I know this is odd stylistically, but give it a chance. Tell me what you think when you finish reading! I was definitely experimenting with this style of writing while typing out this story!

February 3rd, 2015

"I can't believe Chris is gone. He was my best friend and... maybe I-... we never had a chance."

"I was right there, and I could have done something- I tried to do something... I wasn't good enough."

"He was out of his fucking mind. He wanted to hurt us. Yeah, he... and... I thought he was the one who attacked Jess."

"I thought we were close... After his sisters disappeared... he'd come and talk to me... He said he was the only one who understood him. I thought... I thought we had a connection."

"If you need someone to talk to-"

"I'm fine.

"Sometimes after a traumatic experience-"

"I said I'm fine."

"I heard Jessica. I don't know how or why she was down there, but I know I heard her."

"She was shot-"

"What?! She was what?! Is she okay?!"

"We recovered her body with a gunshot wound to the head-"

"No. No, nono. No, no it doesn't make any sense. It was someone else, it had to be-"

"Is there something you want to tell us?"

"No. No... No it..."

"So it was you that broke up with her...?"

"No, its... Okay, okay, you gotta understand. These things were... okay, they... they were confused... and0 the circumstances were not normal-"

"You had a fight, you were angry-"

"Y- No! Yes, yes but no. Okay? Okay? It wasn't like that-"

"What was it like, Michael-"

"She was... she was infected! Okay? And- and- and we thought she'd turn into one. So, so, what was I supposed to do? You know? I had to stop her. I had to keep her from changing!"

"I- I stabbed him and I tried to get away but I didn't know, I swear I didn't know!"

"Didn't know...? Who did you stab?"

"Oh I-I stabbed the maniac, I didn't know it was Josh, but then he was the Psycho and how was I supposed to know Josh had all the saws and the gun and-"

"I just wasn't fast enough. I was so close, man. If I'd have been.. just a little faster I... I could have saved her... I could have saved her. So it's my fault. I'm the reason Jess is dead."

"You need to listen to me. I don't care if you believe me or not. Doesn't matter. Because you will. You need to go down to the mines."

"What's in the mines, Sam?"

"I've seen what's down there... and I've give anything to unsee it."

February 10th, 2015

Ashley picked up her pen and paper. Something that once came so easy to her, writing, was becoming more and more of a burden. She tried to write the book she was so close to finishing, but the words were failing to come to her. It didn't take long for her to start crying. Tears just kept falling down her face. Four funerals in two days, she was psychically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. The hardest one was this evening. She didn't know if she could find it in her to go. She trembled every time she thought of it, eventually bursting into tears. This was no exception. The tears started falling down her face. "I can't do it!" She threw her journal across the room and cried. She cried and cried, until she could no longer cry tears, far past hiccuping. She took a glance at the time. She needed to get ready for the funeral. She was already wearing black, but her face was red and puffy. She needed to go. She needed to go to Chris's funeral. She wasn't sure if she had the strength to go, but she knew he would have done the same for her. "I'm sorry, Chris."

Matt looked at the cardboard box of his stuff that Emily had of his. There was a high school football t-shirt that she had stolen from him, a series of photo booth pictures that they had taken every time they had gone to the mall, or a shopping complex that had them, a patch that should have gone on his letterman, but she had asked him to have it, so he gave it to her. He shook his head. He thought every day would get easier, not harder. He turned away form the box and went to lay on his bed. He buried his face in the pillow. There was a knock on his door. He ignored it, just like he ignored all the knocks. Everyone was going to die? What the hell could he do about that? There was another knock on the door. It was his older sister reminding him that he needed to go to Chris' funeral. Not another one. He remembered seeing Sam and Ashley's faces at Emily's funeral. He hated seeing the pity, but he knew he was going to give Ashley the same pity she had given him at Emily's. "Fuck."

Mike looked around the prison cell. He didn't belong here. He wasn't a murderer. He was doing what he had to! He wasn't a murderer... He deserved to go to the funerals. Maybe not Emily's... but he had a right to go to Josh's, and Chris's... Jess's... He buried his head in his hands. If he had been faster... If he had been even a little bit faster! Dammit! He kicked the metal cot that was supposed to be his bed. He thought it was supposed to be innocent until proven guilty! "I don't deserve to be in here! My girlfriend is fucking dead!" A bang on his cell door told him to shut up. He shook his head and sat on his bed. "I don't fucking deserve this..." He looked at the two missing fingers and took a deep breath. "This is so fucked up."

Sam looked at the picture that stood on her vanity. It was one from a very different time. Everyone was still alive. It was a picture from just before everyone went to the mountains, while everyone was still happy. She wished she could dissolve into the picture and live there forever. It was a couple of days before they all went into the mountains to begin with. Josh has his arms slung over Hannah and Beth, Sam is wedged between Hannah and Ashley. Chris is standing behind Ashley, right by Josh. Next to Chris is Matt, who looks genuinely happy, holding Emily's hand. Mike has a hand on Jessica's shoulder. What couldn't be seen outside the camera was the movie theatre. Everyone had gone to see the premiere of Bob Washington's newest film, a cheesy horror film that had gone on to win a couple of awards. At the theatre, they left all their differences behind. They were untied together. Sam just wished they were always like that. They hadn't ended on such great terms on the mountain. She sighed and looked away from the picture. There was nothing that could be done about it now. She needed closure. She was about to go to the last funeral, Chris'.

February 2, 2016

Ashley looked at the date on her phone. She couldn't believe it had been nearly a year since that night on the mountain. She still missed Chris. She couldn't believe he was gone still. To this day she hadn't been able to write a story, to work on the story Chris had enjoyed reading so much. She realized it wasn't fair to his memory to avoid writing the story, but she still nearly burst into tears every time she tried. They had never had a chance. Who knows what could have happened if she and Chris had survived that night on the mountain? Would they have gotten together? She likes to think they would have. They did kiss before he went out to the mountains, right before he died. She can still see his head rolling onto the floor, still remember Mike having to drag her away. That fear led to Emily's death... A death she blamed herself for. She hoped Mike got out of jail soon. Emily's death was not his fault! It was hers, if anything. Ashley looked over at the spiral that sat on her desk, an almost complete manuscript rested in its pages. She kept telling herself she would get back to writing. It hadn't happened yet. Maybe one day.

Matt looked at the gun resting on the nightstand. The weapon that had caused Em's death. He kept thinking what-if's if Mike hadn't pulled that trigger, ending Emily's life. Let him rot in jail. The bastard deserved it. He killed Emily for no reason. He had no proof that Emily was going to kill them, turn into a wendigo. He was pissed at Ashley, too. Sam had told him the whole story of what happened down in the basement and how Ashley had goaded Mike into killing his girlfriend. Matt doubted that if Emily was still alive, that he and her would still be together, but there was a world of possibilities that could have happened. Maybe she stopped being bitchy and turned into a good person. It might be a long shot, but it could have happened. They'll never know now, at least. Fuck. Matt looked at the gun on his nightstand. Why should he get a future? What the hell did he do to deserve it? Nothing. He didn't do a damn thing. He grabbed the gun off his nightstand, pressing the barrel to his eye, the same place Emily had been shot. His hand was shaking. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to fucking die! But he couldn't bear to live anymore. "I'll see you soon, Em," he said. He pulled the trigger.

Mike looked at the letter he had received. He knew who it was from without even looking at the letter itself. No one else had hand written him letters since coming to prison, not even his own family. They were probably too ashamed that he was a murderer. He opened the letter, from Ashley, and read it. He had to keep up hope, because he didn't deserve to be there, it read. Ashley didn't know he knew that the bites did nothing. Sam had told him. He murdered Emily for no reason. He murdered Jessica. He deserved to be here. No matter what. This is what he deserved. When the verdict comes back guilty, he won't feel bad. He has it coming. Every night, when he goes to sleep, he sees Jessica. He sees Emily. He knows getting a guilty verdict will be the only thing that saves him from going insane with guilt. There were wendigos on the mountain, killers, but they weren't murderers. They were following their hunter instinct -their sick and disturbed instinct- but instinct none the less. He was just a killer who had no excuse to do the shit that he had done. He was probably the only person in history to be begging for a guilty sentence.

Sam looked at the graves where the Washington children supposedly laid. She knew this was untrue. Beth was eaten, Hannah had been blown up, and Josh was likely dead in the mountains. Still, she went to the empty grave sites and put flowers on each of their headstones, saying a few silent words to each of them as she placed them. "Hey guys, I don't know what's going on with you all, but I'm going to India. I'm going to work with animals and underprivileged children for a couple of years. I think I need an escape from here. I wanted to come to tell you guys. Who knows what will happen while I'm there? I doubt I'll encounter any more wendigos, but there is an adventure ahead of me." She looked at the headstones and sighed. She told Hannah she always wanted to do something like this. Right now, Sam was hoping to start a charity, the Washington Foundation, to help people with mental illness who weren't receiving the treatment they needed. She hoped something good would come out of this. There were so many unnecessary deaths that came from this one night of death, but Sam had hope something good could come out of it.

February 3rd, 2026

"So, Ashley, you said your book is dedicated to Chris. Who is Chris?" Ashley looked at the interviewer. She still couldn't believe her book was a bestseller. "Chris? He was the first person I loved." She had a bad case of writer's block for several years, then one day, everything changed. She had hope. She finished her book, and knew Chris would be proud of her. She knew he didn't believe in ghosts, but she felt his spirit with her to some degree.

I hope you liked it! Again, tell me what you think (love or hate, any critique is a good critique!) so I know if you all wan to see more one-shots like this in the future.