The Spell of Summer - Day 01

WEDNESDAY, DAY ZERO

The weather through the mountain pass had gone from dark and stormy to a white out in a mere matter of miles. The gas pedal had been depressed to the carpet of the Nissan despite the conditions for 3 hours; up until about ten minutes ago, when Aaron finally had to back off, clutching the wheel with both hands and scooting up in the seat like a tiny old woman squinting to be sure she doesn't hit anything while driving down the road on a sunny day.

It's funny, the things you do when you have to concentrate on the act of driving itself instead of letting your brain lax off into auto-pilot. Along with the speed of the car, Aaron had also spent the last three hours with an immense amount of volume, be it from the stereo or his own voice as he vented to his best friend Justin. The car was now a vacuum of silence.

She could have hid it. At the very least, she could have tried to hide it, instead of flaunting every indiscretion in front of his face; flirting with every man who would pay her the smallest amount of attention directly in front of him at parties and dinners and gas stations. That had been bad enough. He'd known over their three year relationship that she had cheated. He had worked hard to be a saint among men, and aside from one angry drunken evening, he'd managed to keep his dick in his pants.

At least he'd had the decency to hide his mistake filled night. She never had. He knew of four she'd been with, and that—according to their friends—was a small fraction of the actual number she'd notched into her personal bedpost.

Catching her with one though; that was the wake-up call Aaron had needed. Coming home early from work and finding his girlfriend in bed with some guy in his forties was the beginning of the end. He had remained calm, picked up the gentleman's clothes, handed them over without a word or a glance as he stared Nicole down. Once the guy had left, he'd grinned with a little chuckle, shook his head, and began to pack.

He didn't hear one word of her protests, likely they were all selfish; all the reasons he couldn't leave her, for she was out of work, and she didn't have anywhere to go. He'd made the decision while packing to continue playing the saint and leave her their apartment instead of throwing her out like an innocent party should.

But that was Aaron. He'd loved her, and while he'd figured for a long time that they wouldn't have a happy ending, he couldn't turn around and make her life the living hell that she'd made his, even in leaving.

It was only an hour later that he was in the car with Justin heading over the mountains to his family's cabin on a lake. There was a small town and he knew a lot of the locals; it had been easy enough to get Justin to join him upon bringing up the prospect of Kendra and her friends, and Justin, being the free spirit he was, could always leave at the drop of a hat.

"I can't even get cell reception for a phone call," Justin said, flicking his thumb over his galaxy.

Aaron glanced over for a brief moment to see the weather app on Justin's phone, receiving no data despite having been closed and reopened a few times. "I guess we'll just have to hope the weather clears up on the other side of the pass," he replied, quickly returning his gaze to the very little road he could see. "Probably should have checked conditions before we left," he added with a humorless chuckle.

"Not the first thing on your mind, I get it," Justin replied, then pursed his lips to the side as he fingered the power button to shut off the screen. "Where the flying fuck are we, anyways?"

Aaron's eyes widened briefly as his chin tucked. "Not a clue," he responded. "I think we passed the ski area a few miles back. Not that I saw any lifts. Just a guess."

"I seriously don't know how we don't have cell towers in mountains by now," Justin muttered, squinting out the window. "Considering that conditions could be dangerous, like tonight, you'd think they'd have them for public safety if nothing else."

The car caught some ice and skated for a moment while Aaron took his foot completely off the gas to allow the car to find its traction once more. He'd made this drive plenty of times in snow and ice before, so he knew how to handle it, though nothing quite as bad as tonight.

The weather seemed to fit the storm inside of him that was still brewing.

Justin didn't bat an eye as the car slid, never one to worry about anything. And a moment later, the wheels were spinning again against clear pavement. "Should we chain up?"

Aaron shook his head. "Not enough snow for it," he said.

This caused Justin to burst out laughing, as all they could see was white.

"I mean on the road," Aaron amended, allowing a small grin. "It may be coming down hard, but nothing's stuck much. If it keeps up like this though, we'll be stopping within the hour."

"We should be there in an hour," Justin scoffed.

Glancing down at the speedometer, Aaron said, "Not when we're going twenty miles an hour."

A simultaneous sigh exited them both and the car grew silent once more; the stereo having been turned off quite some time back so Aaron could concentrate better.

The roads were getting worse, and they hadn't seen any other cars for some time. Just the white wall of snow in the headlights and the dark of night everywhere else, this all nerve wracking enough that Aaron was starting to wonder if it might be safest to just park on the side of the highway and wait it out. Not that even that would be safe; not a dark car on the side of a highway with two people inside of it in the middle of a storm. Not when another car coming by able to see nearly nothing could slam into them.

Best to keep moving.

This was Aaron's last thought before another pitch of ice was hit, and this time, instead of riding it out, it rode them right off the road.

***

THURSDAY, DAY ONE

He heard the voice before his eyes opened.

"Dude . . ." it said, then Aaron felt a hand on his shoulder, giving him a shake. "Dude, you okay?"

It was Justin's voice, and Aaron's eyes finally opened into slants. He found he had to keep them that way because it was bright. Daylight bright. And not stormy daytime, nor even that calm after the storm sort of streaming sunlight through dissipating clouds. Full on summer sun was shining through the windows of his car, not an inch of snow on the ground, not a tree providing shade.

Worse, the windows had been broken out completely, shards of glass along the dash and hood of the car, no doubt all over the interior.

"What the hell . . ." Aaron began, propping himself up and shading his eyes. He wiped his brow, then down his face, trying to wake the nerves beneath his skin as he attempted to remember everything. They'd been in a car wreck, though he didn't feel much pain. A sore neck at most, but the kind of soreness one feels after sleeping in an awkward position; certainly not post-accident sore. Still, he rolled his shoulders, clenched his hands, swiveled his back, squeezed his ass and thighs, and ended with his toes; a bodily checklist.

Nothing.

"I don't even know," Justin said, and Aaron finally looked at his friend, who seemed perfectly fine as well. Not a scratch on him. In fact, he looked too good. Both aged 27, there was some sort of shining life in Justin—infinitesimally so—that gave him a bit of what can only be described as a glow. His longer, dishwater blonde hair in its ponytail didn't have a single frizz, his skin looked smooth; no 5 o'clock shadow that he certainly should have had after a full day and night passing since shaving . . . it was disconcerting, but nothing Aaron could linger on for too long.

He swept his hand through his dark brown hair to try to create some order; it didn't feel tangled or dirty, nothing signifying a night in a storm with no windows on his wrecked Nissan, and a thought struck him through his complete lack of pain:

"Have you been asleep since we spun off the road?"

Justin nodded. "Woke up just a minute ago." His finger reached into his ear where he gave it a scratch that signaled a sort of confusion coupled with the crease in his brow. "Weirder, I don't even see the road, man."

This caused Aaron to bolt fully upright and peer all around, spinning awkwardly in the confines of the seat. He had to unbuckle to look behind him. Sure enough, no road to be found. They were in a clearing that wasn't too large, though large enough that the thick evergreens that circled this meadow weren't blocking any sunlight in whatever angle he wished to view.

A shrug, followed by the opening of the door. "We can't be too far from it," Aaron said, then gestured with his head that he was heading out to look. "Let's go figure out where the hell we are."

Because there was no snow, there were no tracks, not even on the perfectly lush, green grass and foliage. Frankly, it was agitating, because without any sort of reception in the mountains, and the fact that they hadn't planned to be backpacking the forest outside of some minor day hikes, thus not packing any sort of compass, there was no telling which way they should look for the road.

This seemed to strike Justin as well, as they both stood completely still in wonder. How does one know what to do while lost in the woods with no instrument to guide them? It was something neither of them considered, despite being rather avid outdoorsman. Justin was an artist and loved to derive his inspiration from scenic views and beautiful women. Aaron preferred his exercise outside of a gym, and frequently mountain biked and rock climbed. Still, it was not something he'd ever really considered, as he never strayed from the paths.

We just don't live in a country that has mileage untouched by man anymore.

"Okay, this isn't exactly Borneo," Aaron said, used to taking charge as the lead graphics designer for a large outdoorsman chain. "We can split up. You can head behind the car, assuming when we shot off the road we didn't spin a couple dozen times. Meanwhile, there's a ridge up there. I climb, no skin off my back to get to higher ground and see if I can make it out."

"Dude, there aren't even broken shrubs or . . . trees, or . . . anything," Justin pointed out. And it was true. The forest was thick enough that no car could have spun into this clearing without a clear path of destruction.

Aaron nodded in defeat and acceptance. "Fair," he acquiesced. "I guess we're both climbing?"

"Seems that way," Justin agreed, then peered at his friend with the raise of one brow. A finger wagged at Aaron as he said, "Dude? You look fucking weird."

There was no holding back the exasperated chuckle, and Aaron didn't try. "I look weird? I'm not sure if you're aware, but we were just in a car accident!"

Justin grinned and shook his head just once. "That's not the weird I mean. But whatever. Let's just get out of here."

The climb began. It was not the sort of Cliffside climbing that required carabineers and rope. More the rocky slant that was in a steep enough angle to be careful, but had so many boulders and rough edges that finding footing was easy and frequent.

No real conversation was made on the climb to save energy for the physical exertion of it; Aaron leading the way, a bit stronger and more muscled than his friend due to his choice in outdoor recreation. The only words spoken were from Justin, muttering to himself, "Shoulda grabbed a bottle of water," and then silence once more.

Aaron's heart plummeted into his stomach once he reached the top, and what followed was a wave of fear unlike any he'd ever experienced in his life.

They could see for miles. And not one of these miles contained a highway.

"What. The. Fuck." Justin said, punctuating each word as he gazed all around.

Both men spun in circles. The most disconcerting aspect of the landscape was that there wasn't an inch of snow this high up, and Aaron knew they were at the summit of the pass, as they'd mostly plateaued at the time of the accident before the descent down the backside toward their destination. It was another thousand feet up or so that the snow began to cover the peaks.

"This is summer," he whispered under his breath, not loud enough for Justin to catch these terrifying words.

In reality, it was October.

"What. The. Fuck."

Justin, again, and Aaron looked at his friend with his mouth slightly agape. No words. He had no explanation. There was absolutely no reasonable account for no highway, no snow, and the sun of summer shining down on his skin.

"There!" Aaron said suddenly, as a glance over his friend's shoulder had given him his first sign of hope that they wouldn't die out here. He pointed firmly, and Justin turned around to follow the finger. Aaron took a few steps forward to get shoulder to shoulder with Justin, shading his eyes with his left hand, finger still pointing at what he hoped wasn't some mirage. "Smoke," he finally said quietly.

Indeed, a plume, if not a few plumes of smoke were rising, lakeside in the distance. And fires in the forest don't begin lakeside of anything unless they're man made. Which meant campers or cabins. Either signified people, and people would have directions. It was miles away, but there was water and a few snacks in the car, and while the terrain was far from easy, there was simply no other choice.

"I guess this means we're taking a hike earlier than expected," Justin agreed, and it was said with a hint of a grin, albeit a defeated one.

The two carefully scaled back down the Cliffside to the car. There they loaded up their backpacks that would have been used only for hikes with a few belongings from suitcases, along with protein bars, bottles of water, and a few additional fundamentals. Toiletries, and of course, what both considered necessities: their sketchbooks and journals.

The hike was indeed strenuous, through mountainous terrain that was well forested with evergreen trees and thick ferns. They knew the general direction, however with no gps or signals on their phones, the best they could do was guess that they were continuing to head in the right direction.

They only stopped to rest once along a cool brook, and this gave Aaron and Justin both hope that this water would lead them to the lake they'd spotted. Water searches water, after all, especially in the mountains. Lakes had to be fed, and a fast moving brook was certainly headed somewhere.

Noon passed, the sun having reached its apex in the sky, and still they trudged along. Without shelter, they felt an impeding sense of doom should the night fall. Both felt as though something was very wrong; they'd seen the signs of it in this sudden change of weather, along with a missing highway that they had skidded from the night before, and the strangeness of their appearance and lack of injuries were all troublesome.

Aaron could not help but feel that his life had somehow skewed, and it was much more than his recent breakup from the woman who had broken his heart many times over. While last night he'd felt a sense of freedom and relief, however sick his heart had been, now he simply felt as though the world had somehow altered far more than a new chapter as a bachelor.

"Hey," Justin said, stopping short and gazing around. He raised a brow at Aaron, then sniffed the air. "Smell that?"

Aaron inhaled deeply and both solace and dread washed through him. Whatever they were about to walk into was their deliverance of the future, be it safe or dangerous. At least they may find answers, and he nodded at Justin with a small shrug to convey his inner thoughts: here we go.

The pace quickened and in fifteen more minutes, they saw the first wooden structure.

Life.

Soon it was more than one, then more than five, and in no time, it was an entire compound of cabins, resembling a summer camp he'd once attended as a teenager. That or they were rentals. Either way, they were inhabited, as fires were certainly aflame in this area. He was reassured now that the plumes he had spotted were man-made.

The pair walked hesitantly alongside one of the cabins, keeping their shoulders near the dry wood of the small structures that seemed no bigger than a room, so it was to be assumed that this was more on the side of a camp rather than vacation rentals. A few times they eyed one another in a what do we do now sort of way.

Then there was a voice.

"We have an hour before dinner," a female voice said from around the corner. A pair of footsteps was heard on wood; likely a small deck for the cabin, then the closing of a door. "Wanna hit up the music room?"

Justin and Aaron had both froze in motion, backs against the wall of the cabin as they steadied their breathing.

"Sure!" another voice said, also female, and it sounded exuberant and light as a bell. "Maybe we can grab Kylie on the way!"

Suddenly the two girls were in sight, dashing down a path toward a larger path, more road-like, though it couldn't be large enough for more than one car, and a small one like that.

Justin grinned at Aaron. "They're cute!"

Aaron rolled his eyes; leave it to Justin to remark on the looks of two strangers when they were in this much of a bind. Though internally, he had to note to himself that indeed they were pretty cute. At least their backsides were, and judging by the long brunette ponytails, they took care of their hair. That was the most he could come up with in the brief, fleeting glimpse he'd had anyway.

"Let's see if we can find someone who can help," Aaron said, sucking in a deep breath. The time for creeping along the cabin of two young women was over. He had enough sense to know that if they were spotted here in the brush that they wouldn't be immediately welcomed. They'd probably be viewed as scary perverts.

With that, Aaron squared his shoulders and began to walk out into the open, following the path to the much more open "road", if you could call the packed dirt such a thing. Justin followed at his heels.

From here, they could make out the many cabins all up and down this wider path, and beyond them, much larger structures, further affirming Aaron's suspicion that this was some sort of camp. Adding in that the girl had mentioned a music room, he could only assume these larger buildings were various activity centers, likely along with a cafeteria.

And he noted that he was hungry when his stomach rumbled once at the thought of dinner.

Outside one of the larger structures was a woman in a white tee and khaki shorts with a clipboard and a whistle.

"We're totally at some sort of summer camp," Aaron said, finally voicing his suspicion. He remembered the camp councilors looking exactly like this, and figured she'd be the one they should approach first to explain the bizarre situation they'd found themselves in.

"Nice," Justin said appreciatively. "Never got to go to summer camp. I'm deciding now that I was robbed of a very important part of my childhood."

This last bit was said with an air of wickedness, and Aaron knew full well that he was taking in the sights of the women instead of focusing on the matter at hand. Still, he'd lived vicariously through Justin's female conquests while he'd been stuck in a loveless relationship for the last three years.

Not entirely true. He'd loved her. She'd used him for security.

Neither here nor there, he reminded himself. It's over, it's in the past, time to forget about that misery and move on.

As to not scare the woman looking over her clipboard, he called out, "Excuse me!" before taking a light jog that he hoped appeared unassuming. He tried to convey with his eyes: we're just two lost hikers looking for help. We're no danger to you.

Oddly, she smiled as they approached instead of looking upon the two with any hint of fear, as though two men in their mid-twenties emerging from the woods was an everyday occurrence.