“What do we do?” Cole cried, and I knew he was worried, that I was scaring all of them, but there was nothing I could do. I felt as though I were disconnected from my body, not able to take back control no matter how much I wanted to.
“Let me try.” A deep voice said, and in a second Matt was gone and the blonde one from Rob’s team was knelt before me. Jack?
“Olivia, you’re having a panic attack. We’re going to work through it together though, ok?” He said, his voice completely calm and collected.
I stared at him, trying to process his words as they floated around my scattered, frantic thoughts.
“I want you to close your eyes for me.” I looked up to him with trepidation. We were so close to The Darkness, and possibly The Shadow. Closing my eyes did not sound wise, and the idea terrified me.
“Do what he says, please Baby. We’re all here. We’ll protect you. Just do what he says and come back to us.” Kyle pleaded as he dropped to his knees at my side.
Knowing he was there, right beside me, it helped and I closed my eyes.
“Good. Now I want you to concentrate on my voice. Press your hands down flat where they are and tell me what you feel under them.” Jack directed. It was hard to make my body cooperate and do what he said, but I focussed on pressing my hands flat. One was on my thigh, and the other pressed to the ground.
“I….I f-feel….my jeans.” I whispered, my voice shaking more than I had ever heard it.
“That’s good, sweet. What else?”
“Cold.” I focussed on my other hand and thought about what it must be touching. I realised it was only half on the coat Kade had laid out. “Snow….I feel s-snow.”
“Good. Now keep your eyes closed and listen around you. Focus on the sounds and tell me three things you can hear.”
I lifted my head a little, and took a deeper breath, trying hard to slow my fantic breaths so I could hear the sounds around me.
“Birds….lots of birds.” I answered, hearing the sounds of them in the trees around us. I had no idea which birds were out in the midst of winter, but the sound was nice, comforting.
“What else?” Jack asked.
“The…..w-wind.” It was whipping around us, blowing my loose strands of hair all around my face. “And Kyle….I hear Kyle breathing….f-from beside me.”
“You’re doing really well Olivia. I want you to keep on listening really carefully to that sound, to Kyle’s breathing and I want you to try and follow each of his breaths with your own. Keep your eyes closed and focus on that, on those steady breaths and on making yours match.” I did as Jack directed, blocking out everything around me, and pushing back my dark thoughts and flashbacks, trying hard to just listen to Kyle, making his steady breathing my only focus. My breathing slowed further until a calm returned to me.
Realising what had happened I opened my eyes and found Jack still before me, watching carefully.
“Hey.” He greeted, a huge smile on his handsome face. He very slowly and deliberat;ley reached out and took my wrist in his hand. I stared at him silently as he took my pulse, glancing between me and his wristwatch while he counted.
“Better.” He said with a nod, releasing my wrist.
“Thank you.” I whispered.
“You’re welcome, sweet.”
“Are you feeling better?” Kyle asked, as he grabbed my hand, from where he sat at my side still.
“Yeah. Sorry I freaked out.” I tried to give him a reassuring smile, and hoped it worked. He smiled back, but I could tell he was worrying.
“Nothing to be sorry for, beautiful.” Cole said from where he stood over me.
“Can we keep going? We need to find the cabin before it gets dark.”
“I don’t know, Love. I think we should get you back. This place is obviously not good for you.” Kade replied.
“This place isn’t good for anyone. That’s why we have to find it.” I started to stand, and Cole grabbed my arm and helped me up the rest of the way. “We can’t turn back now guys. We must be close.”
“One more hour.” Kyle grumbled from my other side where he now stood. “You’re too exhausted to be walking out here for much longer. We give it one more hour, then we head back.” I was surprised. I had thought he would be the first to try and make me stop.
I nodded, knowing he was right. If we walked for another hour it would already be touch and go whether I would actually make it back to the cars, so his proposal was fair.
“We ok?” Rob asked from where he had been watching the whole thing from a few metres back.
“Yeah.” I answered. “Just give me a minute to see if I can find my bearings.” I started looking around the area we had stopped in. The trees were no help, so I started looking between them, for what lay behind, hoping there would be a clue.
Having no idea why, but deciding to trust my instincts I pointed through a gap between two trees. There was a clearer path through them than between all of the other trees, and I was sure I came through pretty easily between trees, not remembering having to squeeze through any gaps, when I set out running. It was a weak theory, but the best I had.
Rob and Jack took the lead again. Cole and Matt each took one of my hands and we followed right behind, Kade and Kyle close at my back.
We continued on what almost looked like a worn path for several minutes. The longer we walked, the more and more nauseous I became. It was like my body was trying to warn me of something, and every step became harder and harder to take.
“Rob,” I whispered, stopping him and Jack where they were just ahead of us.
“You
