Mike found it more difficult to listen to the reverend sugar coat Josh like he never did anything wrong. Sure it was his empty coffin funeral but to hide what Josh was really like infuriated Mike. It's as if everyone denied everything about the nasty business on the mountain. Of course, he wasn't going to stand up and announce how this was all wrong. Instead, Mike glanced at Mrs. Washington, who wept into her husband's shoulder. Mr. Washington held her hand and solemnly gazed at the cherry wood coffin. The last thing they needed was the image of their son to be tainted in front of so many people. They've already suffered enough. So Mike turned his attention to the impressive and colourful flower displays down the aisle and the huge amount of people around him. Not all the seats were filled at least seventy-five percent if everyone was forced to fill the rows.
He spotted Chris and Ashley together at the other side of the central aisle and neither looked any better. Ashley, in a black dress accompanied by a cardigan, hadn't let go of Chris' suit jacket, as a mix of eyeliner and tears streaked her cheeks. Their fingers intertwined with each other's, but Chris' dazed expression suggested his mind was miles away from the church.
Mike didn't want to understand why Chris was there after all the abuse he suffered but he knew anyway. Josh was (or rather had been) Chris' best friend and the fact that he chose to look for him with the old man, proved he must have felt sorry for the guy they called a maniac.
Mike still thought Josh was a psychopath but even he had a slight change of heart when he and Sam watched him scream at things only he could see.
"Mike, are you okay?" The familiar whisper turned Mike's head towards a concerned Sam. He almost forgot she was there at all. In fact, the reverend's muffled mumbles became clear to the youngster's ears. He must have been deep into his thoughts. Mike took one more glimpse at the despondent Chris and Ashley before he returned his gaze to Sam and silently nodded.
When the funeral service moved out into the drizzling rain to bury the coffin, it became obvious to Mike that Emily and Matt were nowhere to be seen. It was understandable considering neither of them was close to Josh. After his so-called 'pranks' left them as shaken up as everyone else, they didn't think he deserved their respect. In a way, Mike let out a sigh of relief; he didn't want to be confronted about how he nearly shot Emily in the face.
Matt, on the other hand, was a nice enough guy, even after Mike scared the absolute living shit out of him and Emily in the beginning. How on earth a doormat like him got together with someone so vindictive was anyone's guess. Either way, Mike had a newfound respect for Matt when he carried an exhausted and battered Jess on his back.
She got away with cuts and bruises but the wendigos managed to steal all the confidence she had. Mike offered to escort her to the funeral service but she refused to leave the house. He didn't blame her for not wanting to go; who'd want to subject themselves to anything that bought up painful memories?
Mike noticed from another glance that Chris and Ashley weren't near the crowd but was close enough to watch the coffin lower into the rectangular hole. Mrs. Washington wailed into her husband as the reverend concluded with words of inspiration and reassurance to the rest of the attendees. Sam, on the other hand, stayed close to Mike even as everyone left to go to the wake.
At that point Chris and Ashley were nowhere to be seen and why should they? Turning up to mourn the death of a supposed friend who hurt them was a hard enough task. It was emotionally draining for everyone who came. Mike's hands hid in his black trouser pockets as whispers from the other guests irritated his ears.
"First the twins, now Josh. The Washingtons aren't having the best of luck aren't they?"
"You don't suppose he committed suicide over his guilt, do you?"
"His friends haven't mentioned anything about how he disappeared or died for that matter. The police are keeping it under wraps."
If Sam hadn't have spoken to him then, Mike would have lost his temper and composure. He would have yelled about how frightened he was when he watched the wendigo drag Josh screaming for help.
"Hey, how are you holding up?" Her voice snapped Mike back to the cemetery. He took a moment to let his agitation dissipate before he let out an exasperated sigh with his hand on his forehead.
"I'm good thanks," Mike replied as his hand left his face and turned to Sam. "So are you going to the wake?" Sam raised a small smile and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.
"I don't know. I want to go and pay my respects to Josh's parents but I think me being there would remind them that Hannah, Beth, and Josh are gone." She paused and looked away with a guilty expression on her face. Mike turned his eyes to the ground with just as much remorse.
"When Chris and I tied Josh up in the shed, I never thought about shooting him. Okay, I pointed the gun at him when he started to disrespect Jess but it was only to scare him, honest," he quietly confessed as Sam gave him a look that he assumed was a disappointment.
"Well at least you didn't do shoot, Josh, and Emily," she sighed. What Sam didn't know was that after she said that, Mike realized his own hypocrisy when it came to hiding his potentially fatal choices that night.