Friendship - UNTIL DAWN REWRITE Chapter One
[UNTIL DAWN-MASTERLIST]
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Summary: On stormy night of February 2014, Synthya was passed out on a couch in the kitchen, along with Josh and Chris sleeping on the counter. She woke up to everyone rushing out of the lodge and it didn't take herlong to figure out what was going on. Hannah and Beth had gone into the woods so, as their best friend, Synthya didn't think twice and ran after them... almost running to her death too.
A year later, Josh invited everyone up to the lodge again, for a winter gateaway on the anniversary of the disapperance of his two sisters...
Words: 5.5k
Warnings: Until Dawn spoilers (prologue and chapter 1 specifically), angst, life or death situation, tragic deaths, trauma, mention of ptsd and flashbacks, but we got Chris lighting up the mood hehe
Curled up on the couch, Synthya stretched out her arms and legs and moaned softly as she woke up, stretching her arms, but she sat up with a start when she heard the front door being slammed open and voices shouting outside. She frowned, putting her on boots, glancing at the counter, where Josh and Chris were still very much passed out. She shook her head with a chuckle, and she stood up and sped-walked across from the kitchen bar and through the main room of the lodge.
“Hey, what the fuck are you guys doing outside? What’s going on?” She inquired, holding her arms tightly, to somehow compensate for the freezing temperature outside, although Josh's thick knitted sweater kept her warm enough that she didn't feel like she was freezing to death.
“It was just a stupid prank.” Jessica whined.
“It’s not our fault that she can’t take a fucking joke.” Emily added.
“What did you do? Who are you talking about?” She looked around, confused, “Where are Hannah and Beth?”
“Hannah ran off in the forest and Beth went after her.” Ashley explained in a shaky voice, her head buried in her shoulders.
“We didn’t know she would do that. It wasn’t that big of a deal.” Mike shrugged, almost annoyed, as if Hannah had overreacted to whatever prank they had pulled on her. Synthya cursed under her breath and glared at them.
“Пошыел к чыерту.” She insulted the lot of them in russian, telling them to go to hell before she ran into the forest, wanting to catch up with the two sisters, squinting her eyes, looking for their footprints in the snow carpeting the ground of the forest paths. There were a lot of strange and scary noises that startled her along the way, making her gasp and whimper every now and again. The cold air penetrating her throat felt like gulping down cubes of ice, making her wince, wrappping her hand around her neck to try to warm it up and shield it from the wind. She was definitely going to castch the nastiest cold ever.
She couldn’t see much either; it was so dark, with only the moonlight piercing through the foliage of the trees, illuminating her path enough for her to not be completely blind. When she tried to slip her hand in the backpocket of her pants and found it empty, she remebered that she didn’t even take her phone. She had left it on the coffee table, or maybe the kitchen, she wasn’t too sure. She couldn’t use the flashlight to lit her way, and regretted that right now. She came to an intersection and followed the footsteps she saw on the ground, pushing back her long black hair that was blowing in her face, getting caught in her mouth and her eyelashes from the capricious wind of that snowstorm evening. She was scared, but she was even more scared for Hannah and Beth’s wellbeing and was deadset on finding the two of them, which pushed her to go forth and keep searching for them. She questioned her surviving instinct because she didn’t care about dying out there, the only thing on her mind was finding her best friends.
The trail she followed eventually came to an end, and she looked down. This was the quickest way to go deeper in the forest. She could easily jump down without getting hurt so she sat on the edge and jumped, her feet landing first but she lost her balance and fell to her knees, her hands and jeans getting completely soaked from the snow. Her skin was so pale, her fingers almost turning blue from the cold. She got back up and started to run again, screaming Hannah and Beth’s names, her whole-body quivering as the cold wind got under her sweater. She was chilled to the bone.
“Hannah! Beth! Oh my god.” Her voice was trembling, but she smiled faintly when she found the Washington twins at a crossroad, and the two were surprised but extremely relieved to see their dear friend there. They all embraced each other but their reunion was cut short when the three girls heard a piercing screech coming from behind them. They gave each other a fearful glance and ran away, as fast as they could, almost forgetting to breathe as they went. Hannah tripped over one of the planks of a bridge they crossed and Synthya who was at her level immediately caught her in her fall with a gasp. Beth stopped in her tracks for a second when she heard her sister stumble but let out a sigh of relief; her sister was already back on her feet thanks to their friend’s help. They kept going, not waiting to see what was after them. This whole situation felt like a nightmare.
“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Hannah sobbed upon seeing that they reached a steep cliff and had no where to run to anymore. They couldn’t even see what was at the bottom of the cliff, it was just the void. The sisters held hands and Beth instinctively grabbed Synthya’s as they stepped closer to the edge, having no idea what else to do, looking back at the forest, frightened.
“No! No! Shit! No--” Beth cried out, glancing behind them. They tightened their grip onto each other’s hands. “Get back! Fuck—” Beth and Hannah screamed at the top of their lungs. Synthya’s eyes widened as she felt her arm twisting and her hand being pulled backward as Beth held it tighter. Her lips parted as she fell with them, her upper body hanging over the edge of the cliff. Beth was holding onto a branch beneath the edge of the cliff and keeping Hannah from falling with the other. Synthya’s choppy breathing wasn’t helped by her by her teeth chattering because of the cold and the fear that prevented her from thinking straight, feeling like the three of them were about to meet their end. Synthya had her two hands around Beth’s, afraid to let go. She tried to look behind her, over the cliff and saw the threatening figure of the stranger, wearing a gas mask and large coat. Synthya was sobbing, begging him to help but he wasn’t saying anything and she realised that the only reason she, and the sisters, hadn’t fell off the cliff, was because he was holding her ankles.
“Pull them up.” He finally said, with his voice muffled behind the mask. Synthya turned her head back to Beth and gave her nod. With the help of the stranger, she tried to pull them back up but her hands were numb from the cold so she couldn’t get a very secured grip and Beth’s hand was slipping, more and more until Synthya gasped, held her breath, almost throwing herself off the cliff as she tried to stretch her arms as far down as she could to grab Beth’s hand again, as she and Hannah fell to their deaths. Synthya wailed. Her eyes were so wide open they looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. She sobbed and when a crack echoed from below, she stopped breathing and let her arms hang over the edge. Her sweater was completely soaked, her entitre body shivering uncontrollably but she couldn’t move, she wasn’t just sobbing anymore but crying her eyes and heart out, screeching with grief. The wind was so strong on her face, it felt as though someone was slapping her repeatedly. She couldn’t stop sobbing, even when the stranger dragged her away from the edge and forced her up. She had just witnessed the tragic deaths of her close friends, Hannah and Beth and almost lost her life as well. Her heart was beating so fast. She was mumbling, repeating that she was going to die, feeling light-headed and almost like her legs would give way under her.
“Go. Run.” She stared at the stranger with eyes wide in shock, red from crying and he pushed her back towards the forest. She stared at him, taking a few unsure steps. It was as if her legs obeyed the stranger’s words and she ran, never stopping once on her way back to the lodge, crying frantically, her hands clenched so hard that her black acrylic nails were cutting into her palms, but it was the least of her concerns. The run back home almost seemed like it happened in the blink of an eye. She couldn’t realise what had just happened and told herself it was all a bad dream. She was going to wake up on the couch, in the warmth of the lodge in a second... but she didn’t and a second later, she was still running, out of breath but still running.
She had experienced hard things in her life, but this gut-wrenching sight of her friends falling was something she never imagined experiencing. She didn’t even realize everyone had gone back inside when she threw herself against the front doors, opening them so abruptly she fell to the ground and rolled to the side, wincing in pain. She swallowed harshly and it was as if everything just kicked in at the same time, the cold, the shivering, the shock, the grief, her heart racing and the pain of hitting herself against the door. She groaned and moaned, she was in so much pain, and most definitely in hypothermia, having trouble catching her breath. She was like paralyzed, frozen in this fetal position. Everyone’s voices seemed muffled, and she looked through her eyelashes, her eyes being only half-opened. Beth and Hannah’s screams resonated in her head. She couldn’t get up. She couldn’t move. She could barely move her lips and only managed to mumble, trying to say that she felt cold, which was an understatement. She was like a ragdoll, when someone grabbed her shoulders, wrapping her in a thick blanket and helping her sit up. She reflexively closed her eyes to the warm sensations of the blanket and the person’s arms.
“Syn.” She opened her eyes upon hearing Josh’s voice.
“Josh... I’m-- I’m sorry.” Her voice was faint. Her throat pained her every time she spoke. He was confused, and just hugged her tight, having no idea what she was apolizing for. She let him carry her to the fire in the small living room next to the kitchen and sat down with her. Everyone around them could guess something had happened, but none of them said a thing and just stayed back and watched Josh take care of her. They probably hadn’t even told Josh about the prank they pulled on Hannah, which led her to run away in the forest, followed by Beth and then her. Synthya stared at the flames. Not one thought passed through her mind, only the screams echoing throughout the mountain range, and the wind howling in her ears and snapping at her face. She was shaking and snuggled against Josh like he was her safety net… her lifeline.
ONE YEAR LATER
Mount Washington, 9:02pm
TEN HOURS UNTIL DAWN
Synthya stretched out her arm and looked out the bus window, observing the vast forest of Mount Washington with a sense of discomfort weighing on her. She hadn’t set foot here in a whole year and it felt really strange to come back but it was important to Josh, and she would do anything for him. She rubbed her eyes and quickly looked away as the images of Hannah and Beth falling flashed before her eyes, letting out a heavy but silent sigh. Her shrink said she suffered from PTSD. Like, no shit, doc. She glanced at her phone and shot up her eyebrows. She had no more phone connection. It was really no surprise. The mountains were literally a blank zone but the radio broadcast she was listening to was still playing although it was getting cut off intermittently.
“Today is the one-year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington. Sheriff Annie Cline who was in charge of the investigation—” The radio host introduced.
“Thanks for having me, Marty.” Synthya had never talked to this woman as she was deemed in too much shock and too incoherent in her speech to give any kind of testimony about the incident, but they knew she had been out there with the sisters. That was the only piece of information that the police had, involving Synthya at least. She wished she had told them everything, but it was as if her mouth refused to voice what came through her mind when she wanted to talk about it. She found that very frustrating, but of course, she had only said this to her therapist. There were some things she had seen that she couldn’t come to terms with and still believed she had imagined.
“—listeners an update on Hannah and Beth Washington, the twins who are still missing…”
“One year ago, tonight the Washington girls along with a close friend of theirs -whom name will remain undisclosed for legal reasons- left the safety of their parents’ lodge and headed out into a snowstorm… Their friend made it back home, in a grave state of shock and hypothermia.” There were static noises, cutting a bit of the conversation. It was obvious that she was the friend whose name was kept quiet. After the storm had calmed down, she had been taken off the mountain by a helicopter and transported to a hospital. She knew her identity had never been leaked to the press after her parents and their rather expensive lawyers had talked to the police. This very Sheriff on this radio broadcast had urged her to come to her if she had anything she wanted to talk about, but that was a year ago and Synthya never came forward.
“—foul play?”
“Not officially no. There is one individual we’re considering as a person of interest but his whereabouts are currently unknown. He has an interesting history with the Washington family— He had warned them against pursuing their construction project… and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers.”
“You know there is still the old Sanitorium on the mountain. Could he be hiding there?...”
“My officers did search the grounds but… the girls themselves couldn’t have made it that far…”
“Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events.”
“More than you know, Marty.”
“Well thank you for joining us, Annie. …to all the Washingtons tonight… their son Josh on this night, the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Hannah and Beth Washington.” Synthya clicked on the side of her phone screen and the radio broadcast was replaced by a video of Josh.
“Well hello friends and fans… alright let’s do that again…” He came closer to the camera filming him and adjusted the lens before stepping back again. Synthya had a tender smile at the sight of her loved one. She hadn’t seen him much in the last few months as he told her he was really preparing this reunion so that it would be amazing for all of them, and she therefore focused on passing her midterms exams after she had gotten lucky to even have validated her previous college year with all the classes she missed after the incident with Hannah and Beth. She was now in her third year of her Fine Arts degree. She knew what job she wanted to do and that was because of everything they went through. She wanted to become an art therapist, to help people as she was being helped.
“Alright. Well, hello friends and fans! It’s beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year. First off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!” Her smile grew bigger at his excitement about the getaway until he got more serious. “So, um… Let me just let you know, uh, let’s take a moment to address the “elephant in the room” for a second… I know you’re all probably worried about me… and I know it’s gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year… but- I just want you all to know… it means… it means so much to me that we’re doing this. And I… I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we’re all still here together, thinking of them. I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and uh, share moments that we’ll never forget, for the sake of my sisters, you know? Okay… So! Let’s party like we’re fucking porn stars, okay? Make this one a trip we will never forget, alright? Yes!”
Synthya took a deep breath in and let her head rest against the bus window as she let her phone play some music for the few minutes left before she arrived. She couldn’t wait to see Josh again. She genuinely missed him and just like he said, she wanted to spend some quality time with him as well so that’s what they were going to do. The bus came to a halt. She grabbed her bag by the handle and slung it over her shoulder as she stood up. She got out of the vehicle and looked ahead of her when she found herself facing the gate, but she turned around when the driver's voice reached her ears.
“You shouldn’t have come back here. This place is cursed.” She opened her mouth slightly, frowning but the door closed, and he drove off, leaving her there, a little confused as to what this warning was for. This place had a tragic history, yeah, but it wasn’t about ghost and shit. She wasn’t one to be much into supernatural anyway, so she just shrugged and walked to the wooden fence, glancing at the BLACKWOOD PINES sign hanging over her head, the chains creaking. They would need to be oiled up a bit. She closed the fence behind her and heard branches crack to her left, behind the trees. She froze, staying silent for a moment before opening her mouth.
“Hello? Someone there?” Her questions were met by dead silence so she kept walking down the path to the cable car station, uneasy but figuring it must have been an animal and there was nothing to worry about, even though after what happened, pretty much everything about these creepy woods was freaking her out. As she walked, she zipped up her hooded jacket, puttingthe hood over her head and readjusting the leather jacket she wore over it, holding the handle of her bag hanging over her shoulder with one hand and tweaking her patterned scarf tied around her neck with her free one. She really didn’t want to spend any more time on her own in the middle of those threatening tall pine trees, not knowing what could be hidden there. She reached a forged metal gate with spikes above it and noticed a note left on it. It read;
“The gate’s busted, climb over!
- Chris”
“Ugh, great.” She cursed under her breath and looked behind the sheet of paper, where she found a mail exchange between Chris and Josh discussing how to get here. She walked to the stone wall along the gate and quickly climbed over it and hoisted herself up with a grunt, sitting at the top before throwing her lefs to the other side and jumping down, the sound of her soles landing on the ground muffled by the snow. Down the path, there were two knee-high light fixtures, and she noticed a few squirrels hopping around. She smiled, picked up a couple of nuts laying nearby and stretched out her hand as she crouched, remaining perfectly still as the squirrel approached her. She chuckled when he took a nut and cutely hopped away before walking further down the path where she saw a sign screwed to a small stone wall on which were listed the meanings of various butterfly colors, according to the indigenous people from tribes that inhabited these lands.
There was an eerie beauty to these menacing mountains, covered by the thick mist like it was their coat. Synthya approached a sign showing a map of the area, but something had been tagged over it; “THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL”. She was surprised to find a tag up there, but she eventually just walked away, swallowing harshly before clearing her throat. On a bench in front of the cabin, she saw a bag with a buzzing phone peaking out of the front pocket and she recognized Chris’ stuff and frowned, looking around for a second as he was nowhere to be seen.
“Chris?” She called him while she zipped up his bag’s pocket so his phone wouldn’t fall out and a smile stretched her lips tinted with a soft reddish pink lipstick, showing her pointy canines.
“Synthya, hey! You made it.” He gave her a friendly smile as he walked to get his bag. “Okay, so, I found something kinda amazing.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not gonna tell you. You gotta see for yourself.” He slung the handle of his bagback over his shoulder. “Come on, it’s this way. Gonna blow your mind.”
“Right.” She chuckled and followed him around the station. Half-way to the back, she noticed a wanted poster on the wall but the top part where the picture would have been had been ripped off. She took a closer look at the information on the poster.
“Think we’ll get a visit from America’s most wanted?” Chris joked and she shrugged it off before continuing to follow him, only to find a shooting stand there. “Ta-daaa. It’s pretty rad, right?”
“A shooting stand is indeed very mind blowing, Chris.” She cackled, nodding.
“Come on, look at these beauties.” He insisted, showing off the bags hanging from the trees and bottles and stuff on top of metal barrels set up here and there at various distances.
“Uh, yeah, no, I’ve never been into guns much. But, anyway, why the hell is there a shooting range at the base of a ski lodge?”
“Dude, have you ever met Josh’s dad?” He asked, knowing very well she had met the man multiple times since she became friends with Josh and this blonde comedian with glasses. She rose her eyebrows. “Of course, you practically lived with the Washington after you started dating Josh.” He let out a high-pitched moan, sounding all too sexual on purpose, as he said their best friend's name again, to tease the young woman and Synthya couldn't help but laugh in embarrassment, pushing him.
“Oh my god, stop it. You’re the king of cringe, Chris.” She shook her head with an amused grin as he bowed dramatically. He then grabbed the shotgun lying in front of him.
“You want to try?”
“Yeah, sure.” She stepped forward and he handed her the gun, and she took aim, hitting the center of the red cross painted on the sang bags hanging from the tree branches and shattering a fairly distant bottle on a barrel, all in a short amount of time. He immediately got loud and cheered.
“Such a badass.” She put the gun down and followed him to the front of the cable car station as the latter was arriving. Chris held his arms for warmth as the two walked to the station’s door. “It’s definitely weird coming back up here after a whole year.”
“Yeah… The moment I got here it just all came flooding back.”
“A year goes fast.” She nodded at his statement and faced the door but let her hand hang over the handle when his voice rose again. “You never said what happened when you were out there… You looked like on the verge of death when you came running back. I mean, you were in hypothermia so you probably were but...” She swallowed harshly, remaining silent, trying to not let the memories of the sisters falling down this cliff and their screams echoing throughout the mountains overwhelm her again and she just tried to push the door open but frowned as she was met by the resistance of the door being locked.
“Why is it locked?” Chris didn't comment on the avoidance she showed at the mention of the tragic events that had left her traumatized and continued the conversation.
“Yeah, uh, Josh wanted us to keep it locked to keep people out.”
“Really?” She frowned.
“Yeah, I don’t know, he said they found people sleeping in the station one time.” He said, showing the station’s key in his hands. Synthya shot up her eyebrows, creeped out at the thought and she took a step back, letting him unlock the door so they could get in the cable car and be off to the lodge. She really wanted to see Josh. “After you.”
“Ah, thanks. Ashley’s gonna love that. The king of cringe is a real gentleman.” He chuckled awkwardly as he locked the door after him. She was teasing him, but he hadn’t said his last word.
“Learn, tigress.”
“Tigress? Really?” She snorted with laughter at the nickname as he walked around the station.
“I should remind Josh not to go on safari stark naked. There are wild animals with long claws out there.”
“All right, shut up.” She chuckled, leaning over on the railing, watching the car come down from the mountain, biting the inside of her cheek. She knew exactly what he was referring to with this counter attack in their game of teasing each other. She used to have fairly long and pointy nails and might have scratched Josh’s back on several occasions, where Chris sometimes walked in on Josh putting on his clothes and seeing the marks left by her. “I thought the car was closer.”
“Guess we gotta wait.”
“How long you think it’s gonna take?”
“It’s a big mountain.”
“Yeah… so beautiful in the day but at night just feels menacing. Makes me uneasy.” She confessed.
“You gonna find comfort in Josh’s arms once we get there, tigress. Hold on.”
“I don’t know how I’ve put up with your jokes all these years, combined to Josh’s. Brave as a tiger.” They laughed together and Chris walked out of the station as the car came to a halt at their level and she sat in. Synthya glanced into the void and just stared, not realizing she was just standing there, completely still, until Chris called her name and she blinked strongly, turning her head to him, trying to keep her shit together after having suppressed a flash of Hannah and Beth falling and herself hanging in the void, narrowly saved by this frightening character. “Feels good sitting down. I don’t know why but this place is just so draining.”
“Yeah, well, I was already prepared to stay there and catch some zzz’s but let’s go, I guess.” He sat down next to her in the cable car, putting his bag at his feet. “Just like going to prom.”
“Off we go.” Synthya said, unexcitedly, as the car went back up the mountain.
“Right, adventure begins.” He cheered jokingly and she gave a tight smile, looking out the window.
“I’ve got mixed feelings about this.”
“What?”
“It’s just…” She turned her head to him as she replied. “I don’t know if coming back was a good idea. I mean, Josh seemed really pumped about us all doing something…”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen him so excited about something in forever.”
“I know. It’s always been hard to tell with him, and even more lately… I’ve been worried sick.” He patted her shoulder, nodding.
“You, how have you been doing? Maybe you can’t see it but, it’s hard to tell with you, too.”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I? I’ve managed.” She nodded, as if she was trying to convince herself she was okay because she wasn’t so sure about that. She neglected her own needs and struggles with her mental health so much, in order to take care of her studies and be there for Josh that she had lost track of how she felt about what happened. She sometimes felt like she was exaggerating things and that she had wrongfully been diagnosed with PTSD, often thinking that lots of people had it worse and had more reasons to have such a disorder. Her therapist had reassured her about this, insisting that her trauma was very real and valid. It was just that her love for Josh exceeded her love for herself and she only had to learn to prioritise herself from times to times, because it wasn't Josh's fault or hers, but the situation was still exhausting and emotionally draining for the young woman. It was apparently a good idea her mother had had to send her away to see family overseas in Greece during holidays, but Synthya always went back to see Josh whenever she wasn’t busying herself with her studies or having mental breakdowns. But the thing was, she almost lost Josh after he lost his sisters and she wanted to be there for him because she wouldn’t survive losing him for good. She would rather lose herself and put him first and the funny thing was that Josh did the same, always putting others before himself. They would get through this together, not each on their own and then they would find themselves again. Together.
“You know what? Let’s just— let’s just stop talking about that and enjoy the trip.” She was snapped out of her thoughts by Chris’ voice, trying to lighten up the mood after tackling such a heavy subject.
“You’re right. You know I like talking with you, right ?” She gave a playful hit on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault I shut down sometimes.”
“I know, don’t worry.” He assured. “Have I ever told you how Josh and I met?”
“Uhm, I don’t know. I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve known you since eighth grade so maybe you’ve mentioned it but I don’t remember.” She shrugged.
“Third grade, a few years before you came along. 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 strapped snapping the training bra of the girl in front of him, so the teacher made him move to the front where I was sitting so I got moved to the back.”
“Next to Josh.”
“Next to Josh.” He nodded emphatically. “That’s how we met, I mean, and became friends to this day.”
“Wow. What a bromance story.”
“If it weren’t for the fact that Jeanie Simmons hit puberty like three years early and on that day, decided to wear a low-cut shirt that showed her training bra, phew, I mean, who knows? You could be riding in this cable car alone, right now, or were talking to some other person entirely.” She raised her eyebrows listening to his explanation. “Boom, butterfly effect.”
Upper cable station, 09:17pm
They got out of the cable car and walked to the door on which Chris thumped, startling Jessica standing on the other side, and she gasped.
“What the hell?”
“Jess, hey.” Chris greeted.
“Jessica.” Synthya called, looking at their friend through the window in the middle of the door.
“Are you guys having a really weird stroke?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.
“We’re stuck in this stupid thing.” Chris explained.
“Can you please let us out? Pretty please.” The pale brunette insisted. Jessica then pressed on the button next to the door and after a buzzing sound went off for a second, they could finally walk out of the station.
“Oh my god, I thought another 10 minutes in there and I would have chewed off my own leg.” He turned to a dubitative Synthya behind him. “Look, I got a lot meat on my bones. This is all muscle down here.”
“Yeah, sure.” She rose her eyebrows, nodding unconvinced. Suddenly, Chris snatched a letter from Jessica’s hand.
“Well, well well… what do we have here?”
“Chris!” The latter raised his index finger.
“My goodness seems like someone has a little crush on our good friend and dear class president Michael Monroe.”
“Come on, Chris—” He cut Synthya off.
“Aaand, what kind or sizzling eotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining?” He gestured toward Jess with his hand as he talked. “I wonder…?”
“Mike and Em split. We’re together.”
“Woah, drama.”
“Not really, pretty clear cut actually. Em’s out, I’m in.”
“Huh.” Synthya shot up her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest. Chris shook Jess’ letter up in the air and she snatched it back from his hands.
“Alright, alright, let’s just get up to the lodge already. Getting tired of all this nature and junk.”
“Uh, you guys go on ahead. I’m just gonna wait heare for a bit. See who else is coming.”
“You mean Mike?” He teased her.
“What? Uh, I mean, you know, whoever.” Synthya stepped towards the railing, taking a look at this vast wintery mountain landscape. It brought back so many bad memories, but the eerie and ethereal beauty of this place was undeniable.
“Uh huh, Synthya?” She nodded, stepping away as she went to follow Chris, her eyes still langering on the ghostly appearance of the so-called Mount Washington.
[To be continued…]
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Published (08/03/2022) by Andrea
Taglist: @cathrin2405 @maverickscorner
