Reaper's Touch

Hex: Freeze

"You are the piece of the puzzle of someone else's life. You may never know where you fit, but others will fill the holes in their lives with pieces of you."
-Bonnie Arbon

Hex found herself at the dark bridge with the blizzard raging around her. Her eyes desperately scanned the darkness even though she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. The old frostbite injury in her toes was sending shockwaves of remembered pain throughout her body as she tried to shield her face against the relentless cascade of icy flakes.

"He's not here," said a voice from behind her.

Hex jumped and turned around. Adam was there, about ten feet away, crouched over the water in the ravine and running his fingers through it.

"I'm dreaming?" she asked.

He nodded without looking at her. "Out like a light."

"If you're real, then tell me where Gus is," she said desperately.

"He's at Doc's. You already knew that, though, didn't you?"

Hex sighed and nodded. "I knew. I just hoped I was wrong."

Adam stood to his feet and began walking over to her.

"You need to get to him fast. He's gonna be with me if he doesn't stop. He's not gonna survive this bender."

"I'll get there. I'm going right now!" Hex said, and she turned to run.

"Wait! You're still asleep," Adam said.

Hex turned around slowly to look at him again. She blinked several times, which usually woke her up, but she couldn't make herself tonight.

"Can't you make me wake up?" she asked desperately. "I don't have time to be asleep!"

"Maybe I can."

"Well what are you waiting for?" she asked frustratedly.

"Nothing. It's just nice to see you. It's lonely here," Adam said.

Hex closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Adam, I'm going to say it again. You are not 'here' anymore. You need to cross over to where everyone else is, all the other dead people. You can make a thousand new friends! This isn't a life!"

"Of course it's not a life!" Adam snapped. He glared at her. "I'm not alive."

Hex walked forward and threw her arms around him. It was just like the last time. He was so real and solidly there, and it was like no time had passed at all. He was still the seventeen-year-old boy she'd loved before.

"Do you remember that night? The first blizzard?" he asked softly.

"I do," Hex said. "Still feel it sometimes. Like now."

"We woulda died that night without each other to keep warm."

"I know," Hex said. "There were lots of times we would have died without each other."

"You were everything to me. You still are. You and Gus," Adam whispered.

"I love you. I know you know that. Part of me always will," she said. "But you need to cross over, and I have to wake up now. I have to help Gus."

"I'm glad you have each other," Adam said softly.

"I am too," Hex said.

Then he pressed his lips against her ear and whispered, "Wake up."

Hex opened her eyes with a jolt, seeing the interior of the public bathroom where she'd stopped to rest and dry her freezing wet clothes. They were still damp, but she couldn't waste the time. She would have to go to Doc's. If there was even a small chance that Adam's ghost was real and that what he'd said was true, she knew she had to take it. His warning terrified her.

———————

It took a long time to get to Doc's place. Hex was so paranoid about hypothermia and frostbite that she made herself take frequent breaks in whatever shelter she could find. But finally, she was here, her stomach tightening with dread and nerves. Just seeing this place brought back all of those dark memories from those dark days.

It was something about being with Gus for the last few months that had made her realize just how sad their old reality had been. She had really thought those were the best days of her life... and maybe they had been up to that point, but Gus had showed her that life could be so much more, so much happier.

Now he needed her.

This was the last place she wanted to be, but she had to try. She had to get Gus back.

DF answered the door, and Hex didn't wait for a greeting.

"I'm here for Gus," she said.

"Hex! It's good to see you again!" DF exclaimed.

She shrugged. "Yeah. So is he here or what?"

"He ain't here," DF said with a shrug.

"He gotta be!" she shouted.

"Well he ain't."

"Can I come in and get warm for a few minutes then?" she asked softly, feeling tears prick the corners of her eyes.

"Okay, but you have to stay in the kitchen."

"Why?"

"My girl's here sleepin' in the back bedroom."

Hex shrugged. "Okay whatever. I don't need to stay the night or anything."

"Come on in."

Hex didn't stay long at Doc's. There were too many memories, and it was simply too tempting... Right now she would give anything to be high, no longer panicked about Gus, no longer cold, no longer sad about Jeff. She felt her resolve weakening, and that was when she knew it was time to go.

"If you see Gus, tell him to come home," she told DF.

He nodded. "I will. Stay warm."

As for warmth, Hex had stayed just long enough to get the feeling back into her legs and arms before heading back out into the blizzard.

If Gus wasn't at the bridge and wasn't here, where would he go?

The frustration and despair were starting to seep into her heart. Hex was angry with herself for believing a dead boy in a dream, of all things. She had thought she was smarter than to fall for something so idiotic, and her cheeks burned with shame over her imagined conversation with Adam. She had come here, relived all those dark days, for no reason at all. Gus wasn't here, and she was at square one again.

For the rest of the night, Hex wandered through the blizzard, visiting all of their old haunts. Gus had completely vanished, and what could she do but trudge back to Jeff's? Maybe he had come back...

But when she got back to Jeff's, Gus was still gone. He hadn't returned in the time she had been out either. The sun was beginning to rise. What could she do? Where could she go next?

Gus's voice floated back to her... "They're my best friends..."

Lucas and Nora.

Hex felt a jump of hope in her stomach. Maybe he was with them! She threw her damp coat, scarf, gloves and hat on and set out once more into the freezing morning.