Author's Note: Surprise, I'm back with this one again. Got the plan for NAWWAL but haven't finished part 4 just yet.
Also, I did not realise how much dialogue would be in this chapter. But halfway through I realised that I dislike writing Jesse and Chloe as enemies, so... I made them friendly. I know they are love rivals in almost all fics, but I couldn't do that. They are one of the BroTPs I can get behind.
Darkness
Time was an interesting phenomenon for the human race. From person to person each mind interpreted the passing of time in different ways. Some wouldn't spare a glance at the wall clock as they lose hour after hour in their own minds; others would fret over each microscopic second to the point that they never truly enjoyed life's spontaneity. It was one of the reasons Chloe never liked being left to her own thoughts; unless something sparked her interest she would be stuck in the spiralling descent of her mind. At least when she made her way through the trails of the mountains she could entertain herself with the surrounding wildlife but, stuck in front of the lodge door, freezing herself to the porch, she was left with the people around her for ambience.
Just by looking from person to person, she couldn't find herself interested in starting a conversation with any of them. And, with the looks she was receiving, they didn't know what to say past the cautious greetings they had shared ten minutes prior. She couldn't blame them, not many of them had spoken since the year prior. Not that she didn't understand why, but right now she was surrounded by the most undepraved people in the group.
Undepraved might be the wrong word, Chloe thought as she watched a fox scurry past Lily. It had never failed to intrigue her how wildlife reacted to the girl. She had seen swarms of birds take residence in her presence but the small predator seemed too cautious to be natural. The girl hadn't even flinched at the sight of the creature, simply giving it a minute toothy smirk.
"How does she do it?" A voice mumbled beside her, seemingly just as enamoured at the sight as she was. Looking towards the interruption, Chloe was soon joined on the step by CR. Her flannel wrapped tightly around her body.
"I stopped asking myself that question years ago." She responded back easily.
The other girl simply laughed at her response. "I suppose it's for the best. I don't think my mind could handle her answer." Cynthia-Rose slaps her hand down onto the redhead's thigh. "How you holding up, girl?"
She takes in a quick breath, her eyes taking in the atmosphere around them before settling back onto her friend. "I- I just want to put it all behind me, you know? What about you? How are you feeling about everyone coming back here?" Chloe smiled towards her as the girl thought about her answer.
Her first response was to simply shrug. The countless times she had tried gathering the truth from her friends had left her wishing for more. They would share short stories or scenarios that didn't line up completely with the fragments of the day she could remember. While there wasn't much she could see with clarity from that night, she did remember Stacie having been at the kitchen bench with her for the majority of the night. Along with Lily. She wasn't quite sure what had happened and she wasn't too sure if she wanted to know. Anytime it got brought up, someone would look away guiltily, which, in a group of college students, was truly telling.
"It's strange." She finally settled on. "I'm still waiting for them to come back I guess."
"Yeah." Chloe's voice was small. A large part of her still held onto how she could have changed things that night. If she had left with Beca or if she hadn't stopped and gotten Stacie involved. There were so many things she regretted from that night. Not that she could change them now. Now, nothing she does matters. Not when her friend isn't here with her.
"What are you two talking about over here?" Benji made his way towards them, the trail fading behind him. Emily hugged herself closer towards the boy. Dark patches of fabric littered their way throughout their outfits. Neither seemed to pay attention as the clumping piles of snow melted into their apparel.
Chloe looks at the two of them before smirking. "Just about how close you two have gotten." Like clockwork, they blush in unison. CR laughs at their expense before congratulating them. Her hands clapped against her frosted fingers.
"About time!" Emily's head ducked into his shoulder while he stuttered out a response. "Don't worry, Em, if you're that cold I'm sure there will be enough space for the both of you by the fire." Both girls would have been surprised that the heat radiating from his cheeks wasn't melting the snow quicker if a voice hadn't rung out, catching all their attention.
"Chloe!" Her head turned towards the disturbance. The rising moonlight reflected from the scope of her excitement. Her legs moved before her mind could register her reaction. No amount of ice underfoot could stop her pursuit. Even as her legs braced for momentum, she only laughed as effortlessly as she jumped.
"Jesse!" His bags fell, the snow encompassing them completely. His arms snatching themselves around her slender frame, her feet dangling precariously above the snow as his own steadied themselves.
"It's been so long!" He laughs more as he settles her back onto the ground. His eyes smiled at her in the process.
"It's only been a few weeks." He chuckled.
"So long." Her voice drags on the vowels while she looks up through her lashes. Looking down at her, he couldn't help but think it had been too long without everyone. If nothing less, seeing the reassurance in her eyes helped confirm his choice to invite everyone back here. She had always seen the positive in situations, so at the very least, he knew this weekend would be enjoyable, if not a little awkward.
"As cute as this moment is, it's freezing out here." Aubrey huffed.
"Oh, right." He shimmied the key out of his back pocket. His right arm was still firmly around Chloe, her hands seeking warmth on his person. His fingers expertly rotated the key towards the locks, only barely scraping along the metal casing of the handle itself for a moment. "Shoot!" His arm unwound from his friend, her own arms dropping back into her pockets.
"What's wrong?" Chloe spoke distractedly as she watched him try to force the key further into the lock with jarring movements. His fingers tightened around the metal as he went, his fingertips paling under the pressure.
His head soon fell against the peeling varnish of the door. "The locks iced." He turned his head only enough to give a sardonic smirk towards the others now collected beside him. "The key won't work."
"So, we're stuck out here?"
"No, we just need to find a way to heat up the key enough."
"I can set a rat on fire," Lily muttered towards the wind. A soft hush of her words made it past the group's ears much to their chagrin.
"Um, no that's fine. We just need to..." Jesse didn't say another word as he removed the key from the lodge's lock and placed it into his mouth, the fleur-de-li of the key still prominent through his lips.
"Ew! Jesse!" The blonde's face screwed up at her proclamation. The boy's shoulders simply lifted slightly before he spat the key back out. The key made it marginally further into the lock than before.
"What? Our mouths generate a lot of heat, enough to melt the ice in the lock but," The key refused to budge any further. "it might take a while." It once again winds up in his mouth, his hand covering the keyhole as he warmed up the metal.
"Can't we budge one of the windows open?" The entire group turned to look towards their leader. Her eyebrows raised as she hugged herself tightly against the cold.
"Is the Aubrey 'follow the rules' Posen suggesting we do some breaking and entering?" The words seem to process in her mind as her face paled considerably more.
"Uh, no?"
Jesse removed the key again, repeating his process. "Sure. If you can find a window that opens, then be my guest. It won't help with the ice problem but..." His face lit up considerably. "But you could get some of my deodorant, make yourself a flamethrower." The group could hear the phantom cheers of the Aussie from across the mountain trail.
Chloe stepped in, her voice non-judgmental. "Wouldn't that destroy the door?"
"Eh, you got a quicker idea?" And the key was once more rendering him silent. The group remained silent as they pondered over the situation; on one hand breaking and entering was bad; on the other, it was bone-chillingly cold and the owner of the lodge was giving them permission.
After the third strong gust of wind forced CR to tighten her hold on the flannel shirt wrapped around her, she decided to speak up. "I'm gonna look round here. Any longer and my nipples might fall off." The oak decking creaked under her movements as she descended the staircase. Her footsteps fell into a silent rhythm amongst the snow.
"I'll go help her, it was my idea in the first place." Aubrey moved to follow, Lily shadowing behind her was an enthusiastic bounce. Neither spoke to the other (at least in the blonde's decibel range).
Despite the path around the house only holding a finite amount of trails around the building exterior itself, it still managed to cram enough nooks and crannies that made finding something impossible. CR had left only moments prior to Aubrey and yet her trail had already disappeared amongst the snowfall. She was almost tempted to ask her new companion for help until she found her staring intently at the floor, tasting the distorted snow pile in front of them.
Aubrey could only clench her eyes and shake her head in hopes to get the image to dissipate. She couldn't really say she was surprised at this point. Her first interaction with the girl had been catching her as she fell from the beams in a jungle gym. Which, for a seven-year-old wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but for someone wielding large bug-eyed glasses and a flip lighter - it was certainly memorable. Ever since then, Lily had been appearing in various places until she was completely expected within the group.
Something she was thankful for in times like these. With each new tasting, Lily would reorientate herself, take a few more steps, taste a few more clumps and then repeat the process. It didn't matter when a couple of curious squirrels started to clamber over her, she continued in her effort. The only difference was the light little pets she would give to her new furry shoulder pads. The same shoulder pads she assumed would be purring up a storm if they were a feline instead.
It only took five more minutes to find the girl through Lily's means of discovery. Aubrey could only look on in awe as an obvious shadow appeared in front of them. She shouldn't be too surprised at them actually managing to find her. The lodge might have the square foot of a mansion but the exterior was predictable. Aubrey laughed subtly before cupping her hands around her mouth, hoping for her voice to carry through the barraging barricade of snow between them.
"You're going the wrong way." The shadow moved towards them, their silhouette whittling slightly in the wind.
"What?" Both girls made their way towards the other. Even as their feet manuevered carelessly within the snow piles, they continued forwards. Aubrey could feel the continuous attack of wet sleet within her shoes. She could almost hear the squelches within each step. But, once they were face to face, she thought about what she could do to help. Thinking ever each window she could remember as she presumed all the doors would be in the same state as the one they had tried.
She could replay every moment she had spent walking around the walls with Jesse, casually talking up a storm until they were berated with questions or accusations from their friends. How they would almost always wind up circling the lodge twice, only marked by the fire axe by the log store... "The other side should have an axe we could use to jar open a window."
The dark-skinned girl divided her attention among the others. The permanent stern look never faded from the blonde and a rising level of expectance from the other left an uneasy pit forming in her stomach that she did not like. She had seen those looks on multiple occasions. The stern expression she could handle, it was one she saw often at school and it often was followed by someone being forced to run five more laps around the stadium. The expectation on the other hand... She had seen it once before; when they were all surrounded by competitors who somehow all got food poisoning, burns, strange lesions, and - for some reason - phone calls from their mothers (even if they were deceased). Nobody could tie it down to a route cause but they knew, deep down they knew it was her. So, looking for a window to shimmy open, with both of those girls looking relatively pleased with an axe option? It only left one thing for them to think about. "Hey, I didn't agree to a smash-and-grab!"
"What? No! We lever the window enough to push it open all the way." Cynthia looked towards the floor in embarrassment, her cheeks stained with a slight red hue. Aubrey shook her head slightly before turning towards her completely, her hands resting against her arms. "Why would you think we'd break in?"
"I don't know! Lily looked way too happy for it not to be." The blonde turned her head enough to fill her peripherals with the girl in question; who's eyes glistened with unconcealed glee and a glint that sent a chill throughout her soul.
"She's always like that around the mention of sharp objects. Come on, I'll show you where it is." She hoped she could make her way back to the axe hold. Between the audience behind her and the rapidly falling sun to her front she was sure something would be easily missed. She was almost tempted to leave her hand resting against the wall until the reminder of the increased risk of splinters had her minorly recoiling at the thought.
Coming towards the end of the path, CR stopped to inspect the windows. No matter which side of the wooden structure she was at they all looked the same from the outside. She swore sometimes that they needed to carve the room names into the walls themselves - or at least had an evacuation guide for the laymen of the group. She couldn't remember the last time that she had been able to walk alone through a hall for the past six years. Something that, despite all their disputes, Aubrey seemed capable of doing with her eyes closed.
"How do you remember all of this?"
The blonde turned to her shocked, she could have sworn she was looking lost half that time. "Jesse used to show me around here before we dated." Aubrey smiled at the reminder. She had always found it adorable that he thought he needed to prove he was worth the Posen family name. Something he was adamant about taking further down the line. "It should be just there."
CR followed her finger to a hollow box jutting out of the building itself. Its red-painted metal set itself apart from the natural exterior of the building. Only the cracked glass from the case reminded her of anything around them, mainly due to the build-up of frost upon its sharp edges. "Not to burst your bubble here, but it's gone."
Her eyes shot wide open. "What?"
"Look for yourself, someone's been here before us." In disbelief, Aubrey stormed towards the capsule. Her hands traced the jagged edges of the now perforated glass. Her fingers pressed against the edges enough to knick open a drop of blood. Her curse echoed through the trees surrounding them.
Lily didn't pay attention to her friends as they brainstormed ideas. Her eyes had already worked towards an ulterior idea. Her gaze cascaded between the lingering trees and precarious glass panels splattered throughout the wall beside them. She knew she could make the leap, her fingers already prepared against the rough bark of the pine tree beside her. The texture provided enough grip to lock her fingers completely. Her shoes slipped marginally as she lifted her leg higher up the trunk. Each portion of the climb became easier as her arms did the heavy lifting. Her legs trailed behind with ease as each knot in the wood provided a reassuring foothold.
The girl didn't answer the startled questions as her companions realised her disappearance. She simply continued her pursuit as she shuffled onto a perpendicular branch. Its thickness left much to be desired but she didn't think much of it as she moved closer to her target. Its well-maintained exterior was frozen over to the point her fingers hesitated to grip the adjoining balcony. Her hand slipped effortlessly as she swung her body off the branch, her body constricting to land under the wooden protective barrier.
She managed to shimmy one of the smaller window frames open partially. The lock was almost non-existent under her administration. The wooden frame shimmied in its holster, sticking and continuing on in its path until enough space was produced for the girl to squeeze herself through.
The room was never one of her favourites. An assortment of mismatched wooden furniture was laid strewn in a bundle across the semi-carpeted flooring. A thin sheen of dust drenched the articles, a thin cloth seemed to have been jostled from its post upon the objects. The room's only light source is the filtered moonlight. Even from her place within the secured walls, Lily could still make out the light stream of productive arguments coming from outside the building.
"What about that?"
She could practically hear the eye-roll Aubrey was giving before she responded. "The wood store?"
The group continued to huddle around the doorway. Benji and Emily had long since gathered together on the porch swing. Benji's feet dangled off the end even as he readjusted her legs further onto him. Her body curled into his side while he reopened his book, his voice low as he muttered the words on the page to life between them. His spare arm rubbed softly at her side while she fiddled with the beanie she had plastered on top of his head. The swing swayed to the breeze flowing around them.
Chloe had remained by Jesse's side, her small talk dwindling as she took in the start of their weekend. She wasn't sure where she could start, between the gossiping duos to the isolating solos she wasn't quite sure where she belonged. Her only real companion was Jesse but even he seemed to be more preoccupied with making things stay on track if his commitment towards the door was anything to go by. She could make small talk with a bowling ball given the opportunity but talking to friends the same way dwindled the fire she once felt in her excitement to be back. So, she stuck herself into the background, letting the soft rumbling of the ambience flood her senses while the world continued to ignore her.
Jesse had hardly made a dent into his plan when a gulf of amber blasted on the other side of the window pane. His ear nipped from the rise in temperature before his hand processed what was happening. The skin on his fingertips contracted from the heat blasting through the metal lock. A small lingering scent of smoke hung in the air long after the blast had resided. "I guess they found a way in." He mumbled, hesitating to pick the key back up from its newly found place on the floor. Even submerged in the snow, a noticeable heat permeated from the metal. But, clasped amongst his jacket sleeve, the key slipped into the lock with ease. His face broke into a small victory smile before he pushed it away from the door frame, receiving a satisfying click as the lock undid itself.
"Guys!" He didn't move his head from the door, paranoid that the ice would return tenfold.
The door was pushed inward, the handle ricocheting off the row of overcoats hanging up beside them. The group was greeted by a silently cheering Lily, hands adorned with a match and a canister none had seen before. Even Jesse was left stumped at the bottle. Before he could question it the others expressed their thankfulness with a huge synchronised sigh of relief.
"Oh thank you! Any longer and my fingers would have fallen off." Chloe skipped through the door frame. Her hands wringing against each other as she went.
Jesse laughed as he brought a stack of bags in as he went. "There should be some hot water in the kitchen if you need to heat up." She didn't halt for a moment as she ran towards the doorway, barely passing back a 'thank you' in her tracks. "Where're the others?" The girl merely mumbled an answer and continued past him. He stared after her, attempting to decipher the noise in his head before shrugging it off. They would appear soon enough, Lily wouldn't leave them to suffer for too long. "I'll get the fire started, you guys can wrap up on the couch if you want." He spoke before looking towards the others, already Emily had taken up residence on the couch, her legs huddled under a blanket Benji had brought towards her.
Benji hovered by the couch arm as Emily settled further into the cushions. Her red-tinted nose, sniffled slightly as she adjusts to the slightly warmer interior. "Need a hand?" He directed it towards his friend. Jesse halted marginally in his movements, a small glance back towards Benji had him nodding his ascent.
"Sure, man. Come on." Jesse waved him closer. The boy practically skipped over to the carcass in the alcove in the stonework. Benji had always cherished this feature in the cabin, it had provided a cover around them all that allowed him to spend time with those close to him.
It was the first place he had met Emily. Neither of them seemed too enthusiastic about being dragged to a room of strangers that night but a look towards the expecting expressions of their friends had them placing a real smile upon themselves and sitting alone on the couches. Their legs mirrored each other as they ignore the world around them. They didn't do parties. Sure, Benji could do something to make someone laugh at him but he had never exceeded at keeping someone interested in his conversations. Not until that night. Not until Emily.
He had somehow managed to move his way across the distance between them on the couch and started a conversation about magic. Something he knew no girl would appreciate without a demonstration. Which he could do, not really. Pulling a coin out of someone's ear was more a dad trick than an icebreaker and she didn't carry around a loose pack of cards to parties. He had learned that the hard way.
Yet, she tracked down an empty can in a room full of half-drunk red solo cups for him to try something with. Her smile had managed to blind all two of his brain cells into trying to compete for third place that he thought making the can float would be a great idea. How her face lit up further amazes him to that day until it transformed into shock horror. Her skin had paled and her eyes couldn't remove themselves from his hand even as his trick came to an end.
It turned out that pushing your thumb into an aluminium can while tipsy could lead to minor injuries that would bleed a lot. Even now his thumb remains littered with the war wounds that he cherished every moment looking at because it started his friendship with her. The most wonderful girl he ever saw, instead of running for the hills she offered her scarf and helped him towards the kitchen sink, even as she tried not to pass out from the sight of red.
Looking back towards the girl, she smiled wider and wiggled her fingers back towards him in a wave.
"Don't worry people, the party has just arrived!" An Australian accent cackled as the door was once more opened beyond its hinges capacity. The wood protesting against the strain was louder than the group's salutations. "Oh, come on! Where's the enthusiasm?"
Emily peered past them. "Was Aubrey or CR out there with you two?"
"Why would you ask something so dumb, Legacy? Why would they want to share all of this?" Nobody commented towards the lewd gesture she made, none phased at the same repetitive remarks she always came up with. None except Bumper, who crept up enough to whisper something back towards her that held enough sparks to reignite their barely extinguished flame. Just like that, their lips locked tighter than a hangman's noose. Each tongue battled to cut the rope keeping them upright until they finally crashed upon the couch - barely avoiding Emily's feet in the process.
"How!" All but the wartorn couple turned towards the disgruntled teenager. Their hair was knotted at almost unnatural angles as they concealed it behind a swiping hand. Their eyes were wide in the hopes to take in more of the scene before them.
"Aubrey?" They proclaimed in unison. Varying in the scale of their disbelief.
"Yeah, we found a way in. How did you all get in before us?"
Emily chirped, her face digging deep into the book Benji had given to her prior. "Lily let us in."
CR chuckled in obscurity, not quite putting it past the Asian girl's skills to do this. "But she was with us." Her eyes lingered closer on the splintering fire, soft freckles of heat glowed from under the newly laid logs. The charcoal took a while to become reacquainted with the prospect of lively heat. The girl didn't hesitate for long before she reluctantly chose the security of the blanket for heat than the dwindling excuse for a flame the boys had created.
"That's just a sad excuse of a fire you got there!" Amy jested.
Jesse responded with a nonverbal side-eye before speaking up. "You got anything better? Were you 'Miss Firepit' in Tasmania?"
"What? Don't be ridiculous, everyone knows we call it the 'Fire-crotch' competition." Without uttering another word Amy reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a scuffed metal container. Its lid twisted off swiftly before she dumped the contents over the dying embers.
There wasn't much time for Jesse to throw himself away from the pit. With a wush flames erupted above his head height before receding back into its frame. The boy could feel the heat radiating from his eyebrows as he stared in shock at his friend's actions. One hand went to pat away the sensation as his heart raced within his chest. His head swivelled between the Aussie and the charred rocks of his fireplace. "You're welcome."
"Uh, yeah, thanks." He left his eyes to linger on where Benji had been. His friend is now being checked over by Emily back on the couches. His head was in her lap as she combed her way through his hair. A light blush took residence on one half of his face. Whether that was from the flame or the admissions, Jesse didn't know.
Instead of questioning the actions occurring around him, the boy idly picked up the dropped poker beside him. He carefully flicked the obscured logs back upon the pile. His wrist movements remained quick and jerky leading to more charred bark falling loosely in front of him.
"Hey, Jess? Where's my bag?" The boy looks up from the soft embers, his face heating up from the proximity alone. The fire poker emerged from the end of his arm as if it would help his pointing. The same stack of bags that she had meticulously combed through was at the receiving end of the iron rod.
"It's there?"
"No, my Kate Spade bag isn't here. It should be with the rest of them but it's not. It has my itinerary in it, Jess. You know that I don't go anywhere without it." He simply stared at her with wide eyes. His face looked towards the pile.
"It's not there?"
"No, Jesse! Do you think I would be asking if it was?" Jesse let himself fall back onto the heels of his feet as he walked towards the dumped pile, ignoring the whipping sounds coming from the couches. He would deal with them after.
"I remember having it with me..." His voice trailed off as his hands stalled amongst the pile. "It was here. I know it was here. I saw it just a minute ago..." His hands resumed back to their weaving, searching with more vigour as he separated the bags from the satchels. The rucksacks were thrown carelessly to the side closer to Benji. The magician stopped the straps from reaching towards the fire in their movements. "I don't understand. It should be here, unless..." His head fell against his fists.
Aubrey knelt down towards his level. Her hands enclosing around his own, stopping his descent into hysteria. "Unless what?" Her soft voice halted his actions completely.
"I dropped them when we ran into Rosey. I must have missed one when I went to pick them back up again."
A hesitant fake cough halted the conversation marginally. "Uh, Jess, there's no hot water." Chloe's pruned finger held shakily beside her, even with the glow from the fire he could see the bitter redness in her digits. The painful reminder of the elements is even more prominent within the lodge walls.
"The boiler is probably just going to need rebooting. It should be in the cellar." Seeing the blank stare she responded to him with his brain stirred slightly. His head nodded as he came up with his plan. Jesse turned towards Aubrey. "If you give me a moment I can reset the boiler then go with you to get your bag." His hopefully toothy grin melted her previous ire.
"It's no problem, I'll go with the Cap." CR pushed herself off the couch. Her body hovered over the duo before they could utter their response.
A hopeful dark gaze looked back at her. "Are you sure?" One side of his smile pulled further than the other giving a puppyish look towards the duo.
She lifted her jacket back off the hanger beside the door. "Yeah, I made y'all drop it in the first place. It's the least I could do." Shucking on the jacket she delivered a look towards the blonde. One, not even the girl could deny was intimidating.
His head swivelled towards the blonde. "Aubrey?"
"Yeah, why not?" While her face held a level of resignation towards the situation her voice was more annoyed. Her jacket was quickly placed back onto her body as CR made her own way towards the door. Only Aubrey spared a glance back towards the warm glow of the fire.
"Guess I'll lead the way then."
"Oi, Ken doll!" He turned around to find the barely parted lips of the eldest couple. Bumper stared longingly into her aura while she confidently strode up towards him. "You got somewhere we won't be bothered. I don't feel much like sharing tonight." Sighing, he dug further into his back pockets, the keys colliding with each other as he pulled them into the open. He fiddled with the keyring until one came loose.
"These are for the guest cabin. You remember where it is?" Throwing the keys towards the boy, he mutely laughed as he clapped his hands to capture it.
A chortle rose in his throat as he answered, buffering the response. "Oh yeah."
"Let's go release the Kraken!" Before his eyes, Jesse was forced to watch someone only 2 inches smaller than him get hefted over their girlfriend's shoulder and escorted out into the snowfall without a single complaint.
Jesse simply shares a look with Chloe before he escorts her back towards the basement. He was never going to get used to them together, he thought.
Bumper briefly recoiled at the temperature change. His heart racing at the manhandling he was receiving, he could see the blur of wood that worked its way out from the lodge. His fingers braced his weight when they reached the incoming stairs. Even as the snow fell around them the splinters seemed like a palpable threat towards them. Amy never hesitated as she approached the decent, actively laughing as he released a squeal at the accentuated drop she produced, taking the steps two at a time.
Once they reached the flattened land of the forest trail, his laugh dropped into his throat, shaking the scenery around them. Even Amy joined him as she readjusted her grip, cutting his next wave in its track. He moved his head around, watching the trees actively grow out of the sky, the snow rising higher into the heavens.
His arms patted both his own body and his girlfriend's unbiasedly. His fingers tapped lightly as he worked his way over the both of them. He eventually worked his hand around Amy's waist tightening his grip instinctively even as his hands slipped further into her pockets. Amy's free hand played with the exposed wrist as his sleeve rose up his arm from his efforts. A laugh emerged as she tickled his wrist playfully - not that Amy seemed to care.
"Amy!"
"What? You're soft, I don't like it when you're soft like this." Amy let his arm go again. "What are you looking for anyway?"
"I'm taking your phone, I gotta take a pic of this view." To punctuate, Bumper rose a hand to her butt, the swaying of which resumed tenfold.
"Should've just said, its all yours anyway." She stalled long enough to let him return to his administration. His cheer muted itself as his head was lowered towards the floor, his girl squatting on the spot. "Come on, you know my jeans can't contain my power." Switching the flash on, he posed himself closer to the stretching jeans, a string of flashes as he varied his faces expression. Only stopping as he produced a harsh bite onto the exposed flesh.
Jesse had always found solace in the basement Where others saw cobwebs and stacked up memorabilia from a life long forgotten, he witnessed a museum of cherished moments. A wall full of half-filled shelves consisting of unseen VHS tapes that were too broken from his over-eager 7-year-old hands encased the opening descent into his life. A dollhouse that he had spent a month begging his mother to buy only for Stacie to bring over on one of her many visits. Cardboard box after cardboard box filled to the brim with discarded mixtapes that Beca insisted would help his creativity but she found too mediocre a week later to allow him to listen to them again.
He had come up to the mountain a few times in the past year. He hadn't left it for the first few weeks, only getting a few care packages of food from his parents as they observed the groups tearing through the mountain. He knew they were only there to inspect the damage this would do to their reputations but he still cherished their presence all the same. But, as he melted the ice from his legs and face, stiffly spooning soup into his mouth with solid fingers, he would plug the USB drives into his stereo, blasting mix after mix in the small hope that Beca would emerge if only to shout at him for touching her stuff.
He had been lulled to sleep more often than not by the beats she had created. His body accepted the sanctuary they created near him. As it was, the lodge held no character in itself. Each brick was selectively picked to provide a rustic appearance but without an authentic base; it was simply a skeleton.
"What are these?" Jesse looked back towards his escort, her eyes flitting from object to object trying to place where she had seen them before. Even as they had tried to start small talk the walls would always hollow out their intentions. So, seeing the opportunity, he walked to her side - their shoulders almost brushing against each other.
"Costumes. In case you missed it Stacie had a flair for the dramatics." He carelessly picked up the top dress, even the box it resided amongst couldn't hold a candle to the beauty of the scraped concrete flooring beneath them. He couldn't see how he remembered them with more appreciation than reality would have him believe.
"Has." A small voice vocalised. Her eyes didn't look up from the display of tacky princess dresses. "Stacie has a flair for the dramatics." Jesse nodded along with her correction even as his gut persuaded him otherwise. It was a nice notion, he thought.
"Yeah, she does." The plastic bodice of the dress scraped across his fingertips. The fabric was cheap and the condition remained terrible. He could see the mistaken holes from previous patchwork attempts at reparations. "You know, she wouldn't take this off for two weeks. She wore it everywhere. I think she even bathed in it once."
"Now, why does that not surprise me?" Chloe laughed.
"Come on, the boilers are not too far from here." As he promised, around the next pillar of memories a large metallic structure resided. Jesse instantly moved towards one of its many crooks, leaving Chloe to her own devices as he raked his brain for instructions.
Chloe loitered, moving from box to box, taking a temporary interest in the contents. From the more obscure and clearly older china to the sickening jars of baby teeth - labelled with Jesse's and his siblings' names and dates to the more niche selection of loved VHS tapes ranging from westerns to children's movies that she grew up on.
The boy moved from one side to another, opening the cupboard panel to reveal more variations of wiring to weed through. But a shape garnered her attention beside his hutch. Her hands wrapped confidently around the handle as she debated what to do with it.
"Hey, why's this here?" Jesse turned away from the panel, his eyebrows shooting up in obvious confusion. There Chloe stood with a baseball bat in her grasp. Even as she played carelessly with it between her fingers, flipping around her hands, his expression did not change.
It wasn't until she struck some practice swings in that he moved to grab it. "You know, I don't think baseball bats and drunk people mix well together." He forced a placating chuckle out as Chloe smiled sheepishly.
"You might be right. But why was it in the electrical cupboard?" Jesse delicately placed it back into the cupboard, its handle resting against the pillow of wires beside it. From his sight he could see the colours dance around its woodgrain, imprinting various shadow sculptures upon the frame around it.
"My dad would hide it in there when we were younger. Said it was to scare the roaches away but I could always hear him screaming up a fuss over tripping over it beforehand. It's stayed in there ever since." Jesse laughed to himself. "I suppose it does help when everyone's walking around drunk not having it on the floor."
"I don't know." Chloe's shoulder nudged the man. "I think Amy could make a game out of it given enough time." The two pictured various scenarios, all escalating from the prior imagination. Chloe's practical and straightforward idea of valuable baseballs that would enivetibly lose the Swanson family a handful of assorted heirlooms paled in comparison to Jesse's idea. His mind conjured a circus still tightrope walk with Amy rolling from one side to the other on the bat itself as she held Bumper in her arms. The gross smacks of their lips battling from earlier were still ingrained into his mind.
Jesse shook himself from the thoughts first, unwilling to endure the sound effect his mind was replaying for much longer. He lowered the bat into one of the open boxes surrounding them. His hands came to rest upon her shoulders, directing her slowly towards his previous inspection post beside the electrical cupboard. Her arms rested on either side of the box as he went to peer closer to the fuse box in the cupboard. His flashlight was the only indicator of his presence even as his knees clicked during his attempt to subtly squat down. His slow small 'ow' followed soon after. Chloe's face contorted as she tried to not smile at his hidden embarrassment.
She looked back towards the task at hand. "What do you need me to do?" Her brain didn't comprehend the sight before her. On one side of the box was a trilogy of buttons while the other side contained a series of gauges with sedentary spindles. The protective plastic was littered with scratches that shone shadows across the dials beneath. Her fingers played with the indented metal. She turned her head towards Jesse, his own peering out from the cupboard to meet her eyes. His chin jutted out towards the panel in front of her.
"Just twist the button here when the light flashes. It should be enough to kick start the boiler." Once more, his head disappeared again leaving Chloe to stare back at the contraption. She could vaguely make out the zipping of wires to her right as she maintained eye contact with the blacked-out light. The glass shook slightly in its hold as she waited for it to flicker into life.
A string of curse words followed soon after a stunt of zapping noises until a red light consumed her vision. Her eyes attempted to blink away the dots contaminating her eyesight, even as she launched her hand out in front of her blindly.
Clank.
Her head shot upwards, the noise echoing throughout the roof. Chloe's eyes trained towards the litany of pipeworks that shook with each new pulse of noise coming from the machine. The brackets holding the pipes together did little to support the framework itself, instead rendering themselves voluntary decoration artefacts. Every third shake brought a new clang.
"Yeah, nice work."
She turned only long enough to see a form raise up high. Her hand reached out to deflect the thing. She felt the smack more than heard it. A soft tingle worked itsway up her pal as she lowered her arm as the familiar feeling of skin contact. Her blinking increased as she made out Jesse's excited rambling.
His enthusiasm seemed contagious as her eyes adjusted to the light blast. The soft tones of the basement only felt warmer with the red glow beside her. "Hell, yeah!" The boy lowered his hand back towards his side, seemingly satisfied with her unpractised reciprocation of his high-five. "Let's go get you some of that hot water you wanted, shall we?"
As if on cue, the lights flickered. Each clang brought a new wave of distortion to the bulbs. The lights stayed perfectly still as the fluorescents weaved in and out of productivity. Both of their breaths had hilted at the concept allowing a wave of silence to rake over the basement level. The quiet only allowed a new level of alertness to be bestowed upon the duo, their ears twitching as each lightbulb twicked with each pulse. The thin filament was stuck in an indecisive nightmare between snapping and simply failing.
Yet, as they registered each new pulse, the rhythmic descent in light became apparent. Chloe breathed a sigh. Her eyes flickered like the lights towards Jesse. "Is this you Jess?"
"Uh, no?" Jesse's unease grew as he remained pinpointed on a spot towards the end of the corridor. Chloe peered only long enough to spot a shadowy figure emerging in the darkness. As the lights dimmed, the figure seemed to liven up - their form floated down in between the intervals. Each new flicker brought them closer to the friends, who, even as they watched them near their bodies, continued to watch helplessly. Their only movement was to reach for the other's hands. "Should we check it out?"
"The strange figure in the basement? No thank you."
"It's only us up here Jesse, what are you afraid of?"
"Dying for one thing."
While they sassed back and forth, the pipes continued to clang. The sound seemed to distort the world around them, with each frequency leading to an unfocused peer around them. The figure distorted further into obscurity. Each moment seemingly dragged the creature closer towards them, the shadowy exterior never clearing up within the proximity.
"We should go."
"Yup." Jesse tugged her hand behind him as he ran back the way they came. The walls of memorabilia from his life hindered each turn. Where the pathways could have been vast and frequent now lay cascaded with various treasures he wishes he could toss aside if only for a moment. He could vaguely make out Chloe's muttered curses as she came to the same conclusion about their surroundings. He couldn't concentrate on the crunches of his misplaced footsteps as he continued in his pursuit.
Both their heads would flit back towards their assailant. The figure's seemingly nonchalant reaction to their hasty departure sent their legs into overdrive. Jesse couldn't think how this could go worse, tripping up the stairs as he approached the cement steps were not on his list. Chloe slid to a halt beside him, urging him upright as she watch the figure continue towards them. "Come on."
With one last tug Jesse rights his body and continues upwards, his eye lighting at the sight of the door. The bronze glistened like a long-lost treasure. He couldn't remember the last time he was this excited to surround himself with people. The thought of his friends powered his muscles to continue. They were close. One more step and he would be free. The cool metal relaxing his hand tremors enough for him to twist the doorknob.
It didn't budge. The handle moved as he wished but the wooden barricade remained stubborn in its place. His shoulders barged against it. Nothing. "It's locked."
"What!" Pushing the boy out of the way, Chloe continued his administration. The only difference was the frantic nature of her attacks. Jesse remained vigilant in his observation of the staircase. The only thing to filter through his mind was the metallic clinking; both from the door and the continuous nature of the pipework.
A click struck him out of his thoughts. Chloe's body disappearing from where the door once was, did not help the unease building further into his being. "Chloe!" The girl in question groaned from her place on the floor, her eyes clearing up to make out the concerned smudged face of her friends.
"Emily?" Her eyes tried to blink the vision clear. A soft hand wrapped its way around her bicep as she tried to adjust herself upright.
"Sorry, I heard banging." As if remembering a dream, the redhead's eyes locked onto the open doorway, the figure previously discarded behind her contusion. She wasn't sure if the blurriness was from her bump on the head or the creature's natural state but the blur rose evenly up the steps. Its form never stops at the steps or sways instead flowing from each new step.
Jesse stood protectively over his semi-prone friend as the figure closed in. The lights in the lodge hardly warmed up the silhouette. The form made it up the last of the staircase casually. The fire roared behind him as he tried to work out its features from the flickering light source.
A gaunt emotionless face. Sunken eyes and pale lips. A barely fitting hood that covered oil-black hair that coated the sides of the being's face. Dark clothing masking a petit frame despite the looming shadow that flickered eagerly beside Jesse. A flat object wielded within its left hand.
It took one more step before Jesse realised the truth. "Lily?"