The ticking of the clock had stopped. It had run out of power recently. That methodical click, click, click was something Kuza never thought he'd miss. It used to grind at his patience. Now, it's lack of existence had brought more attention to the silence. It was gnawing. He wanted to rip his hair our, cry and scream, but he had to keep his composure.

His eyes were as dead as Chris'. The taller was sitting at the end of the table, only a seat away from him. They'd reached new levels of exhaustion. It was that type of tired where you couldn't even register that you were sleepy anymore. You don't know what's real or what's just an lucid dream. The words about to be spoken did feel like they could only be an illusion. Surely, no one would consider this, but they had no other choice.

Ghost sat on one of the bottom steps. Her long dress draped over the floor and stairs below her. She was a modern princess trapped in a barbaric Hell. Vinny was sat a step behind her, tracing his fingertips up and down her back to calm her.

Josh crossed the room at a reasonable pace, trying not to spill the tea in his hands. He reached the couch and guided his mate's hands to the cup. Ryan-Ashley took it carefully, bringing the soothing liquid to her velvet lips. Pia rested in her lap, purring to comfort her. Toronto desperately followed Josh everywhere he went. Without his older brother around, he felt lost.

Ricky and Ryan's deaths were one thing. It came about as a freak accident, but losing sweet little Casper was a wake up call. Something Ryan had repeated constantly while he was alive had now come to their attention; They cannot live like this forever. The resources in the basement were only going to last them so long. Eventually, this cold world would kill them if they didn't leave.

"Ghost and I had to travel in this storm for months just to get from New York to Scranton. Normally, that would've been a week's journey." Kuza said.

"Normal." Chris scoffed. He set his elbow on the table and rested his head against his fingertips. "Normal is a word that doesn't exist anymore. There is no normal standard for any damn thing."

"Chris is," Josh sighed, "Unfortunately right. We can't rely on what should be, but what could be. We could survive a journey out there. The real problem is, where do we go?"

"The only planets that haven't been ravished are Venus and Mercury. Earth was already too hot for me. Hell, both those planets are too hot for Earthlings too. Besides that, it would only be a year or two before they got ravished." Chris said.

"Wait," Ghost interrupted, "What'd you mean Earth was too hot for you? Are you... Not from here?"

"No, he's from Neptune." Kuza responded.

"How'd you know that?" He asked.

"Ricky told me. And you're right, there's nowhere left here for us to go, but this isn't the only world that exists."

She rolled her eyes, "You're not going on about your whole duplicate Earths theory again, are you?"

Kuza glared at her for her unnecessary attitude, "No. Not other Earths, other dimensions. The reason why Deysa was the only yellow eyed lost one left, and why there was never many to start with, is because they were only bred by old Scandinavian genetics. He believed in Norse mythology, not just because of his ancestors, but because he swore he'd actually seen their legends come true. I believe him."

"That's great and all," Josh griped, "But even if it is true, the Bifröst was supposedly destroyed."

On the wall, between Ryan's prized sword and Ricky's bow, hung a framed map. When it sat between the weapons of their lost warriors, it seemed to hold some heaviness. Kuza stood up, gingerly walking to it as he continued, "Yes, but there is an entrance to Helheim on Earth." He ghosted his finger over the waterway next to Greenland on the map, "He said it's opposite Greenland, along the straight, and at the end of the river and splits Newfoundland."

Chris quickly got up. His rush drew his partner's attention. Kuza's red eyes watched curiously as he approached the armoire that held the rest of Ryan's swords. Chris pulled open one of the bottom drawers, of which was stacked with several more maps. He muttered to himself about how Ryan "better have a fucking Newfoundland map".

"Here." He pulled out the old sheet of paper and brought it over to the table.

Kuza gravitated towards him. He wasn't the best at reading maps, especially ones with so much detail. Ryan, being Ryan, couldn't have just simple maps. No, they're the ones that had to name every waterway down to a puddle and every mountain down to a grain of sand. Having a closer look at the country in question, he was able to see the river his late friend had spoken of.

Tracing his finger along it, he replied, "It's this, the Churchill river."

"It's massive. It goes across the entire fucking country. How the Hell are we supposed to find a hidden gate when we have to cover this much land?" Chris angrily spat.

He wasn't mad at Kuza. The fact that they had any kind of option to get out of this inn was something he was grateful for. His rage was directed at their hopelessness. It felt like no matter which way they took this at, they were going to have no options left. They were stretching for an ounce of opportunity that they could survive this.

"Forget that. How exactly do you plan on getting there in the first place? You said it yourself. It took you months to get from New York to Scranton. How long do you think it would take you to get up to Northern Canada?"

"The problem was, we had no clue where we were going and we were both weak. We have strength now, we have resources and direction." Kuza responded, "It'd still be a six to eight week journey, but it is the only option we have. You can stay here and freeze and starve to death it you want, but I'm not going to."

Chris gently set his hand on his mate's shoulder, silently telling him to calm down. Tensions were high. There was no denying that. After a slue of loss, no one wanted to look death in the fact again. Somehow, the more strung up and angered others go, Chris could manage to level himself out. He had his moments of outbursts just like anyone else. In this room, though, he might as well have been considered a monk for his patience.

"It would be foolish for us all to make the journey. It's just more people who would get killed along the way. Mike is right, though. We can't keep living here until the day we die. So, I purpose that only he and I make the journey. When we reach our destination, we will find an easier way to get you all there." He took a long gander at the map, "If Helheim is real, and if there is a gate, there has to be tools in their realm to help us get you all there."

Josh turned away from them, bitterly speaking, "It's a death sentence, but I'm not going to stop you. It's your choice."

"Josh," Ryan-Ashley softly spoke up, "Please, don't be so pessimistic."

He sat down beside her gently. Toronto hopped up in his lap and snuggled in quickly. As he took her hand in his, she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, my love. I just," He sighed, "I don't want to lose anyone else. We've lost enough."

"Nothing is life worth having comes without risk." Chris glanced over to his partner tiredly, "And the things that keep us alive, take deadly risk. We both could use a lot of sleep, though, before we dare to brave that storm."

"I agreed." Kuza could barely get those two words out without yawning.

Chris set his hand on his waist and kissed his temple, "Let's go get some rest."

Ghost stood and moved off the stairs to let them through. She glanced at Vinny sadly. He got up himself and took her by the hand. Giving her a gentle kiss, he led her up to their room. It was getting late. Or, whatever you could consider late for their terms. Now, without even a clock to speak to them, they had no way of knowing what was day or night. As if they weren't already in the twilight zone as it was.

Vinny snaked his hands around his girl's waist. He pressed her into the door after she had closed it. Not to be sexual or anything. He just wanted to be as close to her as possible. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah," She let out a shaky sigh, "Everything has just been so... sudden. I don't want to think about it, though."

He was tired, she could tell. The bags under his eyes gave that away. Though she knew damn well that she shouldn't have, she traced her fingers along his skin to feed thoughts into his mind. She'd sworn she'd never use her ability on him but she was desperate for a fix. Sex was her drug; her escape. After all the stress she's endured, she desperately needed a hit.

"You don' have to, Beautiful." He purred, his breath falling along her neck.

"Mmh," She slowly bit her lip, "Baby, please, take my mind off of it."

He placed kisses carefully on her soft spot, "Gladly."

| | |

Kuza knew he should've been sleeping but how does one sleep when they're about to embark on a two month journey in an eternal blizzard? With the only support you have being the one person you can't decide if you love or hate? He knew he could trust Chris to have his back. After all, he would die if Kuza did. There was still the worry that they'd spend the time arguing and hating each other. So far, they didn't have the best track record.

"You're stressed out." Chris said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah? No shit." He scoffed.

"Mike," He began to speak, only to be cut off by the bathroom door slamming. Chris took a deep breath. He had taken so many, their calming effect was wearing off. With all the kindness he could muster, he knocked on the door, "Baby, please come out. I don't... I don't want you to hurt yourself again."

Kuza slid down the door slowly. He rested his elbows on his raised knees, playing with the razor in his hand. "I won't tell you that you don't know hurt... I know you do, but you're better at handling it than me... I... I can't process it like other people."

His hand fell from the door slowly. He closed his eyes, hesitantly speaking, "Angelo used to do that... Cut himself. Ricky and Ryan would drink to deal with it; Their demons, I mean. I never understood it. I guess, I never will... But maybe there's some things we're not always meant to understand."

His mate forced himself to stand up. Kuza opened the door to face him. Anytime he had to look into those honey colored eyes, he lost himself. It was like his heart was swallowed up by a choppy ocean. The hurt he felt was something he'd never known prior to meeting Chris.

"We can't all heal like you do. Maybe it's an Earth thing, I don't know." He muttered, "Now, will you leave me alone?"

Kuza slammed the door in his lover's face. He flinched a bit and let his eyes slip shut again. Chris had more heart than everyone in this house combined. He was also filled with the most understanding. Maybe that's why he could cope without a razor or a bottle; He understood death is not the end.