WWXXVI - Vannacutt Point

[yochva]

Shayna stifled a yawn. "Then would you mind keeping an eye out for something - anything - so I can get some shut-eye? If I don't rest I'll pass out. We can take turns on watch or something... Gosh, I sound like I'm in some sort of book or something. 'Keep guard, don't let the enemy in, blah blah... blah...'" She trailed off, realizing she was rambling and that Brad was glaring at her.

 

"Sorry..."

[Vahktang]

Vinka woke up, tired and shivering.

Predawn light could be seen from the cave entrence.

Normally, this sort of cave would have been home to a hibernating bear.

But there was no bear this season.

She slid out of her bedding and began to tie it about her as her clothing, then opened a can of

soup and drank the contents.

'Ugh. Tomato.

'Cold and raw.

'Breakfast of Champions.

'Or at least survivors.'

 

She took her equipment and continued on the journey.

'Wonder if anyone is going to be alive when I get back there?

'Or is the place just going to be fancifully decorated with body parts?'

[Lord Panther]

After the screams in the middle of the night, Charles just knew that there had been another murder. He didn't want to know who it was, he didn't want to know how it happened, he just wanted it to stop before everyone was dead. He had seen his share of death in the past few days, much more than he would have thought he would see in his lifetime. Sure, there was the occasional unlucky skier or boarder who hit a tree, or was stranded on the mountain overnight, then found frozen the next day, but to Charles, those were the hazards that he worked with, he didn't like those deaths, but he could deal with them.

 

As he was waxing his skis in his room, something Dana had warned him not to do, something hit Charles like a snowball in the face. He realized that he had not seen Gregor very often before his demise. Perhaps he had been hiding out, conspiring with his accomplice? Perhaps hoping that "out of sight, out of mind" would hold true? The questions ran through his mind, he needed to find the answers. The most important question he wanted to answer was: "Who else had been in the limelight the whole time? Who else wasn't drawing any attention to themselves?"

 

Charles mulled over his possible answers as he packed his iron away and finished getting ready for the day of trails that was ahead of him. He figured he would be putting Annelise through the paces again today, seeing if she was really ready to be back on the mountain, or just fooling herself. All the while, he was cycling through the different people who still inhabited the lodge. Just before stepping out into the cold, he settled on one face.

 

But could it really be her? He muttered to himself. She certainly fits the not drawing attention to herself, but how can I be certain? I guess I really can't. I just have to keep my eyes open.

 

The small arguement with himself settled, Charles stepped out into the snow, ready to tackle the mountain once again. His mind was now on the mountain, as he had settled upon who he thought was the other killer. Now, where was this intern of his?

 

[OOC: vote for Evelyn Thorp/Azuran]

[Tanuchan]

Annelise just pressed her pillow tight over her own head, her ears. She had heard the screams, and she knew what they meant.

 

No... not another one...

 

She refused to move. Her night had been again troublesome, haunted by Johann's words - both his words of love and care, and the harsh ones about her fears. She had been able to control herself somewhat when talking to him, but back in her room she had wept long and hard until sleep took her.

 

She heard the knocking on her door, too. She was sorely tempted to not answer, to just stay where she was and let go of everything. Johann's urgent voice reached her, and she sighed.

 

"I'm alright, Johann... please, give me some minutes." She heard her raw, edgy voice. But she was too tired to care, even about Johann. Her eyes rested on her skiing gear, and she knew what was the only thing right then that she cared about.

 

 

After breakfast, on their way to the slopes, Johann noticed Annelise's tired face, and also something glum around her. He tried to talk to her in the chair lift, but she shook her head gently.

 

"Johann, just understand me, please. Keep being what you are, and let me be what I am - for a while."

 

He felt his insides knot, feeling her again putting some distance, bringing about her that icy wall she seemed to wear at all times. But her eyes were gentle, and her hand rested lightly on his arm when she whispered, "I am afraid of the mountain. And the first rule is to never be afraid of it - respect, yes. But not fear. Let me deal with it first."

 

She squeezed his arm, and Johann nodded silently. The words he wanted to say seemed to refuse to find their way to his mouth, and Annelise left quickly once they were at the top.

 

 

 

It didn't take more than some minutes for Annelise to find Charles - who had been, as always, glaring at her from the second he had seen her.

 

"There you are. Can you never be at the appointed place at the right time? Don't you have any discipline?"

 

Charles piercing stare also caught something else, and he cut whatever Annelise was going to say. "How do you feel?"

 

The question made Anne wince - it wasn't a caring question, and Charles had just barked it. Part of her mind knew what he meant, and part wanted to snap at him once again.

 

"Well? Do I have to send you back to the lodge, girl?"

 

"No, patroller." Anne managed to keep the glacial tone in her voice. "I didn't sleep well, but if I cannot go on I will tell you."

 

Charles arched an eyebrow, skeptical. Anne looked at him levelly.

 

"I cannot do my work if I can't hold myself. You cannot do your work half as well if you can't trust your assistant's ability and reflexes. I respect the mountain enough that I will not endanger people through my own foolishness."

 

Charles almost blinked in surprise. Anne gave a sudden smile - and that made him blink, since it was the first true smile he had seen in her. At least, when talking to him.

 

"Oh, I do listen to you, patroller." She slid some meters ahead, and stopped to wait for him. "Sometimes, when you make sense."

 

Any residual surprise vanished at that last comment, made in a light, teasing tone. Charles growled. "So let's see what sense you have, girl! With me!"

 

He would put her through the paces again. And this time, he would decide if she was ready or not.

 

 

Annelise let her mind wander for some minutes while following Charles to the beginning of the first trail.

 

Gaby's trail... so, we'll start there. Poor Gaby...

 

She remembered her talking and trying to be friendly, and her face at seeing Charles at the bottom of the slope after his stunt. She also remembered hearing her easy laugh in the lodge, and her mind lingered on the remaining people there.

 

Stefan. Too silent, too quiet. Evelyn... paranoid, obsessed. Charles... arrogant, self-centered. Johann, sweet and caring. Herself, as seen by others - icy cold, distant even when being friendly.

 

Something nagged at her mind. She almost stopped, going over what she had just muttered to herself.

 

Johann. Sweet and caring. The only one who was, in reality, the opposite of any psychopath killer... obviously loathing blood, sensitive, open.

 

"No."

 

But the thought didn't leave her.

 

She was alive... Charles was alive... Stefan... Evelyn. The one he loved, the one who was obviously helping her whether she admitted it or not... the one she suspected. Had she ever let Johann know of her suspicions? And the obviously paranoid Evelyn.

 

"No. Not him."

 

"Are you going to daydream now? Or do you want the mountain to definitely kill you this time, girl?"

 

Charles' voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she snarled some unintelligible answer. And forced her mind to focus on the mountain, burying any thoughts deep enough to not disturb her during work.

 

Forgive me, Johann... you don't deserve it. It was her last thought before the mountain occupied her mind completely.

 

~~~~~

OOC: Vote for Akallabeth/Johann Olsen

 

 

Edit: small grammar corrections

Edited March 22, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Azuran]

"Me? You think I would do this?!" Evelyn could barely contain her disbelief at the accusation. Sure, she had constantly been worried that everyone would think she was involved, but now her paranoia had more to do with the knowledge that a killer was still among them. She of course suspected everyone else, and simply latched onto the last name she'd heard.

 

OOC: Vote for Johann Olsen

[Akallabeth]

Johann left the chairlift with his mind in a state of numb shock. He felt like he had been sideswiped by a car.

 

He coasted gently over the crest of a hill, and down a bunny slope. When he got to the bottom, he found a convenient bench, and sat down after brushing off the snow with his gloved hand.

 

"Anne...," he whispered to himself...

 

What had he done, he wondered, to make her do this? Everything last night had seemed so promising...

 

He shut the thoughts from his mind. He had dealt with those enough. He couldn't have done anything to change her since that night. Could he?

 

He thought more. If he hadn't changed her, who would have... who was always around her... wished to control her...

 

His head came up, and his eyes were blazing.

 

Charles would regret controlling her in this.

 

Standing up and taking his poles, he walked to the lift and went to find Charles.

 

(OOC: choosing Charles/Lord Panther)

[Tanuchan]

Annelise was surprised when she saw Johann coming towards them. He barely looked at her, fixing all his attention on her companion.

 

"Charles Montaigne, what have you been telling Annelise?"

 

Charles looked at Johann, annoyed. "What I tell her is between patroller and intern, boy. And you're interrupting my work."

 

"Don't use that tone with me, patroller. You might bully other people, but I'm tired of you. What have you been doing, brainwashing Anne?"

 

"Johann!!"

 

Annelise tried to stop him, and actually put herself between both men. She wondered at Johann's face, who showed and anger she had never seen in him.

 

"Johann, what in all heavens ..."

 

He ignored her for once, glaring at Charles - Anne actually thought he would punch him if she weren't right in front of him.

 

"Are you so subtly brainwashing her? Do you really want her to go back to the mountain, or you just care to keep her under you?"

 

Charles pushed Anne aside - except that she caught his arm and pulled him down in a stumble to the ground using her own weight. She kept herself over Charles' cursing form, looking at Johann in anger.

 

"What do you think you are doing?!"

 

Brainwashing? Charles? Influencing me?

 

Anne rolled away from both Charles and Johann, glaring at them in stunned fury.

 

Johann, all protective again? I know how to take care of myself in the mountain!

 

 

 

There, staring at them ready to fight, Anne's thoughts went back to the murders. And unwilling as she was to admit, she was right then looking at the two men she owed her life to. Both literally, but also her life as a skier - both Charles and Johann had made her see what she needed. And Johann was accusing Charles of manipulation, while she herself had suspected Johann.

 

For a moment, she wished she never had come back to Vannacutt Point. She realized that she couldn't just choose which of those men she trusted. She wanted to trust both - even insufferable Charles. She knew she might not be able to, or that it might not be safe to her.

 

One thing Johann growled at Charles caught her attention - "assassin".

 

So, Johann suspected Charles? Now? Why?

 

Charles? If he had reason to kill, would he?

 

----------

OOC: You made it hard on me... all three guys... But changing my vote to Panther/Charles Montagne

[Mynx]

The day was full of fights that nearly broke out, accusations met with retorts, everyone suspecting...but not always knowing who to expect.

Charles had had enough. He had seen the look in Anne's eyes when Johann had accused him of helping Gregor. And he knew he was not liked for his temper. He decided finally to take do things on his own terms.

 

Charles approached the informal group in the living room that evening, noticing with annoyance the way they all went quiet and looked at him.

"If you're going to accuse me of being a killer - fine. Accuse me. Lock me up with the others and we'll just see how right you are come morning."

 

He stared them all down as they dropped their heads sheepishly before moving as a group to the kitchen.

Charles stared at them all one last time, a bag of food and drink in his arms for himself and the others, before he snorted and shook his head.

"Fools," was all he said as they locked him into the store room.

 

OOC: Charles/Lord Panther was a Villager. Better luck next time. Night phase for the next 24 hours.

[Vahktang]

'Eight toes,' thought Vinka.

'A girl can get by with only eight toes.'

The view was spectacular.

The skiing was normally adaquete.

Under the circumstances, it was torture.

She continued to move forward, as she had for the last dozen hours.

'Sure, those strappy evening sandals are straight out.

'But I can retrain. Still walk normal. Skill ski after all this.'

Her breath was ragged.

A few hours ago her foot had broken through ice on a stream and had gotten soaked.

There was no place to dry it, no place to warm it.

And it had gone thru the numb, the pins and needles, and was beyond numb now.

She feared part of her foot was frozen.

She hoped that two toes was the only thing she lost.

She had no more water to drink and melting snow in your mouth in these conditions was a no no.

Her throat ached, but she couldn't drink until night fall.

'Guys will still dance with you.

'You don't need _all_ your toes, do you?'

She continued to slog forward.

[Tanuchan]

Annelise had seen the look Charles had directed to her when being locked. The meaning she read, she decided to keep to herself. She had no joy in seeing him there, contrary to what some might think; but in her mind, also, locked was better than dead.

 

For the first time, she looked at the mountain and didn't feel like looking for its peace. Instead, she went back to her room without talking to anyone - avoiding also Johann, who clearly wanted to talk to her.

 

From the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers, Annelise took a folder. She spread its contents on the bed, and took all of them in. All the documents that attested she was - had been - an instructor. A name tag from five years ago - Instructor, Vannacutt Point. Two pictures - the team photos of the two seasons she had been there. A sealed letter.

 

Annelise's fingers caressed the name tag, then picked the photos. She remembered every one of them - Instructores and patrollers. She remembered the times she had looked at them, wondering who was the one, or the ones, who had kept her alive while waiting for the helicopter to take her to hospital.

 

Then she played with the letter. It was plainly not a new letter, and there was a date, five years old, written at the front lower right. An unsteady hand... I was still in hospital..

 

Would it be a shock? I believe so. Or maybe not, being who it turned out to be. He might just laugh and throw it into the fire, or he might snarl and wish he had never known. Or it might make some kind of difference. Who knows? He is a mountain himself... self-centered, arrogant, sure of himself, pitiless.

 

With a neat hand, Annelise wrote a small note, got a bigger envelope, and put sealed letter, note, the picture of the fatidical season, and the old name tag into it. On it, she just wrote a name.

 

But mountains have a core, and rare are those who understand it. He does, and I didn't.

 

Picking a heavy jacket, she hesitated a bit before grabbing her skiing poles. She smiled, remembering the days not so long past when she had had training on fighting with a quarterstaff.

 

Weird thing to do while working up the courage to be back...

 

 

Dana opened the door to the storage room, and Annelise didn't bother in saying anything. Charles glared murder, but she just shook her head silently. As he didn't move to catch the envelope she was handing out, Anne just slid it deftly to his feet.

 

As the door closed, she whispered to herself, "I am sorry. But at least you all have a chance to be alive come tomorrow."

 

 

Annelise didn't see Johann, and supposed he'd be either out in the mountain or also in his room. She thought about looking for him, but decided against it.

 

I cannot. He deserves a whole person. And I am not. I might be, one day - I can face the mountain again and be happy, I know... but it will take more time.

 

 

Dana wondered at Anne, who was carrying skiing poles but not any other skiing gear. She just made a half-hearted comment against being out at night, to which Anne answered glacially that she wasn't a child.

 

 

The slopes were already dark, and the air was getting colder. Some snowflakes touched Anne's uncovered face, and she smiled at their softeness. She walked without any clear destination, not bothering about staying within sight of the lodge.

 

I'm in the mountain, and the mountain is in me. You've always been my best, and only, true friend. You refused my body once - but I'll be here until you accept it.

 

Annelise smiled, making that a vow - she would stay in the mountain, and it would accept her back. She knew she accepted her accident now, and her new position; she also knew that she could beat the mountain - but that she didn't need to do it to be a worthy person.

 

 

Edit: rewording a couple sentences, typos

Edited March 22, 2006 by Tanuchan

[yochva]

Shayna took a waterbottle from the bag Charles had brought, and went to the corner to sleep some more. Hopefully she wouldn't be disturbed....

[Mynx]

Anne stared out the window of her room into the darkness beyond and sighed uneasily. She was just so confused about everything that had happened, so unsure of who to trust. The only person she knew was innocent, besides herself, was Dana. And she wasn't exactly of sound mind.

 

Eventually, Anne got up and grabbed her jacket, quietly letting herself out of her room and down the hall.

As she pulled on her boots and opened the door to the snow outside, she failed to see or hear the person following her.

 

After walking for a time, Anne came to the edge of a ridge and rested against a nearby tree, closing her eyes to savour the stillness, the calm. It was only then that she heard the soft footsteps behind her.

She turned around to stare at the figure approaching, trying to recognise them until they stepped under the path of the moonlight.

 

Anne gasped softly with realisation, before softly asking "Why?"

The figure tilted its head to think, before shrugging, unable to say.

Anne sighed softly and nodded, hugging herself as she looked out once more into the darkness. When she looked back, the figure had moved closer.

Anne closed her eyes and swallowed, before whispering softly;

"Make it quick for me."

 

The following morning, the remaining three members of the lodge, Dana discounted, searched for Anne. All they could find was her scarf, tied to a tree neaby a cliff, fluttering in the wind.

 

OOC: Tanuchan/Anne was a Villager. It it now what may be the final day phase. You have 48 hours but please see the comments in the OOC Thread.

[Lord Panther]

Charles had turned the envelope over and over in his hands all night, wondering what he should do to it, what kind of gloating it could contain. After a while, he had put it aside and made sure that his cell mates got some of the food that he had brougth with him, as they definatley hadn't been eating as well as he had the last few days, for obvious reasons.

 

Finally, after a couple hours of something that could barely be called sleep, Charles decided that things couldn't get any worse right now, so he may as well find out what was in this envelope. Tearing open the envelope, Charles found two things inside, a note and another envelope. He put the second, obviously old and a little weathered, envelope at his side, and opened the note slowly, not sure what to expect. He silently runs his eyes over the words, reading with some surprise:

 

I promised to myself you'd never know some things if it depended only on me - but these predate that promise by five years, when I vowed that one day I would find a way to give the letter to the one I owe my life to.

 

Thank you.

 

Annelise,

Assistant Patroller, Vannacutt Point.

Hmmm... Charles thought to himself, I guess she finally came to her senses and realizes that she does owe me.

 

His eyes moved to the second envelope sitting on the cold floor next to him. He decides that he may as well read it, at least to curb his peaked curiosity. So, he picked up the envelope, opened it and removed a neatly folded small bundle of papers inside. He quickly leafs the pages, counting and thinking to himself Wow, that girl can really write a lot...

 

After preparing himself mentally for reading this not-so-short story, Charles takes it from the top:

 

I don't know who you are, and whether you would remember one more person saved by your skill. But I owe my life to you, unknown as you are, and that I will never forget.

 

I don't remember what happened - I know I hit something. I wish I knew if I was being careless, or if I could have done something. It might be that I'll never know. But I know there was a patroller who kept me alive.

 

One day I hope to meet you, and thank you personally. You are one of the persons who dedicate themselves to making other people's lives less dangerous on the mountain, and for that only I'd respect and admire you whether I'd been one of the victims or not.

 

Thank you again, and the only thing I can offer you I do - my friendship and care if you ever need them.

 

Annelise Berger,

Instructor, Vannacutt Point.

The pages after the letter were a recounting of Annelise's recovery in and out of the hospital, simply titled: This is the life you saved. He read through them slowly, finding some internal happiness for what he had done, while keeping his exterior as cold as stone, as to not let the others know that he was actually a little touched by what he was reading.

 

Charles made a mental note to himself that if he ever gets out of this cursed room, he will have to thank Annelise for the letter, in private, of course.

 

[OOC: Being locked in the room, Charles is not yet aware of Anne's demise. If the opportunity and inspiration present themselves, I will do a follow up post to this one.]

[Tanuchan]

The body at the inaccessible bottom of the crevasse looked almost like a sleeping woman. A blanket of snow already half-covered her, for the gentle sliding down had also brought down part of the snow bank at the top of the crevasse. There she would remain, buried in snow and ice, forever part of the mountain.

 

A whisper of wind sounded like an ethereal giggling that spiraled up from the crevasse until reaching the snowy slope, then playing with loose, naked branches down the trail until touching the scarf that waved an eerie greeting.

It was like a memorial, and it had been left there as such. Lonely, standing tall in the slope, soft, red as the sunset and as the dawn - a life that belonged to the mountain.

 

The breeze caressed the scarf once more, circling around the tree, rustling branches and carrying the clear giggling farther. Red spots against immaculate snow were also touched, the warmth of the life they had carried already fading in the soft pre-dawn light.

There was nothing more than a few blood marks, fading slowly into the old snow, covered by the new one. Life that had been there was no more, and the snow reclaimed the purity, and the mountain buried memory.

 

The giggling faded into a soft humming of crystaline voice, almost whistling towards the lodge below. A window ajar, a gap between door and frame, and a touch came to a cold face. The humming in the wind was soft, the voice faded, but the touch had in it infinite care. And it was gone back into the mountain before flesh realized it had been visited and left a gift.

 

Sunrays touched the summit of the mountain, and shadows covered the opening of the crevasse. A whispery breeze spread around the mountain, giggling in wonder and - why not - happiness.

 

 

I'm in the mountain, and the mountain is in me. You've always been my best, and only, true friend. You refused my body once - but I'm here, and you accepted it at last.

[Akallabeth]

Johann stepped out of his room shortly after dawn, dressed and ready to go to the mountain. He walked quietly down the hall, doing his best to allow the others to sleep. He needed time to think.

 

As he stepped outside with a granola bar in hand, he looked over the beautiful landscape below the mountain. The evergreens with blotches of snow on them, and snow surrounding them, stood about the mountain and on it like an army standing on a prairie, looking down at the small creatures who moved about them on the white ground. It was an impressive sight.

 

Snapping his boots into his bindings, he decided to take a slower path, and went down it at a good speed, taking the turns with ease. It was a good trail to think on, as it didn't require much more than instinct to follow it down.

 

He'd tried to talk to Anne the day before, but after his mistake in suspecting Charles, she didn't seem to want to be near him. Had she actually decided that she wished to be away from him, that his words had driven her from him? Would she talk to him today?

 

He sighed in frustration as he came to the bottom of the slope, and started up a chairlift to take him to the top. Humorlessly glancing at the chairs, he got onto one, and began his ride to the top.

 

On the way up, he glanced over the landscape, looking for another easy trail to try. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened. There was a red object fluttering in the light breeze near a steep trail that was off to the right of the lift. Straining his eyes, Johann thought that it looked like a scarf. A red scarf...

 

A feeling of dread and fear filled him. It couldn't be...

 

He restrained himself from jumping out of the lift, and managed to stay patient to the top.

 

Upon reaching the top, he sped over to the right, and to the trail that he thought the red scarf was on. It was a double black diamond. He took off as quickly as he could manage, and sped down the twisting and turning trail at breakneck speeds, only slowing when the thought he was near the red scarf. He saw it as he went around the next turn.

 

It was thrown up in a tree, near the edge of a sharp dropoff. Looking over the torn orange netting that had protected unwary skiiers from the sheer slope, Johann saw some snow covered boulders at the bottom. And nothing else.

 

Within a second, Johann had thrown his skis at a nearby drift, leaving them poking out at crazy angles. In his awkward ski boots, he sprinted up the slope, and into the lodge. He knew that the clopping of his boots would wake the others, but he didn't care. Sprinting to the end of the hall and Anne's door, he tried to stop, but slipped on the hard flooring in the hallway. He smashed into the end wall, leaving some dents in the drywall, and picked himself up. With both hands he began to pound on the door.

 

"ANNE! ARE YOU THERE? ANNELISE! ANNELISE BERGER!"

 

The last two words were accomponied by the sounds of splintering, as Johann kicked the door in.

 

As he finished knocking a hole big enough for him to get in through, Dana and Evelyn arrived, and saw him go inside. Dana took out a master key and unlocked the shattered door, which fell as she tried to swing it open. Stepping over its remains, they saw Johann rush from place to place in the suite, overturning the couch, checking the closets, flinging anything open or out of the way that might be hiding Anne. By the time he ran out of places to look, he was weeping freely, and finally collapsed against a wall in the devestated room.

 

All that Dana and Evelyn could get out of him were some disjointed words."Anne. Gone. Scarf. Tree. Cliff. Anne."

 

The two ladies quickly donned some outdoor clothes, and their equipment. Following Johann, who seemed to have collected himself well enough to guide them, they went down the path. They saw the skis, which Dana immediately recognized as ones that she had loaned to Johann earlier due to the odd lime green markings on their ends. They saw the scarf, the soft red scarf fluttering in the breeze, the torn fencing.

 

And Johann, lying on the ground, whispering:

 

"Why? Why did you do it? And where have you been hiding?" he said, his voice gradually rising in volume and determination,"Where have you been? We've been dying here, and where are you at?"

 

"I'll find you Stefan. Just wait."

 

(OOC: accusing the "Hidden Lady" Elwen/Stefan)

Edited March 25, 2006 by Akallabeth

[Azuran]

The snow on the ground muffled the earth, strangling out its sanity, its hope. A gentle throbbing in her ears was the only sound Evelyn heard as she swam in slow motion through the past several days. Paranoia no longer adequately conceptualized the essence of her mindset, replaced instead with ethereal finality. A million fingers pointed in a million different directions—fingers that didn’t exist anymore…bloody fingers that curled back on themselves…ghostly fingers that grasped to show the truth. She was still alive, but on the outside the dried husk was already withering away. To survive such madness at the cost already witnessed was hardly salvation. She was innocent—uninvolved in every way, except emotionally. And with dull apathy streaming out as the torrents of agony poured within, Evelyn watched the razor edge of chance glint in shimmering extravagance before relieving her of obligation.

 

OOC: Vote for Johann Olsen.

[Patrick]

I should never have left Austria. That was the last thought that flashed through Gabi's mind after the meat tenderiser had smashed her skull.

 

Gabi had never believed in ghosts, and thus it was quite a surprise to her to survey her own dead body from the ceiling when she opened her eyes. She lifted a hand in front of her eyes, and still saw her own mutilated features through the outline of her hand. It was an interesting new experience for Gabi, and momentarily she forgot that she had just been murdered as she tried out all of the fun things ghosts could do, flying around the room, passing through walls.

 

Then reality hit her. She was dead and the only existence she would ever have from now on would be one of watching everything happening around her, yet not being able to interact with the world around her. Gabi wondered about what had happened to the others who had been killed at the lodge. Would she find them drifting around as ghosts, or were they not granted such a pitiful resemblance of existence?

 

Gabi drifted along the inside of the cabin, passing through each of the rooms, pausing only twice. First in her own room, to say goodbye to the few possessions, which had accompanied her, and second in the room of her killer. She leant in close to the face, and whispered words of vengeance in those ears. Her words would never be heard however, as only those in the spirit world could hear them.

 

Once she was done, she drifted through the roof, and then along one of the mountain ridges, curious as to whether she would find any other ghosts.

[Mynx]

The cabin on Vannacutt Point had finally reached its epitomy of madness and despair. Stefan was nowhere to be found, Johann hadn't stopped crying, and Evelyn was leaping at every shadow and creak.

Dana seemed to have retreated entirely into herself, humming gently as she sat in a corner of the living room, oblivious to the banging and the cries coming from those locked in the store room on the other side of the wall she lay against.

 

Even cabin fever held not this affect on its victims.

Something had to happen. And finally, something did.

 

Eventually, Johann's tears abated, leaving him with nothing but a black ball of misery in his stomach. Why did I do it Anne? he thought to himself. What have I done to you?

Evelyn had been glaring at him all day, hissing accusations at him, implying that he had killed Stefan. And Dana was beyond help. What had he done? Why had he taken so much from these people?

Going upstairs, Johann entered Gregor's old room, bending down to the floor as he reached under the bed.

 

Returning downstairs, Johann placed the second short wave radio that Gregor had hidden at Dana's feet. He tried to catch her eye, failing miserably and deciding to talk anyway.

"I'm sorry. Nothing I can say will excuse me and nothing I can do will bring Seth back. Or Anne. Or any of the others. I'm sorry."

 

"I KNEW IT!"

Johann jumped in shock and leapt away from Dana as he turned to face his accuser. Evelyn stared at him madly, a kitchen knife held shakily in her hand.

"Murderer," she hissed, walking unsteadily towards him. Then she noticed the radio, the realisation that she could finally call for help distracting her.

Taking advantage of this, Johann bolted for the door, grabbing nothing but a jacket as he disappeared out into the snow.

 

Fiddling with the dials and muttering to herself, Evelyn crowed happily when she reached the police frequency.

"You have to help us!" she screeched. "People are dead! The killer's trying to walk off the mountain you have to stop them!"

"Ma'am? Ma'am please! Calm down and repeat yourself. How many are dead? Are there any injured? There's a storm brewing we can't get a helecopter up to you for at least twelve hours can you hold out that long?"

 

"Killer!" Evelyn ignored the storm warning and continued to scream. "Stop the killer!"

With that she dropped the mic and ran out the door after Johann as the snow already began to fall...

 

Vinka was nearly dead as she staggered over the final rise and found the police station, relief washing over her as she limped down.

She didn't register the panic in the air as four officers ran out of the building and began yelling at her, aiming their guns and telling her to drop whatever weapons she had.

What? she thought dazedly, trying to understand who they thought she was when the first shot rang out...

 

The radio cracked and hissed with the occasional word as contact was attempted repeatedly with the cabin's inhabitants. Those in the store room screamed and howled as they banged on the wall for attention. But the only person who remained in freedom was Dana; a prisoner of her mind.

 

Outside, the storm began to rage...

 

OOC: Johann/Akallabeth was the second wolf. See comments in the OOC thread.

[Tanuchan]

Thanks to Patrick, for checking Gabi's part and adding to it

~~~~~~~

 

 

Gabi's incorporeal body floated along the ridges of the mountain, curiosity leading her. Time didn't have meaning for her, and so she wasn't really surprised to feel and hear the giggling passing by her, swirling first down the mountain and, a while later, up again.

 

I know that ... or I should know...

 

There was something very akin to "presence" all around Gabi. She could sense it easily, and so she knew it was from the spirit world. But she seemed unable to contact it, or see it - odd, considering that they should have been in the same plane of existence.

 

There was a feeling of happiness all around her, and something that resembled a voice within the wind. That finally made Gabi recognize what it was - or what it had been.

 

Anne? Annelise, that's you!

 

Gabi didn't know how to talk to her companion ghost, if talk was possible or if it could be called a companion ghost at all. There was something definitely different about the presence of Annelise that she could feel.

 

You belong to the same plane as I belong to now... where are you, why can't I see and talk to you?

 

She stretched all her will - her power? - trying to touch Anne's conscience. She had known little of her, but she hoped that would be enough... enough for what, even herself wasn't sure of.

 

The air seemed to grow still, expectation suspended around Gabi. There was curiosity, and puzzlement, now. The soft, faded voice she thought she had heard in the wind was gone, but something of it still rang in the mountain.

 

Gabi waited, letting her thoughts wander. The sun sent sparks of gold off the roof of the lodge down the slope. One of those sparks seemed to reflect on something to Gabi's right.

 

There was still no movement, but Gabi could tell the wind was starting to swirl around her once again. She noticed a figure leaving the lodge in a run, and recognized her killer. She was tempted to follow him, but she also knew that it didn't matter for her - she would be able to find Johann at any moment she wanted. She didn't know how, but she knew she could.

 

The slight movement caught Gabi's attention - and what seemed to be just a ray of light glinting off the snow seemed to coalesce somewhat. It wasn't yet the shape of a woman, rather just a collection of light, shadow, and mist. And there was still no voice or thought, just a general feeling of curiosity.

 

Anne... what are you? You aren't... quite like me...

 

The soft giggling came again, and Gabi could feel a smile. And somehow, the answer to her question.

 

I'm the mountain...

 

 

Gabi smiled. Then she saw a second figure leaving the lodge - she thought it might be Evelyn. That thought was so sudden, so loaded with sharp worry about her former friends and companions, that it translated into something Anne's ethereal spirit caught. Gabi just felt the swirling wind get stronger, the giggling suddenly gone, and the rush of the breeze going downward, towards the lodge.

 

Joy suffused Gabi's ethereal soul. She was not alone in the spirit world afterall! She drifted after Annelise, although she could not move as fast as the wind.

 

The storage room. The banging and the cries were still there, though weaker. The wind ignored it, finding again entrance to the room, this fime filling it with cool air. There, confined by walls, its voice couldn't sound but muted, its touch no more than the softest of caresses.

 

Gabi watched those in the storage room, being touched by Anne's presence, although none of them realised what was happening to them. She then remembered Evelyn, who was somewhere on the mountain.

 

"I'll be around." - she whispered to Annelise, and drifted towards where she had last seen Evelyn. She did not know whether she could do anything to help her get to safety, but she vowed to try her best.

 

 

The wind, now a gentle breeze, looked for the person it had come for with the certainty of a strong spirit, and wrapped him with the coolness of mountain air, of mountain spirit.

 

My care and friendship whenever you need them... even now.

 

 

Edit: slight rewording, typos

Edited March 26, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Vahktang]

Vinka layed in the snow, as more snow layed down on her.

Storm coming, snow flurries were already here.

She was smiling.

She was no longer in pain.

No longer in fear.

Those people back at the lodge?

Screw 'em. She'd been killed by the police.

Coming out of the mountains, half insane from exposue, exhertion, and lack of food and water, middle of winter.

No wonder they had been cautious.

'Oooh, he was cute,' she thought, as a police officer leaned over her.

She checked her pulse, then, pressed a hand against Vinka's wound, yelling, but Vinka heard no sound.

'Oh, it was a girl.

'Ah well, doesn't matter know.'

"Grzl abu frigit garble," Vinka said.

'Great, those are going to be my last words.

'I wonder if I'm making a blood flavored snow cone?'

More officers were around her, but she couldn't tell genders, or even numbers.

They seemed more shapes than people.

It was getting darker, too.

'Though I'd win this one.

'Thought I'd go in the record books. Or at least the papers. Maybe get on ABC news.

'But I didn't quite make it.'

Then she did feel something.

They were moving her into the station.

A twinge turned into agony, then stayed there.

It wasn't only physical, but mental, too.

She hadn't made it. She hadn't helped anyone, even herself.

She only had strength to moan.

And the last things she felt was the agony of defeat.

[Akallabeth]

A couple of hours later, night had completely fallen, and Johann was still going, traveling down a valley along a large stream. His thin jacket didn't provide much protection against the cool northern air, but he did not notice. The void in his mind easily swallowed up the gathering numbness of his senses.

 

'Why...why...why...'

 

The question echoed through his mind long after his lips were too tired and too numb to say the word anymore. He ought to have known there was no hope, no point to the killing. He had only succeeded in destroying the one thing in the world he loved.

 

Perhaps he could gain some consolation by destroying the thing that he most hated, the thing that had killed his love.

 

Himself.

 

Turning with a numbed cry, he threw himself headlong into the icy waters of the rushing stream. Within seconds, he knew that he was going to succeed in the last killing of his life. The dark, freezing waters pulled him down, tugging on the weight of his clothing, his skis. He did not resist, and allowed the chilling fingers of death to pull him under.

 

Blackness was all around. Johann knew he was dead, yet he thought it odd that his senses seemed to have stayed. The darkness about him seemed visible, not the black of closed eyes. There were shrill, loud sounds echoing in his ears. The stench of sulfur filled his nostrils, and a burning, horrific heat, came with it - as if he had inhaled flames.

 

Awareness increased, and as his senses were fully restored, a last fleeting thought appeared in his mind.

 

Perhaps life hadn't been so bad.

 

Even as he thought this, his skin began to change colors and harden from the intense heat. Irregular dark blotches covered his body. Boils erupted and burst from his flesh, and his body took on the semlance of burning charcoal as the flames surrounded him.

 

And the eternal chorus of burning souls recieved another voice.

 

 

 

 

(edit: heavily changed last part)

Edited March 27, 2006 by Akallabeth