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Night feels very still in this isolated place, very silent. With your revolver kept close, you spend the first half of the night waiting by one of the empty window slits. A cold wind blows through the slit, and it doesn't take long before your face and fingers feel numb. No matter how long you wait, you don't see a single trace of movement outside.
But you see a fire burning somewhere far above, in the highest mountain peak. Seeing that flame reminds you of Will's nightmares, his fear that some unseen invaders would creep down and all upon his home.
But here, aren't you the invaders?
“Hey,” Ariel whispers, joining you by the window with her rifle held in a low grip, “Take a break. I'll keep watch until morning. Seen anything?”
“Yeah, the unwashed hordes descended upon us but I politely asked them to leave. Nice people, actually, when you get to know them,” you mutter, “No, nothing. Just that fire up high.”
Ariel leans out the window and peers up at the mountain peak. “That sure is a fire,” she murmurs, shivering a little at the cold wind, “Well, whatever. They can light as many fires as they like, so long as they stay up there.”
With a nod, you leave Ariel to her thankless task. You return a moment later with a heavy blanket, draping it over her shoulders. “Careful,” she tells you with a crooked smile, “If you keep this up, I might start thinking you've got a thing for me.”
“Don't flatter yourself,” you shoot back, “I'd do the same for anyone else.”
“Even Will?”
“Maybe not Will.”
-
Morning arrives without incident, although you feel as if you barely slept at all. With plenty of fuel for the fire and ample canned food still in storage, you're able to hold your own supplies back in case of an emergency – although you shudder to think what might keep you stranded here for so long. The mood around the table as you eat is sullen and downbeat. It took a single night for Will to lose hope, a grave confusion creeping in to replace it.
“I had another look around last night,” Elle says, breaking the awkward silence, “I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd try and find a way of making myself useful. I found a few more scraps of paper in one of the rooms – I think they're more from Master Kingsley. If I had to guess, I'd say he tried to hide these from the professor.”
“What? Why?” Will protests, “They were colleagues... friends! They wouldn't hide things from each other, not in such a serious situation!”
“People always keep secrets from one other. Even from their closest friends,” you murmur, “Especially their closest friends.”
This hardly helps the oppressive mood, and soon the only sounds are the soft clatter of cutlery.
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