Author's Notes: I wish I could show you how many pages of planning this fic takes. Making sure all of the times line up since there are so many separate scenes. So in this section of the Prologue we get yet another view of every character from a different perspective. I think everyone will be surprised how different some of the characters are described when in the perspective of someone else. Welp that is enough of my awkward little comments I suppose. Oh! Thank you all for the reviews and the love. I appreciate it! Enjoy.
Charity – Washington Lodge Kitchen
20:36
Charity smirked as she raised her drink to her lips taking a sip before picking up the little white ball from the claimed cup that Graham had managed to make for the first time since the game had started. Thus far, the only two to actually make any cups had been the two girls, Mona and Charity. Bash blamed the fact that this was his fifth or sixth game since he kept changing his excuse from one number to the other and Graham apparently was quite unskilled at this game. Hand eye coordination was something Graham should have theoretically had, yet each throw seemed to prove otherwise with the exception of the last one which Charity had realized was just a sheer accident. "Second cup back on the left side." Charity said calling her shot, as Mona rolled her eyes at her.
"I'll run around the outside of this lodge in my underwear if you manage that." Mona crossed her arms over her chest. Charity loved challenging Mona, it was their mutual love of winning that seemed to unite them both. They always tried to be the best, and Charity had to admit if she were to be second best at anything it would only be acceptable that Mona had been the one to beat her.
Bash took his shot, missing by bouncing on the edge of a cup. "Get ready to run a victory lap for me, Moe." Charity almost sang as she took her shot, her shot bouncing off the edge of the cup she had called and landing in another.
"Does that count? Because I'd pay to see you run around in your underwear in the snow." Bash asked laughing as Graham fished out the ball from the cup, pulling it to the side taking a drink of his beer as he did.
"No but you do get two cups." Mona complained pulling the initial one Charity had called off to the side and taking a drink of her own drink. "I hope Hawk gets back soon because if I have to play another round with Graham I might die of alcohol poisoning." Mona commented as she took a large gulp of her beer.
"Kota would rather freeze to death than admit she lost her phone." Charity commented, as Bash wrapped his arm around her waist smiling down at her. His hair poking up in different ways, his eyes gleaming with a sparkle that said an adventure laid ahead of them. Charity had convinced Kota to come along on this weekend because she had been unsure of if she wanted to be alone with only Mona as a friendly face, but with his behavior towards her she felt herself becoming less nervous.
"And you know there is no way Hawk is going to leave her out there by herself. After all, there are bears in these mountains." Bash said, his eyes flicking away from Charity returning to the others in the room and though Charity would say she was disappointed to not see that glimmer of adventure in his eyes she was relieved to know he remained fully aware they were not alone in the room.
"It's the middle of winter." Graham said as he prepared to make his shot, failing at his attempt shortly there after. "Are they going to wake up and decide that Kota looks like a good snack or something?"
Mona however managed to make her shot while continuing the conversation. "Should we send someone out after them? I mean, if anyone should be eaten this weekend it should probably be Jackson."
Almost if he knew someone was talking about him, Kol and Bryan came into the kitchen, Kol had been showing Bryan some of the cool things he had found in the basement, and though he offered to show everyone no one else seemed to want to see any of the quote "creepy shit" Kol seemed so excited about. "What about eating me?" The way Kol carried himself annoyed Charity to her core, he was confident but the way he carried himself took his pride to a sinful amount. It was probably because Kol knew how to flick his silver tongue to get whatever he wanted from whoever he wanted, but Charity found it disgusting. Though, the only reason she even knew Bash was because of Kol's attempts to flirt with her in middle school. Even then Charity had no interest in the charming little lad, but as he invited her around she became friends with everyone, bringing Kota with her. Slowly their group was formed, and even though everyone was very different they all could claim they had a friend in one another, or so Charity believed.
"Moe plans on feeding you to a bear." Bash answered his eyes darting from the newcomers to the room back to Charity's smile.
"Suppose it's better than some wolves." Kol quipped back as he walked over and picked up the bottle of whiskey off the counter pouring two shots.
Bryan sat on one of the bar stools at the counter, as Kol placed the shot in front of him. The game of beer pong coming to a temporary halt. "Where is everyone?" Bryan asked, as Kol slung the liquid back without even a blink, Bryan was stalling much to Kol's annoyance.
"Hawk and Kota went to find her phone, she thinks she dropped it by the cable car station." Charity informed him as Kol placed his shot glass down on the counter hard enough to make a noise to make Bryan look from the girl speaking back to the self-centered boy. Charity took a deep breath to calm herself, feeling aggravated by the way Kol seemed to think the world had to focus on whatever he was doing. She felt Bash squeeze her side slightly as she glanced up to see him looking down at her shaking his head slightly. "Charlie and the other girls are upstairs, doing something." She finished answering Bryan's question as he took his shot making a horrendous face it went down. Bryan was boy scout type. Not the one to go party whenever the parents were away.
"Well sounds like we have some mischief to get into Carmine." Kol smirked his eyes sitting solely on Charity. "Better than watching a one-sided game of beer pong." Kol said leaving back out of the kitchen, Bryan following in his foot steps.
"I'll take that cup now." Mona said with a smile pulling Charity back into the moment as she realized she was watching the door the two boys had left out of intently.
Bash pulled the cup off to the side of the table, "don't worry about them. They are harmless." Bash reassured her, but something in Charity's gut made her question that statement.
Kali – Upstairs Bedroom Washington Lodge
20:40
Kali was thankful that Charlie had offered to give Jemma and her a tour of the Lodge upon their arrival. She was already beginning to feel overwhelmed by some of the other guests of the Lodge this weekend and it had been under two hours since her arrival. Kali had attempted a round of beer pong with Jemma as he partner but Bryan and Kol had simply cleared the table of the cups before the two girls had even made half of them. She assumed it was because Bryan had not wanted to drink and he was actually quite skilled at tossing the small ball and hitting the target while Jemma kept tossing hers more or less at the two boys and cursing each time. Kali had managed to make the few they had gotten. Afterwards, she had made an excuse to go run up to her room and check something, shortly after Jemma followed her in and made herself at home on her bed with a magazine. Not long after that Charlie had come in sensing her two friends had left the main party to be by themselves.
Now Charlie sat on the small bench in front of the small vanity in the room, playing with her hair in the mirror making faces at herself, while Jemma sat on the bed reading out questions from a relationship quiz she had found in the old magazine. "Kali you have said C a lot, I am just gonna assume you are going to answer all of these as C." Jemma complained as Kali dug through her bag trying to find the new top she had just been telling Charlie about, though it would be far to cold to where in winter in Canada it was extremely cute.
"That doesn't seem fair, but okay." Kali complained as she pulled out the black thin sweater that was long enough to be worn with legging.
"Uh oh! This is not going to work! He's like a crazy reckless hunk of a man and you're staying at home working on your embroidery and practicing G minor on the piano. Give up on it!" Jemma read in a dramatic voice. "Sorry Kali." She smiled wildly as Kali gave her an unamused look. "No hunky hunk for you this weekend." She almost seemed to sing as Kali handed the sweater to Charlie, finally pulling her away from staring at herself in the mirror as she held up the top.
"This is super cute!" Charlie gushed as she felt it up to her. "Can I try it on?" She asked, even though Kali knew no matter what answer she gave the other girl was going to do whatever she wanted.
"Sure, though I am not sure it is going to fit." Kali tried to say as nicely as she could.
Charlie stood up and walked towards the bed tossing the sweater on the bed as she pulled her jacket off. "What is that suppose to mean?" Charlie glared at Kali, however Jemma slid in the conversation with Kali's save.
"You are flat as a board and Kali's got a perfect rack? Yeah, pretty sure that is what she was nicely saying if I still speak Kali-nese well." Jemma smiled between the two girls as Charlie erupted in laughter that made Kali smile.
Jemma had never had a problem being blunt or saying what was on her mind, while Kali still felt like a bit of an outsider. Charlie often called Kali her best friend, but Kali had often wondered if that was because she agreed with Charlie more often than others did. "Well I've never heard any complaints about my apparent lack of curves." Charlie scoffed as she pulled her gray sweater over her head, reliving a white bra with clack lace outlining it.
"Why would they when you put them on display like that?" Jemma rolled over on the bed facing towards Kali rolling her eyes. "Who are you so dressed up for anyways? You still crushing on Carmine or something?"
Kali watched the red head pull the thin black sweater on over her bra, the white of the bra showing through the thin fabric as she pulled it off on of her shoulders and posed in the mirror once more. "No, that was like freshman year, and everyone likes him so make fun of me all you want but we got a great friend out of that stupid crush."
"Stupid crush that had you practicing your signature as Charlotte Carmine." Kali pointed out with a smile as Charlie's arms crossed over her chest.
"Damn we could be calling her CC." Jemma remarked laughing.
"Laugh it up, but you two remember I know all your little secrets too." Charlie's smile told them both she wasn't actually as angry as her stance and crossed arms would lead one to believe.
Charlie uncrossed her arms and pulled her phone out of her pocket to take a photo of her reflection in the mirror. She snapped a couple of herself before turning the camera on Jemma and Kali. Jemma made a ridiculous face while Kali cocked her head to the side with a smile. "It's really not fair how much better it looks on you." Kali whined as she admired her sweater on Charlie wishing to swap bodies for a moment. She would have loved to have some of Charlie's height or her delicate features in comparison to Kali's own short stature and muscles. While Kali was not as muscular as Mona, she had found herself not buying clothing because her shoulders looked to broad or her fore arms looked to large.
"Charlie's turn." Jemma spouted out sitting up right on the bed for the first time, as Kali found herself sitting on the bench once occupied by Charlie in front of the vanity facing the two girls. "Question one..."
"I don't think so, just give it to me." Charlie said as she tossed herself on the bed and pulled the magazine out of Jemma's hands. "A, A, B, A, C, A, B." Charlie rattled off as she read each question.
"Mostly A's huh?" Jemma smiled as she pulled the magazine back from Charlie and flipped it over to see the answer column. "Hot damn! This relationship is already sizzling." Jemma started off as Charlie pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed.
"Well at least you have a love life." Kali chimed in before turning to look at her reflection in the mirror, her dark brown hair braided into a rope coming down over her right shoulder still looked neat even after the long day of travel.
Jemma paused for a moment. "Charlie, you aren't seeing anyone are you?" The question seemed to innocent, but when it came to Charlie, to was a loaded question. For being as smart as she was Charlie had awful taste in boyfriends.
"None of your business." Charlie smiled, and Kali knew she was seeing someone.
"What's his name?" Kali asked looking over her shoulder at the two girls on the bed.
Charlie stood up and pulled her jacket back on over the thin black sweater. "I'm going to get a drink," With that Charlie left, avoiding the situation and the questions like she often did.
Kali looked back to Jemma who just shrugged, "she'll tell us by tomorrow, or after a couple more screwdrivers." Jemma reassured her before returning to reading the trash articles in the old magazine.
Kali found herself looking back into the mirror seeing a reflection of the door as well. "Bitch stole my shirt." Kali remarked breaking the silence that had fallen in the room.
"Yeah, you aren't getting that back." Jemma laughed.
Kota – Path To Upper Cable Car Station
20:35
"How hard can it be to find a phone in a neon green case in the middle of snow?" Kota whined in desperation. She had noticed her phone was missing about twenty minutes prior and though she never thought she would be so attached to an inanimate object she found herself desperate to find it after just five minutes. When she had insisted on going out to look for it that minute instead of in the morning like everyone else had insisted she do, Hawk had agreed to go with her and look.
He had managed to find a large torch that felt more like a club in Kota's hands than a light. As they walked down the path towards the cable car station, her scanning the light from side to side over the ground that was just becoming more covered with fresh white snow with every minute. Hawk was using his phone's flash light to "look" though he seemed to be less aiming the light at the ground and more the spaces around them and ahead of them.
"Are you going to help me look at just admire the creepy fucking trees?" Kota found herself snapping at Hawk who just turned his light to shine directly in her face. She squinted her eyes at the bright light.
"We are on a mountain known to have bears, wolves, and other animals who would love to bite your head off so don't bite mine." Hawk said sternly, his voice low and a bit gravelly. "Besides, a bet half a foot of snow has fallen since we got here, you aren't going to find it, which we tried to tell you earlier." Hawk was clearly growing a bit annoyed of her whining over the lost phone.
Kota saw the outline of the cable car building in the distance as the snow blew off the top of it back towards the ground. "I just want my phone." She said in defeat realizing she was being a bit of a bitch to the only person who had offered to come out in the cold with her. "Can you try calling it again?" She asked as he shook his head, he had tried when they first noticed it was missing, everyone had but no one had enough signal to get a phone call to go through. The landline in the lodge worked but her phone had went straight to voicemail. "This sucks." She complained as she approached the building, the wide clearing of trees with a picnic table off to the side.
Hawk crossed to the overlook that Charity and Kota had stood at while the two boys had gathered their bags shining his light at the white snow. "It's just a phone, Kota." His words were meant to calm her, that it was just an object it wasn't a person that was missing.
"I know, but it is my phone. If you lost yours, wouldn't you want to find it?" She asked him as walked up to the building shining her light along the covered deck of the outside of the building.
"If it was mine, I probably wouldn't have noticed until we left for the weekend seeing as they don't work with a shit." Kota bit the inside of her lip as he smirked, crouching down and brushing away some of the snow by his feet. Kota looked around seeing nothing by the door of the station, opening the door of the building. She stepped inside flicking on the switch for the light inside of the building as she clicked off the torch she held. The cable car was still in its dock at the top station so she walked over and peered inside of the car, still not seeing anything.
A loud noise came from above her, and she found herself jumping almost out of her skin. "What the fuck Hawk?!" She barked spinning around to see the boy who had accompanied her was still outside of the window of the station looking around the picnic table. She looked around the station and peered over the edge of the actual station seeing just a straight fall beneath her. The cold shivers running down her spine, told her to end her search. There was something wrong, something spending the chills down her spine but she didn't know what it was. She flicked the torch back on and stepped out of the station flicking off the light and pulling the door back shut as she did, only to spin around and flash her light through the window of the darkened station, it felt as if she were being watched. "Hawk let's go," she said her voice wavering a bit as she spoke.
"What giving up so soon?" He asked with a smirk, as she crossed over to him. "Thank god, it's fucking cold out here." He commented as she walked past him towards the path, walking ahead of the older boy. She powered ahead, hearing the crunch of the snow beneath their feet and her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She paused for a moment as the sound of her heart quietened and so did the sound of crunching snow. She spun around and flashing her light behind her only to see no one. "Hawk?" She asked quietly, frozen in her spot. "Hawk?" She repeated as she scanned her light across the area behind her. "This isn't fucking funny." She cursed as she looked back forward on the path.
She suddenly heard the sound of snow crushing quickly beneath shoes from behind her, making her turn back to where Hawk should have been earlier. "Hawk?" She asked once more as she felt a touch on her left shoulder. With her already heightened senses the touch scared her more than it would have ever in a normal situation but she screamed loudly as she spun around her hand making contact with the owner of the hand's cheek to a loud slap.
"What the fuck Raiman?!" A voice echoed in response as Kota's sense began to return. The outline of two boys becoming clear as she began to analyze who's face her hand had come in contact with. Kol stood in front of her Bryan by his side as the first held his cheek.
Kota stumbled backwards a bit, pulling the torch to her chest. "You scared me." She tried to explain as Bryan shined his light past her to the large body running up towards them.
"Are you okay?" Hawk asked wrapping his arm around Kota as she stood there shrinking into herself in embarrassment, not wanting to fully explain that she had scared herself so badly that even a gentle touch had made her scream.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She stammered out quickly as Kol stood there his blood boiling his face turning more red with every second.
"Glad your fine, what the fuck was that about?!" Kol barked loudly.
Hawk stepped between the two making a large wall of muscle that neither wanted to deal with. "Enough, it's cold lets head back."
"We were heading to the cable car station, we were going down to the truck Charlie left a bag down there." Bryan explained trying to defuse the tension growing between the small group.
"Best be on your way then, its getting pretty late." Hawk stated looking between Bryan and Kol finally setting his eyes on Kol. "Come on, Kota, I found your phone back on the path." He said using his free hand to actually hand her the phone that was in a bright green case but otherwise completely dead. With his arm still wrapped over her shoulder he pulled her a bit to make her legs begin to finish the walk towards the cabin.
Hawk – Washington Lodge
20:46
As they entered the lodge she went over to the first couch she could find and sat in the corner clicking off the torch and setting it on the table. Squeezing her phone tightly in one hand as he walked into the kitchen seeing Charity sitting with Bash by the window. "Where's Kota" Charity asked as Hawk walked over to the refrigerator to pull out a drink.
"Living room, Kol scared the shit out of her, but we found her phone." He answered as Jemma and Kali walked into the kitchen laughing about something. Charity excused herself quickly brushing past the other girls to go see if Kota was okay.
"Where is Charlie?" Kali asked as Charity brushed by them.
"Haven't seen her since she left to join you guys." Bash answered as Hawk leaned against the counter top in the kitchen.
"She said she was coming down here." Jemma insisted before turning around and leaving with Kali shortly behind her.
Hawk let out a sigh as her ran his hands through his hair shaking out any remaining snow. "Graham?" He asked as Bash shook his head at the quick entrance and exit of the girls.
"Head. Mona went to change, she's a bit tipsy so I doubt she's coming back if she finds her bed." Bash answered.
"Should have just planned a hunting trip." Hawk stated as he put the beer to his lips taking a drink of the cold liquid.
"Charlie planned this, I would have went to a beach. Bikinis over sweaters any day." Bash grinned at his friend as the two laughed.
Author's Notes Part 2:
So, this wasn't originally how I laid out this part but I decided to change up the original lay out because I felt like cutting it where it was originally set to end was a bit to cruel of a cliff hanger. Anyways I love to hear your thoughts and suggestions, and if you wish to add any additional information about your characters feel free to send it to me. I hope you enjoyed part 2, and expect part 3 soon.
