Of Friendship and Courage
by Brittney

PROLOGUE

The cold was becoming unbearable. Ice was all around, and a chilling wind blew through the tunnels, making the freezing temperatures feel even worse. Now that the last fire-lit lamp had burned out, it would not be long before the cold would become deadly. It was dark, but an eerie blue glow dimly lit the room they were trapped in. To make a long story short, it was as if hell had frozen over. And to Vincenzo Santorini, the previous week had certainly seemed like a hell on earth.
Even wearing a heavy, wool jacket, Vinny could barely feel his numb body. He rubbed his palms together and blew into them, hoping to warm his fingers, but to no avail. He sighed, his breath appearing in white wisps, then glanced over at the only other person there with him. Though more sparsely dressed than he, she at least had huge gloves over her little hands. Still, she looked just as miserable as he felt.
"You're shivering, Aud," he commented.
Audrey Ramirez shot him an irritated look. "That's stupid. I'm fine." But this had been spoken through chattering teeth.
He arched a dark eyebrow. "I'm telling ya, you're gonna freeze."
"No, I won't. I'll be okay."
"Well, at least take my jacket.."
"Then you'll freeze."
"Not before you do I won't."
"Vinny, don't worry about me," she warned.
"But, kid..."he started.
She shot him another look, much colder than the first. Vinny rolled his eyes, and sat back.
"'Scuse me. I forgot how much you hate being called that, even though that’s what you acta like."
Audrey looked away stubbornly, hugging her arms around herself and still shivering. He finally made a decision and stood.
"Very well, have it your way, then, but I'm not gonna let a lady freeze to death. And since you're the closest we have to one here, I guess I can't let that happen."
Her eyebrows rose suspiciously. "What do you think you're doing, mister?"
"Body heat. Its the only thing gonna keep both of us warm," he explained, settling himself close to her. She frowned at him in annoyance, clearly not enjoying sitting so near to him. Vinny, however, didn't seem to notice.
"Of course, if I hada my dynamite, I could just start a fire instead," he went on.
"If you still had your dynamite, then neither of us would be in this mess!" she snapped.
"Hey! Its not my fault they blew up my truck with my best dynamite," he shot back, turning away so as not to have to face her. She snorted.
"Oh yes, it's such a shame you lost your beloved explosives," she said, sarcastically bitter. "I know that’s all you really care about."
He didn't turn to her, but she saw a shudder run through his body. "I would never have let anything bad happen to any of us, you know, not to the crew, not to my friends and especially not to..." he trailed off and sighed, "well, you know who."
Audrey swallowed hard in her own sadness, pulling her legs up and hugging them close to her chest. She fought stubbornly against tears that soon came anyway. "He didn't deserve to die like that," she cried angrily, "not him. That shouldn't have happened to someone like him!" She curled her hands into fists. "Ohh, if only I could have gotten my hands on his murderer in time, why, I woulda taught him a thing or two, that no good, two-timing, son of a-"
"You would have died, too," Vinny cut her off firmly, but his voice broke, "and I'd have lost one more friend."
Audrey's eyebrows rose and she slowly looked to Vinny. She should have known he'd be taking this harder than she was. The pain must have been so much deeper in him...with a lump in her throat, she realized how close the two had been. They had bonded instantly and become almost like brothers. With a little sob, she suddenly threw her arms around him and held on tightly. Vinny was surprised at this strange outpouring of emotion from Audrey.
"Oh, Vinny, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for being so stupid and for everything I ever said about him...I didn't mean it and I'm sorry!"
He sighed gently and wrapped his arms around her in a close embrace.
"Shh...there, there, kid. Its okay," he soothed her.
"No, its not okay!" she sniffed angrily. "I've been acting like a stubborn, brave idiot when I'm really so scared about wh-what could happen to us...all alone out here..."
"Nothing's gonna happen to either of us, I'll make sure of that," he reassured her softly, running a soothing hand through her hair. "I'll take care of you."
But as the wing whistled in the spacious cave, even Vinny didn't sound sure of himself. He felt all alone and very fearful for them both. He didn't have some big plan to get them out of this one. As she cried in his arms, her sobs echoing off the walls, he could hardly believe the events that lead up to this moment...if only they had all known in the beginning of this journey just how terribly it would all end.