Chapter 3: Signs
The cloaked figure observed the couple as they walked away from the shed and walked further into the distance. This was almost too fortunate to believe. It was like fate itself wanted this hunt to succeed. These two willingly left the group so early and made themselves easy targets. Still, they also have to be separated. The two of them together could fight off an attacker off with ease. Even if they managed to capture one of them, the other could escape and warn the others. And they couldn't know about them, not yet.
The two were talking about the Washington guest cabin. If that was their destination, they had already known the perfect spot for an ambush. They just hoped they'd get there quickly. It has already been a week since the last bit of flesh was taken from the latest victim's bones. With the plan already finished in their head, they left for the place where the couple could be the most easily separated. They have come to know this mountain perfectly with every twist and turn. They would get there a lot sooner than their prey.
Emily was still fuming about the fact that Josh kicked her and Matt out of the lodge to spend the night in some godforsaken cabin. But she was even madder that Jessica had the last laugh again. Sure, she was the one who started the argument unprovoked, but she couldn't help it. Jess had brought out the worst in her.
She and Mike have been together for a while now and they had a great relationship, - or at least Emily thought so, - when one day, out of the blue, Mike just dumped her without even telling her why. The next day, she saw him walking hand in hand with Jessica. Her supposed best friend had snatched Mike from her! She was the victim here! But at least she got some satisfaction out of knowing that Mike hasn't completely forgot about her. She just wished Jess would find out already and she could be there when that happens.
Meanwhile Matt was following his girlfriend without saying anything. Matt didn't really have any say in the way Em acted.
When they got together, he was just happy that he got to have a girlfriend like Emily, but as time went on, she started treating him with less and less respect and Matt eventually started to feel like he became a henpeck for Emily and if he wanted to be honest, it really started to annoy him. He had started trying to stand up for himself in front of her as of late, but he was afraid of Emily ending their relationship if he really upset her. But lately he started doubting if it was worth keeping it up if he felt like this around Emily. Especially after he saw her with Mike earlier. He still wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Eventually, Matt got tired of his girlfriend's angry mumbling and decided to try and get her to forget about it.
"Em, please try to relax!" Matt tried to reach for her, but his words didn't have the intended effect.
"Matt, how many times I have to tell you? Don't tell me how to handle my problem with that whore!" she snarled without even locking back at him. Matt however was not going to back down, not this time. He walked in front of Emily to make her stop.
"Look! I know what they did to you was evil. But ask yourself this: Do you really want to spend the rest of your life fuming about it?" Emily was about to beat down Matt like she had done several times before, however, she was surprised to find that what he said actually made it through her thick skull and caused her to think. Seeing her reaction, Matt continued. "If you keep this up, you'll only make yourself miserable. I'm not saying this because it bothers me how you always act about it, but because I care about you. You have to let it go, or else you will waste your whole life mulling about it and never be happy again."
Emily couldn't believe it, but her boyfriend's words actually made it to her brain and she did something that she hasn't done in a long time, she admitted that she was wrong and someone else was right. But Matt's heartfelt speech did more, they caused Emily's confident, almighty mask to crack. Oh, boy. She was going to break down and let her feelings break out.
"I know..." she said quietly, as some tears started to flow down on her cheeks. "It's just... It still hurts so much." She sobbed. Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, letting her sob into his chest. The two of them stood there for a while. Matt stroked Emily's back as the girl let it all out. Once her sobs have stopped, Matt pulled out of the embrace and looked into Emily's eyes.
"I know it does. But I'm here to help you feel better. If you let me." he told her sincerely. Emily wiped away some tears and for the first time, she genuinely smiled up at Matt. "Now, let's just forget about them and enjoy our time together, otherwise this whole trip is gonna suck for both of us." Emily knew that he was right and gave him a nod, before getting out of his arms and went back to the walk to the cabin. However, she suddenly stopped, turned back to Matt and pressed a soft kiss on his lips, making the boy freeze.
"Wha... What was that for?" Matt asked bashfully.
"Thanks for the talk. I needed that." Emily whispered softly, before turning away and continued her way. Matt smiled, he felt like he and Emily were finally getting somewhere.
Meanwhile, back at the lodge, Sam and Josh have just entered the basement, looking for the boiler.
"You might wanna be careful around here, Sammy." Josh warned her. "My dad is keeping some pretty dangerous stuff down here."
"Like what? Should I keep my eyes open for some beartraps lying around?" she joked.
"Well, I wouldn't rule out that possibility." Josh chuckled. "Dad is a pretty passionate hunter, but there are mostly guns down here and some of them might be still loaded, so seriously be careful."
"Loaded guns in the basement?!" Sam exclaimed in shock. "Well, I guess I shouldn't have put it past a guy who sets up a shooting range next a ski lodge." she deadpanned. Josh chuckled once again.
"Tell me about it. I told dad it was an absurd idea. But he told me it at least kept unwelcome people away." Sam stopped in her tracks as she heard that. For some reason, Josh's last sentence reminded him of the wanted poster she saw back at the cable car station.
"What kind of unwelcome people?" she asked a little nervously.
"Well, as you know this area belongs to my family. And there have been a few violations in the past years." Josh explained. "Hobos, tourists and drunken teens who were visiting the mountain. Apparently my dad thinks that having people believe that we are gun nuts and scaring these people off is the best way to deal with it." Sam was not exactly reassured by that answer, but before she could ask another question, the boiler closet came in view.
"Ok, here we are." Josh said as he reached to take something from the top of the closet, only to notice that it wasn't there. Josh froze for a moment before groaning. "Ah, damn it."
"Something wrong?" Sam asked.
"A rat or something must have knocked the key off of here." Josh answered annoyed. "Could you help me look around for it?"
"Sure." Sam shrugged. She started to check the floor around the closet for the key, but she didn't have much luck. However, when she checked next to the closet, she found something a little more interesting. A baseball bat was standing next to it. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Wow, Josh. Your family also has a sport store?" She asked jokingly. Josh turned to her and saw what she was talking about. He walked up to her and took the bat away from her.
"No. It's just we all used to play together when we came up here for the summer." Josh told her as he rolled the bat around in his hands with a gentle smile on his face. Sam supposed he was remembering better times. It broke her heart so much, that she decided to turn away and keep searching for the key. She found a small box full of random sfuff lying next to the closet, so she decided to check there. Josh heard the sound of her rummaging through the contents of the box so he put the bat down turned to her.
"Oh, be very careful with this one." Josh warned her as he grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away. "Last I checked, my dad kept his old machete in this box. You might cut yourself." he said as Sam stood up and Josh knelt down to check the box. "Ah!" he yelled joyfully after a few seconds of searching. "Here it is!" he said as he picked up the boiler closet's key. He handed it to Sam and asked her to open the closet. Sam took it and proceeded to do so, then she stepped back and waited for Josh to stand up and turn the boiler on, but when she looked at him, he saw that the boy was still rummaging through the box.
"Uh... Josh?"
"I can't find it." he said agigatedly.
"You can't find what?" Sam asked, confused.
"My dad's machete. It was made by my great grandfather and it was one of my dad's most precious possessions. He's gonna flip if it gets lost!" he panicked.
"Hey, calm down!" Sam said, putting a hand on his shoulders. "It has to be around here somewhere."
"Dad always put into this box and it was here last year! No one has come up here since last year!" Josh told her as he stood up. "Oh, man! If he finds out about this, he'll make a new one of my bones." he said, burying his face in his palms. Sam patted him on the shoulder.
"Easy Josh. Tell you what: I'll help you look for it later if you help me kick the boiler in now." she offered. Josh let his hands down and smiled at her.
That's why I love you, Sammy." he said as he went to work. As he turned the old thing back on, Sam heard something.
"Did you hear that?" she asked. Josh turned to look at her.
"Hear what?" he asked. He looked around, but he didn't hear anything.
"It sounded like a... thump." Sam said, looking around, trying to find the source of the voice. Josh looked around some more, but eventually shrugged.
"I didn't hear anything." he said as he went back to working on the boiler. Sam however wasn't reassured. She started walking towards the corner from where she heard the noise coming from, but before he could reach it, she heard a slam behind her back, which caused her to gasp and jump. She saw Josh standing up from the closed boiler closet.
"Sorry." he said sheepishly. "The boiler's back on." Sam rolled her eyes and turned back towards the corner just when she heard it again. She stepped back and turned to Josh.
"There. You heard it now?" she asked, trying to keep her voice low. Josh raised an eyebrow, as he too looked into the direction where it came from. Sam backed away a little, while Josh let out a groan.
Argh! Some animal must have found it's way inside again. He grabbed the baseball bat he set down next to the closet and walked towards the corner. As he was about to take the turn, suddenly something jumped in front of him and knocked him off of his feet. Sam screamed and stepped back in fright when he saw the cloaked figure that stood in front of her and attacked Josh. When the figure heard her, it turned it's head towards her and raised it's hand to reach for her. Sam reacted quickly and picked up the bat Josh dropped and raised it to swing. However, as soon as she did that, the figure backed away and raised it's arm in a defensive manner.
Sam, don't! it cried in a very familiar voice, which made Sam stop in mid-air, just before it made contact with the figure's head. It's me! it said as he removed tha hood to reveal Chris. It took Sam a few moments to fully register what just happened, but when it did, she was boiling mad.
Chris, what the hell is wrong with you? Sam shouted at him. I could have broke your skull in with this thing! Chris stood up and dusted himself off, before laughing nervously.
Uh... sorry. I just found these cool movie props lying around in the basement and... do you know me as a guy who lets an opportunity like that go to waste? he tried to explain. Sam was obviously not willing to accept this as an excuse and she was considering to actually go through with beating Chris with the bat, but then Josh spoke up.
"Oh, dude! That was sick!" He said as he slapped his best friend on the shoulder. "Nicely done!" Sam was baffled.
"Wait! You knew about this?" she asked.
"I didn't." Josh answered. "But I wish I did." he laughed as he gave Chris a high five. "He's got you good." Sam was dumbstruck. Consider the reason the group came back to the mountain and what happened a year ago, she expected Josh to be slightly more disapproving of pranks. But seeing how easily he laughed it off seemed weird. 'Well, maybe that's a sign that he could finally move on.' she thought. To be honest, it felt good to see Josh laughing so heartily with his best friend again. It felt like he was finally on his way to become his old self again. But given that it was caused by Chris pulling a stupid joke on her, she just rolled her eyes.
"Whatever." she said as she walked away from them. "I'll just hit the bathroom. That is if Mike or Jess aren't waiting for me there with another stupid stunt you have planned." she said, looking at Chris with her hands on her hips. Chris shrugged.
"Not that I know of." he told her. Sam just sighed and left the basement. Josh was about to follow her, but then he remembered something and he turned back to Chris.
"Hey, bro. If you've been messing with stuff in the basement, did you snatch my dad's old machete from that box?" he asked. Chris looked back at him in confusion.
"Machete?" He pondered. "No, I didn't find any machete down here." he said., Josh was about to say something, but then he realized that Chris was telling the truth. He knew him well enough to tell.
"OK, then. Never mind." he said as he walked away. This was still bothering him. If he didn't find it by the end of the weekend, he'll better not even go home. He'll have to sweep through every square meter of the basement to find it later. But right now, he had other matters to attend to.
"When will we get there? My legs are falling off!" Emily complained as she followed her boyfriend on the road to the cabin.
"It's been only about ten minutes since we left the lodge." Matt replied. He knew Emily was no athlete like he was, but seriously? Ten minutes on this road and she was already exhausted? "And you better brace yourself because we still have to walk for a while." Emily groaned.
"Easy for you to say." she muttered to herself as she stopped for a while and leaned on a wooden fence to catch her breath. "You don't... WHOA!" Emily screamed as the fence broke and she fell into a dark hole.
"Emily!" Matt screamed as he saw his girlfriend descend into the darkness. He rushed to the edge of the hole to see Emily a couple of feet beneath, lying on the ground. "Are you alright?!"
"As alright you'd expect after a fall like that." she replied. Matt noticed that there wasn't anything angry about Emily's reply. She expected her to snap at him with something like "What do you think, Einstein, I just fell into a cave!", but no. It was more sass rather than annoyance in her voice, like usually. Matt considered this a huge progress.
"Can you come out of there?" he yelled down to her. Emily looked around.
"No, it's too deep. But I can see a tunnel. Maybe there's another way out." she suggested.
"Good idea." Matt nodded. "I'll come down to you."
"Wait, and what of there's no other way out? You'll be trapped down here to!"
"I'll take that chance. I can't let you wander around down there by yourself." he replied, before dropping down himself. Emily wasn't sure. He felt like Matt was trying a little too hard to play hero for her, but the tunnel was very dark, so it was a good thing he came down with the flashlight.
"What is this place anyway?" she asked as they looked around.
"Looks like it's some kind of mine." Matt stated, judging from the rails and the mine carts he saw. "Josh said that there was one working on the mountain in the fifties."
"Okay, so now what?" Emily asked.
"Now we find a way out." he replied. Eventually, he noticed that the tunnel was the only path they can use, so he motioned for Emily to follow him.
"And if there's no other way out, we can join Hannah and Beth in haunting the mountain." Emily snarked.
"Hey!" Matt stopped and turned to her. "Don't you think you should talk about them with a little more respect? After all, they are..." He interrupted himself. He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Go ahead, Matt! Say it!" Emily challenged as her tone grew solemn and it may have been his eyes sparkling in the darkness, but Matt could have sworn that her eyes became watery. "Say it that they are dead and we killed them by pulling a mean spirited, half assed prank out of petty jealousy, just because Hannah happened to like the guy I was dating!"
"Emily, you don't know that!" Matt tried to console her, but there was nothing he could do about the emotional tidal wave that was about to burst out of her.
"Yes, I do, Matt!" she yelled, letting the tears free. "For crying out loud, it has been a year! Do you really think they are still alive somewhere out there? I know it's good to have faith, but you have to face reality eventually! They're dead and it's because of us!"
"Emily, I..." Matt tried to reach out for her, but she pulled away.
"No!" she sobbed. "You can console me all you want, but it won't make a difference! I'll still have to live with that every day for the rest of my life and so will you!" she turned around to keep walking, but had it not been for Matt's flashlight, that rest of her life would have been very short.
"Look out!" Matt shouted as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Emily didn't like to be handled in such a manner, but this time, she sure was glad she was, because in the light, she saw that she was half a second away from walking face first into a meat hook hanging from the ceiling.
"Jesus Christ!" she screamed as she backed away with widened eyes. "What the hell is this doing here?!" she asked after she calmed down in the boy's arms.
"Well..." Matt pondered, trying to find a logical explanation. "Josh said his dad is a passionate hunter. Maybe he set this up." This was his best guess, but he knew it was flawed.
"And just what kind of animal was he hoping to trap down here?" Emily asked, bewildered. Matt didn't seem to have an answer to that. "Okay, this place is officially giving me the creeps. Could we please move on?" Matt wholeheartedly agreed on both accounts. The pair moved on, carefully avoiding the hook. Matt will try his best to calm his girlfriend and make her forget about this experience. He would have gladly done the same, but these was one thing he couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried: in the light of his flashlight, he could have sworn that the hook was covered in blood stains.
AN: Well wasn't that sweet? Emily seems to be warming up to Matt after he helped her get over her grudge with Mike and Jessica. Yeah, I've decided to throw in some Emily character development, tell me what did you think of it.
Next time my friends, things will finally get really interesting. But for now, a little more build-up and some more alarming signs about the threat that awaits the group. Stay tuned for more! Reviews are much appreciated.
This is fanfictionmakermachine, signing off, peace!
P. S. : Battling the Snowstorm will be next to be updated!
