Finally the group of sledders stepped out from under the trees. Fresh snow floated down, and the sky, free of any light pollution, was pitch black, the only light coming from the brightly shining moon and the twinkling stars, tiny pinpoints of light, like looking through a billion little peepholes. Elena blinked. New, cool power coated her eyelashes, falling off delicately as her eyelids moved.

Yamilia laughed. She sprinted about ten feet and flung herself into a tall pile of sugary snow. She sunk in, the snow sliding down into her face.

"Come on guys, this is awesome!" Yamilia cried, a huge grin on her face. The heavy blanket of snow was normal to them, living on the top of a mountain, but it was always a wonder. No matter how old they got, they would always love winter, despite the cold.

Elena giggled and ran to follow, Evan trailing not too far behind. They both copied Yamilia and jumped back first into the snow. They lay there for a few moments, quietly laughing until Elena felt a cold liquid trickle down her back. Her body heat had melted the snow closest to her and now it was leaking everywhere. She quickly jumped up, still laughing and motioned to Yamilia and Evan to hurry up.

"Let's go!" she yelled joyfully.

"Alright, we're coming!" Evan called back. He wriggled his way out of the snow while Elena watched in amusement.

But her face suddenly turned grim. Evan walked up to her with a smile stretching across his face, but it faltered when he saw Elena's expression.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Evan, if we're out here, we're vulnerable. What if Jolon, the kid who was touched by Marva, is in the same condition she is? They said that when the sun went down, that was when Marva was wandering around. What if people are only affected at night? What if Jolon is out right now, in an insane state, and could find us?" Elena asked, looking up at Evan. He was taller than she was, over six feet, while Elena was a measly five foot three.

"It's gonna be okay. We're fast, and besides, it's already pretty late. Even if he was affected, he probably already got someone, and as far as we know, they can't hurt us. Marva touched Jolon last night, fairly late and he didn't go crazy. We don't even know if this virus is going to hurt him. It might not be contagious." Evan reassured her. He put his arm around her to comfort her.

Elena noticed how close they were. She felt butterflies in her heart. Luckily, Yamilia skipped up to the two and looked at them both.

"Whatcha talkin' about?" she inquired. Elena playfully bumped her shoulder into Yamilia's.

"Just the fact that we might be in danger. Nothing too big. Our lives are at risk. Whatever." Elena said sarcastically. Evan let out a laugh, along with Yamilia.

They were teenagers. They could joke about anything. (A/N: Lol, I feel like I would do this as Elena...)

They clomped through the thick coat of snow - a couple of feet of fresh powder at least - toward the huge hill that sat near the back of the school. Finally, Elena stepped up to the base of the rather large hill. She heaved her sled onto her shoulder and started up with Yamilia at her side, looking back to see if Evan was following.

"Wait for me!" he shouted. He ran, but looked rather ridiculous, as he was in thick snow pants and a huge puffy jacket along with clunky boots that were too big for him.

The friends finally got onto their sleds, and pushed each other down the hill. For an hour and a half they sledded, the air around them filled with the screams of their delight as gravity took the lead in their night of blissful fun.

But they were oblivious.

They had no idea of what would happen when they left the hill.

This was their last night of innocence.

After that, it would be gone.

—

A long while later, at the bottom of the huge hill after a particularly exhilarating ride,Elena checked her watch, pulling and struggling to roll her coat sleeve up enough to press the light button on the digital watch and have a look as to when they should be back.

"Oh, jeez! It's almost eleven o clock!" she exclaimed. She looked at Evan in surprise. He chuckled. "Why are you laughing? We were really loud, what if we woke some of the little kids that live nearby?

"I'm sure we didn't!" Yamilia shouted.

"Well, this field is pretty huge, and we are fairly far away from the nearest house. It's about three quarters of a mile walk. Add that to the fact that most of the houses around here are built with strong bases and mostly soundproof walls to block out loud sounds of the storm, and you've got a pretty safe bet that no one heard us." he reasoned. Evan grabbed hers and Yamilia's hands, and they started walking across the huge football field that was only ever clear for football for about a month.

It was a while until they would get back to Elena's house, so they decided to talk about school.

"Are you advanced people going to be doing that science project? The one where you have to explain about a fundamental chemical reaction, and also explain the exact process of how it happens?" Yamilia questioned Evan.

"Yeah," Evan replied, "But we have to do it in a performance. We have to act as the chemicals involved. It's awful. I was assigned to be with Lilosha and Geiman."

"Ugh. Lilosha. She's, like, London's best friend. But you're with her and who-what?" Elena asked in astonishment. Evan doubled over laughing but quickly straightened up.

"Geiman. Pronounced Gee-man. He... doesn't really like Stellan. He kind of bullied him back in elementary school." Evan clarified. Stellan was their very good friend, and was part of their group, but he was out of town until a couple of days later. He would've been there, sledding with them, normally. Evan crossed his arms, shivering in his puffy coat.

"Um, okay. That's a hard name. Normally Geiman is pronounced Guy-man. Also, why didn't you tell us about that?" Yamilia said. She was obsessed with looking at names and finding out their meanings. It was one of the quirks that made Yamilia so unique.

They discussed the science project all the way back to the parking lot, where Evan stopped in his tracks. He grabbed Yamilia's and Elena's shoulders to stop them from going any further. He also ignored Yamilia's question.

"Something's wrong." he said urgently. "We need to get out of here."

Suddenly, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows from behind a parked car. The teachers were having a meeting that went late into the night, and the small parking lot was filled.

"Who are you?" Elena asked. She walked forward. She didn't recognize the small figure, who couldn't be a teacher. The figure looked like a boy, but he was smaller than any of the male teachers at school.

The slowly waxing moon peeped out from behind a small cloud, and a bit of light caught the figure's face.

Jolon! He was affected, and hasn't tagged his next victim.

Jolon's eyes narrowed. Elena got a sudden instinct to move. She leap out of the way, pushing her friends with her, as Jolon lunged to tag them.

A/N: Happy New Years guys! I can't believe it's already a new decade! Happy 2020! I have a little treat for you... this update, and an update on Castaway! (Which if you haven't already, and if you have read Keeper of the Lost Cities: Legacy, go check it out!) I hope to have another of these chapters up soon! Thanks for almost 80 reads already on this! Bye for now!