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Ski Lodge;
Ski Lodge;
You are dreaming. You don’t quite know how you know that you are, but somehow you do.
The scene comes into focus slowly, like an adjusting camera lens. The first thing that you see is the rain. It dominates the space, great gray sheets of it slashing down, smashing into the ground you hover above- which you realize is also water. You are floating above the ocean and it’s pouring. All right, not the strangest dream you’ve ever had. If anything, it’s quite boring.
And then the island comes into view. At first it’s just a smoky outline in the distance, a fuzzy mass of land on the horizon, blinking strangely. But without a warning, you are suddenly much, much closer, now hovering just above the rocky shore. You see the terrain all laid out ahead of you, much of it obscured by the still falling rain. It’s stone and rock, mostly. Some vegetation here and there.
But what really catches your eye is the lighthouse. You know it’s a lighthouse because of the white and red candy-cane stripes and the shape of it; it looks ripped straight out of an old photograph. The give-away, though, is the single piercing beam of light cutting through the dark and mist and rain, sweeping in a wide circular motion over and over and over.
You blink, and when your eyes open, the scene around you has once again changed. While you can still hear the lashing rain and winds, they are more distant now, and you realize that you are standing inside the lighthouse, both feet planted firmly on the ground for once. It’s a neat and tidy space, and in the center of the circular room is the light, spinning around and around and around.
There is a young woman sitting there, next to the light. Her dark gray hair is pulled into a tight braid and her eye color is almost black. A splash of freckles across her nose. She would be wholly unremarkable if not for the fact that she is staring right at you.
She leans forwards and beckons you with one hand, and you drift forward, not really able to stop yourself.
You reach her seat, and the girl looks up at you and smiles a small haunted smile. A single strand of hair slips from its tie and falls across her face. She says, “Oh, hello there. Are you looking for a little adventure?”
You wake up.
There is a form for you, sitting innocently on your bedside table, and it looks like this:
Name:
Pronouns:
Age:
Appearance:
Personality:
Useful abilities (magic not allowed):
Biggest fear:
Luggage:
Are you scared of ghosts?:
Is the ocean forgiving?:
Other:
At the bottom, written in little loopy curves, are the words ‘Please come, dear friend, and join me at Wayfarer Island. Adventure awaits you and nine other lucky people. -Storm.’
You are holding a pen before you even finish reading it all. Something deep in your mind is telling you not to fill out the form, but you disregard it.
After all, how much damage could a little adventure do?
submitted by Storm, age Unknown, Wayfarer Island
(April 18, 2023 - 3:01 pm)
(April 18, 2023 - 3:01 pm)
Of course! I would absolutely love to see art of this lodge!! Thank you for commenting <333
(May 7, 2023 - 3:19 pm)
Oh, no! Darkvine, Reuby!
I kind of thik it might be me. An 'out of place grin'? Hmmm.
This is really good! I love it!
But the SUSPENSE is KILLING me! (No pun intended. I might be the next to die. Or the murderer).
(May 7, 2023 - 5:28 pm)
Ahhh yessssss I love it when ski lodges involve hauntings. Great part!
But also, won't the other guests know who wasn't there at the card game and be able to tell who it was? Unless they don't find Darkvine for a while, so they don't know when the murderer did it.
(May 8, 2023 - 8:54 am)
Amazing! I love your writing style.
(May 7, 2023 - 3:03 pm)
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO this is so good! sorry darkvine...
Ahhhh i love the suspense! I keep reading the parts late though ahahaha
(May 8, 2023 - 9:07 am)
@All the lovely amazing people who have commented so far: thank you so, so much! It means so much to me <333
Here's Darkvine's death avatar :) Next part out tomm!!
(May 8, 2023 - 10:17 am)
Hey...is it ok if I draw ghost darkvine and I? We both got stabbed right?
(May 8, 2023 - 4:42 pm)
Yes, all art is welcome!! You got stabbed, Darkvine was strangled via rope.
(May 8, 2023 - 8:24 pm)
Ok cool!
(May 9, 2023 - 6:02 am)
Last night I had a dream that I died in this ski lodge and was so confused for a minute. Anyway, this is so interesting so far and the writing is beautiful!
(May 8, 2023 - 1:16 pm)
{10 minutes before the murder of Darkvine}
“Hmm,” Writing said, cards fanned out dramatically in front of their face. Rat was sitting on one of the many chairs in the common room along with the other players, who were all seated in a circle.
“Just go already!” Tenney exclaimed, popping a bite-sized chocolate chip cookie in her mouth. She was dressed in an European middle ages outfit today, a velvet dress with detailed embroidery spidering through it and dangle gem earrings, hair in a braid crown around her head. “You’ve been thinking for, like, five minutes.”
“Okay, okay,” Writing conceded, picking a card from his hand and slamming it down on the table. The queen of spades. “Sorry, Pangolin.”
“Nooo!” Pangolin wailed, taking the stack of cards from the middle. “I have so many hearts in my pile, too. I’m totally gonna lose now that I have the queen.”
“Better luck next time,” Echo said good naturedly. Of course, she was winning with no hearts and the jack of diamonds in her pile.
The group played a few more rounds, and Pangolin, who had at this point resigned themself to losing, took more hearts into their pile.
“Last round,” Hawkstar said, placing her last card in the middle. The others followed suit and she picked up the cards and added them to her deck.
Echo stretched, reveling in her win. “Good game, folks.”
Wildsong frowned and shifted through her card pile. “Wait a second- did anyone else other than Pangolin get any hearts at all?”
There was a quick moment of silence as everyone checked their decks before Amarillis said, “Uhh, nope.” The other players responded the same way.
“Hold on,” Pangolin said, counting her cards. “Yes- thirteen hearts and the queen of spades! I shot the moon! I win!”
“What?!” Echo shouted. “No fair! How did nobody realize that she was getting all of the hearts?”
“Pure skill,” Pangolin responded, which was a blatant lie, but no one needed to know that.
The group continued to laugh and chat as they cleaned up the cards and snacks. Storm was reading a book nearby, and she looked up and smiled at the fun that her guests were having.
“Do you guys want to play a game of hide-and-seek?” Periwinkle asked.
“Ooh, good idea!” Writing agreed. “Do you want to be the seeker first?”
“Sure. I’ll start counting now.” She closed her eyes and covered them with her hands. “One, two, three…” She could hear the other guests scattering and the pitter-patter of feet going up the stairs.
“Twenty-nine, thirty. Ready or not, here I come!” Periwinkle opened her eyes and started the climb up the stairs. While she was counting, she decided that she would start from the top floor and make her way down. She would get the few people hiding in the bedrooms (not a lot of places to hide in there) before the common room and outside, where most of the players surely were.
Peri reached the top bedroom a little out of breath, eyes peeled to find anyone crouching behind the dresser or on the top bunk. Of course, the first thing that she saw was the body of Darkvine, who was crumpled on the ground, blue-purple-black bruises all around her neck.
Unlike when she found Reuby, Peri did not scream. No, the white noise building in her ears muffled her own ragged breathing and left no room for any other sounds. She simply turned and ran.
And so began the chain of events that would lead Periwinkle down a path filled with strife to a most unfortunate end.
~~~
Dead: 2 (Reuby Moonnight, Darkvine)
Alive: 9 (Tenebrous, Periwinkle, Pangolin, Echo, Wildsong, Sterling, Hawkstar, Writing_in_the_dark, Amarillis)
(May 9, 2023 - 6:11 am)
Poor Peri! Why is it always Peri who finds the dead people? And poor Darkvine too...
(May 9, 2023 - 10:05 am)
haha yes I won! :D
Oh I feel so bad for Peri; she keeps discovering the dead bodies, and the last line is quite ominous. I really loved how you portrayed Peri's reaction though -- it was very well done and realistic.
Excellent writing! I can't wait for the next part :)
(May 9, 2023 - 10:22 am)
… ohhh no
(May 9, 2023 - 4:10 pm)
Aaand I'm dead. Well at least I might get to haunt people :)
the story is amazing so far, and the art is so cool! keep it up! :D
(May 9, 2023 - 8:12 am)