The Crack of Dawn

Prologue- Brianna

The metal doors of the bus squeaked open letting in all the cold frigid air. Amanda and I both got up at the same time and grabbed our suitcases.

" Have a nice trip" bellowed the old bus driver who switched gears and got ready to drive away. The second I stepped off, the doors swung shut and the bus drove off. A cool breeze blew passed us and somehow made me shiver over all the warm clothes I was wearing.

Amanda took out the large map of the mountain. On the other hand, I grabbed my black wool gloves and quietly put them on before they froze! She pointed over to a small gravel path leading to the left. Then we both made out way onto the path.

It was surprisingly clear of snow despite to the six inches around it. It was like as if someone was already here.

" Come on, the cabin is this way" said Amanda as she put the map back in her suitcase and began walking down the trail. The tall pine trees loomed over us casting a dark shadow in the night. The trail was surprisingly clear of snow and you could see foot prints heading towards the cabin. It could be one of the others, unfortunately there is no reception here in the mountains so we couldn't ask each other.

After about half an hour we finally made it to the cabin. It was a tall three story wooden building overlooking the valley. All the other trails led up to here so you can basically go anywhere you want. As we walked over to the front door we noticed a small group of people standing there. They all had their hands in their jackets pockets shivering.

It was Nina, Kayla, Kai, and Daniel.

" Thank god you made it, we might have freaking freezed to death here" cried Daniel as Amanda opened the door. She quickly turned on the light and we all stepped inside. Unfortunately the cabin was just as cold as the outside. That means that someone has to go into the basement.

" Well, someone is going down into the basement" says Amanda looking at all of us." So, who is it going to be?"

We all knew the basement was going to be terrifying and no one wanted to go. Then out of know where, Daniel stepped forward and took the flashlight out of Amanda's hand. Just as he opened the door leading to the basement he turned around and asked," I'm not going alone."

Kayla sighed and they both went down together into the cold, dark, terrifying, basement. On the other hand, I went over to the grand staircase in the center of the house. I looked up to a beautiful chandelier hanging right above my head.

Kai quickly ran passed me up the stairs saying,"I'm getting the mountain view."

I quickly followed him up the stairs. He ran into the first bedroom he saw but this was my parents cabin, I knew exactly where the best view was from. I quietly snuck over to my parents bedroom. It was the only bedroom in the entire house that had the entire view of the valley. I opened the tall wooden door into the master bedroom. It was just how I remembered it ten years ago.

Amanda, Elyssa and I would always play hide and seek, I would hide in the wardrobe until they walk in, then I would sneak out of the room and lock the door. Because yes, the lock was on the outside.
I slowly walked passed all of the beautiful intricate dusty furniture and made my way straight to the balcony. The birch wood floors got really squeaky and I felt like they were going to break. I ignored it and finally reached the other end of the room. I stared through the cold frozen glass and reached for the handle. The instant I touched the rigid metal bar, the bedroom door opened up. I let go and turned around in shock! It was just Mateus.

" Oh hey sorry, didn't know you were in here" he greeted me awkwardly. Even though he apologized, he still stepped into the room. I rolled my eyes, sighed, and continued to try and open the door. I squeezed the handle tight but it just wouldn't budge.
" Um hey, can you try and open this door. It's freaking hard" I asked him as I tried to open it once again. He casually walked over to where I was standing and motioned for me to move out of the way with his hands. I stepped back and watched as he wrapped his hands around the handle and tugged on it. It still wouldn't budge. I held in my laugh but I started to choke and I bursted into laugher.

" Hahaha. Even you couldn't open it" I cracked up as I put my hands to my stomach and continued to laugh at him. Mateus just rolled his eyes and mimicked me making fun of him. Then he looked back at the door and flipped something.

" The freaking door was locked. That's all" he said raising his voice so I could hear him. I ignored him and he just walked away and continued to look at all of the old furniture. I slid the door open and stepped outside once again into the cold freezing air. I took one step onto the wood and it creaked so much and loud that I jumped back in fear. It's nothing, just some old wood, I thought to myself.

" Well you have fun, I'm going to go and get some snacks" yelled Mateus. I took in a deep breath of air and started making my way over to the edge of the balcony. Just as I heard the bedroom door open, the balcony wood split in half!

I screamed in fear as I stepped back but it just cracked again making the situation even worse! I heard Mateus run over to me but it was too late! The entire balcony cracked, and split, and shattered to pieces. I tried to jump out of the way but it just fell down. I leaped forward and grabbed base of the sliding glass door. All of the wood and metal fell down the side of a steep hill and descended into the forest! My hands were slipping, and I couldn't hold on anymore.

Just as Mateus reached me, my hands slipped." NOOO, BRIANNA" yelled Mateus as he reached out to try and grab my hand. We both missed and I went tumbling down into the snow! It splashed in my face as I slid down the steep hill. Wood branches smacked my face as I tried to grab something to hold onto. I finally I managed to grab a branch and hold myself. I couldn't stand up but at least I could hold on to something stable.

I looked up at the cabin, I could see Mateus and the rest of my friends gather around looking out into the forest." HELPPP" I screamed out hoping to get their attention. Then the branch snapped and I started to fall again. Just as it snapped I heard a wolf nearby howl! I grabbed for the snow but there was nothing to hold onto. The cold got to my body and it went numb. I couldn't move any more. I closed my eyes and I heard the wolf howl again! Suddenly there was a gunshot and everything went black.

PS: One of my friends named Elyssa actually helped me come up with the idea for this story since I kind of based it off of a short story that she did for a school project. Hers was kind of like her own twist on Until Dawn and I based at least my characters on hers, and some scenes and stuff like that. So don't let me have all of the credit, give her some credit too