[ 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.
"Hey who's flashin' their light? This isn't some sorta joke." Uncle Joe asked, looking at the other three of them. They all looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Everyone turn their lights off for a sec." Patrick said urgently, and they all did so, looking around to see if they could see the flashing light Joe had mentioned.
"See, I told ya one of yas was flickering their light." He said a few moments later when they did not catch sight of the light again.
"Wait - there!" Henry shouted, pointing to an extremely dim light shining up toward them. It was not flickering, but it was not there the first time they went through the woods. The four of them ran to the side of the trail, their flashlights back on and searching. Alessio saw some traces of blood in the snow, and it worried him as his eyes travelled further down the hillside. It was a long drop, but sure enough, they could see a light staring back up at them.
"Casey!" Alessio shouted aggressively. He started to go down, but Patrick stopped him.
"We need a plan to get her out of there first. As much as I want my little girl out from down there, we need to be smart so we don't get more of us caught down there." He reasoned, and Alessio nodded, running a hand over the top of his head. "You know the land more than any of us, what would be the best course of action of getting her out of there?" He added, starting to reason with him
"There's a steady incline back up toward the house if we go down and just go directly back. Or there's a shed just before the trails start with a big sled in it. We could secure her onto it and slider her back up. Up to you, doc." Alessio wagered with him, and he seemed to weigh both options.
"Henry, go get the sled and make sure to grab anything we can use to secure her to the sled and keep her head steady. We also need a rope of chain or something to pull the sled back up. With the fall she might have had, I don't want to risk moving her head, neck, and spine until we know for sure. Alessio, you and I are going to head down. Joe, I need you to hold as much light as you can down there. I can use her phone as a flashlight when I get down there, so here's mine for some extra light. Ready?" Patrick spat out instructions quicker than anything. Henry had taken off as soon as he had told him to, and Alessio handed Uncle Joe his phone for an extra light. Alessio and Patrick slowly went down the side of the path, sliding carefully forty feet down to where Casey was laying. She was shivering but unconscious, her phone lying in her hand.
"She's freezing." Alessio said, cupping his hand against her cheek.
"Alright we've got to wait for Henry with the sled. What I want you to do is while I hold her head and neck steady, help me flip her so she's face up." Her father said as he got behind her head and cupped his hands firmly just under her chin to keep her neck steady as Alessio carefully turned her upward.
"I got the sled! I found a bag of stuff that might be useful too, I'm sending it down now!" They heard Henry shout from above, and a few moments later they heard the rattling of metal of the sled blades slowly being leashed down the hill.
"Alessio, take her phone and look to see what's in that bag. What do you see?" He asked as it reached the bottom of the drop off. Alessio grabbed Casey's phone from her hand, almost having to pry it out of her fingers. He looked and saw a couple rolls of duct tape, a couple bungee cords, some rope, and a couple of pool noodles. When he named them off, Patrick instantly asked for the tape and pool noodles. Alessio watched in amazement at how quickly he worked with what resources he had, especially when it came to his own daughter.
"Hold these tight against her ears like this." He instructed, and Alessio did what he was told while Patrick worked with the tape. He did not want to tape her hair or skin, so he folded the tape in those places but made it tight enough around her head to where the pool noodles were not going anywhere. "Alright, slowly help be slide her onto the other side of the sled. It's more of a toboggan, which is even better because the rails will keep her in there better. Then we'll use some tape and bungee cords to strap her in there good." He continued to instruct, and they did exactly that. Once they thought she was in the sled snug enough for transport, Patrick put another piece of tape over the pool noodles and connecting them directly to the sled itself.
"Bring her up!" Alessio shouted when Patrick gave the all clear. As they dragged the sled back up the side of the drop off, Patrick and Alessio slowly followed, digging the fronts of their shoes into the hillside and hoisting themselves upward. Eventually everyone made it up to the trail safely, and once they were situated, they started heading toward the house.
"Which is better - wait for an ambulance or go straight to the hospital?" Patrick asked him.
"If we call a bus it won't be out here for twenty-thirty minutes. It'd be quicker if I drove." Alessio responded, and with that, they went straight for his car instead of heading inside.
"Uncle Joe, Henry, thank you for all your help. Please, just go inside and tell ma what's going on, I know she's probably worried sick." Alessio said as they took Casey off the sled and slid her into the backseat with Patrick.
"Get her there, well, all of you there in one piece. Be safe, and keep us posted." Joe told him, and he nodded as he got in the car. He threw his car into reverse and back into drive and started bolting towards the main road. The closest hospital was fifteen minutes away, but he was certain he could make it in ten. Patrick kept her steady in the backseat while he drove. He did not say many audible things, but the one thing her father said that he picked up on was him saying, 'I can't lose you too. Not like this."
Alessio stepped on the gas.