The Threat Of Fear

chapter 4

        I let out a quiet, annoyed sigh, leaning back in my chair.

Being an officer will be tougher than I had originally thought it would be.

It will all be worth it in the long run, though. I just have to continue putting my all into it. This is what I'm passionate about, I've got this!

Once I graduate from the academy, I will become an officer and I will be able to help the ones who aren't able to do so themselves.

I will be the best officer that I can be!

I nodded to myself determinedly and continued studying for my test tomorrow.

"Hey, chocolate chip," Alec murmured, leaning up against the wall near my study-desk. "How's your studying going?"

Alec, the twins, Shade and Nick, and I are going to be moving in all together soon now that everyone is done with college and stuff. We're looking for a two-story house for the four of us. Then after we find one, we'll all move into it after Nick and I's lease is up.

"It could be better," I replied with a shrug, not looking up from my studies. "But at least I'm giving it my all, right?"

"Yeah." Alec sighed. "I was wondering if you wanted to take a break, rest your brain for a bit. We could talk if you want?"

"Sure, a break sounds nice," I breathed out. "What do you want to talk about, Alec?"

        "So if we take a turn up there, we'll cut the time down by about thirty minutes," Nick said, reading off of his phone. "That would mean that we only have about one hour left unless there's less traffic than this app says that it could be less time."

"Got it." Alec nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.

"You okay?" Shade wondered, nudging my arm gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded. "I'm just trying to figure out where we're going. I'm not having much luck with the clues we've been given."

"You shouldn't stress out about it too much." he murmured. "It's not good for your health."

"Yeah," I sighed. "I know."

"So, what do you think that we're going to be doing?" Shade asked.

"Hmm. I don't know." I hummed. "Knowing the fact that we have no clue where we're going. Probably something festive or something that has to do with the snow. Maybe skiing, or something?"

"Good induction." he yawned.

"You tired?" I giggled.

"It's just all this sitting." he chuckled. "This is just proof that I was not meant for a desk job."

"Ahh," I smiled. "Yeah, I feel the same. By the way, how are you doing with your new team?"

"Pretty good," he answered. "We're slowly starting to become a real team."

"That's good." I grinned.

"Yeah, it is." Shade agreed. "If a team doesn't work well together, then their productivity will be terrible. In our line of work, that normally in the victim dying, the unsub getting away, or both."

        "We're here." Nick chirped.

"You two can head inside and get us checked in," I said. "I'll go in once I wake up the sleeping oaf."

"Alright." Alec nodded, holding the car keys out for me. "Don't forget to lock the doors when you get out."

I took the keys from his hand.

"Got it." I hummed, nodding.

It's very snowy outside. I believe that we're at a ski resort, from the looks of it.

I put the keys in my purse.

"Hey!" I said, flicking Shade's nose. "Wake up, sleeping beauty!"

Shade hummed in response, opening his eyes and sitting up.

"We're here." I grinned.

"Ahh, cool." he yawned. "Where is here, exactly? Or have they still not told you?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "But it looks like a ski resort, it's got those moving benches and stuff. It's also a very mountainous area, I'm surprised that you slept through it. The road was very bumpy getting here."

"The world may never know." Shade grinned, getting very close to my face.

I don't believe that he got that close on purpose.

"Whatever," I mumbled, turning away from him. "Let's just go before the other two decide to head to the rooms without us."

I opened the door to the car and stepped out. It's very windy out here, making it seem as though it's colder than it probably is.

Even with the icy wind and frozen cold snow, my face still feels very warm.

"Alright," Shade said, appearing next to me. "Let's get inside."

He grabbed my hand and started walking us inside.

"Wait!" I huffed, a white puff of air leaving my mouth. "I've got to lock the car first!"

        The interior of the reception area looks like a log cabin. Very warm, lots of wood interior things. It's very different from Wisconsin.

It's kind of homey, actually.

It makes me wonder what our rooms are going to look like.

"You can let go of my hand now, Shade," I mumbled, my cheeks still feeling very warm.

At least I can just blame it on the cold.

"But what if you get lost in here?" Shade asked, looking at down me with his free hand running through his hair to try and fix it. "This place is pretty big and busy. I'd better keep a hold of it. Just to make sure."

"I'm not going to get lost." I sighed. "I'll be just fine."

"Hey, you two." Nick laughed, running into Shade and me.

I yelped in shock.

"Hey yourself, Brother." Shade grinned, keeping a hold of my hand.

He's not going to let go of my hand any time soon, is he?

I sighed quietly. There's a lot of people here.

I haven't really dealt with large crowds filled with people I don't know very well since that happened.

I don't think I ever will be the same. I mean, it has been about four years and it still affects me. Even though he's behind bars now, it's still so hard living with that memory.

"No." Nick huffed, flicking my nose. "Bad Rachel. Don't think about that."

"I'm sorry," I muttered, looking away from the large mass of people and back at Nick and Shade. "I didn't mean to start thinking about it. It just kind of popped into my head."

"So we're all set for our room's now. The skiing area just closed for the day, that's why there are so many people here right now." Alec said, walking up to us and handing us keys. "There's still some other stuff that we could do here though. So, basically, we can have the rest of the day to ourselves to rest up from our long drive over here."