Elena pulled the door open and held it for her friends as they walked out of Elena's house onto the snowy driveway. Elena shivered. She was glad she had brought gloves.

"Let's do this." Evan said. The three friends carefully walked down the icy steps, trying not to slip. The chilly breeze slapped them in the face, trying to push them, suck them down to the ground to get buried in the snow and forgotten. The friends pushed through, shaking with cold. They were used to it. They did live in the mountains, after all.

"Do either of you actually know where Marva's house is?" Evan asked. He shook his hair, already covered in snow, like he had been sprinkled (or rather, topped) with powdered sugar. He jokingly bumped his shoulder into Yamilia's. Yamilia laughed and shoved him back, making him crash into Elena.

The two tumbled to the ground, slipping on the thick ice that coated the sidewalk.

They sat up in unison, laughing.

"Well, anyway, I know. It's about a mile away, we should only have to walk for about fifteen minutes if we go quickly." Yamilia told them in a loud voice for the whole neighborhood to hear. She smiled, stretching out her hands to help them up. She shivered and pulled her fluffy hood up over her hat.

Elena stood up and straightened. She noticed that Evan was still on the ground, struggling to get up with his large, clunky boots and puffy coat. Elena and Yamilia each grabbed one of his hands and yanked him upright.

Evan smiled.

"Wow, that's sad. I can't even get up on my own." he laughed. Elena and Yamilia chuckled and stood on either side of him to make sure he stayed standing. They then resumed their way to Marva's house.

"So, do you guys think this thing with Marva is, like, I don't know, a virus, or was it intentional? I mean, Marva was pretty nice, and I can't imagine that she would do anything terrible on purpose." Elena commented.

Evan and Yamilia nodded. Yamilia started laughing.

"What if this is just a prank? Marva's funny!" Yamilia yelled. Elena's and Evan's faces turned solemn.

"Yamilia... I love that you are trying to be positive, but I don't think this is a prank. And if it is, it's a cruel prank, since she is making all of her loved ones worry." Evan said grimly. Elena looked down. She hoped it was a prank, since, if it was, that meant Marva was alive, and Jolon is safe. But she knew it wasn't. Poor Jolon was in danger, and Marva was most likely dead.

"I know. I just... don't know if I can handle it if Marva is gone forever, and that there is a possibility that this THING will take out our whole population one by one. It could also take out all of the vegetation too. I mean, if this can be passed on to living things, then it might just destroy everything." Yamilia hypothesized.

This wasn't like Yamilia. Normally, she was so upbeat and always looked on the bright side of things, but Elena realized that she might have just been hiding something. She realized that everyone hid behind a mask, in their own way. Everyone had a hidden part of themselves that they locked away, deep inside themselves. And that was Kay. They didn't need to show it, but Yamilia chose to at that time. Elena thought to the parts of herself that she kept hidden. The weird, quirky, wonderful parts. But also the quiet, self-deprecating parts too.

"Maybe you don't think you can handle it." Elena encouraged. "But you have us. And you are stronger than you think."

Yamilia smiled wearily.

"Thanks, Elena. But I really hope it is just a prank." Yamilia said.

"So do I, Yamilia. So do I." Evan replied.

—

Finally, the three friends reached a small cottage on the outskirts of town, beyond the sidewalks. They walked on the side of the snow-covered dirt road, and up the small steps. Elena stepped forward, and lightly knocked on the door.

"WHO IS IT?" A loud shout came from inside, muffled by the door.

"It's Yamilia! You know me! Remember, you were my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Hatyrov. I'm here with my friends, Evan and Elena. We need you to come to the door." Yamilia called cheerfully.

The door swung open and smacked against the side of the house. An angry red face appeared. It was Mr. Hatyrov, unshaven and in his midnight blue pajamas. Elena could see the sadness in his eyes.

"What do you want?" he demanded. He stared at Yamilia in the eye.

"Please, Mr. Hatyrov." Evan walked up to him. "We need to know exactly what happened to your wife. We are trying to solve the mystery surrounding her disappearance."

"My wife, my lovely Marva, is dead. There is nothing left to be said. Now leave!" Mr. Hatyrov said sadly. He looked down at the floor. Elena could tell that he was trying to be angry, but was only distraught at his wife's death. He was a broken man, once cheerful, but now that his other half was gone, his cheerfulness was fleeting, and most of the time, hidden.

Blocked.

Frozen.

"Please, we have to know! We might be able to bring her back!" Elena pleaded. Mr. Hatyrov sighed.

"This is a waste of my time, but I will tell you. I was in bed, sleeping, and I woke up, needing a drink of water. I noticed that Marva wasn't next to me like usual. So I got up to get my water, expecting to find her in the kitchen, but she was gone. I heard something outside, and so I went outside. She was there, but she was different. She wasn't Marva, she was taken over by something. She tried to touch me, but I got this gut instinct that I would die if I let her touch me. She ran away, and I slipped on the ice, and couldn't follow. I called the police, and waited at the police station for hours until they found her ashes. I have them in my room, in a jar the police gave me. They are not unusual, in case you are going to ask. That is my story."

The three smiled. Elena shifted on her feet. The silence was getting to her, and she wanted to leave so that she could start putting the pieces together.

"Thank you. So much." Elena said sincerely.

Mr. Hatyrov grunted, and slammed the door in their faces, going back to his grieving.

A/N: I'm so sorry it has taken so long to update! I have been working very hard on a fan fiction that I have started posting. I have been super busy with school, choir, orchestra, and newspaper club. So yeah, there are my *super* wonderful excuses. I will try to update more frequently, because I have finally made an outline of what I want to happen in this book so YAY! Byeee, gotta get back to writing!