The Blur

Chapter 10

Caz set the key ring and the note in a bottle on the table then took his seat. Ethane sat down with a solemn look on his face. Sam could tell that seeing his grandmother that way was still weighing heavily on his mind.
"E. You alright?"
Sam's eyes gleamed with concern. Ethane looked into them and nodded as his eyes sharply contrasted what his head was saying. They began to well. Sam and Caz looked at one another then shifted over to Ethane's side of the table. They rubbed his back as his eyes let a stream of hot tears caress his cheeks.
"Out of all times... Why do I have to remember now? When I looked at her, I remembered. Everything. The songs she sang to me. The needles my mother injected me with. The beatings they'd get from my father. My grandad obsessing over the Hissi in the basement. The screams of our guests being torn to bits as the Hissi's dinner. - I wish I could forget."
Caz rubbed Ethane's back and Sam got a glass of water for him.
"Shhh. It's okay. That's the past. You were a kid. You had no control over anything. You can't be thinking about that. We need to focus on now, and get out of here alive. Okay?"
Ethane shifted his wrists over his cheek as Nugget rubbed against his legs. Clearing his throat, he began to speak.
"Yeah. I'm sorry. Let's see the keys and the note."
Sam returning with a glass of water he set it down on the wooden table and sat to Ethane's left. Ethane picked up the rusted brass keys and looked them over.
"They're so old."
Caz gently took them from Ethane's hands and examined them himself.
"Do you think they could be original? Like made when the cabin was made itself?"
Sam nodded.
"It's possible. Only one way to truly find out though."
Ethane glanced to Sam who was opening the bottle.
"Test them on a lock we know is original?"
Sam nodded as he turned the bottle over dumping out the note into his hand. He set the glass bottle onto the table with a slight clink and then started to unscroll the note.
Caz was keen to get on with it and inquired Sam about the note.
"Well then- what does it say?"
Sam shook his head.
"I - I don't know."
Caz cocked his head.
"What do you mean? Is it in another language or what?"
Ethane took the note from Sam and shook his head.
"No. The ink is smeared. Whoever wrote this was in a hurry, and by the ringlets, it looks like the person was crying as they wrote it."
Ethane let out a sigh then muttered under his breath.
"What exactly happened here?"
Caz became a bit agitated that the clues they found weren't of much use. He bolted from his seat launching his chair backwards, and pounded his fist on the table.
"DAMN IT!"
He breathed heavily as Ethane and Sam scooted back a tad.
Sam carefully approached Caz.
"Caz. Buddy. It's okay."
Caz sharply turned his head with a piercing glare. His voice vibrated from deep tones of anger as he clenched his teeth.
"Okay...Caz. Buddy. It's okay. He says. Sure. Yeah. Okay. We're completely fine. Just cooped up in some cabin on the side of a mountain in dense fog with Hissi around and underneath us. WAKE UP! We're not okay. We don't have the months of time like we thought we did. We're already dead! And why is that, dear Sam? Why, it's because we thought it would be great to help our buddy Ethane, great - dear - hopeless E, with his family cabin. OH yeah. It'll be sooooo fun. We'll go snowboarding and relax. "
Ethane turned his face hurt by his friend's words. This was all his fault. His best friends, who were like brothers were going to die because of him.
Sam's face turned into a seething scowl.
"CAZ! Don't you think we're ALL a little upset?! E just found out that he was a god damn lab rat, and found his grandmother as taxidermy! You're the one who needs to relax and take a moment.-"
Caz didn't let Sam finish his statement, he pivoted out of the door, grabbing his coat and marched outside into the snow.
"FINE! Then I'll just chill out here. I'll take my chances with the Hissi over being a caged hen!"
Ethane got up and rushed after Caz to see Caz disappear into the dense fog of dusk.
"Caz... I'm sorry."
Sam ran over behind Ethane peering out into the blur.
"FINE! THEN WE'LL GET OUT OF HERE WITHOUT YOUR DRAMA!" Sam slammed the door shut then sighed.
"I'm sorry E. - Don't worry, we'll get out of here. Even if it takes a bit longer. We should get some sleep."
Sam then excused himself to his room.
Nugget meowed concerned. Ethane looked over, squatted and petted the nervous feline.
"It's alright Nug Nug. We'll get out of here. Sam is the smartest guy I know... And I think Caz will come back."
Nugget purred as if to say he understood. Ethane had a solemn smile on his face as he looked up from Nugget and into the blur.
"Caz... Please be alright."