Can’t Win Me Back

Elias frowned deeply; his worry etched onto his face.

"We've been shouting Ms. Alyssa's name the whole way.

With so many of us calling out, she should've heard us by now if she were nearby!" In a deep voice, Jasper said, The wind is too strong, and then there's the heavy snowfall.

Our voices are being drowned out.

Lyse might not hear us at all." Lyse.

Her nickname slipped from his lips before he even realized it.

"I'm just afraid she's injured—or worse, fainted.

If she blacks out in this cold..." Elias trailed off, his voice heavy with dread.

"Ona day like this, she won't survive long.

She'll freeze to death." The group exchanged uneasy glances, the reality of his words tightening their chests.

It wasn't that Elias was being a doomsayer.

Rather, this was the cruel reality that might actually happen.

Crater Mountain claimed lives every year.

Danger lurked unpredictably in the woods on the mountain—anything could unfold.

"Let's split up," Jasper commanded, his eyes fixed on the shadowy forest.

His voice carried an edge of desperation.

“We're not leaving until we find her." Elias hesitated.

"But what if—" "If anything happens to her," Jasper cut him off, his voice trembling with fierce determination, "I'll make this place my grave.

I mean it." Before anyone could respond, Jasper turned and strode into the darkness, his figure quickly swallowed by the night.

watched him disappear, exhaling a heavy

aristocratic families raise people with fiery hearts."

convinced him to make her a promise, all

she didn't mean just a

them to retrace their

Jasper's heart raced as he

he and Alyssa

harrowing brush with death, the suffocating fear, and the unspoken bond of survival that had tethered

doesn't protect you, I will." That promise wasn't just words; it was carved into

had not

He had remembered it.

world swirled in

heavy thud echoed as his strength gave out, sending

with the weight

"Alyssa...

find you..." Clenching his fists, he

protest, but

"I have to...

you!" In the midst of hopelessness, the temperature continued to

was as ruthless and cold as

ball,

her almost entirely, rendering her nearly invisible to anyone who

a chilling shade of purple

clinging to awareness, her mind wavered in

stiff, and she would

violently as she curled

heartwarming childhood memories flickered in her

from her senses, replaced by

of her daze, her late mother had appeared, her arms wide open, enveloping Alyssa

"Lyse, my sweet girl.

Don't be afraid.

beautiful and gentle woman stroked

you've been