Chapter 1

**Chapter 1** takes place an hour before nightfall. In it, Ryan Lee, Caleb Meyerhoff, Ashleigh Yzerman, Angelica Malagon, Karsten Seidel and Taylor Williamson make their way up to the lodge.

## Synopsis

Chapter 1 begins with Angelica getting off the bus. She makes her way to the cable cars but encounters a blocked gate. She then notices a note from Ryan telling her that the gate is busted and she'll have to find another way around. Upon noticing a stone wall next to the gate, Angelica climbs over it. As she progresses through the woods, she sees a squirrel on the path. Holding still, she slowly gives it some crumbs before it runs off. Soon afterwards, Angelica sees a sign describing Native American Totems and inspects the totem on the ground next to it.

Upon reaching the cable car station she sees no sign of Ryan. While she is searching for him, she hears his phone buzzing from his backpack. Curiosity gets the better of her and she checks his phone, discovering that Ashleigh sent him a message. Just then Ryan emerges from the station and greets her. Noticing she's holding his phone, he sarcastically asks her if she's his secretary before grabbing his phone. After putting his phone in his pocket, Ryan tells her that he found something amazing and asks her to follow him.

While Angelica is following him, she finds a wanted poster of a man named Victor Jazz on the side of the station. Ryan jokingly asks if she thinks they're going to get a visit from him before reassuring her that the lodge has been abandoned for the last couple years. They move on and Angelica finds out that Ryan has been leading her to a shooting range he found behind the station. They talk for a bit while Ryan does some target practice with a rifle before a squirrel lumbers up. Ryan stops shooting and the two of them watch the animal for a moment before they spot the cable cars coming down. On the trip up, Ryan tells Angelica how he became friends with Karsten in seventh grade.

Elsewhere, Karsten and Taylor are hiking up to the lodge, Karsten carrying their bags. They are startled when Eric pops up to surprise them. There's a brief exchange between the three before Eric tells them that Caleb's already at the lodge and that he's going to check something out. Taylor convinces Karsten to head on up so she can talk to Eric for a moment. After some objection, Karsten relents and heads off toward the lodge, but when he sees Ashleigh observing the area through a telescope, he decides to go see how she's doing.

While observing the area, Ashleigh spots Taylor and Eric talking before they share a friendly hug. Believing something else is going on, Ashleigh quickly looks away, only to be scared by the sudden arrival of Karsten. Karsten then apologizes, telling her that he hadn't meant to scare the hell out of her, then quickly admits that he did but he's sorry he did. Ashleigh brushes it off and when he asks what's up, she plays it cool, telling him that nothing's wrong. Karsten shrugs and asks if she wants to come with him to the cabin.

Up at the lodge, Caleb greets Ryan and Angelica and asks how they're feeling about this trip. Angelica remarks that it shouldn't be different from some of the vacations she's been on with her family, and Ryan shrugs. While Angelica looks around the front of the lodge, Ryan and Caleb approach the door, only to find it's frozen shut. Angelica then tells them that Karsten and Ashleigh are approaching.

## Notes

* Ashleigh appears to be jumpy, as she is easily freaked out when Karsten sneaks up on her.
	+ She is also shown to be caring, not wanting Karsten to see Taylor and Eric's moment.
	+ It also appears that she sometimes misunderstands some of the things she sees.
* Ryan appears to be really good at shooting a rifle.
* Angelica seems to be curious, as she can't help but look at Ryan's phone when it goes off.