Felix had never felt so empty. The cabin around him was lit by moonlight, but to Felix it seemed that everything was dark, as if the sun and moon had simply popped out of existence. The air felt colder, not only figuratively but also literally, as the monster stepped closer. He made no move to avoid the creature, despite knowing full well what it intended to do to him. Myra was gone. The only girl he’d ever loved had died trying to protect him.

The creature took another step closer, now only a couple of meters from Felix. In other words, he was at arms length. The monster observed him for a second longer, relishing in the boy’s despair. Deciding to linger no more, it extended its left hand to touch Felix and kill him. Felix still made no move to avoid the monster’s frozen touch of death. As he waited for his icy demise, he thought of what Myra would have done in a scenario like this.

She would have done exactly what got her killed. She would have fought the monster with all her might. And yet, he was doing none of that. Why? Because he might fail? Because he might die? Well, yes, but that was going to happen no matter what. However, that wasn’t the true reason. The real reason was much more pathetic. In fact, it had been one of the only things Myra disliked about Felix.

He was passive. Felix almost never stood up for himself, and almost never fought on his own. Supporting another through a tough time? He could do that, and had done so on numerous occasions. Here he was, doing the same thing as always. Here he was, doing the same thing that got Myra killed. Here he was, frozen with fear and grief, waiting for death. This was the coward’s way out, and he knew it. It disgusted him that he could be so cowardly. If Myra were here now, she would make him stand up. She would make him fight. Anything she could do to keep him safe, she would do, and had done.

Now, he would do as she would have. Felix Chilling made a decision at this moment, when the monster’s hand was a mere few centimeters away from his head. He was going to live. Myra had sacrificed herself to protect him, and he would be damned before he let her efforts go to waste.

Felix ducked forwards, rolling past Myra’s corpse and out of the monster’s reach. The creature was shocked, not just because Felix had dodged his attack, but also because his fear and grief had evaporated into nothing, now replaced by rage and determination. The creature was puzzled for a little longer, until it decided that it was too hungry to care and struck again, it's ghastly grin shining in the moonlight.

Luckily for Felix, the monster was still too far away to accurately hit him, so he sidestepped the strike and kept running, thinking of ways to possibly escape from or kill this thing, whatever it was. He couldn’t hit it, at least not at close range.Throwing something wasn’t much of an option, as Felix knew he was far weaker than the monster, and such an attack would only give away his location. Then he saw it. The wood burning stove.

The wood burning stove provided an interesting option. Felix knew nothing of this creature, nor did he know what it was. But he knew for a fact that there was no living thing that was fully resistant to fire. However, he was left with a problem. The lighter was still in Myra’s coat pocket. And the logs needed to be soaked with the accelerant, which was on top of the stove. While Felix was closer to the stove, he also knew the monster couldn’t be far behind him.

He rolled to the left, avoiding an unseen strike by a hair’s width, literal ice forming on his coat where the monster’s fingers nearly touched him. The creature’s strike left it off balance, and Felix capitalized on this, ducking past the creature and running back to Myra’s corpse. His heart throbbed in his chest as he took the silver lighter from her coat pocket. All of his grief came back to him, but just as he was about to give into it, Felix felt a chill. The monster was back up, and it’s foul smile was gone.

That’s right, he had another problem to deal with right now. Killing this demon, or whatever it was. The monster tried to stand up, but seemingly forgot where it was and bumped its head on the ceiling and gouged a hole in the roof with its antlers.

Suddenly, it hit Felix. The reason the monster, especially one of this size, had failed to catch him. The room was too small for it. It couldn’t stand and attack at its best, thanks to the cabin’s ceiling. Now, things were starting to look up, even if only ever so slightly. Felix now had mobility on his side, even if he didn’t have a lot of room to work with.

The monster pulled it’s head out of the ceiling, and glared daggers at its prey, who had begun to move again. This was frustrating, but the creature was aware of the fact that its current predicament was entirely its own fault. It should have lured them outside and killed them there. It would have been much easier than this, but it had killed things in less favorable situations than this. The creature dropped back onto all fours and began to slink after the male, who was already at the stove.

It seemed that the boy was planning to use the stove to attack somehow, but the monster wasn’t exactly sure how it planned to pull this off. It was true that flames were the only option left to the man, but the monster was unsure how he intended to use them.

While it didn’t remember much from the time before becoming a monster, it did know that stoves were not offensive weapons. Felix knew this as well, but the stove itself wasn’t meant to be used to attack. The plan he’d come up with was risky and very unlikely to work, but it was the only one he could use.

At this time, Felix had gotten ahold of the accelerant and by some miracle it hadn’t frozen. The monster closed in on him as he uncapped the bottle and sprayed the fluid all over the logs in the stove. He emptied the bottle and then ignited the lighter. Felix tossed it into the stove and slammed the door shut as he ran away from the monster, which rammed into the stove door. The door and the stove itself groaned and caved inwards, but the fire stayed lit, burning away bravely as the monster shook its head and regained its bearings.

The monster turned towards Felix and skittered at him again, gliding over the floor soundlessly. Felix took off running away from the creature, moving left and also feinting right every now and again. All the while, the flames inside the stove grew, smoldering away at the fuel inside the stove. The monster's charge had knocked the flames close to the floor of the cabin and those began to heat up and smoke as well.

Felix ran past the area where the monster had broken the ceiling and as he moved around the rubble, he noticed something about it. It wasn't frozen, despite touching the monster's body. While it was true that the floor wasn't frozen for the most part either, ice was starting to form where the monster's feet and hands touched the ground.

There! The monster's antlers clipped the coffee table. Part of the wood was chipped off, but there was no frost, and no ice. But wherever it touched with its hands or feet, ice would form. Felix’s observation wasn’t unnoticed by the monster, as it followed the male’s line of sight. The monster growled in frustration as it attacked again. It struck again, attempting to end this stand off before its prey could actually execute his plan. Felix doged again, but the monster’s attack came even closer to hitting him than ever before.

Then, the monster did something Felix didn’t expect. It struck again, with an attack aimed at his chest. Felix was quite literally on his back foot, and if his next action wasn’t quick, he’d die. So Felix did the only thing available to him. He threw himself to the ground as hard as he could. However, he didn’t get as lucky as before this time. The monster’s claw was too close and slashed his face, splitting his left eye and part of his cheek and forehead as if they were wet paper.

Felix screamed after the split second it took his brain to register the pain, and clutched his ruined eye with his right hand. Carmien blood leaked from his wound and seeped between his fingers. It dripped from his hand and splattered onto the floor. A second or so later, it had already begun to freeze.

The monster wasn’t finished yet. It struck again, attempting to skewer Felix to the ground. Despite his previous misfortune, Felix scrambled away from the attack just in time, claws piercing the floor where he’d just been. The monster ripped its claws out of the floor, blasting splinters all around the room as it yanked up half a dozen floor boards. It prepared to strike at Felix again, but he was not there. Rather, he’d scampered over to the stove, the formerly modest blaze of which had grown into a fire which was currently consuming the cabin around it.

The cabin hadn’t been in the best of shape before, clearly being rather old and rickety, so it wasn’t long before a large portion of the cabin was emulated. The monster screeched and dove at Felix, who lay flat against the floor just in time for the monster to sail over him and crash into the wall behind him. It’s head slammed through the wall, and while it wrenched its way out of the wall, Felix grabbed a thick, flaming log from the fire.

Wagering everything, Felix swung the flaming log with both hands and struck the creature in the back. The monster yelped from the sudden impact, and Felix waited for the worst. A few seconds passed. No frost. No ice. It worked. Earlier on, Felix had an idea. The freezing ability of this monster’s body was terrifying, but there was no way it was perfect. Clearly, it didn’t cover the monster’s full body, so that made him think of other possible weaknesses. Granted, this was an idiotic way to test for such a weakness, and he knew it. Felix pulled the log back and struck again, sparks flying with the impact.

The monster grunted again, less in pain and more in annoyance. It was becoming angrier and angrier, first with losing the flavor of grief and fear, then with this human surviving as long as it had, and now with his prey’s attacks. And so when Felix struck it for a third time, the monster lost it. It howled, louder than any wolf or coyote, and then stressed it’s shoulders as it pushed upwards, shattering and splintering the wall it was stuck in. Felix backed up and tossed the log aside. He grabbed a new one from the floor and retreated to the other side of the cabin. The creature screamed again and pushed one final time, ripping itself out of the wall and decimating another meter of the wall from the sheer force and ferocity of its effort!

Felix held the burning log out and prepared for the monster to attack him. And attack him it did. Spinning on its heel and stomping towards him with all it’s might, the monster’s wrath shook the entire cabin to its foundation. To Felix, this only meant one thing. He was going to die. The games were over, and as soon as the creature reached him, it would be over. Felix steeled himself and prepared for the worst, drawing the log back and preparing to strike the monster with all of his remaining might.

However, he wouldn’t have to. As the monster took another mighty step, the roof above it shook and creaked. Splinters and dust fell as sparks from the floor rose, the heat of the blaze and the force of the beast’s rage had loosened the roof. One more step, and the roof shook again. And with the final step, the step that would take it into striking range, the roof shuddered and collapsed.

A thousand pounds of flaming timber pounded down on the monster, which let out an awkward scream as it was crushed beneath the rubble. The creature’s arms were pinned, and it tried to get up, but no matter how hard it struggled, nothing seemed to change. Felix approached the beast, burning wood in hand, and struck the creature in the head with it. The log cracked against the creature’s skull, which made a dull thudding noise as it was struck.

Felix pulled back to strike again, and the creature continued to struggle. As Felix swung again, the monster pulled it’s shoulders free from the rubble. The log swung down, sparks trailing behind it, and the monster struck, attempting to bite Felix.

Too late, did Felix react to the attack. His swing hit the monster, but did nothing to deter it. Instead, the log flew out of his grip and struck the wall. The monster’s fangs sunk into Felix’s shoulder, and he screamed. To him, it felt as if he had been impaled with two dozen hot nails. The monster chuckled as it struggled more and began to free itself. It crawled out more, bit by bit and chomped down harder and harder with every passing second. Just as Felix thought he would pass out from the pain, the monster got greedy. It bit down even harder than ever before, and ripped straight through its target. Felix dropped to the floor, his left arm flapping uselessly as he fell. He hit the ground with a wet thud. He screamed again, and the monster laughed.The sound was disgusting, much like what evil would sound like if it had a voice. As Felix stared up at the monster that was very nearly free from it’s burning prison, he noticed something. Burn marks. All over the creature’s chest. Specifically, around the left side of it’s chest. Right where it’s heart would be.

Felix’s remaining arm reached out blindly, groping about until it brushed against a familiar surface. It was rough and hard. Tree bark. Felix was sure of it. Quickly, he grabbed a hold of the log. Just like everything else in the house, it was burning.

“THANK GOD FOR ARSON!” Felix shouted as he swung the log at the monster;s chest, directly at its heart. The monster realized what Felix was doing, but was still pinned enough that it couldn’t avoid his attack. The log struck it’s chest, and much to Felix’s surprise and the creature’s horror, its chest cavity caved in. Black blood burst from the wound, and the monster screamed in agony. It slashed wildey, and Felix was too slow to avoid the attack.

Four long, deep gashes were torn into his torso as the beast’s claws struck him. Felix grunted and was flung back from the force of the blow. He slammed into the door, and travelled right through it. The frozen wood shattered as soon as he struck it, and splinters and ice crystals dug into his back. Felix landed a few meters after that, sliding to a stop at a small dip in the hill leading towards the cabin.

Said cabin was completely burning now, tongues of hot flame spewing from the windows and splitting the walls. Inside was Myra and the beast that killed her. Both burned the same, and yet Felix’s heart only burned for one. His breathing was now labored. The monster’s attack had torn his lungs. Felix knew he only had twenty or forty seconds left to live, and what a beautiful sight was above him. Fresh snow fell from the sky, and the moon was full.

Just as he prepared for it all to end, an awful wail hurtled down the hill after him. A few seconds later, the monster sprung at him. All the hope and peace Felix had begun to feel evaporated instantly. That devil was still alive, and it had come back. It knew his injuries were fatal, but wanted to kill him anyway.

Gathering up his remaining breath, Felix prepared to attack. The icy claws of the monster were just about to skewer Felix to the ground, when he forced himself up and threw his hand forwards, aiming at the only thing he could hit. The monster’s still open chest cavity. As Felix’s hand zoomed closer, the creature quickly realized its mistake. However, the point was not fully driven home until it felt a set of fingers close around it’s slow beating heart. The monster screamed in agony as it’s heart was squeezed by the hand, but Felix had already won. He yanked his hand out of the monster’s chest, taking its heart with him.

The monster screamed again and collapsed against a tree, black blood spurting from its wound. Frostbit coated Felix’s hand as he stared up at the sky. He looked over at the monster, mentally cursed it and then propped himself up against a tree and stole one final glance at the beautiful night sky before finally closing his eyes for the final time.

He saw nothing but blackness, but his final thoughts were not of himself, but of Myra. He figured she would be proud of him. His pain faded, and he smiled. Yeah, she was proud of him.

He was sure of it.