn’t… here before…” he said, barely able to breathe.

He didn’t want to go close to the body but he looked around for help. No one was around; it was like the town shut down. Which was understandable considering the weather. You had to be either crazy or have a selfish girlfriend to be out in this weather. He stared at the body from a distance. It looked like a woman face down in the snow. The back of her head looked bashed in.

“This is awful”

He couldn’t look anymore and slowly backed away and headed home. Once home Adam quickly turned on the heat and took off his coat and shoes and plopped on the couch. He grabbed a blanket to wrap himself in, the numbness of his toes really started bothering him. He gripped them and tried massaging them. He reached for the remote but it was wet.

“What the…”

Adam couldn’t believe it the remote had blood on a few of the buttons; it was a little sticky too. He moved the throw pillows only to find a rock smeared in blood.

“What is happening?”

Then he started thinking. After a few minutes he started to remember what happened earlier. Flashbacks of him meeting up with Kaylee at the church, she agreed to meet him halfway but he already made up his mind about breaking up with her. She didn’t respond well to that; she pushed him and kept slapping him and calling him out his name. She threatened to ruin his life if he didn’t stay so he picked up a rock and bashed her head in. He decided to take the rock and her phone with him in case anybody went looking for the murder weapon and or the last person she spoke to. He calmly walked away like nothing happened.

“How did I forget that?”

He took the blanket off and began to think.

“What else am I forgetting?”

A voice from outside called to him.

“Adam? I’m home. Please don’t forget to take your medicine. It’s already four o’clock.”

Suddenly he remembered.

“Right medicine that’s why I forgot, duh.”

He chuckles to himself and walks over to the bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet. He pours two pills into his hand.

“Adam?” Said his mom

Adam swallows both pills without water and stares into the mirror.

Adam’s mom screams.

“Oh no… not again…”

He smiles at his reflection.