Jealously
"Every time I climb this mountain it feels bigger."
Josh raised an eyebrow at Chris. "It feels the same to me, man."
Josh wore a pair of jeans, flannel jacket with tan puffed vest and gray wool beanie. Francesca wore a red winter jacket underneath a white t-shirt with a yellow turtleneck and jeans. She at the moment was talking to Ashely while they sat on the steps.
"Come on, man. You practically grew up here. It probably feels like it's shrinking now."
Josh laughed. "Maybe." Josh conceded as David rolled his eyes
"And when are you going to install some cell towers?" Chris asked checking his phone. "I'm getting nothing but withdrawals over here."
"You get a million spare lying around, I'll fix you up." Josh joked
"Funny you should say that because I left it in my other jacket." Chris quipped as he and Josh caught up with the other
David shook his head. "You and that phone." He said while he and Sam held hands
Josh went up to greet the others. "You guys get up here okay?"
Seeing Matt was silence and brooding after what he had seen about Mike and Emily, Ashely decided to speak. "More or less, but it's good to see you guys again."
Josh looked confused at Matt who frowned. "Sup with him?" he asked as Matt walked past them
David glanced at Matt walking away before looking back at the others. "Something happened." He said to them
"Let's just let him cool off for now." Fran suggested to the others. "I'm pretty sure he wants to be alone with whatever is bugging him."
Josh and Chris headed up the door to the lodge. David followed behind them.
"Yo, yo, yo! We ready to get this thing going or what?" Chris said with excitement
"Yeah, man."
"Hey, you alright? I mean what happened with your sisters here-" Josh cut Chris off
"Stop."
"I just wanted to-" before it could go any further, David defused the conversation
"Matt and Emily, huh? So those two are a thing now." He said to Josh. "What does Mike have to think about that?"
The question lightened up Josh's mood with a smile. "I'm pretty sure Mike already has his hands full if you know what I mean."
"I bet he does."
"Dammit! This freaking thing."
"Iced maybe? There has to be another way."
"There are, but they're just all locked."
"Probably a window we get open. I mean it's not exactly illegal if you own the place."
"Not if I don't report you." Josh said before a smile grew on his face. "Lead the way, Cochise!"
They walked down the steps as Chris glanced at Ashely while Josh and David carried on.
"Hey, Ash." He greeted
"Hi, Chris!" she said smiling
"So… how you're doing?"
"Fine, but I'm a little cold." She shrugged from the cold. "I think I could use the time to curl by the fire."
"That sounds nice."
David shook his head at Chris and sighed as he walked over to Matt.
He gave Matt a high five and quick bro hug with a grin on his face. "Matt, man. What's up? It's been awhile."
"Yeah, something like that?"
David raised an eyebrow. "You alright?" he asked Matt
His attitude changed to a frown. "Some people… you think you know them, you know?" Matt stormed off to the other side
"Huh. Yeah."
Francesca step beside David as he noticed. "Is he okay?" she asked
"Something definitely happened. And whatever is it pissed him off."
"Hey, Davey Jones!" Fran and David turned to see Josh and Chris around the back of the lodge. "Are you coming or what?"
"Yeah. And stop calling me that!"
David quickly followed Josh and Chris to another corner where he saw them move a cabinet below the window. He jumped on the cabinet to open the window, allowing Chris to be the first one inside the lodge. However, he clumsily fell and landed on the table before back first into the floor.
David moved inside through the window before Josh got up on the cabinet. "Hey, man you alright?"
"I'm okay. I should've paid more attention in climbing class."
Josh and David looked at each other before looking back at Chris. "You mean gym?" they both said in unison
"Yeah, with the going up the rope." He stated before a light bulb suddenly bust, catching the three in surprise
"Well that was strange." David said as he caught a lighter from Josh in his hand. "And very unnatural. Unless you have an old bulb."
"Hey, guys. I think I got a can of deodorant spray in the bathroom upstairs. You could use that on the door with the lighter. Just like a flamethrower and that frozen lock should defrost."
"Can we just unlock the door from the inside?"
"I don't think so. Whatever's going on with the door might not open on the inside. Plus I don't think anyone wants to crawl through the window to get inside."
David shrugged as he walked off. "Hey, it's your ass if you want to burn down the lodge."
"Godspeed, pilgrims." Josh in a John Wayne impression
"Let's go."
Chris and David begin to make their way through the lodge, looking around to see if it would bring them back to memory lane. They noticed a few things while they were walking, a note for instance. The note detailed a man who had a vendetta for the Washington family, Josh's mother wanting to make things right for a Native American community. Along with a message from a police officer about the man with the vendetta against the family which put the two uneased. There was such other pleasant stuff in sight for Chris and David to see. A picture of Sam, Hannah, Emily, and Mike at their senior prom, Josh's father winning a film trophy, and one last photo that stung David's heart. It was a photo of Josh with Hannah and Beth on a beach in Cape Cod.
"David. Hey, man. Are you alright?" Chris asked seeing him pick up the photo
"This was one of the times I ever saw Beth smile. One of the best." he sat the photo down. "Now let's find this damn spray and get everyone inside already."
They quickly made their way to the bathroom as Chris opened the drawer under the sink to see the deodorant spray. As soon as he was about to grab it, a wild animal suddenly popped out at both of them before scurrying away.
"Goddamn…" David muttered before he looked at Chris. "You got the spray?"
Chris showed the deodorant spray in his hand. "Yeah, I got it right here."
They made their way to the door to see the Sam and Ashely trying to stay warm.
"We're freezing our buns off out here!"
"Could've just come through the window like we did." David said to them as he moved the lock to open the door, but it did not bulge. "Son of a bitch."
He moved aside for Chris to use the lighter and spray to burn off the ice on the lock. He was about to open the door before David stopped him as he took off his coat and wrapped it around his hand. He slowly opened the door using his covered hand while putting his coat back on before Chris gave a mock bow.
"Thank you, ladies. We'll be here all week." He joked as the girls rolled their eyes
The animal from the bathroom darted out catching both David and Chris off guard in a fright as the girls giggled
With concern, Ashely asked. "What was that? You are two okay?"
"It was a bear or tiger." Chris said
David shook his head. "It was a fucking honey badger." He corrected
"It was just a cute baby wolverine." Sam said teasingly in baby talk as Josh and Francesca made their way to them
"Baby, my ass!" David shot back. "Damn things are dangerous. It could've killed me!"
Josh chuckled. "Don't worry you two. You're gonna be big boys soon." He said patting them on the shoulder
David shrugged. "That shit ain't even funny, dude." He said annoyed
Entering the darkened lodge, Josh smiled widely as Francesca smiled noticing everything in the lodge was how they left it.
Josh pressed his hands up. "Home sweet home." He said
Matt shook his head. "Sweet isn't what I would use." He replied feeling unease in the lodge after coming back in the past years after setting the bags he and Emily brought down
Ashely rubbed her arms to stay warm. "It's so good to be inside even though it's still kind of freezing."
"I'll get a fire going." Josh said walking toward the fireplace
Ashely looked around seeing everything was still the same. "This place barely looks any different."
"Well, nobody's been up here." Josh replied with a shrug
"Even with the police coming in and out?" Francesa asked curiously
"Not enough action up here lately." Chris stated
"That's true." David agreed as he and Sam sat on the stair in the upper level while Chris and Ash joined them
"What's up, party people!" said the sudden voice of Mike as he and Jess walked in
"Hey!"
David nodded his head. "Sup man."
"Take a load off." Josh said to them as Jess sat on the couch
"Will do." Mike replied about to join Jess
Matt glared at Mike. "Yeah. Come on in, take a load off. Have whatever you want. I mean, that's what you do."
"Whoa. Easy there, cowboy." Mike said in mock surrender
"What were you doing with Emily?" Matt asked
Mike looked at him confused. "What?"
"I saw you and Em through the telescope." Matt accused
Mike gave a shrug of confusion. "From before? We just ran into each other. We hugged and we talked." He explained Is that a big deal?"
Matt scoffed. "Right. I'm sure that's what it was." He said in a sarcastic tone
Mike began to get annoyed, glaring at Matt. "Hey, think what you want. It's a free country." He retorted
Matt glared back taking a step further toward Mike. "Watch yourself, Michael." He shot back as Francesca came in between them
"Hey, hey, hey! Easy you two." She said trying to defuse the situation before looking to Matt. "Matt, why don't you sit here." She sat Matt down on a chair close to the couch before looking back at Mike who had his arm around Jess. "And Mike you're fine where you are with Jess."
David leaned over to Chris and the others. "Who do you think win in a fight? Matt or Mike?"
Before anyone could response, Emily walked in the living room as she saw Mike and Jess together on the couch with her arms folded.
"Oh my god. Could you be any more obvious?"
Jessica got up from the couch glaring at Emily. "Excuse me?"
"No one wants in on your territory, honey. Isn't time you realized that by now, top cow?"
"That's rich calling miss homecoming queen a cow." Jess retorted with her hand on her hip
David chuckled at the two. "Oh, such camaraderie. You two might as well charge for admission and put on a show while you're at it." He quipped sarcastically
Emily and Jess glared at David. "Shut up, David!" they said unison before glaring at each other
"God, you're such a bitch." Emily retorted
Jess walked away from Emily as she walked toward Mike. "I don't give a crap what you think."
"4.0, bitch." Emily shot back giving herself two thumbs up. "Suck on that while you try to sleep your way into a job."
Jess motioned her hands presenting her features. "How needs grades when you got all the right advances? You couldn't even buy a molded loaf of bread with your skanky, flat ass." She taunted
"Seriously, do you not hear yourself right now?" Emily grinned at her. "Could you not be any more obvious?"
Jess looked back at Mike and pointed her finger at Emily. "That bitch is on crack or something!"
"That's enough, both of you!" Matt shot back trying to defuse the situation. "This is getting out of hand. There's no reason either of you two should fight like this."
"Exactly! Not isn't the time for your little bitching contest!" Francesca said, agreeing with Matt. "All of you are brought here for a winter getaway thanks to Josh to have a good memory. So how about you show a little respect?"
"Tell that to this whore picking fights over her ex-boyfriend!" Jess spat glaring directly at Emily
"Stop it!" Josh shouted ending the whole argument. "I did not bring you all here for drama. This isn't what I want. If anyone can't get along for ten minutes, then maybe we all need a break." He turned to Mike. "Mike, why don't you and Jess go check out the guest cabin I told you about?"
"Yeah, man. Sure." Mike got up from the couch and walked toward Jess. "You wanna go check out this cabin with me?"
Jessica's glare at Emily stayed not leaving eye contact. "So as long as it's away from this bitch." She spat as her and Mike headed out the door
"We were so close seeing this catfight happen, right up until Josh calls it off." David muttered as Sam elbowed him in the shoulder. "What? I wanted to see those two slap the shit out of each other."
Matt turned to Josh. "So, Josh. How about we get this fire going, huh?"
Before Josh could answer, Emily stepped in. "Matt, where's my bag?"
Matt raised a confused eyebrow. "What bag? What are you talking about?"
"My little pink bag I got from Rodeo. From the same place I got those stilettos while you were drooling over that store clerk." She reminded him with Matt giving a shrug
"She was talking about my lettermen jacket." He recalled
Emily scoffed. "Like she gave a shit about your lettermen jacket."
Matt motioned his hands up. "Why do you hate my jacket?"
"Matt, I need my bag!" exclaimed Emily
Matt sighed. "Em, you probably left it back home."
Emily narrowed her eyebrows at Matt. "Do you really think I would leave it?"
"Well-"
"Do you?"
Matt shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe?"
"Maybe you left it back at the cable car." She retorted as Matt sighed. "Come on, hon. We can get back here in no time."
"We better get warm after this." Matt muttered
"We can get very warm." She said seductively as her and Matt began to leave the lodge
"As soon as she walks in, shit happens." David said. "I don't even why Josh brought her here."
"He thought it would be a good idea to bring everyone together again." Francesca stated to him. "Even if it's Emily."
"And in turn, we almost had Mike and Matt in a little square off. Not to mention the catfight of a lifetime with Jess and Emily."
"That is an understatement." Fran replied in agreement
"Where are you going?" David asked seeing Sam head upstairs
"I'm gonna go take a bath." She grinned widely at David. "Want to join me?" she asked giving him a wink
David looked back at Francesca. "See you later." He said running up the stairs as he picked up Sam who giggled while Fran rolled her eyes
Francesca walked off the stairs before staring at Josh. "Hey, Josh. You don't mind if I look around for a bit?"
Josh glanced at Fran with a smile. "Go for it, babe."
Francesca ventured around the lodge, strolling down memory lane when she did so. She remembered coming over here with Beth and her family. From gossiping and talking, to asking who they had a crush on. It was all there. And then back to six years ago. The night the prank happened. The same night Hannah and Beth died. Francesca and Sam lost their best friends, while David lost the love of his life on the day. Fran make contact with Chris and Josh after the funeral, being there for Josh every step of the way with help from Chris. She was hesitant about Josh wanting to reunite everyone involved with the prank that cost her best friend along with her sister's lives. But for Josh, she wanted anyway she can. She reacquainted her friendship with Ashely and Matt, but Mike, Emily, and Josh were out of the question. A part of her still blamed them for the prank and with good reason. Her train of thought was stopped when she noticed an opened door, cautiously going inside to find film movie equipment from Josh's father. She peeked her curiosity was a mysterious photo of a family. It was not of Josh and his family, but another family entirely.
There was a man with blond hair and dark haired woman wearing lounge clothes sitting together on the couch, follow by a Christmas tree in the background behind them. With them was a ten year old little girl sitting beside them with black hair and blue eyes. She turned the photo back to see the names of the family.
"Winters Christmas getaway. Here's to Ethan and Mia Winters with their daughter Eveline on this special day." She read turning back the photo of the family. "Maybe I should ask Josh about this to see if he knows about this."
Francesca exited the room and looked for Josh, only to see him talking with Chris and Ashely by the fireplace. Josh noticed her heading his way as he embraced her.
"Hello there, beautiful." He said giving her a quick kiss on the lips
"Hey. I found this photo of this family in a room with your dad's old movie equipment." She handed the photo to Josh who looked as well. "Did they use to work with your dad or something?"
Josh nodded his head. "No, I don't think they did." He said as he sat the photo on the coffee table for Ashely and Chris to see. "Probably just a family who rented the lodge for the weekend. Sometimes my parents allowed people to rent this lodge if they had the money."
Chris picked up the photo and glanced at Josh before looking back at the picture. "Are you sure, man? Your dad probably knows this family for a Christmas party."
Ashely agreed and said. "I'd think so too. You would remember a sweet little girl like that."
"No way, guys. I mean, come on. I would remember seeing them if they knew my dad." Josh then turned toward Francesca. "Hey, are you up for a little entertainment?"
"Oh, Josh."
"No, not that. Well, not yet anyway." Josh received an arm punch from Francesca as he mockingly backed away. "I'm just kidding. You know I'm not that dirty. Anyway, I got an idea." He said as a hidden camera zoomed in on the four courtesy of the mysterious figure who then looked toward the other
Another camera zoomed in outside with Mike and Jessica, then at Matt and Emily heading out to the cable car. "Now to set the stage."
Matt and Emily were now heading to the cable car station to find her missing pink bag. Apparently, she had a pair of lingerie which prompted Matt to forget them if he was just going to yank them off Emily. For Matt, he was a bit on edge and agitated with his near argument with Mike. Ever since he saw Mike and Emily through the telescope, he gained a distrust toward Mike and perhaps even Emily. So far, it only grew right after he wiped out a bench which had Mike and Emily's initial engraved on the table. They made their way through the trail until Emily stopped at a totem, coyly smiling at Matt as her hand slowly went inside a totem's mouth.
"Just slid in there…" she trailed only for her hand to be pulled in as she screamed in panic
In this case, Matt would run to her rescue if he saw blood coming out of the totem. He only folded his arms and stood there, not falling for the prank entirely.
"I suppose I should yank you out of there before your hand's ripped off, right?"
"Yes, Matt. Help me." She didn't sound convincing
"I'd be a terrible boyfriend if I let a scary totem pole bite your hand off, wouldn't I?" he queried teasingly
"Matt, come on!" Emily exclaimed
"I guess I'm just the worst then."
Emily pulled her hand out the totem pole, giving up on the charade. "Yes, you are the worst."
Matt grinned and laughed. "Boom! Gotcha!"
The moment was cut short as they heard a scream that caught the two off guard and frightened. They caught a sight of dead animals tied together to a couple of tress if they were spider legs.
"That is seriously fucked up."
"Yeah, it is. And I'm starting not to give a shit about my panties anymore."
Matt looked cautiously and suggested. "I think we should get back to the lodge."