The Frozen Man

by Lex Sinclair

‘Yeah. Believe it.’

  ‘I’m bleeding, as you know.’ Charles paused. ‘... I started bleeding at the urinal, so I rushed in here before anyone saw me.’

  For a second, Derek didn’t quite understand what Charles meant - then it dawned on him, and he grew terribly concerned. ‘Shit! Oh, God. Charles, I’m sorry, man. I just thought you had a nose bleed or something.’

  ‘Forget about it. It’s nothing, really.’

  ‘Is there anything I can get you?’

  ‘A new dick!’

  Together they laughed at the joke, in spite of the seriousness of the old man’s situation.

  ‘Christ, Charles. This is not time for childish quips.’

  ‘Who’s joking?’

  They laughed heartily again.

  ‘I could use some clean trousers, though, if you wouldn’t mind?’

  Derek was still silently amused at his friend’s laid-back sense of humour, even though Charles couldn’t see his bright red expression. ‘No, of course I don’t mind. I’ll run upstairs and get some tracksuit bottoms. Is there anything else?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Charles, maybe you ought to go and see a specialist about this problem. I mean I’m not a doctor or anything, but you don’t need one to tell you that this is serious... maybe even deadly if you don’t sort it out soon. Pissing blood and sharp stinging pains when you’re peeing is your body telling you that something is wrong.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Charles said, a catch in his throat. Yet Derek didn’t know about the pain no longer being a factor, or about the carcass he’d burned in his fireplace.

  ‘I’ll be back in a sec,’ Derek said. Then he hurried out of the toilets and up the stairs, into his bedroom and took out tracksuit bottoms from his wardrobe.

  When he returned to the men’s room, Charles was standing at the washing basin cleaning his hands, watching as the blood swirled down the drain.

  Derek saw how wan his friend looked.

  Charles met his gaze in the reflection and saw the tracksuit bottoms folded in the landlord’s hands. ‘Thanks,’ he said.

  When his hands were clean and dry, Charles took them off Derek and locked himself in the cubicle again to get dressed. He came back out wearing the tracksuit bottoms and carrying the soiled trousers under his arm. Derek stood with his back to the wall, looking uneasy and unsure of what to say or what to do that would make the situation better.

  Charles saw this and said, ‘I’m fine. Just an unexpected scare, that’s all.’

  Derek didn’t appear to be convinced, but he made a weak smile anyway.

  ‘Glad to hear it.’

  They stood in the men’s room without speaking for a minute, prior to heading back outside to the bar. The TV was still on; however, the young man had departed and the football match had finished. Derek grabbed the remote control and turned the volume down a few notches so they could hear one another without straining against the din.

  ‘Sorry if I frightened you,’ Charles said.

  ‘No... bloody hell. It’s not your fault. If anyone was scared, it must’ve been you.’

  ‘Yeah, it did kinda catch me by surprise.’

  ‘I bet.’

  Charles went to pick up the stein of beer when Derek said, ‘Are you sure you ought to drink that after what happened?’

  Charles looked perplexed. ‘What d’you mean?’

  Derek shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t it be better in your condition if you had a glass of water or something non-alcoholic, instead?’

  ‘Yeah. You’re probably right.’

  ‘Sorry, man. I was only making a suggestion.’

  Charles patted his friend on the shoulder, so that he knew he meant well.

  ‘Gimme the best mineral water you got.’

  ‘Still or fizzy?’

  ‘Let’s live a little... fizzy.’

  Apart from the incident in the men’s room, it almost felt like the Good Old Times, again. Charles needed to hide his trepidation from his best friend until it was time to go home. They shared a drink together before Charles explained that he must take his leave, and that he would return Derek’s tracksuit bottoms once he’d cleaned them in a couple of days’ time. Derek asked once more before he left if his pal was okay. Charles assured him he’d be fine and that he would make an appointment with his doctor in the morning. Then exited the pub.

  Jesus Christ! That was a close call. He crossed the deserted road to his Jeep.

  Charles hadn’t lied about making an appointment with his doctor in the Morning. However, he believed that, physically, there wasn’t anything wrong with him. He truly believed that a higher power, (not God, although he prayed God would intervene and stop this real-life nightmare) had caused him to piss blood tonight.

  20

  Tom put the phone back in its cradle on the bedside table, after getting no reply from Charles’ home phone number. ‘Damn it.’ He’d expected the old man to be sitting right by the phone in his recliner. Yet that wasn’t the case. He had either gone out or couldn’t make it to the phone. Although there was no urgent concern, Tom wanted to talk with him as soon as possible to discuss the dreams.

  Maybe Charles didn’t have a weird dream about the corpse? he thought.

  Maybe Charles returned to normality the way he and Kate had done, and was happy with his life now that their terrible predicament was over.

  ‘Where are you, you bastard?’ Tom muttered at the phone, unable to constrain his vexation.

  Eventually he got up off the foot of the bed and descended the stairs to the ground floor. He’d have to try again first thing in the morning. Hopefully then, Charles would answer his call. Tom slumped on the sofa and switched the TV on. Kate was at the stove in the kitchen cooking them supper. He rubbed the stubble on his chin as he stared at the screen, not really paying it much attention.

  At this moment in time he should be overjoyed - like his wife - but he wasn’t.

  Instead he sensed a foreboding peril lurking around the corner, waiting to pounce on them when they were least expecting it. Or was he just being paranoid because of that dream? No. He didn’t believe that in the slightest. He would much rather be paranoid or concerned about a baby on the way than a carcass talking to him in his sleep, offering him to make one wish.

  Tom ate his spaghetti bolognaise, brushed his teeth and then got dressed for bed. Although he retired early that evening, Tom didn’t doze off until the early hours of the morning. He couldn’t switch his thoughts off the way he could the TV.

  That wish hadn’t come true, after all, he thought. I’m lying here in bed next to my wife fretting over something that is, quite frankly not important, when I should be over the moon with elation. I have not got peace of mind at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

  ***

  The following morning at approximately 8a.m., Charles was rudely awoken by the loud, shrilling of the phone. It gave him a start. He rolled out of bed and picked up the receiver. ‘Yeah. Who is it?’ he asked, not hiding his annoyance at being brought of his deep, dreamless slumber.

  ‘Charles; it’s me, Tom,’ the voice said.

  ‘Tom. How the devil are you?’ Charles exclaimed, surprised and glad.

  ‘Uh, okay... I guess.’ He didn’t sound like he was okay, Charles thought. But he didn’t want to say that out loud.

  ‘Good. So, what’s up?’

  A short pause followed that ordinary question, and then Charles understood that everything he suspected had been accurate; hence why Tom had phoned in the first place. Tom wasn’t the type of person who would call him for a cordial chat. There had to be a specific reason.

  ‘I’m not sure if it’s good or bad to be perfectly honest.’

  This did sound good. But what had he expected? ‘How’d you mean?’

  ‘Well
, I’ve got some good news - or what we think might be good news - and some bad news...’

  ‘Go on, I’m listening.’

  ‘Well, the main reason I’m phoning is... I wanted to find out if you’ve been having strange dreams about the dead body?’

  The receiver fell out of his numb grasp to the carpet. ‘What was the dream about, Tom?’ he asked in a strained voice once he’d picked it up again.

  Tom ignored what Charles had said and asked his question again. ‘Have you had any strange dreams since we did what we had to, or not?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, feeling a large vein in his head pulse steadily.

  Neither of them spoke for a brief moment.

  ‘What was your dream about?’ Charles wanted to know.

  ‘Well, in the dream,’ Tom said, ‘I found myself in the loft above the garage - you know where I originally hid the body. And the dead body grabbed me and started talking in an ageless voice. It knew exactly what we’d done to its remains, and I thought he was there to kill me... I know this sounds ridiculous now. But at the time, I didn’t even know I was dreaming it was so real: not like some dreams you have when they’re kinda blurry...’

  ‘What did the corpse say?’

  Tom paused. ‘Well, this is the really strange part: it asked me to make a wish - any wish - and it would grant it. It wanted to thank me for cremating its remains.’

  Charles switched the receiver from his right hand to his left because it had gone numb from holding it in the same position for so long. His throat was dry, and worked convulsively. ‘What did you wish for?’

  ‘Peace of mind.’

  ‘Good choice. So what happened after that? Or did this happen last night?’

  ‘No. I had this dream about a week ago. A couple of days after we’d... you know?’

  Charles knew all right. He knew only too well. ‘Did your wish come true or not?’

  ‘Yes and no.’

  Charles eyebrows drew together in a deep frown.

  ‘At first,’ Tom went on, ‘everything returned to normal. And I started to enjoy life again. I don’t mean any disrespect when I say this, Charles, but the whole Frozen Man episode really frayed my nerves, and all I wanted was for everything to go back like they used to be with my wife and me. And not see you for a while.’

  ‘That’s understandable.’

  ‘Yeah. And it was great. Then yesterday when I arrived home from work, she gave me some shocking news. And I mean shocking.’

  ‘What’s the shocking news?’

  ‘She’s pregnant,’ he said, his voice shaking.

  Charles took a deep wheezy breath. Then a thought came to him. ‘Hang on a minute, I thought Kate couldn’t have children?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  Charles felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand up. ‘No!’

  ‘Yes,’ Tom countered.

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘We don’t know for certain yet, if the pregnancy test is accurate. But how did she get pregnant all of a sudden when two - not one - specialists told her that she was unable to have children of her own just last year.’

  ‘Oh God.’

  ‘Charles you gotta help me out here. How the hell can this happen? I mean this so fucking freaky, it’s unbelievable.’

  ‘I agree. But don’t get too hasty. It could be that when she goes to see her doctor and they run some tests they find out that it’s not true. That will destroy her, though.’

  ‘I know. That’s what I’m afraid of,’ Tom said.

  ‘So, you’re thinking she had an identical dream to yours, and wished to have a baby? Yes?’

  ‘I’m pretty positive. I didn’t want to bring it to her attention. I wanted to ask you first, if you’ve had the same type of dream as me. Have you?’

  Charles didn’t hesitate. ‘Yes, I have.’

  ‘Brilliant’

  ‘Yeah,’ Charles said.

  ‘What did you wish for?’ Tom was quietly starting to panic.

  ‘Perfect health,’ Charles said. Then went on to explain to his friend how he’d felt better than ever, until last night’s incident in the men’s room.

  ‘Oh shit, Charles. We’re in deep shit, aren’t we?’

  ‘Possibly,’ he said, trying to remain calm, but his rapid pulse rate knew better.

  ‘Christ. You must’ve been terrified.’

  ‘It was rather frightening, yes.’

  ‘I think we’re being punished severely for our actions, don’t you?’

  This time Charles did hesitate. Then said: ‘I don’t know what to think any more. Right from the very start when we stumbled across the body in the woods I thought something was amiss. And things have been uncanny ever since. This has only emphasised it. Take Carlton’s sudden, inexplicable death for instance.

  Not to mention the corpse getting up and walking from your house to my Jeep and then attempting to kill me, and then you later on.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Tom said.

  ‘If we’d just merely found a dead body in the woods - which is scary enough - and nothing happened afterward, I wouldn’t say anything, or expect anything ominous. And I know you didn’t believe in the tale or the tales from that book, but I’m not paranoid or as naïve as you may think. I actually think that we’ve been targeted. Why? I couldn’t say. But, yes, we may very well be getting punished for burning the corpse, or for hiding it in the first place.’

  ‘Is there anything we can do?’

  ‘Not really, Tom. Everything is out of our hands as far as I can see. We’re not in control of this situation any more, at all. Does Kate know anything about this?’

  ‘No. And I’d like to keep it that way for -’

  Charles heard an inaudible voice in the background from Tom’s end. His heart sank when he heard the familiar voice scream, ‘Yes, I do know, now. Thank you very much, Charles. Goodbye.’

  He tried to say something reassuring, but was instantly cut off. He sat there motionless for at least a minute listening to the dialling tone.

  Evidently, Kate had been somewhere close by, eavesdropping on their conversation. Tom had obviously been unaware of her unobtrusive presence.

  Charles just hoped for her sake that she hadn’t heard all of what he and Tom had discussed. What a great start to the day, he thought. Sitting on the arm of his recliner, the old man wondered what was being said between his two friends at this very moment, praying that all would turn out well for them in the end.

  And although he said to Tom that he wasn’t being paranoid and overreacting, he’d much rather that than his intuition being spot on again, because it was his life on the line, too.

  No one knew what they were dealing with.

  ***

  Kate glared at her husband, who wore a pained, sympathetic expression. But right now she couldn’t care less about his feelings. He had divulged into their personal details with Charles of all people. She marched into the room, feet purposefully stamping, rattling the china plates atop the bureau. ‘You lousy bastard!’ Spittle flew from her mouth.

  Tom gaped at her, incredulous.

  ‘How could you?’ she snapped, her face flushing an angry shade of red. ‘How could you tell everyone our personal business without consulting me first?’

  ‘Kate... it was Charles. We can trust him. You said so yourself.’

  Kate shook her head. ‘You advised me to get confirmation from my gynaecologist before getting excited about having a baby... and now you go and spread the news to someone who you, “supposedly”, don’t even like.’

  Tom got to his feet. ‘Kate, it wasn’t about you being pregnant, exactly. I mean, all right, obviously that was part of what I was discussing -’

  ‘What were you discussing then, Tom?’ she said, staring at him with mad eyes.
Enlighten me?’

  ‘You mean you didn’t hear the whole conversation?’

  ‘Yes, I heard. But you crossed the line telling Charles about the baby - which may or may not exist.’

  He nodded, concurring with his spouse. ‘You’re right. But I had to phone Charles to find out if he’d had a dream about...’ he trailed off. He didn’t want to finish that sentence. Just mentioning the Frozen Man made him shudder.

  Kate leant back against the wall of the bedroom. ‘What did he tell you?’

  ‘He said that he’d also had a dream about making a wish.’

  Kate averted her gaze to the bedroom window, and then back to Tom. ‘What did he wish for?’

  ‘He wished for perfect health.’

  ‘Did his wish come true?’

  ‘Yes. But yesterday he had a terrible scare.’

  The anger in her face dissolved, replaced with a mask of concern. ‘Why?

  What happened?’ Tom told Kate the story that Charles told him. Then he saw his wife make a look of disgust. ‘So what does that mean?’ she asked.

  Tom shrugged. ‘We don’t know. Clearly, it’s not good.’

  ‘What did you ask for in your dream?’

  Tom told her.

  ‘Do you have peace of mind now?’

  ‘I did. But not right now, no.’

  ‘So, why are you so concerned about me having a baby? That’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it? That’s what you told me all the years we’ve been together anyway.’

  ‘It is. But will there be repercussions, like what happened to Charles, and to a lesser extent, me?’

  ‘What kind of repercussions?’

  Tom threw his hands up in the air, frustrated. ‘I dunno. Maybe there’ll be complications during the birth, or something unthinkable like that.’

  Kate’s throat tightened. She hadn’t considered the risks involved when giving birth. ‘There’s always that risk, even if you and the baby are perfectly healthy,’ she said.

  ‘I know. But if you are pregnant after all this time of trying, don’t you think it’s a bit strange to have that dream... and then out of the blue for you have your wish to come true?’