Chapter 9: Shadows Beneath the Snow
Into the Forest
The cold air stung Neha's face as she stepped out of the cabin.
The snow crunched beneath her boots, and the trail of wet footprints led deeper into the trees.
She didn't want to go.
Every instinct screamed run back inside.
But curiosity — or something stronger — pulled her forward.
The trees loomed like silent watchers, their dark branches heavy with snow.
The air felt heavier the further she went.
Like the forest itself was holding its breath.
And then, ahead, she saw it.
A shape.
Tall.
Still.
Waiting.
It stood in the middle of a small clearing, back turned, half-buried in snow.
Her breath caught.
The shape looked familiar.
Too familiar.
"Rishi…?"
**
The Voice
The figure didn't move.
Neha's heart pounded.
She stepped closer.
"Rishi… is that you?"
No answer.
Only the soft rustle of wind through the trees.
Then, slowly, the figure turned.
It wore his face.
Exactly.
Eyes.
Smile.
Even the little scar near his chin.
But the smile didn't reach his eyes.
And the eyes… weren't quite right.
Too dark.
Too deep.
"Neha," it said in Rishi's voice. "You came back."
She froze.
Tears welled in her eyes.
It looked like him.
Sounded like him.
But her soul knew the truth.
This wasn't Rishi.
Not anymore.
Maybe it never was.
**
The Imitation
"What are you?" she whispered.
The creature tilted its head.
"You know me."
"No. You're just wearing him."
The smile faded.
"You loved him," it said softly. "You still do."
Neha clenched her fists. "Don't talk like him."
"You loved his laugh. His warmth. The way he held your hand during storms."
It stepped closer.
"I remember everything. Every moment you shared. Every secret. Every heartbeat."
She took a step back.
"You're not him."
"I am what remains."
Then, suddenly, its form shimmered.
Rishi's features flickered — and turned into Meera.
Then Dr. Soren.
Then her own face.
Smiling.
Twisted.
Cold.
Neha gasped and stumbled backward.
The forest around her blurred.
Voices whispered from every tree.
"You left us…""You should have stayed…""It's lonely here…"
**
Return to the Ice
Neha ran.
Through snow and shadow.
Back toward the cabin.
But the path twisted.
Changed.
Suddenly she wasn't in the forest anymore.
She was back at the research station.
Frozen.
Broken.
Exactly as she remembered.
Except…
There were no bodies.
No blood.
Just endless silence.
And the hum.
That low, pulsing vibration beneath the floor — the sound of it.
Neha looked around.
Breathing hard.
Her breath came out in clouds.
She turned and saw the central tunnel — the one that led to the Core.
And she heard a voice behind her.
"You never really left."
She spun around.
Dr. Elias Brenner stood there.
Or something that looked like him.
Eyes too calm.
Too knowing.
"What is this?" she demanded.
"A memory," the voice said. "Yours. Ours."
**
The Truth
The hallway shimmered again.
And Neha saw herself.
Not now — but then.
Standing beside Rishi, months ago, before the storm.
She watched the past unfold — the drilling, the discovery, the descent into the ice chamber.
She saw the moment they uncovered the crystalline Core.
Heard the alarms.
The screaming.
Then something she had never noticed before:
Her reflection in the ice... didn't move when she did.
It stayed behind, watching.
And smiled.
Her real body shivered.
"What do you want from me?" she shouted.
The memory-Neha in the reflection turned slowly toward her.
"To remember."
Then everything turned black.
**
Waking Again
Neha opened her eyes with a cry.
She was back in her cabin.
Sweating.
Freezing.
Breathing hard.
She looked at her hands.
They were shaking.
Was any of it real?
A dream?
A vision?
She couldn't tell anymore.
And that scared her more than anything.
Because if the lines between reality and memory were gone…
Then so was her ability to tell who she was.
And if she didn't know who she was —
What had she become?
**
The Letter
Later that morning, she found an envelope slid under her door.
No postage.
No name.
Just a wax seal — a snowflake symbol, familiar.
Inside was a single page.
Typed.
Neatly.
Project THULE Termination ProtocolSubject 3A: NEHA KAPOORStatus: CompromisedRecommendation: Immediate ContainmentRemarks:— Memory instability increasing— Manifestations confirmed— Entity may have merged with host
Do not allow Subject 3A to reach civilian populations.
Initiate Protocol ICELOCK.
Her hands trembled.
They were going to come for her.
**
Choices
Neha stood at the edge of the frozen lake behind her cabin.
The ice was thick.
But she knew what lay beneath.
She remembered the dreams.
The Core.
The thing that had slept for centuries — until they woke it.
She could run.
Try to disappear.
Or she could return.
Face it.
Find the truth.
Finish what they started.
She dropped the letter into the snow and set it on fire.
Then turned toward the mountains.
Toward the place where it all began.
Where it would all end.
Neha walked into the blizzard.
And the snow swallowed her whole.