Until Dawn: Reclaiming Life

Prologue of an Until Dawn story I thought up; this one has a bit of a unique twist to it; namely a what if scenario, in this case, what if, instead of being killed outright when she opened the trap door; Ashley was instead mauled with injures the same as Jess ends up with if she lives. This chapter covers the attack and takes place during the game, all chapters after this are set post game. Pairings for this story BTW will be Chris/Ashley (of course) and Sam/Mike.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

Prologue

Ashley bit her lip, once again she was finding her nerves fraying, this whole night had been one nightmare after another. But she pressed on, trying to catch up with Sam. They were in the underground tunnels beneath the lodge, seeking Mike to warn him of the dangers he was about to get himself into.

She had stopped to make sure Chris was okay as he had been injured earlier and needed to stop and rest. Forced to leave him behind she continued, when suddenly, she heard it.

"Help me!"

She jumped upon hearing the voice.

"H-hello?" She called out, realizing it was coming from a side passage, she'd have to climb through a gap and then jump down to reach the tunnel. "Who's there, anybody?"

The voice screamed again and Ashley realized it sounded familiar.

"Jessica? Is that you…?"

The voice continued to scream and Ashley decided to investigate. "This is fucking crazy...Jessica!"

She leapt down from the ledge and continued on the path, searching, calling out. She finally found the source of the noise, it sounded like Jess was screaming and banging on a trapdoor in the floor.

"Oh God..." Ashley muttered. "Oh no, no, no...No."

She stopped before opening the trapdoor however. She was scared, no, petrified. It had only been a couple of hours or so since she found out, along with many of the others that were here on the mountain with her, about the real threat, the Wendigos.

Jessica was one of the few who hadn't been there; she didn't know the dangers. Taking a deep breath, Ashley knelt down. If this really was Jess, she was in more danger than she knew and she couldn't leave her.

With trembling fingers she undid the lock on the trap door before slowly, carefully opening it. She expected to see Jess, disheveled, maybe injured, frantic; what she did not expect, was to see nothing at all but the tunnel below. All this lasted for the space of, at most, three seconds.

Then with a horrific shriek; a large shape leapt out from the hole. Ashley screamed in horror as she took the monstrous sight in; a tall emaciated humanoid shape, bald with cold gray rotting skin, pale eyes; masses or razor sharp teeth, its fingers and toes ended in vicious talon like claws.

She had briefly seen it before, chasing Chris through the woods earlier; that had been when he injured himself, spraining his ankle running from it. It was one of them, a Wendigo; and she was here, right in front of it.

She screamed, but found herself unable to move, paralyzed by fear.

'But I heard Jess, did this thing, did it...wait...no...' She thought in a panic, recalling. 'They can, can imitate voices.'

It was in a very short space of time Ashley realized she had been tricked by the thing, before it shrieked again and lashed out with it's claws. Ashley screamed, falling backwards, her face exploding in pain. The beast then set upon her. Ashley's world dissolved after that.

All she knew was pain as the thing savaged her; at first she was able to feel where she was hit, her legs, her chest, her face, especially the left side, bore the brunt of the attack.

But after that, it all dissolved into one pain, filling her entire being. She never stopped screaming, struggling, trying to get away; that only earned her more pain as she was struck again, this time leaving three long gouges down her back.

Her clothing badly torn, the blood slick; everything combining to make her escape all the more impossible. Then she heard the shriek, through the haze of blood, she saw it, another Wendigo.

'Two…?' Was the only coherent thought she could form.

Her primal fears however painted an all too discouraging picture for her. She could now only see herself being ripped in half, torn between the two Wendigos like two dogs fighting over a chew toy.

The amount of terror was so great Ashley was surprised she hadn't simply lost control of her bodily functions there and then, adding humiliation to injury. But then, she heard the shrieking and heavy thumps and tried to peer through the hazy redness which clouded her vision.

The Wendigo's were fighting each other; the one that had been attacking her was now pummeling the one that just arrived; clearly it hated sharing its food.

None of this mattered to Ashley however, her strength was spent, she couldn't move, couldn't do anything; she would die anyway. But then she felt fresh pain, pain that came from being moved; someone was half-lifting, half-dragging her down another tunnel, away from the carnage.

"Let's go Ash." A familiar voice whispered. "God you...keep it together okay; just a bit longer. I'll get you outta here."

She choked, either on tears or blood she wasn't sure. The word came out croaky, her voice hoarse from screaming.

"Chris..."

That was the last thing she heard, saw or felt before blackness consumed her.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Just to clarify, Ashley basically ends up with injuries and therefore scars like those seen on Jess in chapters 9, 10 and the epilogue if she lives, in addition to three gouges down her back. Also, Chris, Ashley, Sam and Mike are the only survivors in this others all die; Jess is killed at the first possible opportunity, after being abducted from the cabin, Matt is pierced by the meat hook, Emily crushed by the ore grinder and Josh has his head crushed by Hannah. Just hope that helps clear things up.