18:30 – Day 1

Pain seared through Lukas's body the moment he woke up. Icy tentacles crawled over him, making it feel like his muscles were slowly fusing together with cold. 

His blue eyes flew open, only to be immediately squeezed shut in pain again. Gritting his teeth as he tried to withhold a pained scream. He couldn't feel his right hand at all, but balled his left into a tight fist as he forced his eyes back open. Taking a gasp-like breath of the icy air, the cold burning his eyes.

Lukas stiffly turned his head, blinking in confusion. It was dark, the sky a deep navy blue. Snow spiralling down from the cloudy heavens, the small particles of frost coming to rest on the blonde's face.

Lukas turned his head to the side, coming to the realisation that he was lying on his back, on the snowed over ground. Soon to be buried by the falling white powder.

He tried moving his arms again. His left arm had been draped over his stomach, protected from the cold by his own body heat. But Lukas could barely feel his dominant hand, only about able to move his elbow. Trying with no success to move his fingers inside the glove.

Lukas cursed under his breath as he forced his left arm in beneath him, propping himself up on it. He shut his eyes tightly, breathing in a long and slow inhale as his sore body objected against the movements.

He opened his eyes again, blinking a few times to try and rid them of the burning that the icy air caused. He wasn't sure if he imagined it, but his left eye felt almost slightly swollen when he blinked.

Lukas shook his head at the thought, grunting in pain as the movement emitted a dull throbbing through his skull. He bit his lip, directing his attention to his numb hand. The limb was slightly buried beneath the thick snow.

Carefully Lukas brushed the snow away with his left hand. His eyes widened, his mouth opening as he realised what was beneath the snow. Not dirt, not stone, but ice. He was lying on smooth, frozen water. And his right hand was fused to it.

Lukas tentatively tried pulling on his arm, with no result. He gave a light tug, desperate to free his hand from the ice it had frozen to.

Pain spiraled up his arm, causing Lukas to cry out in pain. He gritted his teeth, forcing back open his eyes and looking down at his hand through a glaze of tears that had formed from the agonising experience.

He raised his head, glancing around anxiously. Seeing nothing to either side of him, no signs of where he was, nobody to help him.

And so, out of pure fear and desperation, Lukas ripped his hand free from the ice.

His scream echoed through the night sky, his voice breaking off in pain. Doubling over and clutching his hand to his chest, heaving with pain. Teeth grinding on each other, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Gasps coming out in small white puffs.

Lukas let out another pained groan, feeling like icy daggers were being plunged into his arm.

But at least, he was free.

Continuing to take deep breaths, Lukas raised his head again and opened his eyes slightly. Squeezing them shut again and shaking his head to himself.

Where was he, and how the hell did he get into that situation?

"Questions later, survival first." Lukas muttered, his voice violently cracking.

He pulled his eyes opened again, glancing down at his hand that he's been so desperately clutching. Attempting again to move his fingers.

There was a tiny bit of life in his thumb and index finger, only just about able to feel them. But everything past his middle finger was completely numb. Not even the biting pain of frostbite was present, just... nothing.

Gritting his teeth, Lukas fumbled with the fingers on his left hand as he took a hold of the glove on his right. Flinching as the fabric pulled off of his skin painfully.

Lukas raised his hand up in front of him, his eyes slowly widening. Feeling sick at the sight, even more so at the fact that this was his own hand.
A pale blue colour was creeping across the swollen skin, the fingers that has been stuck to the ice having barely any pigment left in them. A dark, blueish grey colour.

Lukas shook his head desperately, trying to bend his frostbitten fingers with no success.

It couldn't be happening, that had to be some sort of nightmare... right?

Lukas shut his eyes, shaking his head to himself. He had to focus, it wasn't a dream. And if he didn't come to his senses, he was going to die there.

Shakily, Lukas pulled the glove back over his hand, holding it tightly to his chest. Placing his left hand on the icy surface beneath him, and struggling himself up.

He legs shook like jelly beneath him, weak and stiff with cold. But the thick layers he was wearing, and the strong insulated boots on his feet, seemed to have protected those parts of his body.

Lukas held his arm slightly out for balance once he was on his feet. Keeping his right pressed to his chest, wrapped beneath the thick purple jacket he had on.

Lukas glanced around anxiously, not knowing where to go. The frozen lake stretched out to all the sides, the fog in the distance making it near impossible to see anything further away than a few metres.

"Come on, think." Lukas muttered, turning around slightly on the spot. At a loss for what to do next.

Taking a deep breath, Lukas took a step forward – deciding to just start walking and hope, pray, for the best. He staggered slightly, his feet threatening to slip on the ice, his balance thrown off. Blinking a few times and shaking his head, he began to walk again.

Lukas shivered violently as a gust of wind blew over him, showering him with fine snowflakes. He was starting to find that he almost felt a little... hazy.

"No, no, no." Lukas told himself firmly, shaking his head to wake himself up properly. "You're not going to let yourself fall into the clutches of hypothermia this easily."

He took a deep, shaky breath, trying to find a way to keep his mind occupied. He wish he knew what had happened, how he got into such a bleak situation. Last thing he remembered, they were all safely in the order hall, camping out in front of the TV with a good video game in the console, a tray of fresh cookies that Olivia had baked on the coffee table... but that felt like weeks ago. Something was missing, a large period of time had been wiped from his head. And whatever happened to him, it had gotten lost in the void of missing memories.

Lukas bit his lip, shaking his head slightly again to fight off the increasing desire for rest.

He wondered where the others were. Had they ended up in this situation as well? He hoped they were still back in Beacontown safely... maybe even looking for him? Did they know what situation he was in? There was absolutely no way to even begin imagining the others' circumstances.

Lukas stopped slightly, raising his head. He had been so deep in thought, he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings. However, it was still fogged up on either side of him, so he couldn't have missed much.

He was starting to feel his hopes dissolving into nothing but a pool of doubts and fears. How was he going to make it through the night?

Another strong gust of wind tugged at Lukas's jacket, causing him to shiver again, his teeth chattering as his breaths coming out in white puffs.

Lukas took another step forward, wanting to keep moving before he froze solid on the spot. But as he did, there was a sudden, very unsettling sound.

Cracking.

A hollow, echo-like creaking right beneath his feet. Lukas slowly looked down. He wasn't able to see the ice through the snow, but he didn't need to to know that cracks slowly beginning to spider-web across the surface.

Lukas closed his eyes for a second, feeling his heart hammer about inside his chest to a point where it felt like his rib cage was about to burst open. This was it, this was where he was going to die.

Opening his eyes again, Lukas glanced around slightly. He didn't dare move, knowing the slightest shift of his weight could send him plummeting through the ice.

Lukas took a deep shaky breath. He could be wrong, and if he was – it would be the end. But if he was in fact correct, and his eyes weren't deceiving him, the snowed over shore was a mere two steps away from him, maybe one leap if he could make it.

Another deep, shaky breath was taken, his throat burning from the cold. Hearing the ice creak as his weight leaned back in preparation for the jump. This was it.

The ice cracked beneath his weight only a split second before his feet could leave the ground, Lukas's scream echoing across the frozen landscape as he felt his left leg sinking into bitter cold. He already lost his hand, he couldn't loose another limb.

Lukas scrambled forward desperately, having gotten most of his body off of the weak spot. Hearing the the rest of the ice beginning to crack and break, grabbing at the shoreline with his left hand.

And then his fingers clasped around a sharp rock, sticking out of the snow. Lukas heaved himself forward, dragging his leg out of the water, desperately scrambling away before the ice could give away beneath his right side as well. Heaving himself onto the snow, gasping slightly.

"God, no, no." Lukas breathed, pulling his leg up to him. His pants' fabric was absolutely soaked, water sloshing about inside the sturdy boot.

Struggling clumsily with the uncoordinated fingers on his left hand, Lukas forced the boot off his foot. Immediately the icy water poured out of the shoe, crystallizing as it seeped into the snow.

Shaking it quickly to make sure everything was out, Lukas pulled his boot back over his foot. It wasn't much, the inside still wet and the fabric of his wool sock completely drenched. But he couldn't do much else at that moment, not while he was sitting on the snow, in the middle of the night, with the weights in his eyelids increasing as the seconds ticked by.

Lukas pushed himself up on his left arm, his right still uselessly held to his chest. Shaking his leg slightly to force some life back into it, already feeling his pants-leg start to stiffen around his leg. He needed to get somewhere warmer, and very desperately.

"Is anybody out there!?" Lukas called out, hearing his voice breaking and cracking. "Hello!? Anybody! I need help!"

But no matter how much he called out, there wasn't anybody who heard his cries. He began stumbling forward, frequently shaking his leg as it started to numb more and more. Lukas wasn't even noticing the throb in his head any more, no longer even feeling the icy stabs in his right arm.

His cries soaring through the dark night, no replies following. No soul close enough to hear his begs for help.

Lukas staggered forward, feeling his leg threatening to buckle beneath him. The numbness was spreading up past his knee, the cold creeping across his skin and slowly paralyzing his muscles.

He was about ready to accept it, to make peace with the fact that this was going to be the end.

But then all those thoughts were absorbed into the cold wind as Lukas spotted it – a structure. Camouflaging into the fog, almost not visible. But there nonetheless.

Gasping slightly, Lukas staggered forward in the direction of the shape he saw. Forcing his stiff leg to cooperate, trying his hardest to stay upright.

It wasn't much, it looked like some sort of storage area. Too large to be called a shed, but built for the same purposes. It wouldn't be much, but it would protect him from the worst. And if it was there, that meant there had to be a proper house nearby... right?

Lukas collapsed at the side of the building, feeling along the wood. His fingers clumsily searching, movements begin to grow more and more sluggish.

But then they clasped around an icy metal slide lock.

Lukas didn't hesitate to slide it open, leaning his weight onto the wooden door and practically stumbling into the dark building. The wind yanked the door shut behind him before he could even think about doing so himself.

Shivering violently, Lukas's eyes scanned the dark room. It was filled with what appeared to be old, dust-covered machinery. Large bags with several supplies in them as well. The ground littered with straw.

It wasn't great, but considering Lukas's current situation – it was almost fantastic.

He stepped deeper into the room, glancing around as his eyes began adjusting to the dark. His left leg threatened to give way beneath him, almost completely numbed from the cold.

Lukas finally allowed himself to sink down against the wall, still hugging his frostbitten hand to his chest. There was an empty woven bag lying near him, which he pulled over and wrapped around himself like it was a blanket. It was scratchy and smelled of dust, but he didn't care in the slightest.

"Okay." Lukas breathed, letting out a slow exhale. "You can do this... you're going to make it."

___

Another Order member done and dusted! Now that we've finally got everybody waking up in this place, the story can finally move forward - something I'm very excited to be getting into!

Lukas here definitely got one of the worst starts as well... his first chapter into the book and he's already down a hand and almost a leg. The disadvantages of waking up hours after everybody else.

Also, we're back to old art style cringe on the headers. yay.

Anyway, I actually don't think I have a whole lot to say about today's chapter in itself! But if you guys have any new theories after reading this, I certainly would love to hear them! 

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in five days with chapter 5!