Author's Note:- I'll be honest, I wasn't sure whether to add these segments or not. I figured I would see how you all would react to them before I decide to delete them.
Let me know what you guys think. Should I continue with the interludes?
Interlude
I couldn't stop thinking of that night. The time we spent waiting for them to return back to the lodge. The slim hope we had that they had run and remained in the guest cabin overnight slowly dwindled as the first sight of light peered through the windows. Nobody spoke, and nobody moved. All too absorbed with their own guilt to even think about ways to resolve their actions.
No, guilt wasn't the right word to use. That would imply they would think twice before doing the same thing again. One look at Amy told me all I needed to know; she would happily spend forever blaming the booze, or Beca, than say what she did was wrong. She remained huddled up on the couch nursing her head as she spoke confident false promises. The alcohol on her breath didn't do anything but burn our noses.
It had taken a forceful suggestion to notify the rangers to even get the others to opt into searching for them. We had to force them to search for their friends. To do something right in their lives. I hardly paid them more than a passing glance as I trudge through the mountain, my jacket whisking by my sides in the wind. It was up to them to follow but I wouldn't let them control me.
They had gotten away with too much in the past.
Beca and Stacie were lost. No one knew and all they did was complain and mope. Some stayed in the lodge claiming to wait in case they had returned while we trudged our way through the snow.
It took longer than expected for the calvary to arrive. Cable car after cable car emerged up the hill. Each cart refills with a seemingly endless supply of manpower. But the third to appear forced our mouths to dry exponentially. One small interview was enough to bring back up to the mountain but it would seem my demands had been taken seriously.
His staple 5 o'clock shadow peppered his cheeks as his eyes tracked the surroundings. A mismatched set of suede overcoats paired with bleach-stained ill-fitting jeans that remained unevenly cuffed around a set of mesh trainers consumed him. He soon found his eyes locking with mine and then the man in charge towards my right.
"What the hell happened?" His voice scared the wildlife in the trees as he barked his question.
None of the others dared to speak to the man. His increasingly dishevelled features only upset them further. His frantic outbursts towards the rangers to find his daughters tore through my heart. I could feel his emotions from a mile away. And, even if he didn't want me near him, I promised to do what I could to help. No matter what.
We didn't speak to begin with. There wasn't much I could say. Hey, sorry I lost your daughters and waited all night? No-one should have drunk that much? We tried searching for them but couldn't find a trail? They were all lousy excuses.
The others did try, to begin with, to convince him of their side of events. We were playing a game and things got carried away; Beca had tried to find her way towards the cable carts for more booze; Stacie wanted to relax outside with a snowball fight that only Beca wanted to participate in.
None of the people in the search group believed them. Even I could only stare at them for their blatant lies. I could feel the tension force my jaw shut as they tried to cement a coherent story only to twist and tumble of another person's words. It would have been amusing in any other situation.
But in this moment, in this situation, it only brought forth a wave of rage. My teeth would soon be ground flat by the end of their idiocy. I was forced to watch them deteriorate the situation they had brought themselves into with nothing but pure disrespect.
I forced myself to look away. They were taking up too much valuable time. I had two girls to find. To rescue.