Guidlines

NINE

We gatherd in one of the rooms, cloths littering the floor, Dalles didn't speak, he sat between the two beds rocking back and forth hugging his knees tightly. Izzy was dealing with the situation much better than he was. She hadn't stopped shaking but unlike Dalles, she wasn't muttering the word dead a hundred times between long lingering silences. We knew we had to do somthing, Clay hadn't seen the mess of blood and matter in the other room, I had almost had to drag Dalles into the room by his feet. He had lost a show, he hadn't seemed to notice though. He didn't seem to notice anything that was happening around him.
"What are we going to do" Asks Clay, he was calm, I was grateful that there was still one of us thinking straight. By now Jordan and Kian would be on the chair lift slowly decending to reception. If they called the police, they would find Chester, well what was left of Chester and we would all be done for. Clay had his hand on the doorknob  wanting to see what had sent us all on a downhill spiral but he couldn't muster up the courage to do it.
"We need to go" Izzy says after a other ten minutes of pacing back and forth.
"I'm not going back out there" i tell them, my head was shaking, only when I started getting a headache did I realize I was doing it. The room was small but it did have a window just above the beds. The latch on the window was open but the pane was closed. Looking at the window Izzy speaks again.
"Okay, we can go out the window" she suggests, he jumps out first landing firmly on her feet. Now she was down there was no way of her climbing back up so instead she holds her hands together in a cup shape for Clay to stand on, she lowers him down and does the same for me. Dalles refuses to move so we leave, closing the window and telling him not to move. We would come back for him, it was more important than ever that we got in touch with Izzy's mom. She would sort this out. We just didn't know weather Jordan and Kian would call her or the station. Only one of those options would  end with us in jail.
Clay uncertainty takes the lead leaving me to hold Izzy upright, the adrenaline wore of quickly, the slower we moved the more obvious it was. We creeped around the outside of the cabin. Cautiously if we ran into the bear out here we were done for. She seemed to know what I was thinking, after inhaling deeply she asked if she should go back inside to get the shot gun, neither me or Clay wanted to go back inside and we didn't want to let Izzy go in alone so we left it and prayed that the bear had gone far away. The path to the chair lift station felt like it had grown putting an extra ten minutes onto the walk. When we got their the caridge was still, several meters away from its dock like the button had been pressed lunching the cart and stopped when it was far enough away to stop anyone reaching out and touching it.
"Sharla must have gone back to the cabin" Clay rushes twisting round for a sign that she was still close.
"She'll freak if she sees" I tell them.
"Why would she stop the caridge" Says Izzy looking confused messing with the box connected to the cart dock. Clay shouts Sharla's name. The only reply he gets is the muffled yells from inside the carridge. The the doors to the carriage scrape open causing it to wobble from side to side. Kian's and Jordan stand inside holding onto the metal frames to stable themselves. I couldn't see Sharla inside so she must have returned to the cabin. Izzy continues playing with the controls, knocking something that caused the carriage to move back towards us.
"What happened" i ask them pacing over to Izzy at the controls.
When it was two metres away the machine gave a cry of pain, stopping the abruptly. Forcing the cart into another fit of swinging. Kian looks at us for an explanation. Then the lights illuminating the the structure flicker on and off finally deciding on off, sending us into darkness. The sudden change in lighting played with my balance. I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. Izzy reaches out holding my wrist, shouting out to the boys in the carridge.
"Guys be cearful" when the lights went dark, they had been standing on the edge still a couple of meters away from the dirt. One false move and either one of them could fall hundreds of meters down the rock face and become a little to close and personal with one of the trees. We all take out our phones pressing the flash lights on. The drop was longer than I thought. Dust flew over the edge as I peered over into the pit of darkness. The shape of an arm in front of me reaching out.
"You guys are going to have to jump" I tell them unable to reach the hand in front of me.
"Damb are you for real" I hear Jordan say in the darkness. I didn't need to see his face to know it was scrunched up like a raisin. The metal rubs together while they move around inside. Kian's body comes flying through the air crashing into me taking us both down. My phone slips between my fingers, bouncing ones before going over the lip of the cliff.
"Why tell me to jump if your standing right in front of us idiot" Kian groans rolling onto his back.
"Didn't you see the light, idiot" I say back.
"What light"
"The light on my phone that now a mile down there" I tell him nodding towards the drop off.
"My eyes were closed" he shrugs, Izzy helps him to his feet.
"Well why'd you do that for" he doesn't answer me, I could see Jordan now, his tourch on point down into the nothingness.
"Okey, your turn Jordan"
"Erm, I'm good" he says sheepishly taking a step back away from the edge. My eyes had begun adjusting to the light, I could see Kian's hands placed on his hips all sassy. He wanted to say somthing, I could tell by the way he was standing. Leaning in, mouth open. When he didn't I gatherd they still were not on the best of terms after the previous nights inccerdent.
"You have to jump now or you will be in there until the power comes back on" I tell him. Normally Jordan would be the first to do somthing reckless if he thought it was impressive. Maybe that was the trick. Make him think he was impressing someone. It was a long shot but I call out to him again.
"I'll be impressed if you do it without knocking me on my ass"
"Hey" Kian moans shoving me a little, I grab hold of his shirt tricking him into think he had almost pushed over the edge of the cliff. He respond by digging all ten of his didgets into my arm. I hold in the laugh. The image of Chesters body back in the cabin jumps to the front of my mind and the laughs die down, replaced with a feeling of guilt. If he hadn't come here looking for me, if he hadn't come here hopeing to clear his name instead of running while he had the chance he would still be alive now. He wouldn't of been beat to a pulp, he wouldn't of been tied to a chair
He would not have woken up with a giant grizzly bear in his face and he would not have had bullet for  through his school and tears wouldn't be running down my face. Jordan's voice snaps me out of it.
"I'll fall" fear was a new sound in him. He always seemed so tough. The real you comes out in the face of danger.
"Dude your gay gene is showing" Kian shouts like he wasn't two meters away which agitates Jordan.
"Fuck you" he shouts back, but it works. Jordan was in the air kicking off from the safety of the carridge with all of his strength. He lands on all fours crying out in pain. He clutched his knee moaning louder. Kian was by his side in an instant. Telling him that it would be okay and helping him to his feet. He puts pressure on his right knee and groans again.
"What are you doing here anyway" Kian asks assisting Jordan by placing his arm around his own neck. No one wanted to answer his question.
"You left Dalles with the gun" Jordan says still in pain limping along with the help of Kian.
"I killed him" Izzy weeps.
"Really, I know you were having problems but killing Dalles, bit extreme don't you think Izzy" Kian jokes.
"Come on Izzy, your supposed to laugh" he adds.
"I killed Cester" she says. Kian fell silent. Frozen on the spot still holding up Jordan.
"What" he finally says.
"I fucking shot him" Izzy was looking it. She choked on her own tears. Making a horrible, ugly, distorted sound. Something straight out if hell. He checks his phone for a signal, not her to g anything, he suggests going back to the cabin. We were reluctant to see that cabin every again but Dalles was still a mess back in the bedroom and we hadn't seen Gen and Tasha since Gen freaked out. They could turn up at the cabin at any moment and find what was left of Chester, the same with Sharla.
"What happened anyway" I ask Kian remembering that he hadn't answers my question from before.
"I don't know. Sharla pressed the button the doors closed then we just stopped" he says. It didn't make sence for her to stop the cart.
They all looked at me, they had started doing that alot. Looking for answers like I had them all.
"We'll find the other then we will leave, the power should be back on by then" I say. No one seemed to mind it and we started back towards the cabin. The feeling in the air had changed. I felt like ideas being watched. Several times I had to turn around feeling like someone was behind me. Each time the path was empty. When we got back to the cabin chester was gone, his body replaced with a yellow note. The words truth or death written on it with a red liquid. Chesters blood. Someone had written the note using his blood as ink. There was no sign of anyone else. We expected to hear Dalles moaning when we go to the door, we didn't, we didn't hear him at all. He was gone and the room was in more of a mess than it had been when we left.
Kian helped Jordan down on to the couch, and wonders over to the note, heaving at the sight of the blood.
"What does this mean" he whispers.
Izzy comes running out of the bedroom another bloody note in hand. An unconscious Polaroid of Dallas attached to it She reads it aloud.
"Begins at midnight"
"What begins at midnight" she asks the group, tears filling her eyes, her finger glides against the Polaroid stroking his face. Nobody wanted to touch the bloody note on the chair but with the note in the bedroom being accompanied by a photo go the chance were that the one on the chair also had one. Instead of touching it Clay blows forcing ait out between his lips, the note falls to the ground exposing a picture of Sharla, a thick strip of duct tape across her mouth.
"Its 11:32" Jordan announces from the other side of the room. He had rolled up his trouser leg revealing a horrible looking graze on his knee, gently he dabs around it with the hem of his t-shirt after wetting it with his spit.
"What the hell is going in Grayson" Izzy snaps throwing the note and picture across the room, that was the first time in a long time that she had used my full name.
"How should I know, it was your guys idea to come here" I bite back starting to get angry by all the pointless questions being thrown my way. Gen and Tasha were still out there somewhere, the priority should be on finding them. I must of spoken out loud becuase the next thing I knew Kian was agreeing with me and offering to go out and find them.
"I'm coming" Jordan says struggling to stand.
"No your can't walk with that knee, I'll go" Clay says
"Maybe we should all go" I suggest, I couldn't explain the feeling beating away inside of me but splitting up didn't feel like the right thing to do, not with everything going on at the momment.
"Someone should stay encase the come back" Kian says shooting my suggestion down. They leave and with nothing else left to do me and Izzy take a seat on the couch with Jordan. The couch came as a relief, feeling it's softness bellow me.
"They're probably just messing with us" Jordan speaks, the pain in his knee resonating in his voice.
"I swear to god if they are" Izzy doesn't finish, she was angry, the thought sinking in. Sharla likes her games, at a time like this games would be the last thing on her mind.

                                     Clay
The constant flipping between light and dark was starting to mess with my head, aside from the headache my eyes were begining to play tricks on me. Humanoid shadows learking in the corners of my vision. My hearing decided to join in on the party, twigs snapping around me, hidden in the darkness. Muffled voices that turned out to be the rustling of leaves in the wind.
I look to my side, at Kian thinking about how none of them had noticed or even court on to his secret.
It's not that he was feminine, not a feminine bone in his body. I didn't know him, maybe that was the reason I could see it and they couldn't. When we were sat in the had station he looked at Jordan like he was the only person in the world. How could nobody else see it.
They had probably been hiding it for years, that upset me. I didn't know either of them. Not really. But no one should have to hide who they are for all that time. I take comfort in the thought that they had each other.
He was shuffling his feet which concerned me.
"You okay" I ask him, he looks at me confused.
"Fine, why" he answers, eyebrows pressed together.
"You're kind of limping"
"Oh, it's nothing" he says realizing and picking up his feet. He hadn't been  shouting until now. Just cautiously peaking through the tree line. He shouted out, calling for Gen, then for Tasha. Neither answerd. A rustling sound from the Bush next to me startles me, I reach out grabbing hold of Kian's arm like a child looking for protection from its parent. Of course I couldn't rely on mine for protection when they were the ones I needed protection from.
My worst nightmare would be that the bear from earlier came back and ripped me apart.
"Its Just a rabbit" he moans shaking me off.
"Man up" he adds shouting Gen's name again. This time he gets a response. Small, almost non-existent, a moan coming fro. Just ahead where the trees thin out by the lake. The closer we got the louder the moans got. We pressed on then Tasha came into view. Kian was ripping the tape from her mouth and untying the rope from her legs before I could even step away from the path. Her eyes grew to the size of the moon. They were on me, she screams out my name, before I can turn to look I feel something hard crash against the top of my head. The last thing I see before losing my vision is a dark figure standing over me.
I must not have been out for long, when I came around Tasha was still screaming. Just not my name, she was screaming out for Kian.
I feel the top of my head pulling back my hand finding it covered in thick blood, I didn't want to know how much would I have lost so I don't look back at the path. Tasha begins screaming my name again when she sees me struggling to stand. Her arms were still bound to one of the picnic benches.
"He dragged him away" she screams looking behind her, I fight for control over my own fingers, filing to untie the rope. Eventually I managed to loosen it up enough for Tasha to slip out. She throws her arms around me bursting into tear.
"Oh clay, your head" she says between loud sobs. She takes my hand and guide me back up the path towards the cabin not wanting to be out in the open for any longer than she had to be. She continued to sob but stayed strong which I was grateful for. I could feel myself getting colder and I knew that I had lost a lot of blood. I don't think I would have been able to make it back to the cabin without Tasha's help. My tyre body crashes against the wooden flooring when we get inside of the cabin. I hadn't noticed how much of my weight Tasha had been carrying. To the right of me I could see that Jordan's knee had been patched up with a bandage.
Gray was above me looking into my eyes, his own filled with tear.
"What happened, where have you been, where is Gen, Where is Kian" I hear everybody attacking Tasha with questions. I now noticed the small line of blood down the side of her face.
"Somthing knocked me out, when I woke up Gen was gone and I was tied to a chair" she says going to to explain how she had seen a tall man wearing a ski mask beat me round the head with a log and do the same to Kian before dragging him away by his feet. That wasn't the weirdest part though. Kneeling beside me she told me how the masked man had taken a picture of both me and Kian. She pulled two square Polaroid from her cardigan pocket along with a note. Her face broke when she looked at them. One my me blood on my face and the second of Gen who looked to be in the same amount of trouble. Slowly she reads the note, holding the images to her chest.
"Ready, set, go".