Survival: Fight or Flight

3rd Hour: Illusion

02:00 - 03:00 GMT

It was cold. Freezing cold.

Where I lived, temperatures didn't become so extremely cold that it snowed. So the maximum you'd need to just get by on a typical cold night was maybe a jacket, on top of a shirt.

Tonight, the night during which I'd been drawn into a crazy game and forced to struggle for my life, was not a typical cold night. True, it was cold, but even aside that subtle warmth I'd felt back at home almost two hours ago, the night was not so cold that I needed to dress up for it. I was just in a T-shirt and dark jeans. Yet, minus the fear-induced shivers that made that night colder than it should have been, I think I got by just fine.

But not this time. I was shivering almost violently, not from fear, but from unnatural cold.

That, and I was trapped. Hopelessly trapped. Only a few minutes ago, everything around me had suddenly crumbled and disappeared into a pit so deep, its bottom simply couldn't be seen. Minus the small cylinder of hopefully stable land I now sat on, I was surrounded, on all sides and extending many miles, by this abyss.

I couldn't see how I was going to get out of this one. It was clearly the end for me. As I shivered, I knew that if the ground under me didn't collapse and send me falling to my death, the biting cold would eventually do the job.

Harsh, knowing exactly how you were going to die. Or was it rather merciful? Whatever.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my arms, trying to generate as much warmth as possible, yet knowing subconsciously that I would merely be prolonging the inevitable.

A violent shiver ran through me. My teeth began to chatter. I was feeling colder and colder. My shivering continued.

I opened my eyes, taking in the view of the dark abyss around me again. It brought with it a sudden realisation of how stupidly high up I was, and how far down, how endless, my fall will be. That realisation generated a warm, hollow feeling that accompanied the feeling of butterflies in the stomach, and spread throughout my abdomen.

I liked that feeling, just for the sake of the warmth. I decided to focus my mind on how long my fall will be, on how high up I was, and how scary it was to be that high.

The butterflies in my stomach fluttered even more, making me feel light with apprehension, yet bringing with it the welcome warm feeling.

02:11 GMT ...

My eyes were closed. I felt warm and fuzzy on the inside.

But I thought it was really cold? a voice in my head asked.

It is, another voice in my head replied. But your method worked. You've successfully warmed yourself up.

My lips turned up in a little smile. Yeah. That's right, I thought.

I began to feel sleepy. My eyes were already closed. A very small voice in my head warned me not to fall asleep.

Be careful, Drake, it said. You're freezing to death.

Freezing? I thought. But I feel all warm inside.

No, the tiny voice replied. You're slipping away. You're delirious.

Haha. I'm having a conversation with myself, I thought giddily. Wow I feel so sleepyyyy.