Until Dawn - Personal AU

Chapter 1 - Memento Mori - Ten Hours Until Dawn

Cat - Path to Cable Car Station

I rest on the bus, listening to a podcast on my phone. Memories of last year flash back to me as the two speak about the incident of the Hatcheter twins. God, I feel fucking awful for being passed out drunk during the prank. If I was awake and not being stupid, then both of them wouldn't be, I assume, dead.

When the podcast ended, I decided to replay a message from Cedar out of pure boredom. It's a video. "Well, hello, friends and fans!" he starts, and then immediately decides the intro is shit and starts again. "Well, hello, friends and fans. It's beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year. First off, I gotta say I'm super excited to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!

"But, let's just 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 Laurel and Verity that we're all still here together, thinking of them. I really wanna spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments that we'll never forget, for the sake of my sisters, you know?

"Okay... so! Let's party like there's no tomorrow, okay? And make this one a trip we will never forget, alright? Yes!" Sometimes I wonder what the hell is wrong with Cedar. Like, "fans"? What?

At the sound of the bus opening up its doors, I collect my stuff and get off, taking in the fresh mountain air. I walk towards the wooden gate, trudging through the thick snow and open the gate. That's when I hear what sounds like footsteps in the snow.

21:02

"Hello? Is someone there?" I shrug it off and continue walking on the path towards Cedar's vacation home. As I get closer to the iron gate, I notice what appears note on it. On closer examination, I realize it says Gate's busted, climb over. -Maya "Maya"? Well, fuck. She hates me. At least, according to Maddie.

I make my way over to the stone wall, ready to climb it. Okay, that's a lie. I'm not athletic at all. I'm lazy as shit. Gym class has always sucked and will always suck. I begin to painstakingly scale the rocky wall as I mutter curse words about how much I hate exercising. Three minutes later, I make it to the top of the wall and bravely hop down into the snow. "Fuck!" I blurt out on landing.

I just continue walking when I see a little squirrel on the ground. It's scurrying around and seems to be looking for food. I reach into my pocket and pull out some nuts, crouching down to feed the squirrel. "Hey, little guy. Hungry?" I try my hardest to stay completely still as I bend down to his level and put my hand out. Luckily, it comes over and takes the nuts from my hand, quickly running away.

I stand up once again and keep walking when I get distracted for the one millionth time. This time, it's by graffiti saying "THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL" in red, thick letters covering a map. "Who the hell bothers to graffiti all the way up here?"

I finally notice the cable car station is only a few feet away, spotting a crazily patterned backpack sitting on one of the benches. Typical Maya. I lazily walk over and shout, "Maya, you here? Your bag's here... Where are you? You're not in the bag, are you?" Her phone suddenly buzzes and I can see it sticking out of the bag. "Hey, what've we got here?" I mumble, snatching the phone. It was a message from Madison. She wrote, Hey Maya! Are you there yet? Can't wait to see you! "Of course." I murmur.

"What the hell are you doing with my phone?" I hear from behind. As I'm turning around, the person grabs my wrist and swipes the phone. "Don't go snooping through my stuff!"