Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or any of its characters. This will apply to all chapters in this story.
PROLOGUE
"Mr. Washington?"
Josh looked up at the redhead receptionist who was out of her seat and smiling at him. He couldn't remember her name.
"Mr. Washington?"
"Coming." He didn't want to come here, but the voices of his sisters kept echoing in his head. They blamed him for being a poor brother. He shouldn't have gotten drunk that night. He had passed out like a drunkard and woken to find that both his sisters were missing. When Sam told him what happened, he wanted to make them pay. What had Hannah ever done to them?
His sister was so sweet and naïve. He knew about her crush on Mike from the constant nagging before the gathering at the Washington Pinewood Lodge. She had been so excited to know that Mike was coming. Hannah's crush was harmless. That bitch, Jess, ruined everything. She had been the one to orchestrate everything. He would make her feel all the pain, humiliation, and fear that his sisters had to experience.
"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Dr Hill was sitting behind his desk, looking as if Josh was nothing but an ant.
Josh didn't reply.
The rest of the conversation was pointless. Hill had nothing good to say. Josh wasn't crazy. He knew he wasn't crazy! This man couldn't possibly understand what he was going through. What a waste of time and money.
He stormed out before the session was over.
The receptionist looked up in shock. "Mr. Washington? Are you alright? Mr. Washington!"
Josh left without a word. At home, he didn't tell anyone about what happened or how he felt about Dr. Hill. None of them knew how he felt I the guilt, the self-hate…
Many mornings, he found it difficult to even function. He stayed in bed until morning had come and passed. The antidepressants weren't working. He needed something more. He needed something that would keep his mind from wandering. It came to the point where he had tried several street drugs, but they never helped. They seemed to only amplify the voices and even gave them a physical form.
"Why didn't you come for me, Josh?" Hannah cried out to him.
Beth appeared beside her. Blood poured from her eyes. "We waited for you. Where were you? Why did you abandon us?"
"Avenge us, Josh," Hannah told him. "Avenge us!"
"What do I do?!" Josh sobbed, clutching his head.
"Make them suffer as we did," they wailed.
He curled into a ball, trying to grasp on to the last threads of his sanity.
...
"Good morning, Mr. Washington," the receptionist greeted him, the same smile on her pink lips.
"Josh," he said. As cliché as it was, Mr. Washington only reminded him of his negligent father. "Call me Josh."
"Of course." She looked at the computer screen briefly before gesturing to one of the empty sears. "You're a little early, but please take a seat. Dr. Hill will be right with you."
He'd never took note of her soft British accent until now. It was very pleasant to listen to. She'd probably be more therapeutic for him than that doctor – in more ways than one. He tried to keep his thoughts from straying too far into that dangerous territory.
"Josh? Josh!"
He wasn't sure how long she had been standing there calling to him. "Sorry."
"Right this way, please."
His eyes took in the way the black pencil skirt stretched around her bottom. There was so much that he'd do to her.
The talk with Dr. Hill was no better than the last. He kept trying to get Josh to tell him all his problems. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Josh didn't walk to talk. He wanted to stop hearing his sisters die over and over again. He just wanted it all to stop.
"Are you still here with us?"
He clenched his hands. No. No, he couldn't stand it here. He didn't like that doctor's tone. He didn't like anything here.
Like last time, he left early. His shoes moved quickly through the scratchy, grey carpet.
"Josh?" he heard the receptionist call out to him. Every day was the same. "Josh, wait!"
The clacking of footsteps followed him, but he was faster. He raced down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.
"Josh, please!'
The bitch was so damn persistent. HE wanted to be left alone. He needed to get out. Get out. GET OUT!
"Jo – " A scream and thud made him stop in his tracks. His breath came out in heavy puffs. Slowly, he walked back up several flights when he couldn't hear her anymore. As he rounded up one more corner, he saw her on the floor, moaning in pain.
"Are you… okay?" He approached her cautiously as if this could all be a trap.
She sniffed, clutching her ankle. When she looked up at him, he could see her grey eyes glazed with unshed tears. "I think I m-may have twisted it or b-broke it."
He knelt down, carefully took off the black heel, and looked at the swollen and red patch. "Why did you run after me?"
She looked down. "I've been there before. I've lost people I've loved and I know how hard it is to move on."
"You don't know anything!" he roared. His voice echoed in the stairwell. He watched her cringe away and felt the immediately grip of remorse. Reeling in the anger, he tried to help her up, but she was reluctant to have him so close. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't want to scare you. I just…"
She looked back at him with a small smile. "It's okay. I told you. I've been there before – the whole… the whole nine metres."
He cracked a smile. "Nine yards," he corrected her. "The phrase is: the whole nine yards."
"Oh." A soft blush appeared on her cheeks.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes.
"Do you think you could… help me back into the office?"
For the first time since the incident, he smiled.