"Sever" -- A Creepypasta Read

Between. My first and second, semesters, at college I. Transferred. From the University, of Miami, to, a teeny-tiny little private, college, right. Up on the US Canada, border. It's. Small, and recognizable. Enough that I won't, share the name, the. People I knew there have had enough to deal with already. It. Was tight-knit. Offered. Almost no extracurriculars. Besides winter sports and a few sparse academic, clubs and it. Was exactly. What I was looking for at 19, I. Wanted. To, get out of Miami. I. Wanted. Relief, from. A constant. Heat and humidity, I. Wanted. To get away from my family and I desperately. Wanted. Peace and quiet. Away. From the constant, noise of, the city. And. After. I met him I. Wanted. Severe. Si, Vieira was the captain of the skiing team which gave him more attention in the student body than, you might think. The. Team was big considering, the small population, on campus, it. Seemed like everyone, there but me had been born and raised in the snow or on a mountain. My. College experience, isn't where my deepest regrets come from those. Come later, so. I'll just say that I would change two things about it if I, could. First. I would, have moved up north right off instead, of bothering with Miami for another few months. Second. I would. Have done at least the bare minimum, of athletic training in the relevant sports, before. Moving to a school populated. Almost entirely, by winter jocks. I'm. Pretty, sure I died, three, times over, during our first few weeks of training. Some. Days I could barely hobble, the class thanks, to ski practice, the afternoon before. Looking. Back I am surprised, that the guys on the team didn't laugh me right out of the room when they saw me in the lineup of underclassmen. Hopefuls, only. Guy on the entire, campus, probably who had a Hispanic, last name and that, was just the start of, how I stuck out. Maybe. Was. Someone else in charge of the team I would, have been an uppity nail that needed to be hammered down. Not. With, severe. Though. Severe. Zima man. His. Last name, even, meant a winter, he told me once he. Never. Could have belonged anywhere else. The. First test, that I pass on the team is probably not being one of the new guys to snicker at his name. You. Know how some clubs and teams are with each other, how. They close ranks whenever, any of their own as the slightest, bit threatened. The. Ski guys were like that and. CVR. Was the team captain and, the linchpin of their dynamic. Nobody. Even thought about messing, with them if they. Were smart. Suvir. Introduced, himself to the new recruits at the first practice, and the. Guys who hadn't, figured out right off that you didn't Jack with the team captain, made themselves known. He. Didn't say anything to them right then. He. Had a way of speaking. Without saying, anything allowed. Silent. As the winter landscape. Those. Gray eyes drilling, into you. God. He. Was and is the only man, I ever thought, of describing, is, beautiful. Even. Now with everything, that happened in the years since he's. Still, beautiful, when I remember, him Oh. Sharp. Angles, and pale skin gray. Eyes and long, black hair longer. Than any of the other guys worth errors. Even. With everything. That happened I, can. Still remember him like that. Nothing. Can take that away from me at least. Suvir. Never allowed anybody habit right out in the open I. Don't. Think there were ever any real blow, ups the. Way you'd expect from a team in school populated, by cocky, athletic dudes. Not. In the ski team. But. People. Got the message and one. By one the guys who wouldn't, make it there drifted. Away. Somehow. I made it I. Like. To think that he saw something in me right from the beginning but, he knows I. Made. The team and I died a little bit less at each practice, as my body adjusted, to the cold and I. Started building up muscles, in the right places. Altitude. Sickness got, to me sometimes, but I struggled. Through. The. First real, conversation I, had receive ear was of, course about. Our names. There. Wasn't another Perez, for probably a couple hundred miles all around campus and, something. About it amused him I think I. Remember. Asking cheekily. If I was the first brown guy he'd ever spoken to in his life. That. Made him laugh. It. Was a startling, sound out. In the quiet of the snow as we trudged back from practice with our equipment under our arms. Everything. Was muffled, except, for that laugh and, it. Echoed off, the mountain, in the trees. Something. About, it lingered, in the air after, the sound had faded away. He. Didn't laugh much. It. Was a rare treat, to hear. By. That point I figured I was pretty well-established in the group so I asked, about his name in return.

It. Was Russian, as it turned out. His. Parents, and grandparents, had stuck out the Cold War up here in their little cold corner of the US and once. That fabled, wall finally, came down there. Had been a kind of defiant. Patriotism, for the old country, that, came through in the names of their kids. Severe. Had a younger brother named, Cole malgor. Nothing. For a kid. You. Ever thought about going by your middle name I asked. My. Middle name is a loyal shankha, he. Replied straight, face. So. I'm gonna stick with the one most people can actually spell. Right. I said, that. Explains that then. And, he. Gave me of that little, half-smile, of his and I. Started to fall a little bit in love with him, there. In the, silent, snow. They. Tell legends, out, on the mountains. We. Had our share of local, spooks on campus, and in the nearby town, usually. In the vein of jilted. Lovers and drunk partygoers, who got caught out in the cold. There. Were other things, people. Getting snowed in and going crazy places. Among the trees that you shouldn't go. Things. That meant bad luck if you saw them. When. It gets to be properly, winter time the, howling of the wind is so constant. That after a while it's like you don't hear it at all, and the. Snow covers. Everything. Hushing. It like, a hand over your mouth. It's. The kind of atmosphere made, for stories about isolation. About. Getting lost somewhere, in the wilderness and. Finding. The unknown things out there or having. Those things find you. Sometimes. That's. Where it ends. Sometimes. The unknown things follow you back home I. Heard. Lots of stories over the years but. At the beginning I was more preoccupied, with more concrete and, physical, things than rumors and myths. Stuff. Happens, at an all-male school. The. Same way it did and still, does in the, military and. Probably. At all girls schools and those, remote little outposts. All over the world where people are forced close together and, the. Kind of people they would desire under other circumstances are. A fantasy. At best. Some. Guys made the track to the woman's college nearby to see if any of the girls want to party some. Don't care. Some. Look at the guy next to them and decide hey, he's, not looking so bad after all and. Of. Course some guys don't need the extra encouragement, to start thinking that way either I.

Can't. Say when exactly, I decided, it but. At some point I determined, that a severe turned out to be in either of the last two categories. Nobody. Was, getting him into bed but me. The. Problem, was I had been told before that I had no godly, idea how to flirt with another human being without, seeming like I was going to eat them. I'll. Skip over all the messy and embarrassing, stretches of time that it took to get from point A to point B. Luckily. The. Solution turned, out to be that severe had decided that he. Wanted. Me to. After. That, we. Just, were. We. Screwed yeah. We, screwed a lot. You. Know how a lot of drunk guys are. We. Never really went on dates or anything. Even. If we'd wanted to there weren't many places locally to go. At. Times it felt like there was nothing surrounding, the campus except the snow on the ground and the trees and the mountains closing you in. So. Little from the outside, got through a, lot. Stayed. Inside and, never, left. Mostly. We. Just sat in the lounge or one, of our dorms, severe. Probably, through some team captain, magic had managed to get a single, the lucky bastard, and we. Drank coffee and studied. Together in silence. Sometimes. You watched movies are and listen to music and once. Arab, Lea courts I we watched porn together to see if it would be hot it wasn't. And all. But. Mostly it was just us and the quiet and my. Occasional complaining. About the cold that I never completely, got used to. Yeah. Sometimes. I was just being melodramatic for, an excuse to cuddle. Severe. Was like a human, sized space heater, it. Wonders, for the chill. Listen. Man if you've ever had a warm place a place, where you're happy, and everything. Is silent except, for your heartbeat, it. Doesn't matter what happens after you die. If. You've. Had that, you've. Already been to heaven. We. Spent the better part of three years like that. See. Viateur graduated, before me but even afterwards, he never seemed far away. He. Had gone to college mostly, to please his parents and, because the ski team had given him a full ride but. Everyone who met him knew that he belonged out on the mountains. He. Became a ski instructor and, mountain, guide, putting. Tourists, and newbies through their paces and keeping the advanced trekkers in check so. They didn't get too overconfident, and, kill themselves out on the slopes.

He. Came back around to campus often enough. And he always had, stories to tell a. Bit. Of new life from around the area to inject into a retired, old local, legends. You. Hear things out there sometimes. He. Said once. He. Was straight faced and serious, like usual. So. People listened to him more than they would have someone else. Sometimes. The wind sounds like voices you know. It. Spooks the locals and the superstitious, ones. When. Pressed he added. Sometimes. The people who hear voices. Think. That they're being called personally. Something's. Out there that wants them. Every. Few years it sounds like somebody. Goes crazy and walks out into a blizzard because, of it. If. People. Kept bugging him for spooks he would shrug and change, the subject to more mundane superstitions. Like how. Employees at one of the ski resorts held that it was bad luck to wear red socks up in the mountain. Wouldn't. You know it their shop only sold, red socks and white socks and the, white socks were the more expensive brand. That. Usually, earned a little left and got people off his back I. Usually. Forgot, the stories until he. Spent the night. Everything. Was good when he did like. It had always been. But. Sometimes. He would stop and, tilt. His head just. So like. He was listening for something. Even. When I strained, my ears against the silence of the wind that I had been subconsciously, blocking. Out I, never. Caught a hint of what he was listening for I. Would. Remember some of the things he said about the legends up on the mountain though and the. Chill would stay with me for a while I. Sometimes. Wondered, how much if, any, of it he believed himself I. Never. Asked him about it I. Don't. Think it would have changed anything if I had but. You. Always wonder about things like that. When. I graduated. I didn't, stick around so close I. Wouldn't. Have minded but grad school was the thing that would ensure I didn't have to go back to Miami, for the next few years and there, weren't any good programs nearby, I. Ended. Up in New York which, was, noisy. The. Climate was fine and the people aren't actually as wereld as you think once you've gotten used to them but. The city that never sleeps, sure lives up to its name. Sometimes. I thought I would never sleep either. It. Was kind of nice not to be the only Perez, around again but I missed. The wilderness, and the. Silent snowfall. When. The snow blanketed, the city and muffled everything, for a few hours that, was. The only time I ever, got, any relief. Severe. And I kept in touch I. Wouldn't. Quite call it a long-distance, relationship since. We had never officially. Been in a relationship to begin with but it, was probably, that and everything, but name. We. Texted, and called sometimes. Video, chatted or sent pictures of her snapchat if we were feeling hot and bothered. I. Never. Asked if he did that with anyone else and he, did me the same courtesy. There. Were guys and, some girls who came and went for me but I had.

Realized That I would, always want. Severe, I. Kept. Up with this Instagram, and the pictures he posted on Facebook. He. Wasn't a great photographer. And having, seen the landscape he was taking pictures of I can verify that his, phone camera, could never do it justice. All. The same I kept up I. Liked. Having a little window into what he was seeing. The. Last picture, that I have of him, the. Way I like, to remember him best is, his. Attempt, at a selfie, with the slope of the mountain behind him. Those. Gray eyes meeting mine across time and space through, the camera lens. That. Little half-smile. I can. See him that day. Standing. On the slope backed, by the cloudy sky. Everything's. Snowy and silent. Literally. And, figuratively. On top. Of the world. Sometimes. I dream, of being, there. Watching. Him give me that little smile before he turns and pushes off down the slope. No. Matter how fast I follow I. Can. Never catch up with him. I. Got. The call just after New Year's Day in my. Final, year of grad research. It. Was. The kind of thing that happens. From time to time. Sometimes. Nature takes a look at the people scurrying, all over like they owned the place and it slaps, back. All. That wait the mountain is carrying, comes crashing. Down with a rumbling, growl that everyone, around can feel all the way down to their core and then there's just. Nothing. Not. Just, a silence, in the aftermath, but. Avoid. The. World waiting. With bated, breath to. See, what comes next. Four. People went, up the mountain. Nature. Slapped. Back. Around. Two weeks later only, one crawled, out of the devastation, the Avalanche had left. The. Guide. Severe. One. Of my other buddies from the Ski Team who had stayed in the area called, me. Severe. Was in the hospital after, being picked up by the rescue team. He. Was frost been starving. And suffering injuries. From some kind of wild animal attack. He. Was delirious he. Kept, asking for, me, I. Dropped. Everything of. Course I sent. A few emails to the people who needed to know that I had an emergency to attend to and I was back home within a day. Edie, the, buddy who had stayed in the area and now worked with the rescue and medical team staffing, the mountain pulled. Some strings so that I could visit severe in the hospital, despite. Not being family. He. Had calmed, somewhat, by. The time I got to see him. He. Drifted in and out of consciousness and. Didn't. Always seem to know I was there, but. I held his hand and I like to think that it helped him at all. Considering. What he had been through his injuries, were surprisingly, light. There. Would be some scarring on his cheeks and lips from frostbite, and he had lost a couple toes but that kind of thing happened to people all the time out here. The. Malnutrition he, was suffering wasn't worried the doctors most I think. He'd. Been out there 15, days with, just a few trail snacks to keep him going. Ed, had, mentioned, that severe had probably run afoul of some, wild animal trying, to catch it for food when it happened by that. Explanation, seemed odd, to, me given, the situation and, so did severes injuries. I'd. Seen the aftermath of a few different, kinds of animal attacks back in Florida and up north and severe. Scratches, and bruises didn't. Look like any of them. They. Were too. Shallow. Too, small. Compared, to what you'd expect to see left, by claws and teeth. He. Had a proper, bite too covered by a bandage, on his shoulder I didn't. Get to see it but Edie who. Didn't seem to take patient, confidentiality, too, seriously, when it concerned people he knew well had. Hinted that there was something odd about the bite like. The rest of his injuries I. Didn't. Think too hard about any of it really. Even the strange parts. I, tried. Not to think too hard about the family of three that had gone up with him but never came back either I. Was. Just glad. That severe, was alive and that. Quietly. Selfish, way people are when, one of their loved ones has been luckier than someone, else's. It. Was. Another day before he came around enough to be coherent, when awake. Nobody. Was too keen to bother him for anything other. Than what details he could give that might point them to where they could find the remains of the family he'd been guiding. He. Confirmed, that, they were dead, but. He couldn't say just, where they might be found. That. Wasn't too. Unusual. What. Was, unusual was, that severe kept coming up with reasons why, he couldn't explain better and, his.

Story Kept, changing. Inclement. Weather would, make searching, dangerous, the. Remains wherever, they were had, probably been scattered by wildlife by now he. Had gotten turned around after, the Avalanche and didn't even know where they had been, he. Couldn't remember things exactly. He. Was too hungry to think. Any. Of these things on their own would, have been fine, maybe. Even, all of them if severe, hadn't been acting, so. Off. I. Didn't. Know how else to think of it. Everyone. Sensed, it but nobody, pressed him. He. Brushed it off as shock. He'd. Never had a disaster, on his hands before a. Lot. Of instructors, and guides never saw something of that scale in their entire, career, and severe was only a few years and days. You. Didn't easily, recover from three people losing their lives on your watch even. If there was nothing you could have done about it I. Think. Maybe. We, all, had, some sense that it, wasn't just shock. But. None of us were superstitious, enough, to really chalk it up to anything else. There. Were signs, but. We, ignored, them I. Don't. Think there was anything we could have done but, all, the same we. Ignored. The signs. Everything. The severe could be coaxed into talking about would always circle, back to. The same thing. The. Hunger. He. Was always, hungry. He. Was starving. And yeah. He, was literally, starving. After spending two weeks trapped, in a cave by ice and snow and debris so. Of course nobody. Made anything of that at first I. Visited. As often, and for as long as I could. Pretty. Much all I did when I had to leave the hospital and go back to my motel room was, try, unsuccessfully. To work on school assignments. And sleep I. Kept. Picturing suvir's face even. When I wasn't there, with him. The. Black dead, patches on his lips and cheeks, how. Hollow. And thin he looked all over. There. Was something, guarded. And haunted. In his eyes now I. Was. Used to him looking at me like he could see all the, way down to my soul. Now. He hardly. Looked me or, anyone, in, the eyes at all. Once. When. I was getting up to leave because, visiting, hours were over he. Caught my sleeve. His. Hand was so thin, and pale that I could almost see his bones through the skin. I'm. So hungry 'fuck, he. Said I, can't. Live on this hospital, stuff you've. Got to tell them to let me out of here I. Had. Even less say and how soon he got up and he did but of course I agreed I. Bothered. Ed about it and he, bothered someone higher up in turn.

Severe. Didn't get released from the hospital but, they did start providing some more carb heavy meals and vitamin, supplements on the side along. With the nutrition, he'd been getting via IV already I. Think. By then even, the most straight-laced, of doctors, who checked in on him were getting. Nervous. No. Matter how much he ate it seemed. Like he was still losing weight almost, day-by-day. Wasting. Away in front of our eyes. It. Wasn't. Natural. The. Hunger, never. Abated. Then. He started to complain of the cold. That. Of all things, was what forced me to acknowledge to myself that something more, was wrong here than a man struggling to recover from a tragedy I. Wouldn't. Have known where to begin if I tried to explain it to someone else then but I couldn't. Stay in denial after that. Savita. Had been born and raised, in the cold. He. Loved it, thrived. In, it, he. Would wear shorts, when there was snow on the ground. He. Never ever complained. At the chill even. When it was 20, below or, colder I. Bothered. Edy and he, bothered someone higher up and severe, got more blankets, and more doctors scrutinizing. His vitals. He. Kept starving. His. Body temperature kept. Dropping fraction. By fraction. My. Nerves were unraveling day, after day. One. Evening, I got to my motel room and I just. Sat. On the bed, staring. At nothing i. Sat. There for god, knows, how long. Staring. At the empty wall. And. When I finally moved, it had sunk in that we were all watching severe, die, and. Slow. Agony. Even. Knowing that I still held, on to the hope that something could, save him I. Wouldn't. Leave him until it was all over, one. Way or another. I. Told. Myself that I. Promised. Severe that I. Know. That there was nothing I could have done no matter what but if I could change anything. Anything. I. Would. Go back and. Force. Myself to keep. That. Promise. It. All finally, fell apart, not. Long after, the final change. Severe. Who had loved the winter quiet. Who. Had been born and raised and made me fall in love with him and the silent, snow. Began. To hate it. He. Didn't just hate. It he, feared. It. He. Couldn't stand, the, silence. He. Started screaming, banging his hospital, bed knocking, things over if he could reach them. He. Was practically, a skeleton. But he had that kind of strength that dying people sometimes, do. Severe. Demanded, noise at all times. He. Wanted the TV in his hospital room turned up to max volume. He. Wanted a radio he. Screamed, over anyone who tried to hush him. He. Started yelling at people who weren't there people he insisted, were just outside, his window. He. Ranted, about voices, on the wind. He. Begged me to tell them things, to. Say that he didn't want to go with them. To. Say that. He. Was sorry that, he. Had been desperate. That. He was scared to, die. In. The, middle of one of these episodes I got. Up and, left. I. Just. Stood. And walked out I. Heard. Severe calling after me increasingly. Frantic, but. I kept walking until I was outside and then I ran, as far and as long as I could until I collapsed, in the snow. With. Tears freezing, on my cheeks and severe. Screams, still seemed to echo and the silence around me. Just. Like his laugh had, long. Ago. Severe. Edema is dead. I. Tell. Myself constantly, that. He's dead and gone and. That. It's better off that way. God, I hope. There's nothing of him left I. Never. Went back to the hospital while he was alive I, have. A lot of regrets that you would expect I. Abandoned. Him I never properly said goodbye all. Of, that. Sometimes. I. Regret. That I didn't die too I. Got. The call in the middle of the night a little, less than a week after, I walked out of the hospital for the last time. It. Was, Ed's, phone, number but it. Took me a minute to realize that the voice on the other end, was. Severes. He. Was crying hysterically I. Couldn't. Get anything coherent, out of him no answer about where Ed was or why severe had his phone or anything else about what was going on. That. Phone call. Lasted. 2 minutes, and 34. Seconds. Around. 2 minutes of severe shrieking, and crying and then someone yelling in the background a. Crunching. And tearing, noise and then the call abruptly. Ended. So. Of course I dumbass. That I was and AM God at Abed bundled. Up and booked it to the hospital. Something. That always gets me when I think about the whole messed up situation is that in. A lot of ways I, got. Off easy I. Never. Made it into, the, hospital I. Never. Got to see what severe did when that awful, endless. Hunger. Finally. Won. The. Police and their cleanup crew found most of Idi the. Top half of him at least but. All that was left of the attending, night nurse at severe attacked before Edie intervened. Was. Shredded, clothing, and viscera. People. Who weren't there tell stories, about it but, the. Cops who attended the scene and the guys who had to clean it up, never. Do. Makes. You wonder what else they saw that was even worse. Me. Though, I never saw, any of it I, only.

Made It to the parking lot, I. Only. Saw. Severe. He. Was staggering, around the lot dragging. Something that in hindsight I'm, pretty sure was the other half of Ed. He's. Gotten, taller a lot. Taller. Either. Nobody noticed, it happening, because he spent the preceding weeks, confined, to a hospital bed, or it had been a sudden thing. He. Was still horribly. Thin-skinned. Sticking, to every, angle and curve of his bones. The. Wild, mess of its hair kept me from seeing his face clearly, but. His mouth. At, first. I thought, he was grinning. But. After turning that image over, and over in my mind in the years since I, think. That he. Just couldn't. Close. His, mouth I. Think. There. Were too many teeth. I froze. In place when, I saw him. But. That didn't keep him from seeing me. You. Lurched towards, me and a gust of wind that cuts straight through me to chill to the bone whispered. My name I. Fainted. Then. That's. All I can say for sure that I experienced. That night I. Have. Other memories. Ice. Cold, fingers, caressing, my face. Heavy. Unnatural. Silence pressing. Down on me like a thick blanket, like. Something was blocking out the rest of the world. The. Only thing that broke the dead silence, was the sigh of the wind. So. Faint, I couldn't. Be sure I was even hearing it. It. Whispered. My name over. And, over. There. Were drag marks and a blood trail in the snow when the police got there and found me but. Severe left no footprints. When. The blood grew, lighter and lighter and finally, tapered off into the treeline past the edge of town there. Was nothing else to follow. Maybe. There was a scent police dogs could have picked up maybe not. Our. Little town didn't have a k-9 unit and, the snow never lit up long enough for a thorough search to be possible, before. Any trial was long, cold. The. Official, story. Ends. There. With. A little epilogue tacked on about the human remains found in a mountain cave once the spring thaw came. The. Family of three that severe had been guiding when the Avalanche trapped, them. From. What I heard, it had been so long by then the exact, cause of death was difficult, to determine but. It probably wasn't exposure. Some. Of the damage on the partially, eaten bodies, could be linked to the mountain wildlife, but. Not. All of it. They. Tell stories up. In the mountains about. What happens to people who get trapped in the snow. The. Things some will do to survive and, the. Price they pay for it. In. Public. Everyone. Says that severe is dead. He. Lost his mind and ran, out into the freezing cold night after, his wild outburst, of violence. These. Things just happened sometimes, in this part of the country I. Want. Severe. To be dead. But. Nobody. Ever found his body. I've. Stayed in New York City these past few years I. Had. To take a break from my grad studies on the recommendations. Of both my University, and my psychiatrist. But. I've gotten back to them now and, I think I'm doing pretty well. The. Noise of the city keeps me awake at night but. I need it just.

Like. Severe, before he died I can. No longer stand the. Winter silence. When. The snow falls and, things. Get too quiet I hear. A voice on, the wind and the tapping, on my windows. Like. Someone asking, to be let in I. Had. To leave my last apartment because I disturbed, the neighbors, yelling. At that voice to leave me alone. These. Days I just, tried, to ignore it. But. Sometimes I. Can't. Help but, respond. Sometimes. I, just, have to shout over it to. Tell it to go the hell away and stop pretending to be somebody that I loved. Sometimes. When it goes I. Beg. It, to. Come back. You. You.

2019-05-23 14:57

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