A/N: I promise to update some older fics in a bit but I started this one a while ago. Hope you like it!
Hannah and Beth were gone. That was the only thought that managed to penetrate his alcohol induced stupor for the first few minutes. He was distantly aware of the fact that there was screaming going on. Sam was shouting at Mike, Emily and Jess, somehow towering over the three of them despite the fact that she was the shortest. Mike looked ashamed while Emily clearly remained indignant though it was clear that she was nervous. Jess was chewing on her nails while Ashley was crying and Matt was running his hands through his hair – a tell that he was nervous and/or upset about something. And Hannah and Beth were gone.
As he came back to sobriety his brain was able to hang on to more information. There had been a prank, Hannah had been embarrassed and she had taken off into the snow storm with Beth following on her heels. Josh had no shame in the fact that he had punched Mike and it sounded like it had hurt despite the fact that his coordination was still shit. Chris had seen the punch coming but Chris was a good bro and he let him land the punch before stepping in, reigning Josh back before things got further out of control. Hannah and Beth were still missing – who knows how long they had been out there in the snow. Sam isn't sure how long it had taken her to shake Josh and Chris out of their drunken stupor so they're not sure how much time they lost. Josh manages to layer himself up despite his clumsy fingers and it isn't long before they're trekking out into the snow with flashlights in their hands. Mike, Emily and Jess remain at the lodge. They had protested, of course – a guilty conscience is a terrible burden – but the protests had died out when Josh had all but snarled at them. He doubts they'd be much help getting his sisters back. One look at them and Hannah would flee deeper into the woods and Beth, well, she'd give Emily and Jess bruises to match Mike's. He desperately hopes his sisters are alright.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" he demands as they pile outside. Ashley immediately runs into a monologue of 'sorry' while Matt keeps insisting that 'it was just a joke.' "Does it look like anybody's laughing?" he demands.
"Josh, we're sorry." Ashley tells him quietly. "We weren't thinking. It was stupid and…" she trailed off.
"And beneath you," Chris finished. The cold air had done a tremendous amount in sobering him up and he was giving both Ashley and Matt a disapproving look. "This shit is normal from the terrible trio back there," he continued, gesturing back to the lodge. "But I would have expected better from the two of you." Matt's gaze cuts away from the taller man and Ashley looked like somebody had just kicked a puppy in front of her. The weight of the sentence hung in the air. Josh and Sam's silence clearly indicating that they agreed with the statement.
"Come on, let's go." Josh muttered.
"Hang on, we'll cover more ground if we split up." Sam stated, motioning to where the tracks split up.
"Step one in how to attract a serial killer," Chris joked, though he shivered. "I guess Sammy's right, though. More groups means we'll cover more distance and find the twins faster."
"Ashley, Matt and I will head this way," Sam decided, motioning with her flashlight to the right fork. "You guys follow the left fork. Give a shout if you find them."
"What do we do if we find a murderer?" Josh asked. "Sing a song?" Sam rolled her eyes before dragging Ashley and Matt after her. Chris shoved his hands in his pockets and headed down the left fork.
"Come on, man. Let's find your sisters and then get out of this cold. Hannah's probably freezing – Sam said she ran out without her jacket."
"Reasoning is not Hannah's strong suit." Josh agreed as he trailed after his friend. "The three idiots are getting kicked off the mountain tomorrow. I can't believe they thought this would be a funny prank." He vented. Chris slapped his friend across the back.
"I know. I wouldn't blame you for kicking Ashley and Matt out with them," Chris added. Josh gave the man a surprised look.
"Cochise, you'd be okay with me kicking your girlfriend out of the lodge?"
"Bro, you know she's not my girlfriend." Chris griped, rubbing the back of his neck. "In all honesty I don't know what my feelings for her are but knowing that she was in on this prank…" he trailed off and shook his head. "I don't know, man." He sighed. "Look, can we save the heavy discussion for when we're not freezing our asses off?" Josh opened his mouth to respond but whatever he was going to say was cut off as a gush of fire flashed ahead of the two men. The screaming started shortly after and Josh pushed past his friend, racing towards the noise.
"Beth! Hannah!"
"Shit!" Chris muttered as he took off after his friend. The wet snow sucked his shoes down into the soft ground and he grunted as he fell, body colliding with the forest floor. Chris scrambled back to his feet and hightailed it after his friend. "Josh, wait up!" he called, but Josh was already way ahead of him. Nevertheless, Chris followed his tracks, clambering up the steep incline. Pausing to catch his breath at the top, he glanced up and his blood instantly froze in his veins. A short distance above him, he could make out two figures hanging off a ledge of the mountain. "Oh fuck!" he shouted, taking off. He wasn't sure how long the girls could hang on and it would take both him and Josh to pull them up.
"Hang on!" Josh shouted. "We're coming!" he added, as he sprinted up the path. Whatever his sisters said in response was lost to the wind. Another blast of flame erupted, closer to their location and the twins' screams carried.
"What the fuck is that?!" Chris asked, his longer legs allowing him to catch up to his friend.
"Worry about it later! We've got to get Hannah and Beth!" Josh answered. The only noise for the next several minutes was their labored breathing as they finished their climb to the ledge. Both men skidded to the ledge on their knees. "Beth!" Josh shouted, reaching down and grasping his sister's hand.
"JOSH! Help, please! I'm slipping!" she gasped.
"I've got you!" he told her. "Chris, get Hannah!" he ordered.
"On it!" Chris told him. He reached down, grasping the back of Hannah's coat and hefting her up. "Come on, Hannah, work with me here," he muttered. The longer-haired twin dug her fingers into Chris' arm, making the man wince. Her feet scrambled along the rock as she tried her best to help the man get her to safety.
"Oh shit, oh shit," she murmured as she was pulled over the ledge to safety.
"Hannah!" Beth cried, pulling her twin into a tight hug. "Oh my god, are you alright?!" she asked.
"I…I think so. Thanks." She muttered, offering Chris and Josh a wan smile. Another flash of fire had the group huddling back against the ledge.
"What the hell is that?!" Chris demanded for the second time.
"Whatever it is, it's heading this way. Come on," Josh ordered, pulling his sisters to their feet. "I don't want to be here when it catches up. Let's get Hannah and Beth back to the lodge."
"What about Sammy and the others?" Chris asked as he followed his friends.
"We'll look for them on the way back. If we don't find them, we drop the girls and go back out," Josh told him.
"How many people are out here?" Beth asked.
"Me and Josh, Sammy, Matt and Ashley. Emily, Jess and Mike were…kindly invited to remain at the lodge," Chris informed her, grimacing at the memory of why they were all out here freezing their asses off. Hannah shivered, pulling her borrowed coat tighter around her.
"Don't worry, Han. Trust me, you won't be seeing them tonight." Beth promised, shivering herself. Chris noted the movement and unzipped his top coat, draping it across her shoulders. "Thanks," she told him, snuggling into the warmth. As they got closer to the lodge, they could hear Sam calling out to them.
"Yeah, Sam, we're here!" Josh called back.
"Sammy!" Chris shouted as he waived a hand over his head. The small blonde was wandering in front of the lodge with her hands cupped around her mouth as she shouted for Chris, Josh and the twins. Ashley and Matt were behind her, the light of their cellphones flashing through the night.
"Oh, thank God!" she gasped as she jogged to meet them. "I'm so glad you're alright!" She added as she threw her arms around both females.
"Thanks, Sammy," Hannah murmured. Sam gave her a soft smile and another hug before turning to Beth.
"We found your cell," she told her, handing it over.
"Thanks," Beth told her, taking the phone from Sam and shoving it into the pocket of Chris' jacket. Her gaze traveled over Sam's shoulder and locked onto Ashley and Matt. She frowned at the two as Matt stepped forward.
"Hannah, we deleted the video," Matt told her as he approached.
"We're so sorry," Ashley added, trailing behind the jock. "It was stupid and we should have known better."
"Well, it's nice to see you behaving like decent human beings again," Beth told them as she crossed her arms.
"Yes, now everything's better," Josh added.
"No, it's not! But it's a start." Matt told him. "Ashley and I let ourselves get pressured into something because we wanted to fit in when we should have listened to Sam."
"But we didn't. And Sam didn't find you before you read the note. This whole thing was just… I'm sorry." Ashley told the longer-haired twin.
"Matt's right," Hannah told her. "It's not okay. But an apology is a good place to start," she added with a small smile.
"Just don't do it again." Beth added, glaring at the two.
"Trust me, we won't. It was terrifying trying to find you two. These woods are dangerous in daylight but they're even worse at night. I'm glad Josh and Chris were able to find you before anything happened," Matt told her.
"Oh, something happened." Josh told him, but was cut off before he could finish.
"You're back!" Beth growled as Hannah visibly curled in on herself. Jess continued approaching, oblivious, while Emily and Mike trailed after her.
"Didn't I tell the three of you to stay in the lodge?" Josh demanded.
"We were worried when you didn't come back," Mike told him. His eyes quickly moved across the group and his posture relaxed when he caught sight of the twins. "Glad you guys are alright," he told them.
"No thanks to you," Beth told his icily.
"We're not the one who ran out into a snowstorm over a prank," Emily interjected.
"What prank, Em?" Beth demanded, stepping closer to the other female. "Do you see anybody laughing?"
"So it got a little out of hand," Emily confessed. "It wouldn't have happened if your sister would stop making eyes at my boyfriend."
"She has a crush! But when have you known Hannah to ever take something from anybody? Maybe if you weren't so insecure, or if your boyfriend wasn't such a player, you wouldn't be worried about losing him." Beth told her.
"ENOUGH!" Josh shouted, interrupting the fighting and grabbing everyone's attention. "This was supposed to be a party where everyone had a good time. Instead, you dimwits decide to play a cruel prank – and no, it wasn't funny," he stated, cutting off the protests before they started. "Beth's right – no one's laughing and Beth and Hannah nearly died. Now, I don't care what your excuses are, I want the three of you off the mountain tomorrow. Whether Hannah and Beth decide to forgive you is their decision but I'm done with you."
"Dude, we're sorry," Mike told him as Emily and Jess gaped at the eldest Washington. Josh snorted.
"Yeah, I bet you are. I'd be sorry, too, if I almost caused two deaths in one night. Y'know for as smart as you and Emily are supposed to be, you were both extraordinarily stupid tonight. How long do you think Beth could have held on to that root while supporting herself and Hannah?"
"What?" Mike asked, confused.
"Hannah and I wound up at the overlook cliff," Beth told him as she crossed her arms in front of her. "We saw something moving in the woods and when we went to get away from it, we slipped. The only reason we aren't at the bottom of a ditch is because I managed to grab a root that was protruding from the mountain. If Josh and Chris hadn't gotten there, Hannah and I would be dead. But great joke guys," she added sarcastically, uncrossing her arms to give a slow clap. "So funny."
"Oh, shit." Jess gasped. "We didn't… Hannah, I am so sorry," she apologized but Hannah wouldn't look at her.
"I'm going inside," she told her siblings before heading toward the lodge. It didn't escape anyone's attention that she gave Jess, Emily and Mike a wide berth.
"Beth, you wanna – " Josh started but Beth nodded and took after her twin before he could finish. When they were out of ear shot he turned back to the group. "I'm serious," he told the trio. "I want you nowhere near Hannah OR Beth tonight and you're gone first thing tomorrow. And the only reason you two," Josh continued, turning to face Ashley and Matt, "aren't going with them is because one, it wasn't your idea, and two, Hannah is willing to give you another shot. Don't blow it." Whatever might have been said was drowned as another spurt of fire erupted further up the mountain.
"FUCK!" Chris gasped. "I almost forgot about that."
"We saw it earlier, too." Sam told them. "Should we…check it out?" she asked.
"Oh, hell no." Emily stated. "I'm going back to the lodge. Mike, come on," she ordered. Mike hesitated. "Mike! Come ON!"
"I think I should go with them," he told her. "I'll be back shortly!" He added, cutting off her protests. Emily huffed but finally muttered a 'whatever' and headed back without him. Jess trailed after her.
"I don't think I can do another round in the woods," Ashley confessed as she shifted her weight from foot-to-foot.
I'm going to go with them," Matt stated. "Ash, maybe you can hang with the twins?" he offered. Ashley gave a nod of her head and began the walk back to the lodge.
"Well, then," Josh stated as he looked at everyone. Their group was down to him, Chris, Matt and Sam. "Everyone have flashlights?" he asked. "Let's go."
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