Morning hours passed, but not easily.
Sam sat on the couch with her legs tucked beside her. Her hair was still slightly damp and her eyes were dark and heavy. She bit at her nails as she stared blankly at the TV.
She had been reduced to watch infomercials after just about all programs and shows had ceased. She had tried to doze off on multiple occasions, but fierce memories gripped her mind and forced her awake in fear before any amount of sleep could ensue.
At first, it was difficult and frustrating to stay awake as she tried to push the reasons for her grief aside, but after 5am had swung around, it became easier to just sit there in the dark with a blank mind and watch a blue collared man preach about the quality of some kind of juicer.
Though it may have sounded silly, she couldn't deny that she took some interest in a product being displayed…
Sam jumped when she heard the sound of birds singing loudly right outside her window. Confused, she looked at the time.
6:17am.
With an exasperated sigh, she covered her face with her hands and threw her head back on the couch. She let her hands slid off of her face and to her sides in defeat as she pout at the ceiling.
She had stayed up all night on a Monday.
She was more than a little thankful that she was off from school for the winter break, but she still had work to attend later. She didn't feel tired anymore, but her mind felt a bit foggy and not as sharp as it could be.
She let her head roll to the direction of the kitchen. The burning candle sitting on the bar flickered a bit and threw odd shadows over the metallic surfaces within the kitchen. She had never really been one for coffee, but maybe now wouldn't have been a bad time to acquire a taste for the bitter drink.
Sam peeled herself off the couch and stretch with a loud groan before slowly shuffling into the kitchen.
It didn't take long before the strong aroma filled the small apartment from the coffee Sam had managed to brew up.
She stood leaning against the bar as she flipped through the different channels, trying to find something to watch now that the stations had been resurrected from late night infomercial hell.
She brought the steaming cup of coffee to her lips and took a small sip, grimacing as she moved it away. No matter the amount of sugar and creamer she added, it still had peculiar aftertaste.
"I guess this just isn't my cup of Joe," she whispered with a small smile at her own joke.
She laughed and shook at her heard when she realized how bad her pun actually was. She directed her attention back to the TV and stopped when she landed on the news channel.
She watched as the weatherman gave the forecast for the week, taking another small sip from her mug.
A knock sounded from her door.
Sam looked over her shoulder and wondered who it could be. Setting down her cup on the bar, she went to answer the door.
"Emily?" Sam asked with a puzzled look.
Emily stood before her, disheveled and exhausted.
"Sam!" Emily practically shouted as she came up to her, "Sam, I'm so sorry to bother you this early, but I didn't know who else to talk to."
Sam didn't get the chance to say anything before Emily babbled on.
"I was gonna talk to Mike at first, but he held a gun to my face, that bastard! I can't talk to him! Ashley tried to cheer him on, so of course she's out of the picture, and you know Chris is on her side now that they're a thing! Jessica and Matt are still missing! I've called the police station, like, twenty times since we left and they still haven't found them! Oh my god! What if they don't find him! What if Matt's still on that mountain with those-those monsters?! I- I didn't know who else to turn to-"
That was where Sam cut her off.
"Em! It's alright! Just-… slow down," Sam said with a concerned expression she held up her hands in defense. She was going way too fast for Sam to process so early in the morning with no sleep.
Emily began to cry as she brought fisted hands to cover her reddened face.
Sam was taken aback. All of this was so sudden and she didn't know how to process any of it. She watched with a breaking heart as Emily cried in front of her. Though the two had never really been close, she still considered the girl her friend. Sam was never particularly fond of Emily in any way, especially after the prank they had pulled a year back, and only really talked to her through association with Hannah, but the display in front of her was too much.
Sam gently hugged the sobbing girl, careful of the wound on her shoulder, as she calmed down.
"Do you want to come inside and talk about it?" Sam asked in a gentle voice and let go of Emily when she felt her nod in agreement.
Emily sat on the couch and blew her nose into the napkin Sam had handed her.
Sam stood in the kitchen, preparing another cup of coffee for Emily.
Questioned formed in her mind, but she let them be unspoken. She looked over her shoulder for a quick glance at Emily. She turned her attention away after a second. She didn't even know that Emily knew where she lived.
After mixing in what she thought was a fair amount of sugar and creamer, Sam went to sit on the couch beside Emily. She handed her the hot cup to which Emily took an immediate sip from.
"Ugh, you made it really sweet," Emily complained weakly with a stuffy nose.
A faux smile made its way onto Sam face as she tried to laugh it off. "Sorry, I'm not much of a coffee person."
Sam gave Emily a moment before she spoke up again, careful to try and not upset her.
"So what happened?"
Emily looked down, her puffy red eyes looking down into the pool of dark coffee in her cup. Sam looked at her with pity and noticed the bags under her eyes and the remains of smeared makeup.
"I kept having nightmares last night," Emily admitted," I couldn't stop thinking about everything."
Sam frowned.
"When I called the police station to ask about Matt, they just said that I shouldn't worry and that they would send out a search team in the morning. Matt…Matt didn't deserve this! He didn't deserve to be eaten by those monsters!" Emily had begun to cry again.
"We aren't sure him and Jess are-" Sam tried to interrupt, but Emily continued as if Sam hadn't said a single word.
"Me and him- we had a fight on the radio tower, but he still tried to save me! He wasn't going to leave me there! The way he yelled my name when it had collapsed… He cared about me a whole hell of a lot more than Mike! Mike tried to kill me! We had a thing; I thought we still had a thing! He tried to kill me! I literally had a gun inches away from my face and that bastard was going to pull the trigger!"
"Mike was just-" Sam tried to edge in again unsuccessfully as Emily became more upset and her heated rant became more vigorous.
"Ashley wanted me dead as much as Mike did! I never even did anything to her and that little bitch encouraged him! What?! To save her own ass?" Emily scoffed, "I wonder if she would've done the same if it was Chris! And you know what the best part about all this is?! Not a single person has texted or called me since all of this happened to even apologize!"
For as much as Sam wanted to say something to defend her other friends, she decided to stay quiet until Emily was done.
Emily blew her nose.
"I just wouldn't have thought that the people I considered my friends would be so quick to go and kill me. Not only that, but it would have been for nothing," she shook her head, "I wish I had never went back to that mountain. Beth…Hannah…. I really, really hope they find Matt soon… dead or alive. For as bad as this might sound, either would be good at this point, I think."
Emily looked Sam as if expecting some kind of reassurance about what she said from the blonde.
Sam wasn't quite sure how to answer. She opened her mouth to say something, but her response was a bit hesitant.
"Matt's a strong and smart guy. I'm sure he is fine," she said, not quite sure if that was a good response to give.
"Do you really think so?" Emily asked with hopefulness.
"Yeah," Sam lied, though she couldn't hold Emily's gaze.
Emily stayed quiet a moment, her eyes trailing away from Sam.
" How are you okay after everything that happened?"
Sam was caught off guard by the question, but tried to play it off.
"Well, for one, I didn't have a gun pointed at me."
"Yeah, but even at that..."
"What do you mean?"
Emily looked back to her with a strange expression before shaking her head.
"Nevermind," Emily said offhandedly.
Sam was going to persist, but thought it best to just let it go.
Emily had stayed for a while to talk before deciding to leave. Sam had sat patiently and listened to her vent the whole time, cringing slightly when Emily had went into detail about what she had experienced on the mountain.
Sam picked up the napkins and cup Emily had left behind and thought about everything they had talked about. Though there were a lot of things that Sam didn't agree with Emily about, she knew it was only a difference of opinions.
She sighed. Though Emily had seemed better by the end of their session, Sam felt as if she was worse off. More details and information she didn't need filled her head and further implanted itself in her mind.
She took a minute to hover over the sink in her kitchen to settle her mind and rest her weary eyes.
She turned on the faucet and splashed cool water on her face, waking her up.
She dried her face, considering calling into work.
She paused mid-motion.
"Oh yeah, that's right. I don't have a phone," Sam said aloud with discontent.
She pursed her lips for a moment before shaking her head and going off to her room to change.
A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all the people following, favoriting, reviewing, or even just reading my story. I know it's a bit slow paced, but I hope that y'all can bear with me! For the Guest who reviewed my story and asked when I will update, I will update most likely on either Saturdays, Sundays, or Tuesdays since those are the days that I don't have classes and can work on them if I'm not too busy with work or other things. I've been struggling with allergies and a busy work schedule recently, but I've managed to create another chapter. If I've made mistakes, I'm sorry and will look back at this chapter when I get the chance. Regardless, I hope y'all enjoyed it!