The lodge had not been used in over a year. Even then, all its rooms weren't occupied for probably even longer. It's three story plus basement made it a massive maze and playground. There were rooms the group had never even explored despite coming up here every year for the past 4 years.
Secrets were wedged into every door space and corner of the place. Each one of them waiting anxiously to be set free.
"Where do you keep the firewood again?" Kiku questioned, opening up the basement door.
"I think they're by the boxes of old silverware." Alfred pointed over to a mass space of boxes and shelves, not really being specific on where he pointed.
Inside the basement was a vast room with many objects and furniture that was unused. There were all sorts of random things scattered about. From the entrance there could be seen a bat, books, a dollhouse, pots and pans, folders, and a metal chair. That was only the surface of the great sea of objects that could be found.
Along with the different objects were two separate fence gates that accessed a tunnel for each gate. No one ever traveled through there since they were usually locked and Alfred's parents advised them to not venture anywhere beyond the cabin lodge. However, the American and Asian didn't realize this, the gates were unlocked.
Kiku made his way over between the shelves, carefully stepping over a box filled with clothes that had fallen over. As he scanned the space for the firewood, Alfred wandered about to his own curiosity.
"Yo, you still into those anime shows?" Alfred asked with a little chuckle following his question.
"Of course I am." Kiku replied with a semi-shameful sigh. "You know I always watch those... Why?" Knowing Alfred, a joke was probably going to be the answer.
The American went to grab something, trying to stifle a laugh. "Oh, y'know. Just wondering. 'Cause last time you talked about it you were obsessing over this one show or game about this creepy ass girl murdering high school students."
The Japanese male shuddered, recalling his many nightmare filled nights after he played that game. "Yes, I remember." He had found the firewood by now and knelt down to pick some up. "It was a game. However, they did make it into an anime when people started to like it more. Personally, I thought the game was better since the story differed from the choices the player mak-"
"Boo!"
Kiku's informative chatter was cut short as a scream broke through his words. He jumped backwards out of fright as a messy long black haired doll hung before his eyes, it's moth eaten body reaching out before him. A string was tied around its neck which connected to a stick that was held by a cackling American.
"Haha! Oh my god, dude. That was priceless! Hahaha!" Alfred laughed, using his free hand to hold his side. "You should've seen your face! Man, I wish I would've recorded that!"
Kiku, who was now lying on top of the bundle of clothes on the floor, panted where he sat from the sudden scare. When he regained his breath, he glared up at Alfred.
"Y-You gave me a heart attack!" The 19 year old exclaimed, shakily getting back to his feet. Re-picking up the firewood he so carelessly dropped, he shimmed out from the shelves. "I swear, Alfred. You and your little pranks."
The American snickered, placing a hand on the other's shoulder. "Come on, dude. You know it was clever. You, too, like horror pranks and shit. You gotta admit, it was a good scare."
Pranks and scares were common with Alfred. He always was one to put in a good joke. Whether it was shaving an inch off of Arthur's eyebrows, making Feliciano watch a jump scare video, or even dressing up in a costume to scare everyone as a group. Of course, some were always irritated with his actions but there were the rest that loved to join in. Kiku was one of them.
"I suppose your right... You did manage to make me scream. That is a rare achievement that only few have acquired." Kiku smiled over at Alfred, his nerves calming down. Alfred grinned back, taking his handful of firewood.
"Woah! I scared the great Kiku! I deserve an award." He chuckled as they both began to walk out of the basement. "To this victory, I shall reward myself with a whole bag of potato chips. You with me?!"
Kiku let out a soft laugh, closing the basement door behind him.
"You know I always am."
...
Upstairs was where all the bathrooms and bedrooms were. There were five bedrooms to be exact and one main bathroom and one smaller one. The main bathroom had the large bathtub and shower. It was pretty fancy so it made it everyone's goal to bathe in the bathroom at least once that night.
Feliciano was lucky enough to bathe first in there before anyone else. It wasn't what he was trying to do but simply what he desired to do at the moment.
From the second he stepped foot upon the mountain, he felt that something was off. Of course, that was mainly because of the triggering contents this place held that tied in with his brother and his close friend. He didn't want to be miserable this trip since it was supposed to be a friendly trip with everyone gathered around again. So, he decided to take a bath to try and wash off any negative feelings and memories he had. That always seemed to help, in his opinion.
Stripping down to his bare skin, Feliciano turned the bath knob so the hot water flowed. As the water poured into the tub, his dazed hazel eyes stared at the steam that drifted up from the flowing liquid.
I remember the last night we were here. Romano wanted to go take a bath... I insisted I took one first since he always hogged up the warm water. How silly. Maybe if I just let him take one first he wouldn't have gone downstairs and seen Antonio practicing with Francis. Maybe he wouldn't of run out... Maybe he would still be here.
Feliciano gulped, feeling his eyes water a bit as he thought. No. No, he couldn't do this. He couldn't be sad this trip. He had to feel better.
Before it overflowed, the Italian reached over and stopped the bath water. Carefully, he dipped his foot into the water before full on stepping into it. He soon completely engulfed himself into its warm embrace, a little content smile pulling at the sides of his lips.
The warmth of the liquid hugging his naked body was so comforting to him. It was as if it absorbed all his grief and sadness and replaced it with pure serenity.
"Boo."
Feliciano flinched, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Wh-Who's there? Who are you?" The Italian mumbled, looking around for whoever had just spoken. It had been a low almost monstrous voice in the loud silence. No one was in the bathroom. The door was closed and he was the only person present.
His serenity was replaced now with his rapid breathing and rigid movements as he moved about the tub to look around him. The only other movement and life around him were the shadows of the trees branches waving outside and the little ripples and splashes of the water touching him.
Maybe I'm just imagining it... Yeah. I'm probably just nervous from being here. That's all.
Despite convincing himself he made up the laugh, Feliciano still was weary about being in the bathroom alone. Doing what he usually did when he was scared or didn't like being alone, he reached over and grabbed his phone from the side of the tub.
Opening it up, he tapped on Gilbert's contact. He began to type:
"Gilbert, can you please come up to the big bathroom? I'm scared."
...
Outside seemed to only get colder since the friends arrived. Snow wasn't falling in great amounts but the temperature could instantly make water freeze if it was poured upon the ground.
Arthur and Francis trudged along the pathway down the lodge's porch and down to the back of the building to find the generator.
"Will you guys ever make up?" Francis sighed, following behind the stiff Englishman.
"You try being with that buffoon. I can't stand him." Arthur grumbled, shoving some branches out of his way.
Francis raised a brow, ducking over the branch instead of angrily slapping it away. "But, you and Alfred were so close when you two were kids. You would always hang out at his house and you both were inseparable."
A scoff came from the Briton as he halted momentarily to turn around to face the long haired blonde. "We grew up and we dated for two weeks. That's when I realized how much of a bugger he really was. Him and his annoying jokes and excessive talks and lack of personal space and-"
He was cut off when Francis put a finger to the other's lips, a tired look passing over his stare. "Mon Cher, please don't fight with him. At least for this trip. Remember, we came back here today to hang out with nothing but good feelings. Don't bring back your guys' past quarrels."
Arthur frowned at the other, taking a while to finally compromise with what he said. He rolled his eyes before taking Francis's finger off his lips.
"Fine. I'll stop bickering with him. Only for tonight though." He added in the last part quickly, implying to the Frenchman that he should not push him over his limits.
Francis smiled brightly, leaning over and planting a quick kiss on the other's lips. "Good! Now, let's turn on the generator. It'll be nice to hang out in light and warmth."
With that, the two walked over to the large metal generator that was attached to the side of the lodge. He was knowledgeable of machinery and technology for his sister, Michelle, was always interested and babbling about it. Francis, being the kindhearted and loving brother he is, listened to her and learnt about it with her so she could have someone to mess around with machines with. Opening up the compartment, Francis fiddled with some knobs and buttons before flipping on the switch.
Nothing.
"Huh? Shouldn't there be lights turning on?" Arthur asked, looking up at the windows of the lodge. Darkness still engulfed inside, making it clear the generator didn't work.
Francis continuously flipped the switch on and off to see if it started to work. It didn't.
"It must be broken." He concluded, putting his hands to his hips. Arthur let out a groan.
"Great. This is just perfect!" The Brit exclaimed with fake cheer. "No power! You know what that means? No heater. You know what that also means? We're going to freeze our arses off all night. Bloody brilliant."
Francis chuckled, putting an arm around his tense boyfriend. "Ah, don't be such a grouch, Arthur. I'll keep your warm tonight if that's the case. Besides, I'm sure there's something around here we could use to start this thing up. Didn't Alfred mention last year that there was a tool shed somewhere?"
"Yeah, but it's some walking distance from here." Arthur muttered, leaning into the embrace. "I don't feel like walking around in a forest in the middle of the goddamn night."
"Well, it's either taking a short walk and fixing this or going back inside and freezing all night long."
Silence came from Arthur before he let out a short sigh. "Okay, we'll go. You lead the way though. I am not walking first."
The Frenchman smiled at the other, grasping his hand in his.
"We'll walk together."
With that, the two began walking down the pathway that led away from the lodge. The moon was coming up from the East, casting elongated shadows of the pine trees upon the pure white path.
Francis took out his phone, tapping Alfred's contact. He began to type:
"Arthur and I are going to the tool shed to fix the generator. We'll be back soon."
...
On ground floor of the second floor of the lodge were the lofts and office rooms. This also held the mini library the Jones's had that Matthew spoke of.
Gilbert glanced around the small library when they first entered, looking for a good book or magazine to gaze upon.
"Man, there's a lot of books here." The albino breathed in surprise, his unusual dark red eyes scanning about the room. The Canadian beside him nodded.
"Mr. Jones always kept a good collection." He informed, calling his step dad in a formal way. "He even keeps them organized in specific categories."
Gilbert snickered, a smirk playing upon his lips. He stooped down a bit, eyes roaming about the bindings and genres he could find for a book to satisfy his desires.
Matthew watched the other awkwardly, always being tense and anxious in social situations. Usually when it came to the group of friends, he would never have one on one conversations with anyone. Everyone had a pair they kept to. Arthur was with Francis. Alfred was with Kiku. Gilbert was with Feliciano. That's how it usually was. Matthew was always the outsider among them all. He commonly thought he was just someone dragged along by his step brother. Being in a situation where he was a part of a pair was very awkward for him, but kind of nice all the same.
"So, Mattie, how've you been?" The Prussian asked, not taking his eyes off the shelves of books. Matthew jumped a bit at the question, unsure of how to answer.
"I-I've been okay." He replied, a smile coming across his lips. Wow, someone actually wanted to know how he was doing. "I just finished high school so I've been looking in to find a college to go to. It's challenging though since there's so many I want to attend and apply for."
Gilbert glanced over at the other before returning back to the books. "College? Extra school, gross." He snickered, tapping the corners of the books with his finger as he roamed. "What do you want to major in?"
The new question only made Matthew smile more. This was an actual conversation. Someone was digging deeper to speaking with him. Trying to hide a little giggle, the Canadian shrugged.
"I want to major in cooking. Or maybe science."
Gilbert laughed shortly, raising a brow. "Cooking? Science? I never knew those interested you. How come?"
Matthew smiled wide, enjoying the feel of talking to someone about his passions. "I-I love exploring the different foods you could cook with. It's interesting to see the different combinations and meals you can make. And, with science, I like to see how many things you can create with different chemicals and such. Also how much life there is that our naked eye can't see."
Gilbert nodded, pulling out a book from the shelf. "That's interesting. I never thought of cooking or science in that way." He said as he flipped through the pages of an adult book.
This wasn't a big deal to Gilbert but it was to Matthew. The blonde couldn't believe how far into a conversation he was getting himself into. Usually, the farthest he would've gone was 'how are you' and it would've ended there. But now, now he was given the opportunity to express his wishes and future. No one ever gave him that chance. Maybe things will change for the better.
"What made you interested in cooking and science? Beside the whole creating stuff." Gilbert asked absentmindedly, his eyes locking onto the risqué images inside the book.
Matthew blushed a bit, his chest becoming light. "W-Well I've always been interested in them. My mom always cooked with me and-"
Ding
A text tone interrupted the other's joy filled answer as a light flashed in Gilbert's pocket. The albino put down the book quickly and pulled out his phone, unlocking it to see the message.
[Feliciano]
"Gilbert, can you please come up the big bathroom? I'm scared."
"I have to go. Feli needs me." Gilbert spoke quickly, carelessly putting the book back on the shelf. If Feliciano was scared or needed him, Gilbert would be there in a second.
Matthew opened his mouth to ask what was wrong and just to keep the conversation from ending but was too late. The older male already rushed out of the room and left. It was as if the conversation was empty and only meaningful to the Canadian.
Matthew stood there in the silent library, staring at the doorway that the Prussian sprinted through just moments before. Huh. Guess he still didn't matter. Even then, he'd would be forgotten about in an instant. Just like that, he'd be left alone.
Sighing, the Canadian turned to the bookshelf and lowered his head so his forehead rested against the multiple bindings. At least the books and cleverness embedded in them kept him company.
...
"Such an interesting tale. A group of friends hanging out whilst thinking how innocent a night within the lodge could be. Wouldn't it be terrible to see their innocence be stripped away?
What do you think? You'll be the person who takes it away from them."
A/N:
Just to explain the chapters: Each chapter will be separated into each pair/person's parts. I thought it'd be best to do since that's how the game is when it's separated into chapters. I plan on having a lot of chapters for this story sooo don't expect this to end soon lol.
Sorry if this is a little slow. It'll start building up the next chapter ;)
Also, don't forget! This story won't follow EXACTLY how the game is! The characters roles aren't the exact same as how they are in the game! (One character is still the 'Josh' of the story and the twins' roles are obviously Roma and Antonio) but beside that, none of them are like a Sam or Mike.
+ the scenes that play out in the game won't all be in the here. It's just the main concept and idea of it all.
^I wanted to make it enjoyable for both those who played the game and those who haven't.
Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! Please leave your feedback in the comments/reviews!