The Everlast 2 I open my eyes and memories flood back into my mind. I gasp and sit up. The flames have all died, and I am alive. I quickly check myself over. Nothing. No scrape, burn, not even a bruise. 'What is going on, am I dead?' I think to myself. Slowly and cautiously I stand up, there are charred branches and logs everywhere. I start to climb the blackened wood to the small entrance. I haul myself out and touch the doorway, the horrible memories flash through my mind. The hand pushing me down, the feeling of knowing I am falling to my death, but now.... I'm not dead. "But how am I alive?" I wonder aloud. I look around and my eyes alight on the cell built into the wall. I hesitate for a moment afraid of what I might find, but after a moment I sprint to the metal bars. The door is hanging open, I shove it the rest of the way open and it squeals in protest. My breath catches in my throat, as I look down at the two figures lying limply on the cold stone ground. "M-Mom? Dad?" I whisper, my voice hoarse and cracking. I walk the rest of the way in and drop to my knees next to my parents. They are lying side by side, their hands still clutching each others. I slowly reach out my hand, hesitating before gently touching my fathers shoulder. I jump in surprise as his body rolls to the side. A sob catches in my throat as I now see his bloodied shirt, ripped over his heart, where the blood pooled. My heart feels like it trembles as sobs rack my body, making me shake. The pain inside from sorrow and horror, and then the anger comes, boiling, raging, growing...burning. I look down at a flickering blue light coming from below me and screech while i jump up. I'm on fire. I scream and try to bat out the flames, I slowly stop as I realize......I'm not burning, I can't feel the heat, now that I think of it, I can't feel the cold of the icy mountain wind blowing on my face. I hold my hand up towards my face and stare at the flames in awe and shock. As I slowly calm down and the fire goes out. I stop and take a deep breath, a feeble attempt to calm the shaking of my body. Slowly I walk towards the entrance to the cave, I take a breath and step out into the snow, bracing myself for the biting cold...that never comes. I look at my surroundings and spot a small, far away town nestled in a small snow filled valley. I sigh and start the long walk, not realizing my fingers are tipped with crackling ice.

The Everlast I stumble through the knee deep snow as the icy wind batters my face, and my arms wrap around myself in a feeble attempt to keep warm. My body has long since given out, but my mind pushes on, determined and stubborn; determined not to get caught by my pursuers, and stubborn enough to stand through the pain racking my body and push on. I keep walking just like I have been for the past two and a half days. I look over my shoulder and gasp as I spot the five figures quickly gaining on me. I turn around and urge my frozen limbs to move faster. I hurry on as fast as my battered body can go, but I know it isn't enough. I can't escape... I feel the rough hands grab me and I scream. I know it is no use. There is no one here to hear me. I scream and fight with all my remaining strength against the strong rough hands now carrying my petite form. "Let me go!" I shriek, tears streaming down my cheeks. I am carried back towards the other four people, all of which an assortment of ages, looks, and ethnicities. The older man walks towards me with a rag in his hand, I struggle and lash out towards him screaming and kicking but he presses the cloth over my mouth and nose and the rancid, acidic, smell fills my lungs. My head goes light and everything goes black. I awake and I am in a chair, bound and gagged, sitting in the snow my limbs numb. The people notice I am awake and walk up to me and stand in a semi-circle around me, the wind whipping their clothing and hair around. The middle aged man brushes my ragged, filthy hair off of my face and smiles a horridly sweet smile at me. I flinch away from him my blue eyes bursting with rage. He laughs. "You, my dear Cleo, have been a very big pain" He says. "And now" The black haired woman says "After we are finished today, we will be rid of you, forever" My eyes widen and I freeze in horror at the realization. They all smile. "Yes lass" The orange haired man says, "Out of all your family members. You have been the most difficult to catch" Tears start to fill my eyes as I think of my family. And then again comes the blinding rage. I scream at them, the duct tape covering my mouth muffling the sound as I thrash on the ground, my limbs tearing against my bindings. One of them reaches down and tears the duct tape off my mouth, I gasp slightly in surprise and then start shouting. "What did you do to my parents?!" I scream "What did you do to them?!" The woman laughs. "Well" She says through her thick russian accent "They are save. For now" "Where are they?" I shout. "You will soon find out" she says. One of the men grabs my duct taped hands and hauls me onto his shoulder as if I'm a sack of flower. I scream and thrash, squirming to get out of the mans grasp. "You should've left the tape over her mouth Clove" the German woman mutters. No matter how much i struggle it doesn't make a difference. They haul me along into a large cavern. The deeper we go the hotter it gets, my limbs still feeling like solid blocks of ice. I don't notice the actual frost tipping my fingers, or that my hair and eyes have gotten a sharp icy white tint to them. I am dragged into a vast cavern, the man shoves me forward where I fall to my knees. I look up and see bars set into the wall. I look closer and there they are. My Mom, and Dad. I stand up and stumble to the bars, and I cling to them and reach out to the reaching hands of my parents. We grasp each others hands and I cling to them weeping with relief. I feel rough hands on my shoulders. "NO!!" I scream, holding tight to the hands of my parents. "No! Please no!!" I scream, hearing their similar cries for mercy from my parents. The two men this time drag me to the edge of a pit where a bright flickering light comes from. They shove me to the edge and I look down staring straight into the inferno beneath me. I spin around and try to run to my parents, shrieking with fear. I feel the force of rough calloused hands on my chest, flinging me backwards, the last thing i see before I fall is terrified look on my mothers face as she screams out my name right as I fall over the edge of the pit. I hit the ground and my scream of fear turns into a shriek of agony. I writhe and screech as my frozen limbs are suddenly aflame with heat. I twist and scream, the pain searing through my body, I writhe on the burning wood, the smell of my own burning flesh filling my nostrils. I don't know how long it was that I was screaming and writhing in agony, and I don't know how, the whole time the feeling of cold still lingered in my body, but finally the blackness starts to enter the edges of my vision. My thrashing slows, and I take one more shuddering breath and my vision turns black....