WWXXVI - Vannacutt Point

[Mynx]

The animosity and suspiscion grew amongst the inhabitants of the lodge, until finally there were enough to convince the remainers otherwise.

Vinka looked up from where she had been sitting in the living room to find herself surrounded by a silent mob. Only Dana remained where she was on the couch, a strange catatonia washing over her.

 

"What..." Vinka began, already dreading what they would say. One - in the middle of the group and hard to see - began to speak.

"We think you need to...take a break from the group Vinka."

She stared at them in disbelief, knowing it would come but not wanting it to believe it.

"You are going to throw me out?" she asked nervously.

"No," someone said. "There's a storeroom in the kitchen with a padlock. We just want to be sure..."

"No!" Vinka shouted and got up from her seat, causing an immediate reaction in the group. Before she could move she was grabbed on both sides and being forceably dragged to the kitchen.

"No! It's not me! I can help you! I -" Vinka's cries were cut off as she was shoved into the storage room. As soon as the door was shut she could be heard pounding on it.

"You made a mistake! I'm innocent!"

 

Her cries faded as the others left the kitchen, already beginning to worry about their decision. Dana startled them by speaking up.

"Even if she did do it, the letter said there was two..." she paused, staring at nothing as silent tears continued to fall. "And I don't think she did it."

 

OOC: Vinka/Vahktang was your Seer. Night phase now. Specials, PM me.

[Mynx]

Time passed slowly that evening, no one wanting to talk much for fear of incrimination.

Eventually - slowly - the group began to drift off to their rooms to try and get some sleep. Very few did that night, some not even staying in their rooms...

 

Tina lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, her mind struggling to cope with the events of that day. Bad enough that Seth had been killed, but Tina felt a huge wave of guilt over the fact that she had so suspected Vinka...and that suspicion now seemed unfounded. She knew what would happen now. Everyone would suspect and accuse one another until they would most probably kill each other off, leaving whoever was the real killers to laugh at their folly. Tina wasn't sure she could stand it.

 

Maybe...she should do something then...remove herself from the equation...

Tina got up from her bed and went to the bathroom, removing a razor blade from the cupboard and returning to her bed. She stared at her wrists for a moment before gritting her teeth and making two short cuts intersecting the vein on both wrists.

 

Tina was too busy watching the blood to notice the door being opened.

"You cut it the wrong way," someone spoke. Tina raised her head and blinked at the two faces she recognised.

"And not deep enough either," the other spoke up. Tina blinked again but didn't say anything, already feeling woozy from the blood loss but not woozy enough.

"Of course," the first spoke again, "if you wanted we could...finish the job for you?"

"You certainly wouldn't be suspected"

"And it would solve so much of your troubles..."

Tina listened to their offer, thinking of how easy it would be to let them finish what she couldn't. With a soft sight Tina looked up into the familiar faces and nodded, closing her eyes as they grinned and came closer, taking the razor off her...

 

The next morning, no one could ignore the stain of blood on the ceiling of the living room. When they traced it up to Tina's room, they found her lying on the bed, wrists hanging over the edge with dried blood on her fingers, and her throat slit form ear to ear like some sort of demonic smile. The calm expression on her face was the most disturbing.

Written above her on the wall in her own blood:

She asked us to do it

OOC: Sweetcherrie/Tina was an innocent (if suicidal) Villager. Day phase for the next 48 hours.

[yochva]

Shayna shivered as she thought back to the discovery of that girl - Tina? - the night before. It was bad enough for someone to try and commit suicide, but... for these two murderers to take advantage of it... it turned her stomach. And, evidently, they wuldn't stop until they were stopped themselves. //The definition of evil...// she thought somberly. //Either they want to kill me or I have to kill them first.//

 

She had tacked a sheet over the stain on the ceiling, not wanting the constant reminder.

 

Shaking herself, Shayna got up from her roost in the attic and went down to her room, grabbing her skiis. Maybe something would come to her on the slopes - everyone bore watching.

[JDRollins]

Gregor walks into the room and sees the scene. He gags and dry heaves.

 

I won't be able to eat for a week. Gregor mumbles. He looks at the words scrawled.

 

"What in the hell does that mean? She asked us to? Why would she do that? This is becoming insane. At least the biggest threat in Utah I had to face was being lynched for drinking a beer on occasion." Gregor shakes his head, gags again and walks off still shaking his head and mumbling.

[Tanuchan]

Annelise glanced at Tina's body from the door, and left with somewhat unsteady steps. She stopped at her door, silently going over something else in her mind.

 

Wanting to die? Wishing for someone to kill herself, because she felt unhappy? Has that girl ever thought that life is... precious in what it gives us, in the time it allows us to feel alive?

 

She knew she might not have made sense if saying those aloud, but her heart knew the meaning. She had been months in bed, every doctor telling her that she would be lucky to be able to walk again. She remembered weeks of despair, when all she had wished was to have died in the mountain.

 

A noise at her side made her turn, and she saw Evelyn coming out from Tina's room. The girl was also pale, and going to her room - and that being next to Anne's, she couldn't avoid her unless running inside. She just sighed, seeing that Evelyn was already saying something to her.

 

"Annelise! I'm glad to see you... what a terrible thing to happen to Tina! And can you believe what was written? That she asked them to do it? What sick minds! No one would ever ask them to cut their throats! Imagine that - you have your full life ahead of you, and you know that there are lots of dangers and that you can just be ran over by a car on next crossing, or be mugged and left for dead... I mean, why ask to be killed if you are already risking it everyday? And we, instructors and all... she could have just skied down the cliff, no need to have all that blood... "

 

"Evelyn, shut up."

 

Annelise's voice was so quiet that Evelyn actually looked at her in shock. Then Anne smiled.

 

"Good, you can do it, them." She rested a hand on Evelyn's shoulder, grasping it with some comforting pressure. "I understand what you mean. But please, breathe and calm down. You are babbling."

 

Evelyn nodded, and Annelise gently steered her down the corridor. "Let's just see if there's something to drink, what do you think? Something hot would be nice."

 

On their way to the breakfast table, Evelyn recovered herself enough to go back to talking. And as it was naturally drawn towards Tina's death, Annelise couldn't help wondering who of them could be so sick to do that to her.

 

Gregor... he seems so harmless, so out of touch with reality... always babbling out things about Utah. But would that make him a psychopath? Stefen... so silent, so collected. He doesn't really try to fit among us, he always look so distant.

 

But then, maybe they see me the same way.

 

Annelise kept just half-listening to Evelyn, once more wondering if that girl really had some point in all her paranoia. At a point, again she almost asked if she somehow knew who had rescued her.

 

 

~~~~~

post subject to editing for RP purposes

 

Edit: Added some lines to base my vote IC - actual vote is some posts below. Explanation at the OOC thread...

Edited March 12, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Gryphon]

A single glance was enough to tell Brad that he didn't really want to look too closely into Tina's room.

 

"She was so quiet, why would anyone want to hurt her? I don't for a second believe that she really asked for what happened."

 

Later in hushed tones, talking to some of the other instructors...

 

"You'd have to be heartless to do that to someone... before when all this started Vinka thought it might be Charles, I've seen nothing to make me disagree with her."

 

~~~

 

OOC: Still accusing Charles Montagne - Lord Panther... Mainly because someone's gotta blame someone and for lack of any real evidence Brad's not one to drop his earlier accusations.

[Elwen]

((Gah. Well, back at school now, yay for regular Internet now.))

 

Stefan stared with shock at the sight in front of him, as he stepped into Tina's room. Silently, he dropped to one knee for a moment, his head bowed and eyes closed, offering respect to the dead, before standing and backing out, trying to stop his hands from shaking.

 

Later on, he walked by Brad, when he was speaking with some of the other instructors.

 

"You'd have to be heartless to do that to someone... before when all this started Vinka thought it might be Charles, I've seen nothing to make me disagree with her."

 

Stefan stopped on the fringes of the group for a moment, before walking on.

 

I should not make accusations based on blind thought, without logic...but... irritably, Stefan pulled at a lock of blue hair. But is that the best we can do for now?

 

((OOC: accusing Charles Montagne-Lord Panther.))

[Vahktang]

Vinka hit the solid door with her fist yet again.

The room was just off the kitchen and she had good ears.

She had heard about Tina.

"There," she shouted, "doesn't that prove that I couldn't have done it? I was locked in here."

She heard the steps go away.

They had finished making whatever they had made.

 

At least this storage room was hooked up to the heating system. She wouldn't freeze.

Once the roads were open, this room would be filled with food stuffs.

Now, it only held her.

She reviewed the house plans.

They didn't put a guard on her. They figured the lock and the thick door would keep where

she was.

'But who had the key?

'Maybe the person who held the key was the killer.'

She suddenly felt sick.

'Maybe the killers are saving me for last. To do...to do...something.'

She felt sicker and layed down.

I have to get out of here.

[yochva]

Shayna came back inside in a swirl of snow through the kitchen door in time to hear Vinka's yell. Shifting her eyes about nervously, she hurried through making a bowl of oatmeal, a sandwich and a large mug of tea, then nearly ran into her room, slamming into Stefan on the way.

 

"Oh - " she gasped. "Sorry!" She continued at a fast clip to her room, shutting the door with a loud bang. She did NOT want to be caught alone with anyone in dark halls. She shook her head, nearly in tears from the frustration. //So many people that could be anyone... so many people lost in thought - malicious? - or hiding, it could be anyone... so many people acting so cold...// A thought struck her, leaving her gasping again. //Good Lord... what if someone thinks it's ME?//

 

 

{{Not voting yet}}

[Akallabeth]

Co-written with Tanny

 

-------------------------------

 

Johann sat on a wooden slat bench in the resort's ski rental area. He greatly preferred using the resort's equipment over his own, as his was rather old and worn, and though the resort might not have the very best equipment, it certainly could be worse.

 

Dana left the room after locking up the other equipment besides the pairs of skis, boots, and poles for Johann, and another couple of sets she left out in case another instructor had trouble with their set of skis, and was willing to finish the day on a borrowed, incorrectly sized set.

 

Johann clicked the second buckle on the ski boot into place, and was about to tighten up the setting on the buckle when Annelise walked in, and moved towards the counter, apparently lost in thought, as she did not seem to have seen Johann yet. She moved behind the counter, picked up a waxing iron, and began to walk out again before stopping shortly upon seeing Johann, who had finished getting the first ski boot on, and was gingerly standing to test its adjustment.

 

"Hi, Johann. I hadn't seen you. Having trouble with your equipment?"

Sh

"Good morning, Anne. No, not exactly... but... well... my equipment isn't too great. I've never had too much to spend on skiing, and have been using some older equipment that I bought used some years ago. Dana's been kind enough to get some properly sized equipment out for me from the lodge's supply." Johann gestured to the waxing iron, and said, "I guess you've got some ski maintainance to see to before heading out to the slopes today."

 

"Heh... my iron just fried itself." She frowned slightly. "It seems I'll have to complain to the dealer, since I've bought it less than ten days ago."

 

"They don't seem to make quality things anymore." Johann nodded, finally happy with the adjustment of the borrowed equipment. Then he looked at Anne, noticing her somewhat glum face.

 

"So, ready for the mountain? Or maybe today it's not calling you?" He tried to smile and give a tone of I-don't-believe-you-aren't-there-already to his voice, and actually got a small smile back from her - that soon turned into a grimace.

 

"Hm.. yeah... actually, I'm supposed to wait for Charles, but I don't know where he is."

 

"Ah... of course... you're his.. erm..." He picked the poles to hide his embarrassment, changing his sentence hastily, "... ehm... last I saw him he was heading to the breakfast table, we were talking about Tina's smile... I mean... death, and that smile... "

 

Johann looked at Anne in a worried way, not sure of her reaction to such grisly memory. She nodded slightly, a shadow crossing her face.

 

"That was... so wrong. No one should ever want to die. Or ask to be killed. Life is so... short in the points that matter."

 

Johann blinked, not sure of her meaning, and hoping that she might mean that she actually did like him and...

 

"Was it my fault, Johann? My accident?"

 

...and was caught completely unawares by her next question.

 

"No, of course not!"

 

"Some people seem to think I was careless."

 

Her voice was hushed, her look distant. Johann swallowed, trying to remember what he had seen that day. All that he could really remember was her body sprawled in the snow with a ski patroller kneeling by her, and people starting to gather at both the top and bottom of the slope.

 

"No, of course not, Annelise. It could have happened to anyone!"

 

"Did you see it, Johann?"

 

It would have been easy to answer yes, since she would never know. Yet… it just wouldn’t be honest to do that. And looking into her eyes, knew he couldn't do the easy thing.

 

"N-no... not really... just... you being attended to..."

 

"So you don't know, do you? It could have been."

 

"Yeah, it could... but no, you wouldn't... I mean, you're good, Anne... you wouldn't. "

 

She looked at him pensively, which made him wish he had never started this conversation.

 

"Anne, I... I don't know but I don't think it was... you were so determined to teach us to be careful and still enjoy the mountain..."

 

"Yes, I was... wasn't I?" Her voice seemed disappointed, but with an edge of what Johann could only describe as 'hope'. Why was she so afraid that she was responsible for her own accident?

 

Johann frowned, feeling confused. He called to his mind the Annelise that he had met five years ago. He also remembered his snippets of talk with the present Annelise since meeting her again - how she acted as the instructor he had known most of times but, from time to time, something seemed to make her doubt herself so much. Like the difficult slope where he had helped her, or right now. Was it merely her return to the mountain and the memories it held, or was it something that was new, something that had changed…

 

Like becoming an intern under the direction of Charles Montagne.

 

He definitely didn't like Charles - but he wouldn't be able to say if it was just for Anne's sake.

 

Silently they parted. Anne returned to finishing up with waxing her skis, and Johann went outside.

 

Johann stood on a small area of packed snow created by the traffic from the instructors and placed his boots in the bindings of his skis. Taking his poles, he pushed off and headed for the first trail of the day, Depresión Verde.

 

His skis hissed quietly as he went down the slope, his eyes taking in the many graceful firs and pines which had inspired this trail’s name. As he came to the straight trough section of the trail, he bent lower to the ground, attempting to gain the highest possible speed he could. Soon the sound of the skis had been drowned out by that of the wind, and Johann began to slow as he approached the flat area on which the trail ended. He took the nearest lift to the top of the slope, and as he slid off it, he saw Anne approaching.

 

The crisp air invigorated him, and suddenly he noticed that Anne was looking at the mountain and smiling. He just observed her in silence, thinking how beautiful her smile was when she was relaxed, how sure of herself she looked when she felt one with the mountain - as she obviously did right now. She turned to him, still smiling.

 

"Let's go, Johann. We have a full day ahead."

 

He was more than glad for her company on the way to the slopes, and then up to the top, where they separated, as he had some trails to try. He asked her to come with him, but she declined with a resigned sigh.

 

“I can’t. I’m supposed to wait for Charles, and he hasn’t showed up yet.”

 

Johann was tempted to tell her that he’d take care of her for the day, that she wouldn’t have to go with Charles but… that’s what the management had decided, and her spending time with Charles would be better than both of them losing their jobs.

 

After an attempt at a cheerful wave, Johann took a lift farther up the mountain to one of the higher trails, a narrow weaving one which prevented any large amount of speed.

 

And allowed for time to think.

 

Tina… was gone. There was nothing that could be done to change that, yet Johann knew in his that until those who had killed her and Seth were stopped, no one would be safe. He could try to tell himself that maybe they were the last, maybe there wouldn’t be anymore, but he knew in his heart that this was not the case.

 

And they might even try to get Anne. . .

 

The mere thought of this caused a cold lump to form in his stomach.

 

Worst of all, he didn’t know where to turn, who to choose. None of them seemed like killers, no matter what oddities they had.

 

Unfortunately, there was no distinction that he could see pointing out one of the killers.

 

However, action had to be taken. In his mind, Johann formulated a list of the instructors, and began counting the number of curves as he went down the last section of the trail. Perhaps, by a combination of sheer chance and luck, the mountain would tell him

 

‘…6…7…8,’ he thought to himself as he came out of the trail beside the lodge.

 

Disappointed as he was by the method he used to find a possible killer, he decided that he would stick with it.

 

Instructor number eight was Shayna Harmon.

 

(OOC: vote for Sayna Harmon/Evangeline, instructor eight (determined by random.org))

 

(EDIT: added "/Evangeline" behind Sayna Harmon's name)

Edited March 13, 2006 by Akallabeth

[Tanuchan]

Co-written with Panther and Akallabeth. Reposted to make sense chronologically - I'm deleting the previous one

 

~~~~~~~~

 

After a rather restless night, Charles dragged himself from his bed for another day of getting the mountain ready for the public. The events of the previous day were still heavy in his mind, and they didn't get any better when he heard about the murder of Tina. It disturbed him to learn that she had some kind of smile on her face. That's just sick... he thought to himself.

 

Not wanting to have to think about who had done that latest murder just yet, Charles grabbed a quick bite to eat, then returned to his room to change and get his ski gear. Maybe the mountain can give me some answers.

 

Stepping outside, Charles locked into his bindings and headed up the nearest chair. About mid-way up, it struck him: Where is that blasted intern of mine? Oh well, if I get to work without her, it's no skin off my back.

 

But, at the top of the lift, his fears were realized, as he saw Annelise standing off to the side of the unload area, looking like she was deciding what run to do next. Even though it was not what he really wanted to do, Charles decided to take her along, just in case he needed someone help him scout out the runs.

 

"Come on girlie, time to get to work! No complaints! It's what you're here to do."

 

Charles immediately pushed himself down the hill, heading to one of the chutes that he had wanted to scout out yesterday evening, before all the events happened in the lodge.

 

About half way down, Charles stopped abruptly to scout out the rest of the run, not realizing that Annelise was following so closely, and hadn't seen him stop. She collided with him, sending them both tumbling down the next bit of the run.

 

 

Annelise hit her head quite hard on the slope. Charles, however, recovered quickly and as he turned he saw her still form sprawled on the snow. For a second something eerily familiar in the scene hit him, but then he was already kneeling by her - a silent curse in his mind being overriden by professional instinct.

 

"Annelise!" He glanced at the name tag in her clothes and shook her shoulder very gently, careful to not actually move her.

 

Annelise Berger... Berger...? Charles frowned while checking her, still calling her name, trying to ignore an increasing sense of dèjá-vu.

 

"Annelise, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

 

 

Annelise's thoughts wandered in the boundary between light and darkness, disoriented. The strong voice came again from the past.

 

Annelise... Annelise Berger...

 

 

"Annelise!"

 

Annelise was suddenly aware that the voice was real. And at the same time wasn't. It echoed strongly in her mind, though, and her breath caught. She opened her eyes and stared right into Charles' concerned face.

 

"You? Was it you?!" Her whisper was dazed, stunned, and barely audible - even Charles had trouble understanding it.

 

 

"It was you!" Another voice came, stunned, and Annelise winced when her movement towards it sent the world spinning.

 

"Don't be stupid, boy - help me with her." Charles growled, wondering what he had ever done to any of the ski gods to get stuck with people like that.

 

"No, you don't understand... " Johann knelt by Annelise, keeping her from moving. "Don't move."

 

Johann had seen both Charles and Annelise going down the path, and having himself just used that same one, had decided to check on them - he had noticed some difficult passages in there, and something in his mind had wanted him to go and warn them. And, seeing Annelise sprawled on the snow with Charles knelt by him, a scene from five years ago had come suddenly back to his memory - in every detail.

 

He told Charles. "I recognize you now. You saved her. Years ago."

 

Annelise forced herself to focus on reality. The voices matched. Something in Charles' face matched.

 

No... no, not Charles Montagne... no! "I'm alright... just hit my head..." Her voice also came as a growl, trying to push both Johann and Charles away.

 

Charles was no less stunned. He had saved many lives, and quite a number of them had been head/back injuries. But very few had involved instructors, and those he remembered rather well. Vanacutt Point, five years ago... he cursed under his breath.

 

"Of course... ice patch. Ugly injuries... for some seconds I thought I had lost you."

 

Annelise pushed Charles' restraining hand away, trying to get up. Johann kept her down, though. "Don't. You know better, Anne."

 

Charles let Johann restrain the girl - he was doing a good job of it anyhow - while he checked her head injury. He hadn't thought that he'd be attending injuries so soon, the people on the mountain right now were supposed to be pros. They should know to keep their distance from another skier.

 

"Stop treating me as a child, dammit!" Annelise snapped, but stopped struggling and let Charles examine her. In spite of his glaring and mumbling, his hands were sure and gentle, and she was also starting to absorb the shock of the knowledge.

 

 

Charles... of all dratted patrollers, it had to be him... ?! She closed her eyes, suddenly tired. She filtered out whatever Charles was saying, but she heard Johann clearly.

 

"Stop it, Charles. She isn't a child, and she isn't inexperienced. She may have lost her skill, but you have no right to treat her like this."

 

Charles sighed inwardly - lord, not one more...

 

"Listen, boy - she might be everything you say and I knew of her as instructor. She was good. But she is now my intern at Ski Patrol. She is my responsiblity and right now she's no better than a spoiled brat. Period. Now make yourself useful and help me with her - unless you also think that I don't know my job?" He glared at both of them.

 

I was good? Annelise let both men help her up, and sat still feeling dizzy. Charles admitting that ...

 

Then it struck her. He knew. What had happened, whether it had been her own fault...

 

 

 

~~~~

OOC: Voting for Elwen/Stefen. Please see OOC thread - I'm editing my IC reason into a previous post.

[Lord Panther]

After his whole incident with Annelise on the slopes, Charles thought it would be a good idea if he took a small break before heading back out on to the mountian. Maybe he would sit by the fire once more and see if he could figur out who the crazy people were who, obviously, wanted the mountain closed. Who these people, who were willing to go to great lengths to reach their goal, could be.

 

While tucking his equipment away in his room, Charles had a little time to reflect upon the events over the last couple days. None of it made sense to him. But then again, killing never made sense to him. He had always been more interested in saving lives than taking them. Corpses can't be forever grateful. Dead people can't owe their lives to you. And yet, Charles knew that there were people within the lodge that did suspect him. It scared him to think that some people would think him capable of such a horrendous crime!

 

Charles had to get his mind off that and figure out for himself who was the real killer. If they didn't figure it out soon, there would be no one left to run the mountain. His mind came to Shayna. She had put the sheet over the blood stain on the ceiling. Was she, possibly subconsciously, trying to hide her actions? Maybe ashamed of something she had done? Charles couldn't say for sure, but she was the only one that his mind came to, he just hoped he was correct and that the killing would end soon.

 

[OOC: vote for Shayna/Evangeline]

[Tanuchan]

Johann helped Annelise back to her room - managing to be quite unobstrusive on that. Annelise herself was quiet and pretty much unaware of what was going on around her, so she didn't seem to mind Johann presence.

 

Charles... no... She sighed, drained. She would have to sort it out. She owed him her life, but she actually didn't want to ever acknowledge it. But wasn't it worse than his self-centered personality?

 

Someone rushed by her, almost bumping her against the wall. Johann frowned, mumbling something that Anne quite didn't understand. She saw just the girl's back - she thought it was Shayna.

 

"What, Johann?" She asked automatically, feeling him grip her elbow more firmly.

 

"She's... I don't know. I..." He felt foolish, remembering what had started his suspicions on her. He shrugged.

 

Anne heard a door being slammed shut.

 

"Shayna...?"

 

She considered her own suspicions. Stefen. Gregor. Shayna... she, who was so controlled on first day. Helping Dana, soothing her, so collected. Why was she so panicky now?

 

~~~~~

OOC: Changing vote to Evangeline/Shayna

Edited March 13, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Mynx]

The unrest continued to grow steadily, not even the promise of fun that the mountain had to offer could ease the agitation growing amongst the inhabitants of Vannacutt Point.

Yet again, a concensus was met between enough who agreed - and those that didn't were simply dragged along for the ride.

 

Shayna had been sitting quietly in her room, well aware of the growing suspicions against her but not knowing how to combat it. She jumped a little when she heard a loud knock at the door, but she hadn't really been surprised.

She looked into the cold faces of the people crowding around the door and managed a bitter smile.

"I can't say anything to change your mind, can I?"

Almost as one, they shook their heads. Sighing, Shayna stood up and allowed herself to be led.

It wasn't until she was locked in the storage room with Vinka that she let out a scream of frustration and smacked her hand against the door.

"It wasn't me!" she cried, before giving up and, with a nervous glance at Vinka, retreating to a dark corner where she sat down and tried to stop the tears that threatened.

 

OOC: Shayna was an innocent Villager. Better luck next time. It is now Night phase for the next 24 hours. Specials, PM me

[Patrick]

It had taken Gabi six hours of hard climbing on the frozen ridge to reach the summit she had seen while flying in with the helicopter two days previously. She admired the view from this height, while packing away her climbing equipment into her backpack. She then fastened the ice picket onto the back of the bag, and finally untied her skis.

 

Far below she could see several of the other instructors gathered together, but they weren't paying attention to Gabi, or they might not have spotted her silhouette shadowed against the ski behind her. The slope Gabi was going to descend was most probably a very hard one, but she knew from prior experience with similar slopes in the Alps that she could do it. That being said, she could not supress a soft tinge of fear as she stepped into her skis, the straps of her bag slightly cutting into her shoulders. She adjusted the pack, and examined the slope she planned to descend.

 

She knew the dangers of skiing in unknown territory, and so it was only a full quarter of an hour later that she finally started her descent, having memorized several possible routes. The first tricky moment came when she had to jump a large rock, sailing almost ten meters vertically, but she managed to control the situation, getting up hastily from the powdery snow she had sunken into after landing. The rest, apart from the steady steepness of the slope, was relatively routine for Gabi, although at one point she badly scratched the bottom of her skis, by skiing over a patch of rock which had been hidden under a thin layer of snow.

 

Finally reaching the bottom of the descent, where she could stop to rest, she inspected the damage done to her skis. It wasn't too bad, but she would need to take care about it upon returning to the lodge. Putting her ski back down, she took out a handkerchief from her front pocket and blew her nose. This cold had been troubling her for two days now, and it did not look like it was going to get better soon.

 

Gabi made a few more runs on some less dangerous slopes before returning to the lodge. As she reached the common room she sneezed loudly, then needed to blow her nose again.

 

"Stupid cold." - she muttered. She went up to her room and put her equipment away, before returning to the common room. She could feel the sweet scent of a hot chocolate, and decided that she was going to make herself one.

 

"I heard you complaining about a cold, so I made you a cup of chocolate." - Dana's voice startled her, but she accepted the steaming liquid happily.

 

"Thag you very buch." - she said, her nose once again needing to be blown.

[yochva]

Shayna sat in her corner, shivering a little and sniffling. At least they had given her time to grab a book and her sweatshirt. However warm it was in here, the heat was bound to go down at night, and she didn't want to risk a cold. She glanced at Vinka, who was ignoring her.

 

"Um... if it makes anything better... I didn't think it was you." Then she curled up on herself again, shoulders shaking.

[Gryphon]

Brad watched Gabi until she was out of sight as she walked up the mountain, then sighed and went back to talk to some of the other instructors.

 

It was a creepy feeling, not knowing who you could trust. It sent cold shivers down Brad's spine every time he dared to think that the person he was talking to might be a cold blooded killer.

 

Desparate to put the thought from his mind he visibly gathered himself and approached the first person he saw...

 

"Gregor! Hey... I need to get out of this place before it freaks me out too much. Let's get a bunch of the others together and go up the slopes for a bit."

 

Brad waited for Gregor's response hoping that he'd agree, hoping that if they could get enough to go up together there might be some kind of safety in numbers away from where the disturbing killings took place.

[Tanuchan]

Co-written with Panther - thank you

~~~~~~~~

 

The snow on the mountain was tinted with the shades of the approaching sunset, and the air was crisp and cold. There was silence for the moment, except for some distant voices that were easily filtered out. Annelise closed her eyes, breathing deeply, letting the mountain fill her. She had always loved both sunset and dawn in the mountain. The feeling of a new day, fresh powder, new trails - or the end of another day, tracks carved on the snow with perfection. The mountain had been her point of balance since she was a young girl. Mostly, her only friend - the one who understood her, and embraced her offering comfort and support. Anywhere she had gone, she had always looked for the mountain's presence.

 

She turned, and looked down upon the lodge. There were a few people either coming in or going out, and she wondered what each of them was thinking. What secrets would they have, what part of themselves would they never show to the world?

 

Annelise stayed where she was, immersed in thoughts. At a point, she knelt and dug into the snow. A few minutes later, there was a family of small snowmen on skis made of twigs, poised to slide down a slope. Anne smiled, remembering her childhood.

 

A voice drifted towards her, a tone she had learned to recognize - and she shuddered. Charles was down there, somewhere - she couldn't understand what he said, but she also recognized Dana's voice. She kept looking at her small snowmen, bracing herself for what she was absolutely sure that would be unpleasant conversation.

 

She heard Dana's voice again - "Be careful, we don't want people outside at night..." - and Charles answer - "I know the mountain, Dana. But I'll be back soon, don't worry. Just need some fresh air."

 

So, that's it. If I don't face him now, I won't be ever able to face myself.

 

Anne took the path towards the lodge in slow steps, intent on the noise of other steps coming beyond the curve ahead of her. Soon she was facing Charles.

 

"You should be resting." Not concerned, not really upset - just a cold statement of fact. "It was more of an ugly bump than anything else, but if you are to work tomorrow, you'd better stop behaving like a brat and do what you are told. And you were told..."

 

"... to rest. I'm not a child, Charles." Her voice was level, her eyes catching and holding his in its intensity. "And if I heard Dana correctly, you also shouldn't be out."

 

"No one tells me what to do in the mountain, girlie."

 

"Nor do they tell me. Patroller." She let her voice gain an edge. "I have a name. And you know I was an instructor. Give me the due respect."

 

"Respect? For an intern who doesn't even know better than keeping distance from another skier?"

 

"Respect for a person who doesn't want to remind you that skiers are not supposed to stop as brusquely as you did when they know they're being followed."

 

Charles glared, but let his voice come almost sweetly. "For a person who suffered an accident that clouded her best judgement, too?"

 

Annelise almost hissed, those words too close to her thoughts of the past day. Charles looked down at her.

 

"I saved your life once. Don't throw it away on the slopes again. Learn instead."

 

"I owe you my life, yes." Her voice was again icy, sharp. "But that doesn't give you rights over it. I'm back and I'm an instructor - whatever the stupid papers say. I chose to accept the joke of being your intern, but don't expect me to act as one who doesn't know better."

 

Charles chuckled, quite amused. "But you don't know better, Annelise. You were never ski patrol."

 

The use of her name surprised her, but Charles continued before she could react. "And I am. So, bow that arrogant empty head of yours and try to make this easier for both of us. I'm not about to let you throw away the life I gave back to you. Next mistake you make, I may not be around to pull you back from the consequences of foolishness."

 

Mistake? Foolishness? Annelise froze, caught between pride and a necessity to know.

 

"So you're thinking. Good." Charles nodded, hoping that the silence and the surprised face meant that she had some sense at all. "Go back to the lodge now. Tomorrow we'll have new tracks to mark."

 

Anne blurted, knowing she wouldn't have the courage to ask otherwise. "So that's what you think? That it was my mistake?"

 

"What I think has no bearing on the facts. That fact was that you were in over your head, and got caught. You were lucky that there was someone around to help you back out of your sticky situation." Charles barked at her with a distinctly arrogant look on his now annoyed face.

 

Annelise's anger peaked, and she just looked at Charles' smug face. Without any warning, she slapped him, hard. And left him standing there while she walked down the path to the lodge, seething.

 

 

Deeply annoyed with the whole situation, Charles stormed off down one of the paths around the lodge, looking for some space to cool off in the crisp winter air, some place without Annelise.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Akallabeth]

After a day on the slopes, Johann decided to return to the lodge before the sun left. He walked in upon a number of the other instructors sitting around the fireplace, most of whom were silent, but a few who conversed quietly with each other.

 

He seated himself in a large chair, and sat staring into the flames, considering what had been said that morning, letting the various sounds that occurred around him float by, only half absorbed. Charles had saved Annelise? How could he have done that, and yet remained a toad of a person, as socially toxic and annying as what he had been five years back? Johann simply could not absorb this.

 

A door into the lodge suddenly slammed, causing more than a couple of the instructors to jump or twitch, startled. Annelise had just strode in, glaring death at all who looked her direction, and walked to her room. Upon her closing the door, a small amount of ash fell from inside the fireplace and snuffed out a bit of the fire.

 

Johann rose, and turned his steps toward his room, and Anne's room. What could possibly have incensed her so much? Just as he raised his hand to knock on her door, another thought crossed his mind: was this really a good time to try and find out? Upon some reflection, Johann decided to let her be. Perhaps she would be more prepared to talk in the morning.

 

He inserted his key quietly into the lock of his room, making sure that the the correct side was up. He went inside, and prepared for sleep. However, when he finally lay down, he couldn't fall asleep. Sighing to himself, he got out a book that he had brought along, The Hobbit. As Bilbo progressed farther along on his path to the Lonely Mountain, so Johann gradually began to fall asleep. He had nearly finished a tenth chapter when a phrase caught his eye. It seemed somewhat familiar... like he'd heard it someplace else recently. Stifling a yawn, his eyes drifted shut on their own accord, and he knew no more.

[Mynx]

The wind howled that night, blocking out all noise. Or almost all noise.

No one heard the creaks of doors opening in the dark, or the whisper of feet on the hallway. It wasn't until the two friends - brought closer by their insanity - were lurking outside one of the bedroom doors that any noise was heard.

 

"Is this the right room?"

"Does it matter?"

"True..."

"Quiet! Footsteps!"

"Who's there?"

"Piss off unless you want to breath through your neck!"

"What the - S***!"

"Oh bloody hell - Run!"

 

The darkness made it impossible to see, and the hushed whispers in the large hallway distorted all voice patterns, but everyone - awake or asleep - heard the brief but loud scuffle followed by heavy footsteps running from and to all ends of the house.

By the time the lights were turned on, everyone looked first at the wall, then at each other, unable to tell who it had been who had travelled this hall that night.

Who it had been who had nearly been caught.

Who it had been who had no time to kill - but found enough time to write a threat on the wall with a large knife...

 

You're only making it worse for yourselves

OOC: A successful Baning! Well done! Day phase for the next 48 hours

[Lord Panther]

After taking a walk around the quiet snow covered trails, Charles returned to the lodge and went straight to bed, avoiding everyone, especially Annelise. He was even sleeping relatively well, when he was awoken by all the clamour in the hallway. Half-awake, he walked out of his room to find most everyone gathered around one of the doors.

 

Rubbing his sleepy eyes to have a better view, Charles read the message that had been carved in the wood of the door. He also heard that everyone was still alive, and that the murderers were scared off by someone.

 

Satisfied with what he had found out, Charles went back to his room to get a little more sleep before another day on the mountain.

 

[OOC: no vote yet]

[Vahktang]

"Um... if it makes anything better... I didn't think it was you." Then she curled up on herself again, shoulders shaking.

Vinka suddenly stands and paces the small room.

"You don't get it, do you?

"We're in the larder.

"Whoever is killing them is just saving us for last.

"To do horrible and horrific things to us over time.

"We're not saved.

"We're leftovers."

[yochva]

Shayna listened to Vinka's tirade, and tried desperately to put a good spin on it.

 

"Well... maybe... but - at least we're not dead now."

[Tanuchan]

Annelise spent most of the night tossing in her bed, deeply annoyed by Charles. And when she had finally managed to get into a deep sleep, the voices and an insistent knock on her door woke her up. She stumbled out of the bed, groggy, picking the robe on her way to the door.

 

"Annelise! You're alright, thankfully!"

 

She blinked at Johann, as he quickly explained what the commotion was about. Anne sighed, nodding, and started going down the corridor. But she saw Charles coming up from his room, and decided that if she saw his smug face once more that day, she'd just slap him again. And as much as she wanted to do that, she also knew that doing it in the middle of all instructors wouldn't be a good idea. So, she glanced at the scribbling on the wall and went back to her room, where surprisingly she fell back into sleep rather quickly.

 

I'm glad someone is trying something to catch those murderers... if we could only do the same, instead of suspecting each other...

 

Next morning met Annelise in a calmer mood. Not only calmer, but as determined as only she knew she could be. The hours spent reviewing her conversation with Charles, his attitude, his words, had made her understand that she would never get completely over her accident while she felt it had made her a lesser person.

 

And so, she needed to get back what she had lost - skill, confidence, and willingness to learn.

 

 

She was on the slopes almost earlier than anyone else. She took her time once on the top, just examining from above some of the trails. There, running them through her mind, she analyzed each curve, each obstacle, each possibility; it was an exercise she had used to do every morning when back in instruction. Choose a couple trails, and run them in her mind until she could see herself skiing down. It worked almost as a meditation exercise.

 

How could I have forgotten this? She smiled, her mind's eye seeing herself on that same run the previous morning. It has always made me close to the mountain. It has always helped me to teach. To start a day.

 

She pushed herself on, and started the descent.

 

White, soft,

blanketed in wind,

cold and alluring

- dangerous temptation

 

 

She chose speed. And let her mind guide her as in the exercise on the top.

 

drunk exhilaration

on the edge of control

- steep slopes

where speed rules

 

 

Her curves carved perfect tracks. Her speed didn't leave much margin for mistakes, but she didn't make any. And at the bottom of the slope, Annelise breathed and let the rush of adrenaline go. She felt like crying and laughing, but all that came out was a soft chuckle. Oh, the slope she had chosen was the easiest one in Vannacut Point, one that she had only taken in leisure just as a warming up until now. Two days ago she would have avoided the exercise. A day ago she would have done it on a medium to difficult slope. Today she knew better. It was the easiest, so the one she could risk for speed. And check for skill.

 

She felt happy.

 

As she jumped into the lift, she let memories of other days come. Memories of lifts shared with students. With other instructors. Or with herself.

 

 

 

"There you are. We have work to do, if you're done with your foolish speedy descent."

 

Annelise looked at Charles levelly, taking her time to answer. She didn't know if he had been truly waiting her to start working, or if he had just taken advantage of the fact that he had obviously seen her before she noticed him.

 

"Foolish and perfect." Her eyes made it clear to Charles that she wasn't just stating something she thought - she was sure of it, and she was daring him.

 

"Good. Break your neck next time, and don't complain if I'm there again."

 

"Complain? It's your work, patroller. And had I been in danger, you would have come after me and not just waited for me here on the top. It's obvious that you thought my foolishness was a very reasonable one." She grinned. "Do you want to try it, patroller?"

 

"I have no time for children's games, girl. One more sassy answer, and you're done here."

 

Charles meaning was clear - he controlled her future on the mountain, being as he had to sign off on her internship. Anne regretted her words, but nothing in her face showed it. She nodded.

 

"As you say, patroller. What is in today's schedule then?"

 

No one - not even Charles - could put any fault on her answer. But Charles caught the implicit meaning - he wouldn't answer to her dare.

 

 

A dare from Annelise? What a joke! But if she wants work, work she will have. Let's see what she thinks about dares herself.

 

Annelise knew that it was possibly going to be a rather rough day for her as Charles' assistant. But the truth was that she hadn't expected otherwise, and - surprisingly - didn't regret it.

 

 

~~~~~~

OOC: post subject to editing for RP purposes. (And no vote yet).

Edited March 15, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Vahktang]

Shayna listened to Vinka's tirade, and tried desperately to put a good spin on it.

 

"Well... maybe... but - at least we're not dead now."

"Not dead now?

"Or not dead yet?"