Chapter One:

"You said you have a dream... That dream... Make it come true! Make your wonderful dream a reality, and it will become your truth!" -N, Pokemon Black and White

"I have this nightmare. It's reoccurring. I'm walking in this tunnel when I notice two paths diverging. I think back to that Robert Frost poem and walk the one on the left, taking the road travelled less. As I walk I hear screaming. There's a ton of voices, and I recognize every one of them, each of them calling for help, yelling my name, screaming that it hurts. The screaming gets louder and louder until I'm about to lose my sanity and start screaming as well when it suddenly goes silent. There's no more screaming. No more yelling. No more pain. I walk forward, slowly, each step taking more time than the last, until I reach three wooden doors. I have to open one. I can't go back. There's no other way for me to go, so I pick the middle one, and, and," my voice shakes and I feel tears start to fill my eyes.

"It's a wendigo?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah. I feel its fingers on my face, and, for a split second, I see Hannah in its eyes. It turns my head quickly and I have an out of body experience. I see my head rolling on the ground. That's when I wake up."

I feel his arms close around me, pulling me close to his bare chest. "It's okay, Ash." He places a kiss on my head and I can close my eyes again. I stop shaking and the tears go away.

"It doesn't happen as often as it used to. It used to be every night," I say, before I look up into his ocean eyes, "but now only happens when you aren't around." He strokes my hair, letting his fingers get tangled in the long strands. "Do you have nightmares too, Chris?"

He nods. "Yeah, all the time."

I let out a shaky breath. "Do you think they'll ever go away?"

He pulls me closer. "It's been five years, Ash. I honestly don't know."

"They're getting worse." The feeling of him stroking my hair keeps me calm as I speak.

"Is it because-?"

I can only shrug in response. "I don't know. Probably." I let out a sigh. "Chris, I thought I forgave Josh a long time ago. I tell myself I have. I tell myself he wasn't in his right mind, and all the stuff with the... the..." deep breath, "all the stuff with the wendigos wasn't his fault."

"Are you sure you're okay with throwing him a party once he gets out of jail? Inviting everyone over for a party?"

I nod. "I think it will give everyone closure. We all need that."

He gives me a smile. "I think we all do, too." He lays back down in bed. I notice the clock for the first time. Just past four in the morning. I feel awful for waking Chris up but I'm glad he's here for me. I finally smile when he pulls me down, close to his chest. I can feel his heart beating. "I love you," he says.

"I love you too." I drift back off to sleep, the smell of him filling me, comforting me. Any dreams I have, I don't remember.

The first alarm goes off at seven. The second at seven-thirty. We pull ourselves out of bed after the second alarm goes off. I go to the kitchen and get each of our breakfasts ready while Chris gets changed for the day. He has work at nine and needs to leave the house by eight-thirty. I don't have work until a bit later so I prepare breakfast. I grab a pair of plates and glasses, putting a chocolate muffin, strawberry yogurt and glass of grape juice in front of my seat, and bacon, eggs and a glass of orange juice in front of his. Once the table is set Chris comes out, ready to go. He has a smile on his face and gives me a kiss. "Thanks, Ash."

We sit down and eat, mostly in silence, still trying to fight off sleep. We make the occasional comment, about Mike and Jess's upcoming wedding, how Matt and Em are surprisingly, still going strong, Sam's new job as a Veterinary Technician while she works on her Doctorate... "So you and Sam are picking Josh up tomorrow?" I ask. Chris chokes on his orange juice. I probably should have waited until he finished drinking until I asked a question about Josh. It's rare either of us bring him up. Even rarer if I do.

"Um, yeah," he says. "He gets out tomorrow at eleven, I think. I doubt it'll be that open and shut, though. I'll need to leave around seven-thirty. It's a three hour drive to get there and I have to pick up Sam too."

I nod. "So you're going to bring him here around six that evening for dinner? Everyone else said they would be here five-thirty. Jess said she might come a bit earlier to help me set up."

"That's good. What about Em?"

"She has to wait on the babysitter, who isn't going to get there until five-fifteen or something."

I can see the far off look in Chris's eyes when I mention Matt and Em's kid. He spoils her almost as much as Emily does, which is a feat in itself. "I can't believe how big Izzy has gotten!"

I let out a small laugh. "I know you're the favorite uncle, but don't let Em catch you calling Isabella, Izzy. You know how big a fit she'd throw."

Chris laughs along with me. "I know." With that he gets up and places his now empty plate into the sink. "I've got to go." He leans down and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you this evening."

"See you this evening."

Chris works at a small company that designs apps for phones. By small I mean there's the boss and like, three other employees, and the office he works at is a studio in the guy who owns the company's backyard, but it makes impressive, well known apps that allow him have a career instead of just a job. I believe they're thinking about expanding the company. Chris likes where he works and makes a surprising amount of money. I can see him light up every time he talks about it. I'm glad he's doing something he loves.

I sneak a glance at my laptop, letting out a small sigh. I'm not so lucky. I sent my novel to as many different publishers I could find. None of them wanted to publish it. I'm working on self publishing, but to get the results I want for my book it is going to cost well over a thousand dollars. I'm saving up, little by little, but bills for the house, paying for my bridesmaid dress, getting a wedding present for Mike and Jess, paying for this party for Josh and giving him some money so he isn't helpless when he starts off, is draining my bank account. I haven't told Chris any of my concerns, though. If I told him he'd insist on publishing my book now, paying for it completely. He's too nice. He's the one who bought our house. I can't let him pay for this either. I need to publish this book without him anyway.

I make my way back to the bedroom where I start to get ready for the day. I work at a museum, sitting at the front desk, selling people tickets and giving tours as needed. It's not a difficult job, and I don't hate it. When I'm not tending to the visitors I get to write in my notebook, come up with new ideas for stories, hopefully some that will be more appealing to the publishing companies. I put in my contacts and quickly do my makeup before putting on my blouse and skirt and heading off.

The day is uneventful. Only a few people come in, since it's the middle of the week the usual people that would visit are at work. My lunch break I go to the break room, grab a frozen dinner I keep in the mini fridge and microwave it, just noticing I brought macaroni and cheese. I grab myself a sprite zero and add cherry flavored syrup to it. It's Thursday. Tomorrow would be the day Sam and I go out for lunch, our weekly girls day out, but that won't happen because she'll be getting Josh. Our favorite place is this place near her work that makes hibachi style japanese food and sushi, but it's cheap for the amount of food you get. We think it's cute and charming. We like that it plays J-Pop over the speakers instead of the typical instrumental music that is usually heard at fancier hibachi places. Maybe next week. I'll go pick me up Freebirds instead. It's a further drive but I can pick it up and leave instead of sitting at a table awkwardly by myself.

I find myself taking notes in the notebook. No one is here at the desk with me. There is one woman, late fifties, working in the gift shop. Another person is making rounds in the museum to help guests if they need it. It's a small museum specializing on the history of petroleum in our city. Very rarely do people come here for fun. The most hectic days are the days elementary children come for field trips. Not today. "What are you working on, Ms. Brown?"

I look up. The woman who works in the gift shop, Mary, sometimes comes up to the front if we're having an especially slow day. She can see the front desk through the glass window separating her shop from the rest of the entry. "I'm just jotting down some ideas for a new book."

Mary gives me a smile. "Did you just finish one? I thought you were really excited about it."

I nod. "Yeah, but I wasn't able to get it published. I'm going to start writing a new one and focus on self publishing my other book. It costs a lot of money though."

"My nephew works in a publishing company. It's not a big one, but they're always looking for new authors. It might be a good place to start." The boredom I was feeling moments before melts away, suddenly. "What's your book about?"

I feel blood rushing to my cheeks. I don't usually walk about my works to people I know unless I completely trust them. Chris is the only person who has read all of my books. "Oh, um, it's about a boy who loses his two sisters in a car accident and how he has to recover without them." I don't tell her that I was inspired to write it by one of my friends who lost his two sisters in a night. A large part of writing that book was why I was able to forgive Josh, but another part was so I could forgive myself for taking part in the prank that led Hannah and Beth to their deaths. I haven't completely forgiven myself. I doubt I ever will.

Mary gives me a smile, not aware of the events that caused me to write that book. I haven't told anyone about what took place on the mountain. The only people that know are those of us who survived, and the officers who rescued us. Our families all suspect something happened, but, after seeing the way the officers looked at us, we didn't think they'd believe us. They don't know about the near death experiences. They just know something traumatic happened. "I'm sure it's an excellent book, Ashley."

"Thanks." I'm going to see Josh tomorrow. He inspired all of this. I decided I'm dedicating this book to him, as well as Hannah and Beth. Chris will have a book for him, one day, but this story wasn't written with him in mind. I'm just glad he was with me every step of the way, otherwise I'd never finish writing it.

Eventually, I'm able to leave. Mary gives me her nephew's email and I'm told to tell him his aunt gave me his information. I feel a bit lighter. My book probably isn't going to get published, but the thought brings a spring to my step. I feel like once this book is out there I'll be able to rest easy.

I get home and Chris is already there. He sits on the couch watching an anime. There is a spot open next to him. I kick off my shoes and curl up next to him. It's our evening routine, spending time together when we get off of work, enjoying one another's company, playing video games, watching television, eating dinner, or even watching the occasional live stream on YouTube. We live a comfortable, happy life. With the possibility of my book getting published, one last hope, there's a smile on my face. A part of me is still worried. Will Josh coming back change everything we've built here? Am I being selfish hoping nothing will change? I pray I'm not. I give Chris a kiss on the cheek. He smiles and pulls me closer. I'm living in my own fairytale. I hope it doesn't change.

With Cages being almost finished I thought it was time to start a new story. This one was requested by Gymrat 435 back in December and I'm super excited to finally be able to write it and share it all with you! Please leave a review and tell me what y'all think!