Ama nodded. "Of course. We'll let you know the minute we find something, okay?"
Laural nodded. "We'll do our best to get you closure."
Weekend At the Overlook CLOSED (3/3)
She nodded her thanks as she watched the girls leave. In the meanwhile, Al had taken Simon and Joseph to the beginning of the trail
"Damn.." all murmured. "This place is beautiful.."
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"Aren't most beautiful places?" Al replied. Simon shrugged and nodded. "I mean, probably"
Simon stiffened almost immediately but relaxed just as quickly. Joseph was so close to him that the poor boy felt he might faint. Al turned so Joseph could see her roll her eyes "Oh whatever. You just don't go outside" She teased
Chris might not have been, but he forgot that Al was. Al smirked. "Scared you'll chip your nail polish?" She lovingly teased
Simon snickered. "Hey! It's a real possibility, and his nails look nice" Simon defended. "Plus, its hot and humid out here. You'll hate it just as much when your curls frizz up"
Al put a hand to her heart in faux offense, letting out a little gasp before shrugging and continuing "You right"
"Any sort of clue, honestly. I got a text from Laural telling us to look for maple trees and sap" Al responded, eyebrowed cocked a bit in confusion as she read the text while speaking, before shrugging and putting her phone away
"The leaves" Simon answered. As they walked, the difference became apparent. The pine trees with their needles and pinecones segwayed gradually into wide-leafed maple trees, some leaking small amounts of sap. Al surveyed the ground and stopped the boys, kneeling beside a puddle of what looked to be milky-white sap. "This is weird…" she murmured
Simon elbowed Joseph lightly, while placing a stick in the hand Al held out. She took it, poking the substance, but it was hard. "It's like wax.." Al mused
Simon walked over to Al, handing her a baggie. They often to samples of substances they found, which Chris tended to figure out the true nature of. Al took the baggie, scooping a little of the waxy substance into it with the stick.
Laurel and Ama went back to the hotel, waiting for the others, doing more research remotely. Eventually, they sent a name and a year to Joseph, alongside the message 'This is the disappearence before the most recent one. Looking for more.'
Al and Simon began walking around the area, looking for anything that might help. Simon kept his hand on his hip, and Al on her thigh, where both teens carried semi-concealed blades. Al, a small hunting knife, and Simon a tactical pocket knife
Joseph walked with his hands behind his back, one hand under his shirt and gripping the pistol he kept there, hoping he wouldn't need it, even when practicing, he had a habit of forgetting to turn off the saftey, which just made him embarressed, but he figured, better not shoot then accidentally shoot the wrong guy.
After about 20 minutes, the group found nothing but a trail of small footprints, first steps, then dragged, then gone. As though the girl had been dragged away into the fog or something. Simon had discovered them, and Al followed. "They just.. stop" said Simon
Believe it or not, there weren't. Nothing but footprints and sap. Al and Simon returned to Joseph, asking if he'd found anything else
Al nodded, somewhat solemnly, before Simon piped up, always optimistic. "It's okay. We'll come back when we have more info from Chris and the girls"
Back at the hotel, Laural and Ama were back to researching. The white sap was apparently common, to the area at least. Nobody has been on that path since the disappearance, it seemed, so there were still footprints there, the girls thought. Any information they found was immediately sent to Chris.