Bloody Ice Part 2: Blood Spill At The Ilulissat Glacier
You can read part one here.
"Sylvia, are you ok? What do you mean 'it wasn't me'?" Professor Lyndham asked Sylvia.
"It wasn't you Uncle Lynd, you are OK. It was Mr. Todd, but how? I don't understand…" She stared at both men as she spoke, her face shrouded in confusion
"Sylvia, you aren't making a pick of sense!" Lyndham sighed. He pulled up a chair, grabbed her shoulders, and forced her down. "Sit down for a minute and clear your head." Lyndham looked up at his associate, "I have no idea what's become of her. She is not usually this frantic. Pass me a water bottle from the icebox there would you?"
Nathan Todd nodded, wiped his sweating palms on his pants, and made his way over to the little refrigerator in the corner of the room. He swung the bottled water before Sylvia's face to get her attention but she just sat there staring ahead of her, somehow out of tune with everything around her. Failing to attract her attention, Todd lifted her hand and pressed the cold bottle to her palm. Her face reddened and she looked down at Todd's hand around her wrist. She tried to focus on what she was feeling, trying to make sense of it all.
Sylvia no longer felt confused; anger, regret, and sadness had taken over. As she looked at Todd's hand, she realized she could not feel the bottle in her hand, but felt the heat emanating from Todd's hand, penetrating every muscle in her body. Accompanying his heat was his pain, his regret, his anger; filling her until it was too much to bear.
Sylvia jolted out of the chair and almost ran to the door, "I'm sorry, I have to go."
"What? Wait! What happened?" Professor Lyndham chased her as she ran across the parking lot.
Todd struggled to make sense of what had just happened. He dropped himself in the chair now left vacant by Sylvia. She seemed to be afraid of him, a reaction that is far from what he usually receives when he meets someone, especially a teenage girl, or any female for that matter.
Opening the bottled water, he lifted it and gazed at the chunks of ice floating around inside the bottle.
Ice.
Such simple things they are, ice, yet how dangerous they can be. Memories of what he had done flashed vividly before his eyes. Now he knew it had all been a waste of time, but it was too late now, what's done is done. Now he must focus on covering his tracks. He has been doing a good job so far at covering his tracks. The University still has no idea his degrees are fake, or that his name is fake. He smiled to himself; everyone is clueless about him.
Everybody, it seems, except Sylvia. She seems to know something no one else does. He laughed aloud and said to himself, "There's no way she can know anything. She's just a scared little country girl." He walked over to the doorway and spotted her standing by a beat-up old Volvo. She was talking to the professor, gesticulating wildly. Another man had joined the duo. He was standing protectively behind Sylvia though his eyes were fixed on the very entrance Todd just filled out. "What the hell is going on over there?" he asked himself
Suddenly all three of them were staring in Todd's direction. For a minute, he could not decide which was worse: the three pairs of eyes that seem to be piercing his soul, or the guilt that had so cleverly snuck up on him and now surrounded him.
They got lost somehow and wondered the land for weeks until they started to lose their minds. Exhausted and lost, he hopelessly led his team in circles in search of civilization. They wandered the blinding white land for days.
He and three of his fellow professional cavers were exploring the caves of the Ilulissat Glacier in Greenland. They were the best group of cavers in the Northern Hemisphere and Nathan was their leader. Of course, back then he was Victor Pierce, a very wealthy and influential human being.
Who was he really? He had not realized until Sylvia had asked, that Todd had never spoken of his family, friends, or his life. He knew only that Todd had moved into their small town a few months ago.
He crossed the room and sat at his desk pretending to work. He was remembering how he felt when it had happened, all the gruesome things he did. It was over a year ago.
The sound of the engine starting brought Nathan out of his reverie. He focused all his senses on the papers strewn before him in order to avoid eye contact with Professor Lyndham as he strode across the room.
It was not until long after that he had realized his mistake. He thought he was protecting them from savages, when in fact they needed protection from him.
After wandering around, he found a little cave, ice forming long, sharp stalactites. With no other form of shelter, he had moved his team into the little cave. For two weeks, they all survived on the ration of food and snacks, and clothing they had in their backpack.
Professor Lyndham glanced suspiciously at his counterpart whose focus was the unruly pile of papers scattered about his desk.
"There's no way these nobodies can know anything. I just have to keep calm and play it safe."
He had decided that Todd was just a private person who preferred to keep to himself. Todd had never joined him or the other professors or lecturers on any of their excursions, game nights, not even their discussions or debates.
Sylvia is convinced that something is not right about him. But what? He seems completely normal.
Sick of the silence around him and the shrieking in his head, Todd asked, "Um, Sylvia, is she OK?"
"Oh yes, yes she's fine. You know, just one of those days I guess."
"One of those days?"
"Ah, woman stuff."
"Oh. I guess that man was her father. Where are they from?"
"Yes, Mr. Parkins. They live up north in Chilankoly. It is only them now; he lost his wife three winters ago. She was a lovely woman, people say she could tell the future and read people."
"How do you know them?"
"Everybody knows everybody in that town. I used to live there. I think that is why I am so comfortable here. Small town, friendly people, everybody knows their neighbor. Even if you don't want to. What about you, where exactly are you from?"
"Nowhere really. A string of boarding schools before going to Waterloo. I think I should go now. I have a lecture to prepare." He could not push the papers into his case fast enough.
"Oh come on man, its Friday night, you're young. Go out, hit the town, and relax. Life's about more than work you know. Live a little. Who knows, you might meet a hot young piece. That is, unless you already have one?"
"No thanks Prof. I'll see you on Monday." He crammed what was left on his desk in the top drawer, locked it, and pocketed the key.
He struggled to unlock his car, the shaking and sweating causing him to drop his keys. Having finally gotten into the car, he locked the doors and slammed his forehead into the wheel. "Dammit! Keep calm, stay cool. What the hell is wrong with me? I have to find that Sylvia, see what she knows and if she suspects anything." He headed home to grab some food and clothes then headed off to Chilankoly.
