A/N: Hey, everyone! :) I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

The time has come for the first official chapter of "Return to Blackwood Mountain." :D :D

Nonetheless, before we begin, in case you're wondering how old the new characters are:

Russell: 19 (18 in prologue)

Lucas: 18 (17 in prologue)

Chelsea: 17 (16 in prologue)

Ethan: 15 (14 in prologue)

I would also like to take the time to thank aleyuma98, February1796, and Izi Wilson for reviewing the prologue. They made me smile and it means a lot. :D

Don't hold back on sharing your opinions. I appreciate all of the feedback that I can get, so go ahead and tell me your thoughts on this story. Feel free to PM them to me or write them out in the reviews at anytime. Thank you all very much. :) :)

Remember, read very carefully at all times. You never know when something important will come up. ;)

Anyway, I believe that's all I have to say right now. Have fun and I hope you all enjoy the first official chapter! :D


O Death ~ O Death ~

Won't you spare me over til' another year?

...

Well, what is this that I can see?

With ice cold hands takin' hold of me.

...

When God is gone and the Devil takes hold.

Who'll have mercy on my soul?

...

O Death, O Death, consider my age.

Please don't take me at this stage.

O Death ~ O Death ~

...

Won't you spare me over til' another year?


Russell's POV

ONE YEAR LATER, PRESENT TIME. FEBRUARY 2, 2015.

MOUNTAIN ROAD, BUS STOP.

20:20

I was still having a difficult time believing that we were actually doing this. It's only been a year since ... that night, and everything about this mountain - the mountain that I once loved visiting - now made me feel very uneasy and upset. Everything felt colder, but I couldn't tell if that was because of the actual temperature or because of the dark memories coming back to me.

Whenever I closed my eyes and managed to fall asleep, I saw them - Beth, Scott, and Hannah - running off into the darkness of the dangerous blizzard with betrayal covering their faces. To make the nightmares worse, my brain never stopped filling in the blanks on what could've possibly happened to the three of them ... and every time I woke up, I had to deal with the harsh reality that it was all true.

My best friend and his sisters were gone ... they never returned from the woods and as soon as morning arrived, instead of getting the whole gang together for a massive snowball fight like Scott, Beth, and Josh had planned, we contacted the police.

"Just wait." I recalled Scott's voice from last year, hearing his words echo across my mind. "As soon as this night comes to an end, you'll claim it as one of the greatest nights in your entire life. You'll see."

A sigh almost escaped from my system and I fought the urge to frown. It really felt like it was just yesterday when I was driving up this exact road by myself, ecstatic at the thought of the whole gang getting together for a party ... and not once had I imagined that the night would end the way that I did.

Now, I was waiting on the side of the long mountain road with Sam. She was slowly pacing back and forth, turning her head from left to right in the hopes of spotting the damn bus that we were supposed to take all the way up to the Washington Estate. We had been waiting for nearly an hour-and-a-half and judging by how misty the sky looked, it was evident that snow was going to start falling soon. Luckily, this bus stop provided an awning that was constructed out of surprisingly sturdy, dark green wood. So, if it started snowing while me and Sam were still here, at least we had some protection.

While waiting, I sat on the backless bench and scrolled through my cell phone, trying to hide my boredom. About two hours earlier, when I had been working on some last-minute packing, I ended up getting pulled into a conversation over text message with my psychologist, Dr. Harris.

Ever since the third week that followed the disappearances of the Washington triplets, my parents thought that it was essential for me to seek professional help. At first, I tried to convince myself that they were wrong ... but at the loss of my best friend, I could hardly function. I barely slept, I never seemed to be in the mood to eat, and my grades were beginning to slip drastically. So, long story short, I gave in and started attending therapy sessions once every week.

I ran my thumb down the screen, rereading Dr. Harris's messages for the millionth time. As I read, the sound of Sam's boots sauntering through the slushy snow filled the air. Believe it or not, it was actually a very comforting reminder that I wasn't alone.


Dr. Harris: Hey, Russell. It's Valerie. I'm sorry for messaging you at this hour, but I felt that it was absolutely necessary.

Me: Why? I already told you during our last session that there wouldn't be an appointment this week. I'm SERIOUSLY about to leave for the trip.

Dr. Harris: I just want to ask you a few questions and make sure that everything is okay before you go.


I rolled my eyes and emitted a low groan, mentally cursing this woman. Even over the phone, she managed to treat me like some needy little kid and it irritated the hell out of me - almost as much as the fact that her ass got paid whether I was there or not. My parents took a huge risk and dipped into a massive chunk of their savings in order to get me, and I quote, "the best of the best." So, even though I despised therapy, I wasn't planning on skipping out and letting all of that money from my parents go to waste.

I've been in Dr. Harris's office so much over this past year that if I just closed my eyes, I could easily see myself sitting across from her right at this moment. The heavy scent of pine coming from the billions of trees around me became a lot more decorative, clashing with the smell of Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish. It almost felt like the bench beneath me was changing - morphing into the large, squishy, leather chair that was placed in front of Dr. Harris's desk. My butt even felt like it was being sunk into the material, like it always did whenever I sat down in that chair.

I clutched my phone a little harder in my hand, trying to snap myself out of it. "You're not in therapy right now!" My voice hissed inside of my brain. "You're at the bus stop ... you're out of there, you're fine ... there's nothing to worry about. You're safe."

However, it wasn't so easy for me to forget about how uncomfortable I felt every time I entered that small room. Whether it was because Dr. Harris always wore the same, Sesame Street smile whenever she saw me or because I had no choice but to talk to her about the heart-wrenching events of the past, I had no idea. Either way, every time I took my seat, I couldn't stop fidgeting around. One moment, my left leg would be crossed. Then, after a few minutes, it would be my right leg. I couldn't help it. It was almost impossible for me to sit still anymore. Much to my dismay, I always had to move something.

I could practically hear the tick, tick, tick from Dr. Harris's clock ringing in my ears. That damn sound tormented me in each of our sessions, reminding me every time that there was still an hour-and-a-half to pull through.

Suddenly, Sam spoke up. "Russ?" Her voice was calm, yet dripping with concern. "You okay?"

My eyes immediately snapped open and I blinked a couple of times. Turns out, I'd been so caught up in thinking about therapy to the point where I had failed to notice how I'd been shifting around on the bench, rocking my weight back and forth from the right side of my body to the left side. Now, I was angled like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and looking down at some of the slush on the ground with my phone still being clenched in my hand.

I cranked my head up and looked at my girlfriend, who was now facing me with her hands slipped into the pockets of her onyx-black leather jacket. Her eyes were kind and patient, causing waves of comfort and reassurance to start rippling throughout my body.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Sammy." I said, trying not to sound too relieved as I mustered a small grin. "I'm just trying to make myself more comfortable on this thing. It's hard as hell."

Sam chuckled a little. "All right, if you say so." After that, she turned her back on me and, in an attempt to occupy herself, picked up a brochure from the holder that was, for some reason, built into one of the walls of the awning. It advertised the image of a sandy beach that was being illuminated by the vibrant colors of a sunset. As soon as I saw it, a slight sprinkle of envy flickered across my eyes and I could've sworn that the winter breeze had grown even colder.

I leaned over, arching my back in an attempt to lessen the discomfort that I was truly feeling from the solid bench. Then, as I rested my head against my right hand, I dropped my attention back down to my cell phone.


Me: Well, I don't have much time. I need to go meet up with Sam so we can catch our bus.

Dr. Harris: How is Samantha doing?


Translation: "Samantha didn't say or do anything recently to make you upset, did she? If she did, you should probably isolate yourself from her right away."

I peeked up at my girlfriend again, watching her through a few strands of my dusty blonde bangs as she absently skimmed through the brochure. She studied the picture of a luxurious cruise ship with false interest, right before she folded the brochure back up, slid it back into the correct compartment, and then pulled out another brochure to repeat the process.

I really was lucky to have her - especially in a time like this. A much brighter smile curled up on the corners of my mouth with that thought on my mind and I continued to read the text messages, almost forgetting who they were sent by.


Me: She's doing fine ... really, we're all doing just fine.

Dr. Harris: And how is that new prescription working out for you?

Me: Well, I'm falling asleep and getting through the night easier. I guess that's a good sign.


I had immediately added on to that text as soon as I sent it, not even giving Dr. Harris a chance to write anything back.


Me: ... but I'm STILL having nightmares.

Dr. Harris: I see. Are they still centering around the night of last year with your friends that went missing? Scott, Hannah, and Beth?


"No shit, Sherlock." I grumbled under my breath, not even realizing that I said it out loud until it was too late.

Sammy glanced over her shoulder to look at me again. "What?" She asked, still holding the outdated brochure.

I shot her the most nonchalant look that I could pull off and replied with, "Oh, nothing, babe." In return, Sam stared at me with a mixture of confusion and curiosity brewing in her eyes. Though, after a few seconds, she nodded and went back to flipping through the Springy Shore Resort brochure. Don't get me wrong, I knew that I couldn't keep pretending that last year never happened ... but the winter getaway hadn't even started yet and the last thing I wanted to do right now was worry Sam.

Despite the knot that was starting to form in the pit of my stomach, I went on reading.


Me: Yeah, what in the hell else would they be out?

Dr. Harris: Well, Russell, you know that I only agreed for you to go on this trip because I believe it'll give you the opportunity to have fun with your friends and let go of the past. As soon as you do that, I have no doubt that these unpleasant dreams of yours will come to an end. Beth, Hannah, and Scott would want you to get better and move on with your life.


I still couldn't tell if that last sentence angered or stung me more. Either way, it made me recall the denial that I had suffered through during the first couple of weeks that followed the start of the police investigation. I broke out of it shortly after I began therapy, but instead of dealing with it for weeks, it felt more like I'd been dragging it around for centuries.


Me: How would you know?! You didn't even know them, so stop talking about them like you did!

Dr. Harris: Russell, all I'm trying to do is help you. I care about you very much and I want to make sure that you're allowing yourself to heal. Please understand that. Now, how about you tell me about your most recent dream?

Me: Fine ... I saw Scott and Beth running through the woods, calling out for Hannah. Snow was all over the place, it was almost impossible to see. Then, when they found Hannah ... she was lying flat on her back, being mauled and devoured by a killer bear. Her face had practically been mutated and her intestines were completely ripped out. There was so much damn blood covering the ground. Beth screamed, Scott was too stunned to do anything. The bear turned to them and stood up on its back legs, spitting chunks of raw flesh and thick wads of bloody saliva as it roared. Scott and Beth immediately took off, hyperventilating ... but they didn't get far. Beth was jumped by a large mountain wolf and it ripped its claws through her chest. Scott tried to save her, but he was brought down by another wolf and ... that's it. I woke up.


I couldn't help but grimace as the gruesome pictures replayed themselves in my head like a vivid slideshow. Even over text message, it was beyond difficult for me to talk about the possibility of my best friend and his sisters being dead. It hurt too much to even comprehend ... and what made it even worse was the fact that even though it wasn't confirmed, it was the most logical answer as to why they were still missing.

Having enough, I pressed a button on my phone and slid my finger across the screen. My inbox immediately slipped away and bared my screensaver, which was nothing more than a black background that looked like it was splattered with neon blobs of paint. After that, I clicked my phone off, stored it in one of the pockets of my Caribbean blue ski jacket, and flicked my attention back over to Sam - only to realize that she was staring at me again. Now, there was nothing but concern decorating her face. She must've seen me cringe.

Sam dropped the new catalog that she'd been flicking through back into its cubbyhole and walked over to the bench. "Russell, what's going on?" She asked as she seated herself beside me, ignoring the small squeak that the wood made beneath her. "I can tell that something is bothering you."

I pursed my lips at her and hesitated, still feeling that giant knot in my gut.


X Tell the Truth (I'm just thinking...)/Deny (I'm fine, babe...) X

Choice Chosen: Tell the Truth


A quiet, yet heavy sigh escaped from my mouth and a misty cloud formed in the air from my breath as I finally decided to come clean. After all, Sammy was practically equipped with a built-in lying detector and she was the number one person that I've kept in contact with ever every since last year. I knew that I could confide in her about anything. Plus, we were both easily influenced by our curiosity. When we wanted to get to the bottom of something, we never stopped until we did so.

"It's not a big deal, Sam. Really. I've just been..." I glanced down at my knees and tried to find the right words to say. Then, after a brief pause, I lifted my head back up so I could be staring across the vacant road and said, "I've just been thinking is all."

"About what?" Sam inquired. Her tone was still gentle, but there was a hint of something in it that made it obvious that she already had a theory as to what I meant.

"Well, a lot ... but mostly therapy." I replied. My icy blue eyes lit up with a sullen glow at my final word, but I maintained a natural voice. "Just as I was about to leave to meet up with you, Dr. Harris blew up my phone with all of these dumb text messages and I had to answer some questions for her before I left. I swear, over this past year, I've seen that annoying woman more than my own family and she's still doing a crappy job at helping me pull through my depression."

About a month after my first therapy session, that's what I was diagnosed with: Depression.

Sam placed her hand on my shoulder and gave it a delicate squeeze. "Russ, things like this take time. You can't expect yourself to get better overnight, especially after ... what happened." She looked down at her lap in a mixture of hurt and guilt, but continued to speak in a comforting voice. "That's why Josh arranged for everyone to come back this year. We're all in need of closure ... and one way or the other, we're going to get through this. Together." At her final word, she slid her hand down my arm, folded it in mine, and we laced our fingers together.

"I know." I straightened myself back up and drew in a deep breath, puffing my chest out. Then, as I exhaled and filled the air with another misty cloud, I turned my head and shot my girlfriend a teeny, nervous grin. "I'm just having a hard time believing that it's already been a year. It feels like it all happened just yesterday and now ... I have no clue if the lodge will ever feel the same to me. I've always thought of it as my second home, but now ... I can't even figure out what is it."

"Yeah, neither can I." Sam admitted as she sweetly traced her thumb back and forth across my knuckles. "But we're gonna make the best of this weekend. We're all gonna have fun together and help each other with whatever we need because that's what friends are for." She squeezed my hand a little tighter and I gently stroked my thumb down one of her blue nails to comfort her like she was comforting me. "It's what Hannah, Beth, and Scott would want from all of us."

I could handle hearing my girlfriend talk about the triplets like that. At least she had known them, unlike my psychologist.

"I know. You're right, Sam." I said, just as I flicked my eyes up towards the sky and noticed how it was gradually starting to darken. "I just hope that this trip gives me the opportunity to get at least one full night of sleep."

"You're still having nightmares?" Sam asked.

I sighed, watching some of the clouds as they roamed through the air high above us. "Yeah, almost every time I fall asleep. They're getting worse ... and I don't think they're planning to go anywhere anytime soon."

"Do you want to talk about any of them?"

I hesitated for a moment before turning my head to make eye contact with Sam again. "I'm sorry, but I can't." I said with guilt trickling through my voice. "You know I trust you and appreciate everything that you do for me, but ... my nightmares are very brutal and they're not easy for me to relive."

Sam softly nodded and said, "Don't worry, Russ. I understand." Then, as she offered me one of those warm smiles that made her seem even more beautiful, she added, "But if the time ever comes in which you do want to talk about it with someone, I'm here for you. Anytime, any place ... no matter what, I'm all ears."

Hearing her say that brought a much wider and happier smile to my face. "I know, Sammy. I'm very lucky to have you as my girlfriend ... which is why~" I sort of sang my last three words, causing Sam to wrinkle her brow in confusion. With her watching, I reached into the other pocket of my ski jacket and pulled out a small black box that had a shiny red bow placed on top of it. "Which is why I got you this." I finished proudly.

A large, surprised grin instantly split across Sammy's face. "What?" She carefully took the box from my hand and stared at it in her own. "Russell, what'd you do? What is this?"

I scooted a little closer to her and looped my arm around her shoulders, closing the tiny gap that'd been between us as I answered, "Just a little something that I got to celebrate our third year anniversary." A wink followed my last word, causing Sam's cheeks (which were already glowing bright pink from the temperature) to darken a little.

Still smiling, she raised her eyebrows and retaliated wisely. "I thought we made an agreement not to buy each other anything."

I chuckled slightly. "Well, if you want to look at it that way, then let's consider it as an apology gift."

"What do you have to apologize for?"

My smile wavered just a tiny bit. "For having to cancel most of our plans that day in order to attend a stupid therapy session."

"Russell..." Sam said, and I knew that she was getting ready to tell me that I didn't have to apologize for that.

"Come on, I want to see you open your present." I cut her off with a teasing, childish note in my voice.

With a playful roll of her eyes, Sammy looked down at the box and just as she was about to remove the lid, she stopped and turned to look at me again. "I swear, Russell Curtis, if it's another one of those fake hairy spiders-" She tried to look serious, but couldn't resist snickering.

"Oh my God!" Laughter almost instantly exploded out of me as I recalled the memory from many years back. "Sammy, we were in the fourth grade! Let that go already!"

My girlfriend playfully nudged her knee against mine, laughing along as she dropped her attention back down to the present. At last, as our laughter came to an end, she removed the lid to reveal what was inside the box - a very pretty, silver locket that was in the shape of a heart. The image of a butterfly was also designed on top of it. It had significant bright blue wings that were spread out and streaked with some black along the veins and around the edges. It really looked like an actual butterfly that was accompanied by three, small, round gems on either side. They were sapphires - Sammy's birthstone.

"Oh ... oh my God." Sam breathed, batting her eyes in awe as she ran one of her fingers across the locket. "Russell, this is gorgeous."

"You like it?" I asked with a grin still on my face.

"I love it!" Although, after a few more seconds of studying her gift, her teal eyes started to flicker with guilt. "But it looks like it cost you a lot of money."

I held my hand up, signaling for her to stop. To be honest, she wasn't wrong. The locket had cost me practically all of the money that I'd saved up from my past couple of birthdays and my prior job as a worker at my uncle's car wash, but I didn't care. Samantha was worth every penny.

"Nah, don't worry about that." I said, shaking my head. "It's no problem. Now, open the locket."

Sam obeyed, setting the box down on her lap before she lifted the locket out of it. Then, after briefly fiddling around with the heart-shaped case, she managed to open it. On the right side, there was a miniature version of the picture that I had taken of us during our first date back in senior year. We were sitting in the middle of the football field after school hours, huddled together on a thin blanket with bright smiles on our faces and a picnic basket on Sam's lap. As for the left side, there was a message that was engraved in fancy letters, reading:

Happy Three Years

I Love You, Sammy

Russell

XOXO

Sam beamed at me, almost speechless. "Aww, Russ ... this is the greatest gift that anyone has ever given me." She planted a kiss against my cheek and then used her thumb to wipe away some lip-gloss that had been left behind on my skin. "But I really wasn't kidding when I said that you didn't have to get me anything."

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Sam, you're my girlfriend. Whether you like it or not, I'm going to spoil you every once in awhile. Get used to it." I winked at my last sentence, causing Sam to snicker. "And besides, there's a difference between having to do something and wanting to do something." I then withdrew my arm from around her shoulders and held out my hand, eyeing the necklace. "You want me to help you put it on?"

"I would like that very much." Sammy replied as she handed the locket over to me, right before she untangled her lipstick-red scarf to bare her neck.

After she spun around so her back could be facing me, I looped the locket around her neck and fastened the ends together. When I finished, I gently stroked some strands of her light blonde hair that were poking out from the back of her furry, grey box hat. I wanted to make sure that none of them had somehow been snagged by the chain; and after confirming that none of them had, I drew my hands back and said, "All right, you're good."

Sam looked down at the beautifully polished heart that was now around her neck and ran her fingers across it. Then, she swiveled back around and said with an even prettier smile, "Thank you so much for this amazing surprise, Russell. I promise I'll wear it all the time." After that, she placed her lips against mine, creating a kiss that I gladly returned. "Looks like I'm gonna have to take some time on this trip to figure out a way to repay you." She said after we parted.

I started to run my hands up and down my arms in an attempt to warm them up better. "You want to know how you can repay me now? By staying close so we can generate some heat. Seriously, it's a miracle that my ass hasn't been frozen to this bench yet." I snickered slightly and watched as my girlfriend tied her scarf back around her neck, covering the locket. "For Christ's sake, Sammy, how are you not complaining about this weather? It's freaking freezing and you're wearing a skirt!"

Although, it wasn't just any skirt ... it was the knee-length, dark red, plaid-styled skirt that Hannah had given to her as a birthday present a couple of years back. I remember because shortly after Sam opened it, Beth cracked a joke about her finally having something to wear if she ever visited Scotland and Josh put on a skit in a Scottish accent that made the whole group crack up. That was a good memory ... but now, I didn't have the slightest clue as to how Sam was surviving the temperature. The skirt might've looked cute with her leggings and dark purple sweater, but we were in the dead middle of winter.

As for me, underneath my Caribbean blue ski jacket, I was wearing a camouflage T-shirt with cuffed sleeves and a denim jacket for extra warmth. Plus, I had on a pair of ordinary dark blue jeans and the same brown army boots that I'd worn last year. And lastly, other than the moss-green knitted cap that was placed atop my head and the matching wool scarf that was tied around my neck, I was wearing an old necklace that had a pendant shaped like a bronze crucifix hanging from it. It used to belong to my grandfather and I almost never took it off.

Sam stood up from the bench and flashed me a teasing smirk. "Well, in case you've forgotten," she said, "I'm a badass that can handle anything."

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on there, missy." I got up for the first time in over an hour and wrapped my arms around her waist, returning the smirk. "Is that your nicey-nice way of saying that I'm not a badass?"

"Oh, you're a total badass." Sam laughed, despite how I could tell that she meant it. "But not as much of a badass as me."

"I'll have you know, I'm just as much of a badass as you are." I chuckled along and lightly swayed her around in my arms, right before I delivered a quick kiss to her cheek. "Damn, Sammy, you feel as cold as ice! If that stupid bus doesn't get here soon, we're both gonna end up getting sick and that's not exactly the best way to kick off a trip." I cocked an eyebrow, now curious. "Speaking of which, how in the hell did you manage to convince me to take the bus again? You know, we could've just taken my car up to the estate."

"Taking the bus will help us save money. We won't have to worry about stopping for gas or dealing with traffic." Sam informed. She backed out of my arms and continued her search for the bus. "And besides, we both know how your parents feel about you driving up here."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. To be honest, my parents never liked the thought of me driving my Jeep Wrangler up the mountain to begin with. They only made exceptions because I was a responsible driver; but now, due to my depression and the ice that was glazing the roads, my parents refused to even consider the idea of me driving to the Washington lodge this year. They were afraid that I would have an accident as a result of getting caught up in thinking about what happened last year. So, I settled with Sam's suggestion on taking the bus since her car was in the shop and we basically had no other options to choose from.

"True, but at least we would've made it to the cable car station by now." I said. "Chris is probably trying to figure out where in the hell we are."

Sam grinned nonchalantly, "Well, the road that we need to take is right here. If you want to walk-"

"Oh, hell no!" I cut her off, shaking my head and laughing. "Not in this lifetime!"

Almost immediately after those words came out of my mouth, the bright glow of headlights came into view from the west side of the road. The smell of gas started burning through the air and the bus broke through the dim evening shadows, looking more like an RV from the distance.

"Finally!" Sammy exclaimed with a hint of relief in her voice. She leaned a little closer to the road and waved in the direction of the bus to catch the driver's attention, while I grabbed my orange-and-grey mountain backpack from where I'd left it on ground and tossed it over my shoulder.

"Damn, Sammy!" I had to speak a little louder in order to be heard over the oncoming wheels that were skimming over a couple of potholes. "I haven't been on a bus since..." I trailed off and bit down on my bottom lip, feeling a strong sting shoot through my chest as I forced myself to shut up.

Sam turned to me, the creases on her forehead giving it away that she was now confused. "Since when?" She asked.

"Oh, you know..." I shrugged, trying to abandon the thought, "...since something that happened a long time ago."

I couldn't tell if Sam had heard my last couple of words, because the bus came to a screeching halt in front of us as soon as I said them. Either way, despite the brief moment of hesitation, my girlfriend nodded at me and then turned her attention back to the bus.

"I'm surprised this thing is still functioning." I thought to myself as I eyed some of the brown rust that was rimming almost all of the rectangular windows.

The door folded aside with a squeak, revealing the driver - who was a middle-aged man with greasy brunette hair, insanely dark blue eyes, and a patchy stubble. There was even a cigar hanging out from one of the corners of his mouth and the overcoat that he was wearing looked like it had seen far better days. His name tag was stuck to the collar, reading the name Randy.

I let Sammy go first, only because I wanted to get her out of the cold as quickly as possible. She stepped up onto the second stair and offered Randy the kindest smile that she could muster, while I stood behind her on the first stair with my hand gripping the steel railing.

"All right, kids," Randy said, puffing his cigar between every few words, "where to?"

"We're heading to Blackwood Pines." Sam answered.

Randy raised one of his bushy eyebrows and his eyes sparkled with something that made me feel a little uneasy. "Blackwood Pines, eh?" He said, making it sound like he knew something that we didn't. "Well ... if that's the case, you both better pop a squat. We got quite a drive ahead of us."

Not knowing exactly how to respond, I forced a taut grin across my face and said, "Thanks."

Sam took a hold of my hand and began walking down the aisle. There was nobody else on the entire bus, but instead of sitting towards the front, we kept walking until we made it to the middle. Sam slid in first, taking the seat beside the window while I took the seat that was closer to the aisle. But then, at the sound of the squeaky door closing almost reluctantly, the whole atmosphere changed.

I slumped back in my seat and looked up at the ceiling, listening to the engine grumble. At the same time, Sam's smile crumbled away from her face and she stared out the window, watching as snow startled to sprinkle down from the sky. We both looked equally unsettled, as if the whole thing at the bus stop never happened between us. Now, not only did we have to deal with having a creepy driver, but we also had to deal with the fact that this wasn't just a discussion or a date on the calendar anymore. Tonight was the night ... we were actually returning to the Washington lodge.

As soon as Randy started driving, he hit a speed bump that made my stomach feel like it just dropped down a roller coaster. Thankfully, it only lasted for a second and for awhile, the rest of the road became smooth.

After about fifteen minutes of pure silence went by, I decided to pull out my phone and attempt to connect to the internet to type in the name of Josh's blog. Unfortunately, the loading bar at the top of my screen only made it about halfway before a notification that read Sorry, Low Signal popped up. I mumbled "Crap..." under my breath, hating how our signal grew weaker with every passing second that we ascended up the mountain. In the past, the lack of cell phone reception never really bothered me; but now, considering the scenario, it kind of did.

Sammy was having much better luck. Her phone wasn't as old as mine, so her signal was holding on better. Although, judging by the look on her face, she wasn't distracting herself with YouTube, Twitter, or classical music from her playlist. Instead, her screen advertised the words Radio From The Pines, giving it away that she was in the middle of listening to some sort of broadcast.

"Hey, Russell." Sam said softly. She took out one of her pink earphones and offered it to me. "Listen to this."

I obliged, taking the bud and silently tucking it in my ear.

At first, I was confused when all I heard was the sound of static. Then, after a moment, a voice belonging to a familiar radio host cut in.

"Today is the one year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington..."

I gripped the arm of my seat a little tighter, feeling the sorrow and regret starting to increase in my chest. At the same time, Sam's eyes grew sensitive and flickered with guilt as she stared at the back of the empty seat in front of her. Now, we were both caught up in reliving the horrible events from last year.

It all happened so quickly ... I almost got a headache from how fast it was all replaying in my brain.

"Sheriff Annie Cline, who was in charge of the investigation..." (Radio Host)

A feminine voice came in almost flirtatiously, "Thanks for having me, Marty." A small glitch followed.

"Listeners, an update on Hannah, Beth, and Scott Washington - the triplets who are still missing..." (Radio Host)

I narrowed my eyes and bitterly clenched my jaw. "Those dumbasses don't give a crap about my friends." I silently sneered. "They never did. All they care about is the money, publicity, and whether or not they're getting high ratings. I bet those two have been screwing each other this past year instead of doing anything to actually help."

"One year ago tonight, the Washington boy and girls left the safety of their parents' lodge and headed out into a snow storm..." (Sheriff)

The radio cut out again and I quietly scoffed. First, this woman had the nerve of addressing Beth, Scott, and Hannah as "the Washington boy and girls" like their names weren't worthy enough to come out of her mouth. Then, she actually made it sound like the three of them had ran off into the woods because they didn't think that they had anything else better to do.

The bus shook a little from another pothole, but neither Sam or I seemed to notice.

"Foul play?..." (Radio Host)

"Not officially, no. There is one individual we're considering as a person of interest, but his whereabouts are currently unknown." (Sheriff)

I rolled my eyes, wondering who would be dumb enough to hire such lousy officers.

"He has an interesting history with the Washington family." (Sheriff) "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 Sanatorium on the mountain." (Radio Host) "Could he be hiding there?..."

"My officers did a search of the grounds, but..." (Sheriff)

Once again, our signal was interrupted. It was only a matter of time before we would lose it completely.

"...the kids themselves couldn't have made it that far..." (Sheriff)

Sam blinked and furrowed her brow, as if she were debating whether or not that could've been true. After all, if the police searched the whole estate, then how was it possible that they didn't find any clues as to what happened to our friends?

"Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events." (Radio Host)

The bus rattled from skimming over yet another pothole, causing me and Sammy to sway a little in our seats.

"More than you know, Marty." (Sheriff)

"Well, thank you for joining us, Annie." (Radio Host) "To all the Washington's tonight ... their son Josh on this, the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Hannah, Beth, and Scott Washington."

Sam passed her phone over to her other hand so I could see the screen better and pressed the return button. The screen then cut to Josh, who was standing by himself in one of the rooms of the lodge. It felt so weird to not see Scott standing beside him, considering they'd practically been partners when it came to the blog. There were even times when Hannah and Beth would be goofing around in the background while the two of them spat about random topics and participated in hilarious dares from viewers - live, might I add. But now ... Josh was on his own; and I could only imagine how difficult that must've been for him.

"Well, hello, friends and fans." Josh began, just as I started to squint from how blurry the footage had become. "All right, let's do that again..."

Josh approached the camera and adjusted the focus, zooming in so it was a clear closeup of his face. Then, he backed up and flashed a peppy smile.

"All right. Well, hello, friends and fans!" Josh repeated, but with more excitement in his voice. "It's beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year."

My lips twisted into a small smile. It was nice to know that Josh was still the type of person who wore his heart on his sleeve, but that didn't change how I still worried about him. Aside from me and Sam, Chris and Chelsea were the only other ones in the gang who knew about Josh's depression. He's had it ever since he was eleven, and after keeping it under control for so long, I was afraid that he was gonna end up having a relapse. On the bright side, this trip would give us the opportunity to look after him. Like Sammy said, that's that friends were for.

"Um ... first off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals and girlfriend Chelsea back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!" Josh raised his arms over his head and let out a quiet scream of celebration at the end of his sentence.

At the mention of Chelsea's name, my eyes widened in disbelief and I questioned what I just heard. Did Josh just say that she was his girlfriend now?

Josh's smile started to fade as he went on. "So, um ... Let me just let you know, uh - let's take a minute to ... 'address the elephant in the room' for a second."

I drew in a shaky breath, just as Sam screwed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she continued to watch the video as naturally as possible.

"I know you're all probably worried about me ... and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year ... but-" Josh pursed his lips for a second, "I just want you all to know ... um ... it means..." He then clutched his jaw, looking like he was trying to prevent himself from crying. "It means so much to me that we're doing this. And I..." Another short pause came, in which Josh looked down at the floor before glancing up at the camera again. "I know that it would mean so much to Hannah, Beth, and Scott that we're all still here together, and you know, thinking of them. I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and, um ... just share some moments that we'll never forget, for..." Josh paused again, "...for the sake of my brother and sisters and ... you know?"

I softly nodded my head, as if he could see me doing so. "Hang in there, dude ... just hang in there." I said internally.

"Okay ... so!" A new grin tore widely across Josh's face and excitement filled his voice again. "Let's party like we're freaking porn stars, okay? And make this one trip we will never forget, all right?" He threw his arms up in the air again. "Yes!"

I cocked an eyebrow when I heard 'porn stars' and took out the earbud, watching as the screen went black to announce the end of the video. In all honesty, I should've that coming from Josh.

"Sam?" I spoke up after what felt like an eternity. "Since ... since when were Josh and Chelsea dating?"

"Since early November when Josh asked her out over ice cream." Sam answered. She seemed amused by how bewildered I was, whether that was her way of coping with the video or not. "You mean, you didn't know? Josh spent the rest of the month and almost all of December posting about it on his Facebook."


X Flattering (I'm happy for them)/Teasing (It's about time Josh went for someone) X

Choice Chosen: Flattering


"I seriously had no idea." I was still trying to get a firm grasp on the mental picture of Josh and Chelsea as a couple, but that didn't stop me from grinning. "But it's good to hear that the two of them finally have a special someone in their lives - especially right now ... I'm happy for them."

"I am, too. When you get the chance, you should read some of the stuff that Josh wrote about her. It's very sweet." Sam cooed, returning my smile before she turned to look out the window again. For a moment, we fell back into silent mode; but then, Sam glanced back at me, wearing the same look that'd been on her face throughout Josh's video. "Hey, Russ..." Her voice was now soaked in concern, "just to be on the safe side ... you remembered to take your meds today, right?"

Just like that, my smile vanished and I dropped my head back against the seat. "Aw, dammit!" I groaned. "I knew that I forgot to do something!"

Sammy sighed. "Russell, you know you can't forget to do things like that. It's too risky."

"I know, I know." I pinched the bridge of my nose and massaged my scar. "I was just so caught up in responding to those stupid text messages from Dr. Harris and I was trying to finish packing my things so I could be out the door on time."

"Well..." Sam said, stretching the word out. She checked the time on her phone before turning to me again. "It's not too late to take them now. Let's get back on track, all right?"

I nodded and reached down, retrieving my backpack from where it was slumped between our feet on the floor. I unzipped one of the front compartments and pulled out the small orange container that contained my medication. Then, after I twisted off the childproof cap and shook out two of the medium-sized pills, I tilted my head back, popped them in my mouth, and took a swig of water from the bottle that Sam had offered to me. In a single gulp, the antidepressants went down my throat and I fought the urge to gag.

"Damn, those things taste like sawdust." I grumbled, at which Sammy rested her head against my shoulder and let out a tiny chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood.

I pecked her on the forehead and returned my prescription safely to my bag.

Not another word was spoken.


O, I am death, and none can tell.

If I open the door to Heaven or Hell.

No wealth, no land, no silver, no gold.

Nothing satisfies me but your soul.

O Death, I come to take the soul.

Leave the body and leave it cold.

O, Death ~ O Death ~

Won't you spare me over til' another year?


1. MEMENTO MORI

&TEN HOURS UNTIL DAWN&

BLACKWOOD PINES ENTRANCE

21:00

Just as I was starting to get used to the slight warmth that was provided on the bus, it was time for me and Sammy to get off. As we walked to get down the aisle with me leading the way this time, I just so happened to catch a glimpse of Randy staring at us through the mirror that suspended above the driver's seat. The mysterious look on his face still sent a chill down my spine and I almost felt grateful to be getting off that bus. As soon as I stepped off, I refused to look back and began to approach the rundown wooden awning that marked the entrance of Blackwood Pines.

Sam followed shortly behind me. She was kind enough to look back and thank Randy for the ride, but he didn't say anything back. Instead, he shifted his eyes back onto the road and drove off, taking whatever thoughts that were running through his mind with him. I refused to put much thought into it and stopped walking, feeling the breeze brush through my shoulder-length hair as I looked up at the old sign that read Blackwood Pines. It was squeaking in the wind, making our woodsy surroundings seem like the beginning of a horror movie.


RUSSELL - SCOTT'S BEST FRIEND AND SAM'S BOYFRIEND

CREATIVE

COURAGEOUS

CHARISMATIC

*SPECIAL SKILL* - UNKNOWN


RUSSELL JAMES CURTIS

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 8/10

Charitable: 7/10

Funny: 5/10

Brave: 8/10

Romantic: 6/10

Curious: 9/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 9/10

Jessica: 3/10

Sam: 10/10

Emily: 1/10

Ashley: 6/10

Mike: 5/10

Matt: 6/10

Chris: 7/10

Lucas: 6/10

Ethan: 5/10

Chelsea: 8/10


"Well, that's comforting." I huffed, not even bothering to bite back on my sarcasm. Then, as my girlfriend sauntered past me, I brought my hands up to my mouth, blew into them, and started rubbing them together as fiercely as possible. "I swear, Sammy, we just stepped foot back outside and my fingers feel like they're on the verge of turning into icicles!"

Sam looked over her shoulder, wearing a good-natured grin. "Well, whose fault is that, Scarface?" She asked, chuckling a little. "If I remember correctly - and I do - I sent you a reminder two days ago to pack some gloves."

"Okay, so I forgot. Give me a break. I'm only human." I said with a smirk. "And gloves are pretty much the only thing that I don't have with me on this trip. Don't I deserve at least some credit for that?"

Sam snickered again. "Either way, if you don't want your ass to freeze off, I suggest you hurry up so we can get to the cable car station and meet up with Chris." She turned back around and approached the wooden gate that was dusted with snow.

I chuckled, adjusting the strap of my backpack as I followed. "Whatever you say, captain."

"General." Sammy corrected in a smug tone as she opened the gate.


SAM - HANNAH'S BEST FRIEND

DILIGENT

CONSIDERATE

ADVENTUROUS


SAMANTHA GRACE GIDDINGS

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 7/10

Charitable: 8/10

Funny: 4/10

Brave: 7/10

Romantic: 4/10

Curious: 6/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 8/10

Jessica: 4/10

Russell: 10/10

Emily: 3/10

Ashley: 6/10

Mike: 4/10

Matt: 6/10

Chris: 6/10

Lucas: 5/10

Ethan: 5/10

Chelsea: 7/10


As soon as I walked through the gate, I was taken back to the past. Just by being on that path and looking around at the hundreds of trees, I recalled the dozens of snowball fights that Scott and I had participated in with Hannah, Beth, and Josh as children. There was even a piece of me that could've sworn if I listened carefully enough, I could still hear the excited squeals coming from me and the triplets as we ran from Josh, who was calling out in a monster voice, "I'm gonna get ya, you little rugrats!"

I could've sworn that I felt the corners of my eyes starting to grow a little wet, but the freezing air chased that feeling away pretty quickly. With a tiny sigh, I made sure that the gate shut fully behind me before I picked up the pace in order to keep up with Sam. Though, as soon as I made it to her side, we both ended up pausing in our tracks from overhearing what sounded like a twig being snapped in the distance.

I cocked an eyebrow and slowly turned to look back at the gate, suddenly feeling like we were being watched. At first, I thought that it was somebody else from the gang trying to sneak up on us - but there was nobody there.

"Hello?" Sam peered over her shoulder, almost seeming uneasy as she dragged her eyes across the treeline. "Is someone there?"

There was no response.

"Huh ... that's ... odd." I murmured, choosing my words carefully as I examined the treetops. I spotted a crow sitting by itself on a high branch, oblivious to the cold. It stared directly back at me, its head twitching from side to side like a broken toy every few seconds. Then, out of nowhere, it spread its wings, ruffled its feathers, and cawed three times in a row, as if it was ordering me to stop looking at it. By the second caw, Sam released a startled gasp that immediately gained my attention.

"Ugh, damn." Sam grumbled, watching the large black bird as it leaped off the branch and flew out of sight.

"Aww, what's the matter, Sammy?" I snickered and wiggled my fingers at her teasingly. "Did you just get jump-scared by a little tweety bird?"

Sam smacked me in the arm, making me laugh more. "It did not scare me." She objected. "It just ... caught me off guard."

"You've been watching far too many horror films lately."

"And you haven't?" Sam inquired, cracking a wise smile as she continued on down the trail.

I followed and hooked my arm around her shoulders. "All right, fair point." I admitted, still smiling. "But those are just movies. I promise, as long as I'm here, there's nothing for you to be afraid of. I'll protect you from the boogieman."

Sam shook her head and chuckled. "Oh, shut up."


SAM AND RUSSELL

PATH TO CABLE CAR STATION

21:02


The huge, iron gate came into view. At first, I could've sworn that I saw a piece of paper stuck to it; but my eyes were instantly drawn upward when I heard the sound of wings flapping and another caw. It was another crow, soaring off at the sight of me and my girlfriend from where it'd been perched on top of the stone wall. For a moment, my mind wandered and I recalled something that Ethan had once said: "Crows symbolize death." I'm not saying that I believed that, but ... since today's the anniversary, the thought was pretty freaky.

"Is that a note?" I asked, eyeing the piece of paper that was plastered to the gate in uncertainty.

"Looks like it." Sam answered. "Weird ... Josh usually makes sure that the gate is wide open whenever he invites people over."

"Well ... it has been a year since anybody's been up here." I reminded, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice as I looked down at my feet and rubbed my arm.

Sammy approached the gate and removed the note to examine it. "Oh, what?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Dammit."

"What?" I walked up behind her with confusion glimmering in my eyes. "What's it say?"

My girlfriend silently handed the piece of paper over to me, refusing to break her focus away from the gate. Then, as she grabbed the bars and attempted to open the gate by shimmying it, I read the note to myself.

The gate's busted. Climb over.

- Chris

"Oh, you've got to be kidding..." I mumbled, rereading the information before letting out a sigh. "Crap..."

"Ugh, Jesus. Nevermind." Huffing in defeat, Sam took a step back from the gate and turned to look at me. "It's no use. That gate isn't planning on letting us in the easy way anytime soon."

I stuck the note back on the gate, just in case any of the others hadn't arrived yet.

"Guess that means we're gonna have to follow Chris's instructions and climb." I declared. With Sam in pursuit, I walked over to the stone wall and looked up at it with my eyes narrowed in thought. "This doesn't look so bad ... for a pair of rock climbers like us, it should be a piece of cake."

"Wish I could say the same for Chris." Sammy said as her lips twisted into a teasing smile.

I couldn't help but laugh at that mental picture. "Yeah. Knowing him, he probably spent an entire hour trying to get over this thing. So," I glanced back at Sam, "do you want to go first? Or should I?"

Sam raised her hand like she was in class and said proudly, "I'll go first. You can follow me up."

"As you wish, babe."


X Safe/Quick X

Choice Chosen: Safe


Sammy raised her leg and planted her foot firmly on the lower stone, right before she reached up and delicately grabbed a protruding rock. Snow sprinkled down from her fingertips as she hoisted herself up with a small grunt. I watched her every move from below, already in position to catch her in case she accidentally slipped. She reached for another rock, ensuring that she had a good grip on it before she continued to ascend up the wall.

"Almost there, Sammy!" I encouraged her. "You got this!"

"I never said I didn't!" Sam grunted, and I didn't need to see her face to know that she was smirking.

I snickered. "Less talking and more climbing, smartass!"


X Climb/Jump X

Choice Chosen: Climb


Sam stretched her arm up as high as it could go, gritting her teeth as she latched her fingers onto yet another piece of protruding stone. Then, she carefully placed the outsole of her boot on the edge of another rock and continued hauling herself up. The entire time, I refused to take my eyes off of her to ensure myself that she was okay. At last, Sam managed to reach the top and seated herself on the ledge, taking the opportunity to catch her breath.

"All right, whoo!" I cheered, throwing my arms up into the air like Josh would do in a moment like this. "You did it!"

"You're damn right I did!" Sammy laughed. "Now it's your turn. Better get up here before the boogieman comes~"

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but before I could get a word out ... I could've sworn that I heard the sound of a few bushes being rustled around in somewhere in the forest. The amusement on my face instantly faded, only to be replaced by suspicion as I took a glance over my shoulder to see if any of the others were coming down the trail. Sam had a much similar reaction, looking in same direction with the same expression as mine plastered on her face. Once again, no one was there ... but I couldn't shake the feeling that we had a pair of eyes on us.

"What was that?" I inquired, feeling my veins bubbling with curiosity.

"Uh..." Sam pursed her lips after a moment and shrugged, "if I had to guess, it was probably just a deer or something."

The suspicion enhanced in my voice. "Or something?"

"Russell, no. I know what you're thinking. There are plenty of animals on this mountain, so we're gonna hear quite a few noises coming from the woods while we're up here. There's nothing off about that." Sam flicked her eyebrows up, obviously choosing to set the noise aside. "Come on, Chris is waiting so the three of us can head up to the lodge together. Don't make me choose between you and a nice hot bath."

A soft snicker escaped from my mouth, despite how I was still looking off towards the wilderness and wondering about the noise.


X Investigate Noise/Follow Sam X

Choice Chosen: Follow Sam


"You wouldn't leave me for anything and you know it." I stated, turning back to my girlfriend with a sly grin.

"Want a bet?" Sam returned the smirk cheekily. "I've been thinking about that bath ever since we arrived at the bus stop. So, if I were you, I wouldn't test my patience."

"Okay, okay. I get the message." I held my hands up to my shoulders in mock surrender, chuckling. "I'm coming."


X Safe/Quick X

Choice Chosen: Quick


I took a couple of steps back, concentrating heavily on the wall before me. Then, as I drew in a deep breath to prepare my lungs, I charged and jumped. As soon as the front of my army boot struck perfectly against the lower stone, I shot my arm up and gripped a protruding rock with a solid grasp. The wetness of snow immediately started to torment my naked fingers, almost making me grimace. Though, I held it back and braced myself up quickly. After that, as I lifted my leg and positioned my foot on the next stone at a rapid speed, I grabbed a thin vine that was practically attached to the wall and used it to hold on to. It was surprisingly strong, but I still didn't want to risk keeping a grip on it for too long.


X Climb/Jump X

Choice Chosen: Jump


With a grunt, I leaped up and grabbed onto the ledge with both hands. I clenched my teeth, now dangling with my boots scraping against the slippery wall in an attempt to locate another protruding stone. Noticing this, Sam didn't think twice before taking a hold of my arm to help pull me up. As she did so, I managed to plant my foot against another rock and I climbed up beside her on the ledge. We both breathed out, relieved to have finished that task.

"Damn, Russ." Sam chuckled and carefully stood up on the ledge with me. "Do you hang out with Spiderman when nobody else is around?"

"Yeah, he and I had lunch last week." I replied with playful sarcasm as I dusted some snow off the front of my jeans. "Now, let's keep going before I lose all feeling in my hands."

Sam and I jumped down together, making the snow crunch beneath us as we landed gracefully on our feet.

"All right," Sam breathed, pursuing down the broadened path, "we're almost there."

I shivered, wiping my hands against my ski jacket in order to get the melted snow off. Once again, I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching our every move. I turned around to face the gate, only to see that there wasn't anybody standing on the other side. Maybe it was just paranoia ... returning to the mountain, especially in the wee hours of the night, after the disappearance of Beth, Hannah, and Scott was really making me feel uneasy.

"Come on, Russ, snap out of it." I told myself internally. "You're here to have fun. There's nothing to be scared of. It's just a mountain."

"Aww." Sammy suddenly cooed, kneeling down. "Hey, little fella."

Hearing her talk like that instantly brought a smile to my face. I crouched down beside her and watched as a red fox squirrel came trotting out from behind a dead bush. It sniffed the ground before turning its head at the sound of my girlfriend's voice.

"You hungry?" Sam asked as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of acorns, holding them out with a smile. "Huh?"

"Oh, I've got to get a picture of this." I murmured, at which I slowly reached for the camera bag that was suspending at my side and unzipped it as quietly as possible. Luckily, I managed to pull out my DSLR camera from campus without scaring off the defenseless animal and I slowly removed the lens cap.

The squirrel's nose twitched, watching as I brought the eyepiece up to my face before it began to cautiously approach me and Sam.

"Don't move." I whispered to Sam, steadily adjusting the focus.


DON'T MOVE

Note: There will be times in which you'll need to stay completely still.


Unfortunately, just as the squirrel made it halfway to Sammy's hand, she ended up losing some of her balance. I quickly grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from taking a face-plant into the snow, which triggered a startled titter from the squirrel as it quickly retreated to the bushes.

"Ah, dammit." Sam sighed, regaining her balance with the help of me. Then, as I slowly resumed my position with my camera, she switched back to her cooing voice in the hopes that the squirrel would come back out. "Hey, hey ... it's okay..."

"We're not going to hurt you, little guy." I whispered in a much similar tone.

"That's it..." Sam encouraged, smiling again as she held out the acorns. "Come on, cutie."

The bushes rustled and the small critter hesitantly walked back out. This time, Sam and I both managed to remain as still as statues. When the squirrel reached us, it slowly reached up into Sam's hand and took one of the acorns. I snapped the picture, silently thanking God for reminding me to turn the flash off beforehand. Although, at the sound of the audible click, the squirrel did something that I didn't expect. It stopped nibbling the acorn that it had received from Sam and approached me.

I chuckled, watching as it curiously tilted its head at me.

"Sorry, little buddy. I don't have anything to give you."

One of the squirrel's ears twitched and I held out my hand to show it that I didn't have any food. It hooked its tiny paws around my index finger and leaned forward, tickling my palm with its whiskers as it sniffed my skin. In return, my smile expanded and I carefully ran my other fingers up and down so I could be scratching its belly. The squirrel clucked happily and nuzzled my thumb, right before I slowly withdrew my hand to take the extra acorn that Sam was offering me.

"Here you go." I whispered, holding it out between my forefinger and thumb. Almost instantly, the squirrel snatched it away, nibbled on it, and then scurried off into the forest.

Sam smiled at me. "Did you just take a picture of me feeding that little guy?"

"Yeah, I did." I replied as I placed the camera back in its bag and zipped it shut again. "Dr. Harris wants me to try using my photography as a new coping method. Instead of taking pictures for school, she wants me to go back to taking pictures for fun."

"Well, that picture you just took of me better show my good side." Sam teased, continuing on down the trail.

I followed, snickering as we stepped up a small set of stairs. "Every side of you is good, Sam." I remarked with a flirty wink.

Sam chuckled. "Save it for a balcony, Romeo."

The path started to light up from multiple light posts. A few more crows came bounding out of the treeline, cawing as they flew after each other to the other side of the woods. Though, Sam and I didn't seem to pay them any mind and kept walking until we spotted something at the end of the trail. Embedded in the stone beneath a towering high totem pole, there was a bronze plaque that looked like it had been just recently put in.

I walked a little ahead, wanting to get a closer look. "Hey, Sammy," I called, lowering myself down onto one knee in front of the plaque, "take a gander at this."

"What is it?" Sam asked. She approached my side and leaned over, noticing the plaque. "Huh! Cool."

I read what it said silently.


INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND BUTTERFLY PROPHECIES

'Tribes who once lived in these mountains believed that butterflies carried dreams and prophecies of possible futures. The color of the butterfly indicated the nature of the prophecy.'

DEATH: Black butterflies prophesied the dreamers death.

DANGER: Red butterflies warned of dangerous events.

LOSS: Brown butterflies foretold of tragedy affecting a friend.

GUIDANCE: Yellow butterflies offered visions to help and guide.

FORTUNE: White butterflies brought dreams of luck and good fortune.


I raised an eyebrow in thought. "Hm..." I muttered, rereading the information carefully. "This must be new. I didn't see it on my way up here last year."

Instead of saying anything back, Sam knelt down beside me and picked something up out of the snow. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that it was a small wooden artifact. It looked fairly new, taking the shape of some sort of mysterious animal with dull yellow paint outlining the details. When Sam turned it over to examine it, I saw a similar butterfly shape designed on the back.


Totem Found: Guidance Totem

Information: Portrays a vision of a bird landing on a picnic table with somebody hiding behind a tree in the background.

Note: Remember, not all totems are guaranteed to come true. Depending on the decisions that are made will determine the future. Be careful at all times.


I spoke up almost absently, "Scott never believed in any of that, you know?"

"What?" Sam asked, snapping out of whatever thoughts were running through her mind from the totem.

She sat it back down on the ground and wrinkled her brow at me in confusion, just as I gestured to the plaque.

"He never believed that Indians used to live up here." I explained, studying the highly detailed image of some Indian chief. "He thought that all of that was one big fairytale that was made up in order to get more people interested in his dad and the mountain."

Sam blinked curiously. "What about you?"

I hesitated, thinking about the question. "I don't know." I shrugged, eventually answering. "I mean ... I guess it would make sense. This place can get pretty eerie at night and everything, but ... I'm still on the fence about it. Countless tribes living up here and nobody finding out until centuries later? And with hardly any evidence to go off of? Not one hundred percent convinced."

"Well, I believe it." Sam shared with a confident grin. "This mountain seems to be the perfect landmark for some historical events to take place on. Anyway, are you coming? The cable car station is right over there." She started up the next miniature staircase, forgetting all about the totem that she found.

"Uh ... yeah. I'm coming." I walked after her, trying to shake off the weird feeling I got from reading the plaque.

We headed through the opening of a fence, officially arriving at the Cable Car station.

"Wow..." I breathed, looking all around at the view that was provided. "I can't believe how much this place still looks the same."

Sammy huffed, her breath visible in the air. "I know ... remember when Josh invited us all up here last summer to hang out with him, Scott, Beth, and Hannah? Only you, me, Chris, Mike, and Chelsea were able to make it since the others already had plans."

I nodded, sighing quietly. "Yeah, I remember ... and if I had known that that was the last summer that we were ever gonna have with the triplets ... I would've asked to stay longer."

My girlfriend placed her hand on my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze, right before she turned away and looked towards the Cable Car building. "Chris? You here?" She called out, unable to locate our bespectacled friend.

"Christopher?" I called next. "Where are you, man?"

Nobody responded, at which I twirled around on my heels to check in the opposite direction. That's when my attention landed on something that made my eyes widen in disbelief. I walked the fair distance that was between me and the provided map of the mountain until I was standing directly in front of it. On the map, a large message was scribbled and dripping in what I was hoping was just red paint.

THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL

"Well ... that's unnerving." I mumbled under my breath, right before I looked over my shoulder and called out with some hesitance, "Hey, Sam! Come look at this!"

Sam turned to face me from where she was now standing in front of the station's door, pulling her hand away from the knob. Then, when I locked my attention back on the map, I heard the sound of her boots crunching through the snow as she made her way across the lawn. When she made it over to my side, she froze in her tracks and studied the creepy words that were spewed across the map.

"Wow, graffiti all the way up here." Sam commented with a hint of discomfort in her voice.

"Who in the hell would take the time to do this?" I inquired, crossing my arms. "It looks pretty recent ... almost like it was written in blood."

Sammy crinkled her nose in disgust. "Don't be ridiculous, Russ. It's only paint."

"Well, whatever it is, it's giving me the heebie jeebies." I muttered, trying to find reassurance in Sammy's words as I took a small step back from the map. As I did, my foot brushed against something and I glanced down at the ground to see what it was. It was another one of those weird totems, just lying there in the snow like somebody had purposely placed it out in the open to get found.

"What the..." I narrowed my eyes in confusion and knelt down, feeling my girlfriend's gaze following me. "Another one of those things?"

"They must be scattered all over this place." Sam informed, still sounding partially unsettled. "It would go along perfectly with the Native American stories."

"Creepy."

I hooked my fingers around the wooden artifact, lifted it up out of the snow, and turned it around to study it. It looked just like the totem that Sam had found, except this one looked more like it was in the shape of an iguana and it was decorated with blood-red paint.


Totem Found: Danger Totem

Information: Depicts a scene of Lucas wildly trashing underwater, being held down by another figure.


I could've sworn that I felt something drill down into the pit of my stomach. Seeing these totems were one thing, but holding them was something entirely different. It sent an unclean feeling through my body ... almost like these artifacts were trying to tell me and Sam something.

"Come on, Russell." Sam spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts. "We need to find Chris so we can head to the lodge."

"Right, right." I shook my head, placed the totem back down on the ground, and stood up again. "I'm right behind you, Sammy."

We walked away from the map, leaving the strange message and totem behind. Then, as we headed underneath the awning of the station, I paused to point at a familiar backpack that was sitting by itself on one of the benches.

"Isn't that Chris's bag?" I asked.

Sam approached it and tilted her head. "Yeah, it is. So where is he?" She took a moment to look both ways before calling out, "You're not in the bag, are you?!"

I snickered at her, rubbing my hands up and down my arms.

Suddenly, there was the sound of something vibrating. Sam placed her hands on her hips and leaned down, spotting Chris's phone peeking out from the front pocket of his bag.

"Hello, what do we have here..." Sam muttered, reaching for the backpack.

I pursed my lips, taking a quick glance around at the vacant land. Once again, I felt like we were being observed by someone and the last thing I wanted right now was Chris busting us.

"Uh, Sam..." I scratched the back of my neck in uncertainty, "...maybe we shouldn't try poking around Chris's stuff."


X Close Bag/Snoop X

Choice Chosen: Snoop


My girlfriend peeked over at me, wearing a small smirk. "Aw, lighten up, Russ. We're all friends here." She chuckled, locking her attention back on the bag. "Now, who would be sending our dear friend Christopher a text all the way out here, I wonder?"

"Babe..." I said, unable to resist grinning at her at least a tiny bit.

Sammy pulled the phone out of Chris's bag and held it so we could both see the screen. "Ah-ha! Look who it is..." Her smirk broadened a little.

Ashley

1 New Message

Ignore|Accept

I stared at the screen and forced a taut smile across my face. Don't get me wrong, Chris was a good buddy of mine and I was happy that he now had the chance to go for the girl of his dreams. It's just ... Ashley was Scott's ex-girlfriend, and just the thought of another one of my friends going out with my best friend's ex made me feel very awkward. I definitely wasn't going to stand in the way of Chris and Ashley, but if the two of them ever hit it off ... it's going to take some time for me to get used to.

A new voice spoke up behind me and Sammy, "Hey, nosy duet."

Sam gasped and spun around, almost dropping the cell phone. At the same time, I yelped and got ready to throw myself in front of Sam to protect her from whoever was behind us. Luckily, instead of encountering a threat, we realized that it was just Chris. It was literally like he had come out of nowhere, layered in a light blue winter coat with a green commando-styled sweater, a blue-collared top, and a hint of what looked like some sort of white undershirt.

"Oh..." Sam huffed, holding the phone over her heart. "Chris!"

I sighed heavily in relief. "Holy crap, dude..."


CHRIS - HAS A CRUSH ON ASHLEY

METHODICAL

PROTECTIVE

HUMOROUS


CHRISTOPHER JACOB HARTLEY

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 6/10

Charitable: 7/10

Funny: 8/10

Brave: 3/10

Romantic: 4/10

Curious: 6/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 8/10

Jessica: 2/10

Sam: 6/10

Emily: 3/10

Ashley: 8/10

Mike: 4/10

Matt: 5/10

Russell: 7/10

Lucas: 5/10

Ethan: 3/10

Chelsea: 7/10


"You scared us!" Sammy said.

Chris pretended to adjust his glasses. "I'm sorry, are you two my secretaries?" He asked, aiming a finger at me and then at my girlfriend.

Sam looked down at the phone and then held it out with slight embarrassed in her eyes. "It - it was buzzing..." She said, trying to defend herself.

Chris huffed. "Cool. Well, thanks for letting me know. I can take it from here." He snatched the phone back and turned his back on us as he examined the screen.

"Oh, come on, Chris. Relax." I said, stepping up to his side with my arms crossed. "We didn't mean any harm. It's not like we went ahead and scrolled through your entire inbox or anything."

Our bespectacled friend turned his head to look at me, keeping his phone out of my sight. "Still ... my stuff is my personal, private business. It belongs to me and nobody else."


UPDATE

Chris's Relationship Status: Russell -1 (6/10)

Chris's Relationship Status: Sam -1 (5/10)

Russell's Character Trait: Curious +1 (10/10)

Sam's Character Trait: Curious +1 (7/10)


"All right, all right. We get it." I said as I held my hands up to my shoulders. "Won't happen again."

Sam sighed, resting her hands on her hips again. "Guys, let's not argue." She reasoned.

Chris looked at her and faintly nodded his head in agreement, right before he took another quick glance down at his phone. Then, he pocketed it and grabbed his backpack from the bench.

"Oh! So! I found something kinda amazing..." Chris started.

I grinned. "Oh, really?"

"What?" Sam inquired at the exact same time, sounding just as interested as me.

Chris flashed a wise, teasing smile at us and slid his bag on. "I'm not gonna tell ya, you gotta see for yourselves. Come on. It's this way." He began walking away, heading for the side of the Cable Car building.

"Where?" Sam asked, sauntering after him with curiosity in each step. I walked alongside her, keeping one of my hands tucked in my pocket for warmth and my other hand united with hers.

"Right around here. Gonna blow your mind." Chris assured. He made a gesture with his hand that was supposed to represent his brain exploding, causing me to roll my eyes at him playfully.

"Well, whatever it is, Chris, it better be as cool as you're making it out to be. Otherwise, this confidence of yours will be shot straight to hell." I informed, lightly laughing.

Chris scoffed. "I'll have you know, Russ, it's very neat. Just wait until you see it."

"Whatever you say, dude."

Just then, out of nowhere, Sammy froze in her tracks and since I was still holding her hand, I stopped walking as well. That's when I realized that something on the wall had caught her attention.

"Whoa, look at this." She mumbled as she tightened her grip a little on my hand.

I turned my head and noticed that the item that she was staring at was a ripped wanted poster.


+ CLUE FOUND - WANTED POSTER +


WANTED

MILGRAM, VICTOR

Sex: Male

Height: 6'2" (1.88m)

Last Known Address: Blackwood Pines

Last Seen: 03/16/1998

Wanted in connection with first-degree arson offence, as well as various death threats.

Anyone with information regarding this dangerous criminal should contact the BPMC as soon as possible.

Blackwood Provincial Mounted Constabulary.

Police Montee Provinciale de Blackwood.

July 1998


"Nice. You think we'll get a visit from America's most wanted?" Chris asked, reading the information from over Sam's other shoulder.

"From all the way up here?" I wondered aloud, batting my eyes in confusion. "Would a criminal really go as far as traveling to the top of a mountain to commit their felonies?"

"Looks like someone thought so." Sam replied.

Chris scoffed again. "Oh, come on. This place is abandoned most of the year." He waved his hand through the air dismissively and continued his way around to the rear of the station. "Nobody comes up here."

With a shrug, Sam untangled her hand from mine and followed. However, it wasn't that easy for me to pull my attention away from the poster. So many thoughts were running through my mind, reminding me of the "bloody" map, the strange noises, and the many times that I could've sworn somebody was stalking me and Sammy. Was it possible that this Victor Milgram was the one behind all of it...?

"Okay, Russell, now you're getting ridiculous." I groaned and rolled my icy blue eyes, almost scorning myself for considering such a dumb thought. "That man hasn't been seen up here for a whole seventeen years. You're just paranoid from being back on the mountain. Stop freaking yourself out!"

I finally moved away from the poster, shoving the information that it provided to the back of my mind as I followed Chris and Sam's footprints to the back of the Cable Car building. I made it back to my girlfriend's side, just as our bespectacled friend dramatically spun around with a goofy grin on his face.

"Ta-Dah." Chris announced, presenting us with a shooting range. "Pretty rad, right?"

"Holy damn!" I approached the surprisingly sturdy table, gawking at the gun that was lying on it with deep interest. "Oh my God, wow! Look at this baby!"

"See?" Chris chuckled and gave me a clap on the back, right before he looked back at Sammy. "I told you guys that it was amazing."

"Yeaaaaaah..." Sam dragged out, eyeing the shooting range with no fascination whatsoever.

Chris stared at her like she was out of her mind, just as I picked up the rifle to examine it more closely.

"Come on! Look at these beauties." Chris encouraged as he gestured to the remarkable shooting range. "Russell definitely seems to be on board with me."

"Uhh, 'beauties' is not the word that comes to mind." Sam rebuked, shrugging afterwards. "Why is this even here?"

Chris turned to take the gun from me. "What do you mean?" He questioned, at which I shoved my empty hands into the pockets of my ski jacket.

Sam huffed. "What the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?"

"Uh ... dude, have you ever met Josh's dad?" Chris asked.

Sam gave a weak nod. "Yeah...?"

"Of course we have, Chris." I answered at the exact same time.

Chris looked at me. "He thinks he's like Grizzly Adams or something. Didn't he and your dad use to be hunting partners?"

I pursed my lips, recalling the many summers in which my old man had dragged me out on hunting trips with him and Mr. Washington as a child. Don't get me wrong, I always wound up having a great time because Scott and Josh were also forced to tag along. The three of us would have a blast sharing a tent, skipping stones, cracking jokes, telling ghost stories, and swimming in the lake whenever we got the chance. As kids, we got into so much mischief when our dads were caught up in their own world of smoking cigars, chopping wood, and skinning animals.

Unfortunately, there was one specific problem that I always had to face on those trips: like Sam, I hated shooting animals. No, I wasn't a vegan like she was and I had no problem with listening to hunting stories or watching hunting documents, but killing animals firsthand was something that I never grew to enjoy. Even today, as a teenager, I only agreed to shoot for two things: practice and self-defense.

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago." I said, finally answering Chris's question. "They stopped due to work from their jobs piling up on them."

Chris nodded understandingly and flicked his attention back to Sam. "Wanna try?" He asked, pointing a finger at the shooting range.

"Uh, no." Sammy declined. She waved him off with a grin. "You go 'head, Grizzly."

Slight disappointment swept across Chris's features. "What about you, Scarface?" He inquired, turning to me again. "Wanna give it a go?"

My eyes lit up. "Yeah, sure! I'll go after you." I stepped back from the table and returned to my girlfriend's side, giving the spectacle-eyed teen some space.

With a nod, Chris positioned the rifle better in his hands and turned to face the wide-open range. "All right," he announced, raising the gun, "here it goes."


CHRIS, SAM, AND RUSSELL

CABLE CAR STATION

21:11


There was a moment of silence, in which Chris searched for a target to hit. I could only imagine how nervous he must've felt. After all, this was his first time using a rifle that wasn't part of a video game relating to a stickup or the zombie apocalypse. So, he must've thought that it was pretty awkward to shoot with me and Sammy right there behind him, observing his every move.

"What took you guys so long to get up here anyway?" Chris questioned.

Sam groaned, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. "We were stuck waiting for the bus for over an hour."

"Speaking of which," I incorporated, "you're lucky that you didn't have the driver that we did, Chris. He was beyond weird."

A small chuckle escaped Chris's mouth. "Aren't all bus drivers weird?" He found a target and pulled the trigger, striking a sandbag that was dangling from the tree. He was just a smidge off from the center.

Snow sprinkled down from the impact and Sam flinched from the loud noise. I looped my arm around her shoulders, knowing how much she despised guns. It was one of the only things that she and I didn't have in common.

"Not like the one we had." I replied with some hesitance. "His name was Randy and he wouldn't stop looking back at us with this mysterious look on his face ... I swear, it was like he knew something about this place that we didn't."

"Sounds like something straight out of a horror movie." Chris commented, looking for another target. "The driver I had didn't even acknowledge me. He just told me to sit down so he could get me to my destination and then go home to some meatloaf waiting for him on the table."

My girlfriend made a disapproving face. "Talk about a ray of sunshine." She grumbled.

"Yeah." I agreed, just as Chris pulled the trigger and shot an empty soda can off the edge of a barrel. "Not bad, Chris. Not bad at all."

"I'm just glad that we managed to get up here safely." Sammy said, shivering a little from the cold. "It'll be good to see everyone again."

"Mm-hm." Chris hummed out. He pierced the air with another gunshot, striking another can that was positioned behind a stray branch on the ground. Then, he swiped the rifle upwards and successfully pelted another suspending bag a little above the medium-sized X that marked the center.

"Wow." Sam said in an attractive Southern drawl. "Nice shootin', Tex."

"All right, I'm bad." Chris boasted, doing what looked like a rundown version of the Running Man. "I'm a badass."

I snorted at him and Sam looked away from his cheesy performance, taking a moment to hide her face in my arm.

"I'm gonna go ahead and guess it was a wild case of beginner's luck." Sam jested.

I nodded, still snickering. "Same here, man."

Chris wagged a finger at us. "Nah, I don't think so, you two." He then lined the gun up for another shot and aimed for an old beer bottle that was further back. He pulled the trigger, causing a bullet to shatter the bottle into dozens of broken shards.

"Well, anybody and their brother can shoot a bottle that big, that close." Sammy pestered, still wearing her amused grin.

I emitted a low whistle. "She's got you there, Chris."

Our spectacle-eyed friend huffed and raised the rifle again, ready to prove "beginner's luck" wrong. However, while he looked around for another target, I just so happened to catch a glimpse of a squirrel scurrying out from behind the tree. It looked exactly like the baby squirrel that Sam and I had fed on the way up here. At first, I didn't put much thought into it ... but when the squirrel climbed up on top of one of the barrels and caught Chris's attention, my eyes grew and I paled a little. A piece of me instantly worried about how Sam would react if she saw that poor little critter get its head blown off.

Chris moved the gun over to the squirrel, the corner of his mouth twisting into a slight smirk. Although, instead of shooting right away, he paused to take a glance over his shoulder at me and Sam. I stared back at him, believing that all he needed was the look on my face to understand what I was thinking. He knew that Sam and I were huge animal lovers and I could tell that he was one of the last people who would want to risk pissing us off.


X Shoot Squirrel/Spare Squirrel X

Choice Chosen: Spare Squirrel


UPDATE

Russell's Relationship Status: Chris +1 (8/10)

Sam's Relationship Status: Chris +1 (7/10)

Chris's Character Trait: Charitable +1 (8/10)


With a vague sigh, Chris turned back to the shooting range and aimed at yet another sack that was hanging from the tree. The bullet struck, its loud noise causing the squirrel to drop the acorn that it'd been gnawing on and leap off from the barrel. My chest deflated in relief and I grinned as I watched it dash back off into the wilderness, tittering the whole way.

"Nice shot." Sam approved with a small giggle.

Chris pointed at her. "Your ass just got saaaacked."

Sammy groaned and shook her head at the god-awful pun.

"Whoa there, Christopher. No need to get all ballsy on us now." I chuckled, feeling my smile beginning to transform into a smirk. "I mean, you were pretty good, but..." I trailed off on purpose, as if there was nothing else that needed to be said.

"Pretty good?!" Chris echoed. He stared at me in utter disbelief. "Uhh, hellooo? Did you not see all of those things I hit? Do you really need a replay of my spectacular aim?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and took a step forward. "Actually, I think your 'spectacular' aim could use a little bit of work." I said with a teasing glint in my eyes.

"Oh, really?" The spectacle-eyed teen snickered bitterly. "You think you could do better?"

My smirk broadened, baring some of my teeth. "Why in the hell do you think I offered to go after you?" I asked smartly. "I didn't want to risk bruising your precious confidence."

Sam chuckled at our friendly banter, knowing that it happened very often and wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Plus, considering the scenario ... I could tell that she must've been glad to see me trying to reconnect with my old self. Even if I wouldn't be able to hold on to the connection for long, at least keeping it going for a few minutes was a start.

"You know what, Russ? I find that difficult to believe. But if that's really the case..." Chris handed the rifle over to me, "...then show us what you got."

I snickered. "Gladly."

The rifle felt like it was made specifically for my hands as I lifted it up and directed it at one of the sandbags. I curled my finger around the trigger and drew in a deep, steady breath. Then, with the adrenaline pouring through my body like a rapid flood, I shot off the gun and punctured the bag directly in the center of the X. After that, I didn't think twice before sweeping my aim over to the next sandbag and pulling the trigger again. This bullet also struck smack-dab in the center of the red X, and the process repeated itself when I aimed for the third sandbag. I saved the other beer bottle for last, practically making it explode with a perfect shot.

I swear, every time I pulled that trigger, I felt a jolt of excitement electrocute through my veins. I was unmoved by the kick of the rifle each time, and my speed was impressive. In fact, after my first shot, I didn't even need to take the time to line up any of my other shots. Like my dad told me as a kid: "The more experienced you get with guns, my boy, the easier it gets for you to shoot without taking so much time to aim."


UPDATE

Russell's Special Skill: Sharpshooting


Chris gaped in astonishment, looking like he was seconds away from letting his jaw strike the ground. "Holy - holy crap, Russell!" He exclaimed, sounding almost like a fangirl. "That was ... that was unbelievable! I swear, I have never seen anyone shoot like that before. Where in the hell did you learn to do that?"

I placed the rifle back down on the table with a satisfied smile. "I was raised in a house that strongly supported the Second Amendment." I explained. "As a kid, my dad spent hours teaching me how to shoot and handle all sorts of guns. He would take me to different shooting ranges just like this one nearly every weekend and we would stay there until he figured that we had enough practice for the day. Seriously, I learned how to load up and shoot at targets with an AK-47 long before I learned how to ride a bike."

"And you know what that means?" Sam asked, digging her phony Southern accent back out as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "I got's me a cowboy."

I smirked and rested my hands innocently on her hips, deciding to go along with the game. "Well, little lassie," I said in my own Texan drawl, "I think this moment calls for a smooch."

Sam scoffed at our corny roleplay, but continued to smile as I gently sealed my lips against hers.

"Aw, come on, you guys." Chris awkwardly groaned as he swiped the rifle back up and waved his other hand at us. "I don't wanna see that."

Sammy and I parted, snickering.

"Then avert your eyes." I quipped.

With a slight grin, the bespectacled teen huffed and shifted his attention back around to the shooting range. He raised the gun again, aiming at one of the soda cans that he had already struck. Although, when he pulled the trigger, he was taken back a little from the blow of the rifle and the bullet missed the can by just a couple of inches.

"Aw, dammit!" Chris cursed, dropping the gun a bit.

"Don't sweat it, Chris. You almost had it. You just need to tighten your grip and keep your chin up." I pointed out. "Otherwise, you'll get jerked back from the kick of the gun and the bullet will go wherever in the hell it wants."

Sam rolled her eyes and looked off towards the station, no doubt wanting to get up to the lodge to escape the cold.

"Huh..." Chris breathed. He did as I said, adjusting his grip and the angle of the rifle before taking another shot. This time, he managed to hit the can and send it skipping through the snow. "All right! Bullseye!" Chris cheered, evidently congratulating himself. "And the crowd goes wild!"

I chuckled, nodding in approval. "Way to go."

"Hey, sharp-shooters," Sammy spoke up, turning back to us, "our ride is coming."

Chris looked at her, already in position to take another shot. "Wait, I'm just getting the hang of this." He protested.

"Come on, Chris, the cable car!" Sam turned and began to walk away.

I started after her, but we both stopped and glanced back at Chris when we realized that he wasn't following.

"We can't keep it waiting, man." I said to him, referring to the cable car. "And unless you want to develop pneumonia, I suggest you come with us."

With a groan, Chris finally sat the rifle down and began following me and Sam. As the three of us walked back down the side of the Cable Car station, there was nothing but the sound of our footprints crunching through the snow. Then, as we made it back to the front of the building, Chris decided to shatter the silence that had abruptly formed.

"Man, it is..." He raised his hands up to his mouth and blew into them, sounding uncomfortable. "It's definitely weird coming back up here after a whole year."

I instantly felt a little numb. "Yeah, uh ... Sam and I talked a bit about that when we were waiting for the bus." I gripped the strap of my bag a little tighter and lowered my eyes to the ground. "It doesn't even feel like it's been a year."

"Yeah." Sam agreed in a solemn tone. She peeked back at Chris, rubbing her arms again. "I swear, the moment we got here, it all just came flooding back."

"It's been flooding through me ever since the start of the police investigation." I sighed internally.

Chris exhaled, his shoulders drooping. "A year goes fast." He stated almost regretfully.

"Yeah..." I grumbled under my breath, frowning slightly. "Too fast..."

Sammy stepped up to the front door of the station and jiggled the knob. "Hey, that's weird." She said. "Door's locked."

"Locked?" I asked, wrinkling my brow in confusion.

"Yeaaah..." Chris dragged out, immediately gaining mine and Sam's attention. "Josh wanted us to keep it locked."

"Wait, how come?" I inquired. This has never happened before - Josh always left the Cable Car building unlocked when he invited us up here.

Chris answered uneasily, "To keep people out."

"He said that?" Sam asked. "What people?"

"I - I don't know." Our spectacle-eyed friend shrugged and pulled a key out of his pocket. "He said they found people sleeping in the station one time."

Sam shuddered. "Creepy."

"Disturbing." I affirmed at the exact same time. Then, as Chris worked on unlocking the door, I took another glance around at the stretch of land surrounding us. "I never really pictured this place as one with hobos hanging around ... but I guess you learn something new everyday."

Chris pushed the door open, gesturing for me and my girlfriend to enter first. "After you." He insisted.

"A real gentleman." Sam retorted as she stepped into the station.

I playfully rolled my eyes at her and followed. Chris came in after us and shoved the door shut, trembling a bit from the chilly breeze. The temperature was definitely starting to drop.

"Ugh." Sammy groaned as she approached the railing and leaned against it, looking up at the cable car that was still in the process of descending. "I thought the car was closer."

"Guess we gotta wait." Chris said with slight disappointment.

I walked over to my girlfriend's side and looped my arm around her waist, wanting to keep her warm. In exchange, she sent me a pretty smile before glancing back up at our ride. I did the same, just now noticing how far the cable car still needed to travel in order to reach us.

"I'm starting to get the appeal of killing time at the shooting range." Sam remarked, putting all of her weight on one leg. "How long is this gonna take?"

"It shouldn't take that long." I replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Russ. Better find some wood to knock on." Chris retorted from where he was still standing in front of the door, shaking some snow off his boots. "I mean ... it's a big mountain."

"Yeah." Sam's eyes twinkled with something, but I couldn't tell if it was sorrow or bliss. "It's so beautiful in the day, but at night it just feels menacing like ... a sleeping giant."

"You gonna publish?" Chris asked.

"What?" Sam inquired, now confused.

"Your pretty poem. 'The Sleeping Giant of Blackwood Forest.'" The bespectacled teen whispered, cracking a smirk. "I'm pretty sure Russell wouldn't mind taking some pictures for it."

I chuckled and planted a kiss against Sam's temple, just as she scoffed at Chris and said, "Oh, shut up."

With a small snicker, Chris turned and began his way towards a wide-open doorway that stood in the upper right corner of the station. "Well, since we got some time to kill," he stated, "I'm gonna check out the control room."

"I'll go with you." I said, at which Chris froze on the single stair to wait for me. "You wanna come too, Sammy?"

"Nah, you two sharp-shooters go ahead." Sam answered, waving me off. "I'll just wait here."

"All right, suit yourself." Chris said. "Come on, Russell."

"Coming."

The spectacle-eyed teen entered the control room, just as I began my way across the platform. Then, as soon as I stepped up onto the stair, it came to my attention that something on the wall had caught Chris's eye. I stepped into the control room, ignoring the slight creak that came from the old wooden floor beneath my feet as I paused at Chris's side to see what he was looking at. It was a large, outdated poster that advertised a brownish/gold image of some sort of building. There were also words printed across it, too huge to miss.

BLACKWOOD PINES

Hotel and Sanatorium

'For a healthy body and mind'

Just reading the word 'sanatorium' sent a shiver through my bones. Even after all of these years, I failed to understand why Mr. Washington wanted his family's estate to be built on the same mountain as a mental institution. It might've been abandoned a long time ago, but just the thought of people going there in the past due to chronic illnesses made me feel a little sick to my stomach. It was bad enough that tonight was the anniversary ... I really didn't need to be reminded of the old sanatorium.

"Well, there's something you don't see everyday ... a Bed and Breakfast that comes with a built-in rehabilitation center." I muttered, unimpressed. "Damn, that's freaky."

"Yeah." Chris agreed, speaking loud enough for Sammy to hear. "What a crazy place to set up house. No matter how rich you are."

"They're not so rich." Sam remarked. "They only bought a mountain!"

I let out a laugh and stepped away from the poster, finding her sarcasm funny. Although, after taking a brisk stroll around the tiny control room, it occurred to me pretty fast that there wasn't really anything else interesting to look at.

"Hey, Scarface." Chris spoke up. He motioned me over, now standing in front of a small TV that cast a dim light. "Come look at this."

I obliged, setting aside some random paperback book that I had absently picked up before walking over to his side. The TV was flicking through security cameras that were positioned in different areas all around the lodge. I couldn't tell if the footage was old or current, but it was awfully choppy and grainy.

"You know, if there were any cell towers up here," I said nonchalantly, "all we would need right now is a phone call and a voice on the other side of the line saying 'seven days.'" I lowered my voice into an eerie whisper at my final two words, causing my bespectacled friend to elbow me in the lower ribs.

"Do not remind me of that terrible movie." Chris grumbled.

I chuckled, turning my attention away from the TV screen to look at him. "You only say The Ring is terrible because it scared the crap out of you when we watched it with Mike, Josh, and Lucas back in the middle school." I teased.

"It did not scare me." Chris declined with a slight, awkward laugh. The security camera footage reflected in his glasses. "It just - huh?"

At the sudden uneasy note in his voice, I raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the TV in confusion. "What?" I asked, not seeing anything out of the blue with the footage of the upper Cable Car station.

"Did you, uh ... did you see that?" Chris questioned. He pointed at a certain area on the screen. "I thought I saw something ... like a weird shadow."

I squinted at the screen inquisitively. "Nah, I don't see anything, Chris ... maybe it's just your eyes playing tricks on you. These transitions are pretty horrible."

Chris hesitated for a moment before responding. "Yeah ... maybe you're right." He turned his head towards me, nodding. "It must've just been the crappy quality. The Washington's really should consider investing in some new security cameras up here."

"Hard to believe that none of them caught anything from last year..." I mentally mumbled. "Dammit ... what in the hell happened to my friends?"

Just then, the sound of the cable car rolling into the station echoed loudly through the air. With no hesitation, Chris and I abandoned the control room, stepping out just in time to witness the doors slide open.

"Finally." Sam huffed. She watched as I immediately climbed into the cable car and took a seat before flicking her eyes over to Chris. "You coming?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Well, I was just gonna stay here and catch some Zzzzz's, buuuut..." He raised his shoulders sarcastically. "Okay."

"Wise choice, Hartley." I quipped as I slipped my backpack off and settled it down on the floor.

Sammy entered the cable car and seated herself across from me.

Chris then walked up and took a moment to let his eyes flicker between the two of us before he entered. "Hm ... just like going to the prom." He said, removing his own bag before he sat down beside Sam.

I snickered. "Oh, sure. I don't recall our prom night limo ride being anything like this, Chris."

My girlfriend lightly laughed, just as the cable car doors slid shut and locked the three of us in. Then, as it started ascending back up to the top of the mountain, the car shook a little and made me, Chris, and Sam sway in our seats. Thank Christ this thing was constantly examined and brought up to code anytime something about it seemed out of shape. Otherwise, I would've hiked all the way up to the lodge.

"Here we go!" Sam proclaimed with a large smile decorating her face.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, trying to rise up to the same level as excitement as her. "Washington Estate, here we come!"

"Right!" Chris concurred. He grinned at me and then at Sammy. "Adventure begins."

"Would this even count as an adventure?" I asked as I slumped back to get more comfortable. "We've been up to the lodge hundreds of times."

"Well, you know the saying, Russ." Chris raised a finger, speaking in a clever tone. "Everyday is a new adventure."

I turned my head and looked out one of the frost-covered windows of the cable car. "Mm-hm." I hummed out, taking in the incredible view.

Sam exhaled. "I hope this was the right thing to do."

"What?" Chris asked. He and I drew our attention over to her, me looking concerned and him appearing confused.

"You know, getting everyone together on the anniversary." Sammy explained with slight worry tainting her voice. "I mean, Josh seemed really pumped about us all doing something together, didn't he?"

"Yeah, no, he definitely did." The bespectacled teen waved his arm around, trying to reassure me and Sam. "I haven't seen him so excited about something in ... forever."

Sam gave him an uncertain look before nodding. "Good, good..."

"I know exactly how you feel, Sammy." I piped up, resulting in her and Chris glancing over at me. "I'm concerned about Josh, too. What he's going through right now must be horrible ... and I feel pretty guilty for not keeping in much contact with him ever since last year. I know that he's a tough guy and he hates asking for help, but ... Hannah, Beth, and Scott were his siblings. He must feel pretty out of it."

"Don't worry." Chris soothed. "He's ... he's pulling through."

Sam slightly shrugged at that statement. "It's hard to tell with him and I ... I've kinda been worried..." She pursed her lips, not being the type of person who openly admitted to being nervous about anything.

Chris shook his head. "No no, it was ... it was a good idea."

Sammy turned away from him to look out the window. "I hope everybody else feels the same way."

"Yeah, same here." I agreed with a faint nod. "Otherwise, what in the hell is the point of all of us reuniting up here?"

"We're all here, aren't we?" Chris concluded, now shifted around so he could be staring out the window behind him and Sammy.

Small smiles molded across mine and Sam's lips.

"Thanks, bro." Sam said, trying to sound cool as she gave Chris's arm a friendly punch. "Good talk."

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose, massaging my scar. "Oh my God, Sammy." I lightly snorted. "That was ... that was so cringe worthy."

A pale blush melted across my girlfriend's cheeks. "Oh, shut it, Russell." She chuckled and stuck her leg out, nudging my knee with the head of her boot.

Chris snickered at us. "You know what, let's just ... let's just stop talking about what happened and enjoy the trip." He suggested, gaining back the attention of me and Sammy. "Josh invited us all up here to have some fun ... so, let's do that for him. That's what ... that's what the triplets would want from all of us. To help their brother and ... whatnot."

Sam sighed. "You know what? You're right."

"Yeah." I huffed and rested my head against my hand. "Being up here again brings back enough memories as it is."

Chris offered a smile and changed the topic. "Do you two know how Josh and I met?"

"No...?" Sam and I answered simultaneously.

"Okay. Third grade." Our spectacle-eyed friend turned his body, beginning his story. "Josh sat in the back of the room, I sat in the front. We didn't even know each other existed." He paused for a split second to share some of his eye contact with me. "But the kid next to Josh started strap snapping the training bra on the girl in front of him, so the teacher made him move to the front - where I was sitting!" He paused again, sweeping his attention back over to Sammy.

I furrowed my brow, trying to figure out something to respond with.

"Okay, so?" Sam asked with curiosity laced around her voice.

"So, I got moved to the back!" Chris exclaimed.

"And?" I inquired.

"And next to Josh! That's how we met!" The bespectacled teen chuckled, wearing a large grin. "And became friends. To this day."

"Best friends." I corrected, being a firm believer in there being a major difference between 'friends' and 'best friends.'

"A match made in Heaven." Sam commented at the exact same time, in a much similar tone.

"If it weren't for the fact that Jeanie Simmonds hit puberty, like, three years early and on that day decided to wear a low-cut shirt that showed off her training bra," Chris exhaled, pretending to fix his glasses. "I mean, who knows? The two of you could be riding in this cable car alone. Right now. Or talking to some other person entirely. Boom: Butterfly Effect."

Sam nodded at him. "Very interesting."

"I know, right?" With a snicker, Chris shifted his focus back over to me and his eyes started to flicker with curiosity. "What about you, Russell?" He clarified the question when all he got from me was a confused stare. "How did, uh ... how did you and Scott meet?"

Just like that, the smile on Sam's face crumbled away and she elbowed Chris in the side, making him grunt. "Chris!" She hissed with worry starting to form across her features.

"Sorry, it sort of slipped out." Chris grumbled, rubbing where Sam's elbow had struck him. "If you don't want to answer, Russ, it's perfectly fi-"

I cut him off as casually as possible, also making a gesture for Sam to take it easy. "Nah, don't worry about it. I don't mind sharing." I said, mustering the tiniest smile in all of existence. "Scott and I ... we met on a bus."

As soon as my final word left my mouth, something - like realization - sparked across Sammy's eyes. She must've remembered back at the bus stop, just as we were about to board when I mentioned that it had been a long time since I'd last been on a bus.

Chris tilted his head like a confused puppy. "A bus?"


X Leave It There/Tell Story X

Choice Chosen: Tell Story


"Yeah." I looked out the window again, reliving the memories inside my head as I watched the trees shrink beneath us. "We were both six-years-old and our moms thought that we needed some time away from video games. So, they signed us up for Camp Saltwater ... a summer camp for children of all ages. My mom doused me in sunscreen, kissed me God knows how many times, and told me to have a great time. My dad practically had to pry her off of me with the jaws of life when the bus arrived and when I boarded ... I sat close to the back all by myself."

"Aw, Russ." Sam cooed, sounding both sympathetic and caught up in the oh-so-adorable mother/son moment that was described.

"The ride was expected to last at least two-and-a-half hours." I went on with the story. "For the first hour, I remained alone in my seat, listening to everyone else around me laughing with friends and singing the Camp Saltwater theme song ... but then, these three guys decided to close in on me. They looked about fifteen or sixteen. One slid into the seat in front of me, another sat across the aisle, and the last was behind me. They just started harassing me ... the one behind me wouldn't stop shoving me around in my seat and the other two kept yelling insults at me. I was scared to death and..." I exhaled and rolled my eyes. "Of course, being six, I started to cry from having my feelings hurt."

"Wow." Chris droned, evidently not impressed by the behavior of the three other guys. "Total ass-hats."

I nodded in agreement and turned to look at the two of them again. "Anyway, that's when somebody stepped up ... just as one of the guys started to taunt me about 'my mommy not being there to save me' and another one told me to 'shut my whiny ass up' ... another voice spoke up, ordering them to leave me alone. It was Scott, standing there in the aisle with a sharp glare on his face. The three guys immediately stood up, towering over him and ignoring the driver's orders to take a seat. One of them, who I guess was the leader, held up a fist, called Scott a pathetic little runt, and told him to sit his ass down unless he wanted to be next."

"How did Scott react to that?" Chris asked with his voice now tainted with curiosity.

A bitter smile curled up on the corners of my lips. "He punched all three of them with full force between the legs." I chuckled. "Those dumbasses collapsed to the floor and the bus driver pulled over, ordering Scott to take a seat beside me so he could 'think about what he did wrong' as she escorted the trio up to the front."

"That's all the driver did?" Sammy asked, surprised.

"What do you expect, babe?" I continued to snicker from the flashback. "It wasn't like she could kick us off the bus or anything. We were six."

Chris laughed. "Damn! Even back then, Scott refused to take bullshit from anyone!"

By this point, I could feel the sorrow starting to embed its way back into my system. Once again, the reality came back to remind me that this winter getaway wasn't gonna be like any of our past trips to the Washington Estate. Scott was gone, as well as Hannah and Beth ... and the chance of them ever being found, especially alive, was very minimal.

"He really didn't." I agreed, looking down at my boots with a small sigh. "We introduced ourselves right there on the bus, talked the rest of the way to the camp, and for the following seven weeks, we had grown inseparable. Camp Saltwater turned out to be a hell of a lot more fun than I thought it would be and to this day, I sometimes find myself thinking back to it."

"Russell..." Sam said softly.

"I'm fine ... really, don't worry." I lifted my head back up and flashed a reassuring smile. "Let's just do our best in keeping this trip upbeat, okay? Dwelling on what happened last year ... it's not gonna get us anywhere. It's not what we're here for. So, like Chris said, let's stop talking about it and allow ourselves to have a good time."

"Right." The spectacle-eyed teen pursed his lips and gave me a long look before nodding. "But you know we're here for you in case ... you know, you need to talk."

"I know. Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it." I said, at which the cable car gave another small rattle. "Hey, it looks like we're about to dock."


&SCENE CHANGE&

JESSICA

UPPER CABLE CAR STATION

21:19


Jessica's POV

"Okay, this is it! This is thee weekend!" I mentally squealed as I stared at the lavender envelope that was in my hands. "That's right, Jess. Within a couple of more hours, the time will finally arrive for you to lose your virginity to your hunk-a-licious beefcake!"


JESS - MIKE'S NEW GIRLFRIEND

CONFIDENT

TRUSTING

IRREVERENT


JESSICA KATHERINE RILEY

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 7/10

Charitable: 2/10

Funny: 6/10

Brave: 4/10

Romantic: 8/10

Curious: 2/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 5/10

Russell: 4/10

Sam: 3/10

Emily: 2/10

Ashley: 3/10

Mike: 8/10

Matt: 4/10

Chris: 4/10

Lucas: 2/10

Ethan: 1/10

Chelsea: 2/10


Mike and I had been planning to have sex for months, but we never seemed to have the time. Between him having to juggle all of his responsibilities as Class President and me having no choice but to constantly babysit my annoying little twin brothers, we barely had any alone time together. But when Josh emailed us back in December about him throwing another party at his family's lodge, a bright ray of hope was cast upon me. For the first time in God knows how long, Mike and I had the chance to get away from our daily routines and have some fun - to a whole new level.

Don't get me wrong, I really did miss Beth, Hannah, and Scott ... but Mike and I are in love and we're more than likely never going to get another opportunity like this. Up in a cozy lodge, surrounded by hundreds of snowy mountains, and most importantly ... far away from homework, my nosy brothers, and his disruptive parents. I couldn't imagine a better place to make love.

I had prepared myself for tonight the best that I could. The letter that I was holding was addressed to Mike, containing dozens of innuendos and a few creative ideas on what he could do to me the minute we finished settling into the lodge. Aside from that, I had pulled out the Daddy's Little Girl act and convinced my dad to buy me the outfit that I was wearing: a stone-blue jacket over a purple top, a tight ivory-white undershirt, and a pair of sexy jeans that I had purposely tugged down a bit to reveal a strip of my floral undies. I had even grown my hair out since last year and styled it into two Dutch braids to tie the whole outfit together.

Now, all I had left to do was wait for Mike and let the magic unravel itself from there.

Suddenly, over the sound of the sharp wind blowing, the loud clanks of the cable car reeling in broke through the air.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. New people. Time to meet and greet." I muttered to myself, jumping up from the frigid bench that I'd been sitting on.

I started sauntering over to the door, wondering who could possibly-

BANG!

I flinched, unable to hold back the startled gasp that immediately flew out of my mouth.

"What the hell?!" I sneered, rolling my eyes at the unexpected noise.


Russell's POV

UPPER CABLE CAR STATION

21:17

I watched inquisitively as Chris groaned and rattled the knob, unable to get the door open.

"Chris, are you sure that there's no key for this door?" Sam asked from where she was nestled close to my side, trying to keep warm.

This Cable Car station was a hell of a lot colder and draftier than the previous one, courtesy of how it was built almost at the tippy-top of the mountain.

Chris huffed, still jiggling the doorknob. "Well, if there is, I'm afraid that I don't have it."

"Josh wouldn't have forgotten to give you a key if it was required for this door." I remarked, filling the air with multiple misty clouds from my breath. "There must be ... a button that has to be be pushed or a switch that needs to be flipped or something. Either way, there has to be a way out of this thing." I looked around from where I was standing, unable to spot anything that could indicate a way to unlock the door.

Suddenly, the spectacle-eyed teen pulled his hand away from the doorknob and slipped off his backpack. "Here, hold this for a minute." He said as he tossed it back and watched as I caught it by one of the straps.

"Why? What for?" Sam questioned with utter confusion dripping from her voice. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna bust the door down." Chris replied, making it sound like the simplest task in all of humanity.

My lips instantly threatened to morph into a smile and I fought the urge to laugh. "What, are you serious?" I asked.

"Well, we have to get out of here and it's not like we have many options to choose from." Chris noted. He positioned his right leg in front of the other and turned himself slightly at the waist, readying himself. "Besides, Josh won't mind. His family is wealthy enough to replace a door, so that's nothing to worry about."

Sam looked down and pinched the bridge of her nose, making it obvious that she already had a pretty good idea on how this was going to end. "Oh boy..." She muttered under her breath. "All right, Chris ... go ahead and give it a try."

With a nod, our bespectacled friend took a couple of steps back and let out a battle cry as he charged for the door. Although, when he struck it with his bicep, the impact hardly produced any sound and the force sent Chris ricocheting back to where he'd previously been standing. With no hesitation, I flew my hand up to my mouth in an attempt to subdue my laughter and an amused smile broke out across my girlfriend's face.

"Ah, damn!" Chris groaned as he clutched his arm. "What in the hell is that door made of?!"

"Evidently, something hard. Are you okay?" Sammy asked, unable to resist snickering at least a tiny bit.

Chris sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I really thought that would work..." He shook his arm, trying to lessen the discomfort that was shooting through it.

"Hey, dude, don't worry about it. I think you were definitely onto something there." I chuckled and chucked Chris's bag back over to him. "Let me give it a shot."

"Be careful, Russ." Sam cautioned.

I took a few steps back, feeling the eyes of Sam and Chris following my every move. Then, after I drew in a steady breath, I bolted towards the door and shot my leg up, ramming the sole of my boot harshly against it just inches below the knob. A loud BANG erupted through the air, and despite how the door still didn't open, I had managed to trigger a startled gasp from somebody on the other side.

"What the hell?!" A familiar, very feminine voice bellowed. Yep, I definitely knew who that was...

Sam and Chris quickly raced over to the door, sandwiching me between them. The three of us peered out the surprisingly clear window.

"JESS! HEY!" Chris called out.

"JESSICA! OVER HERE!" Sam yelled next, waving her arm around.

"WE'RE IN HERE! JESSICA!" I hollered last, tapping my knuckles loudly against the door.

Within seconds, the face of Jessica Riley came into view on the other side of the glass. "Uh..." She spoke snootily, "are you guys having a really weird stroke?"

I rolled my eyes and grumbled, "Nice to see you too, Jess."

Chris attempted to turn the knob again, still with no luck. "We're stuck in this stupid thing." He informed the beige-blonde girl.

"Could you please let us out?" Sam asked, pouting. "Pretty please?"

With a huff, Jessica lifted her hand and a bright shade of green beamed against her porcelain-white face as she pressed something. So, it was a button that handled this door. Then, when Chris pulled the door open and strolled out of the station with me and Sam, Jess turned her back on us and started walking away. I pulled the door shut behind us, causing the green light to flicker back to red.

"Oh. My. God." Chris droned dramatically. "I thought we were goners. Another ten minutes in there and I would have chewed off my own leg."

I crinkled my nose in disgust, just as Sam cringed and shook her head. "Aw, sick, Chris." She murmured.

Chris turned to us. "Look, I got a lot of meat on my bones." He slid his hand down the fabric of his jeans and pat his leg. "This is all muscle down here."

Jessica snorted. She definitely hasn't changed since last year. She was still the same walking, talking, bitched-out version of Malibu Barbie ... but, on the bright side, at least she wasn't Emily.

"Yeah ... riiiight. Uh-huh." Sam dragged out, nodding sarcastically at the bespectacled teen.

Chris pointed at me, but kept his eyes locked on Sam. "Well, unless you would rather have Russell and his muscles go before me and my macho frame..." There was a teasing note in his voice.

"That's ... really gross, Chris." I retorted with my nose still wrinkled. "Never in a million years would I ever consider the thought of going cannibalistic. Seriously, I would much rather starve than chow down on another person."

Sam nearly gagged at my choice of words and Chris shrugged, leaving the joke there. For a brief moment, nobody said a word.

"Bwip!" Chris suddenly exclaimed, snatching something out of Jessica's fingers. It looked like a sealed envelope.

The beige-blonde's face instantly morphed into a scowl. "Hey!" She cried.

"Chris!" Sammy objected.

"I'm just doing like Sam and Russell taught me." Chris informed, gesturing over to me and Sam with a smug grin on his face. "Other people's private thoughts are my own personal playground."

"Do not be a jerk." Sam chided.

"Really, man?" I wrapped my arms around my girlfriend's waist and held her close, standing behind her. "Do not drag us into this."

The spectacle-eyed teen raised a finger, signaling for us to quiet ourselves as he read to who the letter was addressed to. I swear, there was fire starting to flare up in Jessica's light green eyes.

"My goodness." Chris said in a sly tone. He looked around at the three of us and then back at the envelope. "Seems that someone has a lil' crush on our good friend and dear class president Michael Munroe."

"Chris-" Sam started.

"Aaand ... what kind of sizzling erotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining? I wonder...?" Chris placed a finger at the edge of the envelope, acting like he was getting ready to open it.

I narrowed my eyes a little in confusion. "Wait ... you guys don't know about...?"


X Insist (Give it back!)/Explain (I'm with Mike now...) X

Choice Chosen: Explain


"Mike and Em split." Jess cut me off, explaining quickly. "We're together."

Sam was obviously caught off guard from hearing that. She took a small step back, seeming to forget for a moment that I was right there. So, she ended up bumping into my chest.

"Whoa." Chris droned, raising his eyebrows. "Drama."

Jessica scoffed. "Not really. Pretty clear-cut, actually. Em's out, I'm in."

"Huh." Sam breathed.

The beige-blonde placed her hand on her hip and flicked her gaze over to me. "I'm surprised that Scarface didn't tell either of you." She said with a hint of judgement embedded in her voice. "Lyla told me that he's known for about a month now."

Lyla was my first little sister - the junior in high school who, much to my dismay, hung out with Jess on a regular basis. The two of them constantly communicated over text message and they told each other practically everything. With her dirty mind, Jessica wasn't exactly the greatest role model for anyone to have - but as long as she didn't try convincing Lyla to have sex with anyone, I guess I could live with the two of them hanging out.

"I only found out because Lyla told me." I corrected, giving Jessica a slightly pointed look. She always found ways to make me look like a bad guy. "She said that she saw a video that Emily had posted to her Instagram shortly after the breakup. I never bothered to watch it, but I guess it involved her flicking the camera off, cursing Mike out, and going off on a rampage of reasons as to why he was the worst boyfriend in the entire world."

"Ugh." Jess groaned and rolled her eyes. "She's such an attention whore."

I untangled my arms from around Sam's waist and started my way over to the edge of the peak, wanting to get away from the drama. So, with the remarkable view that was provided, I unzipped the little black bag that was at my hip and pulled my camera back out to take some more photos.

At the same time, Chris pursed his lips and, not knowing what else to do, waved the letter around. In return, Jessica stalked towards him and ripped it out of his hand with a glare plastered on her snobby face.


UPDATE

Jessica's Relationship Status: Chris -1 (3/10)


"All right, all right." Chris said, obviously trying to lessen the tension. "Let's just get up to the lodge already. Getting tired of all of this nature and junk."

I readjusted the focus on my camera and snapped a picture of the beautiful sea of mountains, right before I changed the angle to take another one.

"You guys go ahead, I'm just gonna wait here for a bit ... see who else is coming." Jessica sort of sang the last part, swooshing her hips in a flirtatious manner as she started strolling back over to the Cable Car station.

Chris peeked over his shoulder. "You mean Mike?" He crooned slyly.

"What?" Jess froze in her tracks and looked at him with a scarlet blush starting to burn across her cheeks. "I mean, you know, whoever." She shrugged simply and walked over to a bench, continuing to wag her butt with every step she took.

"Uh-huh." Chris said, unconvinced. "Sam? Russ?"

Sammy appeared at my side with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face. "Did you see this view?" She asked, clearly mesmerized. "I mean, holy cow. Sometimes I forget to just stop and take it all in ... unlike some people."

I grinned at her from the corner of my eye and chuckled, knowing that that last part was directed towards me.

"The up-and-coming photographer is at it again." Chris announced with a flourish. "Are you gonna be taking pictures the entire trip?"

"I don't know." I replied, smirking as I turned to face him. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't ... I guess it depends on whatever this weekend throws at us."

Chris snickered. "Well, if that's the case, I'll be sure to lock the door when I head to the bathroom to take a shower. The last thing I need is you popping in to 'capture the moment.'"

I stared at him like he had just grown a second head. "Yes, Chris, because I totally want a picture of you all naked and soapy to haunt me for the rest of my life." I said with sarcasm dripping from each of my words.

The spectacle-eyed teen snorted. "Are you and Sam coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses. We're coming." I placed my camera back in its bag and zipped it up again. "See you later, Jess."

Jessica didn't say anything back. She didn't even look up from her phone, refusing to pay any attention to me, Chris, or Sam as the three of us started walking off in the direction of the lodge.


&SCENE CHANGE&

EMILY, MATT, AND CHELSEA

WASHINGTON LODGE GROUNDS

21:24


Chelsea's POV

"Thank you, Matt." I said, offering him a grin as he held the squeaky gate open for me and his annoying-ass girlfriend.

Matt returned the smile and his dark brown eyes glimmered with that usual friendly glow. "No problem, Chels." He murmured low enough so Emily, the Queen of the Bitches, wouldn't hear him.

Even in the outfit that I was wearing, I was almost completely unaffected by the cold weather. A jade-green crop top advertising the lion logo from the band Sheppard was at the base, accompanied by a dark red undershirt and a grey leather jacket. I also had on a knee-length skirt that was made out of denim fabric, some pitch-black leggings, and a pair of mahogany boots with stylish buckles. Lastly, fuzzy white earmuffs sat atop my head and I had silver dogtags suspending around my neck. They were a Christmas gift from Josh, given to me a month after he first asked me out. Both of them had engravings on them.

The first one read:

You're Always In My Heart. ;)

And the second one:

Josh & Chelsea

Forever & Ever

December 25, 2015

Needless to say, they were the greatest gift that I had ever received and I refused to go anywhere without them.

I walked through the gate, wheeling my leopard-print suitcase behind me and listening to the snow crunch beneath my feet as I peered up at the bushy treetops. The moonlight was pouring through the branches, making the path almost look silvery. I could practically feel it beaming against my caramel face as I paused in my tracks to wait for Matt and, unfortunately, Emily.


CHELSEA - MATT'S BEST FRIEND AND JOSH'S GIRLFRIEND

DECISIVE

STRAIGHTFORWARD

HELPFUL

*SPECIAL SKILL* - UNKNOWN


CHELSEA MADISON AMBERWOOD

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 8/10

Charitable: 8/10

Funny: 6/10

Brave: 7/10

Romantic: 7/10

Curious: 6/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 10/10

Jessica: 3/10

Sam: 8/10

Emily: 2/10

Ashley: 6/10

Mike: 4/10

Matt: 9/10

Chris: 5/10

Lucas: 5/10

Ethan: 6/10

Russell: 8/10


Emily groaned, causing me to turn just in time to see her walking through the gate.

"Seriously, couldn't they have built the lodge, like, right where the cable car ends?" She complained as Matt secured the gate shut behind her.


EMILY - MIKE'S EX

INTELLIGENT

RESOURCEFUL

PERSUASIVE


EMELINA HARPER DAVIS

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 6/10

Charitable: 3/10

Funny: 2/10

Brave: 3/10

Romantic: 6/10

Curious: 5/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 5/10

Jessica: 3/10

Sam: 4/10

Russell: 2/10

Ashley: 3/10

Mike: 6/10

Matt: 7/10

Chris: 3/10

Lucas: 3/10

Ethan: 2/10

Chelsea: 1/10


I rolled my emerald green eyes and gestured to the wide-open space around us. "And risk ruining this beautiful setting?" I asked, not even trying to bite back on the judgement that was laced around my tone.

Emily shot me an icy glare, but before she could open her mouth to retaliate, Matt spoke up.

"She has a point, Em." He picked up his bag, as well as Emily's, and shook his shoulders in an attempt to reduce the strain. "I don't think it would have been, like, as pretty, you know?"


MATT - EMILY'S NEW BOYFRIEND

MOTIVATED

AMBITIOUS

ACTIVE


MATTHEW ANTHONY TAYLOR

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 7/10

Charitable: 6/10

Funny: 4/10

Brave: 4/10

Romantic: 6/10

Curious: 7/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 6/10

Jessica: 4/10

Sam: 5/10

Emily: 7/10

Ashley: 4/10

Mike: 3/10

Russell: 7/10

Chris: 5/10

Lucas: 6/10

Ethan: 3/10

Chelsea: 9/10


Emily shook her head, clearly not taking Matt's words into consideration. "And where's the bellboy when you need one?" She demanded as she walked right past me like I didn't exist.

I scoffed and shot daggers at her back. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." I grumbled, right before I turned my head to look at my lifetime best friend. "Tell me again, why in the hell is she complaining so damn much? It's not like she's carrying any of the luggage or bothering to lift a finger in any shape or form."

Matt sighed, shaking his head. "Come on, Chels. Don't start on that, please."

"Don't start on what?" I asked, gripping the handle of my suitcase a little tighter. "I'm just saying that I think you deserve somebody better than her ... you know, someone who doesn't treat you like a mindless toy or accessory."

Matt rolled his shoulders again, walking alongside me as we began up the trail after his girlfriend. "Emily's just as passionate about me as I am about her. She's just complicated, that's all." He said, making it sound like it was no big deal.

I rolled my eyes again. "She's not complicated. She just likes getting away with acting like a complete bitch."

"Hey." Matt looked at me and flicked his eyebrows up in dead seriousness.

"Sorry." I muttered.

I didn't have the slightest clue as to why or how he had feelings for someone like Emily, but he did. Although, despite how strong my rivalry with the Asian was, Matt was like the big brother that I never had and I was willing to stay out of his business with this relationship if it really made him happy. Our moms had met in one of those "Mommy and Me" programs, so the two of us had literally been in each other's lives ever since we were in diapers. It wasn't Matt that I was cautious about though - it was Emily. She scavenged Matt up almost immediately after Mike dumped her and the last thing I wanted to see was my best friend get hurt by this wannabe diva.

I'm not gonna lie, she had her good moments in which she asked Matt to go on a walk or cuddle with her just to keep her company. I've seen her engage in plenty of passionate and almost entirely meaningful conversations with him, especially after the triplets disappeared. Unfortunately, ninety-nine percent of the time, she was nothing but a demanding, possessive, prissy bitch who acted like she deserved to be crowned queen of the universe. In my eyes, she had a massive stick up her ass and only removed it when she was getting her way. To make a long story short: I hated her ... probably not as much as Russell, but I really did.

"Brr ... gettin' chills." Emily trembled, rubbing her hands up and down the sleeves of her black leather jacket.

"We're almost there-" Matt began. For a short moment, he sat Emily's pink bag down in the snow and shook his hand, trying again to lessen the strain. Then, he lifted it back up and continued walking.

Emily cut him off. "No, I mean ... gettin' kinda creeped out."

I straightened my lips and looked around, silently agreeing with her. This mountain might've been beautiful, but ever since the incident that happened with Hannah, Scott, and Beth ... there was something about it that sent chills down my spine. It even felt like there were eyes following me, Emily, and Matt ... but that must've just been paranoia. After all, it was getting late and this was the first time in a year that anybody's been up here.

"Oh." Matt said a little awkwardly as we approached an old bridge that was built over a skinny river. "Yeah."

"Gonna be weird seeing everyone up here again." Emily commented.

"Especially since tonight's the anniversary." I incorporated, sounding partially uneasy.

Matt sighed. "Definitely not gonna feel like a regular party."

I walked between him and Emily, trying to forget about last year as I pulled my suitcase along. Maybe if I hadn't fallen asleep, I would've been able to stop the stupid prank from happening. Maybe Hannah never would've ran off into the snow storm and she, along with Beth and Scott, would be here with us on this trip. If only I hadn't past out from exhaustion ... I'm pretty sure that I could've done something to prevent it all. To this day, that part of my mind was still drowning in guilt.

Emily, Matt, and I started walking across the bridge, listening to wheels of my suitcase as they creepily rolled across the floorboards behind us.

"I mean, what do you two think-" Matt started.

"RAAAAAAWWRRRRR!" A scream suddenly erupted through the air and a figure leaped down from the rotted roof of the bridge, landing directly in front of us.

With a yelp, Matt stumbled back a couple of steps and threw his arms up, ready to fight. At the same, out of total reflex, I quickly released the handle of my suitcase, reached into the pocket of my sleek leather jacket, and flipped out my nine-inch switchblade as a startled yell escaped from my throat. And lastly, Emily released a much more terrified shriek, looking like she was about to take off running in the direction that we'd already came.

Then, as the figure before us started to crack up, my eyes widened at the realization at who it was.


UPDATE

Chelsea Character Traits: Brave -1 (6/10)

Matt Character Traits: Brave -1 (3/10)

Emily Character Traits: Brave -1 (2/10)


"Whoa! Dude!" Matt exclaimed, angry as he finally recognized who the laughter belonged to.

"Holy crap!" I proclaimed at the exact same time.

"JESUS!" Emily also cried.

It was only Mike, decked out in a flannel jacket, the dark blue padded vest that Beth had given to him as a Secret Santa gift last Christmas, and a plain pair of jeans. He gasped, trying to catch his breath as he clapped his hands together and stepped back into a curtain of moonlight to reveal himself better.


MIKE - EMILY'S EX

INTELLIGENT

DRIVEN

PERSUASIVE


MICHAEL GREY MUNROE

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 5/10

Charitable: 5/10

Funny: 6/10

Brave: 7/10

Romantic: 8/10

Curious: 3/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 5/10

Jessica: 8/10

Sam: 5/10

Emily: 6/10

Ashley: 4/10

Russell: 7/10

Matt: 2/10

Chris: 3/10

Lucas: 4/10

Ethan: 5/10

Chelsea: 6/10


UPDATE

Chelsea's Relationship Status: Mike -1 (3/10)

Emily's Relationship Status: Mike -1 (5/10)

Matt's Relationship Status: Mike -1 (2/10)

Mike's Character Trait: Funny +1 (8/10)


Mike held his hands up, as if to show us that he wasn't armed, and then doubled over in laughter. "You guys!" He gasped out, snickering.

"MICHAEL!" Emily and I simultaneously snarled.

"Damn you, Munroe!" I added immediately after.

Mike pointed at us. "You really, really should have seen your faces right there."

Matt lowered his fists and sneered. "Dude, I almost clocked you just now."

"Nice one." Mike said, looking up at the sky with a large smile on his face as he congratulated himself.

Emily rolled her hazel eyes. "Michael, you're a jerk." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"A major asshole." I contributed, still clutching the handle of my blade as I scowled at the Class President. "Seriously, Mike, you better consider yourself lucky that I'm not scalping you with this thing right now. You're the worst."

Mike scoffed, holding his arms out to us. "Come on, guys, we're all friends here, right? No need for violence, just a little harmless fun!" He rationalized in the most charming tone that he could offer. "We're up in the woods! It's spooky! Come on, let's get into the spirit of things."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He had lost me at the phrase 'just a little harmless fun,' considering I had learned from somebody else in the group that he'd tricked Russell into participating in the prank by telling him the exact same thing. How in the hell did this guy expect me to trust him?

Matt flicked his attention between me, Emily, and Mike, seeming to already know that this wasn't going to end well.

"The spirit of things? Seriously? What's wrong with you?" Emily pestered condescendingly.

"Lots of things, probably." I muttered.

Mike scoffed again, sounding almost insulted. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood, girls." He raised an eyebrow at us. "Don't be like that."

"Like what?" Emily demanded with a warning look plastered on her face.

"The way you're both being." Mike replied like it should've been obvious. "The two of you always get like this."

Danger electrocuted through my eyes. "Listen, Munroe," I growled, instantly gaining his attention, "I usually don't give a shit what people say about me, but from here on out, you better think twice before ever comparing me to a rag doll like this." I pointed my thumb at Emily, making her gasp like that was the worst insult that someone could ever receive.

Mike chuckled again. "Well, well, what do you know? Looks like Josh's kitty has claws." He made a motion with his hand that was supposed to represent a cat clawing at something. "Meow! What a fiery little pussy cat!"

I groaned and held up my hand, signaling for him to stop. "Don't you have a prostitute's tongue to go choke on or something?" I asked carelessly. "Seriously, you're getting on my last nerves and the trip hasn't even started yet. That must be some sort of new record for you."

Mike's amusement didn't falter. If anything, it increased ... and I knew exactly why. He, being the youngest out of three other boys, used me as an opportunity to fill in the blank as a little sister. It irritated the hell out of me, mostly because Matt already had that spot in my life filled and Mike often took things too damn far.

Matt pursed his lips, obviously trying to figure out what to do to defuse the situation.


X Threaten (Back off, Mike)/Welcome (We're all friends here) X

Choice Chosen: Welcome


"Michael..." Matt spoke up as calmly as possible. "I'm just gonna lay it out, otherwise this whole weekend's gonna suck ass for everyone." He looked over at me and Emily, right before he locked his attention back on Mike. "Um ... this is super awkward and we all know it. Let's just acknowledge it now and move on. Okay?"

"Matt-" Emily attempted to speak, making it sound like he had - yet again - done something wrong.

The Class President tapped his ear. "I hear ya, man. I get it, I don't want to make this weird."

"Cool." Matt said, nodding in approval. "But I think you should ... you know, apologize to Chelsea. She's up here for the same reasons as the rest of us, so calling her out on her new relationship like that..."

He trailed off, just as Emily shot him a disapproving glance from the corner of her eye. She crinkled her nose and silently growled at how her boyfriend had backed me up instead of her. Like I said, our rivalry was strong and she was constantly on the watch for other girls hanging around Matt - especially me since I was the one who spent most of my life with him. But Matt and I were just friends and that's all we would ever be, despite the prior phase that our parents went through in wanting us to grow up and fall in love with each other.

Mike nodded, still tapping his ear. "Right, right. I get it, man." He then swept his attention back over to me, still wearing that annoying grin. "I'm sorry, Chels."


X Accept Apology/Reject Apology X

Choice Chosen: Accept Apology


"Yeah, yeah." I breathed, rolling my eyes as I slipped my switchblade back into my pocket. "Whatever, Mike. Apology accepted."

"All right." Matt said. He glanced back at Mike. "So, we're good?"

"All good." Mike confirmed.

Emily placed her hand on her hip, looking bored. "You guys gonna make out now?" She jeered.

Matt rolled his eyes, but Mike wrapped his arms around himself and swooshed his hips as he replied in a fake gay voice, "Oh my God, totally! We're sooooo gonna make out!"

I groaned and looked down at the ground, causing plenty of my auburn curls to fall in front of my face. "Oh, lord..." I mumbled under my breath, shaking my head.

"Uh ... no." Mike straightened himself back up and stared at Emily, unimpressed. "Seriously, I'm gonna go check on the cable car back down the trail."

"Try not to get eaten by any bears." I quipped. "And don't go wandering into any mysterious caves."

The Class President chuckled. "No promises, Amberwood." He slid past me and the Asian, beginning his way down the bridge.

"See ya, man." Matt said. As friendly as he was, it was obvious that he wanted Mike to get as far away from us as possible in order to keep Emily from exploding.

"See ya." Mike shot his arms up over his head, as if he was striding down the red carpet. "See ya!"

"Well, thank God that's over." I huffed internally, grabbing the handle of my suitcase again. I started walking again, just as Matt picked his own bag up and shook off some of the snow that now anointed it.

"Ah, crap." Emily suddenly blurted out. I instantly stopped and turned to see what the hold up was.

"What?" Matt asked.

Emily peered down the bridge and then turned to face him. "Hey, could you take these the rest of the way?" She requested.

I cocked an eyebrow at her and treated the handle of my suitcase like an armrest, obviously confused.

"The bags?" Matt asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, just ... all the bags." Emily replied.

"Uh..." The jock turned, making brief eye contact with me before glancing back at his girlfriend. "Why?"

Emily looked back again, starting to look nervous. "I need to go find Sam." She said eventually.

"What?" I questioned with my voice drenched in suspicion. "Why in the hell can't she just wait to meet up with Sam at the lodge?"

"Okay...?" Matt said at the exact same time.

Emily started to speak much more quickly. "Sorry, I just, I really need to go find her. I totally forgot I needed to talk to her before we get all the way up there."

"This really can't wait?" Matt asked with a frown. "We're almost there."

"It's important." Emily insisted, looking at him almost desperately. "Matt, please."

The jock hesitated and glanced around, getting a good look of the woods surrounding us.


X Agree (Okay, Chelsea and I will go.)/Persist (We're not leaving you alone.)

Choice Chosen: Persist


"Em..." Matt began with a somewhat nervous glint in his eyes. "I really don't think you should head back down the trail by yourself-"

"Seriously?" Emily demanded, causing me to cross my arms and emit a low whistle.

Matt revised quickly. "It's cold out and it's getting dark-"

Sarcasm invaded the Asian's tone. "The two of you are gonna protect me from it getting dark out?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and groaned harshly. "You know, drama queen, if you would just shut your pie hole for a second and actually listen for a change-"

Matt cut me off, not wanting to stir up anymore tension. "Chelsea and I will just leave your stuff here and come with you." He sat his luggage down beside hers. "Nobody's gonna steal it-"

Emily rolled her eyes at the mention of my name and kept her attention locked only on Matt. "Matt, are you kidding me?" She complained. "You can't leave me alone for five minutes? You really think that little of me?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe this bullshit right now..." I muttered low enough so nobody else could hear me, still massaging the bridge of my nose. By this point, I could feel my temples starting to throb from the amount of aggravation that I was feeling.

Matt sighed. "That's not what I meant-"

Emily interrupted him again. "Why can't you just listen to me? Why do you have to question everything I say?"

"I'm sorry, Em." The jock held his hands up in an attempt to calm her down. "I'm just trying to be helpful."

"If you want to be helpful, then you and Miss Amberwood over there can help get everything up to the lodge as quickly as you can." Emily ordered. "Okay?"

The glare on my face darkened from the amount of scorn that was dripping from her voice when she said my surname. "I swear, this bitch is so lucky that Matt is here with us right now." I growled inside my head. "She better hope and pray that the two of us never end up in a situation alone together."

Matt huffed, evidently not knowing what else to say. "Um ... okay ... fine. Whatever you want." He gave in, reaching down to pick up both of the bags.

"Thank you." Emily said in a much sweeter tone that made me want to backhand her. "I'll see you both up there after I go find Sam."

"See you in a bit." Matt mumbled.

I watched as Emily planted a kiss against her fingertips and blew it in his direction, right before she gave me the stink eye and began walking down in the direction that we'd already came. I folded my arms again, keeping my eyes on her figure as it grew smaller the further she headed. I didn't know what she was up to, but I had this feeling in my gut that it didn't involve her needing to speak with Sam. After all, Emily was a pro when it came to lying and just the thought of her trying to sneak something behind Matt's back really irked me.


UPDATE

Chelsea's Relationship Status: Emily -1 (1/10)

Matt's Relationship Status: Emily -1 (6/10)

Matt's Character Traits: Charitable +1 (7/10)


"Hey, Chels." Matt gently nudged me with one of the bags, making me snap out of my thoughts. "Come on, we're gonna freeze out here if we don't get up to the lodge."

I raised my eyebrows at him, keeping my arms crossed over my chest.

"What?" Matt asked when all I did was stand there and look at him. I raised my eyebrows a little more, still not saying anything. "What?" Matt asked again, growing more confused by the minute.

I groaned. "I said it a million times before and I will say it again, Matt." With Emily no longer in sight, I pointed down the bridge and spoke slowly like I was talking to a preschooler. "She ... treats you ... like shit."

"Chelsea-" Matt sighed.

"No, no. I'm serious." I couldn't help but cut him off, placing my hands on my hips with a fiery glow in my eyes. "It's like watching a dog getting yanked around constantly by its junk."

The jock rolled his eyes and peeked up at the sky. "I see you're still as straightforward as ever." He murmured.

I huffed, taking that as a compliment since I was actually proud of being blunt. In my opinion, there were far too many people in the world who were too sappy and fixated on trying to please everyone. I'm not saying that I never watched my mouth, but I am saying that I keep on top of telling people what they need to hear. If they don't accept it when it's told to them the easy way, then they brought the hard way out on themselves.

"Look, I'm sorry ... I'm just trying to look out for you." I said in a much more sincere tone. "We're best friends and that's what best friends do for each other. I know you would do the same for me."

"Well, of course I would." Matt confirmed. "But you're dating Josh. He wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone another person."

"I know ... but Emily is the complete opposite. Unlike Josh, who is constantly willing to make sacrifices for his friends, Emily doesn't give a crap to help anyone but herself. That is, unless she's actually getting something out of it." I looked up at my best friend almost pleadingly. "I just don't like seeing her treat you like you're a second-class citizen. You deserve to be happy."

"And I am happy." Matt reassured. He offered me one of his good-natured grins. "You don't need to worry about me, Chels. I'm a big boy, all right? I can handle my relationship with Emily just fine. Now, let's keep in mind that Josh invited us up here to have some fun ... you know, in memory of Hannah, Beth, and Scott." His smile trembled on his last sentence and I couldn't help but cringe at the numbing thought of the triplets lying around dead somewhere.

"Yeah ... yeah, you're right." I said, nodding almost reluctantly. "We better hurry up to the lodge. I really want to see Josh and make sure that he's doing okay. Same with Russell." I grabbed the handle of my suitcase again and continued hiking along the trail with Matt at my side, carrying both his and Emily's bags.

"I'm really going to miss you next year, you know?" Matt said about a minute later, completely out of the blue.

I flashed him a sympathetic smile. I was following in my dad's footsteps at becoming a marine and I'd already been sworn in. So, after graduation, I was expected to leave to attend to my duties.

"I know, I'm gonna miss you and the rest of the gang, too ... but the freedom we have comes with a price and I'm willing to pay it." I exhaled and looped my hands through the straps of Matt's bag, taking it from him so he would only have to deal with Emily's luggage.

"Chelsea, you really don't-" Matt attempted to speak.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I insist." I interrupted him, smiling again. "Now, haul that ass of yours so we can make it up to the lodge before we die of old age, meathead."

Matt lightly shoved me in the arm. "Who are you calling meathead?" He laughed.

I snickered with him and the two of us started taking much more brisk steps up the path.


&SCENE CHANGE&

ASHLEY AND LUCAS

WASHINGTON GROUNDS VIEWING PLATFORM

21:32


Ashley's POV

"Ohh..." I breathed, not believing how incredible the view looked through the binoculars.

The wind whistled through the air and danced through the millions of dead trees that were dusted with frost. The ground was covered in an never-ending blanket of pure white snow and a gentle shower of flakes was currently sprinkling down from the sky. It was almost like looking around inside of a gigantic snow globe, and at that moment, I couldn't help but envy Russell. He always had a camera on him and I only had my phone ... which had died shortly after I arrived due to how I'd forgotten to charge it the night before.


ASHLEY - HAS A CRUSH ON CHRIS AND SCOTT'S EX

ACADEMIC

INQUISITIVE

FORTHRIGHT


ASHLEY MARIE BROWN

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 7/10

Charitable: 6/10

Funny: 3/10

Brave: 4/10

Romantic: 3/10

Curious: 8/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 4/10

Jessica: 3/10

Sam: 4/10

Emily: 3/10

Russell: 6/10

Mike: 3/10

Matt: 5/10

Chris: 7/10

Lucas: 8/10

Ethan: 5/10

Chelsea: 6/10


I was just about to look back into the binoculars when something else grabbed my attention. It was the lyrics to some nasty rock and roll song, blaring so loudly through the air that I could've sworn that all of the animals on the other side of the mountain could hear them as clear as day. With a slight groan, I spun around on my heels and rested my hands on my hips as my dark green eyes fell on Lucas.

He was across from me on the opposite side of the platform, sitting on top of the stone wall with his shoulders slumped against the pillar and legs stretched out as far as they could go in front of him. Of course, he was plugged into his iPod and tuning out all of the nature around him. His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed, giving it away that he was trying to relax.

I couldn't help but sigh, feeling sorry for him.

A lot's happened over the past year. Luke's parents divorced shortly after the previous winter getaway and his grandfather offered to take custody of him, but Lucas refused to cooperate. So, he moved in with me and my parents. Not only that, but he wasn't anywhere near the same guy as he used to be. His entire personality had changed, as well as his appearance.

It all started with his hair: he grew it out to give it more of a wild, floppy look and dyed it pitch-black. After that, he actually ditched school to get snake bites and he began wearing so much eyeliner to the point where he could've been mistaken for a raccoon. He also got into the habit of smoking a lot more frequently and he wasn't afraid to get in other people's faces under any circumstances. In shorter terms: he had transformed himself into the stereotypical, moody, emo teenager.

Tonight, Luke's outfit consisted of black converse and a pair of black skinny jeans that completely exposed his knees through the gaping rips in the fabric. Also, he had on a snug black T-shirt that had the image of a skull printed on it and a black aviator jacket to protect him from the nippy weather. In fact, the only items that he had on that weren't black were his olive-green, fingerless gloves and his orange beanie that was designed to look like an angry jack-o-lantern. Then, at last, there was his creepy metal skull ring that decorated the middle finger of his right hand.

"Hey, Lucas!" I called out, trying to get his attention without overreacting like a crazy person. "Lucas! Hellooo? Can you hear me?"

He showed no response of being able to hear me, which wasn't much of a surprise since I could hear his music. He continued to rock his feet from side to side, following the beat that was being pounded into his eardrums.

With a groan, I knelt down and picked up a small stone. Then, after standing back up, I chucked it at Lucas and watched as it tapped against his knee before falling back down to the wooden floor. With no hesitation, he popped his electric blue eyes open and turned his head in my direction. He took a moment to just stare at me, unimpressed as I waved at him.


LUCAS - ASHLEY'S OLDER COUSIN

SARCASTIC

HOSTILE

DEFENSIVE

*SPECIAL SKILL* - STEALTH


LUCAS JONATHAN MITCHELL

:/Character Traits/:

Honest: 9/10

Charitable: 5/10

Funny: 3/10

Brave: 8/10

Romantic: 2/10

Curious: 4/10

:/Relationship Status/:

Josh: 6/10

Jessica: 1/10

Sam: 5/10

Emily: 2/10

Ashley: 8/10

Mike: 1/10

Matt: 4/10

Chris: 3/10

Russell: 7/10

Ethan: 4/10

Chelsea: 5/10


Lucas plucked out both earbuds, one at a time. "Can I help you, Ash?" He asked, sounding just as sullen as he looked.

"You know, you're gonna make yourself deaf if you keep listening to your music like that." I remarked.

Lucas scoffed. "Well, anything is better than listening to all of these damn birds chirping." He snatched his iPod up from his lap and lowered the volume until I could no longer hear whatever song it was that he was listening to.

"Haven't you ever considered, like, putting your iPod away and enjoying the outdoors for a change?" I questioned, gesturing to the wide-open scenery that surrounded us. "I mean, I know you're not exactly a fan of nature, but there's nothing wrong with getting out and taking a break from your daily routine every once in awhile."

"I like my daily routine just the way it is." Lucas retorted as he started to fiddle around with his device again.

My shoulders drooped when he said that. "Playing hooky, smoking cigarettes, and locking yourself in your room isn't a daily routine, Luke. It's a cry for help." I sighed inwardly, unable to figure out why it was so difficult for me to say that out loud.

"Well, we have an amazing view from up here. Why don't you take a look through the binoculars?" I asked, motioning to them with a speck of hope embedded in my tone. "You never know what you might see."

Lucas looked at me like I'd just attempted walking through a wall. "You really think I want to waste my time in staring at a bunch of dead trees and icicles? Up here, I'm pretty sure that the most interesting thing that we would have the chance at spotting would be a couple of squirrels or foxes humping each other." He huffed and shook his head, making it seem like he was offended by the suggestion. "I think I'll take my chances and pass on that exciting offer, Ash." Sarcasm dripped from his voice at the word 'exciting.'

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Fine. Your loss."

Unfazed and bored, Luke rested his head back against the pillar and stared up at the rundown roof above us. I, on the other hand, turned back around to the binoculars and began a search for any animals. Hopefully, if I did spot any, they would be scavenging for food or simply wandering around instead of getting down to business with each other like Lucas had said. Unfortunately, every time I shifted the binoculars around, I had no luck in spotting any deer, birds, or anything. Just a bunch of trees, rocks, and snow.

Suddenly, Lucas spoke up again. "Remind me again why we actually agreed to come back to this mountain in the first place."

I quickly spun around to face him again, almost startled by his words. "Because Josh invited us all back for the annual winter getaway and we owe it to him after..." A chill ran down my spine and I shuddered, "...after what happened." Just thinking about it made my heart ache.

Lucas dropped his attention down to the holes in his jeans and for a brief second, I could've sworn there was a sliver of a frown on his face. "Are you sure you're not here because of Chris?" He asked, suddenly sounding judgmental and moody.

"What?!" An intense blush exploded across my face and I didn't know whether I felt more shocked or more hurt. "Luke, I ... I can't believe you just said that!"

My cousin rolled his eyes and groaned. "Well, can you blame me?" He inquired. "You do spend practically every moment of your life with him."

"We're study partners! All we ever do when we're with each other is study!" I exclaimed. "And no, I'm not here because of him!"

Lucas didn't bother saying anything back, but the look on his face gave it away that he wasn't one hundred percent convinced. To be fair, Chris was the one who informed me on the trip back in early December, shortly after one of our study sessions at the library. Beforehand, I had failed to check my email and see Josh's invitation - but that didn't mean that I was only here because Chris was coming, too.

I loved Lucas, but he could say the most irritating things. Sometimes, I just wished that he would keep his opinions to himself.


UPDATE

Ashley's Relationship Status: Lucas -1 (7/10)


I sighed, deciding to put a more sentimental view on the conversation. "If we're being honest ... I have never once pictured myself returning to the lodge after what happened last year. I'm still having a very difficult time believing that Scott, Beth, and Hannah are still missing ... let alone accepting it." I reached my hand up and placed it gently beneath my throat, where the necklace that Scott had given me just a week before he disappeared was buried underneath my pink wool scarf. "But Josh is my friend just as much as he is yours, Luke ... and it's our job as good friends to check in on him and be at his side in case he needs us."

Lucas straightened his lips, making his snake bites shimmer in the moonlight. I couldn't stand staring at those things for too long. They made my skin crawl, as well as the mental picture of him sitting still while a needle was being driven through his flesh.

"If I didn't give a damn about Josh, I wouldn't have dragged my ass back here." Luke said, keeping his tone emotionless as he twirled a loose thread from his shirt around his index finger. "It must be unreal ... loosing his siblings to death like that."

At the word 'death,' I cringed and felt the inside of my chest swell with dread.

"I mean, I know you still have hope or whatever that they're still alive, but..." Lucas trailed off to retrieve a carton of cigarettes from his pocket. "It's time to face the facts so we can move on and find closure. We searched for Hannah, Scott, and Beth for weeks after they disappeared, but none of us found nothing. The police searched for the three of them for months, but also found nothing. Now, it's been a year without a trace ... and as hard as it is to accept, whether we like it or not, the triplets are gone and they're never coming back. Hate to be the burden of bad news, but ... life is shitty." Luke finished his blunt lecture off by placing a cigarette between his lips and lighting it up.

"Tell me about it." I thought to myself. "I'm pretty sure that a piece of me is still in love with Scott ... and Luke's right. He's more than likely dead."

As cheesy as it might've sounded, Scott really was my first love - the one who had taken my virginity in a full night of passion. I had dated a couple of guys before him, but none of them had given me the special feeling that he did ... and now, I felt almost guilty for having a crush on Chris. Even though Scott was gone, this trip was supposed to be in memory of him, Beth, and Hannah ... and it's not like Chris liked me like that anyway.


UPDATE

Lucas's Character Trait: Honest +1 (10/10), Charitable -1 (4/10)


"You know, you shouldn't smoke so much." I said, desperate to change the topic. "It can make you very sick."

Lucas relaxed his eyes shut and took a drag, making me grimace. Then, after holding it in for a few seconds, he blew out a perfect smoke ring.

"Yeah, yeah." My cousin waved his hand at me dismissively, preparing himself for another intake. "I've heard it all before, Nurse Brown."

Groaning, I turned my back on him and looked back into the binoculars. That's when I saw something that I didn't expect: Mike and Emily, alone and hidden away in the shadows, talking. Although, judging by how they were trailing their hands all over each other, it looked more like they were in the middle of flirting. My jaw dropped at the sight and I zoomed in, secretly hoping and praying that I wasn't about to witness them undress each other.

"Whoa ... hello..." I mumbled under my breath, watching as Mike delicately grabbed Emily's face. "Somebody's getting a little 'friendly' ... and not in the 'friend zone' kind of way. They might need to check the expiration date on their big breakup."

Emily took a step closer to Mike as he continued to caress her cheeks and I zoomed out, not wanting to see anymore.

Then, just as I was about to move the binoculars away, a pair of brown eyes popped up in the lens and a fearless yell punctured the air.

I practically jumped ten feet high and a small shriek escaped from my lips. At the same time, Lucas swung his body in the direction of the commotion and let out a startled scream that was just as loud as mine. He looked like he was just about ready to leap off from the wall and tackle whoever was there ... but then, at the sound of a familiar laugh, he seeped back against the edge in a mixture of relief and anger.

"Oh, God!" I breathed, taking a step away with my hand placed over my heart. "God!"

"Whoa! Sorry there ... sorry about that, Ash, I didn't mean to scare you-" Matt began as he stepped up onto the platform with a huge grin on his face.

"Jeez louise, Matt-" I moaned, trying to calm down from the unexpected fright.

"Well, I did mean to scare you - 'sort of' scare you..." He backtracked when I shot him a glare, "...but not like for real scare you..."

Luke shot daggers at the ground and rose his joint back up to his mouth, taking in an even deeper inhale.

I placed my hands on my hips, seething at the jock. "Oh my gosh ... oh my gosh..." I shoved him in the shoulder, at which he placed his hand on my shoulder to try reducing my irritation.

"Hey, wow, man, I'm really sorry, Ash, damn-" Matt said with genuine regret laced around his tone.

I shook my head and sighed. "It's okay ... it's fine ... it's fine." I said, accepting the apology. "Where's Chelsea? Isn't she supposed to be with you?"

"She was earlier, but she decided to go on ahead and carry the luggage up to the lodge." Matt replied, and I nodded understandingly.

"Hey, Matthew." Lucas spoke up with smoke leaking out of his mouth. "Just out of curiosity, was that little joke of yours really necessary?"

Matt's eyebrows knitted together. "Um..." He stared at my cousin in utter confusion. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

Lucas automatically shot him an annoyed stare. "You're kidding me, right?" He asked as he flicked away the butt of his cigarette.

Matt opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself and hesitated. "Wait a minute ... Lucas?" His eyes grew, shining with realization. "Dude, is that really you?"

"Act more surprised, why don't you?" Lucas took yet another drag of his cigarette and rolled his eyes as he blew it out. "Yes, it's me."

"Holy ... holy crap." As soon as those words left his mouth, Matt lifted his hands in a way that made it obvious that he didn't want to offend my cousin. "I mean, you look great! This new look of yours ... it really suits you. You look really cool."

"And you..." Luke scanned Matt from the bottom of his boots to the top of his head, keeping a perfectly straight face. "...definitely haven't changed since last year. Good to see you again, I guess ... but do me a favor, okay?" His tone became slightly harsh. "Stop kissing my ass."

"Luke!" I hissed at him disapprovingly, just as our athletic friend let out a somewhat uncomfortable laugh.

"Nah, Ash, it's all right." Matt reassured. He watched Lucas lift his joint back up to his mouth and take yet another hit, right before he turned back to me. "I really do like this new look he's going for, though."

Since Matt was such a nice guy, I couldn't tell if he meant that or was just saying it to be polite. Either way, it was obvious that Luke's new appearance had caught him off guard for the first couple of seconds and it was a good thing that Matt was the type of person who always had good things to say. Its always been a habit of Luke's to get in people's faces whenever they pissed him off, but this whole personality change of his took that behavior to the next level.

"Yeah, uh..." I raised my shoulders, not knowing what to say. "It's definitely, um ... different."

Just then, Matt turned to the binoculars and I could've sworn that I felt my heart jump to the other side of the planet.

"What are you looking at?" Matt asked, smiling again. "See anything juicy with that thing?"

"Oh, nothing much ... just your girlfriend looking like she's about to shack up with her ex in the snow." As that thought grazed my mind, I instantly felt worse and bit down on my bottom lip.

"Uh..." I dragged out.

A mere, humorless chuckle escaped Luke's mouth. "Sounds to me like my little cousin just got scarred by some animal porn." He said, and as ridiculous as that comment was, at least it helped cut some of the tension.

Matt actually laughed at that. "Lemme check it out."

"Shit, this isn't good ... this really isn't good..." I thought.

The last thing I wanted to do was get involved with any drama, especially on a trip like this ... but would I actually be able to lie to Matt's face? I already felt horrible for him and he looked so happy right now. If he saw what I saw - and I hope to God that it didn't escalate any further from where I'd left it - then Matt was going to either be very hurt or very pissed.

Lucas cocked an eyebrow at me in confusion. If there was anyone on the planet who could read me like an open book, it was him ... and I could tell that he was starting to realize that something was going on.


X Mislead (It's busted)/Encourage (Take a look) X

Choice Chosen: Mislead


UPDATE

Ashley's Character Traits: Honest -1 (6/10)


"Um ... nah, it's kinda busted. It's not - it's not really interesting ... it's just-" I kept tripping up over my words, speaking too fast in an attempt to come up with an excuse.

"What?" Matt asked, looking just as lost as my cousin did. "For real? I bet I could find a cool bear chowing down on a fox or something."

I could feel my heart pounding a mile a minute in my chest. "Crap ... now what?" I asked myself in my head, afraid that my worry was starting to expose itself on my face.


X Agree (Help yourself...)/Insist (No!)

Choice Chosen: Agree


With a reluctant sigh, I stepped away from the binoculars and avoided eye contact with Matt.

"Ah ... sure. Uh, help yourself." I said. I was honestly terrified to see whatever was about to happen.

Matt's grin instantly came back and he took the binoculars in his hands. "All right..." He said, looking into them.

He turned them to the right and became as stiff as a statue, causing me to shudder a little.

"Aw, son of a bitch." Matt snarled. "Seriously, Emily? What the hell man."

Lucas instantly straightened and he released a small sneer at the sound of Emily's name. His electric blue eyes flickered back and forth from me to the jock, giving it away that he was trying to piece together what was going on.

"Hey, listen - it's probably nothing..." I tried to rationalize.

Matt turned away from the binoculars and gave me a cold look. "Nothing? You think?" He sneered, evidently not pleased with how I'd lied to him about the thing behind busted.

I nervously rubbed my hands together and tried again, "...well, yeah-"

"Is it ever just nothing with Em?" Matt interrupted, raising his voice a bit. "Ever?"

"I don't kno-" I stumbled, starting to feel self-conscious.

"Am I missing something here?" Lucas demanded hotly.

Refusing to acknowledge him, Matt yanked his hands away from the binoculars and backed away from them. "Dammit." He swore.


UPDATE

Matt's Relationship Status: Ashley -1 (3/10)


"Matt..." I called out to him as he turned away and stomped down the stairs.

At the same time, Lucas marched over to the binoculars, grumbling, "What in the hell is it with this thing that has everyone all riled up?" He took them in his hands and as soon as he jerked them in the direction that Matt had been looking, a string of dark chuckles seeped out of his lips. "Well, well, well ... would you look at that?" He whispered like he had an evil plan up his sleeve. "Looks like the man whore is on the prowl again."

"Lucas!" I exclaimed, already standing on the second step to go after Matt. "Not helping!"

Lucas scoffed. "Don't blame me, blame Michael. He's the one who can't seem to keep it in his pants." He waited about another five seconds before pulling away from the binoculars with a wicked glint in his eyes. Then, he took one last drag of his cigarette, stubbed it out in the snow, and hurried after me, snatching up his grey duffel bag in the process.


&SCENE CHANGE&

JESSICA

UPPER CABLE CAR STATION

21:41


Jessica's POV

I crossed my legs and looked at my dark pink nails, wondering where in the world Mike could've been. He had sent me a text shortly before I left my house, promising me with at least a dozen kissy face emojis that he would meet me here at the Cable Car station for some alone time. I've been sitting here by myself for too long and I couldn't help but worry about him. My mind was racing with one possibility after another as to what happened, making me shiver as the chilly air wrapped around me like a blanket. I just ... needed to relax and pay attention to something else in the meantime.


X Read Book/Check Phone X

Choice Chosen: Read Book


I drew in a steady breath to help sooth myself and looked at my phone. It was resting on the bench beside me, playing a song from my playlist. For a moment, I felt tempted to pick it up, but since there was no cell reception all the way up here, I didn't see the point and decided against it. So, I chose to grab Fifty Shades Darker from my opposite side and I flipped it open to where I'd last left off. My eyes instantly lit up, intrigued at how I saw that Christian was about to-

"Ahh!" A startled yelp escaped from my mouth as a snowball slammed roughly against the wall, missing my head by just a few inches.

I immediately turned in the direction that it was thrown from and at the sight of who was there, all of my previous worries were chased away. It was Mike, standing in the midst of the sprinkling snow like a sexy winter god. A delighted smile broke out widely across my face and I closed my book, setting it aside.

"Oh, you did not just do that!" I stood up from the bench, giggling.

"Put your hands where I can see 'em." Mike said in a very fake Southern accent. He started preparing another snowball. "We've got you surrounded."

With a flirty grin on my face, I lifted my arms up over my head and hoped that Mike was able to catch a glimpse of the visible strip of my undies. "But who am I to retaliate?" I asked in my own Southern drawl. "What choice do I, a supple young rebel girl have, but to surrender to the strapping military come to take me into custody?"


X Run to Bench/Grab Snowball X

Choice Chosen: Grab Snowball


I casually sauntered up to the railing, swiped up some snow, packed it into a ball, and hid it behind my back as I walked out from underneath the awning. My eyes twinkled with mischief and I put on a ridiculously innocent smile, watching as Mike finished constructing his new snowball.

"I - well, I dunno, when you put it like that..." Mike began, sounding a little turned on. "Hey!"

I had bolted off in the direction of the bench, laughing. Then, just as I made it halfway, I twisted my body around and chucked the snowball at Mike. It practically exploded against the side of his face.

"Oh!" Mike gasped.

I instantly cackled, feeling rather playful as I finished my run and ducked down behind the frosty picnic table.

"Great." My boyfriend groaned, but then flashed me a teasing smirk. "You're gonna pay, you know that."

I started packing more snow together, not even caring that I wasn't wearing mittens. I had just recently received a perfect manicure and I wasn't planning to keep it to myself anytime soon.

Mike began to creep out from behind a skinny tree. "Where are you hiding, little chick-a-dee?" He asked in a sing-song voice.

I stood up, deciding that it was time to retire this hiding place. With no hesitation, I took off running again and tossed my new snowball in the direction of Mike. It splattered against his shoulder.

"Whoa! Ah ah!" Mike exclaimed, cringing slightly from the cold.

"Bull's-eye!" I taunted.

My boyfriend smirked again and threw his arm back. "Hey!" He called out in an attempt to distract me, flinging his snowball.

I refused to stop running and dunked just in time. "Ohhh snap!" I crouched down behind an old tree stump that was sleeked with ice and began constructing yet another snowball.

In the distance, I heard what sounded like the delicate chirping of a small tweety bird.

"Hellooo." I sang as I rose to my feet again. "Come on!"

Mike took off, trying to find someplace to use as a cover. Unfortunately, he and his nicely toned legs weren't fast enough.

"Hey, Mike!" I threw my next snowball and did a little quick dance of celebration as it smacked Mike perfectly in the back of the head. "Boom shakka-lakka!"

"Okay..." My boyfriend almost lost his balance, dusting some snow off the back of his neck. "No, you got me ... fair enough. Okay."

Laughing, I raced over to two perfectly arranged stacks of lumber and crouched down. Once again, I packed the mushy snow into the shape of a sphere and stood up just in time to witness a pretty brown bird land peacefully on the picnic table. It cheeped, minding its own business.

"You can't hide from me, Michael." I teased, easily spotting him. He was squatting behind another slim tree. "I know all your tricks!"

I positioned my arm, but just as I was about to chuck my snowball, I stopped and looked at the innocent bird.


X Hit Bird/Spare Bird X

Choice Chosen: Spare Bird


Who in their right minds could hurt an animal and not give a damn? There was no way that I was gonna risk hitting that bird. Luckily, after a couple of seconds, the little winged creature flew off, chirping and leaving the "battlefield" clear again. At the exact same time, my boyfriend started standing up and my playful grin returned to my face as I threw my snowball at him. He attempted to dive to the side to dodge it, but the snowball still managed to strike him in the lower ribs.

"Whoa! Oww!" Mike laughed as he hit the ground.

"That's right!" I giggled.

Mike started scurrying back up onto his feet. "I'm gonna find you, Jess!" He playfully growled.

"And then what?"

"Whoa-ho!"

A bright blush burned across my cheeks and I charged through the snow, trying to find a new place to hide. "No more!" I called out, still giggling.

"Oh, yeah. Oh, 'more'!" Mike snickered with romantic mischief highlighting the edge of his voice. "Oh, you're going down!"

"Ahh!" I laughed, freezing in my tracks in an attempt to find him. Then, Mike ended up appearing behind me in the blink of an eye. He spun me around and tackled me down into the soft snow so he could be hovering above me.

"Gotcha. It's done." Mike declared, waving a finger at me. "Done city!"

I could smell his cologne. It made my stomach flutter and for a moment, it was like the freezing atmosphere around us didn't exist. Just looking into his pale brown eyes sent waves of heat through my body and a piece of me was starting to debate whether or not I should just let him take my virginity right here.

"So did I go down?" I asked.

Mike tilted his head. "Uh, I don't think so."

"Mmm ... I think you'd know so if I did." I retorted with a flirtatious sparkle in my eyes. I reached up, wiped a few specks of snow away from my boyfriend's cheek with my thumb, and then rested my arm down in the snow again.

"All right, all right." Mike gave in, nodding.

"My my, so are we calling it my favor, then?" I asked.

One of the corners of Mike's lips twitched naughtily. "You're a worthy opponent, Ms. Jessica the Snowball Queen."

"Okay, that sounds vaguely dirty." I said.

"My lady."


X Kiss Mike/Grab Snowball X

Choice Chosen: Kiss Mike


My boyfriend lowered himself down, grazing the tip of his nose against mine before he melted our lips together. The kiss was very deep and passionate, making it hard to believe that none of the snow surrounding us had melted from how hot both of us felt. Then, after about ten seconds, the two of us separated and looked into each other's eyes with our cheeks glowing red.

"Wow." I said, almost left speechless. "Save some for later, buddy."

"Endless reserves." Mike declared with that charming grin I loved so much. "We should get up to the lodge."

"Yeah ... it's so nice out here though." I winked at him. "Pretty breathtaking."

"I mean, I could stay out here for pretty much ... ever." Mike pushed himself back up onto his legs and offered me his hand, which I gladly took. "Provided I was ... making out with you the whole time." He pulled me up from the ground and started wiping some snow off of his shins.

"Just 'making out'?" I questioned, wanting to tease him a little more.

He peeked up at the sky and replied, "Quote, unquote." He even used his fingers to make the little air quotes. How cute.

It was my turn to smirk. "Well, I think we might freeze to death somewhere between those quotes."

"Yeeeah." Mike dragged out.

We started walking off, him leading the way with me following. As we headed in the direction of the lodge, I picked up the sound of the cable car starting to reel in again. Though, instead of paying any mind to it, I kept sashaying after Mike and decided to declare it as the arrival of somebody else in the group.

Yeah, that's all it must've been.


A/N: And that's the end of the first chapter! :D :D

I hope you all had fun reading it! Please keep in mind, I look forward to feedback and I appreciate it very much. Don't ever stray away to share your opinions. Feel free to PM them to me or post them in the reviews at anytime. :)

Also, just to clear this up quickly:

1) Where's Ethan? - Don't worry, I didn't forget about him. You'll see soon.

2) What's with the special skills? - Each of my new characters have a certain skill that can assist in helping them or harming them throughout the story.

Well, I believe that's all I have to say for this. Stay tuned for the next chapter and remember to always read carefully. You never know when something might end up being very important. ;)

Happy reading and writing to you all! Thanks, everyone! :D :D :) :)