Dustyn Asmod's Story

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Its not creepy.

In fact there at the base of the lodge, watching the sun light on snow banks and icy trees, she wanders if this weekend is even going to be all that scary. The atmosphere of the place breathes easy, and, to be quite honest even with its history Morgan can't help but feel that this place is more beautiful than eery. Nature always finds a way, and despite the purposely placed fauna around the lodges entrance she knows that beyond the fine cut trees there is a wild expanse of land reclaimed by the mountains spirits. Morgan only hopes to be lucky enough to catch a small glimpse of that natural beauty on this trip. After all, what's a vacation without sightseeing? However, she wanders if that's how the people who died here felt when they first took that long ride up on the cable cars. Did they feel the heavy presence of 'something wrong?' Could they have known the feeling at all.

Morgan knows that she would feel it, that deep gut instinct that took over the rational side of her brain. Sometimes she felt it when her risk taking went a step too far into unknown territory, where death could creep upon her at the slightest step forward. Now, she almost feels at peace. Closed off in a way, as if nothing here were really real. Probably, for the reason that she has never really experienced a trip like this. So far away from home, where anything can happen independent of the lives of her family. Even with Gabe here, she only slightly feels the oppression of rules. Only a small sense of sadness for the tragedies that have claimed this place as its own. The sole reason that this pseudo-haunted house even exists.

She almost feels bad that those lives are being taken advantage of for the sake of entertainment. But at the same time, being her age she cannot contain the enthusiasm from what she will potentially experience here. A once in a lifetime chance; something to bring everyone together before the adult world chews them up and spits them back out. Like her brother said 'It'll be a weekend to remember.' Morgan damn well hopes that's the truth of it.

She's been here for over an hour now waiting for the arrival of the second shuttle bus to the base of the mountain, she had arrived early, alongside a few others including her brother but there were still stragglers. Paige, for one had yet to show her face and it worried Morgan greatly. What if she had backed out? Paige hadn't seemed too enthused about the trip in the first place, but Morgans begging had eventually gotten her to agree. Without cellphone reception she wouldn't know until she saw the blonde. And while she knew that Paige wouldn't let her down the fear of abandonment still laid heavy in her gut. A rocks throw from full blown panic at the thought. She shoves in her earbuds and starts up her playlist, to perhaps belay the sense of anxiety creeping in.

She was determined to make this trip the best it could be. They would not go home disappointed, even if that meant getting reckless. That was what the company wanted though, right? Reckless young adults left alone under minimal supervision to run rampant through the scary 'cabin in the woods' trope. Smoke and mirror scares to keep them on their toes. A friend back home had teased the idea of ghosts, based on the real lives lost here, but she had found that idea utterly insensitive. At best, it would get this whole thing shut down by the families of those lost, if it were the case. But Morgan knows better, or, at least she hopes she does.

Proceeding to turn away from the view and back towards the porch-like area of the station, she takes a seat at one of the wooden bench chairs that's been placed haphazardly against the wall. It seems, despite the amount of work put into this place they hadn't prepared quite as well as they wanted to before their guests arrived. The original Cable Car station still stood on its foundations, but there had been additions and expansions. Even so, there was a clearly a noticeable enhancement to the feel of the place, as if the rusted metal and dingy picnic tables out front were still left over from the tragedy years ago. Morgan didn't care that the place looked to be a bit rushed, that was more the sort of anal thing that Gabriel would be bothered over. She remembers almost fondly when they received their invitations, the application process was long and exhausting to the point that by the end of it neither of them were really sure if they still wanted to bother. The various questions they had to answer were strange and at times unsettling.

Whats your greatest fear? Dying. What is the biggest lie you have ever told? ... Who are you most willing to lose? Myself. Most of the questions went on in a similar fashion that Morgan may or may not have answered truthfully. Divulging so much personal information felt like a trap, or a trick, or simply like she was giving someone leverage even though she knew it was to tailor the experience of the haunt - nobody, nobody needed to know these things. And yet, she found herself answering most of them with the same kind of candid honesty that she so reserves for the people in her life that mattered most. The official invitations came quickly after. An old, yellowing envelope sealed with a red wax, emblazoned with a phoenix. Inside, the letter of acceptance had been written on parchment, handwritten. Gabriel had laughed at how old school it was. Morgan, to say the least had been impressed by the amount of detail they put into it. They had each gotten one, and Morgan the next day had showed it off as if it were a badge of honor - she was actually getting the fuck out of their small town, even if it was just for a vacation.

After that, the packing came, and the excitement died down again as they boarded the flight out of hell. The mountain was not near enough to any large cities or town so they had to take a bus from there. All in all, they had made great time and now here they were - or, rather here Morgan is. Fondling her cellphone between frost nipped fingers and hoping to hell Paige gets there soon. Gabriel was still at the Cable Car station, after finding out that there was no operator hired to take them up; dearest mother would stick around to make sure all his kids got up the mountain safe. Blegh. She didn't want to go in alone either, as fearless as she was she wasn't sure what the extent of this scare fest would be. Would it be right out of the gate? or would they wait until everyone was settled in, thinking that things wouldn't get much worse from there? Whatever the case, she was content to wait, eyes closed and listening to the soft hum of music in her ears.

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#003663 // Outfit // Song

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...............Outfit
................X X

...............Hex
........... #bd6565

...............Song
..........Girls Like You

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"How about this?"

Paige doesn't turn her head to look, its all the same to her. She opens her mouth, intending on spewing some basic comment but somewhere in translation it becomes every other bitchy thing she's ever said. "Red makes you look like a cheap whore." And, well, it does make the otherwise overly painted Trisha look like shes ready to go out on the streets of the red light district. With her getup she may as well have been screaming 'look at me, aren't I special, I'm showing sooo much skin!' Then again, isn't Paige going about this in the exact same way? Nobody told her it was going to be fucking freezing outside, and even here traveling by way of peasant she may as well be turning hypothermic.

She rubs her legs, not exactly bare with the tights on - the thin material gives little warmth or comfort - and turns to the front of the bus where her least favorite 'classmate' is sitting. Pax, she doesn't mind, he can be an annoying twat at times but at least he's genuinely funny. Remy however, is a pain in the ass she just can't seem to shake off. Not for lack of trying they've both had their fair share of pissing matches and fights aplenty. Paige may not be a great physical fighter but she's willing to go deep and dirty if it means winning against the brute. "Hellooo, earth to Paige." Trisha is waving her hand in front of Paiges face, and all she can do is zero in on the horrible mess of a manicure she had tried to give herself while the bus was rolling. Did she honestly think that would be a good idea? Paige just hopes this trip will give Trish a bit of refinement, maybe clean up those cobweb covered brain cells of hers.

"What?" She replies though half of her wants to keep her mouth closed and ignore the bubbly brunette. She isn't quite in the mood right now, and its becoming harder to keep her teeth from chattering. Why the fuck did she ever think this outfit would be a good idea to wear. Its snowing outside for Christ Sake. Oh right, because apparently the bitch in her wanted to defy even natures most honest law. But damn, on the other hand at least she looks good. "I think red is a good color -"

"Then why did you ask Trish?" Paige stresses her name, condescension clear in tone, practically dripping in rivulets of clarity from the cracks in clenched teeth. God, why did she waste an invite on her - oh right, cause Trisha is her only other friend in the world. The only friend she doesn't want to bang. Hard. Against whatever surface she can find. And because at least with Trisha there she won't be the most hated in the room, at best, she'll be the second or third. Morgan wasn't thrilled about Paiges decision to invite Trisha but what the hell can you do when you only have two friends in the whole wide world? Be a bitch to one and pine uselessly after the other. Because god in heaven knows that Paige would be the very last person to confess all her fucked up feelings. Internal agony be damned, she knows her place when it comes to these feelings, she's more than content with keeping in her little square box.

"Geeze what crawled up your butt and died..." Paige doesn't feel bad at all when Trisha turns back to her cellphone, uselessly scrolling through apps that won't even work without cell service - and lo and behold theres no service up here either. One would think that these people, with their funding would have actually thought to add a cellphone tower. How the fuck would they get in contact with anyone if someone was hurt? A CB had worked so well for those kids seven years ago. Right. After a few minutes of actually working over the fact that she's being unreasonable she tries her hand at distracting Trisha from her earlier comments, which, she knows if she starts chattering loud enough the other occupants will get annoyed - god, she loves annoying the hell out of people. Nothing better than watching someones head about to pop off.

If Morgan hadn't been so excited Paige wouldn't have agreed to this trip. Not only is she not fond of the cold, but she's hell on an airplane and this bus is absolutely no better, poor people transport at best. She had half a mind to ask her parents if she could drive herself; if she weren't so fearful of someone carjacking her while shes at the lodge. Wouldn't that just blow mom and dad over the cliffs edge, a final reason to disown their unruly eldest. Mia, her younger sister, would have an absolute field day when she found out that Paige would be cut out of the will - those fuckers would look for any reason, she was absolutely sure of it. Besides, Morgan insisted that she take the authentic route, "We're taking the flight and bus too! and somehow she hadn't mentioned that she and Gabe were leaving early. Which left Paige stuck with dumb, twat, and bimbo...among others that she didn't quite have an unoriginal name for yet.

All things aside she hadn't quite minded the whole process, despite having to endure one of the strangest application processes ever (and answering a dozen, extremely uncomfortable questions.) She had been truthful, not exactly a rarity in her life. Paige was nothing if not honest, even if it meant being brutally honest. And, while she had every reason to lie, she found that it wouldn't benefit the experience at all. Its a bit thrilling, knowing that somewhere out there someone can actually see the most insane side of her written clear on pen and paper. Another thing that annoyed her, who the fuck uses pen and paper these days. Its all about the Internet baby, and thats the end of it.

"Oh look! I can see Morgan from here." If it was a bit desperate how Paige practically clamored over Trishas lap to get out of the bus, then nobody said anything. She was only a few steps behind Remy and Pax, who approached Morgan quickly. Paige gritted her teeth as loud and noisy made their presence known - couldn't they see the earbud? Though they were talking loud enough that Morgan probably heard them anyways, as Paige was sure anything within a ten mile radius could. "Where in the hell is Gabe? I swear on Pax's life if he fucking ditched on us, I'm out!" Paige almost admired that, if she weren't so intent on hating every word that came out the others mouth. "Mom probably got distracted coddling puppies on the side of the road or something. Lord knows he wouldn't let Mor trek all the way up here on her lonesome. What irresponsibility! It'd probably make him sick." Paige did crack a smile at that, at least she could agree with someone here on something. She could do with or without Gabe, even if he was cool sometimes, he could be extremely lousy other times. Annoying really, especially when Paige was involved. Years of knowing one another seemed to have only grown their discomfort of one another being around.

"One guess, he's in the fancy ass building." Paige shot her meanest look to Remy - she wasn't exactly looking for a fight but the need to assert some sort of dominance was weighing hot and heavy in her gut. Blood rushing to her head at the thought of already starting drama, god, Morgan would be so mad at her if she started a fight right then and there, but fuck it, she loved to get the others riled up. "So why don't you buzz off and find him yourself."

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Its amazing to think that someone would conjure up the grand idea of letting a handful of young adults run rampant on a mountain, practically alone, with no security to back them up besides a few dismal staff members at the actual lodge. Gabriel is certain that one look at the staff roster would leave him foaming at the mouth - where were the protocols, the safety information, did they have no idea that other people had died here? And here he was, practically letting his little sister slip into the devils den. But did he have a choice? Of course not, when Mo set her mind on something she always got it. Gabriel was too much of a softy to stop here, all he could do was make sure he came along so she didn't get herself killed...or worse. He didn't...he didn't want to think about what could be worse. All he knew was that he had read plenty of articles on this place and none of them had anything good to say.

To say the least, he wasn't thrilled at all. Besides, he had no heart for horror, despite some misguided bravery. Whatever this trip held it wasn't worth the process, the flight, the bus. It wasn't worth any of it if it meant having to suffer through getting called a wimp because he can't stand the horror aspect of things. He knew his sister and her blonde bitch of a friend would get a real kick out of it. Why the hell did she even invite Paige, it was clearly obvious at the time that she didn't want to come and yet she came along anyways - and she brought the other dumbass. God, this entire PLACE would be crawling with stupid teenagers that he'd have to look after - cause he knew that they wouldn't look after themselves. No adults? No supervision? Hell, this might as well be heaven on earth for the misguided. At least he had Remy, even if she was a bit extreme at times he knew she had his back, at least when it came to Paige and her copycat.

When they arrived it became apparently clear that this place wasn't up to code yet. Early openings and all that, he should have expected it but it was still extremely annoying. The cable car station itself had been a wreck, the machinery was there to operate the cars but no operator in sight. Besides a sign that said "be back in ten minutes" there was no telling if there had ever been one to begin with. Needless to say, after those ten minutes were up Gabe got increasingly more pissed off. Morgan had refused to wait inside with him, despite his warnings of hypothermia. Being freezing outside, he worried for her, but she only thought about Paige. Always thinking of others and never herself. Gabriel wished he could say differently, but in a way, he's the exact same. At least he doesn't seek out adrenaline like a junkie seeking out a needle. He wished people understood that there was danger everywhere, that at any point in time it would come to bite them in the asses - then again, most people didn't have his drive. Or his ticks...

Time passed slowly, and where any normal person would have entertained themselves with their phone or a book...well, Gabe chose to clean. Yeah, he knew how it looked but he absolutely couldn't stand the state of disarray this place was in. Pristine on the outside and fucked up on the inside. Might as well shove a knife through his eyes to stop the blinding pain of having to see it. Even at home Gabe made sure everything was organized and in order. Everything needed to be in tip top shape to keep him sane, and quite frankly, he couldn't stand the idea of filth. Maybe it was a touch of germaphobia. He never could put a word to his strange behaviors.

When he finally got the place into relative order he checked the clock, knowing that any time now that second shuttle would be coming in hot. He knew that everyone would be damned tired and probably cold, the bus that he and Morgan had taken didn't even have basic heating. And while it wasn't below freezing out they were still quite frosty by the time they reached the stop. So he took a few extra minutes making sure the machines were going to actually work. About four people would fit in the cars at once and he knew that meant delicate arrangements. He didn't want to leave Morgan with Paige - god knows what that girl would get up to in such close quarters. But he wasn't thrilled about riding up with Pax - He really, really, didn't want to deal with that kid today. He could only handle being called mom so many times. But Remy would want to ride with Pax, and he knew that there was absolutely no way he could stick Paige in the same car as Remy, it'd be bloodshed.

And he just got his clothes dry cleaned.

As he went to step outside he noticed that the others had arrived already, and the aforementioned girls were already going at it - well, Paige was going at it by the looks of it. Trying to start shit as usual. He knew this would happen, he TOLD Morgan that this was a horrible idea but she just couldn't see past blind devotion. The bottle blonde was going to ruin this already horrible trip. Oh well, what he doesn't acknowledge can't come back to bite him in the ass. He chose to ignore the potential fight, instead standing awkwardly in the doorway - as he tended to do - until he could catch someones attention and get this damn show on the road.

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Carter had his back turned to the window, the chill from the glass making every conceivable effort to freeze him to death through his jacket. He’d had his hands buried in the pockets for as long as he could remember and would have seriously considered making a few petty phone calls and getting someone fired over this glorified meals on wheels if it didn’t require functioning hands and decent reception. Now, Carter wasn’t an outdoorsy person. Didn’t have the first clue about cabins. Was it a selling point to be as cut off from normal society and working communication as possible? Did people actually seek that out? The corner of his lip tightened in contempt and he briefly considered that the kind of people who chose to live in a cabin in the woods were probably the same people who painted their nails crack whore red and rode buses by choice, but of course he had to rethink his stance when he remembered that he was one of those bus riders, sans any kind of crack whore red nail polish.

Still, there was no way he’d make this mistake again. Carter was sure of that as he pulled his legs into the seat, an attempt to get as comfortable as one could be when the word bus was synonymous with just about anything else undesirable you could think of. Carter didn’t like to participate in things like this - applications, being selected, ect. For one, anything built on the premise of dead bodies and ghosts and such was strictly a money grab, and as such, he should be able to throw a fucking check their way and cut out all of this what is your deepest fear bullshit.

But in the end he supposed the application process was as much a part of the trip as the low budget transportation they were destined to ride in on and he gave it about as much effort as he’d give tying his shoes. At one point the invasive questionnaire started to strike a suspicious nerve in Carter (who wants to know your biggest lie unless they plan on holding something against you?) and for a moment his mind started to wonder whether or not this was just a ploy to set up innocent people for something. Rob him. Scam him. After all, that’s what he would do if he owned a supposedly haunted cabin.

However, given that an actual reputable company was throwing this thing together, he buried his paranoia at the time and banked on the fact that he hadn't actually been chosen yet and the odds were probably stacked against him anyway.

But thank God he did get invited to go, otherwise he’d never have gotten the change to alternate between listlessly staring out of the window across from him and picking at a stray thread on his seat. Though, to be fair, the scenery wasn’t that bad. Had he not already known where he was going, Carter probably wouldn’t have guessed there was a creepy cabin out in the woods somewhere. Then again, a winter wonderland probably didn't add very much to the haunted atmosphere or that danger element unless your biggest fear was getting lost in the snow. How cute he thought with a smirk before the bus finally started to slow down and he could make out their destination fairly close by. And if the bus coming to a stop wasn’t evident enough, someone mentioned Morgan and whatever negative energy that was there seemed to dissipate as everyone made their way off and made a beeline toward her spot. Carter followed behind, messing with his phone in a last ditch effort to find a signal and placing names with faces as he cracked a smile a Gabe’s expense.

Still, a haunted cabin retreat wasn't the same without some tension, and it didn't take long before basic teasing gave way to something a little more strained. Carter was always a sucker for a good show and almost forgot about the chilly air and ice on the ground as Paige shot a look Remy's way and all but told her to fuck off.

"You're gonna break an arm jerkin yourself off like that," Carter tucked his hands back into his jacket pockets as he looked over at Paige, a sham of a smile plastered on his face. He couldn't blame anyone for getting excited to start shit, though he didn't know enough not to be surprised that something had flared up this early into the trip.

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Gabriel watched the fight brew impassively. He could step in, but that would only cause twice as many problems and he would always be inclined to side with Remy - and that would piss his sister off so he chose to just wait and watch until Morgan resolved things. Gabe let his gaze wander over the landscape around them, to the tree line just beyond where he thought for a split second he saw movement. It wouldn't be unusual really, there were loads of animals out here, and quite a few warning signs about the more territorial ones. Bears, Mountain Lions, and Elk were known offenders in this area. Which, made him more nervous than anything that they would be spending time up here among them.

By the time they were done with their little pissing match he could feel the cold creeping in. Even though he was probably the most practically dressed here. While it wasn't too bad here at the base, Mountain weather usually didn't follow the same patterns. Who knew if it would be worse up near the lodge or not. He had packed extra coats just in case his idiot friends didn't. Maybe, if he felt bad enough he'd offer one to Paige - seriously who thought wearing shorts would be a good option in this weather? Light snowfall or not, it's not that hard to get hypothermia.

Finally, when everyone cut the shit and started heading his way he let out a sigh of relief. The sooner they got up to the lodge the faster they'd all get warm. He was growing sick of the outdoors already, too bad they'd be spending so much time in it. Morgan and Paige were quick to come to a stop near him, Paige, being her usual bitchy self-poking a manicured finger at him. “Just keep that bitch as far away from me as possible,” He had no qualms about separating the two but grimaced anyway.

“Morgan and Trish are riding up with me, keep that little monster on your side of things.” Her other hand motioned to Remy. Gabriel almost considered asking Remy to ride with the blonde if only so that issue would be dealt with. Paige needed her ass handed to her badly. She was simply intolerable. Plus, he didn't much like being poked. He rolled his eyes and smacked her hand away, mumbling under his breath as she walked on ahead. Trish followed at their heels looking a little too interested in Gabe as she passed by - all these girls were going to drive him to an early grave.

He watched Remy and Pax approach and smiled lightly, while he wasn't as fond of Pax's teasing he could tolerate the little shit for a while - and Carter was just behind them. Gabriel couldn't, in good conscious subject him to the stupidity that would result in riding with Paige. "We'll send them up first," He said, knowing that this would only be a short reprieve from the arguments that were sure to fill this holiday. Hopefully, the lodge would be big enough that they could all sort off into their own groups before long.

Not wanting to allow any more room for argument he leads the way into the station and watched his sister and the other two settle into one of the cars. The automatic doors slid into place, and with a mock salute towards Morgan he sent them on up. Once that was settled he threw his spare bags into the other car and beckoned the remaining three to pack in as well. They were up in the air not too long after, heading towards the lodge at long last. The ride wasn't long enough to really leave room for deep conversation, light small talk mostly and Gabes mood didn't allow for much of that on his end anyway.

They were let off at another small building that served as a stop, as well as had the necessary controls for sending the cars back down to the starting station. From there it was a short walk through some trails - thankfully clean and tidy - before they arrived at the lodge. Gabe noted that the place looked significantly less creepy than he initially thought it would. As far as decorations go, it was grand but sparse and lacking the blood spatter he assumed there would be. Well, that in and of itself was interesting enough - he wondered what type of scares were really in place if things weren't going to be so outwardly transparent.