The Retreat

The Cabin

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cosy A-frame cabin. It was beautiful. A warm amber light radiated through the windows. I could see Christmas tree lights glistening softly as the car came to a stop.

"There we go, do you ladies need help with your bags?"

Erin batted her eyelids with a silly grin. "If you could, that would be great".

She always did have a thing for Irish accents. Apparently, this was true even when it was a 40-something-year-old Uber driver. But I was grateful. The bags were heavy, and it had been a long drive. Besides, the snow had made the wooden steps up to the cabin slippery and I didn’t want to start our week off with an injury if I could help it.

"Have a grand time girls. Don't do anything I wouldn't." He said with a wink, before darting back into his car, rubbing his hands together to keep warm.

Erin and I laughed waving him off. We could hear the gentle tinkle of an old piano coming from inside.

“We’re here” I say, my hands seeking warmth in the pockets of my coat. Erin smiled back. “We are here”.

The bell seemed to chime through the bones of the cabin. A man opened the door with a smile. I let out an involuntary gasp. He laughed, “The cold will do that to you. Come in, come in! George, can you get the bags for these lovely ladies please”. I blushed. Erin gave me the side eye. He was gorgeous and we both knew it.

He led us to the main common room. I was in awe. The cabin looked so much bigger once we were inside. The photos on the website didn’t do it justice.

“I’m James” he began.

“I’m the lead practitioner and it’s my job to take care of all of our guests to make sure that you get the most from this experience.”

He grabbed a clipboard from the top of the grand piano which was nestled into the room beside the fire. The lady who was sitting playing looked up and smiled without missing a beat.

“I am guessing you are Erin” he said looking at me “and Frankie” looking at Erin, with one eyebrow raised. We laughed.

“Frankie” I say with a little wave.

“Erin” she nods with a smile.

He laughed “Well I had a 50/ 50 shot of getting that one. You’re the last ones here, and just in time too.” He said nodding towards the window.

“Looks like a blizzard is coming and I’m sure you’d much rather be inside wrapped up warm than outside in that!”

“Is it safe up here…with the blizzard?” Erin asked.

“We’ve been running retreats here for over 25 years. In all that time a blizzard has never caused us an issue. We just work around it. Most of what we’ll be doing will be inside and you have complete agency to opt out of anything you don’t want to do. This is your experience; I am just here to help facilitate.”

Erin nods and I grab her arm.

“We’re looking forward to it!” I say, trying to sound enthusiastic enough for the both of us.

“Let me know if you have any questions, I’ll be your port of call for just about everything whilst you’re here and if you can’t find me, you’ll be able to find George.”

Erin and I nod.

“Unfortunately, dinner was about an hour ago, but I can get the kitchen to make you both up a plate - you must be starving! In the meantime, I’ll show you to your room.”

My stomach let out a small growl. That plate couldn’t come soon enough.

The Retreat

Our twin room was beautiful. The decor was dated, but cosy. Our luggage was already waiting for us in the room and we even had our own fireplace! I leaned my forehead against the window, I could hear the wind from the blizzard swirling around us. My breath quickly steamed up the glass. I shivered slightly before closing the curtains.

“This is nice.” Erin grinned. “This is really nice”.

Before we knew it, we were greeted with delicious bowls of butternut soup and freshly baked bread which we ate on the floor by the fire. We had our schedules online, but both of our phones were out of signal and out of battery. Luckily Erin found paper versions in the draw next to our beds.

“I guess we’re unplugging for the week”

“That’s the point! It’ll be great.” Erin beamed. I was just happy to see her relax. It had been a tough year. and this was something we had both been feeling the need to do for a while. We’d been through countless options. A silent retreat in India. An Ayurvedic retreat in Bali. A stunning wellness centre in Thailand. This health and well-being retreat located deep within the hills of Windemere, UK, in a year with the biggest blizzard and most snowfall recorded for 30 years.

It wasn’t fancy, but it did have the best reviews. Trust Pilot said it was life changing. The reviewers commenting on the website said that it made them rethink their lives in the best possible way. We’d seen the pictures of groups eating delicious food, with comments about being surrounded by amazing people that are now lifelong friends and fell in love. Laying in our beds that night we were incredibly grateful, and with full stomachs fell asleep quickly.

On the first day, we met the group. Erin and I were both keen to make a good impression and woke up half an hour earlier to get ready.

First, we met Dan and Marco, both from LA. Dan was a model that Erin recognised from her magazines and Marco was a self-identified hippy. He was a kombucha producer, vegan of course, and lived off-grid in a van. Despite being so different, the pair were close friends and Dan was happy to be pulled to various retreats for the experience. They told us many stories that week, from ashwagandha ceremonies to staying in the forests of Costa Rica.

Then we met Andrea, the piano player, and her boyfriend who went by 'M'. When we came down to breakfast that first day, he was silent, rolling his eyes that he had to get back to work and that this trip was a waste of his time. Andrea had told me that she had saved all her spare money to pay for the trip as a last attempt to bring them closer. However, he spent most of the day in their room on his laptop. I felt bad for her.

The final couple were older. A husband-and-wife duo that went by Emerald and Diego. They were adorable. His sarcasm and her wit went hand in hand. You could tell that he had been driving her to distraction for years, and she enjoyed every minute of it. They were genuinely lovely people, if not a little nauseating.

By day three we'd established a good routine. M was always busy on his laptop ‘working’, so Andrea flitted between hanging out with Erin and I, or Dan and Marco if we weren't all together. There were plenty of options for activities, but we mostly decided as a group of five, leaving Emerald and Diego to do their thing and join if they wanted. James facilitated with the help of George who was amazing. He was not only a fantastic chef, but a fully qualified breath instructor and yogi. He also kept things going behind the scenes. James may have been the face, but George was the life blood.

On the evening of the third day, Erin, Dan, Marco, and I were hanging out in the common room celebrating Marco’s birthday. We were giggling away, swapping stories. It was warm and cosy, and the snow outside that made it feel like the perfect festive getaway. We were all becoming good friends.

We had just popped opened a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne when the lights went out.

George sprang into action immediately. "I'll grab the candles"

Erin looked at me.

"It's fine, we're in a cabin and there's a blizzard going on outside. This is probably normal. A power cut or something."

Dan chipped in "Besides we've got champagne!"

We all laugh. Then we hear it. A deafening shriek.

James rushed in. "Is everyone ok?"

"We are" Marco shrugged. "Are you sure this isn't alcoholic?" he said looking pointedly at Dan who rolled his eyes.

George came in shortly after with the candles. He and James exchanged a few words in muffled tones.

"We're just going to check on the others." James said, rushing off.

The lights suddenly flickered back on.

We sat in silence for a moment. We had no idea what had just happened, but James and George seemed like they had it under control. At least that’s what I was telling myself.

"Did you hear that scream?" Erin was panicking. I could see it in her eyes.

"Hey. Hey. Here," I said handing her an ice cube from the bucket the fake champagne was chilling in.

"Ow, it's wet. And cold!"

"Why did you hand her an ice cube?" Marco laughs.

"Yeah, why did you hand me an ice cube, I don't want it" Erin quipped back.

Dan looked at me. "There was a scream though"

"Come on, that didn't even sound human" Marco shot back.

"So, it's either a wild animal or someone in pain?... Great" Erin muttered, passing the ice between her hands.

"Here let me take that, feeling better?"

Erin nodded, "I don't know why you think that's going to work every time I'm starting to have a panic attack"

"I still don't know why you argue with me when it works" I reply.

Marco nodded to himself sinking back into his chair. "I don't usually drink champagne, but this is good"

We hear a cough the doorway. Standing there was James. He looked as if the life had been drained from his face. His blue eyes and dark hair looked odd without the rosy complexion we'd been used to thus far. "I hate to interrupt, but there's been an incident. We therefore kindly ask you to return to your rooms. We'll be able to tell you more tomorrow, but for now. Please."

We sat there staring at each other.

"But it's my birthday," Marco said raising a glass.

"We can celebrate tomorrow. Please." James urged.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"I'll be ok if you all just get to your rooms. NOW."

Erin and I looked at each other. That was the first time we’d heard him get angry. We filed out.

"I wonder what that was all about?" asked Dan.

"I don't know, but that was weird. He definitely was not ok." I replied.

"No. he wasn't. I guess we'll see tomorrow. Night"

"Night guys".

Erin locked the door behind us. I had heard a scream. I didn't know what was going on, but at least we were safe in our little cosy room.

The Incident

"You might be wondering what on earth happened yesterday." James was standing in front of us at breakfast, hopping from one foot to the other with his hands in his pockets.

"And you may notice that Andrea and M are not here this morning…

We found M last night, after the blackout. He had been stabbed. We can’t find Andrea anywhere. We believe she's outside somewhere; God knows where in this weather. Activities are paused for today. We are trying to get the police to respond but signal as you know is patchy... I... I'm sorry."

"Wait who's M?". We all look at Marco. Dan shook his head patting his friend on the back.

“Can we help?” I ask.

“Help?” James looked at me in disbelief.

“If there’s a murderer” Erin followed.

“This isn’t a game!” He shouted before leaving.

Dan leaned in. “I think you’re right. We need to find out what happened.”

“Can we join?” It was Emerald. I nodded. Dan shrugged. Erin just stared blankly.

We sit awkwardly poking our breakfasts. Emerald starts, “So, are we going to find out what happened last night, or wait until the police make it up the mountain?”

Marco interjected “But we don’t know anything.”

“We know he was stabbed” Erin pointed out.

“And Andrea’s missing” Dan continued.

“Seems like we know the answer already” Diego stated. We all stared at him.

“Andrea’s missing, M has been stabbed. Dead. We all know their relationship was tentative at best. She probably got fed up, him sitting in their room drinking and working and paying her no attention.” He continued.

“That’s not fair.” I interject. “Andrea wouldn’t do that. Just because she’s missing doesn’t mean she’s guilty.”

“Guilty people don’t run.” Marco shrugged.

“I disagree” follows Erin. “Imagine finding the man you loved dead like that. I would run too.”

George approached the table as he always did this time of the morning to collect our plates and mugs. Today however, he hovered.

“Everything ok” Dan asked.

“Do any of you know anything about this?” George was holding up a playing card – The King of Hearts.

The table shrugs.

“It was found next to the body. If you know anything, or if anything jogs your memory let me know.”

After gathering our cutlery, he wheeled away his trolly squeaking with the weight of our leftovers. I had never thought of George’s behaviour as weird, until then.

Amateur Detectives

Erin and I returned to our room, taking a flip chart and markers with us. We were on a mission. We’d seen this play out so many times on TV, and we wanted to be the ones to solve the mystery. Besides, there was nothing else we could do if everything was cancelled, so we thought we should help.

“We need to get into the room” I had drawn a big X on the flip chart, and we’d made bullet points of everything we had found out so far.

We were starting to brainstorm ideas for how we would get in and collect more evidence until we were interrupted. There was a knock at the door. Erin threw the flipchart under her duvet.

James was standing there, of course he looked nervous, but his hand. It was various shades of yellow and green. Bruised.

“I came to see if you were both ok. It’s been a stressful morning.”

“We’re fine.” I reply. “Are you?” I say looking at his hand.

“Just an accident. I wanted to let you know common areas are still open, you don’t have to stay in your room.”

I nod. “Thanks.” I pushed the door closed, but he put his foot in the way, keeping it ajar, and not in a sexy way. The look in his eyes made me uneasy.

“The police are coming.”

“Ok thanks.”

I managed to push it closed, shoving it, forcing him to move his foot before locking it immediately.

“Erin. I think we have our first suspect.”

Lunch was quiet. Just Erin, Dan, Marco, and I. Diego and Emerald were nowhere to be seen, but that wasn’t unusual. George flittered in and out, filling up our drinks and making sure our stomachs are full.

“We need to talk somewhere private” It was Dan that finally broke the silence.

“Meet us in our room in ten.” I needed to tell someone other than Erin that I suspected James. It just didn’t make sense, but the evidence was there.

Erin was pacing the room by the time Dan and Marco arrived. Our room was a mess, clothes, and flip chart paper everywhere. I would say it was organised chaos, but there was nothing organised about it. We locked the door behind them, apologising, we knew how weird that was, but James had put us both on edge.

“We think we know who did it, or at least who was involved” Marco blurted out.

“I’ve seen those playing cards before.” Dan was pacing now. “They are Diego’s. Diego and Emerald are always playing with them, he must have done it. How else did it get in M and Andrea’s room?” He picks up some jeans laying on my bed and throws them to the side before sitting down.

“So, where’s Andrea then?” asked Erin.

“That’s not all. The secret Whisky bottle…” He can’t stop.

Erin, Marco and I look at him confused.

“Diego, George, and I have been sneaking a night cap in. I think George hides a bottle for himself, but Diego and I caught him that first night, and we’ve been joining him since. Anyway, point is there was blood on it, ok. Blood. Dried but definitely blood.”

We went from one suspect to three. My heart was racing. There was a murderer amongst us.

At dinner, we clumsily tried to look for answers. Marco tried to ask Diego to play cards, but he and Emerald were in the middle of an argument, and he left early. I attempted to get James to tell me what had happened with his hand, but he would only tell me it was an accident and not to worry about it. Dan even tried to ask George about the whisky. That conversation ended before it started. We weren’t any closer to getting answers.

As the evening drew in, Erin, Dan, Marco, and I withdrew to the common room. We weren’t really in the mood for chit chat. Our efforts only revealed our ineptitude. We were four twenty somethings who had only ever seen things like this on TV. It wasn’t meant to happen in real life. These were real people that we had known and spent time with. We’d been busying our minds trying to play hero, but we knew we couldn’t help. Not really.

“How about I play us something?” Marco was always trying to lift the mood; however, he barely played several notes when the key jammed. Dan laughed. “Whatever, it’s not my fault the key’s jammed. It’s not like you’re so perfect.”

He lifted the piano’s cover, but it wasn’t what he expected. He started to stutter. “Guys, you need to see this.” It was a knife. Covered in blood. “Do we tell somebody?” We agree to decide in the morning and swiftly return to our rooms.

That night, Erin and I went to bed early. Defeated. We weren’t detectives, and this wasn’t a game. M was not the kind of person I’d want to hang out with, but Andrea was, and the reality struck home. She was out there. In the cold, alone, and M was dead, murdered, in this cabin. The knife was proof of that. The police hadn’t arrived today despite James’ assurances, and for the first time, I didn’t feel safe. I fell into a hazy sleep until I heard something which penetrated through my dream and woke me.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I jumped out of my bed startled. Erin was still asleep. Snoring.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was coming from the window. I opened the curtains slowly. It took a moment for my brain to catch up. It was Andrea.

“ERIN! WAKE UP!”

Nothing. Of all the things I envied about Erin, her ability to sleep through noise was top of my list that night. I decided to open the window and let her in. She was going to freeze to death if I didn’t. I could see that she had nothing but a night dress on. I wanted to ask her so many questions. Where had she been? What had happened? But the look on her face, of pure despair and grief stopped me.

The cold wind blew into our room as I opened the window. Erin stirred in her sleep.

“You’re freezing.” I say, putting on the fire. She gave me a weak smile as she sat on the floor.

“I’ll be ok.” Her voice was barely audible.

The Confession

I was woken up by Erin prodding me on the back. She was confused. Andrea was laying on the floor next to the fire fast asleep and she’d missed it.

We decided to leave her whilst we went down for breakfast, and we were grateful we did. The police had arrived. We saw them wheel out M’s body, thankfully covered in a black body bag. The warmth of the tree lights had been replaced with the cold glare of police cars.

“We would like to question everyone. We are treating this as a murder. No one is to leave.” Said the officer.

Erin and I looked at each other. We hadn’t told anyone about the knife and now the police were here. We knew where the murder weapon was, but had hesitated. Guilt was the only thing on my mind. At least, it was until George dropped the plate he was holding. Behind the officer stood Andrea.

“You should start with me.”

They conducted the interview in the kitchen. Andrea had seen everything, and was ready to speak.

One by one we were escorted to the kitchen. We all kept our mouth shut about the knife. It was probably clear that we don’t know anything as we babbled on, and we were asked to go back to our rooms. It was intense. I felt the guilt building up inside of me.

“Let me go!” yelled Emerald. “She’s lying.” We hear shouting and I stick my head out of our door.

“Give it up” Diego sighed behind her. “You know what you did.”

They were both being escorted out in handcuffs. Of all the things I had expected to happen that day, that wasn’t it. It didn’t make sense.

James caught my eye. I quickly shut the door, but he had seen me. He knocked.

“You might as well come out. They’re leaving now.”

George made tea for everyone in the common room. Everyone being Erin, Dan, Marco, Andrea, James, and me.

Andrea was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ran. You must think I’m awful.” Tears streamed down her face as she spoke.

“You all know that M and I were having issues. I brought us here to try to fix them, but he’d already decided that it was over. He barely spoke to me the entire time, and when I told him that I’d made friends, he got jealous and decided he wanted to get back at me. I guess.

I caught him and Emerald together that night. But I made a mistake. I told Diego. He laughed at me and waved me away, so I confronted them.

Diego heard me, and came charging in. He was clearly spooked and swearing… it all happened so fast. He lunged at her and she pulled out a knife. M jumped in front of her to block Diego but…

Next thing I know, he was on the floor bleeding out and all Diego and Emerald could do was argue.

I process it, and I couldn’t stay in that room, so I ran.”

I put my arm around her and let her cry.

“That doesn’t explain the whisky? Or the playing card?”

George looks at him confused.

“It had blood on it. The bottle.” He continued.

“I guess the card must have fallen from somewhere and Diego clearly helped Emerald cover it up… that would have me gasping for a night cap.” George replied.

“He would have had to sneak back in here though?” James was a step behind still. He didn’t know about the knife.

“Well, someone had to, the murder weapon’s here.”

We turn to Marco. Eyes rolled. Of course.

“What?” James restrained himself, but it was clear he was angry.

“We found it last night. In the piano.” Dan added.

“Nobody touched it. We just didn’t know what to do.” Erin replied staring into her cup.

That afternoon, after the police were called for the second time – to collect the murder weapon we prayed. For M, for Diego and Emerald, but mostly for Andrea. She left in a taxi after lunch. It was time to figure out what was next.

As for Erin and I? We had waited in anticipation for months to attend this retreat, but by the end of it neither of us could wait to go home.