SUNSHINE

forty-three

[ A little shorter than usual but I thought where I was was a great way to end the chapter, so enjoy! ]

"Has anyone seen Casey?" Alessio asked as he joined a small group of his family members. They all looked to him and shook their heads in return. He sighed and went to go see if her coat was hanging back up, but when he could not find it, he grew slightly unsettled. He set his glass down and pulled his coat on. She was not drunk so she knew it was freezing cold outside, but she had told him she was getting a breather a little over thirty minutes ago, and usually she just needed to take a quick walk and she was back in half that time.

"We'll come with you. You shouldn't go wandering around the property alone." His Uncle Joe told him, and beside him was his cousin Henry and Casey's father, Patrick. He gave a curt nod and the four of them went out the balcony door and down the steps. It had been snowing since they had arrived to the party, so by now any of her tracks would be covered.

"Which way would she have gone?" Henry asked.

"She's a nature geek, she probably wanted to walk down the trails. I'd assume she'd go straight because she wasn't going to be gone long, but those paths split off into who knows how many different trails. Everytime I try and take a nice hike through the property I always end up somewhere new." Alessio told the three of them, and Patrick nodded in agreement.

"He's right. She would head straight for the nature she saw. Let's head straight and see if the trees blocked enough snow to leave us something to work with." He said, and they all followed Alessio's lead. Patrick would have led the pack, but he had no idea what the trails beheld - Alessio was the only one who knew that.

"Casey!" Alessio called out, his voice echoing through the vast amount of forest in front of them. Henry made a gasping 'woah' noise and they all kind of chuckled, but they got back to the matter at hand. They pulled their phones out to use as flashlights, being greeted by the shadows of the trees.

"Casey!" This time her father yelled out. They continued walking and yelling periodically, but there was no sign of her anywhere. They got to the end of the first part of the trail, and it dropped off into a valley.

"I don't see her down there anywhere. Maybe she heard us calling and went back to the house?" Uncle Joe suggested, looking at the best option.

"Let's start walking back then. Keep calling for her and see if she answers." Patrick agreed, and they turned around to head towards the house.

She could hear her name being called, and it just barely brought her out of her haze. She was freezing, a layer of snow building on top of her. She was shivering as she came more out of it, but she kept hearing the voices get further away.

"Daddy... Aless..." Her voice trailed, everything was numb and she could barely speak louder than a whisper. She was about to just shut her eyes again, but then she heard the voices growing louder again. She scrambled, her fingers trembling as she tried to find her phone in her coat pocket. She eventually got a hold of it and had just enough energy to tap repeatedly on the flashlight icon in the lower left hand side of her screen. The voices were growing closer now, but she hoped they could see her. She had fallen so far down and deep into the woods that the trees might cover her light. Her eyes grew heavy once more and she felt herself fall back into whatever slumber she had been in, but she hoped they would find her before she froze.

"Casey!" Alessio called out once more as they continued walking back towards the house. They were all using their flashlights to try and see her anywhere and look out for any wild animals that might decide to cross paths with them during their search.