He sped off down the snowy sidewalk and did not look back.
Astonia smiled and waved. “So long, honey!”
When Bellamy reached his home he opened the door as quietly as possible and entered. Thankfully his mother was fast asleep in her chair by the fireplace, and didn’t hear Bellamy as he rushed into the bathroom, sunk to his knees in front of the toilet, and proceeded to puke his guts out. That crazy bitch…
He felt…violated.
Was it normal for a guy to feel that way when a hot girl kissed him? He wondered ruefully. Still, that kiss had been against his will - even if she was attractive. Other guys would have probably done anything to be in his shoes. But not Bellamy.
He was feeling overwhelmed as his body was wracked by dry heaves. There was only acid left inside of his stomach at this point. Suddenly, it was all just too much. All the stolen kisses he’d experienced throughout his life, all the unwanted groping. He’d been treated like an object. He supposed he knew what a lot of women must feel like - being treated like sex objects.
I’m being retarded. I’m a guy. What does a stolen kiss matter? Bellamy scolded himself as he straightened and made his way over to the sink. He brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth out with Listerine.
After that he splashed water on his face and looked at his haggard expression in the bathroom mirror. His already pale skin was even paler than usual, his deep blue eyes were sunken, and his long dark brown hair, which he wore pulled back into a ponytail, looked limp and lifeless. Everything that had happened tonight was because of his handsome face. He was almost tempted to just pour acid on his face, but…
That would just make his mother cry, and then she’d probably blame herself for his rash actions. Bellamy decided that he had to deal with the ‘Astonia problem’ some other way, and without his mother finding out about all this.
Bellamy began to pace across the tiled floor as he thought about his options. He wondered if just giving in to what Astonia wanted might lessen the effects the curse had on her. Maybe after she’d slept with him she’d leave him blessedly alone. It was his only hope.
He was going to have to get his mother out of the house in order to put his plan into action. Bellamy knew that his mother was planning to travel to the next town over to sell her accumulated woodcarvings to a gift shop there in just a few days. That’s when he’d put his plan into action, he decided.
Bellamy quickly wrote a letter to Astonia, and set up a date with her to make sure she wouldn’t show up while his mother was still at home. The night of his mother’s departure, he and Astonia would dine together, and then…he shuddered. He’d give himself to Astonia. Bellamy only hoped Astonia would be patient and wouldn’t show up randomly to do something stupid while his mother was still at home.
***
Doris DeWinter knew something was bothering her son Bellamy. Over the following days, Bellamy helped her to finish her woodcarvings until a nice sizable collection was ready for her to take to the next town over where she sold them to a gift shop that specialized in having souvenirs for tourists visiting Alaska.
A couple of the carvings she was going to sell were of a yeti. Or at least, what Doris thought a yeti probably looked like. She pictured him as being a tall, monkey-like creature with fluffy fur covering his entire body except for his face. She’d come up with the idea to carve the yeti due to the town’s popular urban legend that an actual yeti, or Abominable Snowman, had been spotted in the forest nearby.
All of the Hunters in Yeti Town wanted to kill the yeti and get famous. Doris shook her head ruefully. She had the feeling that her yeti woodcarvings were going to be a hit.
Despite appreciating her son’s help with the woodcarvings, Doris couldn’t help but notice that ever since the party he’d gone to with the Hunters’ teenaged boys he’d become awfully quiet and withdrawn. She began to worry that perhaps something had happened at the party, which Bellamy hadn’t told her about.
She’d just wanted Bellamy to have the chance to make some friends his own age, but maybe she shouldn’t have meddled. It had been selfish of her to force Bellamy to go to that party when the reason she wanted him to go was to relieve her own guilt over the fact her son hadn’t been able to finish high school and currently didn’t have any friends.
Doris still felt responsible for the curse that her son now suffered from and for him having to live out there in the middle of nowhere with her.
When the day of Doris’s trip to the next town arrived, Bellamy helped her to pack all of the woodcarvings into a large burlap sack which he then secured to the back of the dogsled. A team of five huge Huskies was already attached to the sled. The dogs were incredibly intelligent and would be able to get Doris to the next town even through a snowstorm.
Doris was dressed in a gray fur-lined coat that had pretty, white fur trim on the hood, a pair of winter camo pants, gloves, a scarf, and heavy boots. “Thank you, Bellamy,” Doris said as she mounted the sled, and picked up the long, brown leather reins.
“Don’t mention it, Mom,” Bellamy said. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “You sure you’re going to be okay on your own out there?”
Doris offered Bellamy a reassuring smile. “I’ll be just fine. I’ve made the run on my own before and the dogs know the way. What would you like me to bring you from Coldfoot? A new jacket? A new book?”
Bellamy thought for a moment. He didn’t want to trouble his mother with buying him anything. But there was something he wanted. He was missing a rose quartz for his stone collection. Surely, it wouldn’t pose too much trouble for his mother to find him a small rose quartz at the gift shop. “Can you bring me back a small rose quartz for my stone collection?”
Doris raised an eyebrow at the humble request. Most teens his age would probably have asked for the latest smart phone. “A rock? That’s all. Bellamy…”
Bellamy took his mother’s hands in his and squeezed them tight. “Yes, mother - a rock. You know I love stones. And it’s the only one missing from my collection.”
Doris gave Bellamy a searching look, but then let out a resigned sigh. “Oh, alright. If that’s really what you want. I’ll bring you back the prettiest rose quartz I can find.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Bellamy leaned over and placed a kiss on his mother’s cold cheek, momentarily warming it against the frigid Alaskan air.
There was a haunting sadness in Bellamy’s blue eyes, and Doris wanted to do something to erase it. All they had was each other.
“Be safe,” Bellamy added when his mother didn’t get the sled underway immediately.
Doris smiled thinly, and snapped the reins. “Mush!” The dogs barked and shot off down the snow-covered road. As soon as Bellamy was out of sight, she frowned. Her son was hiding something. But she’d have to wait until she got back to find out what it was.
Driving a dogsled was easier than it looked since the dogs did most of the work. Or at least, this is how Doris felt about it. She barely had to guide their movements with the reins since the dogs confidently knew where they needed to be going, having done this run with Doris before. Doris also felt safe and protected having five huge dogs with her and probably would have been scared if she’d been out there alone on a snowmobile.
It wasn’t long before they were winding their way through the forest with tall pine trees on either side of the narrow path. A wolf’s howl echoed through the forest making Doris swallow nervously. She wasn’t a Hunter like her parents had been and never carried a gun with her. Her dogs were her only protection against predators. So far she’d never had a problem on this road between the two towns. But she was feeling slightly paranoid for some reason. That howl had sounded a bit…unusual. “It couldn’t be…the yeti?” Doris mused aloud with a nervous tremor to her voice.
Abruptly, from out of the trees a gigantic, white polar bear emerged onto the road right behind Doris, thudding loudly behind the sled. It opened its maw wide, and roared at Doris loudly, showing off its sharp teeth.
“Oh my God, a polar bear!” Doris’s eyes flared in alarm. She snapped the reins. “Mush! Hurry! Go faster!”
The team of dogs broke into a faster run, and continued their way swiftly down the main snowy road with pine trees blurring past them on either side.
Just up ahead, Doris saw that a tree had fallen onto the main road, blocking their path. “Oh no!” There was nowhere else to go. “Wait...” She spotted another road to her right and steered the dogs to head in that direction instead.
Doris and the dogs flew down the narrow path and just a few minutes later exited the edge of the forest, emerging onto an expansive frozen lake. Doris squinted as she tried to see the other side of the lake but it was so far away it wasn’t visible yet.
Even though it was unsettling how large the lake was, Doris didn’t hesitate in snapping her reins again. “Mush!” Her sled flew over the thick ice of the lake smoothly.
The polar bear burst out from the tree line a few minutes behind Doris and her dogs, and charged after the sled. The ice started to crack due to the polar bear’s tremendous weight. “We’re not going to make it,” Doris moaned, but then she miraculously reached the other side of the lake. The sled shot down a narrow path, which ended at a black wrought-iron gate that was a part of a towering stone wall that enclosed a large estate.
For a moment, Doris wondered if she’d have to get off the sled and try to figure out how to open the gate - when the gate opened of its own accord. Doris briefly pondered if the gate was electric, but snapped the reins and drove the sled through the open gate.
Doris glanced over shoulder, her mousy brown hair whipping in front of her face, and obscuring her vision slightly, expecting to see the polar bear following her through the gate, but watched as the polar bear skidded to a halt at the open gate entrance. It opened its maw and roared angrily, and appeared to be frustrated that its prey had escaped.
Doris frowned, wondering why the polar bear hadn’t followed her inside, and watched as the wrought-iron gate slowly closed behind her on creaking, rusty hinges. When Doris turned her attention to what was in front of her, she gasped in astonishment.
Doris and the dogs were approaching a Tudor-style mansion that looked like it’d fallen right out of a fairytale storybook. The mansion was made up of several different wings with triangular-shaped roofs. The dogs guided the sled right up to the sweeping staircase that led to the front door.
Doris hopped off the sled and approached the mansion warily. She put her foot down on the first step, and looked down due to the clicking sound of her booted heel hitting the surface of the step.
The steps looked like they were made out of blue ice. Doris removed of her glove before reaching down and touching the step. She’d expected it to be freezing cold, but she realized it wasn’t ice. It was a blue quartz crystal.
Doris laughed at her own foolishness. Apparently, she’d watched the movie Frozen one too many times. This wasn’t a palace made of ice, but it was still incredibly impressive. It must have cost a fortune to build the mansion entirely out of blue quartz like this. Doris mused about the possibility of an eccentric billionaire living there.
She carefully made her way up the slippery stairs, and arrived at the front door. Her dull brown eyes were immediately drawn to the beautiful doorknocker. It was made out of a dark blue lapis lazuli and had been carved to resemble the face of a yeti with a large metal ring in its mouth. Doris reached out and stroked the doorknocker. “What incredible craftsmanship.” She took a deep breath to steel her nerves, grabbed the metal ring, and knocked. The door opened and she stepped inside.
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