Guidlines

THREE

We climb back into the cars, still shaken up. We stood there for half an hour debating weather to go back to the city or continue on to the cabin. It was up to me to decide. I wasn't in any kind of mood for a week away in the middle of no where with no protection, but going back to the city, back to my apartment alone didn't sound all that appealing either. The cabin was the safer option. It would be so easy for Chester to find my apartment all he would have to do was look online. I couldn't do as much as sneeze without the press asking how I was dealing with the death of my family. The chances of him finding a log cabin in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere were extremely slim. We didn't speak for the rest if the car ride apart from when Jordan asked if we could stop for a smoke. After what we had all just heard no one blamed him for wanting to smoke the stress away. We kept the radio off and sat in silence, someone would occasionally ask how far away we were.
"Why do you think that dude was messing around in your car" Jordan asks, checking behind him to see if the mystery car was behind, it wasn't, there was no sign that anyone had ever been on this road. The cement looked fresh, no road markings painted, no oil spills or tier marks.
"Probably, didn't find anything valuable and took off" I say before anyone else.
"Why didnt he steal the car, Kian left the keys in" Gen asks.
"Well he'd have to leave his own car behind, his finger prints would have been all over it. He would have made five miles before being court" Jordan says, see I told you he was smart, both in akademiks and life. I look down at the sat nav again. Twenty minutes, just as I read it Kian flicks on his indicator and slowly turns the car right onto a dirt road. Dirt and dust erupts up in a cloud coating the windscreen.
"Shit" Kian groans, turning in the wipers to clean the screen. A arch of dust stayed on the window only pissing Kian off more. He didn't need to say anything, we all knew that once we got to the cabin he would spend at least an hour scrubbing at the metal and wiping away the dirt. The tier tracks from the other car lay out in front of us like a guide.
The minutes ticked by slowly, the car was silent, so quiet that I could hear the ticking of Kian's watch, every second, each and every tick.
Slowly we pulled up to the reception. A long wooden building, it looked hand made, long logs strategically place on top of each other, the roof was also made of wood and coverd with thin sticks, dry and fragile. The resort clearly didn't have to many cleaners on hand. The steps leading up to the door were coverd in dead leaves, a thin layer of dust coated the railings and cob webs sat in the corner of the doorway. The others were already inside of the reception building, we meet them inside, the door crying as I push it open. The cleaners, if any, should really look in to oiling the door. The woman behind the desk was old, maybe about 60, thin lines coverd her forehead and the corners of her eyes. She had two lines down the sides of her mouth making her look like a wooden puppet. We didn't bother asking her name. Her hair was thin and grey scraped back against her head. Personally her eyes scared me, they were bright blue almost piercing. They seemed to see right though me, into my soul.
Dalles speaks to her as she hands him the key to the cabin along with a sun bleached map.
"Any damages to the lodge and your paying for it you hear me" he voice was rough and southern like she had smoked three packs a day the whole of her life.
"Follow the path for twenty, car park by the chair lift, if that don't work then take the steps. There steep and long but it's all you got" she says before sitting back in her old chair and pitting her nose into a magazine from three years ago. It's pages had to faded.
We leave back through squeaky door with the old woman giving us a leaving statement.
"You kids be careful out there" the door closes behind us and we climb back into out vehicles to take us the next mile down the dirt path to the chair lift. The trees seemed to press in on every side, well not that they didn't seem to, they were closing in. Kian cused about the trees scratching his paint job if the road got any smaller. Finally the car park came into sight. A small concrete square big enough for maybe six cars at the most. Gathering our bags and cases from the trunks I wonder over to Sharla who seemed to be in deep convosation Clay. He had moved his hair from his eyes so that she could see them. She noticed me walking over and gave him hug and saying somthing to him that I couldn't make out before meeting me half way.
"What's up with Clay" I ask her trying not to sound to concerned. She looks back at him as she speaks.
"He thinks that everybody hates him" I could see the sympathy on her face. I didn't need to tell her that nobody hated him. She knew that already. He was new, it was just going to take time for them to be comfortable around him. It was going to take me a while to be comfortable around them. I take her case and walk with both my hands full.
"Lets get this party started people" Dalles tells pulling out two large heavy looking blue coolers filled with alcohol. Izzy too had a back pack filled with glass bottles containing alcohol. Apparently the cabin was fully stocked with enough food for ten people for a week. But by the look of the reception building the food had probably been sitting there for years, just like the receptionist. Kian called everyone over to the entrance to the chair lift. It was surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the resort. There were three carts from what I could see, the one in front of us, one right at the top, a hundred meters up and another halfway between the other two. He turned one button and pressed another. All of a sudden the chairlift came to life. Buzzing with sound. It seemed so loud in the peaceful quiet of the forest. Bright lights illuminated the entire structure, though you couldn't tell.
Chair lift was an odd choice of words. They were more like glass cages than chairs. It was large, glass on both sides. A line of metal seats bellow them. I helped move in all the bags and watch as one by one everyone got inside. Dalles and Izzy sat on either side of the cart not sharing a single glance. Kian sat inbetween Gen and Tasha flirting with both of them equally as hard. I sat beside Sharla and offers Clay the seat next to me. I think Clay was a little uncomfortable, Sharla had her legs laying across mine and a couple of time he shifted away so that her feet would stop nudging him. Jordan placed the last bag in the cart.
"Oh for fuck sake" he tells, slamming his hand against the open door to the cart. He didn't sound angry, more frustrated.
"Dude, what the fuck" Kian groans slightly standing his head from side to side. Just enough won't be tips of his hair twitched.
"Someone's got to press the button to get this hunk of shit to start" he explains putting his hands on his hips.
Kian let's out a big puff of air as he stands to his feet.
"Alright get in"
"No it's fine, I'll do it" Jordan wines
"Well then I'm coming with you" Kian offers. Walking out of the cart before Jordan has a chance to deny his offer. I'm not sure which one presses the button but the door closes in front of them leaving them outside. The car shakes and begins to move away slowly