"Why would you want my snowshoes?" asked the student, holding his pair above his head and out of Sophie's reach. Sophie's friend clambered onto a desk and lunged at it, managing to tug the pair out of its owner's grasp. She handed them to Sophie, as the student tried to snatch them from her. "They're mine!"

"I'm trying to save all our lives here, you idiot!" Sophie snarled, hurrying over to the window. It wasn't really the student's fault; he was naturally dense and she hadn't bothered to explain. Sophie tugged on the footwear and turned to her friend who had several pieces of garments draped over her arm. She handed them one by one to Sophie, who put them on. The other three had handed over whatever they could sacrifice.

"Are you sure this will work, Soph?" asked her friend, worried. "How do we know you won't forget about the rest of us here when you find help or what if... you freeze to death out there?"

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Thanks for the boost of confidence. But I'm still doing this." There was a moment of silence as she placed a hand encased in two layers of mittens on the window, preparing to push it open. She couldn't shake off the awful feeling as they gazed at her like that was going to be the last time they saw her alive. Finally, she whirled around, glaring at all three of them. "Look, I'll be fine, okay? As much as I would like to stay in here and remain warm, there's still that..." She pointed at the ceiling, which they had decided not to directly mention, to avoid jinxing anything. "... and it'll kill you faster than the blizzard would..." She trailed off as her friends' gazes shifted from her to the window. Slightly frightened of what she might find, she threw a glance over her shoulder, but there was nothing there. The storm, however, was slowing down once more.

"Well, we know it can come back," Sophie said, but she couldn't brush off the feeling that it was pretty miraculous. She climbed out of the window and dropped onto the snow not less than a foot below, landing on the snowshoes. The wind whipped snow into her face, but Sophie could feel that it was slowing down as she started moving. With her eyes squinted against the wind, she could hardly see anything ahead of her save for an unending sheet of white. She tried to determine which direction to move towards. Where was she going to head to? The city? Perhaps there would be less snow there; or her home? It would probably be buried up to the first floor. Sophie shuddered at the thought of returning home to find her mother and brother... she shook the thought out of her mind and began walking, hoping she could find her way to the city, where she could try to get help.

#

The sleigh glided over the sheet of snow, its passengers keeping a eye out for the school building. Both the Bennetts and even Jack very well knew where it was, but all familiar landmarks had been buried under the snow. They spotted the roofs and upper floors of several houses and Mrs. Bennett tried to recognize them and use them to determine their location. It was not exactly comfortable in the sleigh as they were almost squashed by the huge sack of presents.

"Look! There's something down there!" Jamie exclaimed, pointing. All of them looked, but they could not really make out what it was. It didn't seem to be moving. The sleigh glided downwards, landed on the snow and halted. Jamie and Mrs. Bennett was out in a flash, with Jack behind them, hurrying towards the something- or someone they had spotted. It was a human, who, judging by height and built, was a student, half-covered in snow. Jamie's heart thudded in his chest, as he thought about Sophie. Could it be her? Clearing the snow away, he scrutinised the gear the person wore, but he couldn't remember what Sophie had been wearing on the day the blizzard began. They finally turned the lifeless body over.

Jamie was certain the image would haunt him for weeks to come; the soft blue that had coloured the face, the stiff, frozen fingers, curled like talons. But it was not Sophie. He heard his mother heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he tried to look closer at the face of the corpse, wondering if it was someone he knew. It was a familiar face. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally registered.

"This is one of Sophie's classmates," he said, almost to himself, but Mrs. Bennett and Jack heard him. Jamie looked up and all around, half-expecting his sister to be walking up to them, waving wildly and calling out for help; or another lifeless body which would turn out to be hers. Mrs. Bennett got to her feet and tugged at the collar of one the jackets her son wore.

"Jamie, we have to go," she said. "We have to find Sophie. She's not here. This boy was definitely from the school, but my guess is that he found shelter somewhere, before he decided to leave that shelter to try to get help. And... he died here." Her voice became firm. "Jamie, he's dead, let's go."

Jamie looked up at his mom with wide eyes. "How do you know what happened to him?" His questioned was answered almost immediately as he turned and spotted a half-buried house not far off. One of its windows was wide open. He stayed where he was for a few moments, breathing hard, the cold air piercing his lungs, as a realisation dawned on him. "Sophie... would've done that, too, wouldn't she?" he muttered. He turned to his mom and raised his voice. "She would've gone for help!"

"She's not around here, Jamie," Mrs. Bennett responded, slightly exasperated, and secretly hoping she was right. "We have to get to the school. That's where she'll be. Please."

Jamie finally stood, with difficulty, due to the clothes he wore, and glanced down at the corpse. "We should come back later for him," he said, before trudging back to the sleigh.

They had no idea how long they glided over the snow, with Mrs. Bennett giving directions. The blizzard was definitely slowing down. "Will it come back?" Jamie asked the winter spirit, who was perched on the back of the sleigh.

"Maybe," Jack replied.

Jamie's brows furrowed in confusion and annoyance. "Why did you have to do this? Why did you cause this blizzard?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but someone else answered on his behalf. "He didn't," came North's heavily-accented voice from the front. Jamie looked from one to the other and back again.

Jamie was about to respond, when he noticed something moving below. Glancing downwards, he noticed a figure clad in black, moving gracefully over the snow, at quite a speed. "Someone is skiing," Jamie murmured. He couldn't believe it. Where was the fun in skiing when you were bound to come across frozen corpses and deserted homes along the way?

"Up ahead," Mrs. Bennett told North confidently. "I recognize this place."

Jamie turned back to Jack and yelled over the wind. "So, you didn't do this?"

"Winter did," Jack answered. He then looked downwards, having spotted something and Jamie did, too. They saw another figure, clad in dark clothes as well.

"Mom, there's someone down there!" he exclaimed, tapping on Mrs. Bennett's shoulder. His mother turned momentarily, gave it one look, before turning away.

"Jamie, please. We don't want to come across any more corpses. And it's probably a skier." She sounded afraid. "Let's just get to the school."

Jack peered down at the figure, which seemed to have stopped in its tracks. He turned to look at Jamie. "I'm checking it out," he said. Jamie merely nodded. The guardian leaped off his perch and glided downwards towards the figure.

#

Sophie wasn't sure if she was heading the right way. But there was no way she could turn back. She had gone so far. The high school was probably a long way behind her. The blizzard seemed to be coming to an end and she was thankful for that, but the wind still stung her face.

The thought of getting help before the roof came crashing down and burying her classmates kept her going. She had pushed the thought of going home out of her mind as only terrifying images were showing up.

She paused for a moment, surveying her surroundings, wondering how much longer and whether she would survive. She had on several layers of clothes, but would it suffice? Judging from the cold creeping into her very being, she doubt it would. For a moment, Sophie thought about what her friend had said. She might freeze to death. Perhaps it could happen. Sophie looked down at the snow and then up ahead at the sheet of white. Her temperature would drop, she would go to sleep, then die. No one would be alerted about students trapped in a high school with the roof threatening to bury them at any moment, and it would happen and they would all perish. When the snow finally clears, her mother and brother would perhaps receive her lifeless body, if they could find her. And if Jack had caused the storm, Bunny would kill him.

Despite her current situation, that last thought made her smile, but it was the one before that got her moving again. She could only imagine the grief on Jamie and her mother's faces and as much as they sometimes deserved it, she would not let it come to pass. And she didn't really want to die either.

Sophie focused on her destination ahead of her, willing something to come into sight as she kept walking, wondering how far she was from the city. Her heart sank when she did mental calculations of the distance between the school and the city. It was not exactly a stone's throw away. For a moment, she wondered if she should take a different path. Then she saw something else in her peripheral vision.

Looking up, Sophie could not believe her eyes. It was something floating in the air. At first, she thought it was a helicopter, but upon closer scrutiny, she realised it didn't have blades. It had reindeers, though. Flying reindeers.

A sleigh! Sophie rejoiced, but a moment later, her happiness faded. What if she was hallucinating? She watched as it glided over her and wondered if it was heading towards the school. Then something seemed to fall out of the sleigh, hurtling towards her. Sophie couldn't make out what it was, but her first reaction was to get out of the way.

*Buries myself in my Hole of Shame because I took so long to get this up and it turned out terrible*