I laughed, but Darcy didn't and it caused my stomach to sink.

We were going to dig our way out of here?

Well... crap.

Neala was gone.

I woke up roughly five minutes ago, and after I went to the now safe to enter bathroom to relieve myself, I opened the living room door and popped my head around to see of she was okay, but she wasn't there - which was weird. When I went to sleep last night she was snuggled up on the couch, but now she, and the spare blanket I gave her on Friday night, were no where to be seen. It was darker than last night because all of the candles were blown out, but I re-lit them to brighten the room up. I had a large lit candle in my hand as I walked around the living room and checked behind the couch and every other part of the room where Neala could be sitting or lying down, but there was still no sign of her.

There was sign of the doll box though so I picked it up and brought it into my room were I put it in the top drawer of my dresser. I wasn't thinking of keeping the doll from her, I just wanted it kept in a safe place. I barely thought of the doll though, I was thinking about Neala and curiosity got the better of me so I went in search for my unexpected houseguest.

I left my room and checked my dining room and like the living room, it was empty.

"Neala?" I called out.

No reply.

I didn't like silence when Neala was in close quarters with me, it would be a foolish, and dangerous move to assume she wasn't up to something. She probably wasn't up to anything at all, but until I saw it for myself, I was assuming she was up to no good.

"Neala?" I called out again.

I knew she wasn't in my room, but I checked it thoroughly anyway. When that room was in the clear, I went back out into my hallway. I don't know why, but I went to my front door. A vision of Neala somehow getting through the wall of snow flashed through my mind so I rushed forward and opened the door. I breathed out a sigh of what felt like relief when I saw the wall of snow perfectly intact.

I reminded myself I wasn't relieved that she was still here somewhere, just that she wasn't out there dead and encased a block of ice. Her ma would kill me if she died while I slept.

I closed the door and turned around. I walked down the hallway and stopped at the bathroom, I didn't look into my bathtub while I was in there so I knocked on the door and called out Neala's name again. Again, no reply. I opened the bathroom door and shivered, the vent in the ceiling definitely wasn't clogged with snow because cold air from outside was flowing through it perfectly fine.

I closed the bathroom door and continued to walk down my hallway, I paused at my kitchen door for just a moment before I reached for the handle. I opened the door and stepped through the doorway.

"Neala?" I murmured as I poked my head around the door.

No Neala.

Where the hell was she?

I stepped into the room and frowned. It was pretty dark, so I used my candle to light the ones on the counters. When the room was lit I was about to shout Neala's name as loud as I could when I heard the faint sound of a snore. A smile stretched across my face when my eyes locked on the door of my storage room. I walked over to it and knocked on the door.

"Clarke! Are you in there?"

Another snore.

I smirked to myself as I placed my candle on the kitchen counter then moved back to the storage room and used both of my hands to bang on the door as loud as I could. I stopped when Neala screamed, and I laughed when I opened the door and she fell out onto the floor sideways.

"You're a bastard!" Neala moaned from the floor.

I couldn't disagree with her, so I didn't.

"Are you okay, Harry Potter?" I asked as I looked down at her.

Neala hissed. "Harry lived in a cupboard under this stairs, not a kitchen storage room."

I shrugged. "He had no option, you on the other hand had a perfectly good couch to kip on, and yet you came in here to sleep... Why?"

Neala rolled over onto her back and stared up at me. "Your house makes funny noises at night time and it kept me up... so I came in here. Einstein talking every so often made me feel a bit better... like I wasn't alone."

I hated that I felt bad.

"Why didn't you come into me if you were afraid?" I asked curiously.

Neala grunted, "Because I knew you would have told me to get into your bed and go to sleep."

I blinked away the image of Neala spread out on my bed, and I tilted my head as I looked down at her.

"How did you know I would have said that?"

She shrugged. "Because you don't like me being scared out of my mind, unless you're the reason for it."

She had me there.

I gnawed on my inner cheek as I looked her in the eye. "You're right, I would have told you to get into my bed, but it would have been just to sleep. No funny business."

Neala snorted, "I know that."

I frowned. "So why did you come in here then?"

She sighed, "My pride wouldn't let me go to you for help."

I smiled. "You're going to need me eventually Neala, whether it's for a tin of beans, a bottle of water or even for a light for your candles."

She looked away from me. "I'll avoid needing you until absolutely necessary."

I laughed.

Typical Neala.

"Okay, well, I wasn't joking about what I said yesterday evening. We're digging our way out of here."

Neala groaned. "That's not a good idea. The snow has had Friday night and all day yesterday to set, it's going to be hard as ice, and all we have to dig through it is spoons and forks. Trust me, I checked."

I opened my mouth to correct her, but when I realised all my tools and shovels were outside the house in a shed I closed my mouth and huffed. I had a big house, but hardly any furniture to fill it. I only bought what I needed when the house was finished being built. I didn't know how to cook, the extent of my culinary skills was putting a pizza in the oven then taking it out when the timer goes off. And since I didn't cook I had no use for anything in my kitchen except for knives, forks, spoons, a few plates, cups, and the odd bowl for cereal.

"Well, spoons and forks will just have to do."

Neala laughed, "You're crazy."

"Excuse me, but I'm not the one lying on a cold floor laughing like a hyena. Nope, that would be you, nut job."

Neala kicked at me with her legs so I jumped back away from her. "Less of that!"

Neala continued to laugh as she got up to her feet. She snapped her fingers and jumped up and down in a circle around me with nothing but fake enthusiasm. "Let's get to it, boss. Let's dig our way out of here."

I didn't appreciate her sarcasm.

"If you don't wanna help then don't, I'm not going to force you," I snapped.

I turned and walked out of the room.

I hoped I looked rugged and manly, but I was holding a scented vanilla candle to see where I was going so I doubt I looked as hard as I wanted to.

Neala followed me and snickered, "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Miss Daisy. I'm going to help."

I rolled my eyes. "Help me by shutting up."

Neala scoffed from behind me, "You shut up. You're the one who never stops talking."

"Everyone we know would disagree, you could talk for Ireland, chatter box."

"Fuck you, I'm not a chatter box!"