“Not a chance.” Jeremy mumbled. He didn’t mean to say it out loud but he knew that he had from the response he got.
“Why the long face, Jer? Not happy to be done school?” Will glanced at his roommate, the concern hidden under the sarcasm in his tone.
“He’s just sad to be leaving the one place he truly felt like he belonged,” Adam said in a singsong voice, eliciting laughter from half the car.
Jeremy hunkered down in his seat and stared out the window. He was the easy target. He’d always been the one that they could laugh at. He knew it. But every now and then it got under his skin.
“How’d your dad manage to get that cabin? I thought Egerton wouldn’t let anyone go there.” Sophia glanced over at Adam for half a second before returning her gaze to the road. They would be home soon. Or well, they’d be at the club were they were meeting with all of their parents to celebrate getting through the semesters.
It didn’t seem to matter to any of their parents that their grades weren’t in yet. It didn’t seem to matter that half of them may have failed the term. All the adults wanted to get together and celebrate the accomplishment of their children. They wanted to eat an overpriced dinner, sip wine, and gossip. It was a symbol, a milestone, and that’s all it was.
And everyone in the car had been raised to tolerate it. Social clubs, charity events, and polo matches – they’d put in their time in the public eye over the years. One more outing wouldn’t kill any of them. Especially if it meant they could get a week, without parental supervision, at a cabin in the middle of nowhere. That sounded really nice.
“I don’t know. Probably offered him a lot of money, knowing my dad. I promised that I’d help with all his fundraisers this summer and my sister’s wedding if he let us go.” Adam shrugged. “I think I got the better bargain.”
“How? You’re stuck with your sister’s wedding.” Miriam inquired.
“Yeah, bartending and making tips. Same with all the fundraisers. It’s nice to make some extra pocket change.” Adam shrugged. He didn’t mind work, but he definitely liked when he was getting paid for it.
“Until your next trust fund installment kicks in.” Will teased.
“Bugger off.” Adam glared. “Like your parent’s aren’t footing the bill as well.”
“We’re all a little more well off than we’d like to admit to our fellow classmates over beers.” Jeremy glanced around the car; saw the confirmation on their faces. “We’re all someone else when we’re at that school.”
“Well that’s deep, Jer, thanks for that.” Adam rolled his eyes. “We almost there, Soph?”
“You guys are all so annoying. Why are we friends?” She sent Adam a glare as she pulled into the city. “And yes, we’re almost there.”
“Because our parents have been friends since infancy and they insisted that we be friends as well.” Miriam shrugged as if it was common sense. “Our friendship was designed.”
“Ah yes, the conspiracy theory that is our friendship.” Will laughed. “We could have stopped being friends years ago. Our parents wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing about it. Unfortunately for me, I kind of like you idiots.”
“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said, Will.” Sophia met his eyes in rearview mirror and smirked.
“Oh, bugger off.
“You guys aren’t half terrible, for a bunch of snobs,” Miriam added as they continued to make their way towards their destination.
“Awe, you’re so sweet,” Adam crooned.
She rolled her eyes in response. She’d get him back for that. She always did, always had. She just usually waited for it. She’d didn’t need the instant gratification.
They’re friendship, the five of them, had always been filled with sass and insults. When things got tough they always pulled together. That was really a defining aspect for them. They were light hearted and funny. They poked fun at each other and went on adventures. But when the other shoe dropped they banded together and they picked up whoever had fallen.
Where it was a failed relationship, a parent’s divorce, or the death of a family member they had been over their fair share of hurtles. Their parents may have wanted them to be friends since birth, but it was circumstances that had forged their union, circumstance and a mutual dislike for their situation.
The car pulled into the familiar parking lot. They’d been there more times then they all could count. It was their parent’s favourite gathering place for every social event. Fundraisers were held there. Charity galas were held there. It was rare the kids were there without their parents. They preferred less high-end establishment when they got together to socialize. But to appease their parents they would show their faces. Then they would leave as fast as they could.
“Ready to face the music?” Sophia parked the car and glanced back at them, chuckling at the collective groan.
“It’s not too late to turn back.” Will glanced around him, as though to see if anyone had noticed them there yet.
“Scared that your mum brought your gran along again?” Miriam nudged him in the ribs. Will groaned at the idea.
“Alright, everyone out.” She climbed out of her little car and grinned at her friends over the roof. “Put on your best faces, mates. Lie through your teeth and soon enough we’ll be out in the woods, drunk as sailors, and forgetting that we ever have to step foot in a social club again. Deal?”
“Deal,” they said in unison.
Chapter 2
The Cabin
* * *
Dinner had been three long hours of talking and shaking hands and kissing cheeks. It had been a trial with so many of them to get a word in, but everyone said their piece in time. Lies were told about the joys of academia, stories were spun about their mundane school experiences, and collective narratives were formed about all the adventures they didn’t have in the last term of their year at the University of London.
Adam had managed to convince his father that their time at the cabin would be spent working on a charity project for Habitat for Humanity. They all thought it was brilliant, but they also knew that their parents would expect an end result by the time they returned. Luckily, Will was actually working on a project with Habitat for Humanity and had told them he had it covered.
That was the way it was with them. One crafted the lie, the other subbed in the details, and the rest worked to make it a functional reality. It was a rare occasion when one of their lies fell through. And even then, they could usually talk their way out of the misstep.
They weren’t bad kids. They weren’t hooligans. They just didn’t conform to the lifestyle their parents wanted for them. The high-class, upper-society interactions weighed on their sense of freedom. They all knew that it would be their future. But well they were still young and unknown; they figured they would enjoy it.
And that was exactly what they planned on doing with their time at the cabin. The minute Adam’s dad had handed him the keys they had made their plan. Not with words so much as gestures and signals sent around the table. Years of friendship had allowed them to form an unspoken method of communication. It was something that had saved their assess more than once in their lives.
That planning was how they found themselves waiting at the corner of their street, and yes they all lived in the same neighbourhood, waiting for Sophia to show up with her car.
“She’s taking forever,” Will whined, dropping his backpack to the sidewalk. It landed with a thud. He dropped down on top of it completely unconcerned about the contents inside.
“We haven’t even been here five minutes, Will.” Miriam rolled her eyes. She’d never known Will to be extremely patient. “How are you going to survive a week at the cabin. You know that there won’t be Wi-Fi there.”
Will’s face dropped, his eyes widened in mock horror. “Well I’m out. You all have fun on this little adventure.” He turned on heel and started to walk away before Jeremy grabbed his arm.
“You’re not getting out of thi
s that easy.” Jeremy’s grip was firm. He dragged his friend back to the corner and placed him back on top of his backpack. “If I have to go then so do you.”
“Awe, don’t sound like it’s such a hardship, lads. I raided my dad’s liquor cabinet. We’ve got more than enough quality spirits to last us a while.” Adam grinned wolfishly.
“Raided it?” Will scoffed. “You mean your father ‘accidentally’ left the cabinet unlocked so that you could take what you wanted.”
“Perhaps, but you get to drink it either way.” Adam shrugged. “Why does it matter how I acquired it?”
“Logistics are important. You’re not a thief if he just hands it to you, Adam,” Will sassed.
“Whatever. You can just not drink any if that’s the way you want to be about it.”
Sophia pulled to the curb before Will could think of a witty comment. She rolled down the window and looked at them, her sunglasses tipped down to the end of her nose.
“Well are you all just going to stand there or you going to get in?”
No one had to be asked twice.
It took them about two hours to get to the cabin. Not because it was that far away, but because they had to stop a half dozen places before they could all agree that they had everything they needed for a week away from civilization.
They weren’t exactly the outdoorsy types. Upper-class society hadn’t allowed them much in the way of camping and wilderness adventures. The cabin itself wasn’t going to be what most would think of when they considered a cabin in the woods.
They all knew the Egerton’s cabin was more of a summer home than anything else. It had most of the modern amenities, three bedrooms, a large kitchen, and a sweeping front porch. They’d all seen the pictures. They’d all heard the stories about the times when their families used to frequent it. It had been quite the popular place for the last generation to go and hangout.
They all had a hard time picturing their parents doing anything fun, but they’d seen the photographic evidence. It had been a hot spot for them all in their younger days and even well up into their recent lives. But that had all changed recently.
It had been at least two years since anyone had stepped foot inside of the cabin.
No one talked about why. It wasn’t polite to talk about family tragedy in polite circles. But Egerton hadn’t been the same since he’d lost his daughter. It had been over two years ago, but he’d fallen out of social life. The only one he really interacted with was Tony Bolton, Adam’s father.
No one talked about the Egerton girl anymore. It had fallen out of even whispered conversation. People barely talked about Percy Egerton. But as they made their way up to the cabin, Jeremy’s mind wandered to it.
He couldn’t help but find it suspicious that they’d gotten access to the cabin after it had been closed for so many years. Mr. Bolton was persuasive, but sometimes things were closed for a reason. There had to be a reason why Egerton didn’t use the cabin any longer, why no one went there. There was always a reason for things like that.
As everyone else chatted and laughed in the car, Jeremy once again stared out the wind and contemplated their situation. He had a bad feeling about this. The group would write it off as his usual sense of pessimism, but he couldn’t help but feel that they’d be better off staying in the city for the week.
Being the voice of reason had never been a popular thing in the group, and Jeremy knew it. He’d had more than one negative reaction to his voice of reason in their years of friendship. So he stayed silent as they pulled up the cabin and his unease grew.
They would call him silly. They would tell him he was afraid of the bogyman. He was better off to just go along for the ride, keep his eyes open, and hope that he was wrong. That didn’t happen very often, but he could be hopeful.
The car pulled to a stop at the end of a long laneway and the cabin sat in a glad of trees. The front porch swept in front of it and it’s big windows washed light into it’s interior. It looked exactly like they had pictured it would.
“Does this place seem bigger to you than what our parents described?” Miriam climbed out of the car and looked up at the sweeping front porch. Someone had come in to clean before they arrived. Egerton may not step foot on the property, but he would never let guests come to one of his houses without it being acceptable. There were social rules to follow after all.
“A little bit,” Will said, tilting his head to consider. “But I never really paid much attention. I haven’t seen those pictures in years.”
He circled around to the trunk and grabbed a few of the bags. Jeremy followed his lead and loaded up on supplies. He felt like they’d brought too many things for just a week at a cabin, but, again, he kept his opinion to himself.
“You still got that key, Adam?” Sophia inquired. “Because I am not driving back for it. We’re either breaking in or leaving.”
“Calm down, Sophia.” Adam waved the keychain he held in his hand. “Did you really think I’d forget it?”
“Like the time you forgot our dorm keys first week and we were locked out for the whole evening?” She countered, raising a brow.
“One time. I do it one time and now I’m the one who forgets the keys.”
“Or the time when you locked the keys in the car,” Jeremy provide with a small smile. He always liked when he was able to contribute to such conversations.
“Or when you lost your dad’s keys to his gun cabinet,” Will added.
“Fine.” Adam threw his hands up in protest. “I see how it is. Maybe I’ll lock you all out and I’ll just enjoy the cabin for a week. You can sleep in the car.”
“Maybe we’ll drive away and leave you here in the middle of the woods,” Sophia countered.
“Why don’t you both stop and let’s get our crap inside before my arms fall off.” Miriam tried to adjust the bags she was carrying to move the weight around. It didn’t really help.
“Fine, fine.” Adam grinned and considered this one a victory. He walked up the steps, empty handed to no one’s surprise, and let the other ones trail behind him.
His hand closed over the handle and he jolted a little at how cold it was to the touch. It was balmy out. He could already feel the sweat gathering on his brow. He closed his hand more firmly around the handle as he fitted the key into the deadbolt lock above it. The metal warmed under his grip, but he still couldn’t believe how cold it had been.
The lock resisted as he turned the key. He fought against it gently, not wanting to break the key off in the lock and get them all stuck. He turned it again and the lock finally gave way. He smiled at his small triumph, turned the handle and stepped into the cabin.
The air was stale despite the fact that it had clearly been cleaned. The surfaces were clean of dust. A light hint of lemon cleaner still hung in the air, but there was still a staleness in the air that hinted at disuse. He frowned at that. There was no reason for it. After being cleaned and aired out the cabin should smell as good as new.
Adam turned as the others came up behind him. “Well it’s definitely a nice place. A shame that Egerton doesn’t use it anymore.”
“Works out well for us,” Will said with a shrug walking through the door and dropping the grocery bags on the counter. He opened the fridge, checked to make sure that it was on, and then started to stow away items.
“I suppose it does.” Adam wandered down the hall, poking his head into the four-piece bathroom and each of the three bedrooms. It really was a nice place. He could understand why their parents had come her so often.
“Are you going to help or just wander around like you’re lost?” Sophia called from her place at the table where she was unpacking liquor bottles.
“Probably just wander,” he replied and didn’t see her roll her eyes. But he could guess her reaction. He knew her pretty well.
“We should probably get our cover story details refined before we start drinking,” Will advised, tossing his backpack on the couch. It hit with a thud and he was su
rprised when a cloud of dust didn’t appear.
“Oh, I thought you were just going to handle that,” Miriam joked as she searched for glasses.
“Ha ha, you don’t get to leave me holding the bag on this one. Not when we actually have to go through with something. Our parents expect some sort of charity event out of this week of ‘planning’.” Will looked from one friend to the other now that Adam had finally rejoined the group.
The silence held for just a moment before Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Fine, we’ll get that out of the way. Then can we drink?” He looked around the group, the unease sitting heavily in his stomach. He knew that if he didn’t do something to sedate it then it would become overwhelming. “Because I’m already finding the lot of you boring.”
“Cheers to that.” Adam grinned.
Chapter 3
Uninvited Guest
* * *
It didn’t take them long to throw together a suitable plan for their charity event. They’d done enough of them in their years of friendship. It was a little surprising how easily the details fell into place. Will had the connection to the organization. Miriam had the connection to the food. Adam always had the venue. Jeremy’s mom was an event planner and would handle the decorations. And Sophia always handled marketing.
It didn’t matter what the cause was. It almost always happened in that order. They dedicated a few hours to hammering out the details and then broke into the bottle of scotch.
None of them were heavy drinkers on a regular basis, with the exception of Adam. They knew how to manage their liquor. They’d all be around it and consuming it since they were tall enough to steal it from the tabletops. But they knew that there was a time and place for indulgence. If one got shitfaced in a public venue that reputation didn’t leave very quickly. And their world was all about reputation.
Haunted Happenings Page 6