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A YEAR HAD gone by since the Washington twins had disappeared without a trace.
There had been many leads that the police acquired in the beginning of the investigation, but after several months of searching the mountain and its many abandoned structures, the twins still hadn't been found and there was no sign of them anywhere.
All of the leads fell through.
There hadn't even been any evidence that the twins had gone into the woods to begin with; the snow covered any footprints that had been made and there was no DNA or signs of a struggle in the surrounding areas — it was like they had vanished into thin air.
Thorough searches of the mountain were proved useless after the search dogs couldn't pick up any scents and the police still lacked solid leads.
Without leads to keep it warm, cases like these — disappearance cases with extremely strange circumstances — often went cold.
The case of the missing Washington twins was going cold and their brother, Josh Washington, was going insane over it.
Therapy was the only thing that anyone could think of to help him. Maybe giving him a psychologically-knowledgeable person who could lend a supportive ear would provide him with at least some solace.
Alas, that was only what everyone hoped.
Going to therapy every week did hardly anything except create another drain on the Washington's bank account since they had been spending as much as they could on the best detectives the police force had to offer.
Despite having Florence at his side every single day, Josh felt like he was falling apart. She was the only thing that kept him together; she was the one thing he had to live for after his life crumbled with the disappearance of his beloved sisters.
Florence was just as distraught with her best friends being gone, but she held herself together for Josh, silenced her despair, and swallowed her tears until she went home and locked herself in her room. There, she would sit at her computer and print out whatever she could that could possibly be a useful lead on the twins' disappearance, only to be disappointed when it fell through. That's when she would have a breakdown amidst a sea of newspaper articles and crime scene photos, her teardrops staining the crumpled papers.
Florence hardly ever socialized with anyone besides Josh anymore as a result of her recent cycle of being with Josh and isolating herself.
Their friends kept in contact with the two of them, but no one ever came to see them.
Except for Sam.
The three of them — Josh, Florence, and Sam — had become close friends through their shared pain and guilt. Their bonds grew strong, stronger than they had ever been before. Sam was there for Florence and Josh when they needed someone to talk to, and it was comforting to know that they had someone else — other than each other — to count on.
Thus, when Josh suddenly broke out of his unending spiral of despair and depression, they were both exceptionally shocked. Especially since the anniversary of the twins' disappearance was the day after his supposed emotional-breakthrough.
He made a video inviting the broken friend group to spend the weekend at the lodge starting on February second, exactly a year after Hannah and Beth went missing.
Everyone was surprised and wary of returning to the place that broke them apart, but they came together to support Josh and ensure that their friend had people to hold him up. After all, none of them could imagine what it must've felt like to have sisters go missing and to never return, and to have no closure on top of that.
What they didn't know was what they would unleash that weekend and how badly they would regret ever going back to the lodge.
━━━━━━━
Florence drove up to Blackwood Pines by her lonesome after Josh informed her that he had already been there to complete preparations before everyone arrived. She was thankful for her solitude, for it gave her time to clear her head. After all, she was on the way up to the very mountains that hid her best friends away in a place that couldn't be found.
The radio hummed quietly in the background as she drove, the only other sound being the flurries of snow landing on her windshield as the mountain tops fleeted by. However, static occasionally interfered with the strength of the radio frequency as she traveled further into the mountains.
"Today is the one year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington. Sheriff Annie who was in charge of the investigation. . ."
"Thanks for having me, Marty."
". . . listeners an update on Hannah and Beth Washington, the twins who are still missing."
"One year ago tonight, the Washington girls left the safety of their parents' lodge and headed out into a snow storm. . ."
". . . 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."
Florence remembered reading about the police taking in a person of interest for questioning on one of the many all-nighters that she spent researching the case. She hadn't been able to dig up much other than the fact that the man had a rough past regarding the Washington's.
Her grip tightened on the steering wheel as she continued to listen to the choppy radio conversation.
"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 sanatorium 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 Washington's tonight. . . their son Josh on the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Hannah and Beth Washington."
Florence switched the radio channel to the top-forty station, opting to listen to bad pop songs rather than another police interview about theories and potential fragments of evidence regarding Hannah and Beth's case.
As she got closer to Mount Washington, the pit in her stomach expanded and sent a line of frigid chills down her spine.
Seeing the familiar roads and abandoned structures that decorated Mount Washington was nothing short of unsettling and rendered the same repeated question throughout her mind:
