Stepping out of the elevator, Gale and Rachel walked towards Room 217 at the end of the hall to the left. Nothing else changed, no bullet holes anywhere, no loud banging sounds. Only the shuffling noises inside the room could be heard in the empty hallway.

  "Bet they're still watching out the window," Rachel rolled her eyes.

  Gale unlocked the door, pushing it open. Ollie jumped up from the sofa, shaping his hand into finger guns, pointing at the two of them.

  "Bang bang," he said. "You two just died."

  "Real mature," Rachel said.

  The twins who stood by the window turned to look at Gale and Rachel. Clyde still carried the long gun with both hands, finger resting on the receiver away from the trigger.

  "Thing's gone," Kyle said. "Disappeared a couple of minutes after you guys went downstairs."

  Gale shut the door.

  "Just vanished?" Rachel said.

  "Yep," Clyde said. "One minute there, then gone when I looked back."

  Rachel took out the cylinder of salt from her pocket and tossed it on the coffee table. "Well, Robert says it's a wendigo."

  "A what?" Kyle asked.

  "Wendigo. First Nations folklore legend," Rachel took off her jacket and put it on a chair. "People turn to cannibalism during winters and then become monsters with never ending hunger. They grow antlers and become big. It just eats and eats apparently."

  "So we shoot it in the head," Clyde said. "Problem solved."

  "It's something that can't be killed," Gale said.

  Kyle spun his pistol on his finger, plopped himself down onto the armchair, both legs hanging over the arm. "Even better. I get to squeeze my trigger as much as I want."

  "That's not the weird part," Rachel sat on the sofa. "When Gale mentioned the sixth floor, Robert said that this place only has five floors."

  "That doesn't make sense." Ollie turned to Gale. "Didn't you say you went up there last night?"

  "I did," Gale said. "Candles, red circles, the whole satan cult set-up."

  "Maybe the old man's confused," Kyle said. "Senile, like I said."

  "Or lying," Clyde moved away from the window and stood by Kyle. "Either way, makes the hunt more fun. Five floors, six floors, doesn't matter. We find it, we kill it."

  "You two and your itchy trigger fingers. This is why we keep getting into trouble. You shoot first and think never," Ollie said.

  "Hey, it's got us this far. It works," Kyle said.

  "Define 'worked,'" Ollie grumbled. He turned back to Gale. "So this sixth floor. You're sure about what you saw?"

  Gale nodded.

  Ollie rubbed his chin. "When we found this place in the storm, did anyone count the floors from outside?"

  Everyone went quiet for half a minute, trying to remember.

  "Five," Rachel said finally. "I saw five rows of windows when we were walking up."

  "Same," Kyle agreed. "Definitely five."

  "Then maybe I was really just hallucinating?" Gale said.

  "Only one way to find out," Ollie said. "Let's go look."

  "All of us?" Rachel asked.

  "Safer with more of us," Ollie said. "Grab your gear."

  Gale nodded.

  The five of them left the room. Kyle seemed ready already with a dagger already in his right hand. Going out of the room, Gale pointed them to the stairwell he went to last night. They went up floor by floor, Kyle almost tripping on a step as the incandescent light bulbs barely lit up the stairs.

  Third floor. Fourth floor. Fifth floor.

  Gale looked up, expecting more stairs leading to the sixth floor. Instead, there was just a ceiling. The stairs stopped at a wall marked "5."

  "I swear, there was a 6th floor," Gale said.

  "Maybe you took a different stairwell last night?" Rachel suggested.

  "It was specifically this one," Gale said.

  Clyde opened the door to the fifth floor. "Let's check this out first."

  The fifth floor looked like any other hotel floor. Long hallway, doors on both sides, exit signs at each end.

  "No candles," Rachel noted. "No red circles."

  "This wasn't it," Gale said, walking further down the hallway, then stopping. "The floor I was on looked older. It had like wood beams, but this is just a regular floor. Guys, I swear."

  They checked every room that wasn't locked, finding nothing but empty hotel rooms with old furniture, the same ones in their suite. No sign of anything weird or any foul play.

  "Let's head back down," Ollie said. "This is getting us nowhere."

  The group went back to their suite and sat around the coffee table once more. Kyle sat on the armchair two legs on the arm, while Clyde leaned on the wall beside him. Ollie paced between the coffee table and the dining table by the suite's door. Rachel and Gale sat on the sofa beside each other. Tactical retreat to safety was mission-a-go.

  "So," Kyle said. "We've got target practice outside, a sixth floor that's not actually the sixth floor, a creepy old man clerk who gives out sea salt. This tuesday sure is weird. Am I right?"

  "It's iodised salt," Clyde commented.

  "Robert said to put the salt at the threshold," Rachel picked up the cylinder on the coffee table.

  "And you believe him? What does that even mean, threshold?" Ollie asked.

  Rachel shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

  "That sixth floor was real. I was there," Gale looked down.

  "Maybe it only exists at certain times," Rachel said. "I've seen crazier things happen than a mystery door only appearing at very specific times."

  Kyle snapped his fingers. "That's it! The 12:14 thing. What if the hotel changes after that time?"

  "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Ollie paused. "But fuck it. I'd kill to shoot at something right about now."

  Rachel turned to Gale and put her hands under her legs. "You think the floor will show up again?"

  "Maybe," Gale said.

  "Ghost hunting at midnight," Kyle grinned. "Coolio."

  "Caffeine up then," Clyde said, starting to disassemble his long gun. "And don't you guys dare steal my twinkies."

  Ollie pushed away from the wall. "Shut up, Clyde. No one wants your stupid twinkies. We've got a bigger problem than ghosts and wendigos."

  "What's that?" Gale asked.

  "Food," Ollie pointed at the junk food on the dining table. "This junk won't last. And according to the weather network, it's going to be like this shit for two days."

  "Two days?" Rachel said. "You're kidding."

  "Nope. We're stuck here."

  "Great," Kyle muttered. "Trapped with a monster and no food. This keeps getting better."

  Gale raised one hand up. "I'll handle the food."

  Four pairs of eyes turned to him.

  "You'll 'handle' it?" Ollie asked. "How exactly?"

  Gale pointed to himself. "Survivalist, remember? That weather isn't exactly that bad."

  Kyle stared at the window for a second. "Is it just me or does snow not taste like food? Nothing out there but white and trees. Ghost bambi meat sounding good right about now."

  Rachel sent a spark at Kyle, looking annoyed with a clear 'I'm going to hit you' stare.

  "Ow!" Kyle said. "Hey! That hurts!"

  "There's plenty if you know where to look," Gale said.

  "Like what? Snow cones?" Kyle laughed, dodging another spark that came his way.

  "Winter berries. Pine nuts. Small game. A lot of things, actually," Gale said.

  "And you're planning to just wander into a blizzard to forage?" Ollie asked.

  "Yeah, why not?" Gale replied. "This snow is just… normal?"

  Kyle stood up, walked to the window and squinted his eyes. "Normal huh. Its like a curtain of white. You sure there's food there?"

  "Just trust me," Gale said.

  "Gale knows what he's doing," Rachel said, standing up.

  "Yeah, guys, let's listen to the Gale Hathie fan club president." Kyle turned from the window to Gale. "You know she wouldn't stop talking about you in the dark rift we went to?"

  Rachel blushed. "I'm just saying, he's got skills we don't have. He grew up doing this stuff."

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "She's right," Ollie added. "Saw it myself in the Eclipsed. Let's trust Gale."

  Gale nodded, standing up from the sofa and walking to the suite's entrance door. "I'll be back."

  Gale pulled up the scarf higher to cover more of his face so that only his eyes were exposed to the cold. Thick clouds above diffused the light into a shade of gray, making it easier to see in the blanket of white as he trudged through the snow.

  Dad took him hunting in similar conditions before, maybe even worse and colder. This blizzard wasn't a big deal. Dad might even say it's a nice day outside in conditions like this.

  He stopped at the edge of the tree line, snow collected on his shoulders, hood, and the fur lining of his hood.

  "Guide," Gale whispered. "Scan for targets."

  [Using Breath of the Void passive. Scanning perimeter.]

  [Detecting multiple small mammal heat signatures approximately forty-seven metres northeast. Vegetation containing edible berries detected in multiple locations within one hundred meter radius.]

  "Show me the closest rabbits."

  [Highlighting optimal route to target.]

  A faint blue line appeared in Gale's vision, visible only to him. He followed it deeper into the woods, where the trees blocked some of the wind. His footsteps were quiet in the fresh snow. He didn't need the Guide's help, but this would be faster so he could go back to the hotel as fast as possible.

  The blue line led him to a fallen log covered in snow. Gale crouched down, brushed away snow and found a small tunnel entrance.

  "Jackpot," he muttered.

  This was no longer the hostile dark forest of doom of the Eclipsed. Here, he knew every plant and animal. This was his home for the first 12 years of his life.

  Left hand went into the left pocket, and the storage box's interface lit up. Weber materialized in his right hand. Alter activated, immediately sizing up the Weber to almost the size of a spear.

  He got downwind from the rabbit den and waited. Five minutes passed before a rabbit came out, its white fur hard to see against the snow. Gale didn't move.

  The rabbit hopped out, then another one followed. He lunged fast. Point of the Weber stabbed precisely at the head. The second one stuttered and ran the other way, but it was too late as Gale was already mid lunge, grabbing it by the neck. One snap, and it was over.

  Two more separate movements came from near a tree. Gale got them just as easily, throwing the spear at one of them and then catching the other by the neck again.

  He gathered the rabbits and cleaned them quickly. Mom always said to respect nature. Take only what you need, and use everything you take, she said. Four would be enough for the 5 of them. Next was gathering berries.

  Walking along the treeline, he soon found several bushes of wintergreen berries. He filled his backpack with just enough filler to eat along with the wild rabbits.

  A laugh carried on the wind. A child's laughter.

  Gale spun around, spear swiping along with the spin. Something white flew at his face. He moved sideways, and the snowball barely hit him.

  More laughter came across the trees, clearer and closer.

  He saw movement behind a thick pine tree as he saw small footprints in the snow. Gale followed, keeping his distance. A small face looked out from behind the trunk. Dark eyes, copper skin, black hair in two braids.

  A little girl.

  She wore First Nations winter clothing. A fur-lined coat with patterns, thick mittens, and boots. She looked about ten years old.

  "Hey," Gale called, doing his best to make his voice as soft as possible. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

  The girl hid behind the tree again. When Gale got closer, she ran, moving through the snow really fast.

  "Wait!" Gale called.

  He followed her tracks. She went between trees, but Gale was faster. When he got close enough, he caught the back of her coat.

  "Got you," he said.

  The girl laughed and screamed, tripping on the soft snow. She got up and ran while laughing.

  Gale made a snowball and threw it gently. It hit her shoulder and exploded into powder. She laughed again.

  "My turn!" she yelled, making her own snowball.

  Her throw missed. Gale pretended to dodge anyway, causing her to laugh harder. She ran away to another tree, but she fell into a pile of snow.

  Gale went over to her, picking her up from the pile. "You okay?"

  She nodded, brushing snow from her coat. "I'm fine."

  "Hey, what's your name?"

  "Dyani," she said, looking up at him.

  "I'm Gale." He looked around at the weather getting worse. "You shouldn't be out here alone, Dyani. The storm's getting worse. You could get lost."

  Dyani kicked at the snow. "I know the woods. And nobody's looking for me anyway."

  "What about your parents?"

  "They're busy." She said.

  "Friends?"

  "The other kids don't want to play with me," she said, looking down. "They all call me names and say I'm weird."

  It's not like Gale didn't know how that felt. Kids were always mean. Heck, he even considered himself a kid even now. Watching other kids play in the field while he sat in a corner reading a book… there were times he wanted to just join them, but he couldn't.

  "Well," Gale crouched to meet her eye to eye, then patted her head. "I think you're pretty cool. Besides, I'm kinda weird myself."

  Dyani's eyes lit up. "Really?"

  "Really." Gale looked at the snow, then at the grey sky. The others could wait. He already got the supplies. A couple of hours wouldn't hurt.

  "So… you wanna build a snow fort?"

  "Yes!" Dyani jumped with excitement.

  They found a good spot between three pines where snow had piled up. Gale taught her how to pack the snow tight for the walls, just like dad taught him in their 'casual' fort wars.

  "Make sure the base is wider than the top," he instructed. "That way it won't fall over."

  Dyani worked hard, her tongue sticking out as she concentrated. Together they made a small fort with a snow bench inside and tiny windows.

  When they finished, Gale nodded toward the fort. "You better get in there and defend it. I'm going to attack in exactly one minute."

  Dyani ran inside, already gathering snowballs. Gale walked away, counting. When he reached sixty, he turned and yelled.

  "The fort will be mine!" he shouted, grabbing snow as he charged.

  Dyani squealed and threw snowballs through the windows. Most missed, but one hit Gale in the chest. He grabbed the spot, acting hurt.

  "A hit! But I won't give up that easily!" He threw his own snowballs, missing the windows on purpose.

  They played for several minutes. Dyani got better with each throw. A snowball hit Gale in the head, sending snow down his neck. He made himself falling onto the snow dramatic, sending himself further than normal on the snow floor.

  "Ah! You got me," he groaned, lying in the snow. "You're too strong. I'm done for."

  Dyani poked her head out of the fort. "Hey! You okay?"

  Gale stayed still, not answering, eyes closed. He heard snow crunching as Dyani came closer. When her shadow fell on his face, he jumped up.

  "Surprise attack!" He ran past the startled girl and dove into the fort. "The fort is mine! You fell for the oldest trick in the book!"

  Dyani laughed. She ran after him, trying to get her back into her fort, but Gale blocked the entrance with his body.

  "Surrender!" he called. "Or face the very cruel consequences!"

  "Never!" she shouted, throwing more snowballs at him.

  The two played until it started getting dark. Next, it was Gale's turn to defend the fort while Dyani, the overlord, charged the last bastion of mankind. Dyani even said that mankind should pay the price by no longer being able to eat chicken, only fish and cows and other things that were not chicken, making Gale dramatically scream at the cruelty of the overlord. They switched roles a couple of times until Dyani looked up at the sky.

  "I have to go," she said. "It's getting late."

  Oh shit, he completely forgot. He was out here getting food for the rest of the group. It had been hours, and Rachel would probably be worried.

  "Me too." He stood up, brushing off snow from his shoulders. "Can you find your way home?"

  Dyani nodded. "I live close."

  Gale's hands went to his pocket, finding a chocolate bar in his pocket. He handed it to her.

  "Here. A reward for defending your fort so valiantly."

  Her eyes widened. "Really?"

  "All yours, Overlord Dyani."

  Dyani took the candy, putting it carefully in her coat pocket. "Thanks! And thanks for playing with me. It was fun."

  "Anytime," Gale said, meaning it.

  She waved goodbye and turned, disappearing between the trees quickly. The snow soon hid her completely.

  Gale watched where she'd gone, then picked up his backpack. The rabbits would make a good meal, and the berries would add variety. He headed back toward the hotel through fresh snow.

  The wind got stronger as he walked, blowing snow in his face. He thought about the little girl. Something about Dyani seemed familiar, but he couldn't figure out what. Maybe it was just that they were both outsiders. What did it matter though? He was able to make her laugh, and that's all that mattered.

  Up ahead, the hotel lights came through the thick blanket of snow, square yellow glows against the white. Gale walked faster, the others would be hungry and the rabbits needed preparing.

  Back at the hotel, Gale went into the lobby, dragging his feet across the carpet to knock off the snow. Robert wasn't at the front desk. Of course not, because ghosts can just randomly disappear and appear.

  Going up the elevator, he walked back to room 217, opening the door.

  Before he could get in, Rachel blocked the way, arms crossed. "Where the hell have you been? It's been hours."

  "Getting dinner," Gale held up his backpack.

  Rachel frowned. "For three hours? We thought the wendigo got you. Why didn't you use the walkie app?"

  "Uh… I forgot," Gale said, not wanting to admit that he didn't even know how to use the walkie app or if it was even on his new phone that had way too many features.

  "Give the man a break, Rachel," Ollie said. "Hunters need time to hunt things. What's going to kill him out there? A bear?"

  Rachel frowned at Ollie. Room temperature clearly going up.

  "I'm ok, Rachel. I'm sorry. Teach me how to use the walkie app later?" Gale asked.

  Rachel's expression softened, and she got out of the way. "Right… I'll teach it to you before bed."

  Gale walked in, and Kyle immediately sat up from the sofa with drool on his face.

  "The mighty hunter returns," Kyle said.

  Clyde didn't even look up, lying face down on the bed in his room with the door open. "Told you he wasn't dead. You guys owe me 5 bucks each."

  Gale dropped the backpack on the table and opened it. "Four rabbits. Should be enough for tonight."

  Rachel looked in the bag. "You actually caught rabbits? In this weather?"

  "Not that hard if you know what you're doing," Gale said. He pulled out the smaller pocket. "Berries too. They're safe."

  Kyle came over to look. "Damn. Kid's really got some survivalist skills. Who you think would win, you or that Bear Grids guy?"

  Whoever that Bear Grids guy had nothing on Gale. Dad taught him the absolute everything until his fingers even bled.

  "Shut up, Kyle," Rachel said, sending a spark at the man, who dodged. "There's a kitchen down the hall of the first floor. I checked earlier. Nothing fancy, though."

  "Perfect." Gale walked toward the bathroom. "I'll clean these up first."

  Gale went into the bathroom, putting the rabbits aside and then skinning and gutting them one by one.

  Rachel appeared in the doorway. "Need any help?"

  Materializing Weber onto his right hand, it Alter activated and Weber turned into the size of a knife. "I'm good. Just need to do the last steps," Gale said.

  "I remember you did the same thing to those beasts in the forest," she said.

  Gale didn't look up, focusing on the rabbits. "Yeah. Mom and dad taught me. I can't forget even if I wanted to."

  "I remember you told me," Rachel said quietly. "It's just nostalgic to watch it again."

  Gale paused for a second, looking up at her. Her soft smile caught him off guard, making him look away. "I'm done. I'll cook these in a bit."

  He quickly stood up and went back to the living room where Ollie was setting up a chessboard on the coffee table. The twins were gone.

  "Where'd Kyle and Clyde go?" Gale asked.

  "Scouting the perimeter," Ollie said. "Their idea. Said they wanted to check all the exits, just in case."

  "In case of what?"

  "In case we need to bail," Ollie said. "Those two always have an escape plan. They're always anal about it ever since I met them."

  Rachel grabbed her coat. "Let's get these rabbits cooking. I'm starving."

  They went downstairs to the restaurant's kitchen. Looking at the hotel's kitchen, it was small. A stove, sink, a microwave and a set of pots and pans. It was still better than the settings he would use in the wild with his mom and dad. He put everything in the pot, and just as it started boiling, Rachel found salt and pepper in a cupboard, handing it over to him.

  "That smells amazing," Rachel said.

  "Simple trail recipe," Gale said. "Rabbit stew with pine and berries. Nothing fancy."

  "Better than vending machine food." Rachel sat on the counter, legs swinging. "So, what else did you find out there? Besides rabbits and berries."

  Gale stirred the pot. "Snow. Trees. More snow."

  "No wendigo sightings?"

  "Nope." Gale hesitated. She'd probably get mad if he told her about Dyani. "Just wildlife."

  "Lucky you." Rachel pulled her sleeves over her hands. "I've been stuck listening to Ollie and the twins bicker all afternoon."

  "About what?"

  "Everything. The Path's management style. The Silver Lions' research. Whether Kyle cheated Clyde at cards last summer in Quebec." She rolled her eyes. "Never a dull moment."

  Gale ladled some stew into a bowl. "Try this. Careful, it's hot."

  Rachel took the ladle, not bothering to blow on it. "Mmmm. That's good."

  "My mom's recipe," Gale said. "She could make anything taste decent."

  "Your mom sounds like she was an amazing cook."

  "She was." Gale smiled, trying to force it down but couldn't.