The Mountain

Chapter 13

We spend the next hour finding James. I don't know what to say to Johnathan right now, so I stay silent, letting him have his space. Silent tears drop down his face every now and then, mourning for the kind girl with a gentle, healing touch. I'm still numb myself, knowing that the vibrant girl has now gone cold. The way she helped me when the bear clawed my leg imprints itself into my mind. I was planning on asking her what I could do to help my back heal faster.

When we reach the dark canyon, I find James sitting against the stone wall. Johnathan makes a strangled noise with his throat as his eyes catch the two bodies a little ways away. He crumples onto his knees next to Eloise and grabs her hand, holding as his body is wracked with sobs. James stands and meets me where I stand. I'm frozen in place, staring at Eloise and the boys broken bodies.

"Look away," James says, gently pressing his hand on my face to turn it. "It won't help to stare."

I jerk my head back and turn on my heels abruptly, leaving James as I go to stand behind Johnathan.

"They fell," Johnathans voice comes out as a whisper. "Look at how they're laying."

I glance up at the cliff above us. There must've been something up there that forced them over the edge. I can't imagine them both just tripping and falling on accident.

"James and I can go check it out," I offer. "If you want to stay here for a minute."

He nods silently. I turn back to James and motion for him to follow me. I lead him out of the canyon and we take twenty minutes to find the top. The setting sun doesn't help with trying to find evidence of what could've happened but we do find a backpack laying unattended. The metal tag says 6 Eloise. I take a breath as I kneel down to examine it.

"Hey Adylin?" James says, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"The other guy who was with Eloise, he's the one I saw in my flashback. Remember?" He asks.

I look up at him. "Really? You knew him?"

"I think so," he shrugs. "Just thought it might be important."

I nod and look down to see Johnathan still sitting besides the two of them. He doesn't look up at us and my heart breaks to see him like this.

Something at the very edge catches my eye. Scuff marks. They're everywhere. Footprints cover the whole area and the lack of grass around here helps identifying them. I find three clear shoe marks, all of them different. They have the same soles but much different sizes. The largest one I guess is the boy with Eloise, but the other two are both smaller and women's going off of the small size and curve. It's obvious there was a third person here.

"Oh my god," I whisper to myself, realization dawning on me.

James turns around and gives me a confused look. "What?"

"They were pushed," I tell him. I point out the footprints and even though we try to find something that tells us differently, nothing can prove me wrong. James has a scared look on his face and I can tell what he's thinking: who killed them and will they kill more?

"We have to tell him," he says, motioning towards the canyon.

"I know," I tell him.

We walk back slowly, trying to put off our task. When we finally reach Johnathan, he has began pacing the floor. He looks up and sees us, half jogging to meet us in the middle. "What did you find?" He asks desperately.

I look at the ground and then back up at him. "Well, um, we think they were pushed over the edge. There was evidence of an attack or struggle, and there was three different footsteps. The person is probably still out there."

Johnathan looks at us in shock. "Why would someone do that?"

I shrug just as James pipes up. "Because only five people can cross the finish line. The rest... well they die."

"How do you know?" Johnathan immediately snaps. His eyes go wide with anger.

"The letter said so," I remember. "When we first opened our black boxes."

"I forgot about that," Johnathan sighs. "I'm sorry, James. I'm just angry right now."

I am forced to interrupt the bromance because of the growing darkness. "We should find a place to stay for the night. It's getting dark and I don't think any of us want to stay here."

They both nod and follow me out of the canyon. James and I lead Johnathan to the spot we found the backpack and the footsteps. He agrees that we can't refute what I found. Before leaving, he opens Eloise'a bag and pulls out her first aid kit and notebook. Neither of us question him as he zips them into his backpack.

"Let's go," he nods and I manage to give him a weak smile before turning away.

. . . 

My dreams that night are filled with flashbacks.

I'm younger than my last flashback. I sit at a kitchen table with my family, Well the family I have left. My father and brothers sit in silence around me. Part of me understands what has happened, but not the finality of it. My young brain cannot process death like the others can. A bottle of dark liquid sits in front of my father untouched, he brought it out earlier just incase, but is now determined to go without it.

A soft knock at the door is loud against our silence. Without a word, I jump out of my chair and navigate the small house to the front door. When I open it, a family stands there, smiling at me. Two little girls my age stand by their parents feet, they both have red hair tied back in ponytails. One stays planted there but the other rushes forward to embrace me. Somehow her small little arms around me make me fall to a dark place inside. I let tears flow down my cheeks as the rest of the family comes forward to help. The father embraces mine with a tight hug and a clap on the back while the mother takes my brothers in her arms.

I wake with a start. The last moments of the flashback still playing in my head. The picture of the mom embracing my brothers reminds me that my own was missing.