The Sanatorium

The next day, Elin and Will go to breakfast. Will is impressed with the spread, but Elin is a little hungover from drinking the night before and doesn’t have much of an appetite. She thinks of her mother’s reaction to Sam’s death, and how she “drank to block it out” (63). Her father, on the other hand, cleared out Sam’s room and avoided any reports of his death. Eventually, her father left their mother and started a new family in Wales, which Elin feels is a continuation of his blocking out the past.

Isaac soon comes into the room, and immediately Elin notices that something is wrong. He tells them that Laure is missing, and that he’s afraid something has happened to her.

A skier named Jeremie Bisset hikes up the trail behind Le Sommet, looking for a good place to practice. He comes to a clearing outside of the forest, and gets ready to ski, but he hears a noise that sounds like footsteps. Having only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, he assumes his mind is playing tricks on him. He skis down towards the forest trail, enjoying the untouched snow where no tourists have gone.