Chapter Text
“Today is the one-year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington. Here with us is Sheriff Annie Cline, who was in charge of the investigation…”
“Thanks for having me, Marty.”
“Here is an update on Hannah and Beth Washington, the twins who are still missing…”
Sam looked through the window and spaced out for a while.
She had heard different retellings of the same story for a year―and it still hurt as much as when she first realized Hannah and Beth were never coming back.
“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.”
Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was nothing she could do. Definitely not after a year.
When the broadcast ended, she watched Josh’s video. Again.
“Well hello, friends and fans… Alright, let’s do that again.”
Sam smiled.
The morning after the disappearance of the twins, Josh had been… devastated, for lack of a better word.
It had been rough.
At first, Josh and Sam had leant on each other for support, talking and making sure they were not drowning in their pain. Then Josh had closed himself off, barely responding to his friend’s texts.
Before long, he stopped replying at all.
He disappeared for months―not even Chris could reach him―and then, a few weeks before the one-year anniversary, he invited them all back to the lodge.
But Josh looked fine now, better. Maybe he was finally starting to heal.
“Alright. Well hello, friends and fans! It’s beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year. First off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!”
Josh made an excited noise, and Sam smiled warmly at the screen.
“So, um… Let’s take a moment to address the elephant in the room for a second. I know you are all probably worried about me…”
Yeah, Sam thought sadly. We are.
Josh’s struggle with depression was no secret to her. She could still remember when Hannah had called her some years ago, after finding out Josh was going to stay at a hospital for some time. Hannah had been freaking out about not knowing her own brother and not being a good enough sister.
Sam had almost had to lock Hannah inside her room to stop her from driving all the way to the hospital just to make sure her brother was being properly fed and taken care of.
She had been surprised too, but not as much as Hannah and Beth.
After years of spending time in the Washington’s house, she knew Josh had a tendency to isolate himself―especially after a rough day or a bad panic attack―, so she had felt relieved he was finally seeing a therapist.
Now, after a year of the twins’ disappearance and Josh’s ghosting, she had no clue how her friend was doing.
“…and I know it’s going to be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year,” Josh continued, “but I just want you all to know… it means – it means so much to me that we’re doing this. And I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we’re all still here together, thinking of them. I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments that we will never forget… for the sake of my sisters, you know? So let’s party like we are fucking porn stars, okay?”
“And make this one a trip we will never forget, alright? Yes!” Sam mouthed at the same time and pace as Josh.
Sam hopped off the bus, stretching a little after all those hours sitting down. She had finally arrived at Blackwood Pines, but she was still far from the lodge.
As soon as she went through the wooden gate, she stopped; Sam had heard a noise, kind of like a branch being broken or the panting of a dog.
“Hello?” She called. “Is someone there?”
When no one answered, she kept on going to the cable car station.
Sam reached the metal gate and took the note attached to it:
Gate's busted, climb over! - Chris.
Climbing over was no problem to her, but she had no idea how Jess or Emily were going to do it.
She walked a few more steps before stopping again. She couldn’t help but feel like someone was following her.
She felt the hairs on her neck rise. Sam started walking a little faster.
She reached the station and spotted a map of Blackwood Mountain with the words “THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL” written in a thick, red substance.
“Graffiti all the way up here?” The graffiti by itself was weird, but the almost-fresh look of the painting was even weirder, “Yikes.”
She turned around and walked back to where she had seen Chris’ backpack placed.
“Chris?” She called “Are you here?” The boy's phone buzzed, she could hear his ringtone from somewhere inside his backpack, but decided to ignore it and wait for her friend to come back. “Hopefully, he won't take too long...”
A couple minutes later, she heard an enthusiastic: Sam! Hey you made it!, before she could even see the boy.
When Chris got nearer, he dragged Sam in for a bear hug. “I missed you so much.”
“Missed you too, big guy” she said truthfully.
“So, I found something amazing.” Chris said, picking up his backpack.
“What?”
“Samantha, I’m not going to spoil the surprise. You have to see it for yourself. Come with me.”
Sam followed Chris around the station and spotted a wanted poster of a man named "Victor Milgram".
“Oh man, look at this..”
“Nice. You think we'll get a visit from America's most wanted?”
“God, you spend too much time with Josh.” Chris made a face, but soon they both started laughing.
“Don't worry, though, this place is abandoned for most of the year. Nobody comes up here,” Chris patted Sam on the shoulder.
After walking a short distance, Chris showed Sam the shooting range he had found, as well as a rifle.
“Ta-dah! Pretty rad, right?”
“This was the big surprise?”
“This was the big surprise! Come on, look at these beauties.”
“That’s not the word that comes to my mind," She deadpanned. "Why is this even here, Chris?”
“What do you mean?”
“What the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?”
Chris picked up the rifle, “Oh, it’s an erstwhile tradition, m’lady. Back in the good ol’ days, a man had to prove his worth by climbing a deadly, snowy mountain and shooting some squirrels to feed his family, y’know?” He bowed his head a little.
“Beautiful tradition” Sam answered, playfully rolling her eyes.
“I know, I know. Makes you miss the good ol’ days.”
“Sure." She looked him dead in the eye and asked, "Will you answer my question now?”
“What question?”
“Why is a shooting range here?”
“Dude, have you ever met Josh's dad? He thinks he's, like, Grizzly Adams or something. Wanna give it a try?”
“You go 'head, Grizzly.”
“Alright, here goes...” Chris shot four objects without missing a single shot.
“I'm a badass!” He chanted, performing a silly dance.
“I'm gonna go ahead and guess it was a wild case of beginner's luck.”
“It’s called being talented, gurl.”
"Watch this," Chris readied his rifle once more. A squirrel wandered onto a nearby tree; Chris aimed at it, but ended shooting a sandbag instead.
“Nice shot.” Sam complimented. She knew Chris had a big, soft heart. Honestly, that was one of the reasons she liked him so much.
“Your ass just got saaaacked!”
Sam rolled her eyes. He had single-handedly ruined the moment.
Before Chris could dance some more, she said, “Hey, sharp-shooter, I think our ride is coming.”
They walked back to the cable car.
“Man, it’s definitely weird coming back up here after a whole year,” Chris admitted after a moment.
“Yeah, I swear the moment I got here it all just came flooding back.”
“A year sure goes fast.
Not really, Sam thought, but kept quiet.
“Must be really hard on Josh...” Chris continued talking, “I don't know how he keeps it together. I'd, well, I'd be a wreck...”
“He was a wreck―we both were―at first,” She admitted.
“Wait, he talked to you? After what happened?” Chris asked, disbelief coating his voice, “He didn’t talked to me. Like, at all.”
“Yeah, well, we both kinda needed each other, you know?”
“But I was also sad! And scared!” Chris complained, “Hannah and Beth were like my own little sisters.”
“Yeah, well try losing your real sisters,” Sam heatedly interrupted, “Or try losing your best friend and your girlfriend.”
Her last words were barely a whisper.
Chris looked at her, really looked at her.
“You and Beth…?”
“Yep.”
“For how long?”
“It was sort of a new thing. That’s why we didn't tell you," She explained with a sad smile, "We wanted to give it a try first.”
“Oh, Sam,” Chris’ eyes were watery. He looked as if someone had slapped him, “Can I... Can I give you a hug?”
“When have you ever asked?” Chris wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.
“You poor thing,” He cooed, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“Well, you didn’t know.”
“That’s no excuse! As your bro-in-arms, it was my duty to check up on you. And I failed.”
“Okay, stop it. Let me go,” She stepped away from the embrace, but smiled widely. “Thanks, Chris.”
“Wait, so Josh knew?”
“Ha! Yes, and so did Hannah," She shook her head, "Though Josh probably knew I liked Beth even before I knew.”
“That definitely sounds like our Josh,” Chris smiled. “So how is he?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. We're just gonna have to keep an eye on him," Sam let out a sigh. "He has been going through so much…”
“I know.”
Sam attempted to open the door to the station, but it was locked. Chris pulled out a key.
“Oh, right! Josh wanted us to keep it locked, you know, to keep people out. So he sent me this key a few nights ago.”
“What people?”
“I dunno, he said they found people sleeping in the station one time.”
“Creepy.” Chris nodded and unlocked the door.
“But that was a loooong time ago,” He stepped aside. “After you.”
“Wow, a real gentleman.” Chris and Sam walked inside the station.
Sam entered the cable car first, followed by Chris.
“This is like going to prom,” He said, “But I bet you wouldn’t have been interested in going with me, right, Sammy?” Chris wiggled his brows in a flirtatious way, "Because I don't have short, brown hair and a sweet, light-caramel complexion."
“I’m starting to regret telling you about Beth…”
“Come on! Don’t be like that.” He smiled widely, “Hey, wanna know how Josh and I met?”
“Sure,” Sam answered. In truth, she knew how they met. She could probably recite the story as well as Chris.
Josh had told it to her countless times, whenever he was feeling sad.
Damn, even Chris had told her the story before, after getting drunk with Josh.
So it was not new to her, but she enjoyed listening to it.
“Okay, third grade. Josh sat in the back of the room, and I sat in the front. We didn't even know each other existed. But the kid sitting next to Josh started strap-snapping the training bra on the girl in front of him, so the teacher made him move to the front, where I was sitting.”
“And?”
“And I got moved to the back!”
“Let me guess, next to Josh?”
“Next to Josh! That's how we met! And became friends to this day.”
“A match made in heaven,” Sam noticed the light blush that covered Chris’ cheeks.
He coughed a little before continuing, “If it weren't for the fact that Jeanie Simmonds hit puberty, like, three years early and on that day decided to wear a low-cut shirt that showed off her training bra, I mean, who knows? You could be riding in this cable car alone or talking to some other person entirely. Boom, butterfly effect!”
Sam looked at Chris and smiled.
She knew Josh had a crush on him, and it was easy to see why: Chris was affable, witty, goofy and nerdy. And he knew the worst jokes Sam had ever heard.
Definitely Josh’s type.
Except… He was allegedly, according to none other than Josh, into Ashley.
“I’ll make sure to thank the Butterfly Goddess.”
“That’s not how it works!” Chris bickered.
“Hey,” Sam decided to change topics, “Do you think this is a good idea?”
“What?” Chris looked a bit lost.
“You know, getting everyone together on the anniversary.”
“Oh, yeah... It probably is! I haven't seen Josh so excited in what feels like forever.”
“Good, good. I've been kinda worried.”
“Trust me, Sam, it is a good idea.”
“I hope everyone else feels the same way.”
“We're all going to be here, aren't we?” Chris reasoned.
Sam jokingly punched Chris' arm, “Thanks, bro! Good talk, bro.”
“Oh my God, I do not sound like that!”
“Well, you sure do when you are talking to Josh!”
“But he is my bro!”
“Yeah, and all I hear when I’m with you is the endless echo of you two bro, bro, bro-ing.”
“I don’t think that’s a real verb.”
“Well, I just used it, so it must be. Boom, butterfly effect!”
“Again, that’s not how it works!”