Chapter 3: The Fall

By the time we got home, it was already 6PM and the cold winter day had shifted to the even colder winter night. We had dinner and some more drinks until about 8 but, unlike the night before, many didn’t plan to stay up late. After we all had spent a long while drinking and jubilantly discussing our time on the slopes, Cory was the first to declare that he wanted to go to bed, disappearing down the hallway. Then Sybil did the same and of course when Sybil got up to go, her sister followed suit. Rebecca also decided to call it a night, following after the other two girls. 

And then there were five.

“How long has your family owned this place?” Matthew asked Andrew after a few minutes of silence.

Andrew didn’t seem to mind the silence but he also seemed glad to pass the time more actively. “I think it must be 10 years by now,” he thought aloud. “Weird to think we almost didn’t get it at all.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “We’ve spent so much time here now, it feels like it's always been a part of our lives.”

Matthew looked between us, curiously. “What do you mean?”

Christina groaned, flicking one of her legs across the other to adjust her seating position. “Don’t get him started on this story. He tells it all the time.”

Alison chuckled softly into the back of her hand. “I like this story though.”

“What?” Matthew demanded.

“It’s the mountain spirit,” Andrew explained, putting on a spooky sounding voice to add dramatic effect. 

Christina rolled her eyes but I think I could see a slight smile in the corner of her mouth. She obviously loved my brother even if she could only show it in her way.

“Dad-” Andrew started but then cut himself off, looking down suddenly. My own heart ached, looking at it. I miss him too, brother.

“Dad,” Andrew finally continued after a moment, “was considering not buying this place. One of the rangers back then - some old guy who’s retired since - kept going on about it. Apparently there’s some evil tree spirit that takes the form of a man with bark for skin. They say you can hear it howling through the mountains at night.”

Matthew listened intently, but didn’t seem bothered by the story. “What? And your dad believed it?”

Andrew shrugged, but I felt I could elucidate the situation. “Folk lore like this is true enough, Matthew. Evil forest spirits might not exist but there is wisdom in fearing the forest at night.”

“Yeah,” Christina said derisively. “A hungry bear might come and eat you!”

“The spirit was supposed to abduct anyone wandering lost in the woods. Dad decided that we’d be safe as long as we stayed in the house, so he ended up purchasing it after all.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Matthew responded, sounding bored. “It’d be cool if a spirit really did exist, though.”

“I always thought father invented the entire tale,” I offered chipperly. “Something just to scare Andrew and I and stop us from wandering off.”

“That’s not true!” Andrew insisted. “I’ve seen it with my own two eyes!”

Despite Andrews' most valiant efforts across the next couple of moments, his dramatic performance convinced exactly no one of the existence of evil spirits.

After some more discussion on local legends, Matthew announced that he needed the toilet, then he too left the room.

And then there were four.

“So, do you think we could go back to the slopes tomorrow?” Alison asked chipperly. “I think everyone really enjoyed it.”

“You didn’t even ski the whole time! You and Rebecca spent almost 2 hours in the gift shop!” I say jokingly.

“And we’d like to spend another 2!” Alison responded, playfully.

She and I both laughed.

“Sorry guys, but there’s going to be a blizzard through tonight and all of tomorrow,” Andrew informed us. “I checked the forecast this morning.”

The holiday house was fairly isolated but it was part of a connected group of houses in this area and so, there were at least amenities allowing for radio signals. We also got a weather forecast unique to this area.

“Aww, damn!” I said. “I was really hoping we’d be able to go again tomorrow.” 

Andrew smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Guess we’ll have to find something else to do. How about hide and seek?”

Alison responded brightly. “In a big house like this, that might not be a bad idea. I’ll warn you though, there’s no way you’re gonna be able to hide from me. I am a master huntress”

Christina scoffed.

Alison opened her mouth to retort when - THUD.

Everyone jumped up quickly from their seats and peered through the glass doors leading out to the courtyard from the living room - the direction the noise had come from. It was pitch-black outside. Nothing could be seen. Alison, who seemed nervous, looked between us all. 

“What do you reckon that was?” she asked. “It couldn’t be a bear, could it?”

“It might be that evil spirit we were talking about,” Christina joked. “Why don’t you go check, Ali?”

Alison shook her head fervently. No way. Even if she did want to go, I wouldn’t let her. She’d be staying here.

“I’ll check,” Andrew said, cunningly. “Who knows, maybe its a zombie. Or a ghost.”

Christina laughed. “This place seems like a great location for a murder, don’t you think? Maybe some poor victim’s soul has come to haunt us.”

Alison tutted under her breath. “Go on then, if you’re so brave.”

Andrew sauntered over to the sliding glass door and slowly unturned its lock with an audible click. “Heellloooooo? Mr ghoooost?”

The howling wind could now be heard clearly with the door open. It almost sounded like a ghost really did respond to his call. No wonder the locals came up with the legend of the forest spirit! After a few moments of silence, it became obvious that, if there was someone out there, they didn't plan to respond.

Chuckling, Andrew walked outside and disappeared into the dark.

Suddenly, he let out a mock cry. “Arg! Oh no! He’s got me!!!”

Alison rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, peering out into the darkness. “Very funny!” she called, sarcastically. 

Andrew laughed in response and I wondered why he felt the need to make such a spectacle out of this. Maybe it was his way of keeping the mood chipper.

As Andrew walked to come back inside, he tripped over something, falling to the ground with a screech and a thud and smacking his chin on the cold, icy ground.

Alison laughed at his misfortune but Andrew’s demeanor changed very quickly. He scrambled to his feet and darted inside. “What was that?” he hissed, staring back into the dark as he got in.

Without taking time to explain himself, Andrew ran off into the house, chin still red from where he had banged it. When he was gone, Alison, Christina and I exchanged glances but Christina simply shrugged. Before long, Andrew returned, lantern in hand.

He looked at us and swallowed thickly. “Let’s hope I’m wrong about this.” He said grimly.

Alison shook her head. “You can give it up now, I know nothing’s out there. I can’t believe you’d fall on purpose.”

“I didn’t” Andrew responded through gritted teeth. This got Christina’s attention and she darted over to him quickly. 

“What is it?” she asked, genuinely.

Andrew just shook his head, taking a match to the lantern.

Despite our better judgement, we found ourselves following Andrew outside. Then, illuminated by the lantern, we saw what he had fallen over before.

Our shocked gasps were immediately swallowed by the howling wind.

Christina recoiled and ran inside, hand across her mouth. In response, Andrew shoved the lantern into my hands and chased after her. I stared in disbelief, and Alison pulled herself over to the side to hold her head in her hands and swear repeatedly under her breath.

This was impossible right? How could this have even happened? But it was right here in front of me. My eyes couldn’t be deceiving me that much, right?

No. It’s definitely real. Somehow, impossibly, Cory’s body was lying on the ground in front of me,

And blood had soaked into the white snow beneath him. He looked as if he had been beaten to death with a baseball bat - but that “thud” from earlier! I suddenly look up at the open window above me: the master bedroom. Could he have fallen from there? No. No way!

By that point, Alison was sobbing. I rushed to her and threw my arm around her shoulder. “Alison! Come on, let’s go back in.”

We hurried in and were about to close the door behind us when we heard Matthew reenter the room and spun around to look at him, faces white.

“What’s going on?” he asked and neither Alison nor I knew how to respond. “I just saw Christina running down the hallway with Andrew. She seemed upset.”

Alison looked at me, her face twisting in agony. I felt the same way she did but the muscles of my face were too paralyzed from shock to move into a fitting expression. Matthew looked us up and down, noticed the lantern in my hand, noticed the slightly ajar door we never quite finished closing, and became even more agitated. He started walking forward.

“Why were you outside?”

“Matthew, don’t go out there,” Alison started, realising her mistake too late.

Matthew’s eyebrows struck his hairline with a rising force. “Why?” He sounded panicked. “Will one of you just say something!”

Silence.

How could we say anything? What would we say? Cory was Matthew’s friend. How could we tell him?

I decided it would be best if I simply stepped aside and let him go outside. Even if I tried to stop him from seeing the horrible state of the body, he'd just grow more agitated. Alison seemed appalled by this decision but she didn’t step in to stop me. We watched in slow motion as Matthew took the lantern and went outside before bellowing in grief. He collapsed to his knees, dropping the lantern. He clutched at his side. He roared, gutterily, like an injured beast. We had no choice but to watch him eject his sorrow out from his lungs as our insides writhed like worms at the sight.

Matthew’s cries attracted the rest of the house, hot tears rushing down his cheeks. Everyone looked at Alison and me and then at him before horrible realization dawned on their faces like the bloodred morning sun.