FROSTBITE by David Warren Page A

sensed the warmth,” Brad said matter-of-factly. “That’s why they stay really high up in the mountains where it usually stays cool year round. But with all the snow we’ve had, they felt comfortable coming down and seeing what was going on down here.”
     
    “You could be right,” I concurred.
     
    “It’s just a guess,” he shrugged.
     
    I was finding out that Brad was an abnormally bright young man. He and his brother both, under the circumstances, have overall behaved calmly and responsibly. I turned and looked at the booth behind us to see Stephanie and Elaine.
     
    Elaine was on the inside of the booth again. I guessed she liked the inside better. Stephanie, on the other hand, was acting the complete opposite of the Connor boys. She had hardly touched her dinner and she kept rubbing her hands over and over again as she rocked back and forth. She must have cared for Billy more than she had earlier let on, the poor thing.
     
    Ted was eating at the counter directly across from us, where poor Harry Meadows had eaten lunch earlier in the day. That seemed like an eternity ago. Spinning around, he said, “There it goes.” We all turned and watched as the last of the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Other than the candles Elaine had spread out, it was now pitch black in the diner that only a little while ago was filled with warmth, light and laughter.
     
    “Oh no,” Stephanie whispered.
     
    “It’s okay,” Elaine said. “It’ll be alright. We just have to stay in here for the night and by tomorrow everyone will be searching for us.”
     
    “If the storm lets up any,” Stephanie retorted as she began to fumble through her purse. “I don’t think this storm wants anyone to find us.”
     
    “That’s not true,” Elaine replied, leaning back and banging her head against the window again. “It’s just a bad storm, that’s all.”
     
    Brad, who was facing the girls, spoke up. “I wouldn’t lean against the window like that.”
     
    Elaine looked over at the young boy quizzically. “Huh?”
     
    “Remember earlier when those things were sucking on the glass?” Brad asked.
     
    “Yeah,” she responded.
     
    “Well, with it being pretty cold in here and the snow drifts now covering three quarters of the windows,” he said, looking above him. “And if they do indeed hunt from vibrations, you potentially could be ringing the dinner bell for them.”
     
    “Oh,” she replied and leaned forward. “Thanks.”
     
    “Don’t mention it,” Brad said.
     
    “I found it!” Stephanie said, pulling a mini-flashlight from her purse. She clicked it on, shined it over at Elaine, and screamed as the front window behind Elaine abruptly exploded.
     
    I turned and saw, what seemed like in slow motion at the time, one of the worms lunge through the window. It opened its circular mouth incredibly wide, revealing its dozens of razor sharp teeth and then engulfed the entire back portion of Elaine’s head as she attempted to lean away.
     
    The scream that followed was ear-piercing and it was that scream that broke the stunned trance I had inadvertently been in. I jumped up, scooped up the large butcher knife I had used earlier and jumped into the girls’ booth behind me.
     
    Stephanie was pulling on Elaine’s arms as hard as she could, trying to get her out of the booth. On the other side the worm was pulling on Elaine as well, as if in some macabre tug-of-war contest. The worm was halfway through the window, attempting to back out with its catch. I raised my weapon and brought it down as hard as I could into the body of the creature.
     
    It didn’t even slowdown in its attempt to feed. Then I heard young Brad shout from behind me. “Keep stabbing it, some worms have up to five hearts!” So I ripped the knife out of the worm’s body, spraying its blood across the booth in the process. I then brought it down again. Then again…and again.
     
    I finally thought I heard a painful moan from