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Holy fucking hell, if this fog doesn't clear up soon, I swear someone's going to die. Meredith thought to herself as she stared out onto the long, winding road, trying to squint past the heavy blanket of fog that made it more difficult to see more than it already was. She was short, and this car was too damn big, and no matter how much she adjusted the seat, it was still uncomfortable as she had to crane her neck over the wheel a little bit to even see in front of her. She had been doing plenty fine earlier, but after going hours in this position, it had started to wear her down, making her more irritated than anything. She lightly tapped the steering wheel, shifting her body to try to make herself more comfortable and a bit less awkward. She didn't want to make the others nervous; she was a good driver through and through, well, minus her road rage tendencies, but it was just this damn car that she hated.

Continuing on the seemingly endless road, she had barely managed to spot the well worn sign covered in the brush on the side of the road. As any sign would, it read Welcome to Riverway in small letters, that were faded with age and weather. It stood tilted on the edge of the road, tall grass and large bushes covered most of it up, obviously making it noticeable that it had not been touched for years. The dense fog still hung lifelessly over the pine forest that they drove through, the trees tall and bountiful, untouched by humanity except for this single road that led to the small town. As she carefully watched the road ahead of her, the trees seemed to bend slightly over the road ahead, as if they were watching curiously, or perhaps questioning, she didn't know. Other than the old welcome sign, there weren't any other road signs that Meredith could catch. The fog seemed to only thicken on either side of the road as they neared the small, isolate town.

There wasn't much to be said about it; it was basically empty compared to all of the cities she's lived in, not that she didn't like it, the less people the better in her opinion, it just seemed out of date and worn down. There seemed to be plenty of houses, though many of them looked to be vacant for a long period of time, but she couldn't really tell because most of them looked the same. She spotted a few gas stations here and there and maybe a grocery store? It looked to be a bit small, then again the whole town was that way. Very few people were out, probably due to the thick fog that clouded everything, or maybe the light rain that had begun to fall, which she only noticed when it had start to cover the windshield, but everytime they did pass someone, they seemed to stare at them as they drove by. No, they did stare. There were a few times she was tempted to throw something at them, or pull over and ask why the hell they were staring so hard, but she resisted, blindly following the GPS to the cabin they were staying at, foolishly hoping that it would at least have electricity. Of course, there was none.

Finally arriving, the cabin seemed like the only “up to date” building there was. As much as up to date one could get around here, she was basically just sugar coating it at this point. She was a modern kind of gal; she enjoyed e-books and heat sources you could adjust with a thermometer, she wasn't good at this manual bullshit. She wanted to get away, but not this away. As they pulled up to it, the rain was falling much harder, and they sky had darkened significantly, signaling the end of the day as well as the storm that was occurring, making it difficult to see. The fog had cleared due to the winds that were quickly picking up, but that honestly wasn’t any better than before. She stopped the car and popped open the trunk, honking the horn to wake anyone who may have been asleep.

“Make sure to grab all of your stuff,” she said, opening the car door, frowning at the heavy rain that was before her. She sighed. “And clean up any messes, remember that I have to take this car back, so I’d rather not have car salesman jumping down my throat for anything I refuse to clean because it’s not my mess. Thanks.”

She then hopped out and quickly made her way to the back, flinching as the rain touched her, slinging her bags out before rushing toward the cabin door. Temporarily setting her things down, she stood on her tiptoes and reached on top of the door frame, lightly feeling for the key that would allow them to enter, but all there were were cobwebs. No key. She sighed, pulling her hand from the top of the door, but as she did, she felt something light crawl across the back of her hand causing her to flinch, flicking her hand in surprise and a small yelp escaping her throat. She didn't make out what it was, but she was sure it was a spider.

"Nasty fuckers," Meredith mumbled to herself, glancing at the van in the driveway. She hoped no one saw that.

Sighing, she took a quick look around for where the key might be, but finding no sign of it. Already off to a great start. Finally, she just shook her head and tried her luck to open the door. This thing better not be- and as she turned the doorknob, the old wooden door opened with a long creak. Her shoulders tensed as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm down a bit. It had been a long ride. Too fucking long. A moment later, she instinctively reached for a light switch on the side of the wall, but not finding it. Guess they'd have to use the lamps, which she hoped they wouldn't have had to use, but of course they did.

Using her phone as a light, she noticed that the cabin itself was pretty small: It was built like a small house, it had two bedrooms, both of equal size; a living room with no t.v, but some furniture built like your stereotypical hunting cabin. It had a fireplace, one brown sofa, whether that was the original color or it was just old, she didn't know. A round carpet covered the dusty floor and a deer's head hung above the fireplace; The kitchen looked outdated as fuck, but she should have guessed that; each of the bedrooms had two beds, one of them she already claimed by throwing her stuff onto it and some small decor; and a working bathroom. Thank God. Though it looked like they had a lot of cleaning to do.

Yelling from the bedroom, she said, "Anyone know how to start a fire?"

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Suspiria watched lazily out the car window as the small woman, Meredith, drove down the road. She felt like Meredith's driving was just a little...aggressive in her opinion, grabbing the car railing at times whenever Meredith made a turn. She was mesmerized by the pristine wilderness unfolding right in front of her. She gazed up at the rolling plumes of fog, it's so serene out here... Brushing back the dark brown strands of hair that were obscuring her view, she smiled softly to herself. This is going to be so much fun, I'm already glad that I decided to come. She glanced over at her companions. Are they as excited as I am to be here? I hope they are. She gingerly worked out the creases in her baby blue skirt with the tips of her fingernails. They had entered into no service cell phone range, and reading in the car made her nauseous, so she tried to pass the time in the car in some other way. The gentle woman knew as soon as she exited the car she was going to have to grab her Polaroid and see if anyone wanted to pose for some group pictures; she wanted to remember this.

Suspiria had to squint in order to read the faded lettering on the welcome sign. She couldn't quite pin-point why, but as she read it, she felt goosebumps crop up on her arms. The sign did look kind of ominous. I must be cold. Too bad I placed my jacket in the trunk with my other belongings. She rubbed up and down her arms in an effort to warm herself up again as she watched the trees fly past her in the window. She was pretty certain that this was the farthest north she'd ever been.

As the car rolled into town, the gentle woman tilted her head up to see out the front window. It looked quite desolate, to say the least. The people who were outside seemed in some kind of hurry, not bothering much to mill around. A few others seemed to freeze, as though they were trapped in a frame, and stared at them. Suspiria lifted her hand and waved slightly, her lips pursed in a nervous smile. She hoped they weren't upset with them coming up to stay at the cabin. She noted a grocery store, a few teeny-tiny gas stations, and then the ever present, vast forest surrounding them. This is going to be an adventure.

Suspiria noticed the fat rain drops blotching the window she looked out of. She rung her skirt on her lap tensely as the clouds grew thicker. She could hear the tires underneath her churning against the gravel road as they made their way farther north. Then she saw it, the grand cabin that she had been waiting this whole time for. Except that, it wasn't very grand at all. It was rather quaint, and not in the cozy sense. She really doubted that it would protect them any from the downpour that was happening, but it was better than nothing.

When Meredith honked, she jumped slightly. The car had finally pulled to a stop. She opened her car door and slid out. She was pretty sure that she hadn't gotten anything out, expect for her water bottle, which she grabbed as she stepped out. Her feet crunched on the wet gravel and she cringed slightly. It wasn't a pleasant sound. She made her way to the trunk after Meredith, who seemed to be in quite the rush, and picked up as many of her things as she could carry. She might've over packed, but she was really indecisive when it came to what she should bring. So she just brought up as much as she could possibly stuff in her two duffel bags plus plastic trash bag with all her bedding. She waddled up to the cabin door, straining against the weight of the belongings she carried. She cursed the fact that she was rather slight, and not strong in any sense of the word. As she walked up the stair to the cabin behind Meredith she heard the small woman yelp and say something under her breath.

"Oh, are you okay?" She had begun to reach out her hand when Meredith proceeded to turn the doorknob. There was only darkness inside. A cold draft of wind escaped from the cabin and Suspiria whimpered slightly. I hope we get some heat in here soon... As Meredith probed for a light switch, she swayed slightly as she clutched onto the straps of her duffel bags. She followed Meredith into the house as her shadow, following her every movement. She noticed how old the cabin looked, but felt confident she could spruce it up later. She was just happy to be out of the rain. She shuffled over to the bedroom that Meredith went into, and dropped her stuff on top of the bed that was perpendicular to the one the small woman had already claimed. She breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't think she could hold onto her bags any longer.
"Is..is it alright if I put my things here?" she piped up as she struggled to catch her breath. She made a mental reminder to bring less stuff next time.