cruel summer. [ rini au ]

chapter nineteen.

The rocks around the lake grew larger as Nini followed Sofia, calling out for her to stop. Nini cursed the ineffective soles of her running shoes as she picked her way over the stony obstacles in the darkening lights. Ahead of her, Sofia was only visible by her bright white t-shirt.

Nini cursed as her foot slipped and she felt the slick edge of the boulder cut into the flesh of her knees. Wincing, she paused to look, hissing as her fingers probed at the wound and came away with wet blood. Reaching into the lake, she splashed some cold water over the cut, hoping to rinse away the excess blood. Sighing, she succeeded in her second attempt to climb the rock, continuing to chase after her camper.

It was beginning to get darker and darker by the minute. Nini had probably been out here for at least three hours and the storm was getting worse.

Nini reached out for something to cling to in the dark, twining her fingers around a tree branch, but jumping at the sound of a cough.

"Sofia?" she called out. "Sofia, please don't run anymore. I won't yell, but I just need you to stay put."

"I can't see anymore," came a tiny voice and Nini stood and carefully walked towards the sound. "Nini? I'm sorry."

It took a bit, but Nini managed to find Sofia and then they found somewhere to sit, sheltering them from the wind. Leaning against a tree, she drew Sofia close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her to keep her warm. Fumbling under her sweatshirt, she tried to find her whistle to call for help, but it wasn't there and a bubble of true panic lodged in her chest.

"We have to wait, don't we?" Sofia realized, wrapping a hand around Nini's wrist. "Because I ran?"

"Don't worry about that right now," Nini told her. "We're just taking a break."

---------

Ricky leapt up from where he was sitting on the grass when he heard Dave call for the counsellors. Glancing at his phone before shoving it in his pocket, he noticed it was after seven. It began to rain slightly and the wind picked up within the last hour.

"The rangers have searched the other side of camp and came up empty. Now, they are expanding their search by 2 miles outside of camp property with the estimation that Nini couldn't have gotten further than that without running out of light. We are assuming that Nini and Sofia are either together or in the same area. The rangers will search the new area, and all counsellors will continue to search their areas again. Everyone is with their original partners except Emma and Ricky. You're together." Dave told everyone.

"Let's go," he told her, grabbing his flashlight, not stopping for a minute.

"Ricky, I know I shouldn't have left her and I'm really sorry."

"We just need to find her. I'll stop being a jerk when we find her," he said, continuing to walk at a fast speed.

Two hours later, Ricky and Emma returned from the woods after searching their sections more than twice. It was past nine and Emma stumbled to a chair on the patio of Madi's cabin, where the rest of the staff waited.

"We found her whistle," Dave told him. "It was by the lake. Looks like she must have dropped it since it was a couple feet away from the water."

"So what happens now? Do we try again?" Ricky said, running his hands through his hair, shifting from one foot to another.

A park ranger ran his finger over the camp map, indicating a chunk of land that was shaded to indicate it wasn't camp area.

"We think they're somewhere in here," he told Ricky. "I have my men going over every inch of it right now. It's big and could take a while, but they'll find him. If not, tomorrow we call in the search and rescue helicopter."

"That could take hours," Ricky exclaimed. "They've been out there for hours and neither of them are dressed properly. It's raining and windy. Just tell me how bad it could be."

The grim face on Dave's face and the silence from the park ranger was enough to break Ricky's heart. He knew Nini was a fighter, but if they were right and she was with Sofia, she would fight to save her first.

---------

Nini was tired. Fighting to keep her eyes open, she shifted so that the tree dug into her back, in attempt to combat the urge to close her eyes. Above her, the rain trickled down against the leaves on the trees, dampening her hair and sweatshirt. The ground had become wet a few hours ago and Nini pulled Sofia into her lap to keep her halfway dry. Feeling the tiny body pressed against her shiver, Nini placed an ice cold hand against Sofia's cheek.

"It's cold," the little girl murmured and Nini did the only thing she could think of and leaned forward to draw her sweatshirt over her head, putting it on Sofia instead.

"But now you'll be cold," she remarked sleepily to Nini.

"It's okay," she told her. "I'm not that cold anymore."

It wasn't a lie. Nini was too busy trying to stay awake to entertain the voice in her head that told her she wasn't supposed to be warm while outside in the rain at night, but she was ready to admit she hadn't felt the cold in a couple of hours. Her skin was clammy and cold to the touch, but from the inside, it felt like she was overdressed. Chalking it all up to fatigue, she rested her head against the tree bark, promising herself it would only be for a few minutes.

Before giving into sleep completely, Nini wondered who was dealing with Ricky.