UNTIL DAWN: Sam's story

I.

I was in a bus, on my way to the Blackwood Pines. The bus drove through dark woods, with a cloudy sky above us. I had my headphones in, listening to the Radio from the Pines, when the radio host started talking about last years' events. Although it was breaking up a lot, since there were mountains all around us, most of it I could hear clearly. "Today is the one-year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington... Sheriff Annie Cline who was in charge of the investigation..." "Thanks for having me, Marty." "...listeners an update on Hannah and Beth Washington, the twins who are still missing..." "One year ago tonight the Washington girls left the safety of their parents' lodge and headed out into a snow storm..." "...foul play?..." "Not officially no. There is one individual we're considering as a person of interest but his whereabouts are currently unknown. He has an interesting history with the Washington family... He had warned them against pursuing their construction project... and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers." "You know there is still the old Sanatorium on the mountain. Could he be hiding there?..." Huh. This Sanatorium sounds shady. Why is it even there...? And why didn't Josh tell us about it before? "My officers searched the grounds but... the girls themselves couldn't have made it that far...." Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Hannah and Beth are gone. "Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events." "More then you know Marty." "Well thank you for joining us, Annie... to all the Washingtons tonight... their son Josh on this, the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Hannah and Beth Washington." I turned the radio off and played a video that Josh sent me recently.

He was standing in the middle of the screen, wearing a green gingham shirt, with a grey t-shirt underneath it. But overall, he looked the same as last year. Maybe a little bit more tired. "Well hello friends and fans...," he started while throwing his hands in the air excitedly, "alright let's do that again...," he mumbled as he moved closer to the camera. He adapted the focus more on his face and began again. "Alright. Well hello friends and fans!" he exclaimed with a smile. "It's beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year." That's right. This video was an invitation. "First off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!" then he started screaming quietly, looking thrilled, while putting his arms up and laughing. "So, um.... Let me just let you know, uhh.... Let's take a moment to address the 'elephant in the room' for a second.... I know you're all probably worried about me...," well obviously I was. How could I not be, "and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year... but – I just want you all to know... it means... it means so much to me that we're doing this. And I... I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we're still here together, thinking of them," he sighed sadly. "I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments that we'll never forget, for the sake of my sisters, you know?  Okay... so! Let's party like we're fucking porn stars, okay? And make this one a trip we will never forget, alright? Yes!" he finished laughing. I wasn't really sure if it was a good idea, but since it was what Josh wanted, I came. Of course, I did. I owned him at least that.

The bus arrived at the Blackwood Pines station. As I got off, I looked up into the snowbank in front of me. The mountain hasn't changed a bit since last year.  I opened a small wooden gate and made my way to a bigger one. All of a sudden, I heard rustling on my left. "Hello?" I called out. "Is someone there?" No answer. But I felt anxious, as if someone were watching me. When I got to the iron gate, there was a paper hanging from the lock. I pulled it off and it said:

The gate's busted, Climb over! – Chris

"What? ... Dammit." I tried to open it anyway. It rattled but stayed firmly closed. "Oh Jesus. Never mind," I groaned, looking for a spot to climb over. I stepped back and saw a hill going up right next to a wall, leading from the gate. I started climbing and after some struggle, finally got to the top. I jumped down and started walking towards the entrance when I saw a squirrel on the side of the path. "Aww.... Hey little fella! You hungry?" I squatted and took out some breadcrumbs, from my pocket, to offer them to the cutie. "Ah, dammit!" I cursed under my breath when it ran away. I guess I moved too quickly. But it came back after a moment. "Hey, hey... it's okay... that's it... come on." The squirrel quickly grabbed the food from my hand and ran away again. "Cutie!" I laughed. I continued walking, until I arrived at the station. There was a map of the mountain areal, but it had 'THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL' sprayed on it in red color. "Wow, graffiti all the way up here," I thought to myself.