The Eternal Winter - Book 1 - Chapter 68 - Questions (Patreon)

                                                      Alexander North

It doesn’t take very long to find the two. After all, they’re the only ones in the building – the only ones I’ve ever seen – whose heat signatures are vanishing and reappearing for some reason. So the moment I step onto the twenty-fourth floor, I notice them one floor above me, through the ceiling.

And by the time I reach the door to the storage room they’re once again hiding in, I find not a single frozen one anywhere near me. Which is an odd feeling, since I’ve started getting used to the strange, nagging feeling at the back of my mind that – according to my terminal – is my body sensing energy nearby.

The two of them quickly notice me through the small window of the storage room door and immediately jump to their feet and begin rushing over to the door as I open it. But I can’t help but notice that her eyes are still flickering between colors.

“You’re back!!!” she practically squeals before barreling into me and hugging me rather tightly.

My eyebrows rise in surprise, only to lower again when Snow reaches us after a couple of seconds and begins rubbing her nose against my hand.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I says while awkwardly patting the girl twice on the back. “Both of you.”

I wait for several seconds for the girl to let go of me, but she just keeps holding on tightly. And right when I begin wondering what to do to get her to let go, she mutters into my chest, “I thought you were leaving me too…”

Oh. This girl has a trauma towards abandonment now?

I guess that makes sense, considering what she’s been through.

The girl continues holding onto me for nearly an entire minute before letting go again with a sniffle. But then Snow rubs her nose against her side, making her giggle at what I’m guessing is her being tickled.

Anyways, there’s one thing I never figured out about the girl.

“Would you mind telling me your name?” I ask while kneeling down slightly, meeting her eyes with my own pitch black ones.

She looks surprised for a moment before meeting my eyes and answering in a slightly meek tone of voice, “It’s Alexia Torren.”

My eyes widen in shock.

Are you kidding me? Torren? Why the hell is the daughter of the man who owns CyberTech Industries alone on a tourist planet?!

That would certainly explain why she is able to go around as she pleases through locked doors in this building. Even if some of the previously non-magnetically locked doors are no longer locked, courtesy of either myself or the frozen ones around here.

“Alright, Alexia, do you know what happened to your parents?” I ask, lowering myself further to the ground while keeping up eye contact with her. But the moment I mention the word ‘parents’ a frightened look appears on her face and she begins shaking.

Wait a second… could it be…?

“Jackson sent me here to get me out of his way while he worked on a new project,” she says in an even quieter tone of voice than before. One with a hint of fear in it.

She calls her own father by his first name? What’s up with that? And why’s she so afraid all of a sudden?

Her next words wipe those thoughts from my mind though, as she says, “I tried to call him, but my terminal just said that there wasn’t anyone connected to the port.” Alexia looks down after that and mutters, “I really don’t want to talk to him, but…”

Oh. Shit.

If there wasn’t anyone connected to the port, then that means her father is dead.

The girl suddenly raises her head with a smile wiping away the sadness that was just there before saying, “But with you here, I don’t have to contact him! I can just go with you!”

I stare at her in confusion for a few seconds, just simply blinking as I process her words.

What?

Uh, well…

Then again, it’s not like I can just leave her here. That just wouldn’t do.

I purse my lips in thought before glancing at Snow, who is for some reason trying to get in between us while panting with a happy look on her face. Like a dog wanting attention.

Which is really weird to see considering her slightly monstrous appearance now.

Alexia just giggles at Snow and begins petting her like she would a normal dog.

I really don’t plan on looking out for her all the time. But at the same time, I can’t leave her here. So maybe I can just bring her with me and then leave her at whatever place I decide to make my temporary base of operations? With Snow there to protect her, of course.

A shard breaking through the wall catches my attention for a moment, but before it can even fully pierce through, it goes back the way it came, vanishing from sight again.

Strange. Very strange.

I take a deep breath before stating, “Alexia,” making her turn her attention back towards me with a mixture of innocence, sadness, and a brief spark of happiness in her eyes, “do you know when you started to change?”

Alexia stiffens up at my words before relaxing again slightly as Snow rubs her head against her. She then lowers her forehead to Snow’s side as she answers, “It started right when the cold came.”

The girl doesn’t say anything else, leaving the room in complete silence.

“What about the shards? Did one get to you?” I ask, hoping to get a little bit more information. But all she does is shake her head.

I frown at that.

If she wasn’t infected by a shard… then what’s happening to her?

After a few seconds of silence, I awkwardly reach out to pat her head, making her look up in surprise. Only for her to lightly smile a second later.

But right when I’m about to take my hand away, I feel a slight sting in my hand, making me yank it away to find a faint trail of energy traveling between my hand and her head that promptly disappears. Following which Alexia’s eyes flutter closed and she suddenly collapses.

I quickly catch her before she hits the ground, only to mutter, “What the fuck?” a second later, after noticing that she’s fallen unconscious. And that the flickering of her body head has stopped, leaving her at about the same body heat as myself.

Then her hair starts turning white.

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