I awaken to the sound of something scuffing across a solid surface. When I open my eyes, the campfire under the lip of the cave entrance has died down to a pile of smoldering embers and a few meager flames. We were afraid to start the fire too deep inside the cave, and we knew the snowfall would put it out if we built it in the open, so we compromised. The location we chose provided heat and didn't affect our breathing, at least that we could tell.

Since it's still dark, my first thought is to throw more wood on the fire to get it going again, but then I consider the noise that woke me up. It makes me take stock of the sleeping figures on the ground. Jasmine is beside me, facing me, breathing the rhythmic inhalations of deep sleep. On the other side of her is an empty spot where Chloe had been, and beyond that, I see Hunter, his chest rising and falling as I would have expected. Then I turn to my other side where Isaiah was supposed to be and find an empty blanket on the floor. Jasmine had insisted on putting someone between her and Isaiah, and somehow, I drew the short straw. Of course, what's important right now are the missing people in the cave.

What are Chloe and Isaiah doing outside? By themselves?

I don't want to startle them if they're making out in the cold, but I can't resist the lure.

Quietly, I push to my feet, step over Jasmine's curled up form, and then stare at Hunter. My boot drags over the cave floor, making the same noise that woke me up. Hunter snorts and rolls over to face me, but doesn't open his eyes. Creeping, I take a long stride and lunge over him, feet away from the dying fire.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

I flinch at Isaiah's hushed voice, but he's not talking to me.

"It's okay. I had to use the bathroom," Chloe says from somewhere out of sight. It sounds like both of them are several feet away from the cave entrance.

"Me too." Isaiah matches her whispery tone. "My arm still hurts like hell, so it wasn't easy."

A light chuckle from Chloe.

"You already done?" he asks.

"Yeah. We must have gone in opposite directions."

"I've been thinking." Boots scrape across the snow. Possibly Isaiah's from the heavier grate. "I flipped my coin." He sighs. "Truth is, I've been wanting you for a while now. Can't get my mind off you. When my coin landed on you, I knew I had to make my move."

"What are talking about?" Chloe says. "That stupid dare from the professor?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I know the challenge had to inspire you, too. Right? Make you want to take a leap? Try something new. Someone new."

I step next to the crackling embers and peek around the corner to see Chloe backed against the side of the vertical rock, Isaiah inches from her. He raises his good hand and strokes her cheek.

"We can't. I can't." She tenses up. "What about Jasmine? Don't you care about her?"

"Of course I do. But..."

"I can't." Chloe slides away, scuffing her back against the rocks. "I can't believe this. How could you?" There's a pause as they stare each other down. "I'll pretend like this never happened, and so should you. I'm going back to sleep. Good night, Isaiah."

He groans in frustration as Chloe shuffles my way.

I dash away from the cave entrance, almost stepping onto the red-hot embers. Huffing, I leap over Hunter, then Jasmine, and drop to the ground. Luckily, my feet landed on Chloe's blanket and then mine, deadening the sound. Without looking back, I pull my blanket over me and face the back of the cave, act like I'm asleep. I hear someone enter, followed by the sound of a light thump and brush of a body on the ground. I assume it's Chloe lying back down and pulling her covers over her.

But Isaiah never returns.

I lie there, closing my eyes and trying to go back to sleep, but it takes hours. Finally, after an undetermined amount of time, I drift off until morning.

When I awaken, daylight streams into the cave, but Isaiah isn't in his sleeping spot. Hunter stoops over the campfire and stokes the flames with a stick, having added more wood to the fire. Jasmine stirs next to me and then Chloe on the other side of her.

After I sit up, Hunter says, "Anyone seen Isaiah?"

Chloe leans back against the cave wall and shakes her head. Her gaze appears a little apprehensive, especially since I witnessed her encounter with Isaiah during the wee hours of the night. She offers nothing to the group, but after a glance at Jasmine, she hugs herself as if she's cold or doesn't want to share what she knows.

"He has to be around here somewhere?" Jasmine says. "Eliza, you were right next to him. Did you see him go anywhere, or hear him leave?"

"No," I reply. "But he probably went to the bathroom."

Chloe looks at me.

I shrug. "That's the most likely scenario."

"He's probably only been gone for a few minutes." Jasmine stands, folds her blanket up and stuffs it into her backpack.

"He's been gone longer than that." Hunter narrows his eyes at us. "I've been up for thirty minutes and haven't seen or heard him at all."

Jasmine's brow scrunches up. "What if he went to pee and stepped off into a hole or something? He broke his arm, so he wouldn't be able to catch himself or break his fall. We need to go look for him."

I rise and slide on my parka. Chloe joins us at the cave entrance. In a matter of seconds, we're all bundled up and ready to go look for Isaiah. We leave our packs behind and the fire burning because we know we'll be back.

Outside, the snow has slacked up overnight. Now, only light flurries are falling.

I spot tracks leading off to the left and jab my finger in that direction. "That way."

Jasmine brushes by me, slicing through the tree line and disappearing behind the evergreen branches. Hunter darts after her without a word. As I pace after them, I pass by Chloe and leave her behind. When I glance at her, her eyes have a hollow look.

As I push through the trees, a scream cuts through the air. It's Jasmine.

Chloe elbows past me and rushes through a tighter stand of spruce, limbs slapping backward behind her. I follow, a hitch in my breath as we race toward the sound of Jasmine's desperate wails.

Hunter yells out, "Stay back!"

He's speaking to Jasmine, whose cries have intensified.

I break into a clearing where the snow has piled up deep, but at the edge, a drop off looms. Jasmine stands, bent over at the waist, pointing at what lies below. By the time Chloe and I reach her, Hunter is already skidding down the slope, boots cutting through the snow. At the bottom of a small bluff lies Isaiah, face down on the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Jasmine says, her words mixed with sobs, tears streaming down her face. "Is he alive?"

As Chloe tries to console Jasmine, I slide down the same slope Hunter had taken, but I do most of it on my backside.

"What's wrong with him?" I say, glaring at Hunter as I right myself and draw near.

He remains silent as he squats next to Isaiah's sprawled out figure.

From above, nothing seems out of place... Isaiah's parka is intact, clean, on him like it should be, but then I help Hunter flip him over. That's when we see the wound in his stomach and the blood turning the snow to red.

Hunter gazes up at Jasmine and shakes his head. When her cries slash through the cold, a chill seeps into my bones. Before we leave, Hunter rifles through Isaiah's pockets to find what I know is Chloe's bag of weed. He shakes it in the air, thrusts it into his pocket, and then storms back up the slope.

I think he knows who it belongs to.

At that moment, the blizzard strikes again, soon covering the body and driving us back to the cave where someone has a lot of explaining to do. As far as I could tell, the tracks led from the cave to the bluff where Isaiah died. I didn't see any other footprints anywhere. New snowfall appears to have erased the tracks Chloe and Isaiah had made in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. That leaves only the most recent set of tracks, which means, unless Isaiah had a freak accident, one of us is a killer, someone motivated by anger or passion and with the wherewithal to dispose of the murder weapon to cover up the crime.

The question is, if it wasn't an accident, who is the prime suspect? Who has the motive to commit murder? And who has had the opportunity to kill?

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Chapter 4 - 1,547 words
Story Total - 7,781 words