Arcadian

The disappearance

"Oi love birds! get out of there before you get caught," I rattle on the door of Lucian's tent.

"What the fuck man," Dex groans while rubbing his eyes, clearly having just woken up. I peak into the tent and see that Lucian is asleep and there's no sign of Harper.

"Where is she?" I question, having expected her to be camping out in here when she never returned.

"Who?" Dex questions, still in his sleepy state. "Harper," I clarify. "I don't know, I haven't seen her since this morning," He mumbles.

"Wake him up," I demand, the panic rising within me. "Why," Dex asks. "Just fucking do it, hurry up," I command urgently. Dex crawls to Lucian, shaking him violently.

"Ugh what," Lucian says while batting Dex's arm away. "Lucian where is Harper?" I implore. "What?" His croaky voice asks, sounding very confused. "Where. is. Harper," I break it down for him, getting agitated by their idiocy and the fact that I'm being pelted in the back by snow and hail.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her since everyone went to their tents," He yawns. "What? So she didn't come to return your hoodie?" I ask him frantically. Sensing my panic, they both straighten up and seem to wake up a bit.

"She's not in your tent?" Lucian questions, now fully alert. "No, she left like three hours ago to give you back your hoodie and she never came back, I assumed she was camping out with you two" I rush out, the dread now building up.

I pull my head out of the tent, shining my touch around the surrounding area when I finally point it at the floor. I hadn't even noticed I was standing on Lucian's now soaking hoodie, the darkness of the night sky concealing it from my view.

"She was here, you're telling me you didn't see her at all?" I ask, holding up the hoodie to both of them now that they've climbed out of the tent. 

"Why would she bring the hoodie and not give it back?" Lucian questions, shielding his eyes from the blizzard like weather. "Unless..." Dex trails off, causing Lucian to glare at him. 

"Unless what?" I grit out, sensing that there's something they're not telling me. "We were talking about her and Lucian said some not so nice things," Dex reveals.

"What the fuck is wrong with you two, she's our friend!" I shout. "Fucking find her," I command, the fact that she might be out in this weather somewhere scaring the shit out of me.

"Have you seen Harper?" I question some random people from our class after banging on every tent in the area. This is getting serious, everyone is now alert to the fact that Harper is missing and Lucian, Dex and Emilio have gone to wake up the teachers.

"How long did you say she's been missing?" Mrs Green comes storming in my direction, wrapping a coat around herself. 

"Coming up on four hours now," I say quietly, the gravity of the situation fully hitting me. "Jim call the ranger's office," She urgently tells our other teacher.

"Everyone get back to bed," She shouts at the people that are now starting to climb out of their tents, curious about the unfolding situation. 

"You guys too," She points at us, grabbing a flashlight and heading towards the woods. "No fucking way! she's our friend," Carter yells.

"I already have one student missing I don't need all six of you getting lost too, especially in this weather," She shouts over the loud wind. Obviously none of us listen to her, entering the woods behind her with our torches out. 

"Harper!Harper!" We call out, frantically searching for her for a good twenty minutes.

"Fuck! Someone help!" Our teacher screams. We immediately run to the sound of her pleas for help, only to be met with the most horrific sight. 

She tries desperately to pull Harper out of the snow, her body almost fully buried under it. "Shit!" Lucian shouts, running over to her and helping her lay Harper out on top of the snow.

Harper is completely blue, her eyelashes are frozen to her face and her lips are a shade of purple. Her small tank top exposed her arms and fingers to the harsh temperatures, causing her finger tips to become a dark black colour.

"Harper," Lucian's whispers, his voice cracking as he rocks her in his arms, tears slowly dripping out of his eyes.

"Run back to camp and tell him to call an ambulance!" Mrs Green shouts at Tyler, causing him to snap out of his shocked state and start booking it back to camp. 

Mrs Green has to pry Harper out of Lucians hands, "Harper sweetheart can you hear me?" She questions pointlessly.

She repeatedly places her two fingers back and forth against Harper's wrist and neck.

"There's no pulse."