The cable car reaches the station at the top and Dani gets out first. She tries the door and sighs when it doesn't open. "You're shitting me." Dani says as the other two join her. "What is it?" Sam asks. "The door's not opening." Dani answers before Chris tries it. He bangs on it when it doesn't open for him either and she sees Jess come into view. "Ahh! What the hell?!" Jess exclaims.
"Jess! Hey!" Chris calls. "Jessica! Over here!" Sam yells and Dani steps aside for them to be by the door. "Uh...are you guys having a really weird stroke?" Jessica questions. "The doors locked from this end. Can you open it on your end?" Dani asks. "Can you please let us out? Pretty please?" Sam questions and she sees Jess extend her hand. The light flashes on their end and Chris opens the door before they step out.
"Oh. My. God." Chris starts as Dani leaves the shack. "I thought we were goners. Another ten minutes in there and I would have chewed off my own leg." Chris says and Dani rolls her eyes. "Aw, sick, Chris." Sam says. "Look I got a lot of meat on my bones. This is all muscle down here." Chris says. "If you consider chicken legs muscle then we're all set." Dani says and Chris grabs his chest in mock hurt.
"Ouch, Dani. At least it means you were checking out my legs." Chris says and winks at her. "Very funny." Dani says. "Bwip!" Chris says as he reaches down before swiping an envelope from Jessica's hand. "Hey!" Jess protests. "Well, well, well...what do we have here?" Chris says as he examines the envelope. "Chris!" Jess protests again. " My goodness. Seems that someone has a lil' crush on our good friend and dear class president Michael Munroe." Chris says.
"Chris—" Sam starts. "Aaaand...what kind of sizzling erotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining I wonder?" Chris says and Dani sighs. "Whatever it is it's not our business." She says before snatching the letter back. "Here. Chris was dropped on his head as a child one too many times and seems to have forgotten his lesson on manners." Dani says. "Hey. Don't be rude." Chris says and she smirks.
"You reap what you sow, Hartley." Dani retorts and winks at him. "Touché. My apologies, Jess." Chris says. "It's okay. Mike and Em split. We're together." Jess says and Dani looks at her in surprise. "Whoa. Drama." Chris says. "Not really. Pretty clear cut, actually. Em's out, I'm in." Jess says. "Huh." Sam says. "Now that we know that tidbit of information what do you say we head to the lodge?" Dani questions.
"Yeah. I'm getting tired of all this nature and junk." Chris says and Dani rolls her eyes. "You really chose the wrong place to come to. Let's go." Dani says. "You guys go ahead, I'm just gonna wait here for a bit and see who else is coming." Jess says. "You mean, Mike?" Chris questions. "What? I mean, you know." Jess says and Dani rolls her eyes. She goes to stand beside Sam near the fence overlooking the mountain.
"Beautiful view isn't it?" Dani questions and Sam looks at her. "Yeah. Sometimes I forget to just stop and take it all in." Sam says before Chris stands beside them. "Ready to go, ladies?" Chris questions and Dani nods. "After you." Dani says before they walk to the path. "Do you think everyone else besides Mike is already at the lodge?" Sam questions a little while later. "Yeah. You two were last to arrive." Chris says before there's a noise to their right.
"Do you hear that?" Sam asks and Dani could hear the breaking of a twig. Something was definitely there and Dani's muscles tense in response, waiting to strike if needed. "Probably just an animal." Chris says as they continue walking. Someone jumps out from behind a tree and Dani reacts. She kicks out and makes contact with the persons chest before they fall back into the snow.
"Ah, what the hell Dani!" The person says before she recognizes Mike. Chris doubles over in laughter and Sam joins him as Dani moves forward. "Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to jump out like that?" She questions as she extends her hand to Mike. "What are you? Black Widow?" Mike asks as he grabs Dani's hand and she helps him to his feet. "Took a couple of self-defence classes." Dani lies as she shrugs.
"You should have seen your face." Chris says as more laughter peels out. "Shut up." Mike says and Dani has to bite her lip to stop her own laughter. "I'm sure you'll get her next time, Mike." Sam teases and Mike rubs the back of his neck before smirking. "The night's still young but I know when I'm beat. I tip my hat off to you madam. You are safe in Dani's hands so I bid you adieu." Mike says before bowing and Dani rolls her eyes.
"Have fun with Jessica, Michael." Dani says and his eyes widen in surprise. "Yeah. I will." Mike says before walking past them and towards the way they came. "Seriously. You have some killer reflexes." Chris says and she can't help but smirk. "Remember that for if you try and jump out to scare me." She warns as they start walking again. "Who me?" Chris questions and she gives him a look. "We all know you would be the one most likely to do it." Sam says.
"Exactly. Just test me, Christopher." Dani says and Chris chuckles. "Warning received." Chris says as he raises his hands and Dani can't help but laugh. They talk the rest of the way to the lodge and it makes Dani realize how much she missed joking around with her friends. "Hey!" Dani hears and smiles at the familiarity of the voice. "Hey, Josh." Dani says before he pulls her in for a hug.
"You should have seen her earlier." Chris says and Josh looks intrigued. "Our Dani kicked Mike so hard he fell back into the snow." Sam says and Josh starts laughing before putting his arm around her. "I knew you had some fight in you. Think you can reenact it later?" Josh questions as they continue walking. "To be determined. We'll see how Michael behaves. Or Chris for that matter." Dani teases.
"Hey! I already said warning received." Chris says and she winks at him. "Making sure it's stuck in your head." Dani says. "Man I feel like this mountain gets bigger every time I climb it." Chris says. "Oh yeah? Feels the same to me." Josh says. "Oh come on, you grew up here. It probably feels like it's shrinking." Chris says and she sees Matt up ahead. Why did he look so forlorn? "I guess that's true." Josh says and Dani hangs back to talk to Sam.
"What do you think is wrong with Matt?" Dani murmurs and Sam shrugs. "Well I don't see Emily." Sam says. "Hey guys, get up here okay?" Josh questions and Dani looks over at Ashley sitting on the steps. "Yeah.Well...more or less. But it's good to see you!" Ashley says as they reach the two. Dani gets an uneasy feeling and looks around, she definitely felt like they weren't alone but she couldn't see anything.
"Dani?" Sam questions and she looks at her friend. "Sorry, did you say something?" Dani questions. "Are you okay?" Sam asks. "Yeah. Just a bit uneasy." Dani replies. "Is it just this place?" Sam questions. "Maybe." She replies as they lean against the fence. Dani glances over at Chris and sees him chatting with Ashley. "Look over there." She says and Sam smirks. "Well, well, well." Sam says and Dani smiles.
"Maybe this will be the year it happens." Dani says before she turns around and leans on the fence. "I hope so. They'd be cute together." Sam says as she leans on the fence beside her. "Hey, ladies." Dani hears and turns her head to look at Chris. "So how's Ashley doing?" Dani asks and Chris looks taken aback. "She's fine. Why?" Chris questions. "Just wondering." Sam says with a smirk and they exchange a look.
"Alrighty then. I'm going to go get the door open so hang tight. Unless you want to come? I could maybe use your ninja skills Dani." Chris says and Dani smirks. "I have faith in your abilities to unlock a door." Dani says before pinching Chris' cheek. "Yeah, yeah. Cut it out." Chris says before swatting her hand away and Dani laughs. "You make it so easy though." Dani says and Sam laughs before Chris walks away.
"I'm glad you're here." Sam says and she looks at her. "Me too." Dani replies. "Let's go see Ash." Sam says and she nods. "I'll catch up. I'm going to see what's up with Matt." Dani says and Sam nods. Sam walks towards Ashley and Dani heads over to Matt. "Hey. You okay?" Dani questions. "Huh? Yeah." Matt says. "Alright, if you need to talk let me know." Dani says. "I don't understand why everyone thinks he's so great. He just takes what he wants." Matt says and Dani raises a brow.
"Who?" She questions. "Don't play dumb, Dani. Mike. I saw how he was with you last year too. I'm just saying be careful or you're next." Matt says. "Whatever you say, Matt. If it's about Emily you know that's also how she's like." Dani says before walking away. "Yeah." Matt mutters before she joins the girls. "He okay?" Sam asks and Dani shakes his head. "Emily drama is my guess." Dani says and Ashley looks away.
She definitely knew something. "We should go wait by the door." Dani says before going up the stairs. Dani wraps her arms around herself to stave off the cold and the other two join her. "Ohhhhhhhhh!" Dani hears and rolls her eyes. "Hi, Chris! Very funny." Sam says through the door. "Oh, how'd you know it was me?" Chris questions. "Who else in there would do that? Shouldn't you be trying to open the door instead of goofing off?" Dani questions and his face appears in the window.
"On it." Chris says before leaving. "He better hurry his ass up." Sam says and Dani nods. "Agreed. It's cold as all hell out here." Dani says. "We're freezing our buns off out here!" Ashley says a few minutes later and she sees Chris approaching. He stoops in front of the door and she hears a noise. He was definitely doing something. The door opens moments later and Chris shakes his hand.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week." Chris says as he bows. He gives a startled yell when he stands and an animal runs right by him. "Jeez!" He says and Dani can't help but laugh. "Crap, that thing freaked me out. It was like, a bear or a tiger or something." Chris says. "Aw it was just a cute little baby wolverine." Sam says and Dani smirks. "Maybe I should have went in instead of you." Dani teases and winks at him.
"It was not a baby and shush you." Chris says as Josh joins them. "Don't worry buddy, you're gonna be a big boy soon." Josh says and Dani laughs before going inside. She pats Chris on the shoulder as she walks by him. "Home sweet home." Josh says as they enter the living room area. "Sweet is not the word I'd use." Matt says and she glances at him as he puts the bags down. "Oh my gosh it's so good to be inside. Even if it's still kinda freezing in here." Ashley says. "I'll get a fire going." Josh says as he walks towards the fireplace.
"This place looks barely any different." Matt says as Dani puts her backpack along the wall. "Nobody's been up here." Josh says. "Even with all the police coming in and out? Ashley asks. "Not a lot of action up here lately." Chris says. "Nope. Care to give me a hand, Dani?" Josh questions and she nods before going over to the fireplace. "What's up party people!" Mike says as he comes in and Dani looks over at him.
They make eye contact and he smiles at her, she can't help but smile back. "Heeey!" Jess says as she comes into the room behind Mike. "Hey." Josh says as he looks at the two. "Make yourself at home, bro." Josh says as Mike approaches us. "Will do." Mike says as Dani hands Josh a log. "Yeah. Come on in. Take a load off. Have whatever you want." Matt says and Dani looks at him as he stands. Something was definitely wrong.
Dani stands in anticipation of interfering as Matt approaches Mike. "You just take whatever you want anyways, right?" Matt says as he confronts Mike. This definitely had to do with his mood and with Emily. "Woah. Easy there cowboy." Mike says and Dani sighs. "What the hell were you doing with Em out on the trail, huh?" Matt questions. "What?" Mike questions. "I saw you and Em. Through the telescope." Matt says.
"Before? We just ran into each other." Mike says. "It'd been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?" Mike questions. "Would you two tone down the masculine energy in this room? We're all supposed to be friends here." Dani says as she steps between the two. Matt sighs before rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. Dani's right. Sorry, Mike. It's been kind of a long day. I overacted." Matt says as he takes a step back.
"Nah, man. Don't worry abut it." Mike says and she looks at him. "We cool?" Matt asks. "Yeah, yeah. Totally." Mike says and Matt nods before walking away. "Thanks, Dani." Mike murmurs and she nods. "You're welcome." She murmurs back and he smiles at her. Dani walks back over to the fireplace and bends down to help Josh. "Thanks, Castillo." Josh says and she nods. "How do you still not have this lit?" She teases and he laughs.
"Shut up. You can do better?" Josh questions and Dani smirks. "Move aside, Washington." Dani says. "Oh. My god. That is so gross." Emily says and Dani sighs. "Not again." Josh whispers. "Are you trying to swallow his face whole?" Emily questions. "Em—" Matt starts. "Seriously, can she be anymore obvious?" Emily says as Matt stands. "No one wants in on your territory, honey." Emily says.
"Excuse me, did you say something?" Jess questions as she stands. "Oh, did you not hear me? Was your sluttiness too loud?" Emily questions and Dani sighs before standing. "Sounds like someone's bitter she didn't make the cut." Jess says. "Yeah. It's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow." Emily says. "Cuts real deep calling Miss Homecoming a cow." Jess says.
"Em, come on—" Matt starts. "Shut up, Matt." Emily says. "Stay out of it, you dumb oaf." Jess snaps. "Hey, watch it—" Emily starts. "Oh, you're the only who can put him down? No one else can play with your toys?" Jess questions. "You're such a bitch." Emily says. "Whatever. I don't give a crap what you think." Jess says. "At least I can think. 4.0 bitch, honour roll. Suck on that when you're trying to sleep your way into a job." Emily says.
"Who needs grades when you've got all the natural advantages you can handle." Jess says and she can see Josh getting more and more tense. "You couldn't buy a moldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass." Jess says. "Are you serious? Do you think that's insulting?" Emily questions. "That bitch is on crack or something." Jess says. "That's enough. Can you guys just calm down and take a step back? We're all here for Josh and if you can't be civil then stop talking." Dani says and Emily rounds on her.
"Does the town drunk have something to say? Maybe you should just back the hell off." Emily says and Dani feels her blood boil. Emily always knew how to push her buttons. Dani takes a step forward but Mike steps between them. "You're better than this." He tells her as he puts a hand on her shoulder and she glares at Emily. "You really want to know why I was drinking that night?" Dani seethes.
"Yeah I wanna know. Maybe you'll get off your high horse." Emily says. "I wanted to forget that I watched my brother die and that there was nothing I could do about it. So before you want to start shit you can't finish I would back off right now." Dani growls. "Shit, Dani. I didn't know. I'm sorry." Emily says. "I don't want to hear it right now." She says before starting to walk away and heading to the door.
"Dani! Where are you going?" Mike asks. "To get some goddamn air before I do something I'll regret." Dani says before going outside onto the porch and slamming the door behind her. "Just breathe, Dani." She tells herself before going to the railing. She places her hands on it and takes in a few deep breaths. She felt too old for this kind of drama and definitely dealt with too much to have to sit through it.
Even though Emily still had something snarky to say she was pleasantly surprised it had nothing to do with her and Mike's history. The Emily and Jessica drama would have definitely been thrown at her and she wanted nothing to do with it. She'd have to thank Mike for being discreet later. She hears the door open and tenses, not wanting to lash out. "It's safe to go back in. We're going to the cabin and Emily and Matt went back for her bag." Jess says and she turns her head. "Sorry that you got dragged into it." Mike says and she shrugs.
"I spoke up. I'm going to stay out here for a bit but thank you." Dani responds and she's surprised when Mike hugs her. "I'm sorry about your brother. I didn't know." Mike says and she feels the familiar grief but nods. "I didn't want anybody to. I'd rather not talk about it now. You guys go have fun." She says as she pulls away. It looked like Mike was going to say something else but the door opens and she sees Josh.
"Hey! Porn stars! You're gonna need these." Josh says as he tosses the keys to Mike. "Porn star?" Jess questions. "I'd pay to see it. I am going to commandeer you to build that fire." Josh says as he comes out. "Uh, gross?" Jess says. "Going." Dani says as she goes back to the door. "I have faith in you!" Mike says and she turns her head to smile at him before going inside. She goes to the fireplace and was able to get it started before Josh joins her.
"How?" Josh questions and she smiles at him. "Not my first rodeo." Dani says as she stands. "Sammy! What are you doing?" Josh calls up the stairs. "I was just getting into the bath." Sam yells back. "Oh! Well do you need any help with that?" Josh questions. "Hardy Har!" Sam retorts and Dani rolls her eyes before lightly smacking him in the back of the head. "Don't be a pervert." Dani tells him and Josh grins.
"Or what, Castillo?" Josh questions and Dani smirks. "Or you'll get first hand experience of what happened to Mike." Dani says and Josh laughs. "You win." He says. "I'm going to get some water. Want some?" Dani asks. "All you." Josh says and Dani heads to the kitchen. She looks at the spot where her, Chris, and Josh drank last year. She knew she was grieving but she shouldn't have drank so much.
Beth wanted her to have fun. She was the only one who knew what happened to Dani's brother and wanted to help her best friend. But she wasn't there for Beth when she needed her most. Dani grips the counter and takes in a deep breath. "Get it together, Dani. Josh needs you." She whispers to herself. She grabs a bottle of water and downs a quarter of it before heading back to the living room.
The first thing Dani notices is that it was colder and she sees the fire was out. "What did you do?" She asks Josh. "Why do you assume it was me?" He asks and she gives him a pointed look. "You have the poker in your hand." Dani points out. "I was just playing with it and may have smothered it. Just a bit." Josh says and Dani can't help but laugh. "Okay, you can fix it." Dani says and she hears both Chris and Ash laugh.
"Please fix it, Dani. We've been waiting on him since you left." Ashley says. "Alright. I've got it." Dani says as she bends in front of the fireplace. "Alright, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you two." Josh says. "What?" Ashley questions. "Okay well I am pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have...a spirit board." Josh says and Dani feels immediately tense.
"A what?" Ashley says. "Wow you have a spirit board?" Chris questions. "Yeah, yeah. They're fun right?" Josh says and Dani finishes with the fire before standing. "Those things are a joke, man. They don't do shit." Chris says. "No way bro. We used it all the time. Me and...well." Josh starts and Dani feels unsettled again. "Hey, Josh. No hot water's kinda a major oversight doncha think?" Sam questions as she goes downstairs. "Yeah, yeah. Just gotta fire up the boiler. It's in the basement. You guys see if you can find the spirit board." Josh says.
"Chris, let's go find it! It'll be like a scavenger hunt!" Ashley says as she excitedly hurries off. "Ummm...okay...guess so." Chris says. "Rad. You're not gonna regret it." Josh says as Chris follows after Ashley. "Smart." Dani says before winking at Josh. "I have my moments. You gonna come along?" Josh asks Dani and she shakes her head. "Spirit boards aren't my thing. Be careful guys." Dani says as she heads for the door.
"Where are you going?" Sam asks. "For some more air and to enjoy the view." Dani says before heading back outside. Dani leans against the railing and looks around, she missed the fresh air but she also hated being left alone with her thoughts. The last year has been hell and she knew how Josh felt. Losing a sibling was rough. She missed her brother Alex every day. She couldn't sleep anymore without having a nightmare of what happened.
Dani wasn't sure how long she had been outside for her she started to feel a sense of unease and looked towards the wooded area. Why did it feel like she wasn't alone? She hears something behind her and starts to turn before something collides with her head. She falls to the ground and tries to fight the black out. The last thing she sees is someone wearing a mask.
STATUS UPDATE
Traits:
Charitable - 6/10
Funny - 6/10 ↑
Honest - 5/10
Brave - 9/10
Romantic - 4/10
Curious - 8/10
Relationships:
Sam - 9/10
Ashley - 8/10
Chris - 9/10
Josh - 9/10
Jess - 5/10
Mike - 7/10 ↑
Emily - 3/10 ↓
Matt - 5/10