00:30 – Day of the Incident

After days of feeling like absolute crap on end, drinking the healing potion from Stella was an amazing relief for Jesse. Feeling bits of her old self instantaneously restored, the sickness fading away... temporarily. One to two days, maybe even three, and she'd start to deteriorate again.

Jesse looked at herself in the mirror, her face a pale yellow colour thanks to the tainted light from the lantern. She was dressed in her warmest set of clothes, a thick down teal jacket with a bunch of sweaters beneath it.

Taking a deep breath, Jesse reached down and picked up her bag of most valuable belongings. Tossing it over her shoulder, she stepped out of her bedroom. Her heart beating painfully as she realised she might never sleep in that bed again, or get to sit in the window seat and look out over Beacontown.

Olivia was the only one ready so far, leaning against the living room wall. She was staring down at a piece of paper, her gaze sad. When Jesse came down the stairs, Olivia glanced up slightly.

"Hey." Jesse greeted softly. "Ready?"

"I'm... not sure." Olivia admitted, looking back down at the paper and gulping slightly. "This is all... really scary."

"I know." Jesse said, managing a small smile. "What have you got there?"

She walked over to Olivia, the engineer tilting the paper so Jesse could see too. It was the new year's photograph, all their faces smiling up from the picture. Slightly bent on one side, the image's quality no longer what it once was.

"It all happened so suddenly." Olivia said, sighing. She lowered the photograph, slipping it into the pocket of her red coat.

Hearing another set of footsteps coming down the stairs, Jesse looked up to see Petra coming down. The redhead looked probably the least scared of them all, steel determination painted across her face.

"The potion still doing what it should?" Petra asked Jesse as she came walking up. The only thing that actually frightened the warrior, being her friend's health.

"Yeah, I'm good." Jesse responded, nodding her head. "Let's hope everything else goes as planned as well."

Petra gave a determined nod as well. Soon Lukas and Axel came over as well, their own bags packed and rugged up in warm winter clothing.

"Radar's waiting for us at the treasure hall." Jesse explained. "He has two cars ready, so we can get everything to the destination."

"Sounds good." Lukas responded as they all left the Order Hall, walking out into the windy night.

Nobody spoke any words as they walked through the quiet night air, heading in the direction of the treasure hall. Axel had subconsciously wrapped one arm around Olivia, her head resting on his shoulder as they walked.

Radar was indeed waiting for them at the treasure hall, also dressed up warmly. His black hair all hidden beneath a fluffy wool hat, his brown eyes anxiously darting around.

"So, who will take which car?" Petra asked as they stopped, eyeing the two cars that were waiting there.

"I'm willing to take the first shift as driver in one!" Radar quickly spoke up.

"Me too." Lukas decided.

"The rest of us could split up as well, two of us can ride with Lukas and two with Radar." Jesse suggested.

Petra casually reached out a hand, pulling Jesse a bit closer to her. "I call dibs on riding with Jesse." 

Jesse just rolled her eyes and chuckled, but didn't object.

"Right, what about  Axel and I go with Radar, then Petra and Jesse goes with Lukas?" Olivia suggested, burying her hands into her coat's pockets.

"How good are you at following a map, Radar?" Lukas asked him. "Because it is not my strong suit."

"Not terrible at it!" Radar said, sounding almost proud. "Want me to take the lead?"

Lukas nodded. "We'll be right behind you."

The two groups exchanged hugs, whispering out 'see you later' to each other. Then Radar and Lukas each got in a driver's seat, the others bundling into the back seats of the two cars so they they could huddle together for warmth during the ride.

"Scared?" Axel asked Olivia as she huddled up against him, shivering slightly.

"Yes." Olivia admitted softly.

"It's alright." Axel whispered, his big hand rubbing her back. "Whatever is going to happen next, we'll all be in it together."

Jesse watched with sad eyes through the back window as they drove out of Beacontown, the once flourishing city growing small in the distance. Seeming to sense her friend's grief, Petra wrapped an arm around Jesse, pulling her closer in a hug.

Silence hung in both cars as they drove off into the night.

----------------------

Somewhere along the drive, Jesse must have fallen asleep. She woke up to find herself lying on the back-seat with her head resting on Petra's lap. One of her friend's gloved hands was on her shoulder, the other having Petra's chin propped in it as she gazed out of the window. It was light outside.

"What time is it?" Jesse asked groggily, reaching up to rub her tired eyes.

"Not sure." Lukas responded from the front. "We've been at it for a few hours."

"Think we need to stop at some point, maybe swap out drivers?" Petra asked as she helped Jesse sit upright. "I'm willing to take next shift.

"I'm good to go some more." Lukas responded. "Maybe give it another hour, see if the others want to stop sooner."

"A part of me is almost... almost nervous for us to arrive." Jesse admitted softly. "I don't even know what to expect."

"Well, that won't be until at least tomorrow." Petra responded, giving Jesse a pat on the back.

"Yeah." Jesse admitted, leaning her head over onto Petra's shoulder.

She felt Petra wrap her arm back around her, pulling her a little closer. Jesse closed her eyes again, feeling her chilled muscles relax as she absorbed some of Petra's body heat. The redhead let out a contented sigh of her own, probably also relishing in the warmth she got from Jesse.

No longer really feeling tired enough to drift off to sleep again, Jesse allowed her eyes to open. Following Petra's example, she directed her gaze out of the window to watch the landscape move by.

It was rather beautiful, the snowed over surroundings bathing in weak sunlight. They've definitely put distance between themselves and the towns. No buildings were in sight for miles.

The cars were on higher ground, driving across a snowed over mountain passage. Jesse wasn't sure if she's ever been there before, everything looking so much more different in the snow.

She shifted her gaze to the front, seeing the other car not far in front of them. Silently wondering what her other three friends were thinking, or maybe even talking about. Jesse's eyes were slowly beginning to close again. Maybe some more sleep wouldn't be such a bag idea.... All of a sudden she felt Petra jolt up beside her. 

"Lukas watch out!"

Her words hadn't even finished leaving her mouth when Lukas had already slammed on the breaks, the car skidding the a stop. Petra had protectively pulled Jesse close to her, her face buried in Petra's jacket.

The entire car lurched to a stop, soon followed by loud crash unsettling close to them. Jesse was too scared to look up, tightly gripping onto her friend. She heard both her friends' breaths coming out in gasps.

"God that was close." Petra breathed, her voice a few pitches higher than normal.

Taking Petra's words as a sign that they were okay, Jesse slowly raised her head as well. Her stomach clenched in fright when she saw the sight in front of them, a large fallen spruce tree. Having landed perfectly in between the two cars.

Doors began opening on the other car, Lukas also quickly opening his door. The shock still fresh in her system, Jesse pulled away from Petra and pushed her own door open, feeling like she was on the verge of throwing up. She took a few deep breaths of the fresh, icy air outside, feeling the churning in her stomach start to calm down.

Lukas walked over to the stump, starting to talk to their friends on the other side of it. Petra came walking over to Jesse, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just had a massive fright." Jesse responded, turning to face Petra who was also looking a bit on the pale side.

"I think we all did." Petra responded with a weak chuckle.

The two of them began walking over to the others as well. Olivia was pacing up and down on the other side of the stump, while Lukas, Radar and Axel were talking across it.

"There's no way we're going to be able to budge this thing." Lukas said, placing a gloved hand on the tree's trunk.

"Can't anything ever go right?" Petra snapped, straight up kicking against the tree with her boot. Her decision was quickly regretted as she gasped, balancing herself on one leg to rub her foot.

"What do we do now?" Radar asked anxiously, his voice sounding small.

"Should we just leave the one car behind?" Jesse suggested. "The three of us can just climb over the stump and we can all get in the other car?"

"We have too many resources that could be important to have with us when we arrive." Olivia pointed out, coming up as well.

"I have an idea." Petra said, holding out a hand. "Can I have the map, Radar?"

Radar nodded, handing Petra the map. She folded it open, her blue eyes quickly scanning the faded brown paper.

"Okay." She said, laying the map down at the stump and pointing at it with her finger. "If Lukas, Jesse and I turn around, we could go down this road over here. It links up with the main road again a few miles from here." She gestured to where the two roads connected. "We should be no more than ten minutes behind you guys, so when you get here, just stop and wait for us to catch up. Then we'll be back on track."

"Smart plan." Lukas mused. "As much as I hate splitting up, it's the best strategy we got."

"You guys stay safe, okay?" Axel said seriously.

"You three as well." Jesse responded.

Slowly the two groups parted again. Olivia watched through the back window of the car as Lukas reversed the other car back, before turning it around and driving away. She sighed as she turned to face the front again, feeling Axel put an arm around her shoulders.

"Don't worry Liv, the others will be fine." He told her.

"I know, I know, I'm just... nervous." Olivia whispered.

"With you on that one!" Radar chimed from the driver's seat.

"I don't like how the wind is picking up either." Olivia said, starting to fret. "What if fog settles in? What if the others get lost??"

"Don't always assume the worse!" Axel said calmly, folding his hands behind his head. "Everything will be just-"

"Uh, guys?" Radar suddenly interrupted from the front seat, slowing the car down slightly. "What is that at the top of the mountain?"

Olivia and Axel ducked slightly to see out of the window, their eyes scanning the cliff. Olivia frowned when she too saw what Radar did. It looked like a small white cloud was starting to form around the summit, rapidly growing bigger.

"Woah, what is that?" Axel asked, sounding more amazed than concerned.

Olivia squinted, pressing her face up against the window. All of a sudden her heart skipped a beat and she inhaled sharply as the horrifying realisation hit her right between the eyes.

"Radar, drive! It's an avalanche!"

Radar didn't hesitate to immediately step on the gas, the car shooting forward. Olivia grabbed onto Axel, clutching onto him tightly. Her eyes were wide as she watched the falling snow, that she formerly identified as a cloud, grow larger and larger.

But it was as if their car was placed on a treadmill, not getting any further away from the avalanche. They were covering distance quickly, but the avalanche was stretching for as far as they drove.

And Olivia could do nothing but bury her face into Axel's jacket and scream, as they were all of a sudden caught in the landslide of snow.

Shrieks echoed through the car from all three of them as the vehicle was physically thrown off road, beginning to tumble down hill with the snow. The car was tossed around, rolling a full 360 several times as it got banged against parts of the cliff.

Within seconds, the roaring avalanche began to physically tear apart the car, one of the back doors being the first thing to get ripped off. Immediately both Axel and Olivia were sucked out of the car, Axel wrapped himself around Olivia on instinct to try and shield them. A shard that was once part of their door getting impaled into his leg as they were carelessly tossed away.

How they survived the fall, was simply a miracle. What was left of the car was thrown down the hill, crashing into the solid ground below. The driver inside, killed on impact.

-----------------------

It's been almost an hour since the two groups split apart. Jesse was on edge, nervously chewing her nails as she stared out of the window. Outside she could barely see a few metres, heavy fog having set in.

Beside her, it was Petra's turn to be lying down on the seat and getting a bit of sleep. Lukas had decided that if they were switching positions at some point, she had to at least get a bit of rest first.

"Are you sure we shouldn't pull over?" Jesse asked anxiously after a short while. "I can't see a thing."

"We don't know when the fog will clear." Lukas replied. "I don't want to set us back, or the others might think something happened to us."

"You're right, I know." Jesse said, leaning her head against the window and pulling her legs up to her chest.

For some reason, the thick fog outside was making her feel almost claustrophobic. She deeply missed the clear skies they had a while back.

After a few more minutes of silent driving, Petra began stirring on the back seat. She yawned, blinking open her eyes.

"How long has it been?" She asked sleepily, pushing herself up on one elbow.

"Nearly an hour." Jesse said softly.

Petra's eyes widened, bolting up into a sitting position. "What!? We should have reached the fork in the road by now! It was not this far!"

She planted hand palms on the window, staring out with wide eyes. "How long has the weather been like this?? You could have completely over shot it! This is why I didn't want to sleep in the first place!"

"Oh god, oh god..." Jesse breathed, burying her face into her hands.

"Petra, I've been keeping a good eye out." Lukas responded, as Petra shuffled over to Jesse to rub her frightened friend's back.

"You can keep a great eye out, nobody would be able to see a sudden turn in this fog!" Petra snapped at Lukas. "I'm telling you, we-"

She never got to finish her sentence, as something large suddenly emerged from the fog. A deer, a large stag, darted into the road, only metres in front of the car. Lukas's reflexes were swift, suddenly yanking the steering wheel to the side.

Petra was quick to grab Jesse again, her arm wrapping around her friend's waist like a human seatbelt as they were spun off the road. There was a firm jolt as the car's nose hit a tree. The deer stood frozen to the spot for a few more seconds, before darting off into the fog again.

Petra's one arm was still tightly holding Jesse, the other one gripping the seat in front of them to keep them seated. Jesse had almost completely been knocked onto Petra's lap in the process, bug-eyed and gasping.

"Is everyone... okay?" Petra asked, her voice dipping slightly mid-sentence.

"I wouldn't have been, if it weren't for you." Jesse said, coming to the realisation that the impact of hitting the tree would have thrown her against the window, had Petra not been holding her back.

"Lukas? You okay?" Petra asked, turning her head in the direction of the driver's seat.

Lukas didn't respond. He was sitting slightly hunched forward, both his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Petra gently pushed Jesse off her own legs, shuffling over to the door and pulling open so she could check on Lukas. Jesse opened her door as well, stepping outside. She almost felt dizzy on her feet.

Keeping on hand on the car, Jesse slowly walked to the front as well. She gasped, placing a hand over her mouth when she saw the damage to the car where it had collided with the tree. Would it be able to drive again?

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

Hearing the sudden worry in Petra's voice, Jesse walked around to Lukas's side of the car. The door was open, Lukas sitting sideways on his seat and facing outside. Petra was knelt in front of him, her eyes wide.

Jesse's eyes widened when she realised what had happened. Lukas's one hand was resting on the side of his face, his uncovered eye squeeze shut. His head had hit the steering wheel.

"I'm fine." Lukas said weakly as Jesse dropped to her knees in front of him as well, still not budging. "Just... sore."

"Let me see." Petra insisted, reaching up a hand and quite gently guiding Lukas's hand away from his face.

Petra flinched, Jesse inhaling sharply at the sight of dark purple bruising, slowly blooming across the side of Lukas's face.

"Okay, let's hope it's not too severe." Petra said. "I'll take over the driving from here, once the fog clears up. If the pain gets worse, or you start feeling unwell in any other way you better use your words and tell us."

"Yeah, okay." Lukas said, blinking a few times and flinching again. There was already some swelling starting to form around his eye.

"What do we do now?" Jesse asked anxiously.

"We're not going to go anywhere, until we can see where we are." Petra said. "But, first thing's first, does the car still work?"

She got up, carefully helping Lukas from his seat. Even though he seemed steady on his feet, Jesse looped her arm through his in case he needed her help to stand. Petra got in his seat, trying to start the car again.

Jesse felt her heart sink down into her stomach as she listened to her friend struggling. Petra cursed, slamming her fist on the steering wheel. She sunk down in the seat, shaking her head. "It's busted."

"I'm so sorry." Lukas said, looking down. "That deer came out nowhere, I-"

"Save it." Petra said, getting out again. "We're in this situation now, trying to blame somebody isn't going to help."

Her face twisted into a scowl, kicking the front tire of the car in another burst of aggression, before just leaning with her back against the vehicle and groaning in frustration. Jesse let go of Lukas, reaching out to give Petra a tentative pat on the back.

"We're so screwed." Petra muttered, grinding her teeth in frustration.

Jesse sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. Fear was pulsing through her. What were they going to do?

All of a sudden, there was what sounded like a twig breaking beneath somebody's weight.

"Did you hear-" Petra began.

A sudden greyish brown shape shot out of the fog, colliding with Jesse and knocking her a good few feet back in the snow. She barely had a chance to gasp for the breath that had been knocked out of her, when pain seared across her cheek.

Petra reacted of pure instinct when the animal came out of nowhere and began to attack Jesse, she leaped forward and kicked it in the side, hard. Yelping in pain, the wolf backed off Jesse, Petra and Lukas immediately pulling their friend to their feet.

She was gasping slightly, her brown eyes wide. Blood ran down the side of her face from three, deep claw marks.

"Are you okay?" Lukas immediately asked Jesse, to which she gave a shaky nod.

Their attention shot back to the wolf, who was between them and the car. It pulled it's lips back in a bloodthirsty snarl, showing off it's razor sharp teeth.

On complete and utter fight-or-flight instinct, all three of them ran.

Running full of adrenaline, Jesse, Petra and Lukas practically sore across the road, their boots hammering against the snowed over asphalt. Petra was the first to glance over her shoulder, able to hear the wolf chasing after them. She couldn't see it, but she could at least hear that there was only one.

Biting her lip slightly, the redhead's blue eyes flickered towards her friends. She instantly flinched, the first thing to catch her attention being the horrendous wounds on Jesse's face.

Focus, Petra, focus.

Peering back over her shoulder, the redhead allowed her step to slow in the slightest. Changing her position from the lead, to being slightly behind the other two. Usually that was something Jesse would do, putting others' lives before hers. But for once, protecting her friends was Petra's top priority.

"Split up!" She called out, the wind nearly whipping her voice away. "There's only one wolf, it can't chase all three of us at once!"

"Splitting up will be suicide!" Lukas called back.

"We'll find each other again!" Petra insisted. "Right now, we have to make it first! Loose the wolf!"

With that, Petra veered off to the left hard, feeling her step considerably slow the moment she was off the hard road and in thick snow. Ignoring the burning in her chest, Petra used every ounce of adrenaline she had to press on and speed up.

She swiftly darted through the quickly thickening trees, barely able to see a few steps in front of her through the fog. She was barely taking in the fact that she could no longer hear the wolf behind her.

Petra's foot caught on a fallen branch, sending her plowing into the snow. She simply shot back up from the ground, spitting out the mouthful of snow she had gotten and blindly racing forward.

Completely unable to see the sudden dip in the terrain from where she was approaching a steep hill, through the fog.

Petra shrieked when the solid ground disappeared beneath her feet. She was in mid air for a split second before landing in fresh snow, momentum immediately sending her rolling down the slope without any control over body.

Petra's screams came to an abrupt end with a thud as one of the trees broke her fall. The back off her head slamming into the wood. It was completely silent after that, Petra's eyes closed and blood slowly beginning to seep through the blue bandanna on her head.

Lukas had not liked the idea of splitting up, but his instincts screamed at him to obey Petra's command. He broke off to the right, blindly dashing forward into the fog.

His fear was pushing him from behind, tapping more and more speed into his moving legs. Breaths left his mouth in large white puffs, blue eyes wide and panicked.

He didn't stop, not even when the sound of the panting wolf faded, not even when the thuds from Jesse's steps disappeared into the distance. His ears rung with his own pounding heartbeat.

He just kept running on in a form of a blind panic, the only voice in his head being the one that told him to get away from the wolf.

Suddenly the thick snow beneath Lukas's feet changed to a hard surface, his steps echoing back up from the ground. That stopped him, his instincts slamming on brakes as he dug in his feet to stop – with no success.

Lukas's boots slipped out from underneath him on the slippery ice. The momentum from the fall sent the blonde rolling across the smooth surface, a sickening thud sounding out from where his skull had made contact with the ice.

Unconsciousness washed over Lukas as his body came to a stop. One of his arms limply draped over him, the other extended across the ice and completely exposed to the cold.

Jesse could still hear the wolf behind her, too scared to look back and see whether it was gaining on her. Both Lukas and Petra had veered off to the sides, but the animal hadn't followed, locked on just one target – Jesse.

The thudding of her boots on the road suddenly changed as Jesse crossed over onto thick snow. She didn't even think about the fact that sticking to the road might be safer, her only thoughts being that she needed to get away.

A strong wind tugged at Jesse's loose hair, the iciness burning the wound on her cheek. She barely acknowledged the pain, simply pressing her energy into running on, still hearing the wolf on her tail.

Midst her run, Jesse squinted her eyes slightly. Feeling her breath hitch in her throat as she realised she was approaching some sort of a drop off. She was about to get cornered.

Jesse bit her lip, determination lacing her brown eyes. There was no chance she would survive fighting the wolf unarmed... but there was a chance she could survive jumping. It all depended on how far down the ground was.

Gritting her teeth, Jesse focused all her energy into accelerating her pace. Pushing herself off the edge, feeling nothing but air for a second. And then gravity yanked her down.

Jesse hit the rocky slope hard, a sickening crunch sounding out the moment her side collided with the stone. Her shriek pierced the air, only to get cut off immediately as momentum continued to pull her down.

The wolf braked at the top, growling aggressively. It wasn't about to follow it's prey down the cliff, tail swishing to the sides in annoyance. Then it turned around, jogging back the way it came and slowly disappearing into the fog.

At the bottom of the small drop off, Jesse was lifelessly lying in the snow. Her eyes were closed, blood steadily leaking out from her cheek as well as a new wound on her head. Slow, steady breaths were leaving her mouth.

Knocked out and injured, but still alive.

___

And a few hours later, chapter 1 began!

Whew, 4347 words, that's not a word count you see often in my chapters. But this wouldn't have been nearly as exciting if it was split in two!

But anyhow, now you know exactly what happened before the story began! As well as Radar's fate... I mean, with the situation as it is, did you really have much hope for the poor bean? xD
Next chapter we'll be jumping back to the present day again!

I'm really excited for the last few chapters of this book to come! Now that the holes in the background is filled in, it's time to properly start playing with a lot of emotions. Hopefully the readers' emotions as well... *evil chuckle*

Now I can't really say leave your theories for what you thought happened, but feel free to theorize what's going to happen next! There's still a bumpy ride left to be ridden before sealing off this story, and I'm excited for it!

I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you all again in five days with Chapter 19!