CHAPTER 1
A shiny black Cadillac Escalade climbed Mt. Mitchell on a surprisingly clear and sunny day for a cold December afternoon, two days away from Christmas. Jimmy looked relaxed in the driver's seat, steering carefully up the path with his knee while resting his hand on the center console and the other out of the window and surfing the wind. Ariel, Jimmy's girlfriend of 3 years was in the passenger seat next to him admiring the view as they drove up the mountain. Ariel was pretty, deathly pretty; a model in fact. Jimmy knew that she was far and beyond out of his league, but she loved him anyways.
"You know Jimmy, it's a wonder..." said Ariel quietly in her sultry voice, not breaking the quiet peace but instead harmonizing and enhancing the picturesque, quiet Utah wilderness.
"What is, Ariel?" Jimmy asked in a gruff, deep, and tired voice; a gift from his many hard fought court victories as one of the nation's biggest up and coming attorneys at law. He looked at Ariel, her legs crossed and her wavy brown hair flowing behind her as her eyes gazed out the window.
"That it hasn't snowed yet..." she said softly, her eyes still fixated on the shimmering lake in a valley below them and on the army evergreen trees surrounding it.
Jimmy ran his fingers lightly through his hair, fashioned in an over comb and adjusted the lapels of his light leather jacket and turned his head in her direction, "That's a bummer." He said sarcastically and flashed a snow-white and winning smile as she made eye contact with him through his black-lensed sunglasses.
She didn't wear any makeup, she was just as, if not more, beautiful without it. She had soft features, green eyes of exquisite jade, and hair like shining brown ribbons of delectable, rich chocolate. She laughed and put her gentle had on top of Jimmy's on the center console, "I know babe, but it's a little weird right?" Her tone seemed to change a little bit; turning a little more serious and a tad grimmer, "Maybe an omen of some sort? I don't know, just a thought."
She seemed a little worried and was always the more skeptical and religious one; being a devout Mormon and all. Jimmy pulled his hand out from under hers and grasped her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers like a perfectly and intricately woven picnic basket. "Everything's gonna be fine. No. Amazing." he raised the back of her hand up to his lips and kissed it briefly like a gentleman introducing himself to a fair lady or a princess. She smiled, blinding him with a beautiful stark white smile, accentuated by her vibrant red lipstick. "It's Christmas, you and me, a good 'ol cabin with a nice tree and a warm, fiery fireplace," He really accentuated "fiery" in an attempt at flirting, that evidently wasn't in vain. "The stars and cosmos are pretty much aligned for us to have a good time. We don't even have to try."
Ariel tightened her grasp on her lover's hand, a grip that could crush iron and splinter hardwood. She smiled and looked him in the eyes; Jimmy took off his sunglasses and clipped them on the collar of his white V-neck t-shirt. Her lips puckered up and his too, they closed their eyes and tilted their heads slightly as they loomed closer; two worlds on course for one heck of a collision.
For those brief otherworldly moments the universe didn't seem to matter; even if it did, it was at a momentary state of euphoria and peace.
"Jimmy! Ariel! Whoa now, ain't that close enough?" and that's James, tall, lanky, and awkward. The peace was shattered, James was there. He just kinda poked his health d in between the two front seats, he wasn't part of the super six; he was just Kylie's husband. A plus one of sorts.
Ariel released her clutch and crossed her arms in annoyance and sat back in her seat, Jimmy groaned and looked James dead in his light blue eyes with his hard chestnut colored eyes. This lasted for a couple of gut wrenching moments for James who was secretly shaking in his little cowboy boots and superman undies. Jimmy tipped off the forest camouflage hat on James' head into the back seat, "Lighten up Jamesy, and you can't say much considering you and Ms. Jenner back there." said Jimmy with a light hearted laugh.
"Ha-ha” annunciated James sarcastically, "I can only wish!" He exclaimed while tipping his hat back onto his head.
"What was that hon?" said a deeper feminine voice from behind James, that's Kylie, not Jenner; but Dent. She's a very built woman, a couple inches taller than James and by the looks of her, could easily beat the crap out of James whenever she pleased.
"Oh nothing Ky, love you!" James exclaimed, his voice tinged with a hint of worry.
"Mm-hmm." said Kylie grumpily and doubtingly while she straddled baby Kenneth and feeding him a bottle while Sara, Ariel's best friend, cooed and tickled the 9-month-old baby. Her hair was tied into a curly blonde ponytail and she was adorned in a light sports jacket with the name of her recreational cheer team and her last name blazoned in gold lettering across the back.
"Sara! Don't tap the baby! His head is VERY fragile." Screamed a young African American man at the top of his lungs. He had short curly black hair and a clearly visible 5 o'clock shadow. He was the complainer of the group while simultaneously being the clown of the group as well.
"Shut up Matt!" Yelled Ed, awoken from his nap by Matt's incessant complaining, Ed slapped Matt on the back of the head much to Matt's anger.
"Shove a cork in it whitey! I'll do what I want and you can't do squat!" Screamed Matt, referring to Ed's deathly vampire-like skin tone.
A shouting match ensued while Jimmy and Ariel sat quietly as their car traversed the incline of the mountain. "Hey I'm sorry." Said Jimmy, somberly breaking the silence between the two.
"It's ok babe." Responded Ariel with her head hung low.
Jimmy put his hand on her shoulder, " what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Said Ariel.
"Stop joking. I know it's something." Said Jimmy, worried now.
"It's nothing. Really. I'm fine."
"C'mon." Insisted Jimmy while disheveling her hair around her ear, "what is it? Really."
"Fine. It's just that we never..." She trailed off.
"Never what?" Asked Jimmy, contently and even more concerned.
"You know," she paused looking behind her to see the rest of the squad who were bickering nonstop about a baby's nutritional needs, and then she looked at him. Relishing the momentary lapse of surveillance and leaned in, "have our moment, Jim. There, I said it." Jimmy was saddened not only because of what she said but because this wasn't the first time she's mentioned this.
Jimmy is dejected by the serious look in her eyes and even more by the realization that she was right. So he puts his warm Palm up against her cheek, a warm feeling surged through their bodies as he leaned in and kissed her briefly. "Yeah? I don't think so. " Said Jimmy with a chuckle accompanied by her childlike grin. Jimmy put his sunglasses back on and turned his focus back onto the trail.
They both sat back in their seats with stupid happy smiles spread across their young faces. The road began to smooth out and sprouts of grass and a couple evergreen trees became visible.
The road completely smoothed out into a smooth cobblestone path before the impressive half a million dollar modernized cabin. It was two stories with a balcony on the second floor. It was an impulse buy for Jimmy earlier that year. Hopefully, he thought, it would pay off.
To Jimmy's knowledge there were a couple cabins around but they were far and few in between enough to be out of sight and out if mind.
Beneath the snow capped mountains, among the company of centuries old evergreen trees and shimmering blue lakes was the proclaimed Christmas cabin.
As the bright orange sun began to disappear behind the darkening mountains and even the beautiful alpenglow began to fade away, the grim and weird vacation the Super Six would've never expected began.
