Page 235 of Crucible
“Earthquake!”
The rumbling grows louder, and I follow its direction through the trees from the north. There’s a wall of white that seems to get closer and closer. At first, I assume my eyes are playing tricks on me because it looks like the air is moving.
“Aurelia…” The horror in Tyler’s tone has me looking away in time to see his deep-dark skin turn gray as he looks through the trees, bending and swaying from the quake. “Fuck! That’s not an earthquake! Run!”
Ignoring his order, I hold my hand out for him as he makes a break for the tree that I’m still clutching. My head swivels back and forth as I measure the distance between us and the distance between Tyler and all that white.
He’s naturally fast, but the deep snow slows him, forcing him to take giant steps to cover more distance, which also slows him down. Each step costs him precious life-saving seconds. Meanwhile, the mass of snow gets closer and closer, and I realize with impending doom that I’m just out of its reach. If Tyler can get to me, he’ll be saved, too.
The mass of snow rockets by me and sucks all the air from my lungs from how biting the cold is. My shriveled fingers become impossibly stiff, but I keep my hand out for Tyler, and I wait for the brush of our fingers that never come.
Tyler is still too far away.
“Aurelia! Ru—”
The mass swallows him up, and I scream as it hurdles him back toward the ravine, back toward the cliff’s edge. Helplessly, I watch as it carries my bodyguard over. The snow keeps spilling over the edges like a frozen, deadly waterfall, and then, as fast as it began, it ends.
Ignoring the numb seizing control of my body, I crawl through the snow to the cliff’s edge and scream over the ravine for my bodyguard.
“Tyyyyylerrrrrr!”
AURELIA
It feels like a building fell on top of me.
My ears are ringing, and I can’t feel the rest of my body. I’m choking on something cold and powdery, and whenever I try to breathe, my lungs scream that there’s no air. Meanwhile, something keeps beeping, and it annoys me.
Where am I?
What happened?
The last thing I remember is…
A massive wall of snow, ice, and death racing toward the four of us. I remember how there was no time to run. Seth was swept up first, followed by Thorin and me.
God, I didn’t see what happened to Khalil.
He was the furthest away from us. The avalanche would have hit him last. He would have watched us get swept up like I had to watch Tyler.
I whimper, and it sounds like Khalil’s name to my ears. The beeping grows more rapid and louder, and then I hear my name.
“Aurelia!”
The voice is muffled, but I’d know it anywhere.
It’s Khalil.
I try desperately to move my arms and limbs to get to him, but I can’t. There’s too much snow, and I’m buried deep. I can’t even cry out to him.
Khalil seems to know because he shouts, “It’s okay, baby! Stay still and take small breaths. I’ll get you out!”
I do what he says, conserving my air, and not a moment later, I hear the muffled sound of him digging. It feels like a lifetime before the snow thins enough for me to see the sun piercing the powder.
The only problem is I’ve just taken my last breath, and I’m officially suffocating. Panic claws at my chest as I silently plead for Khalil to hurry.
The snow above my face finally parts, and I suck in a ragged breath. The sun still hovers above the slope, blinding me until I look away and into Khalil’s relieved yet worried gaze.
“Baby, I have to leave you for a moment. Thorin and Seth are still under.”
