The Winter Doll

"What have you done?" he yelled, standing outside the circle.

By now the collar was almost completely consumed, only the metal ring and buckle remained. Chris turned and noticed that Joey had stopped struggling.

"Your spell is broken," Jessica said to Dr. Erickson. "She's free now. You should leave her alone."

"You bitch," he shouted. He gripped the flashlight like a club and held it up, and moved to strike at Jessica, but when he tried to enter the circle his forward momentum was repelled and he bounced off. He tried again, but it was as if an invisible wall prevented him from entering the circle. After two attempts to enter the circle he stopped. "Fine," he said, "your circle protects you for now, but we both know that it won't last once the sun comes up. I've got all night." He sat down on the grass, folding his arms.

Jessica turned away from him and used the knife to cut Joey fee. Once Joey's gag was removed she said, "Thank you Jessica, I feel better now."

"You're welcome,"

"What are we going to do about him?" Chris asked, pointing at Dr. Erickson sitting on the grass outside the circle.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He'll be dealt with shortly."

"By who? By you? I'm almost one hundred and fifty years old, what makes you think you can handle me? You may have broken my charm, but you are no match for me." Dr. Erickson yelled at Jessica. As if to demonstrate his power he held up his hand and it began to glow. Over a few seconds the light coming from his hand began to take the shape of a glowing ball. From inside the circle they could hear that he was chanting something but they could not make out the words. Once the glowing ball had taken shape he brought his arm back and threw the lightning ball toward where they stood in the circle. The ball traveled through the air and exploded when it reached the edge of the circle, its energy seeming to dissipate on the edge of the circle. "Just wanted to give you a demonstration of what I have in store for you once the sun comes up."

As he was speaking a chill fell over the meadow, and inside the circle they could feel the temperature drop several degrees. Out of nowhere the entire meadow was suddenly covered with snow and icicles hung from the trees. Snow began falling from the sky and the trees were bending in the wind. Inside the circle there was no snow or wind, but at the edge they could see the snow piled at least ankle deep.

"What the.." said Chris.

"Shhh," said Jessica. "She comes."

In the distance they could hear the sound of dogs barking slowly growing louder.

"No, no, no, no, no," Dr. Erickson cried.

Out of the trees, from the side of the meadow in the opposite direction from which they had come, a dog sled emerged. The dogs pulling the sled, Chris recognized as wolves, and the driver was a tall dark haired woman, dressed in white furs, driving the wolves with a whip. As the sled approached the center of the meadow Dr. Erickson got down on his knees. The sled pulled up to where Dr. Erickson kneeled and the woman shouted something at him Russian. The only words that Chris could make out were "Grigori Efimovich" which he assumed must be Dr. Erickson's name.

They watched as Dr. Erickson groveled before the woman. Although he did not understand the Russian Dr. Erickson was speaking it was clear that he was begging for his life. The woman seemed impatient with Dr. Erickson's begging as she stood on her sled with a look of indignation on her face. When Dr. Erickson had finished he bowed his head into the snow. The woman shook her head and screamed at him in Russian again. Dr. Erickson was visibly shaking as the woman screamed. When she had finished Dr. Erickson looked up and pleaded with her again. It was obvious that the woman would have nothing of what he was saying. She brought back her whip and slammed down on Dr. Erickson. Instantly Dr. Erickson stopped speaking and his entire body, including his clothes, turned a pale white color. The pale white shape of Dr. Erickson collapsed, leaving what looked like a pile of grey ash on the white snow.

The woman on the sled stopped and looked at Joey, Chris and Jessica in the center of the circle, but said nothing. Then, after a moment, she turned to her team and cracking her whip the sled headed back the way it had come.

Joey and Chris looked at Jessica puzzled by what he had just witnessed. Nodding her head she said, "Don't ask. Just consider yourself lucky to be alive."

After collecting the candles, they walked back to the dorm through the snow.

Afterword:

Joey squinted at the bright sunlight as she entered the meadow. Jessie and Chris Jr. had run ahead, followed by their father and she brought up the rear, carrying the basket and the blanket. She found the three of them standing at the center of the meadow, in a little area of dirt.

"Why don't we sit over here in the grass," she called, "That way the blanket won't get as dirty?" The children ran to their mother and she handed the blanket to Jessie. "Why don't you spread the blanket," she said. Jessie began spreading the blanket on the grass, while her younger brother watched. She set the basket down and turned to watch her husband. He remained in the dirt area at the center of the meadow, staring off into space. After a moment he walked back to where she and the children were.

"You remember what happened here?" he asked.

"Yes," Joey said, pulling him in and giving him a kiss. "And I thank you for it every day." They stood together for a moment holding each other.

Jessie, standing to the side of the blanket with her arms folded across her chest, scolded them, "aren't we going to eat, I'm hungry."