Rowen opened the front door to Rick's cabin in a hurry, not caring that his snow-covered shoes got mud all over the front hall rug. "He's not at home!" Rowen said, the panic was evident in his voice. "Did he come back here?"

Rick shook his head. "No. I haven't seen him pass by either. Are you sure he wasn't just hiding at home or something?"

"Of course I'm sure. I looked everywhere. I checked all the closets and all the rooms. I even looked in the basement. He's not there," Rowen said.

Rick glanced out the door. "He might just plan to spend the night outside or something..." he started to say.

"Without his jacket? He may be stubborn, but he's not stupid. Kevin would never do something that reckless," Rowen said, furious that Rick would even suggest it.

"If he's as smart as you say he is, he probably knows what he's doing," Rick insisted. "If he got lost, he'd wait until morning so he could see."

"But he might freeze!" Rowen burst out.

Rick gestured for his friend to come inside and Rowen reluctantly followed. Rick told him to sit down and wait for him to get Rowen some coffee. Rowen glared at him. "How can I sit down at a time like this?" he asked. "Kevin is out there somewhere, probably freezing to death."

Rick sighed. "Rowen, listen. We're not going to get anywhere tonight. You might as well just wait for him to come home," he said. "If he's not back by morning, we'll go search for him."

"But-" Rowen started.

"I know you're worried," Rick said, resting a hand on Rowen's shoulder, "but it won't do you any good to stand outside in the cold. You're not going to find him tonight, so just calm down."

Rowen clenched his fists into the couch cushions. "I can't just calm down... If he gets hurt or dies, it'll be all my fault..." he said.

Rick sat beside Rowen on the couch. "He's not going to die. We'll find him," he said.

Though he didn't really believe him, Rowen swallowed back a retort and sighed. "I hope so..." he said.

*******

Distinctly aware of the cold, I opened my eyes and shivered as I looked out from the cliff. It took me a moment to come to my senses. I scanned the snow-covered rock around me with tired eyes, wondering when it had snowed. It was morning, and unlike the day before, everything was coated in a soft layer of white. I could see my breath in front of me as I crawled on my knees to look out across the landscape. The sky was clouded worse than before, and the snow was still falling. I couldn't hear birds nor did I see any small animals running through the trees below me. I was completely alone.

I scooted away from the ledge, back to the far side of the carve-out in the cliff. I rubbed my arms as I tried to ignore the pain in my ankle. I was freezing... My body shook violently from the cold; I knew I would catch hypothermia if I stayed out in this cold any longer. With an exhale through my teeth, I rested my head back and trembled.

My head felt like a block of ice, my eyes were dry from the freezing air, and my throat felt sore. I coughed hoarsely and winced when it burned. Sitting there, I looked up at the hole in the ceiling again. I couldn't see through it, meaning it had been covered by a blanket of snow. Trying to stay warm, I pulled my knees to my chin and slipped my arms inside my shirt. As a gust of wind blew past the cliff, I pulled into myself tighter. It was so cold...

As I sat there, I made up my mind. If no one was going to save me, I'd have to save myself. My hands shook as I crawled, once again, over to the edge of the cliff. I surveyed the stone wall to my right and then to my left. It looked pretty risky, but maybe I could find a way to climb back up on my own. Looking for the area with the most footholds, I made the decision to go right. My ankle ached as I stood up to grab hold of one of the out-jutting rocks. I pulled on it gently to test its strength before I used it to pulled myself out onto the cliffside. My heart raced as the wind grew stronger outside of the crevice I had been hiding in. when the wind rustled my clothes, I hugged the cliff and squeezed my eyes closed. 

"Calm down... It's okay..." I told myself.

Once the wind lessened, I looked up at the journey above me. I grabbed onto a rock higher up, then another, and another, and another. My spirits rose as I neared the top. I was gonna make it. I reached up and grabbed onto firm ground; my fingers felt grass under the snow and I could have cried with joy.

I started to pull myself up, but before I could even see the ground above, I heard a low, guttural growl and felt teeth sink into my hand. I screamed in pain and lost my footing. As I let go of the top of the cliff, I scrambled to keep myself from falling. I was barely able to find a grip before I plummeted to my death.

When I finally got my feet back on the cliff, I looked up at a huge white and gray wold snarling down at me. I slipped a second time as he swiped at my head, teeth bared as salvia dripped down his sharp canines. Two other wolves appeared at the first one's side and I hurried to retreat back to my crevice. I flinched with fear as they snapped their teeth at me and paced the ground above my head. One even attempted to scale down the cliff-face himself but stopped when he found he had nothing to stand on.

When I made it back to the low carveout of rock, I didn't even try being careful as I jumped down the rest of the way to the ledge. Landing on my injured ankle, I cried out in pain. There were several more barks at my obvious distress, and I sat up to look at the wolves, fearing they may jump down after me. However, they stayed where they were, growling and barking at me.

I crawled into the crevice to hide from their view, breathing hard and shaking even more than before. Fearing I would pass out, I put my head between my legs and took several deep breaths. When I finally regained some composure, I lifted my head to listen for the wolves. I could still hear them crunching around on the snow above. "Damn..." I mumbled. I had been so close.

As I sat there, I felt my bite wound coating my fingers in blood and turned my attention to cleaning the injury. The teeth marks were deep, but if I didn't clean it, it could get infected. I could only guess what diseases those wolves were carrying. Picking up a handful of the cleanest looking snow, I pressed the frozen water over the wound. It stung from the cold, but I gritted my teeth all the same. When I was finished, I closed my eyes and sat back, my hand held close to my chest. Just another hurt to add to the list.

As I sat there trying to steady my breathing and calm my nerves, I drifted off. I must have slept for a while because when I opened my eyes, I could tell that it was well past noon. With what little energy I had left, I thought to myself that if I slept long enough out in the cold, I would die a peaceful death and not have to worry anymore. Small mercies.

I closed my eyes and hugged myself from the cold again. I was exhausted anyway, I might as well go in my sleep.

"Kevin..."

The sound reached my ears long before I realized I head it. I opened my eyes with a hazy frown. I waited, listening for the sound again.

"Kevin...!"

The word was more distinct than before and I started to wake up. It was muffled, but it was definitely a voice calling my name. Blinking sleep from my eyes, I crawled towards the hole in the ceiling. "Rowen...?" I croaked, barely able to make my voice work.

My throat was too dry to shout, but I tried again. "Rowen!" I wanted to be loud, but it was rough, and I couldn't be heard through the wind and layers of snow.

I pulling myself to standing, wobbling unsteadily on my tired legs. "Rowen!" I called again.

There were sounds of shoes crunching over the snow, and my name was called again. "Kevin!" Rowen shouted, pausing to listen for the sound of my voice.

I reached up with my good hand and tried to grab the edge of the hole. I couldn't reach it; it was too high. "Rowen, I'm here," I yelled. However, my eyes widened in fear as I heard the shoes begin to retreat. He was going to leave. This was my only chance at rescue, and he was going to leave. "I'm here!" I shouted hoarsely. "Hear me!"

Just then there was a pause. It sounded like he had stopped and turned around. His voice was muffled through the snow when he said, "Kevin...?"

My hopes rose and I shouted as loud as I could. "I'm here! Please, I'm right here!" I called. "Beneath the snow, there's a hole in the rock! I'm down here!"

There was more crunching, faster this time. It sounded like he was running. The next second... I swear, the best words I ever heard in all my life were spoken. "Kevin, I'm here!"

*******

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