Elsa

Fourteen

"PIERCE!" I shout into the wind. Jack is lost in the storm far behind me. I run blindly, not being able to see much farther than a few feet. There's no way I'm going to find him like this. I have to get above the storm somehow, or-

Flying. I close my eyes, trying to focus on the power of weightlessness. I lean forwards, letting the wind catch me. When I open my eyes, I clench my jaw. The ground is far below me. It takes all my concentration to keep myself up. I'm not afraid of heights. I'm just afraid of falling.

I force myself forward. The wind is at my back, and the power is incredible. I'm not even sure where to start looking- the lodge is nowhere to be seen, somewhere under all this wind and snow. I can tell where the mountain is because of the wind current. 

I have to think like Pierce. I have to figure out where he would go. Where was he when I last saw him? Where would he have gone from there?

He would've gone after me. Did he know what direction I went?

I put my fingers against my forehead, trying desperately to figure out where to start. But when I close my eyes, I see Ariana's face and my eyes pop open. Ariana. My heart begins to beat uncontrollably. She was on the mountain, she was already out skiing- she's lost in this storm.

And it's my fault if anything happens to her. I have to find her, I have to find Pierce, I have to save everyone and make this storm stop.

I can't make this storm stop.

I turn my hand, making the wind thrust me upwards. When I'm above the force of the wind I'm able to make out the mountain, and I use it as a compass. If the ski lift was at the base, about there, that would put the lodge... there.

I dive forward, too fast, and have to stop myself from crashing into the ground. The hurricane shivers wildly as my fear spikes and I cringe. Just another reminder that this is my fault.

I twist feet down so I can land, but before I hit the surface something barrels into me, throwing me sideways, knocking the air out of me. The snow is loose, piling up in precarious drifts, and whatever hit me buries me deep under. After a second of catching my breath, I push my hands against the snow, and it explodes into the air, away from me. But whatever threw me is still on top of me.

It's a tree. I push against it, but it's heavy. And the branches keep hitting my face. I try to push them aside, but the wind is coming from all different angles, and I can't get a hold of them. One whap finally puts me over and I blast the wood with ice. It splinters into pieces.

Power. 

The surge of strength I feel intimidates and encourages me. For a second I'm pinned down by awe more than the tree, but I shake the branches off me and push myself into the air. The wind blows me upwards as I try to regain my sense of direction.

It's harder to see the mountain now. Even when I go up higher, I seem to pull the hurricane with me, and the snow is almost impossible to see through.

It's frustrating. If this is my snow, why can't I control it?

Then it strikes me.

This must not be just my snow.

Someone else is playing in this game.

My heart flips over itself and my stomach twists. All this twisting and flipping and shaking and turning inside is making it hard to think, and I can't stay up in the air. I'm falling.

I'm halfway to the ground when I realize what's happening, and I try to control this wind. But it's not obeying my orders. I'm too scared to focus. My screams are lost to the gusts of air. Ice hits my face, and sharp pain bursts out.

Suddenly I'm jerked sideways, upwards, away from the ground. I can feel strong hands under my arms. They pull me towards them, adjusting their grip around my waist. I look up.

"Jack," I manage. He doesn't look at me. Just flies upwards, farther and farther, and the air clears. It's still snowing thickly, but the wind isn't whipping around us. He slows down, stopping mid-air. He turns me towards him so he can see my face.

"Something's up," he says.

I don't know how to answer. Of course something is up, didn't we settle on that hours ago? All my friends, especially Ariana, are in danger right now and it's all my fault-

"It's not your fault," Jack interrupts. I didn't even realize that I'd been talking out loud. But I was. And then I realize something even worse.

I'm crying.

In front of this annoying frat boy who just saved me from my certain death.

Maybe that's why I'm crying. I bury my head in his shoulder, clinging to his hoodie since he's the only thing that's keeping me from falling again. My flying skills are shaky at best.

"Elsa, pull yourself together," he says. "I can't do this by myself."

"Can't do what?" I hiccup, freeing one hand for a second to wipe my face. Gravity pulls me down a little and I grab his arm again.

"Stop this." He says. He rotates me a little and points down at the ground, so, so far away. "Stop that."

My eyes widen.

A perfect eye of the storm is beneath us. And it's moving.