But there was the snow.

And as long as the branches continued to catch the newly tumbling flakes, her tracks would lead her back out once more.

She clung to that hope as she abandoned all other reason in pursuit of a baser desire. To find the echo within the woods.

It was hard work, walking through the thick drifts that had built up, even beneath the shelter of the snow-crusted foliage. The heavy white layers made it difficult to move forward, tugging at her boots and making her legs burn. And before long, even Violet’s head ached from the effort.

The skin around her cheeks felt hollow and dry, and her eyes burned against the frigid air that seemed colder here, denser somehow, and harder to breathe. Violet strained to keep moving, and with each step, the pain became more and more intense. Yet beneath her skull she could feel the tremulous vibrations of the echo pulling her onward.

She blinked heavily, squinting against the imaginary blades that slashed through her scalp, her forehead, her eyes.

That is the echo, she realized, the excruciating ache that ravaged her, nearly blinding her at the same time she was compelled to locate it. And she was helpless to stop herself from seeking it out.

To Violet’s way of thinking it was the very definition of insanity. But there was nothing she could do about it now. Whatever was out there needed her to come.

And she would.

She gave no more thought to the cold, her body feeling numb in comparison to the pain in her head. She wasn’t even sure she would know if she was cold anymore, which could be dangerous at best. Life threatening at worst.

And then a sudden awareness seeped through her discomfort, and all at once Violet was certain that she’d found the source of the echo. The body she’d been searching for. It was buried beneath the very spot on which she stood. She was besieged by a sense of relief like nothing she’d ever experienced before. It was as if the torturous grip on her was abruptly loosened by her proximity to the dead thing below her.

She could breathe again. Freely. Almost euphorically.

She dropped to her knees and sighed, enjoying the dizzying sensation that swept over her.

But she didn’t waste any time. She reached out and dug her gloves into the soft upper layers of snow, scooping quickly and creating a fresh mound beside her. Her hands broke through deeper sheets of thin ice, cracking them apart easily and shoveling that snow aside as well.

She worked diligently, efficiently, and the effort warmed her, distracting her from the lingering headache that buzzed dully in the backdrop of her brain, fogging her thoughts and keeping them from becoming completely lucid.

She felt like she was stoned. Drugged by the echo itself.

The disorienting, narcotic sensation kept her focused on her task as she kept digging.

When her gloved hands reached solid ground, Violet belatedly realized that it had all been an effort in futility. The ground wasn’t soft, the soil not loose enough to dig in. And it wasn’t just hard; it was frozen into an icy barrier. Solid.

It was no use. There was no way to reach whatever lay below.

That was how Jay found her, kneeling in the snow, trying to think what she should do next through the haze of her cloudy mind. Trying to decide how to solve this puzzle.

“Crap, Violet. Didn’t you hear us yelling for you? You scared the hell outta me.” Jay scolded her at the same time he stretched his hand out for her.

Violet stared at it, momentarily confused by the gesture. What does he want me to do? she wondered dreamily.

“Do you want up?” he asked, bending down this time and grasping both of her hands in his. He pulled her to her feet, guiding her until she was standing.

The ringing in her head intensified.

Jay looked around Violet’s feet, glancing from her puzzled expression to the piles of snow on the ground and back to her face again.

Understanding finally forced his brows together. “Did you sense something out here?” he asked, keeping his voice low now.

Violet nodded. That much she knew. That much was clear to her still.

“We can’t stay here, Vi. Everyone’s coming. They’re looking for you, and you made it pretty easy once we found your trail. They’re right behind me.” Jay wrapped his arm protectively around her, drawing her closer to him. He kicked at the piles of snow, spreading them out. “Come on, let’s start back. We’ll head them off before they get here and start asking questions.”

She allowed herself to be led, despite the increasing pain as she left the location of the body behind her.

It didn’t want her to go.

They never did though.

She felt like she was suffering from some sort of withdrawal from the drugged haze of the echo she’d discovered, and the farther she walked, the stronger it gripped her.

But her thoughts, at least, started to clear again as the headache intensified, and as they did, she knew that Jay was right. The discomfort was nothing compared to what she would feel if she had to answer invasive questions from her friends about what she’d been doing, about what she had been searching for in the snow.

Claire was the first one to reach them, although Chelsea and Mike weren’t far behind, meandering at their own slow and steady pace, hand in hand. Obviously not everyone had been worried about Violet’s whereabouts.

“Oh good, you found her!” Claire exclaimed as she reached Violet and Jay, picking her way carefully through the path of footprints. “Where were you?” she asked Violet.

Violet was leaning her head against Jay’s shoulder, trying in vain to block out the throbbing pangs of the echo as it called for her to return again. The vibrations, the impatient itching beneath her skin, continued to draw her back into the woods, and it was a struggle not to answer that call. She clung to Jay to resist it.