The Blur

Prologue

DISCLAIMER: this story was written by my old best friend, I do not claim the story

December 12, 2020              Prologue 

"Finally! - It's about damn time we arrived." groaned Caz as he stretched out his broad shoulders while he got off the claustrophobic train.
"It wasn't that bad. At least there was some nice scenery." Samuel grabbed his and Caz's luggage and tail coated him down the narrow hallway. They had arrived in Finland, for a winter vacation. They were to spend two months up in the majestic peaks near Lake Inari in a cozy cabin. The two men were accompanied by their comrade Ethane who inherited the cabin from his mother.
Caz was a twenty-year-old man, who worked in manual labor. He mainly worked on a grand estate as the garden keeper for the Winters. The head of the Winters, Bruce Winters, was a fellow companion of Caz's father, once Caz's father had passed to illness Mr.Winters took Caz in, and it was then Caz became Caz Winters along with the title of the Winters's garden keeper. From his intensive physical labor, he was physically fit, bearing broad shoulders, a grey v neck shirt tucked into dark jeans which were slightly rolled up into a Capri on his right leg, an open red flannel, a wooden beaded necklace, and work boots. His soft-shaggy-dark hair swayed to the left of his face, stern brows, a defined jawline, a slender nose, and soft lips. His eyes were a mesmerizing shade of green that glistened with a keen sense of curiosity.
Samuel an eighteen-year-old man, who was a senior in high school was on a full basketball scholarship. Not only did he excels in his passion for basketball, but he was a scholar in academics as well as the trumpet. His skills were diverse, and so were his plans for his future. There was so much he wanted to do - yet he wasn't devoted to any one thing in particular. Samuel Greene suffered from chronic depression. He had episodes where he would slip into a numbing state of melancholy and drown within the depths of his soul. It was Caz and Ethane that were able to return Sam to his stable mind. His silky-wavy-golden hair was illuminated by the sunbeams that shattered in the late afternoon sky. He had a button nose and pale lips. Eyes were a bewitching hazle that scanned his surroundings to ensure nothing was to be damaged.
Ethane was a tender soul. While both of the other men were quite robust and muscular, Ethane was dainty in comparison - his health frail. Leading him to have frequent asthma attacks. He suffered from chronic social anxiety and dementia. He slept often as he wouldn't remember what he did if he was awake anyway. The disease making him seem like an airhead at times, yet each decision he made was precise to his judgment and calculation. His problem is that he calculated with emotion. Ethane Gundry was an artistic one, being a freelance novelist/artist he spent most of his time in his study working the hours away, able to do most of his work on muscle memory alone. Having a passion for music he spent his free time with a large array of instruments creating music with the emotions he otherwise suppressed. He aged twenty-one and had mousy hair that kissed his hip bones which he kept tied in a braid to the side, his long fringe framed his soft features: long eyelashes, chestnut eyes, slim lips, soft-thin brows, and on his right ear he wore a dangling feather earring - silver in color. He styled a wine-colored v neck shirt, tucked into his dusty grey skinny jeans. A long black coat, and dark grey/black toms. A black choker branded him as a slave to his work. Unsurprisingly a book and pen could always be found at his side.
Caz looked out into the mountains through the migration of people as he obtained his luggage from Samuel. Sam looked around to find that Ethane was still passed out on the train. He went back to collect Ethane. He weaved his way through the remaining passengers identically to the way he would make a pass on the court, pivoting his feet and swerving his body - he was in complete control. Reaching Ethane, he gingerly rubbed his shoulder.
" Hey. E. Come on man. Get up. We're here. We've got to go."
Ethane weakly opened his eyes to see a warm smile spawned upon Sam's face.
"Sam? Where are we?"
Ethane slowly looked around the car. Sam took a deep breath then explained that Ethane had fallen asleep and that they were now in Finland. A spark of inspiration lit in Ethane's eyes as he peered out his frosted window to get a glimpse of the cascading mountains. With that, they hurried off the train and made way to Caz.
    "Morning sleeping beauty. Did you rest well?"
Caz chuckled as he slapped Ethane's back. Ethane just nodded in response then Caz turned to Sam.
"So, we're going over there right?"
Caz questioned Sam as he pointed northwest.  Sam pulled out his brochure and gave a stern nod.
"Looks like it."
With that, the three men started heading to the tram. The snowy forest floor shimmered like gold in the sunsetting beams of light. Ethane weakly leaned against the glass watching the sunbeams shatter as Sam and Caz joked livelily.  Caz laughed to himself then gave Sam a ginger jab with his elbow.
"Hey-hey Sam. Why was the snowman looking through a bag of carrots?"
Caz held a stupid grin on his face as Sam sighed with a smile.
"I don't know, Caz. Why was the snowman looking through a bag of carrots?"
Caz looked to the side and choked a bubble of laughter into his shoulder then cleared his throat.
"He was picking his nose~!"
Caz burst into laughter pleased with himself while Sam sighed and chuckled with him. He glanced back over to Ethane who was drawing on the fogged glass with his finger.
"Drawing again E? What're you drawing this time?"
Ethane lazily rolled his eyes over to Sam and sighed, barely a vibration of words wove through his lips.
"Him."
Sam's face swelled with concern and questioned Ethane.
"E? Who's 'him'?"
Caz's laughter came to an abrupt end. And he joined in the conversation.
"Him?"
Ethane nodded then silently looked back out the window.
"I saw him, in the forest... But now I forget."
Sam got Ethane's bag along with his own as Caz picked up his own bag. Caz and Sam exchanged worrisome looks and got off the tram. Caz's hand gingerly on Ethane's back, he took a deep breath.
"I'm sure it was nothing. The tramcar was going pretty fast and with the sun setting, there are a lot of shadows. I'm sure it wasn't anything to be concerned about E."
Ethane looked over his shoulder at Caz's hand and then back to his friends' worrisome looks. Full well knowing Caz was attempting to comfort him. Unsure why when Sam and Caz himself needed the comforting, but he figured telling them his observations would only make them more uneasy, so he went along with it.
"Alright. Thank you."
Sam looked back into the tram at the ghastly figure sketched onto the glass window, oddly the fogging around the image wasn't dissipating.