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Beastly Winter — Chapter 12

C. L. Nichols, Author
2 min readApr 8, 2024

Holding the flashlight in one hand, Vic lifted the jacket. One sleeve was ripped but no suspicious stains were visible. It was as if it had been casually discarded. Or had something pulled Sonny by the sleeve into the cave, and he’d tried one last chance to escape by slipping out of the coat?

Vic felt a nudge from behind and almost dropped the flashlight.

“What is it, Vic?”

He glared at Bobby.

“Don’t do that again, numbnuts.” He saw his friend’s look of chagrin and softened his tone. “Look, it’s Sonny’s.”

“How did it get here?” Bobby looked uneasily at the bend in the tunnel. “Do you think he went in there?”

Vic shrugged, pointed the light ahead, but couldn’t see beyond where the shaft slanted left.

“Don’t know.” He retrieved his backpack and shoved the coat inside. “We’ve got to look.” He stepped forward.

Bobby reached to stop him, but Vic had already moved beyond his grasp.

“Shouldn’t we go for help?”

“That might take too long.” Vic already neared the bend in the passageway.

“Hey!” Bobby watched Vic disappear. “Wait up.” Bobby hurried to catch up with the light.

Beastly Winter

34 stories

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C. L. Nichols, Author
C. L. Nichols, Author

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