"Drat," Amelia cursed under her breath, sneezing a little as she shivered. She paused in her steps and looked up to the skies then checked the time on her phone.
She had been walking for the last fifteen minutes, but those mere minutes were enough to cause the snow to fall harder and harder. What was previously a light snowfall had quickly turned into a much heavier one, with the snow coming down hard and fast. Not only that, the winds had gotten stronger, and since she was still near the peak of the mountain, that was further amplified.
To top it all off, while her phone was still working, the connection was practically non-existent at the top of the slope. She couldn’t even contact for help even if she wanted to.
Amelia bit her lip and looked down at the slopes― the advanced slopes were much higher, which meant there were multiple points that could be used to ski down, not just the one right at the top. In fact, there was one just right ahead.
She looked at the snowboard in her hands and contemplated. According to the signs, it would only take her approximately fifteen minutes to reach the base of the slope if she snowboarded down, a significantly shorter duration than if she walked.
Because of the snow, the lifts had ceased operations. Amelia only had these two choices left. She could either snowboard her way down, or she could continue walking, which would take her at least triple the time.
If she factored in the fact that she was a mere beginner and would take longer, it could still save her a lot more time than if she walked. Much more, it would be a different issue if she continued down the footpath and lost her way.
Amelia shivered as a grim thought crossed her mind. At least if she died on the slopes, her body would eventually be found when the next batch of skiers took to the slopes. The same couldn’t be said if she was lost on the steps since most of them would be taking the ski lifts.
Gritting her teeth, Amelia hurried over to the point where she could start snowboarding and prepared herself. Even though she had only just started learning, she was glad that Andrea was at least a decent instructor when Matteo had been watching him like a hawk.
He at least got the basics down, and she was confident that if it weren’t for Lilie, she would’ve at least made it down the beginner’s slope with no issue. The advanced slope, however...
Never mind. Amelia couldn’t stop to think that much, not when the snow was falling even harder. The wind was already howling in her ears, and she cradled her mask a little tighter to her face.
She was going to die trying to get down even if it was the last thing she did.
Preparing her goggles, Amelia pushed off from the starting point.
The advanced slope was much steeper than the beginner’s slope, obviously, and Amelia soon found herself gaining the speed she never experienced on her first run.
Based on pure instinct and what she had learned, she twisted her body according to the way Andrea had taught her. She had basic skills in skateboarding from her school years, and while those two were completely different activities, at least it helped Amelia with balancing.
In the distance, she could already see the lights of the hotel building. The heavy snowfall was quickly blurring her vision, but the flickering golden lights served as a beacon to which she followed.
’I’m actually going to make it! I’m going to―"
However, just as she thought she was about to succeed, Amelia tripped. She tumbled, her body sent flying down the snowy path as she grunted out in pain. New bruises were stacked on top of old ones, and Amelia hissed just as she heard a distant crack. She didn’t bother with it at first and tried to prop her body up.
Every inch of her body felt as though it was on fire despite resting against the cold snow. It had successfully cushioned her fall, thank goodness, but it wasn’t enough to keep her completely out of harm’s way.
Amelia exhaled heavily, a white fog escaping her lips as she tried to scramble up to her feet. There was a black spot just an arm’s reach away, and Amelia made a grab at it.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed.
Sometime during the fall, her phone had tumbled out of her pocket. Her snowboard must’ve hit it somehow, for the screen had a large dent in it, causing the image to glitch in a pixelated green line. Even if she was close enough to get some bars on her phone, it was already out of commission.
The broken phone, however, was the least of her worries. As Amelia tried to get up, a sharp pain in her ankle caused her to topple back down nearly immediately. She reached down and painstakingly removed her boots from the board, biting down hard on her bottom lip due to the pain.
She had felt this familiar pain one too many times― she had sprained her ankle for sure.
Amelia looked forlornly at the hotel. It was just a short distance away, so close that she could almost make a run for it if she hadn’t been injured. Snowboarding to the base of the slope had cut off a significant amount of time from her journey― she was almost there.
Almost.
Amelia’s eyelids grew a little heavy, and the snow had slowly turned from a chilling cold to a numbing sensation. White blurred her vision, and all she could hear was the storm that swirled around her.
"Matteo..." Amelia murmured his name, crouching deeper into herself in an attempt to preserve body heat.
She should’ve followed him. It was foolishly naive of her to think that Emmeline wouldn’t attempt something, even if it was at the hands of another person.
In her last moments, she could almost see the outline of Matteo, a valiant knight rushing towards her despite the heavy snow. No one had ever told her that the hallucinations a person saw before their death would be so realistic.
"Matteo..." she muttered once more, her voice barely above a whisper as her body slowly began to shut down. It was so cold. Everything just felt so cold and painful.
"Amelia!"