Memento Mori
The bus drove slowly through the snowy road as the snow fell softly, now lying heavily on the ground near the middle of the night. The bus continued on the road as the last two passengers revisit the same lodge from six years after the deaths of the Washington sisters. Sam stared out the window of the bus while David just looked at pictures of him and Beth. He closed for a second before leaving the gallery on his phone. He switched over to the news radio hearing a radio host talk about bioterrorists, BSAA, and lastly about Hannah and Beth with a police detective.
"It had been six years since the deaths of Hannah and Beth Washington. The death of the twin sisters took place in Blackwood Mountain on February 14th, 2014. The police found their bodies burnt as well as personal items that belonged to the victim. They are still search for the murderer at large. But the police haven't found any known whereabouts of the killer"
"It is possible that this serial killer could be hiding in the old sanatorium?"
"Unlikely. It was searched thoroughly over two years ago. No sign of anyone vacating the abandoned sanatorium."
"There seems to be a magnet of tragedy on that mountain."
"More than you know, Marty."
Sam switched the phone over to a video of Josh.
"Hello, friends and fans." Josh greeted. "It is beyond awesome to have all of you back this year. I am ecstatic to have my friends back after six years." His smile faded as he lowered his head down away from the camera before looking back into it. "But I just want to address the elephant in the room for a second. I know you all are worried about me after what happened to my sisters. How I… I wish Hannah and Beth were still alive to this day."
"Josh?" said the voice Sam and David recognized as Francesca
"I'm fine, Fran." He sniffled before looking at the camera with a straight face. "I know it would mean so much for Hannah and Beth to know that we're still thinking about them. And how I want to spend some quality time with each and everyone of you. Just to share with you some memories that we'll never forget." Josh smiled widely. "Now let's party and remember a night we'll never soon forget!" he concluded as the video ended
"Well, he's doing better now."
"Last party he said to party like we're pornstars four years ago. Was expecting him to mention orgies after he said that."
Sam groaned in disgust. "Sick, David."
"What? He's the one who said it."
Sam looked ahead as she motioned David to move out of his seat. "Excuse me, this is our stop." She said to the driver
They disembarked from the bus once it came to a stop as it drove away. Sam was in a purple long sleeve shirt, black jacket wrapped around a lipstick-red scarf around her neck. Grey boots with white trimmings, a fur hat and red plaid skirt covered with black tights. David wore a black coat with an orange long sleeve shirt. Jeans and black boots covered the lower part of his pants as they walked forward. They suddenly heard the snap of a twig as Sam looked back.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
David shrugged it off and continue to walk. "It was probably just a squirrel. Let's go."
They continued on coming across a gate that was closed, courtesy of a note from Josh. David helped Sam up the wall covering the main gate leading to the lodge, he followed soon after she made it to the other side. They heard something else as Sam kneeled down smiling to see it was a squirrel.
"Hey there, little fella." She said holding an acorn in her hand
"Are you sure that thing doesn't have rabbies?" he asked seeing the squirrel take the acorn from Sam's hand
Sam laughed. "Cutie." She said as the squirrel headed back into the woods
"I sometimes forget that you're an animal lover." David remarked while he and Sam continued the trail.
"You don't like animals that much, do you?"
"I like cats and dogs. Mostly dogs anyway. It's the dangerous one I don't like." He stated as they arrived at the lower cable car station. "Funny. I'd thought Chris would be here." He added as Sam walked over to a bench where said person's bag was.
"His bag is here, so where's he? You're not in the bag, are you Chris?" she then heard a buzzing sound coming from his bag. "Well, hello." Sam said seeing his phone inside
David walked over and pulled the phone out of Chris's backpack. "What are you doing? Are you really going to snoop into his things?" Sam shook her head
"Relax, Sam. It's just a quick peek." His smile grew seeing it was Ashely texting him. "Well, what do you know?"
"Hey, noisy." Said a voice which startled them
David and Sam turned around to see Chris dressed in a layered light blue jacket over a green commando-style sweater. Blue collared shirt, a white undershirt along with jeans and the same glasses he had years ago.
"Jesus Christ. Don't pop out like that."
Chris looked down to David's hand to see his phone. "I'm sorry, are you secretary?"
David scoffed. "Why did you leave your phone here in the first place? Good chance for someone to steal it without you noticing. 1: You have pockets, so make sure they stay there. And 2: it was also buzzing."
"Well, I can take it from here. Thanks." David handed Chris back his phone. "I got something to show you two." He motioned for David and Sam to follow him out back
"What is it?" Sam asked
"It's a surprise. Gonna blow your mind." He replied with a smile
"When you saw it like that, you make it sound not that impressive." David muttered under his breath
They followed Chris to a makeshift shooting range. Bottles, soda cans on various surfaces, and sacks hanging from tress on a rope make targets. A rifle set on a table.
"Ta-da!"
"Huh." David shrugged
Chris held the rifle. "Nice, huh?"
"Not how I would describe it." Sam said. "What is this even doing here?"
Chris raised an eyebrow and queried. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what the hell is a shooting range doing here at a base of the ski lodge?" she asked trying to fathom why the range was behind the cable car station
Chris walked up to the shooting range, picking up the gun. "Have you two met Josh's dad?"
David shrugged. "Yeah. So what?"
Chris then held the weapon to his shoulder. "He thinks he's like Grizzly Adams or something." He looked at Sam and David. "Wanna take a go of it?"
Sam denied the challenge of a hand motion. "No thanks, Grizzly."
"I will. Let's see what you got then, Grizzly." David challenged with his arms crossed with a smile
Chris began to aim the rifle at a soda can as he fired off a shot, shooting two bottles and a sack in the process.
"Wow. Nice shootin', tex." Sam replied in a texan accent
"Yeah, I'm bad." Chris then started doing a little dance with the rifle. "I'm a badass."
David scoffed in a laugh. "Boy, please." He said taking the rifle from Chris as he shot a bottle twelve meters away. "I practice more with guns than you. Mostly because of the military."
Sam grinned at David as she leaned toward him. "Well, anybody can shot a bottle that big that close." She said in a teasingly manner
David smirked at Sam. "You know you're welcome to try if you think you can do better, Samantha." He wittedly replied as a squirrel made its way to an acorn that rested on a tree stump. David moved the rifle away and shot at a sack instead, not wanting to encounter an anger Sam. "That's how it's done."
"Hey, I think the cable car is coming."
"Alright, then. Let's go."
David followed Sam and Chris back to the cable car station, but stopped when he saw a torn wanted poster.
"Well, that's new."
"Think we'll get a visit from America's most wanted?"
"You know we're in Canada right now, right?"
"I'm just saying. Most wanted people could be anywhere when they're desperate enough." Chris stated
They went inside the cable car station and waited for the car to show up. Once inside the cable car, it took them upward to the mountain. While Chris told Sam of how he and Josh first met, David's mind was on to other things. For instance, coming back to the same mountain where he lost Beth. The whole reason he was there was because of her. After the prank with Hannah, the last time he saw Beth was when she went into the woods to find her. Since their death, Josh was extremely distant toward the rest except for Sam, Chris, David, and Francesca. Francesca stayed with him through the whole ordeal along with Chris. Sam and David were there for support. They were surprised in the end when Josh wanted everyone back to the lodge after six long years. During those years, David started to date Sam. He knew she was diligent and considerate, but he didn't know she had an adventurous side after they kept seeing each other. Chris on the other thought of himself to be methodical, protective, and even the jokester of the gang. Most of which wasn't true about him and some of the others in the group he thought as well.
"Earth to David." Chris snapped his finger close to David's ear. "Is anyone there?"
He looked to see Sam and Chris already in the cable car. "Huh? Sorry I was miles away."
Their ride up the mountain came to a stop as they got off the cable car and headed towards the door. Chris banged on the door to see if anyone was close enough to hear. Fortunately for them, they caught the attention of one particular person
"Jessica! Over here!"
Jess now had Dutch braids with indigo hair ties. She also wore a stone blue casual parka jacket and plain denim jeans.
"Are you guys like having a weird stroke?"
"We're stuck in this stupid thing." Chris answered
"Can you let us out?" Sam asked her. "Pretty please?"
"Just use the key." David casually said
Chris glanced at him for a second. "I can't. It's only the lower cable car station."
David groaned in annoyance. "Why did Josh give you a key just for one station instead of both for?"
"Weren't you listening before? It was he found people sleeping in the station and he wanted to keep them out."
"Huh. Well, that's strange."
"Exactly." Sam agreed
Jess let them out of the station through the push of a button as the three emerged.
"Oh, my God, I thought we were all goners. Another ten seconds there and I might have eaten off my own leg." Chris said a mock tone of panic
Sam rolled her eyes. "That's gross, Chris."
"Hey, got a lot of meat on my bones." Chris motioned his hand up and down to his leg. "This is all muscle down here."
David gave Chris a straight face as he looked at him up and down before shaking his head in disbelief. "Bull. Shit."
Chris suddenly snatched a letter from Jessica's hand after making a 'bwip' sound
"Hey!"
"Chris!"
"Relax, Sam. I'm just doing what Davey taught me." Chris said teasingly
"Don't call me Davey." He retorted
"My, my. It seems that our dear Jessica has a letter from Mister Michael Munroe. And what kind of sizzling erotica might be our Jessica could be imagining I wonder." All eyes were on Jessica now
"Mike and I are together. He and Em split." She stated with a shrug
"It's about damn time Munroe had some backbone." David grinned as Sam elbowed him
"Drama." Chris said teasing for Jess to take the letter
"Pretty clear cut actually. Em's out, I'm in."
"Alright, let's get up to the lodge."
""You three go on ahead. I'm gonna see who else is coming."
"You mean Mikey boy?" David teased with a laugh as he, Sam, and Chris began to go up the path to the lodge
Having already passed the main gate, Matt and Emily were on their way to the lodge with former carrying the bags. Matt sported a cobalt blue letterman jacket over a light jean jacket, gray turtleneck and gray track pants. Emily wore a white blouse underneath a ribbed gray turtleneck, a black leather jacket with a fur trim along with dark jeans and snow boots. Black nail polish with a few rings adorned to her fingers.
"I'm getting chills."
"We're nearly there." Matt assured
"No… I mean coming back here."
"We might find some closure around here this time. Josh especially after what happened."
Before they reached the end of the bridge, a figure jumped out and scared them enough to drop their bags. It was a familiar person they both knew clad in a flannel jacket underneath a blue padded vest, white undershirt top, and jeans.
"You guys should see your faces!"
"Michael!" Emily spat not impressed of the antic
Matt groaned before staring at Mike in disbelief. "Dude, I almost clocked you just now."
"Nice one."
"You're a jerk, Michael."
"Oh, come on." Mike groaned. "We're in a spooky mountain forest in the middle of the night. Let's just get in the spirit of things."
"Spirits of things? Seriously? What's wrong with you?"
"Just trying to lighten the mood, Em." Mike replied. "Don't be like that. You always get this way."
Matt sighed before staring back at Mike. "Michael, I'm just gonna lay it out otherwise this whole weekend is going to suck ass for everyone. This is super awkward and we know it. So let's just acknowledge it now and move forward."
"Matt…"
"I hear you, man." Mike agreed. "I don't want to make this weird."
"Cool. So, we're good then?"
"All good."
"You two gonna make out now?" Emily jokingly asked
"Oh my God! We're totally gonna make out!" Mike said in an effeminate tone before clearing his throat. "Actually I'm going to check on the cable car back down the trail."
Emily turned to Matt. "Hey. Can you carry the rest of bags to the lodge?" she asked
"Yeah." Matt said suddenly uneased. "Why?"
Emily pointed her thumb back the trail. "I need to go find Sam."
"Can't this wait? We're almost there."
"No, it's really important that I needed to talk to her about something. Matt, please."
Even though he wanted disagreed with it, Matt shrugged as he didn't want to get in an argument with Emily.
"Fine. But you owe me."
Emily raised an eyebrow at Matt with a small grin and queried. "Excuse me?"
"Or in this case we're even." Matt said
"I'll see you soon, sweetie." Emily replied blowing a kiss before heading back down the trail.
Standing on a smile wooden platform, Ashely observed the forest through tourist binoculars. She wore a stripped red-pink beanie over her head. A lightly blue-gray hoodie over a red long-sleeved shirt, blue jean shorts and dark leggings. Along with a striped fingerless gloves, a silver locket, a green rectangular ring on her middle finger and a blue parka jacket. Through the binoculars, she peeked to the cable car station to see Jess sitting on a bench. She looked elsewhere in the woods to see a strange figure move through the trees, but she couldn't get a good look of what or who it was. She then gazed down with the binoculars to find Mike and Emily, alone. And touching Emily's cheek along the way as Emily had her hands on his shoulders.
"Someone's getting too friendly, and not in the friend-zone kind of way. Those two really need to check the expiration date on their big break-up." She said
As soon as she zoomed out with the binoculars, Matt's face popped up as she screamed and leapt up. Matt came up on the platform with a laugh
"God, Matt."
"Sorry, Matt. I didn't mean to literally 'scare you' scare you. Probably just give you a little jump." Matt admitted
"Oh my Gosh." She said hitting him in the shoulder gritting her teeth. "Oh my Gosh!"
"Wow, Ash. I'm really sorry. Damn." He noticed the binoculars. "What are you looking at? Mind if I check out that thing?"
Ashely noticed he was talking about the binoculars. She didn't know what to do. Either allow to Matt to caught Mike and Emily or not for Matt's sake. She needed to say something and fast.
Ashely shook her head. "I don't think so, Matt. I looked in it and I think it's busted."
"Really? No way." Matt quirked an eyebrow at her, then stared at the binoculars. "Pretty sure I could see a bear chowing down on a deer or something."
"Yeah." Ash stepped aside for Matt to look through the binoculars. "Go ahead."
"Nice!" Matt then saw Emily and Mike together, hugging. "Son of a bitch! Seriously, Em?! What the hell!"
Ashely took a step closer. "Maybe it's nothing." She said in a reassuring tone
"Is it always nothing with Emily?!" Matt stormed away as Ashely went after him
Back at the cable car station, Jess twiddled he thumbs as she picked up her phone. Before she was about to hear some music, a snowball hitting the wall caught her off guard as she jumped from the reaction. She looked back with a smile once she saw who it was.
"You did not just do that."
Mike readying another snowball in his hand. "Put your hands right where I can see them." He said in a southern accent. "We got you surrounded!"
"Well, who am I to retaliate?" she mockingly said in a southern accent. "A supple, young rebel girl to do other than surround to the strapping military guard coming to take me into custody."
She caught him off guard as she make a snowball behind her back as she ran, throwing the snowball across his face. After their quick little snowball fight, Mike playfully tackled her into the snowy ground.
"Boom! Done city."
Jess smiled at him. "My, my, are we calling this my favor now?"
"You're a worthy opponent, Miss Jessica the snowball queen." Mike said teasingly
"That's sound vaguely dirty." She husked in a low sultry tone
"My lady." Mike leaned down to kiss Jessica on the lip, but a sudden snowball hit him in the face courtesy of Jess as she giggled. "Oh, oh, you're really gonna get it now."
"What am I getting?" she teasingly asked
Mike shook his head with a grin. "Oh, no, no, no you don't little lady. You'll find out later on soon enough."
"We should probably get back to everyone." Jess replied as he stood up
"You're right. Though I'd probably wanna stay here and make out with you some more."
Jess got up from the ground after. "Just make out?"
"Quote unquote." Mike replied making air quotes
"We might freeze within those quotes there, buddy." Jess said as her and Mike headed up the trail to the lodge
Unknown to them, a cable car was heading its way with a mysterious figure. There was also the fate that they were being watched by a hidden camera, follow by cackling from a hooded figure who observed them as the figure pushed a small button.
"Everyone has arrived to the party. Time for the big game to begin!"