Exactly a year had passed since that tragic night of Hannah and Beth disappearing. It had been all over the news and even Josh had been distraught on losing both of his sisters in one night. Sam and I have done everything we could to help through the losses. And as a result of the anniversary, we all decided to go back up to the cabin to honor the losses. I do miss them greatly but during this trip, I want to put the past behind me and just enjoy the weekend. Sam and I were riding on a bus that was going to take us to the ski lodge. We were listening to the radio on Sam's phone with an earbud in each of our ears and they were talking about Hannah and Beth's disappearance. It's not much to look on even though they've been doing what they could in trying to find them.
Soon enough, we were watching a video of Josh. "Hello friends and fans! Alright let's do that again." he said, walking up to the camera to adjust it to where we could see him clearly. Once he did, he got back a few feet. "Well, hello friends and fans! It's beyond awesome to have everyone here for the annual winter getaway!" he starts, pretending to be a crowd cheering. I smile at this and feel myself blush a bit, it wouldn't go unnoticed either. Then his face dropped in sadness as he begins again, "Now, let's take a moment to address the elephant in the room for a moment. You guys know it means so much to me that we're doing this and... it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we're doing this. And that we're thinking of them..." He said while looking down before that same smile reappeared. "So... Let's party like we're fucking pornstars! This is gonna be fun!" He laughed before the video ended.
The way he said that made me blush red. "Oh boy I can hear the church bells ringing now." Sam teases me with a smile and she pokes me. She knows that I like josh so she often teases me about it. I laugh in embarrassment and playfully shove her. "Okay that's enough of that. Its not like I worship the guy." I say, rolling my eyes. "Yeah sure." Sam smiled. At this, we both laugh honestly. She's only playing with me and frankly I'm used to it.
"Okay in all seriousness, we absolutely got to be there for him. We both know that he's still hurting from it.." Sam said sympathetically. I look down at my hands, which were resting on my lap. "Yeah I know. Losing a loved one hurts... I mean we have been with him through it." I say, looking at her. She agreed with me on that.
After while, night had arrived and the temperature h as d dropped, getting both Sam and I to shiver. The bus soon left shortly after we got off. We cross through the gate, which was slightly frozen. The cold air made me shiver and I rubbed my arms to help warm myself up. I looked around in hearing something in the woods.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Sam called, looking off to the right. I glanced over at where she was looking. "Do you think Chris is trying to scare us again?" I ask feeling slightly skeptical. "Unlikely. I don't think he's here yet." Sam answered. We continued to walk down the path that was slightly dark but we could see the path still.
Soon enough, we make it to a gate that had a piece of paper on the gate. Sam approached it and pulled it off. "Aw man." she groaned, examining the paper. I trot up to her. "We got to go over. Gates broke." she said, dropping the paper on the ground. "Great. Didn't think to bring my climbing gear with me." I sarcastically said, walking over to the ice covered wall. I let Sam go first considering she has more experience than me. Once she made it on top, she leaned over to help me up.
With one swift jump, I grabbed a hold of Sam's hand and she hoisted me up. "There ya go. It pays to have climbing experience. " Sam said as I sat on the top. "Very funny." I say with a half grin. We then push ourselves off the frozen wall and we landed on the snow. "Alright. Chris should already be there." Sam tells me. I brush myself off from the snow. "Yeah. He's been always been punctual unlike a few other people we know." I responded. "Yeah no shit." She said in a joking tone. To that, we laugh and continuing on. The air was freezing enough to where I could see my own breath when I exhaled. Soon enough, Sam gets fascinated by a single squirrel who just happened to appear out of no where.
I will admit, I'm an animal lover myself so I can't help but gush at this critter. "Aww... Hey there little fella. You hungry?" Sam gushed, kneeling down to give it some food. I too kneel down to look at it as it took the food from Sam's hand. "Heh, what a cutie." I said, smiling at it as it ran by us. Sam chuckled too as we got back to our feet. I chuckle and push myself up. After that, we continue on with getting to the cable cars. Once we get to where they were, I took a good look at the view before us and I'm a sucker for the wonders of nature. I didn't even notice that Sam walked off from me. "Hey Lilly. Take a look at this." she called me, pulling me out of the view that seemed to distract me from what we were really doing.
I look over to where Sam is and notice the graffiti on one of the maps to the mountain. It said, "The past is beyond our control." I cock my eye brow at it in confusion. "Wow, who'd graffiti all the way up here?" Sam asked. I shrug my shoulders at that. "Who knows? However, this is very creepy." I answer, walking back to the cable car station. On the bench, was Chris's bag. "Hey, Sam. Chris is definitely here. He left his bag here." I point out. We call out his name but got no response. As I was looking around the area to hopefully find him, Sam says, "Hello. What do we have here? Someone forgot to turn their phone off." I turn to what she was looking at. She was holding his phone in her hand and was tempted to answer the phone considering it was buzzing. Even though it was tempting, I knew we should respect his privacy.
"Uhh Sam, I don't think you should mess with that. Chris'll be pissed if he found out you touched his phone." I tell her in a hushed tone. She looked back at me before looking down at his phone. "Yeah, you're right. Alright I'll put it back." she said with a frown. She wanted to look through it but she also knows that I'll be there to stop her nosy Nate feature. Once she put it back, she zips it up so the phone was out of sight and out of mine. "Hey, Sam! Lilly! You guys made it!" Chris said, excitedly from behind us. Needless to say, he did startle us and we twist around to see him with a heavy coat on that had a fur collar on it. "Oh god Chris. Don't do that." Sam exclaimed. "You scared us, dude." I agreed, still feeling startled. Chris held up his hands and pretended to be offended.
"Enough of that. I got something to show you two. It's kinda amazing." Chris said, picking his bag up and putting around his shoulders. He doesn't know took a hold of his phone. "What would that be?" I asked, now curious. "You'll just have to wait and see. C'mon. It's around here." he told me, being secretive. The two of us begin to follow him around the corner of the station. "Where?" Sam wondered, walking a step behind me. "Right around here. I'm gonna blow your minds." he answered, leading us behind the station. The snow crunched under our feet as we walked.
We make it around the corner to find an old shooting range with a rifle sitting on the range. "Ta-da! Pretty gnarly right?" he said, posing as if he's presenting something. "Yeah, pretty gnarly." I said, nodding at the range. Didn't think there would be one of these old things here. "Aw come on! Look at these beauties!" Chris boasted. I roll my eyes at how enthusiastic he is. "Well, 'beauties' is not the word that comes to mind. Why is this even here?" Sam asks. Chris adjusts his bag on his shoulders. "What do you mean?" he wondered in confusion. "What the hell is a shooting range doing in the base of the ski lodge, Chris? That's what she meant." I reword her statement. Chris picks up the rifle with both hands and holds it carefully. "Have you two met Josh's dad before?" he questioned. "Yeah..." both Sam and I respond. I had my hands on my hips and cock my eyebrow. "Well, the dude thinks he's Grizzly Adams or something. Want to try?" he asked us. I have shot a gun before but not a rifle because I'd fall on my ass for shooting it.
"Nah. Go ahead Grizzly Adams. Show us all the charm." I joke, walking up to the range. Sam followed me. "Yeah. Go ahead Grizzly." she agreed with me. I lean on the range with both hands pressed onto the old wood. He holds the gun up and aims it at one of the bags that had a faded out target sign on it. He fires the gun and it hits it dead on. "Wow. Nice shootin' tex." Sam joked, talking in a texan accent. "You got the game." I joke, talking texan. Chris proceeds to dance in a silly manner, getting me to chuckle. "Oh yeah! I'm bad! I'm a badass." he said as he danced. "We're just going ahead and say that's a wild case of beginners luck." Sam said in a joking manner. "Is that all you got, boy?" I say in agreement. He wagged his finger at us before holding the gun up again. "Nah, I don't think so girls. Here, Lilly. You think you can do better?" he said, handing me the gun. Well, so much for not wanting to fall on my ass with this gun.
"Alright. You're on." I say with a competitive tone. I hold the gun with both hands and found it to be heavy some. But it wasn't heavy enough to pull me down to the ground like in those cartoons you see on Saturday TV. "Let's see what you got sista." Sam said to me, knowing I'm pretty handy with a gun. I give her sass before holding the gun up in the proper position. I look through the scope that was attached to it and aim it at the empty beer bottle. "Here we go." I say before pulling the trigger. It hit the bottle directly into oblivion. I lower the gun and felt proud of myself for not only hitting it but not falling directly on my ass for pulling the trigger.
"You're a better shot than me, lil' Brown." Chris said, impressed by shooting skills. "Well, you haven't seen me shoot before. I could put a bullet into said person's skull however, I'm not the murderous type." I gloat, handing him the gun back. "Whoa, take it easy there. Wouldn't want to get my head blown off now would I?" Sam joked, giving a smile. I playfully punch her because she knows I'm a pretty nifty shot. We watch as Chris took another shot at the second bottle and another sack with the same faded target on it.
However, I see a squirrel crawl on top on the other barrel in the shooting range. Before we could say anything, Chris winds up shooting the squirrel. My blood boiled at this as well as Sam's. "Chris! What the hell!?" I shout, shoving him in anger. "What? Why are you getting mad at me?" He said, offended. "That little guy was alive ten seconds ago! How could you do that?!" Sam scolded at him. "What? Squirrels are just rats with bushy tails." Chris replied, seeming not phased by our sudden anger. "God, Chris! That's a real dick move! Don't do that again!" I shout, walking away from him. Sam followed me seconds after. Suddenly, the form of a black crow flies down to where Sam was.
"Aah! What is that?! Get it away!" Sam cried out, the bird attacking her. I run back to her and smack the bird away from her, causing it to fly away from her. "Sam! Are you okay?" I ask her in concern. "Agh... yeah. I'm fine." she replied, shaking her head. I noticed that bird left two scratches on the side of her head. "Let's get to the cable car. It should be here by now." she replied. "Yeah, we killed enough time to wait for the car." Chris added, walking past Sam and I. We follow behind him and out of the corner of my eye, was a missing's persons poster. "Whoa... look at this." Sam said in a lowered voice.
I look at the missing's persons poster and examined it carefully. "Wow, if this isn't the scariest thing I've seen so far then I don't know what would be next." I say, looking at the poster. "You guys think America's Most Wanted will pay us a visit?" Chris joked. "Huh. Looks like someone thought so." Sam agreed with the both of us. We continue on to where the front of the cable car is.
"You know it must be hard for Josh." Sam said as we make it to the front. "I know. I don't know how he keeps it together. I'd be a wreck if I were him." Chris agreed with her. "Jeez, he's one tough guy for keeping his emotions bottled up like that." I say, feeling sentimental. Sam walks up to the door, only to find it locked. "Hey, that's weird, why's the door locked?" she asked. Chris rubbed the back of his neck as he answered. "Well, Josh said he found some couple staying in the station during one of the winters like this." he answered. Shivers ran down my spine just for hearing that. "That's just creepy." Sam said. "Couldn't agree with you more." I add. Chris pulls out the key to get in and goes to unlock the door. Once he did open it, he stepped aside so he would let Sam and I in first. "After you ladies." he said cockily. "Lady? You must be thinking of someone else." I say, winking at him. "You're quite the gentleman." Sam added. He's always trying to play the gentleman of the group.
I walk in and go to the front window to see that it wasn't there. "It's not here yet guys." I say with a groan. "You serious?" Sam added, looking out the window with me. "Dead serious." I respond, shaking my head. "Guess we got to wait." Chris commented. I walk outside to where we enter the car and lean on the slightly frozen railing. I look around the area to see the frosty wind just blowing around the night and seeing this made my heart flutter. Sam joined me and she stopped on my right side, crossing her arms on the railing.
"Even though the mountain looks kind of creepy, it's still wonderful to look at. Especially during these kind of winter." I comment, not looking away from the view in front of us. "You're telling me. One can only wonder what really lies in the mountain." she replied. "That, I don't want to think about." I say, playfully shoving her. "You know, shooting those bottles at the shooting range sounds more appealing than I thought." Sam added, "Got any idea of how long this'll take?" I only shrug at what she asked, revealing that I don't got a clue.
"Your pretty poem. The sleeping giant of BlackWood Forest." Chris commented from inside of the station. "Oh shut up." Sam called, turning her head to look behind her. I exhale and curl my lips together. "What a crazy place to set up house." Chris comments, talking about the ski lodge. "Well, if they were any more rich then they would've bought more than just a mountain." I respond casually. "Ain't that the truth." Sam agreed. Not soon after that, the cable car started to show up. I push back from the railing and walked to where the entrance was. "Finally. You coming, Chris?" Sam called. "Well, I was going to stay here and catch some Z's but... okay." Chris joked. The cable car stops and the door opens. I walk in first and sit at the right side of the cable car with Sam and Chris following behind me. Sam sits in the middle and Chris was on the other side.
Soon enough, the car starts up. "Here we go!" Sam said with enthusiasm. "This is exciting!" I add, feeling slightly thrilled. I adjust myself in the seat as we begin to to go upward. "Oh boy I hope this is the right thing to do." Sam inquired. "What do you mean?" Chris wondered. "Well, considering everyone is getting together for the anniversary, Josh seems really pumped up about this whole thing. Especially since we are helping through this." I answer, slightly turning myself to face my two friends. "Well yeah! I mean, this is the first time he's been excited about something since... forever." Chris said, facing Sam and I.
"Well, it's kind of hard to tell with him. Lilly and I have been worried about him." Sam said in a saddened tone. "No no, it was a good idea." Chris said, trying to be uplifting. "Heh, thanks a lot bro. This is such a wonderful chat." I say, feeling slightly better. Sam chuckled at what I said and she scoots back a bit. "How about we don't talk about what happened and just enjoy the trip?" Chris suggested, wanting to change the subject. "Yeah. True. It's not worth discussing." Sam agreed, also wanting to change the subject.
"You know how Josh and I met?" Chris asked us. "Nope." Sam and I answer in sync. Frankly, I don't know how him and Chris first met. So I guess it's better than discussing of the events of last year. "Okay, third grade. Josh sat in the back of the room, I sat in the front, we didn't even know each other existed. But, the kid sitting next to Josh started strap snapping the training bra on the girl in front of him, so the teacher made him move to the front, where I was sitting." Chris began, looking from the ice covered window to the two of us. I cock my eye brow at this.
"So?" Sam asks. "What else happened?" I ask to add on. "So I got moved to the back." Chris continued. "Let me guess, this is how you guys met because that girl hit womanhood early enough to help you two?" I ask, taking a logical guess. Both Sam and Chris were surprised at how I guessed that on the spot. "Man, you're a lot smarter than I been left to believe." Chris said, starstruck at my intelligence. "Remind us not to underestimate you, Lilly." Sam said, just as surprised as he was. "You both know it's the company I keep." I say in a smart ass way.
"It's the butterfly effect. You two would've been riding in this car with someone totally different or just with each other. Don't underestimate that." Chris said, pointing his finger at us like an upside down gun. I can relate to that story because I remember how Sam and I first met. It was when I had just moved down from Pennsylvania, and some prick had to be the first one to pick on me. Lucky for me, Sam noticed this and put a stop to this. We became friends that very same day and I couldn't have asked for a friend like her. After that, she introduced me to Josh and his sisters. And that was the same day I got that crush on Josh. It was the best day of my life.