Chapter One
The butterfly effect - a phenomenon where even the smallest change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. A butterfly flapping its wings today may lead to a natural disaster tomorrow. Even the smallest decision can drastically change your future. Choices will always choose how the story unfolds, whether the story is full of danger or not. It is all determined by you. This time we are joining our cast of on the old show, Total Drama. Five years of going along with their own lives gets tiring, so they decided that a reunion was in store. A remote location up in the mountains, specifically Mount Wawanakwa, is where our story of life or death starts. Before we begin, there is something you need to understand about this story. Some things are beyond your control and sometimes you have to accept this in order to move forward in this game. That's how life is. Though there is some element of freedom in choosing the right versus the wrong and each choice will open up a new path for our group. I want you to remember this as you play along with me to move this game along. Your choice will be only but a few, but every choice will affect those who are inconveniently apart of this story. So, if you are prepared to go along with this "game," let us begin.
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The snow outside flurried down upon Mount Wawanakwa as the sun began to set behind the large mountain. Large trees that had temporarily gone into their seasonal hibernation were scattered among the location, only separating when a path was formed. Wildlife living among the mountain only moved to find food or to find their group. The view of it all was beautiful. Everything was completely undisturbed. Well, almost.
A bus was making its way up the mountain, only holding six passengers. In the far back sat the complex couple that became the exact definition of unrequited love, Cody and Sierra. The shorter of the two fixed his gaze out the window, following the rapidly passing trees with his eyes as he tried his best to ignore the hot breath against his neck and the tight hold on his arm. Sierra, on the other hand, was having the time of her life as she held onto the "man of her dreams" and cuddled into his side.
Towards the middle was the kind soul, Devon Joseph, or as he usually went by, DJ. He also had his eyes fixed on watching the contents on the other side of the window to keep his eye out for any type of animal that was active near the roads. His cellphone was pressed to his ear to listen to his mother wish him all the best while he stayed up in the mountains. He only replied with a few hums, content to listen to his mother's voice as he hadn't gotten to be with her as much as he had wanted to after his career skyrocketed. Sitting across the aisle, a row ahead, sat the two best friends, Katie and Sadie. Just like when they arrived on the show, they were glued together with matching outfits, giggling and gossiping. They were excitedly talking about the different things that they would do at their stay on Mount Wawanakwa, overall annoying our last passenger that sat at the front of the bus.
Our last passenger grumbled under his breath in annoyance before turning up the radio that he had installed on his phone. The cynic, Noah, sighed as he leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, listening to the only news channel that he could connect to as far as they were.
"Today is the one year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Wawanakwa. Sheriff Emily Shaw who was in charge of the investigation is here with us today."
"Thank you for having me, Martin."
"Of course."
"For those of you who don't know about the incident, let me summarize it for you. One year ago, tonight, the Willow girls left the safety of their parents' lodge and headed out into a snowstorm. They still haven't returned and there was no trace of them left to be found."
"Was there any source of foul play that could have led these girls to leave the safety of the lodge?"
"Not officially, no. Though there is one individual that we were considering as a person of interest, but his whereabouts are currently unknown. He has an interesting history with the Willow family. He had warned them against pursuing their construction project and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers."
"You know, there is still the old Sanitorium on the mountain. Maybe he is hiding there."
"My officers did search the ground, but the girls themselves couldn't have made it that far in a storm."
"I don't know. Something about that mountain just seems to breed tragic events among time."
"A lot more than you know, Martin."
"Well, Emily, the-" The host's voice started to become distorted before cutting off and just becoming static.
With a huff and a click of his tongue, Noah clicked off the app and turned off his phone. Great, no connection. Noah thought back to what the sheriff was saying about the incident on Mount Wawanakwa. 'A lot more than you know,' huh? He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, brushing the upcoming thought off his shoulder before turning his attention out the window.
"Oh my gosh, I'm, like, super excited, Katie!"
"Oh my gosh, me too, Sadie!"
"It'll be so much fun meeting up with everyone. It feels like ages since we've last seen them."
"I know!" The darker girl gasped before drastically lowering her voice. "What if you get to talk to you-know-who?"
Sadie's face flushed red. "Oh, stop. I don't think he'll talk to me. I don't think he even remembers me."
"Of course, he'll remember you. You are the most gorgeous and sweetest person I know."
"No, you are!"
"No, you!"
The two girls continued to flatter each other loudly with compliments to boost each other's self-confidence, as they always did throughout the years of being together as best friends.
The bus suddenly stopped, making its passengers jolt forward. With a quick reach of their belongings, one by one they stepped off the bus and into the cold, crisp mountain air. Without a second beat, the bus zoomed away. With a quick glance behind them, Sierra started to tug at both her luggage and Cody's arm towards the path.
It was now silent among them, besides the sound of their boots and sneakers crunching against the newly fallen snow. The group looked around at their new surroundings as they followed the trail. A gate soon came into view and DJ wasted no time in jogging up to it to open it for his friends. A quick thanks was given from them before they continued making their way to the cable car station.
A loud gasp was heard and the group stopped to turn to look at Katie and Sadie. Katie was looking around wildly as she held Sadie closely. "Did you guys hear that?"
"It was probably a squirrel or a deer," DJ tried to reassure her. "It could even be the wind. There's nothing to be worried about."
Katie looked uneasy. She looked around once more before nodding. "Yeah. You're probably right."
Brushing off the unnecessary interruption, the group continued to walk and only stopping when reaching a large gate.
Cody stepped forward and looked at the note that was taped on. "It says, 'The gate's busted, climb over. Duncan.'"
"Oh, that's great. I definitely wanted to spend most of my time here trying to climb a fence." Noah started to regret even agreeing to come.
Cody gripped the gate's bars with red-gloved hands and harshly shook it, hoping that it would open. "No luck. I guess we gotta climb." He looked around and moved over to the wall next to the gate. "So, who's going first?"
"You guys go first," DJ told the group. "I'll toss over your bags for you guys."
The others nodded and when nobody moved to try, Cody stepped forward onto one of the rocks. He patted a few stones to check which ones were safe to grab and he started to pull himself up the wall.
"Oh, be careful, Cody-kins."
With a roll of his eyes, Cody pulled himself over the ledge and carefully hopped off the wall. "Alright, it's not a trap. Come on over you guys."
One by one, they each climbed over. Sierra, Noah, Katie, then Sadie. DJ, as he told the group, tossed over their bags before climbing over himself. With a quick grab of their belongings, they continued down the path once more, but they were stopped again when a squirrel scurried onto the path and DJ made them all stop. "Wait, you guys. Don't move." DJ got crouched down and pulled out some nuts that he had packed for a snack. "Hey, little fella. You hungry?" DJ held out the food in his palm for the squirrel and waited patiently. The squirrel cautiously got closer to him and quickly took a cashew from his hand before running away. He put away the other nuts before standing up pridefully and following the others who started on the path once the squirrel ran off.
"That was so cute, DJ," Sadie told him.
"It's all about patience."
"Hey, I think I see the station," Cody spoke up from the front.
"Yeah, and someone thought it was a great idea to leave their stuff here," Noah said.
The group moved closer to where the bookbag sat on the bench. Cody looked closer at the bag. "Who's is this?" A phone that was inconveniently peeking out from the front pocket started to buzz and light up. "Well, what do we have here?" Cody asked under his breath.
Close the bag? or Snoop the phone?
Cody bit his lip before reluctantly closing the bag. Maybe I shouldn't bother with it.
DJ watched as Cody closed the bag, happy that he chose to ignore the phone rather than the latter. He was feeling fine until he felt strong hands grip his shoulders and shout in his ear. DJ gave a shout of surprise himself and turned around to see Duncan laughing hysterically at his own little "prank."
"That was great! You should've seen the look on your face, DJ!"
"Duncan, come on, man."
Duncan let out the last bit of his laughter before clasping DJ's hand and pulling him in for a hug. "It's good to see you, dude." He patted his friend's back before pulling away. He walked over to the bench and slung on his backpack. He eyed Cody before playfully punching his shoulder. "It's nice to see you guys too." His eyes lit up and he walked over to DJ, slinging his arm over his shoulders. "So, I found something kinda amazing. Come on. It's this way." He waved the group to follow him and DJ.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Noah spoke up. "I'm just trying to get to the cabin so I won't freeze to death out here."
"Yeah, it's really cold." Katie chimed in but turned to Sadie with a panicked look. "But we can stay if you want to, Sadie."
Sadie shook her head. "It's fine. We can just go with Noah."
"Yeah," Cody agreed. "I'll just go with Noah too."
"You guys are such party poopers. Fine, it'll be just DJ and me. The door to the station should be unlocked." He started to pull DJ away from the group and the duo disappeared around the corner.
The rest of the group shuffled their way into the station and saw that a car was already waiting for them, luckily. They each took their seats and held onto their bags. Cody, Sierra, and Noah sat on one side, Katie and Sadie sat on the other. Noah pressed the button to close the door and the car jolted forward before started its slow ascent to the top of the mountain.
"Wow. The view is so pretty," Sierra excitedly told the group. "Right, Cody?"
He glanced out one of the windows before looking back down at his hands. "Sure."
It took a while, but the car finally reached the top. With another jerk, the car stopped at another station. The group got prepared to get off and Noah pressed the button to open the door, but it didn't budge. He pressed it a couple more times. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Are we stuck in here?" Katie asked.
"Seems like it."
"Oh no. Is there anyone around?" Sierra asked as she pressed her hands against the glass.
"Not that I can see."
"Wait. I think I see someone," Sadie pointed at a figure who was wearing a light blue coat. The figure was looking down at a cellphone and slowly walking to where they were currently trapped.
"They really can't walk any slower, can they?"
Once the figure was close enough, Sierra started to bang on the window loudly to get their attention.
Bridgette jumped and covered her heart to try to stop it's now rapid beating. "Oh, geez. You guys scared me."
"We're stuck. Can you please open the door."
"Yeah." Bridgette pressed the button to open the door and the group immediately piled off.
"Oh my gosh. That was so scary." Katie said.
"I know," Sadie agreed.
"I know. I thought we were goners. Another minute in there and I would've chewed off my own leg," Noah made fun of how the besties spoke.
"Ew, really?" Sadie asked, believing him.
Noah didn't respond, he only rolled his eyes.
"I'm sorry about that," Bridgette spoke up to stop the slowly growing tension. That happened with me and Geoff when we were on it too. It only opens if someone is on the other side to press the other button."
"It's no biggie. I mean, we're off now." Cody reassured her.
"Why don't you guys head up to the lodge? I'll stay here just in case anybody else comes." Bridgette suggested.
"Sounds good." Cody grabbed his bag and started to head down another path. "Let's go, guys."
"See you later, Bridgette," the besties chimed together as they waved to the surfer. Bridgette gave a small smile and wave back.
"Do you even know how to shoot that thing?" DJ asked Duncan with a frown. Back at the bottom of the mountain, Duncan was showing DJ a shooting range that he had found.
"Of course, I do." Duncan adjusted his stance and aimed his gun to one of the targets before firing a shot. He moved quickly, but he still hit all the targets he wanted. He smiled triumphantly and turned to DJ.
"Wow," he feigned awe. "Nice shooting. Can we go now?"
"How about you try?"
DJ eyed the gun warily with his arms crossed.
Shoot the gun? or Pass?
What will you choose?https/docs./forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexEXvqV5EntJDvrvBDlsPLGQzL743OzUXBYo4xJRwM1Zhv-A/viewform?vc=0c=0w=1