Chapter Four

Y/N's POV

Sam stands up from her place on the stairs. "Okay, if we're all good here, I'm going to go take a bath."

"Sounds good," Josh says, staring at the fireplace. "Oh wait! I forgot to give Mike and Jess the keys!"

He rushes off, leaving me with Chris and Ashley. 

I just sit on the couch, my legs pulled up to my chest. I look up once I feel the couch shift as someone sits next to me. 

It's Chris. 

"You alright, 'Luv?" Chris asks me in his silly British accent. 

I laugh. "Yeah. Thanks."

I look over as Ashley stares at Chris lovingly, admiring his sweetness. 

"Thanks for sticking with me, guys," I tell them. 

"Of course," Ashley says, sitting next to Chris. "You're special to us. We aren't going to let anyone keep you down in the dumps."

I smile appreciatively. 

Chris cocks his head to the side in curiosity. "Wanna talk about it?"

I shake my head. "Maybe some other time."

Chris nods. "Alright. Well, we're always here if you need us."

"Thanks, guys. You're the best."

Josh comes back in. "Alrighty! Imma tackle this fire now. You all just stand back and watch my skills."

The three of us laugh as Josh kneels next to the fireplace. 

I just hope Matt is doing alright. It's scary out there. And I have a bad feeling...

Jess's POV

Once Josh gives us the keys, Mike starts up the generator and we head off to the cabin, some selfies, flirtatious remarks, and music on the way. 

After I fall down and Mike and I make it through a creepy mine area, we are finally well on our way to the cabin. 

I'm growing more and more excited for the cabin by the minute. After all these flirtations, I'm ready for some payoff.

That's when we reach a large fallen tree. 

"Dammit. Josh, couldn't you have at least cleared out the path before sending us up here?" Mike questions, exasperated. 

 I scoff. "Really?"

"What?"

"I didn't figure you for the glass half empty type."

Mike gestures to the tree. "You got a better idea?"

I turn around to face the tree, my arms up. "Stand back, Debbie Downer."

I hop onto the trunk of the fallen tree as Mike calls, "Oh, booooo! Show off!"

I grab a snowball. "Hey, Mike. You got something on your face." I throw the snowball right in his face. "Boom!"

"Okay, okay," Mike says, turning around to grab a snowball. 

I don't hear the rest of what he says because I quietly hop off the trunk and run away, giving a scream as I go. 

Boy, pranks never get old. 

Ashley's POV

Josh finally gives up on the fire momentarily, calling up to Sam to ask for help. All the rest of us have already tried. 

Once her response comes back negative, Josh tries to get the fire going on his own again. 

"Come on," he mumbles, getting more frustrated. 

"How long do you think it will take him?" Chris asks. 

Y/N just shrugs. 

I smile. "My money's on blankets for everyone."

Chris takes this opportunity to use one of his accents, assuring Josh, "You can do it, man. We believe in you." 

"Yeah! Totally! Woo!" I say, Y/N joining me in chanting, "Let's go Jo-osh. Let's go!"

Josh stands up, momentarily giving up on the fire again. "Alright, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you three."

"What?" I question. 

"Okay, well, I am pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have a... spirit board," Josh informs us. 

Y/N raises an eyebrow. "A what?"

 "Wow, you have a 'spirit board'?" Chris shakes his head in disbelief. 

Josh nods. "Yeah, yeah. They're fun, right?"

Chris, Y/N, and I walk up to Josh, Chris shaking his head again. "Those things are a joke, man. They don't do anything."

"No way, bro," Josh counters. "We used to do it all the time. Me and...well..."

That's when Sam walks down the stairs. "Hey, Josh. No hot water's kinda major oversight, doncha think?"

"Yeah, yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler. It's in the basement." Josh points to us. "You guys see if you can find the spirit board."

I nod, backing up to leave. "Chris and Y/N, let's go find it! It'll be like a scavenger hunt!"

Y/N's POV

I hip bump Chris and wag my eyebrows, pointing where Ashley went. He rolls his eyes and pretends to reluctantly follow.

"Ummm... okay... I guess so," he grumbles. 

I laugh, following behind him. Josh gives me a quick wink as I pass by him. I wink back, letting him know that I understand his message. Looks like I'm on matchmaker duty. 

"Rad," I hear Josh say as we leave. "You're not gonna regret it."

Ashley, Chris, and I search for the spirit board for a little bit and I am about to sneak off and leave the lovebirds alone before Chris throws his hands up in the air in exasperation. 

"I'm going to go look downstairs," he announces. 

"Chris, I think we should stay together," I say. "I think it will be more fun that way."

Chris shakes his head. "We need to find it. We'll cover more ground if I go downstairs."

Chris walks away and I follow him, yelling, "Chris! Christopher Hartley!"

Chris stops, turning to me with a fake glare. "Excuse me, miss, but did you just use my full name?"

"No. I didn't use your middle name. But I can if you want."

Chris drops the fake glare and holds up his hands pleadingly. "Please don't. You know how embarrassed I am by it."

I laugh. "Alright. So will you come back?"

Chris raises an eyebrow. "Why do you want me to stick with you guys so badly?"

I sigh in exasperation. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you. I wanted you and Ashley to spend some alone time together. I was going to sneak off."

"Why?"

I roll my eyes. "You and Ashley are seriously the most oblivious people I know. I wanted you to make a move! That's why!!"

Chis's face grows red. "Wait. How did you know about that?"

"Your crush? Chris, oh, Chris, it's very obvious to everyone but you and Ashley."

Chris laughs, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Alright, alright. I'll make a move later."

"Come on, Chris. What if by the time you're ready to do it, it's too late? You can't chicken out. Trust me. Nothing good will come out of it."

Chris's expression changes to one of concern. "Y/N, I'm really worried about you. What's going on? Please tell me. I'm not going to leave you alone. You're like a sister to me. You can tell me."

I sigh. "Alright. The truth is... I have a crush on Matt. I have for years. And I... I've never told him. If I had just told him when I wanted to last year, maybe he wouldn't be with Emily. And maybe it would have distracted the others from pulling a prank on Hannah if we had gotten together or something that night. I don't know."

Chris's eyes widen before softening again. "Oh, Y/N. I'm sorry. But it's really not your fault about Hannah. I don't think that anything would have stopped them."

I look down at the floor. "Yeah, but Matt might have reconsidered dating Emily. I am still too late with that."

"Hey," Chris coaxes. "I wouldn't give up on that just yet. Keep having hope."

I look up to see him smiling at me.   

I smile back. "Thanks, Chris."

"Of course!"

"Promise not to tell anyone?"

He nods. "Promise."

I sigh. "Alright. I'll let you go downstairs as long as you promise me that you'll confess to Ashley later tonight." 

Chris makes a weird noise as he sighs in exasperation. "Alright, alright. Deal."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, yeah. I promise." Chris sticks his pinky out. 

I lock pinkies with him and say, "Now the bond of the promise can never be broken."

Chris laughs. "Alright. I'm going to hurry downstairs. I want to check up on Josh and Sam. See what they're up to. See if it's scandalous."

I laugh, watching Chris run downstairs. 

"Go find the board!" I call after him. 

I shake my head once he's out of sight. "That weirdo."

"What?"

I jump at the sound and turn around to find Ashley behind me. 

"Jeez! You scared me! How long have you been there?"

Ashey shrugs. "Just got here. Why?"

"Uh. No reason."

"Okay," Ashley shrugs again and turns to continue searching for the spirit board. 

Eventually, we just give up and sit on the couch to talk as we wait for the others.

Then I hear Chris's voice boom up the stairs. "Jokemaster!"

"I said nothing about jokes," I hear Sam say. "I said your prank, which was dumb-"

"Holy crap. You were scared. Admit it," Josh tells her. 

"I was not!"

"Come on, you totally pissed yourself!"

"JOSH!"

The others reach the living room and Ashley and I stand up to greet them. I take one good look at Chris's monk costume and burst out laughing. 

"What in the world are you wearing?" Ashley asks Chris. 

"I found my true calling," he explains. 

Ashley steps closer to him, folding her hands. "Mhhm. Please tell me you're going to take a vow of silence."

Chris moves his mouth like he's talking, but no sound comes out. 

Ashley laughs. "Okay okay. Did you at least find the thingy?"

Chris lifts up the board. "Boi-oi-oi-oing. Here's our one-way ticket to the spirit realm."

"You know what? You know what? No," Sam objects. "I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball. Alright? So have fun..." Sam retreats up the stairs, pausing at one point to warn, "Oh but watch out for that Josh. He's a schemer!"

"Okay," Josh says. 

Once Sam is out of sight, I turn to Josh. "Hey, I think I'm going to skip out too if you don't mind. I just want to do some reflecting, you know? That girl fight earlier really took a toll on me."

Josh nods in understanding. "Yeah. Of course. Just holler if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks," I tell him. "Bye, guys."

I give them all a wave and then retreat to the room I'm staying in. I pull out some snacks from my luggage and decide to take a quick nap after eating some of them. I wake up to the sound of Josh screaming. 

I immediately hop out of bed and run to the source. 

I get there just in time to see Ashley rush to the kitchen door, crying, "That was Josh!"

"It came from the kitchen," Chris says. 

I am just about to ask the two what's going on when Ashley opens the door and yells, "Josh!" 

"Josh! We're coming! Hold on!" Chris calls. 

Ashley then gets pulled in and the door closes, causing Chris to rush for the handle and try to open it. 

I hear Ashley struggling inside. 

Chris keeps trying the door. "Ashley!? Ash, what's going on!? Lemme in! Ashley!?"

Chris gives up on the door and I join him in trying to force it open. We succeed, falling down on the tiled floor.

I look up just in time to watch Chris try to stand. "Ash? Hey-!"

He gets punched in the face by a masked man and knocked out cold. 

"Chris!!!!" I yell. 

The masked man turns his attention to me, pulling out a needle with something in it. 

I sit up and scoot away from him as fast as I can. "STAY AWAY! PLEASE! OH MY GOSH! MATT! HELP ME! PLEASE!!!" 

I scream as the masked man laughs and sticks the needle in my neck. My vision blurs and everything goes black.

Matt's POV

Earlier...

I pause outside the lodge, staring at the door. 

"Hello, earth to Matt? You gonna come with me to get my bag?" Emily asks from behind me. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming," I assure her, giving a good last look at the lodge before turning around to follow Emily. 

Something's nagging at me. But what?

I walk ahead and open the door of the gate for Emily. I decide to lighten the mood, so I bow and say, "Here you are, madam."

Emily walks through the gate. "Why thank you, sir."

I let Emily walk ahead for a bit before saying, "Hey, Em?"

She pauses. "Yeah?"

"I think you should chill a little bit," I tell her. 

"Excuse me?" 

I sigh. "I just want all of us to have a good time, you know? I'm just looking out for you. And Y/N... I think you really hurt her feelings."

Emily rolls her eyes. "I don't care."

"Em, please. She's important to me. You know she's like my best friend, right?"

"Totally. That's why you two didn't talk for a year."

Emily keeps walking, leaving me to sigh and follow her. 

We pause as a light comes on suddenly. 

"Okay. Alright," I say, continuing to walk once Emily does. 

"Hey! Doofus! Come this way," Emily orders when I start going down a different path. 

I backtrack, walking back to her. It would be a great opportunity to make a flirtatious joke, but it just feels wrong at this point.   

"I think we should go back," I tell her. 

Emily shakes her head. "Nope. We're not going back to the peanut gallery yet. We need to find my bag which YOU left."

I sigh. "Alright. I'll follow you."

I trail behind Emily until she stops suddenly. "Matt?"

"Yeah?" I inquire.

"Despite what you said earlier, I'm still thankful that you're helping me find my bag. I know I can be a little high maintenance." 

I smile. "It's no prob, babe." I decide that I'm worrying for nothing and add, "But you gotta remember there's more to this guy than just bein' a lean, mean, luggage lifting machine."

"You gonna back that up?"

"All day."

Emily laughs. "What?"

"All day," I repeat. 

Emily continues to walk. "Wait. What does that mean?"

"Like 'all day... long.' I was being like... sexy."

Emily and I walk for a while before I take a pause to look around me, soaking the nature in. "Huh. Cool." I lift my hands up to the sky, enjoying it. 

"Ooooh! It's so pretty out here tonight...!" Emily agrees. 

"Wow. Yeah..."

Emily walks to me and puts her hands on my waist. "And it's so nice to be here with you, muscle man."

I gently hold her arms. "I'm not all muscle. There are some brains in here too."

Emily pulls away playfully before coming back. "Well, you got enough brains to like me. So let's see that brawn."

"You ever done it outside before?" I ask.

Emily walks away. "Outside of what?"

"My car."

"I like your car. Roomy."

I gesture at the wide outdoors. "This ain't roomy enough for you?"

I walk over to the wooden picnic table nearby and start clearing the snow off. 

"Ah... You know what? Maybe there's a better spot," Emily pleads. "There are lotsa places out here."

"I already started clearing this off for us. Like a gentleman."

"Come on, let's look around."

I ignore her and clear more snow off the table, finding a heart scratched into it with "Mike + Em" scratched into the heart.

"Oh. Would you look at that," I say. 

It's then when I take a step back. What the hell am I doing? I shouldn't be out here with Emily. I should be...

I just need to get back to the lodge. 

"Hey..." Emily coaxes. 

"What the hell, Em."

"Don't be jealous-!"

"Why would you take me here?" I demand. "Make me feel like a chump."

Emily reaches for me. "Don't be so sensitive. I'm here with you. Right now. Mike's the chump." She takes my hand. 

I back up, shaking my head. "I'm not so sure..."

I remember what I saw through the telescope. 

"Matt, what's wrong with you?"

"I want to go back to the lodge," I tell her. 

"Oh. Okay. But you told me you'd help me find my bag."

I sigh. "Yeah. Okay. But no more pausing. We just have to get to it. I really need to get back."

Emily nods, turning around and walking again. 

We walk without stopping for a long time until we reach a pig head on a wooden stake. 

"Hey... what the hell?" Emily questions. 

"Somebody made a snowman?" 

"Uh... that was not there before."

Emily points to something underneath the pig head. "Is that a note?"

I reach for it, taking it off. It reads, "Welcome back." It looks like it's written in blood. 

"Woah," I breathe. 

"Uhhh..."

"It's gotta be Chris," I assure her. "Or Josh. They're just trying to mess with us."

"Kind of uncool guys," Emily says. "I don't like this."

I look around, now wary of my surroundings. "Me neither."

The light overhead shuts off. "Hohhh!" I exclaim. 

"Matt!"

"What the hell is going on? What did this?"

"You know, I'm kinda not giving a crap about my bag anymore. Kinda just wanna split."

"Agreed," I say, backing up with Emily before taking off running back to the lodge. 

I'm getting a bad feeling about this. I hope Y/N is alright. I shouldn't have ever left her.