The forest swallowed every sound and with it, it seemed to swallow the world. The naked branches covered every patch of sky, every star and with their disappearance, light had vanished.

All Sam could hear was his own panting, the sound of his running footsteps, even as he strained to hear the shooting and the barking he was sure followed them, even if he knew there was a group of people beside him.

Yet, this was the moment his ears decided they should stop working. His heavy breathing became even louder, echoing between the barren trees.

"Sam," someone breathed from behind him, the voice so low and strangled he couldn't even tell who it was.

That's when he stopped. Like a miracle, his senses returned to normal and he could finally hear everything, see more than a nondescript mass of brown and white. The darkness was still there, but he could still tell a lot about his surroundings. Like how the snow was nowhere near as high as out in the ground of Cheverny, or how there were little rays of light slipping between the snow covering the branches of the nearby fir trees.

"I think it's safe to take a break," Jerry said, panting.

Sam shook his head, though he could sense nothing threatening in the vicinity. Except for the wind through the trees and their labored breathing, there was no other sound. No shooting, no yells, no foreign footsteps.

For a few minutes, they all just breathed. Then Billy opened his mouth and ruined everything.

"Do you think we lost them?" he asked. "Could it be this easy?"

"For heaven's sake, stop jinxing it," Jerry said between his teeth.

Sam strained his hearing even more. "I can't here anything." Which worried him because Jerry was right. There was no way they were getting away this easily. "Maybe they want to intercept us at the exit? Or they counted on the dogs?"

"Those dogs are too used to humans to start randomly hunting them," Tom said, disgust in his voice. "Eye Patch is an idiot. More likely, the dogs turned on them and that's why they're not chasing us. Running for their own asses."

"That would be hilarious," Kyle said. "And so well deserved."

"Yeah, well..." Sam was pretty convinced that was not how karma went. It was only there to bit them in the ass. "Should we go?"

"Just give us one more minute," Kay said, nodding towards Tina whose legs were trembling.

Sam nodded, a surge of pride overwhelming him for his team and how strong they all were, even Tina who was taking it in stride.

But as they stood in silence, the pride was smothered by a cold dread. The wind howling through the trees made the hairs on the back if his neck stand on end. Even if everything stood frozen for now, he wasn't fooled. Not after three mission which proved beyond any doubt that shit was about the hit the fan.

And then they heard it. As their breathing normalized, the light sound of crunching snow played in an unusual, syncopated rhythm around there, becoming louder with each passing second. What the hell was that?

Jessie whimpered and buried her face in the front of Jimmy's jacket. "Too many legs..." she whispered.

Before Sam could fully process the meaning of her words and stop imagining a giant spider making its way towards them through the trees, a wild howl filled the air, throwing his heart into a convulsive dance.

"Run!"

He didn't even care if anyone followed his very obvious order, he just sprinted away, running as fast as his tired muscles allowed him. All around him, the others followed, pushing themselves to run as fast as possible.

The world reduced to heavy breathing and too loud steps again, sounds that stopped him from gauging exactly where their followers were.

"Sam, move!"

Sam looked towards Jimmy who'd called out. His eyes widened and he almost tumbled to his death. Running alongside him between the trees, separating him from Jimmy, Jessie and Jerry was one lone canine figure. And it was no dog.

Sam had seen wolves before, at the zoo, but those were nowhere even close to the animal beside him. Wolves were a lot like dogs, mostly scruffy and lazy, hanging around in the shade and yawning. He had never paid them much mind, not when there were so many more interesting cages animals around them.

These wolves were not caged. They were not scruffy, and they seemed to be double the size of dogs. It took everything in him not to succumb to the terror building up inside him and stop, roll over and give up.

A tug on his arm from his right snapped him out of it. Tom had pulled him further away from the wolf, but also further from the rest of the group. To his far right, Angie, Tina and Billy had wondered through the trees, the shadows of wolves chasing them away. And that's when Sam realized what was truly happening.

The wolves were dividing them like a heard of helpless deer, ready to jump on the weakest specimen as soon as they lagged behind.

Next to him, Tom swore profusely, his grip still firm on Sam's upper arm as he dragged him along.

"The others," Sam whimpered.

"Maybe we should've thought of that before running away like idiots," Tom mumbled, pulling him further, towards a steep hill.

Sam wanted to snap back, mention how in hindsight Tom was completely right, but it's not like he'd received much training on how animals worked, but the fear kept his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. He hadn't even spotted Kyle and Kay when he last looked and now he and Tom were alone and that hill looked like a dead end what with climbing slowing them up considerably.

"Shouldn't we go forward?" he asked, because there was no way in hell they were climbing that hill fast enough. And he didn't want to stray away from their path. What if they lost the others?

"We need to live first," Tom answered as if reading his mind. "Come on." With a powerful nudge, he launched Sam up the hill first.

It wasn't as hard as he'd thought. With the help of his hands, he scurried up with impressive speed, Tom's footsteps right behind him. His twin had been right, there was no way four-legged animals could climb as fast through the shrubbery.

A loud growl had Sam's heart jumping into his throat. The wolves were closer than he'd thought. He chanced a look over his shoulder. There were four wolves at the base of the hill, making their way towards them. For a second, Sam just analyzed how big they were, how hungry they looked. Then Tom slipped behind him and went barreling into the animals, knocking them aside like bowling pins.

Sam stopped and turned, a scream of terror frozen on his lips.

"Go!" Tom called out, rolling on his front and scurrying a few feet up the hill. He then slipped off his backpack, turned and hit an incoming wolf in midair with it.

The animal yelped as it hit a nearby tree. Tom opened the back pack and pulled his slingshot out, loaded it off the ground immediately and fired a rock at the nearest mutt. It too yelped and jumped away.

His brain numb with fear, Sam pawed the ground and his fingers clenched around a sharp rock that fit perfectly into his fist. He hurled it at the nearest wolf, eliciting a confused growl out of it.

Tom mumbled something Sam couldn't understand as he searched the backpack some more. Then he pulled out a can Sam recognized as graffiti paint they'd used in Paris. He sprayed the approaching wolf in the face as soon as it was in range, his other hand still searching the backpack.

It gave Sam an idea. He dropped on his butt and pulled off his own backpack. For so long he'd been terrified by the darkness in the catacombs of Paris that he'd taken up the habit of always carrying a lighter with him, just in case the lights were off. And now, it could be truly useful.

"Tom," he called out. And the moment his twin turned to him, he threw the tiny thing at him.

Fortunately, his twin's reflex did not disappoint as he caught it in midair. And as Sam knew he would, he knew what to do with it from the get go.

He turned towards the wolves that were all back on all four paws and surrounding him, lit the lighter, placed the spray can behind it and fired.

The impromptu flamethrower did the trick. The first animal caught fire and retreated in the woods. The others growled and yelped as they too hopped away, their fur singed even I'd not truly on fire.

Tom hurried up the hill, pocketing the makeshift weapon as he went. When he reached Sam, he paused for a second, a grin on his face.

"That was brilliant," he said and Sam swelled with pride because it sort of was.

"Let's go find the others."

So they continued their way up, pawing the ground, hands and feet moving swiftly. There was growling behind again, but Sam wouldn't be bothered with it unless they came too near and they required frying again. Besides, the top of the hill was near and all it took was a few more steps...

The rock he'd grabbed on for support came out of the ground. With a surprised yell, he found himself falling back, trees, snow and fur dancing around him, making his sick, until his head hit something hard and everything dissolved into nothingness.

❄❄❄

Kyle couldn't remember when he'd last run so much, but he was sure it had never been with such urgency. Humans were easy. Predictable, unoriginal and in possession of a conscience however small. Hungry animals on the other hand were only driven by their primal need to survive. And to the chasing wolves, he and Kay were nothing but food.

Not a prize to be handed over, not a target to injure but never kill. Just food.

"I can't believe I've been reduced to food," he mumbled as he and Kay fought their way through the snowy forest.

He'd taken the rucksack from her the moment she'd first faltered, and since then, she'd been keeping up fine. But the straps were digging into his shoulders and as long as he couldn't spot a climbable tree, he saw no ending to their current predicament.

"Come on," Kay urged, tugging on his hand. Much lighter, she held the upper hand in speed.

And he was glad because he hadn't slept properly since Clermont Ferrand and the adrenaline was more likely making him dizzy than helping him think clearly. And the freaky rage monster inside of him had decided now was a great time for a nap. Not that he had many chances of punching his way out of this one, but some extra rage power wouldn't hurt.

They'd lost the others a while back, the first to be separated and probably the first to realize how stupid running had been. Wolves didn't attack large groups unless they held a vast numeric advantage. Maybe this pack did, but it would have implied that the wolves needed to do some complicated math which would've given them the time to pull out guns and solve the problem much faster through illegal hunting.

Instead, he and Kay had to keep running and he wasn't sure what would happen when they finally had to stop.

Kay stumbled and he instantly let go of her hand to avoid falling over, too. She didn't, instead righting herself and kept going. With a smirk of pride, he followed. For another few feet until his knee hit against something and he spun and plummeted on the slush on the forest floor, face first. He reached out his hands to break his fall, but he was still down and the growls approached at a menacing pace. At least the two rucksacks protected his back and neck which only left his legs uncovered and he was kicking with all he had. His foot caught a snout and one of the wolves took a flight into the nearest tree.

The others hesitated, growling. Then one of them yelped. Kay appeared in his line of sight, morphing a new snowball and throwing it at the wolves. It gave Kyle the necessary time to get to his knees and flip into a sitting position. He made a few snowballs and threw them towards the pack. The wolves danced out of the way a lot more effectively than Snitch Gravel's goons.

"We need to move," Kay panted and he couldn't agree more.

It was on longer slightly troubling. It was getting out of hand desperate. Seeing how many wolves were actually following them gave him a new spur of energy so he grabbed Kay's hand and the two of them sprinted away.

Just running no longer did it. They needed to think of something and fast. Kay's hand had become clammy in his, as her thoughts obviously swam around the same maddening question. What now?

A steep hill to their left gave him an idea. He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her up the slope.

"The others," she breathed, her face red and sweaty.

He just nodded because he knew. But he also had the watch, so it would be easy to be found. And they wouldn't lose direction, not a lot. They just needed to slow the wolves down a little. So when they were halfway up the hill, he veered and pulled her along, running alongside the ridge. It was difficult and slowed them down, but it made it impossible for the wolves to follow.

It wouldn't last long. Once the hill faded into flat ground, they were back in danger, though with a slightly bigger head start. So Kyle started searching for climbable trees again. Instead of trees, a clearing presented itself. It wasn't bad because running without undergrowth was a much needed break from stumbling. And maybe, some likely trees awaited on the other side.

The sprang across the clearing, the mad growling of wolves on their heels. A few steps into the clearing and the sounds behind them seemed to dim. Kyle chanced a glance over his shoulder. The animals had stopped at the entrance and were pacing on the edge as if a force field kept them away.

A second later, it became clear why. Kay's hand flew out of his as she slipped and fell on her front. He stopped running and slid another few feet through the thin sheet of snow. The clearing wasn't a clearing but a frozen lake and the wolves knew it. The ice had saved them.

For a second he just breathed, watching the pacing animals snarling in frustration and Kay raising on her hands and knees, laughter bubbling out of her. He reached out his hand for her as she got to her feet. Even with her face red, the happiness on her face made her shine like the sun. They were in the middle of the small lake, finally safe.

With a spring in her step, she skipped towards him.

Something cracked. The sound tore through the night like a gunshot and it made Kyle jump. The ease slipped off Kay's face, replaced by terror for the second it took her to realize she shouldn't have taken the next step. The ice broke under her and she disappeared into the murky waters.

Kyle threw the rucksacks off his back and slid them towards the opposite end of the lake. He hurried towards the hole, his eyes fixed on it, waiting for Kay to emerge, knowing what had to be done if she didn't. He threw his jacket off. She still didn't appear. His hoodie followed, then his thermal shirt. The hole was still there, a dark stain on the pristine white of the snow, devoid of life, devoid of Kay. His jeans and boots followed the rest of his clothes so he ended up in front of the opening in just his underwear.

As he knew it would, the ice was stubborn about caving in under him because that's how it worked for him. There was no sign of Kay.

Before his brain could fight for control over his body, he stomped on the edge of the hole. The ice caved under the pressure and he fell through.

Deep inside, he knew. Knew that in theory the water under ice had a constant temperature of four degrees Celsius which probably made it about ten degrees Celsius warmer than the weather outside.

But that knowledge hadn't prepared him for the feeling of being submerged in a murky lake in the middle of winter. The very air inside his lungs seemed to freeze at the same time the rest of his body felt like it was on fire. A thousand hot knives stabbed at every inch of him and he had to put every bit of energy into not releasing the air out of his lungs and screaming.

Open your eyes. Kay.

He forced them opened and for a moment he was convinced he'd gone blind because there was no way anything in the world could be that black. His muscles continued to tense as if testing the endurance of his sinews.

Fortunately, his eyes adjusted to the dark and shadows formed around him. None were large enough to be Kay so he forced his hands and feet to move, to search. It was like diving into a bottomless void. The air inside his lungs burned, but he only released very little of it, leaving the rest to stab away at his sanity.

A larger shadow drew him to the right and he dived deeper. There she was, floating what seemed to be halfway between the top and bottom.

He rushed to her and grabbed her hand. Her eyes shot open, and even in the dirty water he could tell how scared she was, how hopeless. He presses his mouth over hers and blew in the air he had left. Her grip on his arm instantly tightened and she kicked out, helping him reach the surface. Which was a solid layer of ice.

They'd lost the hole.

We can find it.

They didn't have the time. He was already dizzy and his lungs burned this time from the lack of air as if the damn things couldn't make up their mind.

He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Kay's grip hurt. His vision swam or maybe it was the water, maybe it was... Maybe it was time for a nap. Sleeping sounded lovely at the moment, as did taking in a deep breath. How bad could it be?

Her grip suddenly loosened and it was enough to drive some sense into him. There was no way in hell he was letting her drown.

He propped one hand against the ice and punched it with the other. It cracked but didn't break. His knuckles felt like they were splitting open, but he continued. Two punches later, the ice finally broke. Kyle grabbed Kay's elbow just as she'd started slipping lower and pushed her head out for the first breath.

Even with the ice and water between them, he could hear her strangled scream right before she ducked her head back in the water.

He frowned and raised his own head. For a second he was convinced the wind had literally cut his skin open, but when he took the first breath, it was like a sword sliced him in half. The pain in his throat, in his chest, the need to cough ans gag... He fought them all, took another deep, painful breath and dived back in. He pressed his mouth over hers, giving her the much needed air. Then he focused on making the hole wide enough for them to crawl out.

The moment it was finally wide enough, he pushed Kay out and scrambled on the ice himself. The sound of more cracking had him holding his breath, but the ice fortunately held. Kay twisted to her back, her chest heaving, but not breathing properly.

He got on all fours and scrambled to her. The wind had already frozen strands of her wet hair over her face. He took in another agonizing breath and, after holding her nose and holding her face up, blew into her mouth in some strange semblance of mouth to mouth. She breathed out on her own, her entire body trembling. He took in another breath and gave her more air.

Few rounds later, she held up her hand. "It's okay," she said, her voice small. "I can breathe on my own now. I just panicked."

He nodded. Speaking of panicking, his entire body shook violently, as did hers. Even if the wolves had left the bank of the lake, they were hardly safe now. They needed to move, and fast. So he stripped her jacket off. She frowned but made no move to either help or stop him. He continued stripping as he made his way towards the edge of the lake where the luggage was and by the time he reached it, Kay was down to her jeans and bra.

Kyle lay her down on a patch of dry ground under a large tree and headed back on the ice to recover his clothes and hers. He immediately started rubbing himself with the first piece of dry fabric he could get his hands on. By the time he returned to her, he was more than ready to put something on.

Kay had curled into a ball, her entire body in tremors, her eyes shut and a mild frown on her face. She didn't appear to be too bothered by the cold and it gave Kyle a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Kay, talk to me," he said as he pulled on dry pants.

She just let out a groan and her frown deepened.

"Come on, talk to me!"

"What?" she mumbled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. A little sleepy but fine." Her eyes stayed closed and she hummed, as if on the edge of sleep.

"Whatever you do, don't fall asleep!" His voice was harsh, but the panic building up inside him made his head rush. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware he was technically in as much trouble as she was, but he had a nagging feeling that the potion running through his veins would get him out of this one, keep him alive.

It wasn't Kay's case. He took off her sweater, her thermal shirt and started pulling off her pants. She groaned and swatted him away.

"Not the time to take my pants off," she mumbled, a hint of humor in her voice.

He came a second from yelling at her, asking her why she couldn't tell that she was dying and do something about it, like not die anymore, but he couldn't. He didn't want to scare her, so instead he continued taking off her pants, picked her up and wrapped her around him, putting his warm jacket against her back and draping it around her.

Her skin was clammy and cold and her head lolled against his shoulder, her breathing weak.

"Hey, I said no sleeping," he said.

She jumped and finally opened her eyes, though they seemed emptier than usual. "You're so mean. I'm so tired."

"Keep talking to me," he insisted, rubbing her back. It seemed like she was starting to warm up a little. But as if to prove him wrong, she started shaking. He rubbed harder, trying to warm her back up.

"Ouch, Kyle, that hurts!" Her body tensed and she tried to push him away. "Are we both naked?"

"You are. I'm actually wearing pants."

The corners of her mouth twitched, but she closed her eyes again and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. He gave her a good shake and she moaned and blinked awake. "Why don't you just let me sleep?"

"Because if you fall asleep now, you won't wake up." He didn't mean to snap, but the fear inside him was meddling with everything, from his tone to the urgency of his movements, to the exaggerated pressure he was applying.

To at least seem like he was doing something useful, he detached her from him, wrapped her in the jacket then started searching her rucksack for dry clothing. She didn't answer as he started dressing her.

"That's why I can't feel anything," she finally whispered, only seeming mildly irked by the predicament.

"You're going to be okay. I'll make sure of it," he said even if he felt he was full of it. He pulled dry jeans on her and continued putting as many clothes on as possible.

"I'm too sleepy," she muttered, her eyelids dropping. "Don't worry about me. It's okay..."

"No, it's not okay." Even if he was freezing his ass off, her wrapped his jacket around her tighter, pulling her against him.

"It's cold... So cold..." she continued whispering.

"Kay, talk to me." He shook her, but her body put up no resistance. "Come on, sweetheart, you have to be stronger than this," he said between his teeth. She didn't answer so he shook her harder.

"I'm sorry," she finally blurted out. "I love you..." Her entire body went limp and she slumped against him completely.

Kyle detached her from him and just stared. Her chin fell forward against her chest. This couldn't be it. They had been through so much together, this couldn't be the end. It was too stupid. Anger erupted inside of him together with the darkness he knew so well. And for the first time he was so tempted to just lose himself in it, let it have its way, turn him into what he was maybe meant to be. Instead, he squeezed her against him for a second, then pushed her back and slapped her across the face.

"Ouch, Kyle, that really hurt! I say I love you and you slap my head off?" she yelled, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

His heart skipped and the darkness vanished as hysterical laughter bubbled out. "I would punch you in the face full-force if it meant keeping you alive."

"No kidding," she mumbled, rubbing her cheek. "You basically slapped the life back into me." She cuddled up in his arms. "I'm still cold. And tired. I can't even feel my legs."

"I'm not exactly peachy either, but there's still work to do. So stay with me." He checked the watch for Jimmy's position, but it showed nothing. What the hell? He pressed the buttons on the side but it stayed dead. Hadn't Jimmy even thought of making that thing water resistant?

A howl in the distance made his blood freeze even worse. It came for somewhere to his right, where they'd left the others. The sound of a gunshot followed, and he was sure that was where the rest of the group was. Kay frowned, but she fortunately seemed alert.

"Get the guns," she said, and he couldn't agree more.

❄❄❄

Well this turned out freaking huge. #sorrynotsorry

Fun fact: This chapter is basically the reason for the book title. Also, the second scene came to me in a dream and I love when that happens. :D

I'm curious if the action is engaging and if the feelings and urgency are put across well enough. So please don't be shy and let me know how you feel about it.

Any and all thoughts are welcome. Hit the star if you're enjoying the story.