Layer of Ice

Chapter 4 - Everglade

As I eat my breakfast, I look around and see Jyle looking at me. My hands unconsciously touch the grappling hook on my waist. It's for emergency use, but very risky, as a grapple can only hold one person. This building feels familiar and I'm trying to remember why. Ugh. My memory isn't as clear right now, so I walk to the edge of the roof and sit down on a bench.

Suddenly, I know why. This is Cameron's supply and hideout building. Oh No! If Cameron set the fire in the first place, then he must be here. If he's here, then he knows I'm here too. Would he bomb this building? If he did, it would be risking his little sister's life. Would he do that? I don't know anymore. I grip the picture harder. Oh Dax, why did you have to die, why couldn't it be me? Yet. I don't regret staying alive. I don't know why, only that I'm ashamed that I'm happy I lived.

I'm about to go when I notice a person wearing a hoodie closing up on me. My hands fly to the knives stashed in my pants. The hooded person drops a note at my side and leaves. I pick it up.

It's me Everly-glade. :P, 34-21=? ? = Dax

I study the note, it's Cameron's writing. And. It's a clue. For what! Testing my skills? A mission? Or... a warning.

Hm. Everly-glade is something only Cameron calls me, so it's definitely him, but what is 34-21=? ? = Dax?

I do the math. 13 = Dax. It doesn't make sense. Could 13 mean a time? 1:00 pm? Or an age? Since Dax died at the age of 9, 13-9=4, so 4:00 pm. Since Dax died, the 1:00 pm could mean that I have a risk of dying at that time too. I think hard pushing all the other thoughts out of my brain. It's better to wait until 1:00 pm, prepared. Then, if nothing happens, I'll know it's 4:00 pm. I check the time using my shadow and a few sticks. It's currently 12:30pm. 30 more minutes.

20 minutes pass with nothing occurring. Then, I feel a shake. At first, I thought it was an earthquake, but soon, I found out that the button floors are on fire! That's impossible! It's not 1:00 yet! It's 12:23. I read the clue five more times. Oh No! I knew I missed something! Everly-Glade has ten letters. Cameron always told me to add up the clues. So, 10 + (34-21) = 23! In 23 minutes I will die if I don't escape! I drop the note and push through the confused and frantic crowd trying to find Jyle.

Then, I feel the floor beneath me shift! The first floors are slowly collapsing! I spot Jyle with Marcus and Tess and run towards them.

"Eve! What's happening!" Jyle shouts, over the crowd.

"I don't know! I think they've bombed the first floors. There's no way out." I shout back, frantically trying to gain balance.

Some people try to head back downstairs, I don't know what will happen to them.

Another shake and the roof is cracked. Jyle and I are on one side, and Tess and Marcus are on the other side. I tell Jyle to stabilize me. We cling arms and walk back to back to prevent falling. I slowly slide towards Tess and Marcus. If they are Jyle's friends, then I'll save them. I don't want them to die like Dax.

"Marcus! Listen! Take Tess and go down the stairs, when you are on the first five floors, jump through a window! It's the only way to make it out alive!" I yell.

"Got it!" Marcus replies before the building shakes again. Jyle grabs my arm and I see Marcus and Tess disappear down the stairs. The seconds tick by. Most people have fled the roof on the other side, but the ones trapped on my side can't. I scan the nearby buildings. It's time for me to pass my life on. Dax would do the same. I unclip the grapple hook and give it to Jyle. We walk to the edge of the building slowly.

"Take this and attach it to that other building, then, jump. Trust the hook. It'll bring you to the building. When you escape, don't hang out on the roof. I'll miss you," I say.

I press the button and the hook flies towards the building. Jyle watches in silence. Then, I hand the handle to him and press the button again. It pulls him towards the building.

"Why?" he says, right before the building slowly falls apart. I make sure he's landed safely before I look back. This side is falling.

I hang onto the railing. It's like a roller coaster but worse. The whole side is falling. I'll die for sure.

Never give up hope! Try until you die. Dax's quote slides into my brain. I realize I can't just die like this. I have to live for Dax. I let go of the bars and jumped! I'm falling! Then, my feet smash through the windows of another building. I forgot I had knives in the bottoms of my boots. I desperately hang onto the window latch before I let myself drop another ten floors. My whole body goes numb. I've never fallen ten floors without stopping. In my lessons, the challenge has always been three floors for teens. I've never felt pain like that before. I feel my bones hollow out. Weightless. 8

My hands try to hang onto anything else. I grab a balcony railing. I look below. I'm three stories high. I let go and glued my eyes shut. Feet relaxed. Knees bent. Land on balls of feet.

The first thing I feel when I land is the shock going from my toes to every part of my body. It's like you got electrified and mind you, "not the best feeling" is a way I would gladly describe it because anyone brave enough to jump from 3 stories high would likely die. I cringe and fall to the ground. I roll three times to absorb the energy and force and blackout.