Chapter 24: The Things that Matter

Miranda listened to Alexandria's story. She was still red faced and breathing hard from traveling down from whatever lake she went to. And Calvin had not yet returned. That was particularly disturbing. What kind of a person just leaves their friend high in the mountains?

Miranda knew that Calvin was, given his very low level of emotions, very difficult to offend, or upset in any way. And it was clear to her that Alexandria had blatantly exploited that fact to get down the mountain as fast as she could, with total impunity.

This story seemed incredibly improbable. And morbid. But then again, Alexandria didn't exactly seem the type to lie about something like this. Especially if Calvin could collaborate on everything-- and he wasn't the type to blatantly go along with some pretty girl for no reason. It was probably best to believe her, for now.

But she made darn sure to keep her to the facts.

“You say he took the brews, and then killed himself. What did you actually see?”

Alexandria rolled her eyes. “I saw an garbage can of empty gallons of the Comfort brew.”

“Was he clutching an empty bottle in his hand?” Miranda pressed her on this point, as she had many of the other ones.

“No,” Alexandria said.

“So he could have ran out of the brews weeks ago,” Miranda said.

“Yes, I suppose, but that's not how it happened.” Alexandria insisted.

“Did you see what happened? No. You didn't. So stick to the facts, Lex, and none of this bullshit story you've added on.”

“Well what do you think happened? Oh, wait, you weren't there, so how could you know?”

“That's why I'm asking you to only tell what you saw, and not add on any of your bias,” Miranda sad. “Otherwise you're going to add on your version of the story, and it could be wrong.”

“You weren't there! You're not qualified to speculate in any way!” Alexandria was getting furious, and flustered.

“I know you've built up this fantastic narrative, and I know damn well where it's going. Brews make people kill themselves, so don't tell my brother to drink them. Well, guess what, brews also make people not kill themselves, and that's a clinically proven fact, which is a damn sight more than anything you're trying to spin, right now, okay? So just keep to what you saw, and nothing else. Got it?”

It sounded like she tried to, if only to keep Miranda from arguing. Hints of bias crept in every now and again, but Miranda just ignored it for the time.

Every time either of them shouted at each other, Miranda winced inside a bit. She was as guilty of it as Alexandria, but she couldn't help herself. At the same time, Miranda had wanted Alexander out of this conversation-- which she was sure Alexandria wasn't too happy about. But nothing could be worse for Alexander in him moment of indecision than to have his stupid overbearing sister screw with his head some more. He said that he would think about Miranda's recommendation, and the more that thought came from him and not his sister, the better. But hearing all this from his room was certainly very hard for him. Alexandria didn't seem to care. Why would she? She had never really cared about him before.

“Look,” said Miranda. She was trying to be as calm as she could. “You've laid the facts before me. But, I say again, there's nothing inherent in those facts that cast a condemnation on the brews, okay? You can't just take these things and make up whatever story you want from them.”

Alexandria opened her mouth as if to say something, but Miranda could see where she was going to go, and got there first.

“Okay, maybe you can, but if you can I can too. And our stories both explain the facts,” Miranda said.

Alexandria snarled. “My version explains the facts much better. If he just drank the brews occasionally, there would still be some left.”

“You can't draw a, a line of causation between the brews running out, and him killing himself. That's statistics one zero one, Lex. And you're biased towards your side, anyway, so of course you're going to say your version is better! Look, what we need is some impartial observer to judge, if you really want to go down this road,” Miranda said. “Which leads me to a related point. Why the actual hell did you leave Calvin up on that ridge! Are you insane?”

“The way back is easy to find,” Alexandria said. “You go down to the lake, that's as obvious as it gets, and from then the trail is thirty feet across at all times. There's no possible way he could get lost, and it's not difficult either. You worry too much.”

“I don't think you worry enough,” Miranda said. “See, this is the problem with you, Lex. You don't think about anyone else except yourself. You have to realize that people just can't do the things you can do. You can hike up and down these mountains all day long; Calvin can't. You can be perfectly happy by yourself without any help from anyone else. Alexander can't. Do you get it yet? You can't hold people to you standard. It isn't just, and it isn't fair.”

Miranda stood up, and started to walk towards her room, where Alexander was waiting. She was surprised Alexandria wasn't defending herself more, but it hardly mattered. She gave one more parting shot. “We'll finish this conversation when Calvin gets back, and he tells us what he thought. Maybe you should get your stuff back on and find him.”

She closed the door. Alexander was sitting on the bed, waiting for her. She opened it again, having a sudden thought.

“Um, actually, maybe going after Calvin is second priority. You probably should call the cops or someone, and let them know there's a dead guy on these slopes. I'm sure they'd want to know.”

She went back through the door, and collapsed face down on the bed along side Alexander.

“Your sister can be incredibly aggravating sometimes,” Miranda said.

“I know,” said Alexander.

She pushed herself onto her elbows, and looked at Alexander. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. She usually couldn't.

“Are you ready to talk yet?” she said, softly.

“No.”

“That's fine,” she said. “That's totally fine. It's a pretty big decision.”

She rotated to her side and put her arm across Alexander's chest. “Just don't worry about it, ok?”

“I'm not worried,” he said. He turned towards her, and he gave her a now rare smile. Content, she tried to rest a bit.

She awoke from her nap later, she couldn't say how long, when someone knocked on her door. She got up, drowsily, and looked at Alexander. His eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling. She wondered if he had slept at all.

Calvin's voice came through the door. “Miranda, I was told you wanted to speak to me.”

“Yes,” she said, and got to her feet. “Al, you want to come?”

“No, thank you.”

“No worries,” she said. “It's okay.” She went to the door, and entered the living room. Alexandria was sitting at the table, arms crossed. There was fresh snow in her hair; it seemed as if she had gone after Calvin.

“Did you call the police?” Miranda said, sitting down.

“I did,” she said. “They told me that they would send someone up to check in a day or two, and thanked me for telling them.”

“They're not going to question you two or anything?” Miranda asked.

“They said they would just mail us if they had any troubles,” Alexandria said. “No need to ruin our vacation.”

Miranda turned to Calvin. “So,” she said. “You've heard the dispute, I take it.”

“I have,” said Calvin. “But I still don't know why you want me. I have no opinion on who is right; I understand both your cases. It seems impossible to judge, based only on what we saw.”

The girls looked at each other. Miranda saw in Alexandria's eyes that she had probably argued with him already about how cheap that position was. Arguing further would get them no where. But Calvin was still talking.

“If you are asking which is the better story,” he said, thoughtfully, “I suggest you ask Al. He would be much better at it than I. But does it really matter?”

“It does,” said Miranda. “Because Lex is trying to make some sort of twisted point about the brews with her interpretation of the events.”

“Stories matter, Cal.” Alexander had gotten up from the bed, and walked into the room. He sat down beside them at the table. He looked around at his sister, and Miranda. “I'm sorry,” he said. “But I'm very tired, and I don't want to think about this right now. I'll get back to you on it, I suppose.”

Miranda bit her lip, looking at Alexander. He looked back. “I'm not making a decision tonight, Miranda. I'm sorry. I'll make one when we get back, probably.”

“As I've said before, that's totally fine. There's no hurry.” Miranda looked at Alexandria. “We all want you to make the decision that's right for you.”

Alexander nodded, and went back into his room. After a few moments, Miranda followed him. Alexander got back on the bed, and went back to staring at the ceiling.

“You didn't sleep well last night, did you?”

“No,” Alexander said. “It was the night of the wolf.”

“What's that?”

But Alexander's eyes were closed, and he did not reply.

Chapter 24: 1,675 | 45,268/50,000

Author’s Note in Comments