A/N: Greetings, my fabulous readers! Are you all having a nice day? I hope so! :)
I'm sure you're all aware that the drama was really starting to kick off in the previous chapter and now it's time for me to bring you all more suspense! :D
Nonetheless, before we begin, I would like to take the time to specially thank all of you again for loving this story so far. Seriously, with all of the admiration and excitement I have been receiving so far for Return to Blackwood Mountain, it makes it difficult for me to believe that I'd been on the fence about creating it in the first place. I'm very glad that I decided to write this story for you all and I can't thank you enough for reading it, adding it to your favorites/follows, and posting your thoughts. It means so much to me, so let's keep it up. We still have quite a long way ahead of us and anything can happen in this story. ;)
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Well, the time has finally arrived for the first part of Loyalty to take place. I hope you are all ready for a wild ride! Get yourself some popcorn and soda, sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter 7 of Return to Blackwood Mountain! :D :D
Happy reading, my fantastic viewers!
4. Loyalty (Part I)
&SEVEN HOURS UNTIL DAWN&
Mike's POV
Cabin
23:59
When the window shattered and Jess was grabbed by God knows who, I jumped back and let out a startled scream. It was drowned out by the sound of her shrieking at the top of her lungs as she tried pulling her head away from the unknown threat, but it had a firm grip on her hair. The long, chipped, dirty nails belonging to the attacker were roughly digging into my girlfriend's hairline, causing her terrified shrieks to shoot up a few more octaves. Her bright green eyes were staring directly at me, swarming with pain and plead to save her ... but as much as I despised admitting it, I was too stunned to move at that moment.
All of the color had disappeared from my skin and my eyes were humongous, literally feeling like they were bulging out of my skull. My mouth opened and closed multiple times as I felt a mixture of fear and rage stir inside my stomach. I tried forcing myself to holler out to whoever had Jess to let her the hell go ... but due to my shocked state, no words came out.
As for Ethan, who was still standing beside me, he looked beyond petrified. Not only did his hazel eyes appear to be too gigantic for his head, but as soon as we saw Jess get yanked off her own feet, his jaw practically dropped all the way down to the floor and he flew his hands up to his mouth in shock. Within seconds after that, while watching the leftover pieces of jagged glass slice across Jessica's arms and the strip of skin that was left bare between her jeans and the hem of her undershirt, his legs started to quiver like Jell-o and water began to weld up in the corners of his wide eyes.
Then, just like that, my beige-blonde babe was yanked clear out the window, leaving behind nothing but some drops of blood dotted along the shards and the sound of her screams as they grew fainter in the distance. Just like that, all of the anger that was boiling inside of me vanished and all that was left was my terror. For all I knew, those hands could've belonged to a rapist or even a murderer ... and now, they were dragging Jess off to Christ knows where!
Ethan looked back and forth from me to the shattered window, surprisingly not giving himself whiplash. A few tears escaped from his eyes and leaked down his cheeks.
"Holy crap! Holy crap! What the hell?!" He swore, running his hands through his messy hair in an evident panic. "This can't be happening! ... This can't be freaking happening!"
I drew in one heavy breath after another, hoping to God that I wouldn't pass out.
"NO!" Ethan then yelled as he threw his arms down to his sides and bolted over to the door. One of the cheap curtains that hung beside the broken window smacked him directly in the face, but he immediately shoved it out of the way, grabbed the knob with a fierce grip, and jerked the door open so fast that it slammed into the wall with a loud BANG. A flurry of snowflakes and the sharp, winter breeze instantly started pouring into the cabin, causing the nature-obsessed teen to squint as his hair and poncho were blown back. I could only imagine how much that made his watery eyes sting.
"JESS!" Ethan wailed into the darkness of the evening, right before he took off running outside. "JEEEESSS!"
"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed, finally recovering my ability to speak. "Oh, shit! What the shit?!"
With my grip firmer than ever before on the electric lantern, I raced over to the hunting rifle and snatched it off its shelf. After that, I didn't think twice before jetting over to the door, immediately feeling the difference in the temperature. By this time, it was obvious that it had dropped all the way down into the negatives. The wind was like sheer ice, cutting through my hair, tormenting every inch of my bare skin, and making my teeth chatter. Nonetheless, in that horrifying moment, I wasn't planning on letting anything get in the way of rescuing my beige-blonde babe.
"JESSICA!" I shouted as loud as my vocals could go, darting across the porch.
Instead of wasting any time in jogging down the stairs, I jumped down them and ended up jerking to a stop when I realized that Ethan hadn't run off as far as I thought he did. He was looking down at the ground directly in front of the cabin with his hands positioned over his mouth again; but this time, judging by the many more tears that were now sliding down his cheeks, it was obvious that he was doing it in an attempt to prevent himself from sobbing.
"M-Mike!" Ethan choked out. He looked at me like a helpless five-year-old and then back down at the ground, in which I followed his gaze.
Aside from the busted parts of the window's frame and pieces of bloody glass, there was a long strip in the snow that led away from the cabin and through the woods. It was clear that this was formed from Jess thrashing around, trying to escape as the attacker dragged her away.
"Oh my God!" I breathed, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck shoot up. "Oh my God..."
"T-they took her!" Ethan cried, as if I didn't already know that. "They kidnapped Jess! ... H-holy Mother of Nature, this can't be real! It just can't be!"
I pierced him with a scolding look, which was all that was needed in order to get him to wipe the tears away from his cheeks. "No matter how many times you say that, it won't change anything!" I barked over the sound of the branches blowing around with some anger making a return inside of me. "So, do us both a favor and get a hold of your damn self! We need to focus right now!"
The chocolate-haired lad looked at me with a worried frown covering his face. Then, with some drops of water still on his eyelashes, he slowly nodded his head and began drawing in deep breaths to try calming himself. Every time he exhaled, a misty cloud formed in the air from his breath. As harsh as I might've sounded, I couldn't help it. We were already in a huge predicament and the last thing I needed was to handle Ethan's bawling on the side of saving Jess from the asshole who was going to pay for kidnapping her.
"Right ... you're right..." Ethan continued to breathe, nodding bashfully. "Sorry, Mike..."
I looked off in the direction where the streak in the snow led. Just like that, my annoyance vanished and my anxious look returned to my face as my mind replayed the terrifying scene of Jessica getting taken away. Surely, by following this strip in the snow, me and Ethan would be able to find her and get her back!
"Ethan!" I took a few brisk steps forward and turned to him frantically, still hurrying towards the trail while I motioned for him to follow with the rifle. "Ethan, come on! Follow me! We need to hurry!"
With no hesitation, the nature-obsessed teen obeyed and the two of us began bolting up the path as fast as our legs could carry us.
"JESS!" I hollered, listening to my voice bounce off the trees and echo through the air. "Jess..."
"JESSICA!" Ethan called out next, cuffing his hands around his mouth to help his words travel further. "WHERE ARE YOU?! ... JESS!"
I tried my hardest to listen for a response, but the wind was wailing like a banshee and the snow was crunching loudly beneath mine and Voodoo Boy's feet. My eardrums were already beginning to ache, yet I wielded myself to keep listening. Jessica's safety meant a hell of a lot more than me than any discomfort that I could possibly face at this time. However, there was no response from her, resulting in me mumbling a nervous F-bomb under my breath.
Ethan and I trampled over overgrown roots that were poking out from underneath the snow and stray twigs that were spewed across the surface. There were even a few times in which the fifteen-year-old almost tripped over some of the twigs, grunting every time one of his boots hit one. He was breathing hard and his entire face was already covered in a bright red tint from the nippy weather as he fought to keep up with me. Ethan has always been the clumsiest person I knew, but it was a good thing that he was able to catch himself since we didn't have time to stumble around. There was the possibility that Jess was getting beaten or molested by her kidnapper, and we - well, at least I - needed to save her. If anything, Ethan was only here for pointless emotional support.
"Oh, oh! Mike, look!" Ethan exclaimed quickly, pointing at something that was further ahead of us as we continued to race along the trail. "I see something!"
With the bitter mountain air tormenting my lungs, I squinted and extended the lantern out in front of me in an attempt to spot whatever it was that he was talking about. At first, I didn't see anything ... but then, for the smallest amount of time, I was able to make out a hazy outline of some figure further ahead. I couldn't see any distinct features due to how dark it was, and not to mention how I was getting hit directly in the eyes by snowflakes, but I was able make out that the figure was hunched over and roughly pulling something behind it.
Suddenly, the sound of my girlfriend's horrified voice punctured the air, "AHHH! AHH! LET GO OF ME! GET OFF!"
My pale brown orbs shot huge, swarming with alarm as it came to my realization that the "thing" that was being dragged by the unknown figure was squirming around like a desperate worm on a hook. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Jess ... and as my brain processed this, I couldn't tell whether I felt more relieved or terrified. Voodoo Boy and I might've been catching up, but the attacker still had Jess in their grasp and they had one hell of a head start.
"Oh gosh! Oh my gosh!" Ethan heaved and picked up the pace a little more, keeping his panicked eyes locked dead ahead. "JESS! HOLD ON!"
"YOU PUNK-ASS BITCH!" I yelled out to the kidnapper in the most threatening voice that I could pull off in that moment. "LET HER GO!"
A strained grunt escaped from Ethan's mouth as he almost stumbled over another stray branch. His body arched forward and for a split second, as I witnessed this from the corner of my eye, I really did think that he was going to fall; but luckily, he grabbed a hold of his balance again and straightened himself back up as we kept charging through the shadows of the woods.
My girlfriend's abductor didn't holler anything back, nor did they follow my order to release her. Instead, they started dragging her at an even faster pace and their dim shapes became even foggier.
"NOO! GIVE HER BACK!" I screamed, no longer able to see the outline of the attacker or my beige-blonde babe. "JESSIIICCAAA!"
"AHHH! AHH! AHH!" Her frantic screams became faint again, every word sounding further away than the last. "LEAVE ME ALONE! AHHH! MIIIKKKEE! ETHHAANN!"
Ethan smacked a numerous amount of tree branches out of our way as he called back at the top of his lungs, "WE'RE COMING! WE'RE COMING!"
One of the branches almost struck me in the face as it came ricocheting back, but I managed to dunk under it just in time with a yelp. I quickly flicked my attention back and forth from straight ahead to the strip in the show, making sure that Voodoo Boy and I were still following it. Then, shortly ahead, I came to a sharp stop when the trail abruptly split.
"SHIT!" I mentally bellowed, in which I extended the rifle out at my side to prevent Ethan from running into the pointy pieces of a demolished fence that used to be there.
He skidded to a halt beside me and rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavier than ever before. "H-holy ... holy crap..." He panted with a small cough.
A noisy river had appeared in front of us, slicing the path into two parts. On the right, the trail continued, curving behind a series of rocks and more trees. It led up to a rundown bridge, where I could just barely make out a gap that was located in the direct center from where I was standing. Then, the trail continued northwest ... and I saw the line in the snow that had been formed from Jess trying to escape from her kidnapper.
"What the..." I whispered to myself with my voice drenched in disbelief. "How the hell did they get all the way over there so fast?"
The river roared, causing me to look at it. It was on the opposite side of the split in the path, containing slick metal tubing and flowing water that must've been colder than ice. At first, due to how scared I was for Jessica, my brain almost skipped over what was on the opposite side of the stream. Then, within seconds, I saw it: the river provided a shortcut to where the trail continued on the other side. However, there was no doubt in my mind that if Ethan and I tried to cross the stream, we would face the risk of slipping into the water and receiving frostbite, pneumonia, and/or hypothermia. Though, at the same time, this was a very urgent situation and we couldn't afford to waste any time.
Ethan straightened himself back up and examined both paths like a startled animal, still catching his breath. "I-I don't see Jess anywhere." He said worriedly. "W-what do we do now?"
I bit down on my bottom lip, thinking frantically about our two options. We could either take the safe route, which would take us more time to get to the other side ... or we could take the dangerous route that guaranteed a faster way, but with the possible price of getting soaked. Shit, I've never been so stressed about anything before in my entire life!
X Risk Shortcut/Follow Path X
Choice Chosen: Risk Shortcut
At last, after what felt like an eternity, I settled on what to do. I glanced over at the fifteen-year-old, feeling my heart practically pounding in my throat as I used my head to gesture urgently towards the stream.
"This way!" I proclaimed, right before I trotted over to the edge of the river and quickly seated myself on the bank to prevent tripping. Then, I inched myself as closely to the water as I could and stood back up, not giving a crap about the new coating of snow that was now covering the back of my pants.
Ethan stared at the river like it was flowing with molten lava. "We're crossing through that?" He asked, his tone utterly terrified.
"You got any better ideas?" I inquired as I looked back at him from over my shoulder. "We don't have time to take the long route! That bastard still has Jess and they already made it all the way over to the other side! We'll be able to get to them faster by jumping across these tubes!"
"But what if we fall in?" Ethan inquired, at which he nervously reached up and grazed his fingertips across the Yin-Yang pedant of his necklace.
"We have much bigger problems than some cold water, Voodoo Boy!" My face hardened into a serious stare as I spat my words in a much stricter tone. "Like it or not, we're risking this shortcut! Time for you to nut up or shut up!"
Ethan cringed when I addressed him as "Voodoo Boy" and by the end of my final sentence, he looked ashamed in himself. He withdrew his hand from the charm around his neck and eyed the river as he drew in a quick, deep breath.
"I'll nut up, I'll nut up." Ethan assured, almost like he was begging me to believe him. "I'll do it for Jessie."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes, only because I knew how much Jess despised being called "Jessie." Although, considering the situation, I knew that there was no point in reminding the fifteen-year-old about that.
"Good. Now, less talking and more hurrying!" I ordered as I carefully stepped onto the first frosty tube. Slight nervousness slipped across my tongue when it then came to my realization that the tubing was a lot icier than I previously assumed. "Just ... just watch how I do it and follow my example!"
I tightened my grip on the rifle and the electric lantern, feeling Ethan's gaze locked on me as I leaped onto the second piece of tubing. Unfortunately, this one wasn't as secure as the first tube and the current that was flowing through it almost made me lose my balance. One of my shoes slicked across the slippery metal, causing the nature-obsessed teen to release a startled gasp; but I managed to regain my footing with a split second left to spare and I didn't think twice before leaping over onto the third tube. I ran across it, breathing roughly with my boots pounding against the metal, and then jumped onto the final worn out piece of tubing. At last, after dodging some patches of frost that rimmed the edges of the last tube, I successfully made it across the river.
"Oh, thank Christ!" I internally huffed after my feet made it back onto solid ground.
I spun back around and looked at Ethan, who was staring directly back at me from the opposite side of the stream with a mixture of relief and anxiety glowing in his eyes. He also had his hands folded together with the mini dreamcatcher from his charm bracelet tucked between his fingers, giving it away that he must've been praying to Mother Nature or whichever deity it was that he praised.
"Alright, piece of cake!" I called out to him, trying not to sound too frantic in order to prevent him from chickening out. "It's not as hard as it looks! Just think, the faster you do it, the faster it'll be over with and the faster we'll find Jess! Now, come on!" I motioned for him to hurry up with the lantern, secretly growing more and more afraid about my girlfriend's well-being with every single second that ticked by.
Ethan looked down at the stream and then back at me, clearly trying to not let the flowing water intimidate him.
"Okay!" He called back, holding his arm up to guard his face from a sharper gust of wind. "Okay, here I come!"
I watched the chocolate-haired lad closely as he carefully extended his arms out as his sides and settled the tip of his right shoe on the first piece of tubing. Then, after cautiously lowering the rest of his foot onto the metal, Ethan quickly pulled his other leg away from the land and he began to walk across the tube like he was crossing a tightrope. With every step he took, his speed increased slightly and he managed to hop over onto the second tube with his poncho madly flapping in the sharp wind. However, in the process, one of his legs swept out from underneath him and his foot, for the briefest second, got dunked in the icy water.
"Agh-dammit!" Ethan cringed as he ripped his foot back out of the river and fought eagerly to get his balance back. "Cold! That's freaking cold!"
"Well, of course it is! It's February, for God's sake!" I proclaimed, gesturing for him to pick up the pace again. "Just be more careful and hurry up! We don't have much time!"
The fifteen-year-old gave a quick nod and managed to regain his stability. Unfortunately, when he made it across the second tube and jumped over to the next piece of tubing, his clumsiness took control of him again. In one swift motion, his feet skidded across the ice and he didn't get a chance to fight for his balance again.
"WHOA!" Ethan screamed, eyes shooting huge as he fell off the tube and landed flat on his back in the river with a loud SPLASH.
I fought the urge to smack my hand against my forehead, despite how I internally cringed from how rough that landing looked.
The nature-obsessed teen immediately sat up in the water, completely soaked. His mouth was gaping open like a frog that was waiting to catch some flies and his dripping hair was drooping in front of his face.
"Oh my aura! O-oh my aura!" Ethan exclaimed, evidently shocked that he had fallen into the stream. "C-crap! Crap, crap!"
He attempted to stand up a few times, but the current kept knocking him back over. The furthest he was able to get up was on his hands and knees like a dog. He was trembling like he'd just been thawed out of an iceberg and breathing shakily. He crossed his arms over his chest, as if he was trying to embrace himself. His breath appeared in the air like puffs of smoke from a cigarette, and there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to catch a serious cold if he didn't get out of that damn river.
X Help Ethan/Keep Running X
Choice Chosen: Help Ethan
I knew what I had to do and I hated it, mainly because Jess was in a far more dangerous predicament and Ethan, despite his ultra-slim and five-foot-five frame, shouldn't have allowed himself to get taken down by a current.
"Oh, for crying out loud, Ethan!" I groaned as I quickly sat the lantern down on a medium-sized rock. "I told you to be careful!"
Ethan pushed his wet bangs out of his face and looked over at me like an embarrassed toddler that had just had a potty accident. "I-I didn't know i-it would be THAT s-slippery!" He called back through chattering teeth.
As he gave that pathetic excuse, I quickly removed the hunting rifle's strap from around me and placed it in a crease between the same rock and another rock, not wanting to lose it. I'll admit, I was tempted to just run off and continue the rescue mission ... but I knew that I couldn't leave Ethan in the position that he was in.
"Hang on, I'm coming in!" I grumbled loud enough to be heard over the roaring river. "I swear, it's like we're kids all over again. I'm always saving his ass ... God, this is gonna suck."
I carefully stepped down a couple of stones that were along the bank and reluctantly stepped one foot into the water. In less than a second, I clenched my eyes shut and muttered a sharp F-bomb through chattering teeth. The stream was a hell of a lot colder than I'd anticipated. It literally felt like every single vein in my body was being turned into pure ice. Nonetheless, despite the goosebumps that automatically vibrated across every inch of my bare arms and the sharp stinging sensation that immediately started to torment my shins from the water, I forced myself to pull my other foot in.
"Holy shit, this current..." I cringed, unable to finish the sentence from how cold I was. Turns out, the current was much stronger than I'd previously thought. It almost made me lose my balance just seconds after I stepped in, but I thankfully managed to stay standing. Although, just to be safe, I placed one of my hands against the tubes to help me fight against the moving water and quickly waded to the middle of the stream.
When I made it over to Ethan, he took a hold of my hand and I pulled him up. After that, with him still madly shivering, the chocolate-haired lad wrapped his arm around my shoulders to prevent himself from being shoved down again. Considering the scenario, I didn't bother to protest. Instead, I placed my hand firmly on his wrist in order to ensure that his arm wouldn't slip away and corrected our path.
"Alright, Voodoo Boy!" I exclaimed, almost stumbling over a small stone that was planted in the muddy floor of the river. "Time to haul ass!"
With no hesitation, Ethan and I raced through the freezing water as fast as we could, still using the tubes to lean against when we almost got knocked down by the current once or twice. The second after we made it to the opposite side of the stream, I shoved Ethan's arm away and hurried out of the water first. Then, I watched as the nature-obsessed teen clambered up the edge like a newborn horse that was trying to learn how to walk before gingerly helping himself back up onto his feet. He was completely drenched, causing him to literally act like a dog by shaking off as much of the water as possible.
I immediately turned my head away, feeling a few of the airborne drops hit against my neck and face.
"T-thanks, Mike." Ethan stammered, right before he folded his hands over his mouth and blew into them in an attempt to warm them up.
Again, considering our predicament, I completely discarded his appreciation and glanced back at him disdainfully. "You know something? I'm really starting to wonder if I'll ever get to stop being your personal bodyguard." I said in a condescending tone. "Seriously, Ethan, when are you going to stop depending on me and other people to get your ass out of trouble?! Our childhood is over. Need I remind you that you're fifteen now? ... Sheesh, this isn't even the first time I've had to step in to save you from drowning."
As I grumbled my last sentence, I retrieved the electric lantern and the rifle from where they were still sitting on the rocks.
Almost instantly, Ethan's hazel orbs started flickering with guilt and he looked down at his damp hiker boots, still quivering from the cold. "I-I swear, I really didn't mean to fall in..." He said with a small frown molded across his lips. "I'm sorry..."
I opened my mouth to say something back, but before I could get a word out, the sound of an agitated scream belonging to none other than Jessica sliced through the air like a jagged blade from somewhere in the distance. In less than a second, the chocolate-haired lad and I snapped our attention in the direction in which my girlfriend's shriek had come from. It was as if the river incident had never happened, considering how my disapproval had transformed back into worry and Ethan's pout disappeared like it was never there. He even stopped shaking, and the two of us were now focused entirely on the rescue mission again.
We took off sprinting once again, squinting our eyes in the flurry as we followed the long and battered stripe in the snow. I could've sworn that I even spotted some drops of blood dotted along the trail, which was all I needed in order to forget about the strain that was starting to build up in my legs.
"JESS! JESSICA!" I howled, not giving a damn about how much my throat stung from how loud I was yelling. "JESSICAAA!"
"JESSIEEE!" Ethan called out shortly afterwards, evidently fighting against his stamina in order to keep dashing by this point. "CAN YOU HEAR US?! ... JESSICAAA!"
Our voices echoed through the air, but neither of us got a response from my beige-blonde babe. With this, I held the lantern out in front of us in the hopes of having the chance to spot the shadowy silhouette of Jess getting hauled away by her abductor again. However, all I could make out through the swirling clouds of snow were the shapes of more trees and rocks. This, of course, only egged me on more.
"Shit, shit, shit!" I thought to myself, almost feeling like my heart was on the verge of exploding from how much I was running. "Be strong, Jess! Be strong! We're coming, babe ... we're coming to get you back..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Voodoo Boy suddenly exclaimed, shooting his arm out in front of me. "Michael, look out!"
As soon as those words left his mouth, I ceased roughly in my tracks and realized that we had followed the strip in the snow to the overhang of a cliff. Ethan had even stopped with just a split second to spare, his tiptoes positioned on top of the ledge. He quickly stepped back to my side and glanced around in every possible direction for Jessica. At the same time, I inched myself just a tiny bit closer to the overhang and glanced down. Aside from a thick mass of bushier trees and just the mere top of the rocky slope, I couldn't see hardly anything.
"Holy damn..." I muttered, breathless from both exhaustion and the mental picture of how steep this cliff looked.
"I-I don't get it." Panting hard, Ethan looked back at me anxiously. "This is a dead end. Where in the world is Jessie?"
"I'm trying to figure that out!" I remarked, only raising my voice in order to be heard over the gnarly wind.
Shortly after I said that, I could've sworn that I picked up the sound of something rustling from below us. A mixture of confusion, fear, and concern hit me almost instantly, as if I'd just taken a heavy drug.
"Jesus ... shit! Shit!" I whispered, right before I practically shoved the lantern into Ethan's hands. "Here, hold this!"
"Right..." Voodoo Boy murmured, still catching his breath a little.
I unslung the rifle from around my shoulder and got down on one knee, cursing up a storm inside my head. Then, as Ethan cautiously knelt down beside me with the bright white light from the lantern beaming against one side of his face, I rose the weapon up and peeked through the shabby scope that was smudged in dirt. It didn't provide the clearest view, but at least I was able to look around at what was at the bottom of the cliff. At first, all I saw were a series of tree branches ... but as I slowly panned to the right, I managed to spot Jessica lying facedown in the snow.
Her jeans and ivory-white undershirt were frayed and caked in a mixture of snow, dirt, and blood splatters. Her hair was also a complete wreck, streaked with mud and tangled with a majority of the strands pulled out of their once cute braids. Plus, her smooth complexion that used to be as delicate as a porcelain doll was completely torn and battered. Bruises and deep cuts covered every inch of her bare skin, inflamed and oozing with thick streams of blood. Lastly, there were her nails. The pastel pink polish was horribly chipped and they were rimmed in even more dirt and blood, no doubt from her trying to grab onto whatever she could in order to escape.
I immediately zoomed in, watching as Jess fearfully looked behind her before she began crawling away frantically. My heart racked in my chest at the speed of lightning as complete terror pooled up in my pale brown eyes.
"JESS!" I wailed, shortly before she got snatched by one of her legs and started to get dragged again. "NO!"
"ARGH!" Jess shrieked as she clawed at the ground, failing to grab on to anything. "NO! MICHAAEELLLL! ETHHAANNN! HELP ME! HELP ME!"
Completely horrified by my girlfriend's echoing screams, Ethan hollered out, "JESSICCAAAA!"
At that moment, it occurred to me that this was my chance to catch a glimpse of the kidnapper. Unfortunately, when I aimed the scope towards my girlfriend's feet, I saw that I was too late. Whoever the attacker was, they managed to disappear beneath the treetops before I could see them.
An F-bomb loudly slipped out of my mouth as I hastily shot back up onto my feet. Ethan jumped back as well and looked at me with wide eyes, alarmed by my reaction.
"What did you see? What happened to Jess?" He inquired quickly.
I looked at him, squinting from the brightness of the lantern. "That son of a bitch grabbed her again!" I barked in a tone that was both angry and frightened. "I swear on all that's holy, I'm going to shoot this guy's nut sack off for what he's done to her! She's practically crippled now!"
Ethan clenched his eyes shut, fighting back some tears as he choked out a small sob. "Oh no ... oh God..." He whimpered as he placed his unoccupied hand over his mouth and took down a quick gulp, stopping himself from bawling. "We - we need to get down from here to follow them! Right away!"
"We're going, we're going!" I bellowed, in which I briskly walked past the younger teen and peeked over the edge of the cliff to get a closer look at the ground below us. It was a long way down, but I noticed that to the right of us, there were a series of protruding stones and ledges that Voodoo Boy and I could use as stairs in order to shuffle all the way down to the bottom of the cliff. Of course, we were in the middle of a very urgent situation and we had no choice but to hurry if we wanted to save Jess ... but jumping down could've resulted in me and Ethan breaking bones or falling unconscious from slamming our heads against the rocks and/or trees. Surely, climbing down was the smarter choice.
X Go Around/Jump Down X
Choice Chosen: Go Around
I spun myself back around to look at Ethan, seeing that he was now standing in the spot that I had stationed myself at while scoping out for Jess. He was also glancing over the edge and anxiously biting down on his thumbnail as he took in how far the ground was from us. At the same time, he tightened his grip on the lantern to the point where his hand was trembling and his knuckles looked like they were seconds away from popping.
With no hesitation, I grabbed his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. Ethan immediately removed his thumb from his mouth and focused his panicked eyes on me, not seeming to notice the drops of lake water that were trickling down his face. Almost all of them were just barely tinted with the colors blue, magenta, and orange from his wacky highlights. Which, by the way, were still visible in his hair.
"Okay, Ethan, listen to me!" I ordered, this time raising my voice in order to prevent him from zoning out due to his terror. "We're going to climb down this damn thing by using the ledges, alright?"
The look on Ethan's face made it seem like I had just told him that we were going to engage in a killing spree. "What?!" He blurted out, clearly in disbelief.
I took a hold of his wrist and began to pull him towards the right side of the cliff. "Come on, move it! It's no different than stepping down a ladder." I assured quickly and lamely, not putting in any actual effort to comfort the younger teen since I was caught up in worrying about my girlfriend.
"Mike!" Ethan exclaimed as he reluctantly, yet forcefully pulled himself away from me. "There's no time for climbing! We're going to have to jump!"
Secretly, I was a little stunned to hear him go against my instructions. Ethan practically worshiped the ground I walked on and was incredibly naive, meaning he followed orders from pretty much anyone without any hesitation. Not only that, but for as long as I could remember, he's always had a huge phobia of heights and I never imagined him of all people telling me that we were gonna have to jump down a freaking cliff! Still, none of my shock was visible. Instead, I almost felt like whacking the nature-obsessed teen upside the head for suggesting such a dumb thing.
I scoffed. "Are - are you crazy?! If we jump, we could break something! We could knock our heads against the rocks and get knocked out! Or worse!"
Ethan bit down on his bottom lip and peered down the cliff again, looking as if he was trying to figure out a way to explain to a child that their beloved gerbil had passed away. Then, he swallowed heavily and locked his nervous gaze on me again.
"This is for Jess, man ... this is for Jess!"
I was just about to open my mouth to say something back ... but before I could, Ethan did something that I definitely didn't see coming. He grabbed me by my wrist and yelled out "GERONIMO!" as he threw both of us over the snowy overhang. Gravity immediately took action and our hands tore away from each other as we plummeted down the cliff, Ethan falling just inches below me.
"Holy SHIIIT!" I swore at the beginning of the fall, unable to pull back and regain my footing in time.
"WHOAAA!" Voodoo Boy screamed at the exact same time, still holding on tight to the lantern as his wet poncho flapped wildly like a cape. "CRRAPPP!"
I cringed at the unpleasant feeling of my back rapidly skimming over the wall of jagged rocks. The back of my biceps stung every few seconds, no doubt in the process of receiving mild scratches. At the same time, a mixture of snow, dirt, and small pellets of ice kicked up and flew back, smacking me and possibly Ethan in our faces.
"OUCH!" Ethan shrieked as we then slid over a large stone that was further out than a majority of the others. It sent us through the air momentarily, and then our backs roughly struck against the wall again as we continued to slide down the incline.
"UGH!" I shouted, feeling the air forcefully shoot of my lungs during our split second of being airborne.
Just a moment later, the realization struck me and the chocolate-haired lad that the cliff was a hell of a lot steeper than the two of us had previously assumed. Our speed was increasing with every passing second and the wind screeched in our ears as the sight of the hard ground began coming into view. If we struck it at the speed that we were going, it was obvious that the two of us were going to need an ambulance as soon as possible.
Ethan's eyes bulged in horror as he pressed his unoccupied hand against the rocks and tried to slow himself down. "OH, DAMN! OH, DAMN! OH, DAMN! OH, DAMN!" He panicked as our dangerous ride pursued.
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" I cursed at the exact same time, terrified at the thought of us being goners and letting Jess down.
Suddenly, something broke through the hazy clouds of swirling snow. I noticed that it was a tree branch that was protruding from the middle of the rocky wall. Ethan must've seen it as well, because he attempted to snatch a hold of it with the hand that wasn't gripping the lantern. Unfortunately, he missed by a mile; but I managed to reach up and grab the branch with just a split second to spare, dropping the rifle in the process.
"URGH!" I grunted as I ensured that I had a good grip on the branch.
At the same time, Voodoo Boy let go of the lantern and latched on to my left leg like a little kid that didn't want to say goodbye to their mom or dad on their first day of school. We were both breathing like we had just ran a marathon and our clothes were starting to look a little beat up from the muck and snow. By this point, my heart was pumping to the point where it literally felt like I had just finished drinking a dozen Red Bulls and I needed a moment to recover from the adrenaline that was flooding through my veins.
Ethan slowly tilted his head up to look at me, his hazel eyes still huge. "Good ... good catch there, Mike." He said between breaths.
I returned his gaze sullenly, mentally scorning him for flinging us over the ledge like that. "Thanks..." I grumbled, nowhere near convincing. "Now, let go of me and drop down so I can let go of this thing."
With a small and bashful nod, the fifteen-year-old looked down at the ground and untangled himself from my leg. However, as he fell the rest of the way down, he somehow ended up landing on his hands and knees instead of his feet. Shortly after this happened, I released the branch and perfectly struck the ground beside him, ignoring the discomfort that was still shooting through my back.
"Ah, dammit!" Ethan swore as he slowly pushed himself up onto his knees and looked at his hands, only to notice that the one that he had pressed against the rocks during the fall was now covered in small scratches. "Well ... that definitely could've ended better..."
With a small groan, the younger teen then shook his head and helped himself up from the ground a little dizzily. As he did this, I quickly looked around for the electric lantern and rifle, spinning myself in circles a couple of times. Luckily, the two items had landed in spots that weren't far from each other and they didn't show any signs of damage.
"Ah-ha! Thank God!" I internally exclaimed as I hastily swiped the lantern up in one hand and tossed the rifle back over my shoulder with the other.
"What the..." Ethan murmured with a wince, suddenly sounding confused ... until a few seconds later, in which he then sounded alarmed. "Oh, crap!"
With no hesitation, I snapped my attention back over in his direction and held the lantern out to get a better look at him, considering the moonlight wasn't as strong down here as it was at the top of the cliff. That's when I saw the thing that had stunned Voodoo Boy. His dark blue jeans now had a hole torn clear through the fabric on his left leg, revealing a lightly bleeding cut that reached all the way from the top of his ankle to the middle of his shin. It wasn't in need of serious medical care or anything like that, but it still looked pretty damn painful; and there was no doubt in my mind that he had received it from one of the rocks during the jump.
"See what happens when you don't listen to me, Ethan?!" I criticized with a bitter stare. "This is what happens when you do dumb shit like jumping off freaking cliffs!"
Ethan wiped some specks of dirt away from his face with his poncho as he returned my gaze, looking completely humiliated. "I'm sorry, Mike. I know it was dumb of me to throw the two of us over the ledge like that ... but climbing down all of the rocks would've taken so much more time and Jessica needs us." Just like that, at the mention of my beige-blonde babe, Ethan's eyes grew and he forgot all about his injury as his anxiety returned. "Look, it's just a cut, I'm fine! We need to keep going! Right now!"
As soon as those words left his mouth, the horrifying pictures of Jess getting the last of her clothes ripped off and raped, as well as beaten even more by her attacker, filled my brain again. That was all it took for my glare to morph back into my hectic look, and I immediately gestured for Voodoo Boy to follow me.
"Come on, come on!" I proclaimed, right before I started bolting in the direction in which I'd witnessed Jess get taken.
Ethan didn't think twice before listening, squinting to help him see through the dimness of the evening as we ran alongside each other. We continued to fight against the wind and snow as it blew directly at us, numbing our faces. They were already bright red due to how long we'd been outside, and a piece of me could've sworn that my ears were seconds away from falling off due to how they felt so damn cold.
Just then, without any warning, I saw a large fallen tree come into view. It reached all the way from one side of the cliff to the rocky slope of the opposing cliff, positioned lopsidedly with a narrow slant of space provided beneath it.
"Dunk!" I exclaimed with a slight jolt of panic in my voice.
"WHAT?" Ethan called back, trying to hear me over the roaring breeze.
I yelled at the top of my lungs this time, "DUNK!"
With just seconds to spare, the younger teen's eyes widened, giving it away that he'd seen the demolished tree through the gusts of snow.
"Oh, shoot!" Ethan gasped, just as the two of us managed to dunk underneath the obstacle just in time. "JUMP!"
Confusion flickered through my pale brown orbs, until I looked down at the ground and noticed that there was an upcoming log lying in our path. A startled F-bomb escaped from my mouth, but the nature-obsessed and I both successfully leaped over the log. We were breathing harder than ever before, keeping our eyes locked directly in front of us as another fallen tree appeared up ahead. The space underneath this one was much more narrow, but it wouldn't be impossible to dodge.
"DUNK AGAIN!" I called out, clenching my eyes shut for a moment to help clear some snowflakes from my vision.
I dunked in time, but Ethan did something else. He actually jumped and climbed over the tree like a hurdle, landing perfectly at my side within seconds. That was quite impressive coming from him, but this accomplishment didn't last long. A fourth obstacle - another log - came at us immediately after we handled the tree. I managed to jump on top of it ... but then, I ended up getting tackled to the ground when Ethan didn't see the log in time. His foot hit against it and he tumbled forward with a grunt, bringing me down with him.
I groaned, practically feeling bruises already beginning to form on every inch of my upper body. "Oh, screw you..." I sneered at the younger teen as I quickly scrambled back up onto my feet.
"Sorry!" Voodoo Boy apologized for the millionth time, grimacing as he also hurried back up.
Ignoring him, I turned back to the trail and prepared myself to take off running again. However, I ended up jerking to a stop directly on my tiptoes when it came to my realization that Ethan and I had arrived at another obstacle. There was nothing but large rocks surrounding us now, providing only two ways to get over to where the path continued. There were two, medium-sized rocks attached to the cliffside that could be reached through jumping and a slim ledge on the opposite cliffside that someone could shimmy across ... but they were both positioned directly above a bottomless pit.
I waved the lantern around and grumbled under my breath in disbelief, "Come on..."
Ethan stared down at the dark abyss with large eyes and took down a frightened gulp. "Oh my aura ... that looks like a long way down..." He whimpered, tearing his glance away from the pit in order to look at me. "How are we going to get across this thing?"
I chewed on my bottom lip, flicking my attention back and forth from the ledge to the two rocks. It was obvious that there was no "safe" way to get across this pit that, for all I knew, could've been full of dozens of more spiky rocks ... but one of these ways were definitely much faster than the other one.
X Jump/Shimmy X
Choice Chosen: Jump
"My God, this is definitely not the way I pictured how this night would go. I'm swear, I'm gonna kill this bastard for abducting Jess and ruining our plans." I thought to myself, right before I made eye contact with the nature-obsessed teen and explained quickly. "Okay, you see those two rocks there? They're not that far apart from each other. We can jump across them in order to make it over to the other side."
In the blink of an eye, all of the color rushed out of Ethan's skin. "W-what?!" He blurted out, taking a tiny step back and motioning with his hands vigorously. "Mike, there's no way I can jump across those rocks!"
"Oh, so now you don't want to jump?!" I demanded hotly, despite the teeny amount of shock that was glowing in my eyes.
Catching what I meant, the younger teen flashed a nervous pout and exclaimed, "T-that was different! At least we were able to see the ground that time!"
"Oh, for the love of..." Instead of finishing that sentence, I rolled my eyes and let out an irritated groan, knowing that we didn't have time to just stand around and talk about this. "Alright, fine! I'll jump across the rocks while you use that ledge there to shimmy over to the other side! Just stick close to the wall and whatever you do, do not look down! Got it?"
"Yeah ... yeah." Voodoo Boy answered with a couple of small nods. After that, he approached the skinny ledge and quietly let out a shaky breath as he stepped out onto it. "Come on, Ethan. Keep in mind you're doing this for Jess. Just carefully move your feet and listen to what Mike said. Don't look down, don't look down ... just look up ... look up."
While whispering all of that to himself, the fifteen-year-old practically pinned his entire body against the rocks that were behind him and kept his gaze locked on the sky like an anxious puppet on strings. He shimmied along slowly, looking a little lightheaded as he took down a heavy gulp in order to help him clear a lump from his throat. With every step he took, a knot in the pit of my stomach grew tighter from the paranoia that he was going to trip and plummet into the dark abyss. That's why I decided to watch his every move and wait until he got halfway across to the other side. When he did, I decided that it was my time to take action.
"Okay..." I muttered under my breath as I took a few steps back and stared at the first rock, preparing myself. "You can do this, Mikey boy. You just jumped off a freakin' cliff. This will be child's play compared to that."
I sucked in a breath and charged forward, leaping through the air. Much to my relief, I successfully made it over the first gap and landed perfectly on the snowy rock with a faint grunt. Then, I instantly hopped across the second and last gap ... but this time, my jump wasn't good enough. I ended up missing the rock by just an inch and my heart felt like it dropped all the way down to my toes as I quickly grabbed the rock by its edge with my available arm in order to avoid falling to my doom.
"OH!" I hollered, looking down at the bottomless pit beneath me with huge eyes. "SHIT! ... Shit, wrong move!"
"MIKE!" Ethan yelled with his voice drenched in worry.
I let out a strained grunt and ran my shoes against the slippery lower stone, trying with as much strength as possible to pull myself up with just one arm. Unfortunately, considering the stress of the situation, it was much easier said than done.
"Oh my God! Mike!" Ethan exclaimed as he made it safely to the other side. "Don't let go!"
"Why on earth would I let go?!" I demanded, grinding my teeth as I fought against the unpleasant feeling of the rough edge digging into my ribs and tried even harder to pull myself up. "Don't just stand there! ... Keep going, keep going! Follow the trail!"
However, instead of going on without me like I ordered him to, the nature-obsessed teen hurried over to the ledge, dropped down to his knees, and grabbed a hold of my arm. Then, as another grunt escaped from my mouth, I finally managed to plant the sole of my boot against a protruding stone from below and Ethan assisted in hauling me back up on top of the surface. We both shot back up onto our feet afterwards, showing no signs of caring about the new blotches of snow that were caked across our clothes.
"You idiot!" I heaved, still in the process of catching my breath as I pierced the younger teen with a small glare. "I told you to keep moving! I would've made it up on my own just fine! Need I remind you that we need to get to Jess?!"
Voodoo Boy looked at me, both stunned and hurt by my outburst. "I-I'm sorry! I just ... I-I just couldn't leave you hanging there!" He retorted insecurely.
I might've sounded like a stubborn asshole at that moment, but I didn't care. Out of all the times Ethan actually allowed himself to be a pushover, he was choosing now to go against what I was telling him. I'm not saying that I thought of the fifteen-year-old as a servant or anything like that, because I sure as hell didn't. I just expected that he would know that Jess was in a far more dangerous situation at the moment, and he wouldn't hesitate to keep going after her instead of stopping to pull me up from a rock. Don't get me wrong, a piece of me was grateful for what he did ... but, due to our predicament, it was very tiny.
"Let's just keep going!" I instructed, in which Ethan quickly nodded and the two of us continued to follow the steepened path as fast as our legs could carry us.
Up head, the trees were starting to clear up and the moonlight, which had been mostly blocked out from the series of branches and leaves, was shining brighter than an activated lighthouse. It caused me to squint slightly, but I still waved the lantern back and forth across the ground in order to prevent Ethan and myself from stumbling over anymore twigs, logs, or roots. Then, when we made it to the top of the incline, we both froze in our tracks at what we saw. Right before us, an entire mining facility was built. I didn't have the tiniest clue as to how old it was, but judging by how some of the buildings were lopsided and all of the wood was rotten, it was safe to assume that the facility had been abandoned for many, many years.
By this point, my heart was beating so madly to the point where almost all of my veins felt hot. Not only that, but every time I drew in a breath, a sharp jabbing sensation shot through my chest. My legs almost felt like jelly from running all over the place and my muscles were sore, begging me to take a break ... but hell was going to have to freeze over before I allowed myself to hold off on saving my girlfriend.
Ethan was just as exhausted as I was, leaning over with his hands resting on his knees. He was panting like a dog that'd been walking in the desert without water for weeks; but he forced himself to straighten back up in order to stare in disbelief at the mining facility with me.
The frayed strip in the snow that had been left behind from Jess being dragged away was still here. It curved to the left, following the trail before disappearing into one of the rundown buildings. Then, it reappeared in the slush at the way bottom of the slope, accompanied by some more streaks of blood and ferocious marks that almost looked like they were caused by ... the claws of an animal. The sight of those marks made my heart feel like it locked up in my chest. Whoever this kidnapper was, they were a lot more vicious than I'd thought.
"No ... no, no, no..." I whispered to myself, terrified by the amount of blood that I saw.
Luckily, Ethan didn't seem to notice it. If he had, I was almost one hundred percent positive that he would've fainted. Instead, he was looking down the towering slope that was directly in front of us with his damp hair and poncho still flowing in the wind.
"They're somewhere down there." Ethan noted, still panting a little.
X Follow Path/Risk Slide Down X
Choice Chosen: Follow Path
Much to my dismay, this place definitely looked like the type of destination in which a rape and/or murder would take place in. So, I quickly turned to the fifteen-year-old to tell him the plan on how all of this was going to go down. Considering how crippled Jess looked when I scoped her out back on top of the cliff, I wanted Ethan to go grab her and get her as far away from the facility as possible while I handled the attacker. I wanted to pop so many bullets in them to the point where their grandchildren would taste metal. My mom was an intelligent lawyer, so if I somehow got in trouble for committing self-defense, I knew that she would be able to get me out of it.
Jess was going to be okay ... she had to be okay...
"Alright, here's the plan!" I proclaimed, speaking fast. "We're going to keep following the- OH MY GOD! ETHAN!"
When the nature-obsessed teen had urgently turned to look at me and listen, one of his feet ended up slipping in the slush and falling out from underneath him. As a result of this, a horrified scream lunged out of Ethan's throat and he began toppling down the slope like a tumbleweed at a rapid speed. I had attempted to snatch a hold of his arm and pull him back, but it was too late. All I could do was watch with wide, alarmed eyes as Ethan continued to scream the whole way down. He tried grabbing a branch as he slid past it, but he missed and roughly tumbled into some rocks. He was now on his back, looking like a turtle that couldn't get up from its shell, and it felt like his fearful eyes met mine for the briefest second before he fell through an opening at the bottom of the slope. He disappeared from sight and a loud THUD filled the air just a moment later.
"ETHAN! ... Oh my God, oh my God ... ETTHNANNN!" I called out, now nervous for the younger teen. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ... ETHAN!"
There was no response, causing me to drop a loud F-bomb.
"HANG ON, I'M COMING!" I then yelled, honestly finding it hard to believe that I was really about to do something as risky as this.
Nonetheless, with my body being controlled by my worry, I raced forward and tried to see if I could run down the very steep hill. However, it didn't take long before my shoes slipped on some ice, and I became a victim of gravity.
"Oh, shit..." I gasped as I started hurling down the slope like a sled, possibly to my doom. "NO NO DAMMIT NOOOO!"
The snow tormented my naked arms, making them almost feel numb as I quickly shot one of them up and caught a hold of the branch that Ethan had made an attempt to grab. However, my fingers ended up slipping away from it and I started hurtling towards the opening in which Ethan had slid through. Thinking fast, with every curse word in existence flinging back and forth through my brain, I firmly grabbed the edge before I could plummet below and winced as the tips of my fingers racked against a tarnished iron fence. Also, I had (unfortunately) dropped the lantern in the process.
Breathing hard again, I dared myself to look down. I saw Voodoo Boy lying flat on his back against a hard surface that was constructed out of dirty wooden boards. His eyes were also closed, and for a moment, I really did begin to think that he had been knocked unconscious from the fall. Another realization that I had was that he had received another cut. Luckily, it didn't look serious ... but like the one on his leg, it still looked sore. It was etched horizontally across his right cheekbone, leaking with blood that took its time to drip down his face.
"Ethan!" I called down to him, still hanging on to the ledge. "Ethan, are you okay?!"
At first, there was no reply; but then, with a pained moan, the nature-obsessed teen cracked his hazel eyes open and slowly began to help himself up from the ground.
"Ugh ... holy Mother Nature, that hurt like hell..." He grumbled, cringing a little as he rubbed his lower back and looked up at me. "Don't worry, I'm fine! I just had the wind knocked out of me pretty hard ... but I'll live."
Feeling slightly relieved, I exhaled. "Holy crap, dude! You scared the bejesus out of me!"
"Yeah? That makes two of us!" Ethan remarked. He wiped some beads of sweat and specks of snow away from his brow and looked down at himself, crinkling his nose at all of the muck that was now rubbed deeply into the fabric of his jeans and poncho. "Oh my aura. One who respects Mother Earth should never be messy like this ... I'm going to need one heck of a shower when we're finished here..."
I rolled of my eyes, despite how a piece of me was thinking the same thing about the desire to take a shower. Then, after making sure that Ethan was no longer standing directly beneath me, I let go off the edge and landed perfectly on my feet. After that, with no hesitation, the two of us approached the ledge of the damaged floor and looked down, confirming that we could drop down to solid ground.
"Come on ... come on ... let's go, Mikey boy!" I said, trying to pump myself up as I knelt down, grabbed the rundown boards with a solid grip, and cautiously swung my body over the edge.
"Be careful!" Ethan cautioned, watching me closely.
I lowered myself as far as I could and ignored the slight strain that was in my arms as I dropped down. Once again, I managed to land perfectly on my feet and immediately saw the bright white glow of the electric lantern sitting on the ground directly in front of me. I didn't think twice before snatching it back up, silently thanking God for there being no damage to it. After that, I glanced up and watched Voodoo Boy as he lowered himself like I did and dropped down from the upper level. He landed right beside me in a squatting position, as if he was a ninja. Then, as he rose back up, I noticed him clench his teeth in discomfort and look down at the cut on his leg.
"You good?" I asked him.
The nature-obsessed teen returned my gaze, not seeming to care about the blood that was dripping down from the new scratch on his face. "Yeah, I'm good." He replied, nodding.
Shortly after that, the air was punctured by the sound of the nearby screams of my beige-blonde babe. With no hesitation, Ethan and I snapped our heads in the direction in which her shrieking was coming from. The anxiety instantly returned to our faces and I quickly held the lantern out in front of us to illuminate our way again.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" Ethan cursed repeatedly, just as a string of panicked F-bombs slipped out of my mouth.
The two of us darted out of the old building that we were in and followed Jessica's shrieking, trying to tune out the sounds of the monstrous wind and the snow crunching beneath our feet along the way.
"OH NO! MICHAEL! ETHAN!" Jess wailed with so much terror in her voice that a new word just had to be invented to describe it.
I could feel calluses starting to form on my feet as the chocolate-haired lad and I raced through a couple of archways and began to follow a demolished mining track.
"JESSICA!" I hollered loud enough for it to be carried for miles through the wind.
"JESSIE!" Ethan yelled immediately after.
Jess screamed a couple of more times, sounding like she was trying to fight her kidnapper off. "HELP ME!" She pleaded.
"Oh God! Oh my God! Mike!" Voodoo Boy exclaimed as he jerked to a halt and pointed in the direction of another neglected building.
For the briefest second, I froze in my tracks and followed his gaze. That's when I saw Jess clawing at the ground with tears pouring down her face as she was dragged through the door.
"Oh, shit!" I swore nervously, in which Ethan and I started hightailing over to the large building.
After Jessica was hauled inside, the rotted door was slammed shut with a loud and squeaky BANG.
"Don't worry, Jess. We're here. We're coming for you. Just hold on. Hold on for me, princess." As those words rolled into my brain at a rapid speed, I grabbed the door, immediately pulled it open, and watched Ethan hurry inside before I followed him.
The door slammed shut on its own behind us.
UPDATE
Mike's Character Traits: Brave +1 (8/10)
Ethan's Character Traits: Brave +2 (4/10)
"...JESS!" I called out, stunned to see that neither she or the abductor were anywhere in sight.
The fifteen-year-old was evidently just as caught off guard as I was, practically spinning himself in circles in order to examine every inch of the creepy building.
"Where the heck did they go?!" Ethan inquired. "They just came in here!"
I drew in deep breaths, trying to calm myself down as I stared at a gaping hole that was torn through the other wall. "This is insane!" I huffed, almost having a mini heart attack from spotting a tattered tarp flapping in the breeze from the corner of my eye.
"ARGH! NO!" The sound of Jessica's voice erupted through the air again, coming from somewhere close by. "ETHHAANNNN! MICHAAEELLLL! HELP ME! HELP ME!"
Voodoo Boy and I quickly exchanged frantic glances, right before we rushed over to a dusty railing and peered down, realizing that there was another floor built below us.
"That creep took her somewhere down there!" Ethan noted in a startled tone.
I leaned myself a little over the railing, making sure that I wasn't putting too much weight on it in order to prevent the wood from breaking. "JESSICA, WE'RE COMING!" I hollered out, strongly hoping that my voice would reach her. "WE'RE COMING!"
Evidently freaked out, Ethan ran one of his hands through his soaked hair and asked, "How the hell did they get down there so fast?"
"I don't know, but we don't have time to just stand here and wonder about that!" I replied as I began to trot over to a rickety staircase that was on the other side of the vacant room. "Come on! Hurry, Ethan, hurry!"
"Right behind you!" Voodoo Boy declared, nearly stepping on my heels as he quickly pursued after me.
I noticed a dirty sign on the wall that had the word Elevator printed on it in faded letters. There was also an arrow pointing in the direction of the staircase, which helped lessen my suspicion on where these stairs led. Although, even if I hadn't known where they led, that wouldn't have stopped me from going down them. Every single stair creaked as Ethan and I descended down them with Ethan running his hand along the dusty railing to ensure that he wouldn't trip. I, on the other hand, was too caught up in listening to my girlfriend's horrified shrieks to even think about holding the railing.
When the chocolate-haired lad and I reached the bottom, the ground transferred over from aging planks to earthy stone and the first thing that caught my attention was a gaping entrance to the mines. A damaged, lopsided sign that read "Unsafe. Keep Out." suspended above it, but it was clear that Jess's screams were coming from somewhere in there.
I hurried over to the creepy entrance and froze, staring deeply into the tunnel. "JESSICA!" I yelled into it.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a response that time and I automatically feared that the attacker had knocked her out ... or worse. What made this situation even more horrible was the fact that there such things as sickos who actually had a fetish for having sex with dead bodies ... but I sure as hell wasn't going to stand by and let Jess get abused. This bastard was not going to get away with this!
"Huh? ... What the...?" I heard Ethan suddenly starting to whisper to himself. "What do we have here?"
I spun around on my heels and saw him crouched down on the ground, examining something with his back facing me.
"Ethan, what the hell are you doing?!" I demanded with some confusion slipping across my tongue.
The nature-obsessed teen glanced over his shoulder to look at me as he replied with, "I found something." Then, as he rose back up and turned around to reveal the item that he was holding, I could've sworn that some air got stuck in my throat. Once again, another one of those freaky little wooden artifacts had popped up. This one didn't seem to take the shape of an animal, but it still made my spine feel like it was being pricked. The wood was horribly washed out with a couple of dirt smudges here and there ... and I could make out the familiar shape of a butterfly that perfectly matched the one I had seen in the Native American Myths & Legends book that was back in the guest cabin.
"Holy Mother of God ... not another one of those damn things..." I internally groaned.
After confirming that I had seen his discovery, Ethan looked back down at the statue and ran his thumb along some of the dull yellow paint that highlighted the edges of all of the details.
Totem Found: Guidance Totem
Information: Foretells a scene in which Mike is gently petting a wolf with Ethan by his side. What looks like blood is smeared across Ethan's hands.
"I wonder why something as unique as this is just lying down here." Ethan commented, sounding almost in awe as he squinted at the creepy tiki. "Whoever crafted this was definitely blessed with a gift. Such carving abilities aren't so easy to possess. It's such an interesting piece of work ... but it's too bad that it was abandoned with the rest of this facility."
I blinked, fighting the urge to storm over to him and thump him upside the head with the lantern. "Ethan, do me a favor, would you?" I growled in a degrading tone. "Forget about the damn tiki, put it down, and actually focus on the predicament that we are in!"
Almost immediately after I said that, the echoing sound of Jessica's screams erupted through the caves again and it was like Voodoo Boy had snapped out of a trance. He didn't think twice before dropping - literally dropping - the artifact back down to the ground and hurrying over to my side.
"JESSIE, WE'RE HERE!" He shouted into the tunnel with fear swarming through his hazel orbs again. "HANG ON! WE'RE COMING TO GET YOU!"
As soon as those words left his mouth, the two of us started fast-walking through the spooky cave. We passed by dozens of damaged barriers and rusty tin containers that were piled up in messy corners, being egged on by the sound of Jess sounding like she was still trying to fight off her abductor.
"JESSICA!" I called out, starting to feel paranoid that somebody was watching me and the nature-obsessed teen from the shadows.
My girlfriend hollered back through scared sobs, "HELP ME!"
"WE'RE COMING, JESS!" Ethan yelled with his voice drenched in worry.
Suddenly, as we kept walking with our shoes lightly clicking against the stone floor ... there was this strange noise. It sounded like a strained shriek, coming from somewhere in the distance. For a brief moment, Ethan and I came to a sharp halt with the younger teen letting out a tiny, startled yelp. We cautiously glanced around the dimly lit tunnel, failing to spot anyone or anything.
"Uhh ... what was that?" Ethan inquired, uneasily fiddling around with his fingernails. "Was it ... I don't know ... maybe a bat?"
"Yeah ... yeah, I'm sure that's all it was." I replied, despite how I, for some reason, felt a sliver of doubt inside of me. "This is their territory, after all. Let's just keep moving. They'll leave us alone as long as we leave them alone."
With a faint nod, Voodoo Boy stopped messing around with his nails and quickly pursued down the tunnel with me. Our feet lightly splashed through a couple of small puddles as we stumbled upon a rundown mining track and began to follow it.
"Oh no!" Jess squealed, her voice getting closer. "Michael! Ethan!"
"...JESS!" Ethan and I called back simultaneously.
Just then, as we made it to the end of the tunnel and entered a wider section of the cave, I detected the same girly song that had been playing on my girlfriend's phone when she got snatched out the window. Then, as the fifteen-year-old and I started to cautiously approach the large, rusty elevator ... I saw something that made every single nerve in my body grow numb. There, sprawled across the dirty grid like a battered rag doll, was my beige-blonde babe with her cracked cell phone peeking out from one of the pockets of her jeans.
At the sight of her, Ethan's eyes shot bigger than I'd ever seen them and all of the color rushed out of his skin like he'd just seen a ghost. He shot his hand up to his face and placed it over his mouth in complete shock, clearly battling the urge to scream. As this happened, a couple of tears began to weld up in the corners of his eyes and his body started to tremble all over again.
Up close, Jessica's injuries looked much more serious and sickening. Her porcelain-white skin was practically gone to the naked eye, as it was now completely riddled with mud, swollen bumps, bleeding wounds, and a mixture of black, blue, and purple blotches. Her clothes were also in rags and I noticed something that made my knees buckle. Across my girlfriend's chest, inflamed lacerations were torn through her skin ... and not only did they look just like the marks that I'd seen in the snow outside, but the deer that had been yanked into the shadows back in the woods had very similar injuries across its neck.
"Holy crap!" Ethan choked out through a small cry as he looked at Jessica's lifeless body. "H-holy crap! ... Please, God, no!"
..BUTTERFLY EFFECT UPDATE..
(To the Rescue) - Mike and Ethan successfully chased after Jessica...
"NO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, not caring about how much it made my throat ache. "OH GOD!"
Aghast, I shakily sat the lantern down and got down on one knee beside my girlfriend. "Noo ... Jessica..." I whimpered, at which I placed my hand against her stomach and gave her a small nudge.
"Jess, please wake up!" Voodoo Boy begged as a few tears started to fall from his eyes, colliding with the drops of blood that were still trickling from the gash on his cheek. "Please, Jessica ... come on, you have to wake up..."
It literally felt like somebody had popped my chest open, reached into it, and tore my heart right out. With every second that ticked by with Jess showing no signs of life, the more my stomach hurt. I could've sworn that my eyes were even starting to grow a little wet, but I was still clinging on to the hope that she was still in there somewhere.
Ethan gently placed his other hand on my shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, as if that would somehow console me. Then, I felt a wave of major relief course through my body when I saw Jessica's bright green eyes, which were horribly red-rimmed and puffy from crying, flutter open. With a raspy breath, she stared up at me and Ethan, no doubt having some blurry clouds in her vision. The younger teen immediately let out a gasp, while I quickly placed the rifle aside with my mouth gaping open.
"Oh God!" I exclaimed a little breathlessly. "Jess! Jess! Are you okay!?"
"Talk to us, Jessie!" Ethan pleaded as he leaned over my girlfriend a little, still standing at my side. "Tell me and Mike what you need! What do you want us to do!?"
Still breathing achingly, Jessica attempted to push herself up. However, she ended up flopping back on her back like a fish, unable to move from the amount of pain that she was in.
"...Help..." She then replied to Ethan's question, sounding incredibly weak as she flicked her gaze one final time between him and me.
After that, her eyes closed again and her head fell back against the cold steel that was beneath her. Her entire body went limp, giving it away that she had fallen unconscious.
"Oh my aura..." Ethan whimpered. "She's hurt really bad, man."
"I know." I said, sounding just as worried as he did. "Come on, let's get her the hell out of here. We need to bandage these wounds before they get infected."
"Right."
The younger teen looked down at Jessica's legs and sucked in a sharp breath. Her jeans were soaked in blood and even more lacerations that matched the ones across her chest were visible through the new gaping rips in the fabric. Still, as horrible at the sight was, it didn't stop Voodoo Boy from carefully reaching one of his hands out to grab my girlfriend. At the same time, I began to extend both of my arms out to wrap one around her waist and support her head with the other ... but before Ethan and I could grab her, a piercing BANG erupted through the air and the elevator began to sink.
Stunned gasps lurched out of mine and Ethan's throats as we jumped back, witnessing sparks fly off from the rusty chains as they dropped the elevator at the speed of lightning. The entire cave shook, causing a couple of large rocks and small parts of other grids from above to fall down to the ground. Ethan fought to keep his balance and tossed his arms up, blocking his head like we were in the middle of a junior high tornado drill. Luckily, he managed to not get hit by any of the falling objects ... but my attention was entirely on Jess as the elevator roughly fell into the deep heart of the mines, taking her and the electric lantern with it.
"JESSICAAAAA!" I wailed, no longer able to see her as I peered down the dark shaft.
My voice echoed all the way down to wherever the elevator had fallen, but it was still drowned out by the sound of what was most definitely a fatal cave-in. Just like that, I felt like I'd just been pierced with the sharpest knife in all of existence ... and it was taking its time to torture me, slowly dragging beneath my flesh and making the devastation inside of me almost unbearable as it tore me apart. After going through so damn much to get to Jess, Ethan and I couldn't manage to save her. She was gone ... literally gone forever.
I clenched my watery eyes shut, forcing the tears to dry up since the last thing I needed right now was to cry in front of Ethan. I then gritted my teeth, feeling rage starting to spread inside of me like a wildfire. This whole catastrophe was caused by that son of a bitch who kidnapped Jess in the first place. All because of them, she was freaking dead! I might've failed to save her ... and that hurt like hell ... but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to avenge her.
"I swear, Jess ... with God as my witness, I will make this bastard pay for what he did to you. He's going to regret the day he was ever born!" I had to screw my eyes shut again in order to prevent any leftover tears from falling down my face, fighting the urge to frown as I looked down the elevator shaft one final time. "You will always be in my heart, Jessica Katherine Riley. I love you so much and I wish I had the chance to tell you that at least one more time. I'm so sorry that Ethan and I weren't fast enough to get to you in time. Just a second sooner and we would've been able to get you off of that damn elevator before it collapsed down to the mines." I drew in a quiet, shaky breath and shook my head in a mixture of sorrow and regret. "I'm going to avenge you, Jess ... no matter what it takes, that asshole will get what's coming to him. Rest in peace, sweetheart ... rest in peace."
By the time I finished my last thought and quickly crossed myself as I leaned back from the bottomless shaft, I noticed something. Ethan hadn't said a word since the elevator dropped ... so, I quickly turned around to look at him. He looked even paler now and he was staring down at his boots in a mixture of devastation and shock, his eyes still appearing too large for his head. He also had his hand placed shakily over his mouth again ... but the other hand, for some reason, was clutching his stomach.
"Ethan?" I said with confusion and concern dripping from my voice. "Are you alright?"
The chocolate-haired lad lifted his head back up, revealing a pale shade of green that was smeared across his cheeks. "I..." He gagged with his hand remaining over his lips. "I think I'm going to be sick..."
And sure enough, just seconds after he said that, he dropped down to his knees, jerked his hand away from his mouth, and tightly screwed his eyes shut. Unable to fight against it, Ethan allowed the contents of his stomach to flow out of his mouth like a murky waterfall.
"Oh, shit!" With a stunned look in my pale brown orbs, I quickly knelt down beside the younger teen and helped by pulling his poncho back with one hand and his bangs back with my other.
As the slimy pieces of what looked like bologna and gummy worms slid through the grid floor that was directly beside the elevator and filled the air with a sour smell, I realized that Ethan was still the type of person who vomited whenever he got too rattled up. Ever since we were kids, he would throw up mostly from intense nightmares and overdone gore scenes from horror films, and I would often be the one by his side as he hovered over the toilet; but as the years went on, his stomach got stronger ... or so I thought. Judging by what was happening right now, it was obvious that Ethan still had poor control of his nausea.
"I-I..." Ethan coughed as another spurt of puke fled out of his mouth, making me grimace. "I c-can't ... I can't believe she's gone..."
"Get your breath back, Ethan." I said with some sorrow trickling through my tone. "Just finish throwing up and get your breath back ... Jess wouldn't want you to feel upset, especially to this extent."
I decided to leave out the tiny piece of information that Jessica probably would've been irritated at how somebody was vomiting so closely to the place where she had died. Considering the state that he was in though, I figured that the nature-obsessed teen didn't need to hear that part.
At last, Ethan finished emptying his stomach and he began to catch his breath. He wiped his lips with the sleeve of his moss-green sweater and cringed every couple of seconds, no doubt from the nasty taste that was now coating his tongue. I slowly withdrew my hands from him and as he started picking himself up from the ground, I stood back up as well.
"Better now?" I asked.
Ethan rubbed his gut and, after a faint pause, opened his mouth to respond ... but he stopped himself and suddenly cranked his head up so he could be looking towards the top of the elevator shaft. Something had grabbed his attention, causing him to wrinkle his brow in confusion ... but after a moment, his eyes widened a little again like a frightened child on Halloween.
"Mike..." He said, stretching out my name in an uneasy tone.
I cocked an eyebrow and followed his gaze, confused. As soon as I did, I saw something that I didn't expect. Courtesy of a few rays of moonlight that were leaking through a couple of busted barriers, I could make out what was definitely the silhouette of a person. No distinct features were able to be seen, but whoever they were, they were staring down at me and Ethan from the tippy-top of the elevator shaft.
"Huh?" I murmured, recalling the paranoia that I had felt while previously walking through the tunnel. "What the shit."
"I-is that the kidnapper?" Ethan questioned. "Oh God, what am I saying? It has to be. Who else would be in a place like this at this time?"
Thinking fast, with that true statement in my brain, I snatched the rifle back up from the ground and positioned it correctly in my hands. Then, I peeked through the scope, still unable to see any details of this attacker's face or body as I lined up the shot. At last, Ethan placed his hands over his ears as I pulled the trigger, filling the air with loud BOOM that immediately punctured my eardrums. The bullet soared up and the silhouette vanished just a moment later.
"Oh, you're not getting away that easy, you piece of shit. Not after what you did to my Jessica." I mentally snarled as I quickly lowered the rifle back down.
Ethan uncovered his ears and turned to me again. "Did you get 'em?" He asked frantically.
"I'm not sure!" I answered, right before I rushed over to long piece of grid that had fallen from above during the cave-in and gestured for Voodoo Boy to follow me. "Come on, we need to make sure that he gets taken care of before he tries going after the rest of the girls back at the lodge!"
Ethan swallowed heavily, giving it away that he didn't like the idea of coming face-to-face with a killer. Nonetheless, he hastily nodded his head at me in agreement and the two of us jetted up the collapsed panel, using it to make it up to one of the upper levels of the abandoned facility.
MINES
00:12
While running, I squinted in order to force my vision to adjust to the darkness faster. Ethan was right on my tail, breathing just as hard as I was. Unsettling CLINKS filled the air from our shoes darting across the decayed steel panels. I continued to lead the way as quickly as possible, despite how a piece of me was nervous of the possibility of the floor collapsing from our weight. One of the panels even broke off and fell all the way down to the stone ground after Ethan and I darted across it, making the younger teen let out a startled yelp. Nonetheless, we kept running and constantly got jerked around from how many times these upper levels curved. There were even a few times in which I almost ran into the rickety railings and Ethan stopped with just seconds to spare, hopping after me on his tiptoes and correcting his path like a character from a cartoon.
"Holy cow, how tall is this thing?!" Voodoo Boy inquired, at which we started bounding up a squeaky set of stairs.
A grunt escaped from my mouth as I missed one of the steps from how fast I was hurrying and landed on my knee. With no hesitation, Ethan hooked his arms around one of mine and helped pull me back up, at which the two of us pursued up the hazardous panels. Then, after dashing up two more grid staircases, the chocolate-haired lad and I came across a gap in whichever upper level this was. I didn't think twice before jumping over it, landing perfectly on my feet on the other side. Ethan, however, became as stiff as a statue directly on the edge and made the bad choice to look down. We were very far from the ground, and that clearly terrified him.
"O-oh my gosh..." Ethan whispered to himself, looking a little lightheaded again.
"Ethan, come on! You'll be fine!" I urged as I motioned for him to hurry. "Get over here!"
Despite the fear that was in his hazel orbs, the nature-obsessed teen drew in a sharp breath and listened to my orders. After taking a couple of steps back, he charged forward and managed to jump over to where I was, surprisingly landing on his feet like I had. Unfortunately, when I then turned around to keep running, it came to my realization that the rest of the upper levels had collapsed God knows how long ago. All that was left in their spots to prove that more panels used to be there were busted frames and twisted pieces of demolished steel sticking out from a couple of rocks.
"Crap ... crap, crap!" I internally bellowed, right before I turned my head and looked at towering high wall that was constructed out of more rusty panels, steel grids, and crisscrossed rods. "Oh, great. It looks like this is the only way up ... this night keeps getting better and better..."
Ethan worked on catching his breath as he glanced around, trying to not look down again. "W-where are we supposed to go now?" He questioned. "Oh God ... please don't tell me we're gonna have to travel all the way back down and find another way up there."
"No, we're not heading back down." I said with a small pant, keeping my attention locked on the wall as I slung the rifle back across my back. "We're going up."
At first, confusion fluttered through Voodoo Boy's eyes; but when he followed my gaze to the wall, they became as wide as saucers and his jaw dropped as the realization hit him.
"Oh, no!" Ethan revoked, shaking his head vigorously. "No, Michael. No, no, no."
"Ethan..." I said as I made eye contact with him again, my eyebrows raised.
"No!" The fifteen-year-old took a tiny step back, the look on his face perfectly resembling the one that would be on a child's face after they got their lunch money stolen. "There's no way on earth I can actually climb up this freaking thing! Don't you see how tall it is?!"
I licked my lips and tried to be understanding, but considering the situation, that wasn't one hundred percent easy. "Look, I know that you've been afraid of heights ever since we were kids and everything, but we don't have any other options to choose from right now." I hastily spoke. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly thrilled about this whole situation either. Jess was my girlfriend and that son of a bitch killed her. Not only does she deserve to be avenged, but we need to make sure that this bastard is history for the sake of Ashley, Sam, Chelsea, and Em. Who knows, he might even try picking off Josh, Chris, Russ, and the rest of our friends as well." I decided to leave out the piece of information that we had also jumped down a freakin' cliff and slid down a steep slope on the way to this place.
Ethan chewed on his bottom lip, sounding like he was on the verge of panicking again. "I know, I know! I'm being selfish and it's awful of me to be acting this way, but..." He sighed heavily and placed his hands on his hips, clearly trying to get a hold of himself. "It's so high, Mike. W-what if we fall? We could bust our skulls open against the grids a-and..." He trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish that sentence; but he didn't have to.
After a short pause, I quietly exhaled. "Alright ... listen..." I said in a tone that was both serious and gentle. "Do you by any chance remember when my parents used to take us to the playground when we were younger and you were scared to climb up the Jungle Gym? I told you to stop acting like a crybaby and to just give it a shot."
Ethan softly nodded his head as a faint, embarrassed blush staining his cheeks. "Yeah, I remember ... I climbed to the top, slipped through one of the openings, and fell."
"But I caught you before you could hit the ground." I reminded, trying to be reassuring while also trying to speed this conversation along. "And nobody else is going to die on my watch. As long as I'm here, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to us. All you need to do is watch where you put your feet, stick to the walls, and trust what I say. Okay?"
The nature-obsessed teen blinked, still looking a little reluctant. Then, as he cut another glance up at how far we would have to climb, he drew in a deep breath to help calm himself.
"Okay." Ethan said shortly after he released the air. "Okay, Mike. Fine. Let's just hurry so we can get this over with."
With a small sigh of relief, I nodded in agreement and flicked my attention back over to the wall that was in front of us. For what felt like an eternity, all I did was stare in silence, trying to figure out how I should start climbing up this thing.
X Safe/Quick X
Choice Chosen: Quick
"Alright ... here goes nothing..." I thought to myself as I finally made a decision on how I should begin leading the way. "Let's do this, Mikey boy."
I curled all ten of my fingers around the cold steel of the grids, feeling Voodoo Boy's eyes following my every move as I then lifted one of my feet up. After positioning it on top of the tarnished rod that was closest to the bottom of the wall, I pulled my other foot up with me and took down a gulp to help clear a lump that was in the process of growing in my throat. I seriously couldn't believe what I was about to do, but I acted fast to prevent myself from even considering backing down.
After sucking in a breath to help prepare myself, I leaped up and grabbed a protruding piece of rusty metal that was on the very edge of the second grid. As this happened, a nervous gasp escaped from Ethan's mouth and he flung his hands up to his eyes. He continued to watch me through his fingers as I swung through the air for a faint second and dragged out a long, thick groan. The feeling of the metal was unpleasant, digging into my fingers to the point where I could've sworn that my bones were being violated. Nonetheless, I hung on with a determined grip, reached my other hand up as well, and ignored the strain that was starting to form in my muscles as I carefully repositioned my feet. My left one stepped up onto a much skinnier rod, right before my right one was brought up onto a smaller piece of protruding metal.
Breathing steadily, I held that pose like Spiderman and glanced back down at the younger teen, trying to ignore how the grids exposed the long way down to the ground.
"See, Ethan? ... Piece of cake." I said in the most nonchalant voice that I could muster. "It's just like one big Jungle Gym. Absolutely nothing to be scared of. Now ... we don't have time for loitering around. You need to start following me up."
The chocolate-haired lad sucked his lips into his mouth, still looking like an anxious puppy with its tail tucked between its legs. Nevertheless, he nodded at me and stepped up to the wall.
"Okay ... stay calm. You got this, Ethan ... you got this." Ethan muttered to himself, sounding a little overwhelmed as he twisted his fingers around the first dirty grate. "Just keep control of your breathing and climb. You can do this ... hopefully." He mumbled that last word a bit more quietly and readied himself on the left side with me keeping a close eye on him.
(ETHAN CHOICE)
X Safe/Quick X
Choice Chosen: Safe
With a few beads of sweat dotted across his brow, Ethan cautiously planted his feet on the lowest rod and locked his attention on yet another piece of metal that was jutting out from the top of the first grid. Then, after drawing in a shaky breath, he used the first set of crisscrossed rods to push himself up. He pounced upwards like a Poptart shooting out of a toaster and snatched a firm hold of the piece of protruding metal. Unfortunately, in the process, he ended up whacking the spot a little above his pelvic area against the wall. I winced at the sight, recalling exactly how that felt since I'd done the same thing while climbing over that fallen tree earlier.
The fifteen-year-old gasped, right before he clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth in pain. Shortly after that, he mumbled a tiny F-bomb and cracked his eyes back open, tightening his grip on the piece of metal to the point where I could've sworn that his hand had become as white as flour. As this happened, he slid his other foot around in an attempt to find another piece of protruding metal, obviously too scared to look down. Luckily, after a moment of dangling, he managed to find what he was searching for. He settled his boot on the slimmer piece of metal, keeping his entire body glued to the decayed grids.
"Come on, come on ... gotta keep going..." Ethan grunted, straining his words slightly since he was more than likely still suffering from some discomfort in his lower male regions.
I chewed on my bottom lip, almost fighting the urge to look away as I watched the nature-obsessed teen jump again. Much to my relief, instead of plummeting to his doom, Voodoo Boy managed to grab another horizontal rod with both hands and position his feet in doable spots with a mild groan. His right foot rested on a crisscrossed rod, and his left foot was placed on another bit of protruding metal.
"Ho-kay, ho-kay." I panted a little as Ethan and I made eye contact from opposite sides of the wall for a brief moment. "So far, so good ... we just need to keep it up."
Voodoo Boy kept himself practically glued to the wall and said with some traces of doubt in his voice, "Yeah ... no biggie there."
I flicked my attention back up towards the top of the elevator shaft, feeling exhaustion starting to build up inside of my body all over again. In order to fight against it, I reminded myself of the psycho who had killed my girlfriend and was probably planning to go after my group of buds that were back at the lodge next. With these thoughts egging me on, I knew that I had to make a decision on what my next move should be.
X Shimmy/Jump X
Choice Chosen: Shimmy
"Christ, come on, come on. Come to Pappa." I murmured, in which I clutched the next horizontal rod that was in my reach and pulled my feet away from the objects that they were resting on top of. Then, as I bent my legs at the knees to help prevent the hems of my jeans from getting snagged on the grids, I started to carefully shimmy across the wall in order to get a little closer to the chocolate-haired lad.
"Michael, be careful!" Ethan urged like a frightened parent.
"I got it, I got it." I assured in a somewhat aching tone, considering the muscles in my arms were starting to feel like they were being stretched from the amount of work that I was putting them through.
After successfully making it to the middle of the wall, I decided to start ascending again. My fingers were incredibly sore and I could already feel some calluses starting to form on their tips. Nevertheless, with my focus remaining entirely on the serious situation, I started treating the grating like a ladder. I placed the head of my boot in one of the spaces, hoisted myself up, positioned the head of my other boot in a higher space, retracted my first boot from its spot, and started to scale the wall like a cautious spider. Eventually, after about seven seconds, I decided to stop climbing in order to prevent myself from going too high without Ethan.
I glanced back down at him, feeling my grip on the grids automatically tighten as the realization struck me that we were much higher now.
"Don't panic ... don't panic. Keep calm. You're almost there." I mentally encouraged, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment to prevent myself from becoming dizzy.
"Oh my aura, I can't believe this is happening..." Ethan whispered to himself as he reluctantly withdrew one of his feet from its resting spot. "Heights ... why does it have to be freaking heights?" He then pulled his other foot away from the protruding piece of metal and clenched his teeth, dangling as he held on tight to the horizontal rod that I'd previously been holding on to. "D-don't look down ... just keep moving, Ethan..."
Just like I had done, the fifteen-year-old shimmied across the wall and I kept my eyes on him as he stopped as soon as he got close to the right edge. Then, after Ethan managed to hoist himself up enough to position his feet on two more tarnished pieces of protruding metal, he peeked up to make eye contact with me. There was still some space left between us, but the younger teen was now close enough below me to the point where I could reach down and grab him if necessary.
"We're almost to the top." I said in an attempt to defuse the anxiety that was visible in Ethan's hazel orbs.
The nature-obsessed teen gave me a small nod, his face bright red and trickling with more sweat. By this point, pale bruises were beginning to form on his slim fingers and the river of blood on his cheek was starting to become dry against his skin. He glanced back up towards the top of the elevator shaft and drew in a somewhat shaky breath...
(ETHAN CHOICE)
X Climb/Jump X
Choice Chosen: Jump
...right before he did something that caught me a little by surprise. He bent himself at the knees and took a much larger jump, luckily grabbing the top of a dirty metal plate in the process. His lips peeled back in discomfort, revealing his clenched teeth as he started pulling himself further up with a low groan. As this happened, I made a move to keep climbing ... until a loud SCREECH pierced my eardrums, followed by the sound of Ethan screaming out at the top of his lungs, "HOLY SHIT!"
With no hesitation, I snapped my attention back down so fast that it was a miracle that my head wasn't spinning in circles. The tarnished plate that Ethan had grabbed on to had broken off the wall, causing him to begin falling.
"WHOA, MY GOD! ETHAN!" I hollered with my eyes practically bugging out of my skull in alarm. Thinking fast, I yanked one of my hands away from the grid and knelt down, using as much control as possible to prevent my feet from slipping off from the skinny rod as I snatched a hold of one of Ethan's hands. It was very cold, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was caused by the icy river that he'd fallen in to during our chase for Jess.
Now, Voodoo Boy's eyes were as large as two globes and he became so pale to the point where it was like he'd just seen a monster.
"M-MIKE!" He yelled, beginning to hyperventilate as the metal plate plummeted all the way down and landed roughly against the grid floor. "O-OH MY GOD! DON'T LET ME FALL!"
I gritted my teeth, hoping to death that my fingers weren't about to rip off from being so tightly curled around the grid. At the same time, a sharp pain electrocuted up and down my arm, making it feel like it was seconds away from being dislocated. Ethan definitely weighed a lot more than he looked and he was completely dangling off the wall, not making this mission any less stressful.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to let you fall!" I grunted out, forcing myself to put up a fight against the strain that was growing even stronger in my muscles.
Then, to make our situation even worse, the nature-obsessed teen made the horrible decision to look down. He sucked in a sharp, strained breath that sounded like it belonged to a distressed animal and it literally looked like he was seconds away from ruining his boxers. Not only that, but he tightened his grip on my hand to the point where it felt like he was crushing my bones into dust, causing me to cringe again.
Completely horrified, Ethan exclaimed through his rapid breathing, "W-we're so high up, Michael!"
"Don't look down! Look up at me!" I ordered, and the younger teen immediately complied. "We're gonna be fine! Just hold on and calm down! Panicking isn't going to get us anywhere!"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Ethan gave a couple of hectic nods and started to try controlling the amount of oxygen that he was drawing in. His breathing was slowly starting to return to a normal pace, but there was a piece of me that could've sworn that I could hear the sound of his heart going crazy in his chest.
An aching moan escaped from my mouth as I increased my grip on Ethan's hand and twirled my fingers even tighter around the grit.
"M-Mike, I feel like I'm slipping!" Voodoo Boy stammered helplessly.
"You are not slipping! I got you!" I reminded with my teeth still grinding together. "I'm gonna pull you up! ... Just grab my wrist with your other hand and work with me here!"
Ethan didn't think twice before obeying, reaching his other arm up from where it was suspending by his side in order to lock his hand tightly around my wrist. Then, with nervous bullets of sweat trickling down from his hairline, he carefully started to place the tips of his shoes in one opening at a time along the grid. At the same time, I ignored the trembling sensation that was in my one arm and kept my teeth clenched as another strained groan escaped from my mouth. At last, with my fingers remaining wrapped around the grit to the point where it felt like I was beginning to draw blood, I hauled the younger teen up to my side and straightened myself back on top of the rod.
Ethan immediately planted his feet against the rusty rod and clung to the wall for dear life. He let out a heavy, shaky breath that was a mixture of shock and relief, at which I shook my aching arm in an attempt to lessen the strain.
"Good God..." I huffed, right before I switched which hand was holding on to the grid so I could crack my sore fingers. "See what happens when you don't take the time to think your choices through, Ethan? You really need to be more careful!"
"Y-yeah." Ethan agreed almost instantly, slowly starting to regain his color. "Sorry 'bout that, I-I'll do better ... but thanks."
I pursued my lips and glanced up, seeing that we only had a couple of more paces to climb. Then, with Jessica's smiling face and gorgeous laughter coming back to my brain, I grumbled, "Well, one death in our group this evening is enough, don't you think?"
The nature-obsessed teen glanced at me, almost stunned by my words; but he must've picked up that it was a rhetorical question, because he didn't say anything back.
"We only have a little bit more to climb." I noted, forcing the devastation from Jess's death to the back of my mind for the time being. "Let's hurry so we can bust this pervert."
"For Jess, right?" Ethan asked softly.
I gave a small nod and repeated him, "Hell yeah, for Jess."
After that, the two of us pursued up the wall. We were both growing more and more tired by the minute, but it was obvious that neither of us were planning to back down anytime soon. By this time, my neck was stiff, my ankles were hurting, the tips of my fingers were completely chapped, and I could tell that some bruises had already managed to form beneath my shirt. Nonetheless, I kept climbing until I made it up to the final horizontal rod that was located at the tippy-top of the elevator shaft.
I had to hug the corner for a moment, wanting to avoid the risk of losing my balance. As this happened, I just so happened to catch a glimpse of what I'd been hoping to find. There, right across from this gap, was the highest floor of the mining shaft. It led into a spooky tunnel, where I was almost one hundred percent positive that this son of a bitch was hiding.
"You're dead meat, bastard." I muttered under my breath, shooting daggers at the tunnel. "You can run, but you can't hide."
After that, I very carefully repositioned myself so my heels were aligned perfectly on the rod and my back was pressed against the wall. Then, I glanced down to look at Voodoo Boy, who was just a little lower on the grit due to his exhaustion catching up to him. Unfortunately, in the process, I felt my heart drop all the way down into the pit of my stomach from seeing how high we were and I had to draw in a deep breath to help prevent myself from becoming lightheaded.
"Here, give me your hand. Give me your hand." I instructed, in which I held on to the wall with one hand and reached my other one down to Ethan.
He immediately obeyed, reaching up and grabbing my hand. "Okay, I got it." Ethan said with slight strain in his voice after ensuring that he had a firm grip.
I gritted my teeth a little again as I helped pull him up. As soon as I was certain that his feet were right beside mine on top of the tarnished bar, I retracted my hand and Ethan pinned his back as flat against the wall as possible. He kept his fingers curled tightly around the grid and refused to look down while he worked on catching his breath.
"Thank God, we made it." Voodoo Boy murmured.
"Well, almost." While panting, I tilted my head back and motioned to the tunnel with my chin. "See that tunnel right there? All we have left to do is jump over to that ledge."
Ethan took down a gulp, his voice still drenched in anxiety. "A-are you sure we can make it over without ... f-falling all the way back down?"
"Yes, I'm positive for two reasons. One, it's not that big of a leap ... and two..." I turned my head to look at the chocolate-haired lad, raising my eyebrows. "I'm gonna give you a hand by doing the same thing to you that I did when we were kids and you were scared to go down the slide at the park."
Confusion appeared across Ethan's features. "What?"
With adrenaline charging through every single vein in my body, I forcefully shoved the younger teen away from the wall and sent him through the air. With a high-pitched gasp, Ethan flew over to the ledge and landed backside-up with a loud CLANK against the few dirty metal plates that were spewed across the ground. Then, immediately after the abrupt impact, the nature-obsessed teen quickly pushed himself over onto his side and stared back across the gap at me. His eyes were large and alarmed, but I couldn't tell if he was stunned by the fact that I had pushed him or because he actually made it over to the tunnel.
"Well, I'm definitely going to feel that in the morning..." Ethan grumbled, wincing slightly as he began picking himself up. "Oh, dammit ... I think I pulled something."
"You alright?" I asked.
The fifteen-year-old fanned some dust away from him and coughed a few times before he gave me a thumbs up. "Yeah, I'm fine." He replied.
"Good." I slid the rifle off my arm, right before I carefully traded it over from one of my hands to the other. "'Cause I'm coming next."
With a nod, Ethan took a step back to give me some space. As this happened, I slowly loosened my grip on the grid and bit down on my bottom lip, saying a quick prayer in my mind. Then, I kicked my heels against the edge of the rod and leaped through the air with a grunt, landing in a kneeling position beside the nature-obsessed teen.
More dust kicked up from underneath the metal plates, causing me to release a string of short coughs. "Alright ... now we made it." I concluded as I rose to my feet, the rifle still in my hands.
Ethan opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, something caught his attention. "Oh my God..." He muttered, right before he pointed an urgent finger down the tunnel. "Michael, look!"
I immediately followed his gaze and saw what it was that had scared him. A shadowy figure had emerged from another section of the tunnel and was continuing to walk down it, completely oblivious to being watched.
"Shit!" I exclaimed in a whisper, my eyes wide. "There he is!"
I attempted to lift the rifle to take a shot. Unfortunately, the dark man ended up disappearing around the corner before I could aim and pull the trigger. As a result of this, I dropped a mental F-bomb, swung the weapon back over my shoulder, and gestured for Ethan to follow me. The two of us quickly jogged down the tunnel, trying to keep each of our steps quiet in order to prevent alerting the stranger. Then, when we reached the end, we ended up skidding to a halt in a medium-sized cavern that was cluttered with more damaged barriers and a few rundown mining carts. The same unidentified figure could be seen at the far end of another tunnel, and as soon as my eyes landed on him, I knew that it was time.
"Get him, Mike, get him!" Voodoo Boy urged, just as I hastily removed the rifle and lifted it up again.
I peeked through the dirty scope and zoomed in as much as possible, honestly hating how I was still unable to see any actual features of this person. My heart started charging like a wild bull in my chest as I curled my finger around the trigger. Then, with my deceased girlfriend's bloody wounds and battered skin egging me on in my brain, I settled my aim on the pervert's back ... and took the shot.
However, instead of sending out a bullet, the weapon made a small clink sound and nothing happened.
"What?" I lowered the rifle and stared at it in disbelief, feeling a little pale as the realization hit me that it must've been jammed. "Come on. Come ON!"
"Oh, you can't be serious..." Ethan muttered, also looking at the gun in alarm.
Displeased, I shook the weapon a little in my hands and grumbled, "Piece of shit..." After that, I tossed the useless gun aside and left it to land in the dirt.
Although, not even three seconds after I did that, the younger teen straightened his lips in uncertainty and knelt down to pick the rifle back up. He reached for it, stopped his hand when the tips of his fingers were just inches away, and then decided to grab it after all. Then, he stood back up, fixed the strap around himself, and positioned the weapon across his back. As he did all of this, I didn't really bother to pay attention. My eyes were locked straight ahead, watching the stranger at the end of the tunnel as he squatted and jumped out of sight. Loud CLANKS began echoing through the caves while this happened, coming from a steel gate that was starting to close.
..BUTTERFLY EFFECT UPDATE..
(Helping Hand) - Ethan decided to take the rifle for himself...
"Oh no!" Ethan exclaimed at the sight of the lowering gate.
I clenched my teeth, feeling jolt of panic shot through my body. "Christ! Gotta make it!" I proclaimed.
Thinking fast, as the clanking grew louder, the chocolate-haired lad and I raced towards the gate. With just a split second left to spare, I managed to drop myself down onto my side and slide over to the other side with a grunt from the unpleasant feeling of my hip slamming against the old planks. At the same time, Ethan threw himself down onto his stomach like a penguin and slid over to the opposite side of the mines with me. Then, as the gate finished lowering behind us, we got back up, Voodoo Boy worked on dusting himself off, and I noticed a lantern that was conveniently placed on the ground in front of us.
With a tiny sigh of relief, I knelt down and patted my pockets in search for something that could help me light the lantern. "Come on, come on..." I whispered, only finding my wallet, some breath spray, the keys to my car, and an unopened packet of condoms. "Ugh, dammit..."
"Here, use this." Ethan said, in which he reached into one of his wet leather boots and pulled out a lighter. "It may be a little wet, but it could still come in handy."
I took the Zippo from him and used the hem of my undershirt to quickly dry it off. After that, I ignited a flame, used it to light the rusty lantern, and then slid the Zippo into my pocket in case it would be needed again. However, when I picked the new source of light up and waved it around, it came to my realization that Jessica's attacker was nowhere in sight. Whoever that prick was, he must've been very fast ... and as much as I hated to admit it, that was awfully unsettling to me.
"God, this is reminding me of that freaky scene from The Conjuring." Ethan nervously whimpered, sticking close to me. "You know, that scene where the girl plays Hide and Clap? She gets locked in the basement and when she lights a match to help her see, a pair of hands pop out of the dark and clap behind her."
I immediately swiveled around, causing the younger teen to yelp from getting caught off guard. "Is now really the time to bring creepy, demonic shit like that up?" I demanded, honestly feeling a tiny bit freaked out from that scene coming back to my mind.
"Sorry..." Ethan apologized for the billionth time, fiddling around with his nails.
Seeing that this was a one-way path, I didn't think twice before approaching the edge of the platform and hopping down. Ethan was right on my tail, quickly seating himself on the ledge before he pushed himself off to lessen the risk of hurting himself. Then, as soon as he landed behind me, the two of us hightailed it through the tunnel as fast as our legs could carry us. Along the way, we ran past another lantern that had also been conveniently abandoned and I could just barely make out a bright beam of moonlight shining through an opening in the rocks dead ahead.
However, when the nature-obsessed teen and I made it out of the tunnel, we were both far from feeling relieved or accomplished. The freezing wind was roaring louder than ever before, slicing through the air like jagged blades and blowing thick puffs of snow all over the place. Not only that, but the snowflakes that were still in the process of falling from the sky were pouring down at a much harder speed. I could've sworn that there were even pieces of hail mixed in to the flurry now; but I couldn't tell if that was because there was actual hail, or because the snow was falling at such a pace that it just felt like hail. Either way, it was practically a whiteout out here - nothing like what it had been when Ethan and I had first stumbled upon the mining facility.
"Ho! Shit!" Voodoo Boy cursed as he held his hands out in front of his face in an attempt to guard himself from the snow.
In less than a second, the wind numbed my face to the point where it started to sting and every single hair on my body shot up. I tried forcing my eyes to adjust to the awful weather conditions faster, squinting to the point where I could feel the painful strain already beginning to build up in the sides of my head. As this happened, Ethan crossed his arms over his chest and his legs started to quiver. Nonetheless, we both pursued forward, taking small steps through the blizzard while trying our hardest to ignore how the icy breeze practically burned our lungs every time we breathed.
"Oh God..." I cringed, feeling the snowflakes pelt me in the face and neck like sharp pieces of broken glass.
Ethan cuffed his hands around his mouth and blew into them, which I highly doubt did anything to really warm him up. "I-I don't think I've ever seen M-Mother Nature t-this upset before!" He noted through chattering teeth, having to raise his voice in order to be heard over the screeching of the wind. "This blizzard is only going to get worse!"
"Oh, really? And here I was thinking that it was just starting to clear up!" I called back in a tone that was very sarcastic.
Ethan's shoulders started shaking along with his legs. "We really need to find shelter!" He insisted, and I knew that he was right. "Maybe we should try turning back and - oh, wait! I think I see something!"
At first, aside from the flame that was flickering in the lantern, I struggled to see anything ... but then, by some miracle, the wind slowed down enough for me to spot what it was that had grabbed Ethan's attention through the blizzard. In the distance, there was this building that was so huge to the point where I was stunned that I'd failed to see it sooner. It didn't take much effort for me or Voodoo Boy to understand that it was abandoned, but that only made it seem spookier.
The fifteen-year-old's hazel orbs expanded in disbelief when the view of the building became a lot more clear, and the two of us froze at each other's sides.
"Jesus!" I exhaled, filling the air with a misty cloud from my breath. "The hell is that place?"
"I ... I'm not sure." Ethan responded, as if I was actually expecting him to know the answer. "Aside from the lodge, the guest cabin, and the Cable Car stations, I never knew about there being any other specified locations on this entire mountain. You think the Washington's know anything about this?" As he said his final sentence, he glanced back in the direction of the mining facility and then locked his gaze back on the mysterious building.
"Not unless Josh and his parents have eight dwarfs and a Disney princess working for them." I replied in a stale voice, still waving the lantern around. "This mining facility has clearly been abandoned for quite some time. The building over there doesn't look like it's been renovated in God knows how long either."
Ethan uneasily bit down on his bottom lip. "This ... this is some serious Scooby Doo crap, Mike ... I don't like it." He murmured, just as something else caught my eye.
The silhouette of Jessica's attacker could be seen in the distance as well, approachingthe unidentified building. I could tell that Ethan must've seen what I was seeing as well, because when I peeked over at him from the corner of my eye, I saw that his attention was locked in the same direction and he was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly. It was obvious that he was trying to speak up and warn me about the stranger, but he couldn't get any words to come out.
"Why, that son of a..." My brain went on a rampage, finishing that statement with every curse word in existence.
I shot a venomous stare in the direction of the shadowy figure, still determined to avenge Jess and ensure the safety of everyone else back at the lodge. This might've been a crazy thing to do and there was a piece of me that was almost one hundred percent positive that I was going to regret what was about to happen, but I knew that I couldn't let this bastard get away with what he did.
"Ethan, follow me!" I exclaimed, in which I hurried over to a series of frost-covered rocks that could be used as a staircase in order to get down from this cliff.
Voodoo Boy trotted after me, not wanting to be left behind. "Where are we going?" He inquired with a mixture of confusion, anxiety, and concern brewing in his eyes.
I glanced over my shoulder at him and replied, "We're going after this asshole."
A/N: And after weeks of working hard, my fabulous readers, I have finished another chapter for all of you. :D I tried my best to make it as action packed as possible, considering the rest of the events from here on out is the really dramatic parts of the game. So, I hope you all enjoyed the Mike and Ethan action that took place in part one of Loyalty! :D
Please give me feedback on your thoughts of this chapter. Don't be shy to share your opinions. You can PM them to me at anytime or write them in the comment section. Really, I'm super thankful for feedback and it helps me very much. I also appreciate it, so don't ever feel like you have to hold back. Please review, and thank you all very much. :)
Fun Fact: Unless I'm mistaking, this is the first chapter in the whole story in which only one POV was used.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for me to officially end this chapter.
I hope you all have a spectacular day! Remember, you're all beautiful and wonderful! I wish you all happy reading and writing! :D
Crystalteen, out!
