Now she was emotionally slapping herself for choosing to do that. What had she been thinking? She picked up the sport very quickly during the day, but with only small, lantern-type lights showing the way in the dark, she was probably the clumsiest person out there. And she was all alone. Most of the group had gone back to their rooms, and the few who stayed had broken apart into smaller groups, leaving Nicole alone.

"Oooph," she breathed as she fell onto her butt, hard. Then she succeeded on hitting a large patch of ice and skidding for a while on her back.

When she got back up, darkness surrounded her. She must have gone off of the main trail and onto an unlit one. "Shit," she said under her breath, trying to get back up and get her balance. When she did, she looked up the hill to see where this trail started so that she could get back on the main one. She saw a path that looked reasonable and began the long trudge up the hill.

Okay, this is my last time down, he thought to himself as he got off of the chair lift. He sat down in the snow and snapped on his right strap and started down the hill.

Maybe this isn't so bad after all, he thought. He went a very long time without even a feeling that his board was going to come off. He felt himself bend with the wind and become as one with the board. He went over a small mound of snow and skillfully pulled up his legs, just a little, as he had seen on television. He caught air for a split-second before returning to the snow on the board. He was beginning to feel much better about himself.

A larger mound of snow rose in front of him and he decided to at least try it. He prepared to jump into the air as the small hill began, and when he reached the top he repeated what he had done earlier on the smaller hill.

Everything seemed to soar by him in hyper-speed, and soon he felt himself going back down to the ground. He arched his back and tensed his leg muscles so that he wouldn't fall, and waited. But seconds later after he still hadn't hit the ground, he noticed his surroundings. They now seemed to be going by in slow motion, as a huge, dark mass of trees, rocks, and snow. Too shocked to realize what was going on, he tried to put it all together in his mind. Then as he hit the ground at the bottom with a sickening thud, everything went black.

She was also thirsty, despite the freezing weather. She stopped and listened for a sound she had heard earlier. Yes, there it was. The sound of flowing water, somewhere close. She listened again and followed the sound until her boot sank into something cold and deep. A stream. Not wanting to get dehydrated, she squatted down and thirstily drank from the spring. Fresh water. She sat back on a small rock and took in the beautiful sound. But then she heard something else. Somewhere ahead of her, something was moaning. Soft, painful sounds. She wondered what it could be. Or WHO it could be, she thought suddenly. That sent a chill down her already freezing spine.

But she couldn't bear to hear this suffering sound, no matter what the dangers were. She stood and followed this new noise. Seconds later, he foot rammed into something large and soft. Another moan came, this time from the thing that she had kicked.

"OH! I'm so so so sorry!" she cried. She bent down and began to run her hands over the object.

Legs. That must have been what she kicked, because it was right below her. She moved up the long body of it and realized that it was a human, barely breathing. She ran her fingers over the person's neck, a faint thought tugging at her brain. Then as she moved up to its face, she felt the person's full lips and nose. She touched the sides of the person's head and felt long, soft hair. But something, the thought from before, pulled her hands back to the person's neck. And there she felt them. Three or four chokers. One with a soccer ball charm. Another with a Star Of David. And another a strange shape she couldn't identify but had seen a million times as it hung around his neck. And then she knew who this was.

"TAYLOR!!!" she cried in agony, her voice a loud wail full of torture and regret.