#montecristoupdate

you have been invited to the annual ' spring breakers ' party hosted by alpha delta phi fraternity . booze ! bumps ! bitches ! get ready for the greatest night that you'll never remember .

SETTING: seattle, washington. the univeresity of washington DATE: 1pm est september 24th — 11:59pm est october 1st

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎it's been less than a month since the remaining eight of the monte cristo camping trip returned to campus. the university of washington is lively; crowded courtyards, a library echoing with whispers, the watchful eyes of one luke sinclair surveying their every move from within the framed memorial portraits hung in almost every building . . . it has been just over a year since they abandoned luke, left to rot alongside the tall-tales of that abandoned ghost town.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ despite their unspoken vow to never talk about what happened beyond barlow's pass . . . one REEVE AZIZ broke the silent contract and proposed an idea. thus, the project is born. a docu-mystery about the history of monte cristo’s ghost town — and the disappearance of luke sinclair — for his senior thesis ( amongst other potential motivations, but who's to say?? ).

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ mistakenly, he asked KINGSTON & ISLA for help. KODY ( who overheard isla on the phone ) told MILO, who then mentioned it to CAMILLE, before the idea finally reached the ears of THOMAS & ELIZA. now, the estranged group are reunited, and the reactions are . . . varied. they never thought they would have to talk about this again, let alone return to the scene of their collective crime. the tension between the eight is palpable; some more so than others. however, no one is willing to risk being left out — everyone has something to lose. and so, they begin to pack, begin to speculate, begin to gossip . . .

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ they are returning to monte cristo, and they all have a job to finish,

whether they liked it or not.

SETTING : barlow pass & granite falls . DATE : 12a est october 4th 

before they knew it , a week flew by and the time came to make their long awaited trip back up the mountain . . . to the heart of where it all began : m̵̩̿ọ̶̡̪͔̓̒̉͠n̷̲̎̀̽͝ͅt̶͖͉̲̋̒̽e̶͎̱̖̲͛̐̄͛ ̴̪̠̥͊͌ ̶̦̆͛̀c̶̛̺̗̮̦͐̐r̶̗̰̃̒̈ȋ̶̠͉̽͆͝s̵͈̣̾̑̑t̷̹̤̍͑ͅó̶̳ ̴͙͈̌͜. loading up two cars , one with REEVE , KINGSTON , & ISLA , and the other with THOMAS , CAMILLE , ELIZA & MILO — the s̸̼̝̞̐̃̈́͋ȅ̴̻̂͛̕v̷̪̙̫͇̇͗̾ḛ̴̖̮̤̇̀̐̽n̴̥͚͙͈̔̓ readied themselves for their grand return .

GROUP ONE , naturally , got a head start . . . whilst GROUP TWO took their sweet time . considering the director's domineering sense of control — they naturally grew impatient , but , thankfully , eliza's type-a personality led to group two quickly catching up . so , a text was shot out to let the others know they would be heading out to start setup , and they could all reconvene on the mountain later . traveling in smaller groups would allow them to draw less attention , anyway , given that it was the off season in granite falls ( aka NO TRESPASSING ) . in the end — it worked out . until it didn’t . that false sense of security would shatter in a way none of them were prepared for . a storm — wild , violent , and unforgiving .

it hits when  GROUP ONE  has just parked their car at the visitor's center , about to start the trek toward their final destination . REEVE , ISLA , and KINGSTON are relieved to find that the door to the center is wide open — well , technically , off its hinges . almost like it had been kicked in and propped up . hurrying inside , they shoot a quick text to the others to let them know to meet them there – that they'd all have to wait until it passed before they can hike the grueling eight miles up B̸͍͐Ä̸͓̝́͑͝Ř̵̮̟̞͋Ḻ̶̽͝͠Ǫ̴̡̭̽̄W̷̠̫͉̹̅̈́̏'̶͓̈S̸̛͕͂̋̆ ̶̆͆́̍ͅ ̶̖̅P̸͙̽A̶̞̽̍̉̆Ŝ̶̗͉̔͛̂͜Ŝ̴̡̤̪̳̂̈ .

GROUP TWO'S arrival is delayed as thomas’s car , old and decrepit , decides to break down after an issue with the engine ( or the battery , or the exhaust , or , , , okay , multiple things ) , forcing the group to pull over . after multiple failed attempts to contact AAA , the group decides to abandon the shoddy vehicle and hike the remaining mile to granite falls . then , the storm strikes . thankfully , GROUP ONE found shelter — as if the abandoned building had been awaiting their arrival .

now , they are together . for some , they have not seen one other since the ̵͔͝͝ľ̷̳̏á̸̤̭̏̇͠s̶̢̡̯͕̃̊̌͝t̵̢̗̦̆̓ ̶͉̯̕ ̸̡̛̪̰̟̌̀̕t̵̪̩̗͖́̍̾͠ḯ̸̳̀͝m̷̜̺̽̽̕ẹ̶̺͙̈́͗ they were here . others are uninterested in bonding — choosing to pass time by counting supplies , getting their bearings , etc .

but , there's no way to predict just how long this storm will go on for .

SO , , , all they can do is wait .

the eight others loyally followed luke down the winded , earthy trail until they finally crossed over into monte cristo . it felt like stepping into an alternative universe . the barriers of the abandoned town buzzed with unidentifiable electricity . or maybe it was adrenaline  &  nerves , or a deep-rooted fear that made the hairs on everyone’s necks stand up . luke’s enthusiasm was unmatched , and as he began assigning decomposing cabins to each of his friends , a realization began to sink in that they  really  were doing this . they were camping at monte cristo , and nobody outside of themselves knew . after all , luke had instructed this excursion stay on the low . . . and everyone figured that included the finite details of it . 

no one knew for sure what waited for them in the summer mountains , what they would take from it .

or , more so , what the mountain would take from THEM .

time was passing , that much was clear .

analog digits on screens of dying phones continued to change , and the light shifted - day to night - as it passed through layers of thick fog and mist . however , it also felt eerily still . two members of their party were now frozen in it ; internalized clocks brought to an eternal standstill . two bodies , joining a supposed third ; KODY SUZUKI-BRAUN and THOMAS ORTESKY .

KODY's body has been gently laid in a blanket of snow , cradled by hard earth , the lower half of her beginning to crystalize from the river water that had soaked into her clothes and skin . THOMAS's remains are at the bottom of the cliff , draped atop rock like a throw blanket on a scarlet stained sofa , eyes still half-opened and staring dully up at those who looked down at him .

all eight bodies ( or was it six ?? ) remain at the top of the tracks , with CAMILLE and THOMAS having already decided they were going to scale down the cliffside to get to where his body was . KINGSTON , MILO, and ISLA offer to accompany them .

finding a climbable wall down into the drop ; CAMILLE goes first , THOMAS trailing behind . their feet find branches , protruding rocks , and tangled roots sticking out from the cliffside , using them to climb down to the foot of the drop . KINGSTON follows next , MILO close behind , , , but when ISLA's foot goes to find purchase on a loose stone ; the cliff gives a harrowing shake and, suddenly , collapses .

an avalanche of dirt and earth come cascading down the cliffside , any reliable placement for stability vanishing beneath her . ISLA makes an attempt to leap back up towards the surface and misses , scrambling not to plummet down the thirty foot drop . it is REEVE who comes to her aid , managing to grab hold of her hand and heave her body back to safety just before she is hurled down to the jagged terrain beneath . CAMILLE , THOMAS , KINGSTON , and MILO are now trapped in the pit , , , with no way to get back up .

KODY , ELIZA , ISLA and REEVE are left atop the tracks , and the groups are once again separated from one another .

for now .

not far from where THOMAS's body is , there is what appears to be a entry point for one of the mine shafts . the group is familiar with the mines — or at least what the outside of them looks like , as they have seen entry points to them — scattered all around monte cristo . this had been a mining town at one point , after all .

the eight notice these mines may be the only way for them to reunite , given as climbing back up the cliffside is not an option . with both groups having carnage in tow , the snow thickening as it piled higher and higher atop the group , their options were very limited .

and for some of them , the clock was still ticking .

in the middle of the night , approximately 3:26am , a crack of lightening followed by the roaring of thunder shook the mountain , monte cristo , & those temporarily residing on its grounds awake .

stumbling from their cabins , swaddled in blankets & sleep clothes , each member of the group comes to realize they feel , , , different . not only have their injuries from days prior almost entirely healed over night , but their ailments have instead been replaced with new ones . cotton mouth , a nauseating headache , a total depletion in what little serotonin had already remained . it felt like they were crashing from a really bad high , the kind of comedown that would have an addict itching for more just to be reprieved from the side effects of going without .

blurry vision & flashlights catch glimpses of empty , plastic water bottles in each of their respective cabins & scattered around camp . nothing out of the ordinary there — clean water was crucial to survival , after all . however , it's the residue that clings to their interiors that gives everyone pause . chalky , thick , & almost powdery .

had someone tampered with the water supply ??

memories from the day prior are fleeting , a distorted blur that makes separating what was real from what wasn't a challenge — not to mention the headaches , the twitching limbs , incredibly dry mouths & itching throats . foggy visions flash in their minds ; familiar faces that seem so real , but so watery & unclear , it is almost difficult to distinguish whether they had really seen them or not .

drugs . it had to have been drugs .

when they leave their cabins , finding each other at the bonfire that sat in the center of camp — equidistant from each of the cabins — there is a palpable tension . a shared confusion . something feels changed , a thread that had woven them all together now cut . nobody is certain what had been put in their waters , or who had put it there . it wasn't even for certain it HAD been drugs , but uncertainty has never stopped the group from pointing fingers at one another before .

frost has clung to the earth , solidifying its soil , & a flurry has began to descend from the dark , flickering storm clouds that loom far too low in the sky . ashen grey tufts hugging the tree tops , intermingled with their canopies of now barren branches . an early winter , a blooming storm , the balance of nature itself thrown off to the point where even the mother of it has no inkling of what time of year it is .

there's a headcount , a silent assessment made of one another , before it is realized that one is missing from their party .

THOMAS ORTESKY .

after the blowout in the group chat , with multiple members turning off their phones & others going missing in action , some out searching for them & others opting to keep their hands to themselves, , , there is no way to account for where everyone was .

or what they had been doing the night before , , ,

SETTING : barlow pass & granite falls . DATE : 12a est october 4th — 11:59pm est tba

before they knew it , a week had flown by and it was time to make the long awaited trip back up the mountain to the heart of where it all began : monte cristo . loading up two cars , one with REEVE , ELIZA , KINGSTON , & ISLA , and the other with THOMAS , CAMILLE , KODY , & MILO — the eight readied themselves for their grand return . group one , naturally , got a head start . . . given as group two was taking their sweet time . considering reeve’s domineering sense of control , paired together with eliza’s type-a personality — they naturally grew impatient . so , a quick text was shot out to let the others know they were going to head out to start the setup , and they’d all reconvene on the mountain later . traveling in smaller groups would allow them to draw less attention , anyway , given that it was the off season in granite falls . in the end — it worked out.

until it didn’t .