Ah, sorry about the cliffhanger on the last chapter, I hope this one isn't as much of a cliffhanger!
Lx
***
'EmmaIrwin is trying to send you a message' pops up on my phone, Emma is Ror's friend, I recognise her name from being on Ror's page.
I groan slightly, is she going to call me out and tell me to leave Aurora alone.
I hope not.
'Have you heard from Aurora today?' That's not the message that I was expecting from her.
'Earlier yes, she hasn't replied since this afternoon though. Why?' I sit up straight, I'd been lounging on my couch watching TV, but I get a prickly feeling and I'm suddenly worried, why would she be asking me that?
'Her mum went to pick her up and couldn't find her, she went on a mountain hike today and we haven't seen or heard from her since. It's not like her, she asked Wendy to pick her up because she hasn't got her car, but wasn't there when Wendy got there'
Shit, this does not sound good. Where the hell is she?
'She was with a guy...?' I reply, wondering if anyone had got in contact with him, he sounded like an idiot earlier.
'Yeah, he left her there. That's why Wendy was going to get her, they had a fight and he went home. She was coming back down the mountain when she called Wendy and she text me, but there's been nothing since and her phone is off when we try to call."
'Fuck, have you contacted the police?'
'Wendy called after she waited more that two hours, it's not like Aurora, but it's dark and they said they can't do much tonight, there's a local mountain rescue having a look now, but no one knows what way aye would have went.'
I can feel my heart beating in my chest, it's only six in the evening, it is dark but surely they can do something, I feel sick. This is not good.
'I'm going to come over.' I tell Emma, I don't know what use I can be, and it'll take me a few hours to get there, but I just need to go, I just have a feeling.
'Okay.' Emma replies right away, 'I'll keep you updated.'
'Thank you.'
I don't even pack a bag properly, I just grab my backpack and throw in my keys and a phone charger and my wallet and passport, I book a plane ticket in the back of an Uber on the way to the airport, the next available one I can get, thankfully it's in half an hour.
I can't get there quick enough, I wait for twenty minutes at the gate before I board the plane, I turn down a fan asking for a photo and only barely apologise, my head is not in it.
It takes two hours from the time I left my house in London to get here, I immediately jump in a taxi to take me to Newcastle and message Emma along the way to ask where they are, they've still not heard from Ror.
'Donard car park, we're in my car. Are you here?'
'Not yet, I've just left the airport, I'm in a taxi I'll be there in an hour.'
'Okay, it's a blue VW beetle.'
I nod and watch the driver, I want to pay him whatever it takes to have him go double the speed limit, but I also don't want him to get arrested.
It takes 50 minutes, they are the longest minutes of my entire life, I see Emma's car as soon as we turn in, there's barely any cars in the carpark.
I practically throw the fare at the driver, I give him way more than it cost, but I don't care.
I gently tap on Emma's window, I don't want to startle them, Emma and Auroras mum get out of the car, as well as a guy that I don't recognise, if this is the guy that has left her up that mountain I don't think I'll be responsible for my actions. But he's not, Emma introduced him as her brother Mike.
"Is there...anything?" I ask.
Wendy, her mum, shakes her head, "no... the police have sent a team up now, to search, but it's so dark." She says with a shakey voice.
I nod, "do you have any torches?" I ask.
"We brought some, but they won't let us go up, it's too dark and getting too late." Mike says, sighing.
They all look so worried.
"Fuck that, if she's up there I want to go look. She wouldn't still be up there by choice. Has anyone contacted her boyfriend?"
"He's not her boyfriend." Emma slightly snaps, "but em, yes... the police did. He drove home himself around three thirty."
"Dick." I seethe, "can I get a torch, or two?" I turn to Mike, I'm deadly serious, I am going up there.
He just nods, but Wendy shakes her head, "the police were adamant, if you get lost too... it'll make things worse."
I know it's possible, very possible but I still don't care, I'm fit enough, I'll be okay, I need to try, I don't care how late or dark it is or if they say no, no one is here to stop me.
Mike nods, "I'll go too."
Emma whips her head to him, she looks worried. He gives her a nod, "I'll be okay, I've been here hundreds of times, I'm technically trained for this."
"Scouts doesn't mean you're trained in mountain rescue." She says, "I should come too... more of us."
"No, you need to stay here." He says immediately, "stay with Wendy."
She's about to argue, but gives in and nods, Wendy can't come and it's not fair to leave her alone.
Mike opens the boot of his car and I'm surprised and impressed to see a lot of gear, he has a headlight, "I only have one, sorry." He says, I just not and grab the biggest torch I can see, it's big and should definitely help. I take a smaller one and put it in my pocket, just incase, Mike grabs one and pockets one as well.
"What else do we need?" I ask him.
"I don't have much, I grabbed these quickly from the garage." he says, putting a rope into a bag and a first aid kit, he puts in water and gives me one and then we go.
This doesn't feel real, we keep as quiet as we can in case we bump into anyone that will try to stop us, I am not going to be stopped right now. I don't know what this feeling is, but it's intense, I just know I need to do this.
"Do you know the paths well?" I ask him.
He nods, "I grew up in the scouts, I'm a leader now, we're here nearly every weekend in the right seasons."
I nod at him, and let him take the lead.
"The only problem is I have no idea which path Ror would have taken." He sighs.
"The last time...when we came here she told that she always goes the bloody path? Or something like that."
"Bloody bridge?"
I nod, "yeah, that was it. We did that one. She said it's the only one she knows that well, it isn't the main or most popular one but the one she always takes because it was slightly easier."
He nods, "that really helps." He says gently as we try to make our way carefully along the path, even with the torches it's hard to see, and it's cold, I have a hoody and a jacket ok, but it's chilly here tonight, my stomach drops at the thought of her on these mountains in the cold.
"Do you think she would have purposefully stayed up here? Would she have camped or anything?" I ask, in the hope that she's not really lost, or worse.
"No, no way. She wouldn't do that to Wendy, she told her she was coming back down and to meet her at Mauds, Wendy waited ages and tried to phone her several times, I think somethings happened." He says, making my stomach once again drop, I feel sick at the thought.
"We have to find her. If she's up here." I say, determined as I watch every step I take.
The higher up we get the stronger the wind and chills get, we must have been walking for about an hour, it's so hard to see around us or even where we're walking, I know it's dangerous.
"I think we need to go back mate, it's so hard to see anything, I don't think we'll find her even if she is here. We need to wait until it's light." Mike says, I immediately shake my head. "Mate..." he sighs.
"No, no not yet. This is definitely the path we took, she said she always takes this one unless she's with others who know the paths better. I just feel... like she's here. The police or mountain rescue or whoever are clearly not doing anything. We haven't seen them at all, they're not here. We can't just leave her here until morning."
He sighs, "but we can't see... we could end up in a similar position if she is h..."
"Shh, Shh wait." I cut him off, "shhh." I say again and strain to listen, trying to hear again what I think I just heard.
"Here...here..." it's a feeble voice but I can definitely hear a voice, Mike snaps his head towards me, he's heard it too, it's not just in my head. I think it's her, it has to be her.
"Aurora?! Ror?!" I yell, trying to figure out which direction her voice was coming from, it's hard to tell up here where it's so open.
"Here..." she croaks again, I take off in a sprint, I don't care that I can't see where I'm going, I try to shine the torch along the ground, but it barely keeps up as I stride quickly over the rocky path.
"Keep speaking Ror, keep calling." I shout out, shining my torch around in every direction. I go farther up a little path and hear her more clearly now, and then my torch catches a flash of pink, tucked in against the rocks at the side. I can see her legs with the same pink leggings she was wearing this morning in her instrgram post.
"Fuck, Ror. Mike! Mike I've got her, Mike!" I yell at him as I rush towards her, every part of her is shivering and in my torch light her skin is ghostly pale. I immediately take off my jacket and put it round her, using my hands to rub up and down on her arms, she's awake but barely.
"Shit." Mike says as he kneels beside us, taking the backpack off his back, he unfolds one of those silver blankets and put it over my jacket. I pull it tight around her.
"Do you have any water Aurora?" She shakes her head, he immediately pours some from his bottle into her mouth, I can see it go everywhere, but she swallows what does make it to her mouth.
"Are you hurt?" I ask her.
She nods, "leg..." she croaks, her lips shivering still.
I nod and look at Mike, "we need to get her down. I'll carry her."
"Carry her? Down a mountain? Harry..."
"I'll carry her." I tell him again, "give her more water and then get her on my back, put her legs through the straps of my backpack, if her legs broke she'll need any support she can get. It'll hurt but we need to get her down."
He nods and gives her more water, she drinks more this time, and then we both gently move her, she cries out though, my eyes sting with tears as Mike helps me get her securely onto my back.