Jess sneezed as the wind tickled her nose. Snowflakes caught in her hair, brushing against her bare ears, making her shiver. When she had struggled out of the hole in the mineshaft, part of her jacket tore, exposing only the shirt she had underneath. The shirt quickly absorbed the wetness from the snow and tingled her skin.
"Goddamnit," Jess swore, blowing hot hair into her gloves and pressing them to her nose. Her cheeks were tinged with red, but she was sure without the cold her face would've been as white as the snow. The events with Mike in the mines kept replaying in her mind. Exhaustion crept into her bones, but Mike's panicked face showed up every time she shut her eyes, incentivizing her to push on past the pain.
Howls of the wolves that crept on the mountains caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise. Thinking about the wolves made her think about the thing that had chased her and Mike in the mines, and that was no wolf. Or, at least Jess thought it wasn't. No wolf made those sounds, those screams. Or did they? Jess never really had any experience with any wolves, so she had no remote idea.
A scream jolted Jess from her thoughts. She froze, looking frantically around. Another two screams followed, and the realization hit her. There's more than one of these things.
Seeing nothing, Jess raced away from the sounds. She honestly had no clue how she was managing to run when her body screamed for her to stop. Her lungs ached as she tried to gasp in breaths. Her legs ached and the cold scorched her ears.
Suddenly a scream sounded from behind her, much louder and closer than before. Her breathing went from heavy and quick to absent. She couldn't stop the shaking of her entire body as the her hairs rose. Another, even louder scream seemed to rattle her bones. She swore she felt a gust of warm hair tickle the back of her neck. Whatever it was, it was right behind her.
She couldn't move. God, how she wanted to. She willed her legs to move, but they refused to listen. Her mind screamed of what would probably happen if she stayed in one place. The thing would maul her, tear her limb from limb. Or it would devour her alive. Or it would hurt her so badly she couldn't move, but not finish her off, and would leave her to die. Or...
Time slowed down. She shut her eyes, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She felt as though she could feel her heartbeat slam rapidly against the inside of her chest. She began to silently count each beat, in a halfhearted attempt to calm herself down.
Then... Nothing. She heard the ragged breathing of the beast turn away from her neck. She heard the footsteps slam against the snow with loud slaps retreat away from her. The screams grew fainter and more displaced.
Jess sunk to the ground, completely aware of the cold snow pressing against her ass, but not caring at all. Tears poured down her face, unable to remain behind her eyes any longer. The tears plopped into the snow, melting a few flakes. The falling snow replaced the destroyed snowflakes. Jess' whole body shook from sobs as she tried desperately to collect herself.
Then, she did. She managed to stand up again, feeling drained, but definitely calmer than before. Her nerves were still high, but they weren't nearly as incapacitating as before. She managed to keep moving forward, forcing herself to go on for Mike.
Trudging through the snow, she approached a small cabin, highlighted by several tall conifers weighed down by blankets of thick snow. She would've walked right past it had she not noticed light trickling out of the window.
She hesitated by the patio for a few moments, weighing her options. She knew the Washingtons were the only ones with a lodge anywhere near the area and that the Washingtons were so rich, it was plausible that they owned a few other things in the area. But at the same time, flashes of the news reports from the accident last year flew through her mind. Supposedly the police had found where they suspected the girls fell only a few months after the accident. The problem was how dangerous mines down below were. Superstitions about ghosts and spirits seemed to affect the more superstitious of the officials searching the area, and the ones that stayed to investigate couldn't make it down the cliff without escaping injury. The area was deemed too dangerous, and caution tape was placed all around the area. Thus Beth's and Hannah's bodies were never found, much to the dismay of the group. Well, maybe Emily didn't care as much, but the rest of the group was really upset.
And now there was a suspicious cabin perched on the outskirts of the forest. She remembered how Hannah had ran away after the prank with Beth following close by. She remembered how after a few minutes of waiting, Sam and Matt had taken off after them, traveling down the path to try to find them. They were the ones who found the footsteps that were quickly fading away on the path. One set became two sets, then the two had noticed something odd. Another two sets joined the already existing sets. It was odd, one seemed to be the steps of someone with heavy boots, and it took longer for those to fade away. The other looked more animal than human, leading the police to believe either foul play or a wolf attack. Matt and Sam swore the footprints didn't look like paw prints, but instead, they were of something completely different. The police investigated this, but to no avail. Each day that they searched revealed nothing of either sets. The police reported spotting charred trees and dead deer near the path, but never anything that matched the footprints.
Jess creeped up the wooden steps, careful to avoid the creaky edges of the floorboards. The wide window was perched open. 'If anyone was actually in they're,' Jess thought, 'they'd be freezing. And, whatever this is has to be much safer than whatever is back there.' She turned pointedly to look into the dark, malicious forest that loomed ominously behind her.
She felt a sudden boost of confidence when she thought of Mike's fate potentially being in her hands, so she approached the window. Listening for a few moments, all she could hear was her own ragged breathing. She lifted her head and peeked in.
"Matt, be a doll and go upstairs and out our stuff in one of the guest bedrooms. Pick a nice one, not some ragged, dusty one."
Matt nodded obediently and grabbed two of the suitcases from the bottom of the steps.
"God Emily, did you pack bricks?" Matt asked, heaving the larger suitcase up with a groan.
"Shut up Matt and bring the stuff up. You're the quarterback, you can do some heavy lifting. And maybe after we'll have some fun," she said with a suggestive smile. Matt smiled back and began to shuffle up the steps.
Josh held the lighter and began flicking the trigger a few times. Suddenly, a small flame shot up the barrel, and Josh grinned.
"Guess we didn't need the matches," Josh noted, smirking at Chris who held the matches in the palm of his hand.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you? And to think I took the long, perilous journey to get the matches! You ass!" Chris hugged, crossing his arms dramatically.
"Perilous? Is that the word of the day?" Josh asked, warming his hands in the warmth of the fire.
"No, the word of the day is asshat, definition: Joshua Washington," Chris refuted, proudly.
Ashley and Matt laughed at Chris' dig, and even Josh cracked a smile.
"Man, to think I considered you my best friend!" Josh shook his head. "You can sleep on the floor tonight. You know, because I'm an asshat."
"Josh!" a voice called from upstairs. "How the hell do you turn on the hot water? I'm not stepping into an ice bath."
"Not even if I help you?" Josh called up teasingly, while Chris stifled a laugh.
"Hardy, har!" she called back down, turning off the water as a big splash of icy water but her hands. She winced at the touch of ice.
"Rich ass people with freezing cold water," she murmured, using a towel to dry off her hands.
Preparing to head down the steps, a glint from a bedroom across the hall made her step back. Walking through the doorway, a sudden crippling feeling attacked her chest. This was Hannah's room.
It had all the signs of being Hannah's. Decorative butterflies of varying size and color dotting the walls, a simple, yet elegant white sheet draped over the bed. Fluffy pillows pressed against the headboard. It looked like a bedroom that was still in use. Her heart ached.
Sam wasn't sure what pressed her to move forward through the room. Flyers and posters lines the walls, underneath was a picture of Mike. The picture was heavily crinkled from pavilion being held numerous times. Damn, how Hannah had loved that asshole. Guilt pricked at Sam's chest as visions from the prank flew through her mind.
She could've stopped it. Sam knew it. The others knew it. Hannah knew it. But Sam didn't want her friends to get mad at her and take out an even worse prank on her. They could be vicious, everyone knew that. So she let her best friend be absolutely humiliated on camera. She let her best friend die.
Sam pushed away the thoughts. They weren't helping anyone, not right now. Right now she needed to focus on getting hot water for her bath.
Heading downstairs, she nearly slammed into Josh as she zoned out. Josh backed up, hands in the air.
"No need to throw yourself at me, Samantha. You could've just asked," he commented slyly. Sam scoffed.
"In your wildest dreams."
"Well I was going to get you some hot water, but maybe now I'll rethink," Josh threatened, crossing his arms.
"I'm not going to suck up to you," Sam shot back. She headed for the basement stairs. "I'll get there myself."
"Fine, I'll go, but only because you begged."
Sam grinned, shaking her head. He was such a kid, even at twenty years old.
"Come on, idiot," Sam sighed, leading him to the stairs. After last visit, it seemed like she had memorized the floor plan of the entire lodge. You basically had to to get anywhere in the labyrinth-like house.
Their feet rapped against the aged wood of the stairs. As they descended lower, it grew darker and asked until they were submerged in complete darkness. Josh clicked on the flashlight he had cleverly grabbed before they left. He shined the light around the room before flicking on the nearby light switch.
As light flooded the room, Sam glanced around. Various tools and miscellaneous equipment lined the shelves of the room. While the lodge had been sparkling clean, the basement was horrendous. Dust particles tickled Sam's nose.
"God, Josh! You didn't clean before we came?"
"No one goes in the basement," he shrugged. "I've only been a handful of times. Don't blame me for your neediness."
Sam laughed, nudging him playfully. He grinned back. Suddenly, his face grew more serious as a thought came to his mind.
"Hey... Err.. I just wanted to say, this means a lot to me. I mean, you guys, and you, Sam, um... coming up here with me," Josh stuttered, scratching his neck. His eyes wouldn't meet hers, and the awkwardness that radiated off of him was making Sam uncomfortable.
"Josh, of course we came. We feel- we feel like we need to give them respect for..." Her voice trailed off. "We all care about you." She placed a kind hand on his shoulder.
After the accident, Josh visited a lot. Sam, being Hannah's best friend, felt the loss nearly, if not as much as he did. The two had formed a deep bond, a connection. But however much her friends doubted it, it wasn't a romantic one. It was one much stronger. It was a bond of mutual loss, a bond of family. The two had lost so much in one awful day, there was bound to be some bonding.
"Anyway," Josh drawled loudly, moving on. He knew a quick conversation change needed to happen to alleviate the awkward. "Let's get you some hot water."
The two made their way in a recovering silence to the boiler. Although Josh lived here, he rarely was put in charge of running the lodge. His fatter had tried to teach him how to work everything, but the place was monstrously huge, so of course Josh was bound to forget some things. He was only human of course. He flipped open the panel toward the bottom of the boiler, revealing a few buttons and a switch. He handed Sam the flashlight.
"Hold still, Sammy," he said," fiddling with the buttons. "I have to remember how to do this." He flicked at random buttons and levers to no avail. He tried to remember what his dad had said about this, but all he could think about was the last time someone needed the boiler working. That someone was Beth, who after a day of hiking, decided she wanted to take a shower. She was just as technologically challenged as Josh was with these kinds of things, so naturally she was at a loss for how to fix the boiler. By the next hour, she was dead, her body somewhere down a hole. It hurt Josh to remember, but the words of his psychiatrist echoed in his mind.
'Don't forget. Accept. Death is a natural part of life. Death is a natural part of life. Death is a natural-"
Sam noticed Josh's strange behavior, but before she could comment on it, a loud thud sounded from upstairs. She looked up quickly, dropping the beam of the light to the floor.
"Sam, please, I'm doing something here," Josh scolded, his tome a bit harsher than usual he had almost remembered! Taking his head out of the boiler's control panel, he looked at her. He noticed her expression and frowned, all harshness instantly evaporating. "What's wrong?"
"I heard something from upstairs. A crash or something," she told him, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. She didn't look too scared, but after all the talk of machete men earlier, Josh was a little uneasy. He shook it off, remembered the childish behavior of his friends. They were probably just acting like morons.
"Humph, probably just the kids trying to get it on upstairs," he replied, a sly look forming in his eyes. "Hey up there! Save some room for us, we're coming in!"
Sam gasped, then called up, "No, we most certainly do not!"
Josh went back to messing with the boiler when finally the thing started up with a rumble. Sam clapped and patted Josh on the back. "I'm a fucking genius!" he announced, throwing his fists triumphantly in the air.
"I knew you could do it. Only took like a century," Sam remarked. He smacked his lips in disbelief. "I did so much for you Sam, the least you can be is grateful. Next time, freeze to death." Sam chuckled and rolled her eyes. As the two began to make their way upstairs, they were met by an annoyed looking Emily.
"I can't find Matt," she said, her arms crossed in mild annoyance. "He went upstairs to go put the stuff away but then there was like this loud crash and now he won't answer me." Sam raised an eyebrow. Emily treated the disappearance of her boyfriend as more of an inconvenience than actual problem. The nerve.
"Did you go up and check on him?" Sam asked, quickening her pace. If Emily wasn't going to care, Sam was. Although Emily and Josh didn't seem too frantic, Sam was a bit nervous. The idea of a friend getting hurt the second year in a row... That would be too much for everyone.
"No, I don't want to get hurt," Emily scoffed. She wasn't usually this cold, but Jess' behavior earlier had touched Emily in a bad way. And now Matt wasn't answering. As if this day could get any worse.
Sam stared at Emily in disbelief for only a few heartbeats before rushing up the stairs. Emily rolled her eyes behind the girl. Dick, much? She looked at Josh who shrugged. At least there was one other sane person around.
Emily wasn't stupid. She knew Sam was worried mostly because of the events of last year. But Emily was tired of all the references to the accident already. Even though this vacation was designed in respect to the twins, she really didn't want to spend her winter break moping around about a stupid accident.
"Matt!" she called up as she made it to the first floor. Chris and Ashley sat on the couch, just far enough away to not raise eyebrows.
"Emily, it's okay. I'm sure he's fine. I fold you I'd go upstairs to check on-" Chris began but was immediately interrupted by Emily.
"I told you no! This is is Josh's house, and if there is something in it, he can handle that. It's the least he can do if something happened to Matt," Emily said, plopping down in the middle of Chris and Ashley.
"The guests we supposed to do all the dirty work, I just host," Josh replied, shrugging.
"That's definitely not a rule," Chris corrected. "I think it's actually that the guest is always right.
"Hmph, fine, I'll go," Josh said, blowing out air of disbelief from his nose. "But Chris, you're coming with me." He grabbed Chris and pulled him up off of the couch.
They hadn't even made it up the first step before a bloodcurdling scream rang through the house. There was no mistaking who it belonged to. Matt.
First off, I'd love to thank the very kind reviews from SkyeMaxwell and NonSleepyZebra! Thank you for your support, and if you have any criticisms of suggestions, please let me know! I've also gotten several favorites and followers, which is a first, so thank you to you guys too! Now, before you grab your pitchforks and kill me, I know Sam x Josh is a huge ship, but I don't ship it. Let me explain! In the canon, *spoilers ahead* I knew it was definitely wrong with the whole psycho reveal. Sam is one of the only relatively innocent characters in the game, and she deserved someone sane. Now because Josh is normal in this AU, I can't use that excuse, so instead I say this. I don't like the two as a couple. Now, they make a kick-ass duo, but not couple. They didn't really have much chemistry in those regards imo. I just think they're looking for different things at this time in their lives. I know what Sam said in the credits about their connection, but I choose to take it as a familial bond, not as a last, random, unfounded attempt by the writers to smudge a potential relationship into the mix. I'm so sorry you guys, I wish I could ship it, but I can't. Well... Maybe if you guys reallllyy want it I'll put some fluff in there but as of now... Idk. Comment and I'll make a decision. I'm more of a horror/action writer anyway so it's not really that big of a deal. Thanks for the continued support!
-Your very thankful Author