I look around, my icy fingers clutching the burgundy parka I had just been given. The darkness of a cold winter’s night surrounds me, drowning me in a stunned silence. I close my eyes, the ice collecting on my lashes, listening to the sounds of Arctic waves crashing against magnificent glaciers. I let out a shaky, fearful breath, the breath like a wispy white cloud of frozen fears. I open my eyes, only to find another set looking back at mine. A shiver runs down my spine, the freezing Arctic air now the least of my concerns. The lanky man smiles at me, a disturbing, bone-chilling smile, his green eyes staring into mine like a cat to its long-desired prey. “You really shouldn’t be out here in the cold Vanessa, we have a fire in our igloo for a reason,” he says to me, his cold, heartless eyes assessing my condition, “Sweet little girls like you need to stay warm and safe.” He reaches out his hand, his bony fingers clutching my arm with surprising strength. “Come now, you’ll freeze to death out here, honey.” He leads me back to the igloo, the waves now eerily calm. I step inside the snowy doorway, the fire’s heat instantly hitting my body like a golden ray of sunshine. The man sits down on a block of ice, a make-shift bench, and looks back at me with a curious gaze. “You can sit, you know, I’m not gonna kill you.” He laughs, “Not yet, anyway.” I shiver again, but not from the cold that surrounds us. A loud crack from behind me makes me jump, causing shards of ice to fly through the air. A sudden, unwelcome darkness seeps through my vision and I fall to the icy floor, a silent scream etched on my face… 

  …The icy blue water hits my skin like a thousand knives piercing through flesh. I claw at the rope around my neck, desperate for escape. Liquid fills my lungs, making breathing near impossible. I continue to fight the current—hoping, praying—for a chance to live. I pull and tear at the rope, all the while attempting to swim to the surface. I gather up all the strength I can muster and push my body upwards, but with no luck. I try to rip the thick rope one last time, aware that I have a few precious seconds to live. My arms soon fall limp at my sides and I close my eyes as the ocean steals my last breath, hypothermia setting in along with it. My lifeless body falls to the ocean floor, my fingers, face, and legs tinted with blue. My long, blonde hair flows around me along with the coiled rope, my cold, dead eyes staring at nothing in the darkness. I’ve always dreamed of having perfect vision in the dark. It seems that dreams do come true after all.