A/N: Thank you once again for your kind reviews, Flowgalo, I'm glad you're liking the slower pace and continue to enjoy the story!
and aricarou thanks for your review as well! Also I'm glad you pointed out things I missed, such as the survivors injuries and other things such as them being all only children. Just to clarify that Mike retains his fingers in this version, but I'll clarify that in a later chapter. I did consider adding siblings for the characters at one point but with shorter chapters than my usual fics I wanted the focus to stay on them and with the parents included as well, I felt siblings may have been one character too many, but hell that's just my opinion and a little easier for me as a writer.
As for their other injuries however, (such as Chris' leg) that will be addressed in a later chapter as I couldn't squeeze it into this one, but thanks for pointing it out to me and honest feedback and advice is something I appreciate a lot and helps improve the fic itself!
So here's next chapter, enjoy!
"What did he do?"
It was a simple question and Bob and Melinda Washington must have known some of the answers, but they said it themselves that they wanted to hear it all from Sam, so inhaling deeply and trying to calm her nerves when faced with this grieving pair, she spoke clearly and calmly.
"Josh set up the lodge and filled it with traps, devices and cameras" Sam explained "He faked his own death using a saw machine and then put Ashley and Chris in a fake russian roulette style game in which Chris had to kill himself or Ashley to escape. He showed me a reel of his own faked death and then chased me around the lodge and he filmed it all in the hopes of becoming a viral..."
"ENOUGH!" Bob snapped, slamming his fists on the table, which caused Sam to jump.
"You know why he did that?" Bob snarled "It was because your prank resulted in Beth and Hannah's deaths! They invited you to our lodge, our vacation home, you and all your friends were welcomed by the Washington family and this is how we're repaid!"
"Bob, this isn't..." Sam's mother began, but he spoke over her.
"No Linda, your daughter and her friends..." Bob ranted.
"I wasn't involved, I tried to stop it!" Sam exclaimed, she wouldn't stand for this unfair treatment any longer, but it was just as she feared earlier, as this only seemed to make Bob and Melinda even more angry.
"and you did a splendid job Samantha!" Melinda snapped sarcastically "and now you expect us to believe that these... these Wendigo monsters were responsible for dragging our son into the mines!".
"We don't know what they were" Sam said calmly, going over Mike's advice in her head "They could have been people but we didn't get a good look at them, whatever they were. They lived on the mountain and Josh was just as much a victim to them as anyone else..."
"He was a victim, of you and the others and he used to speak so highly of you" Melinda informed her "and now thanks to you and your friends..."
"Stop it" Sam didn't know why she was getting angry now, but she wasn't going to be insulted and blamed like this "You're upset because you just visited Josh and learnt Hannah and Beth died. Listen to me, I-am-so-sorry about Beth and Hannah and what happened to Josh, but you can't just blame this all on me or my friends, you're not thinking straight..."
"Oh no, we've come to a conclusion alright" Bob snapped "You were Hannah's best friend and close to Josh as well, all the times you came around our house and now they're... God, we should never have let Josh hang out with any of you. You took advantage of his mental state! You bullied and belittled him and never..."
Sam couldn't listen to this anymore.
How could they be so unreasonable? She understood they were grieving and not thinking straight, but why on earth had they driven straight from where they had visited Josh, right to her house, to blame her for what happened to their children? She adored the Washington siblings as much as they did and she wasn't going to made out as some bitch that never truly cared about them, her and Hannah had been best friends as they went through high school together, she and Josh had also been close and she had always liked and trusted Beth as well.
"You can't believe it can you?" Sam found herself saying "Hannah and Beth are gone and Josh is... God, I'm as sorry as you are for all of this, but don't you dare just start looking for people to blame for this, especially not me! I loved them as much as you did!"
"You have no idea what it's like...!" Melinda screeched.
"I DO!" Sam bellowed, losing her normal composure as she felt herself fly off the handle "Why aren't you with Josh now!? DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW CLOSE HE CAME TO DYING ON THAT MOUNTAIN!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO STILL HAVE HIM!? WHY AREN'T YOU LOOKING AFTER YOUR SON!?"
"HOW CAN WE, WHEN...!" Bob began to scream back.
"WHY DID YOU BUILD ON BLACKWOOD WHEN YOU WERE WARNED NOT TOO!?" Sam snapped "WHY DIDN'T YOU TREAT HIS ILLNESS CORRECTLY!? DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BAD IT REALLY WAS!? DID YOU CARE ABOUT HIM AT ALL!?"
"WE HIRED THE BEST DOCTORS MONEY COULD BUY!" Bob Washington roared "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I NEVER CARED ABOUT MY SON, BECAUSE I DID, I LOVED HIM WITH EVERYTHING I...!"
"NO, YOU LOVE HIM!" Sam corrected him "YOU'RE SPEAKING ABOUT HIM AS IF HE DIED, HE DIDN'T! HE'S STILL HERE! I KNOW IT'S UPSETTING TO SEE HIM LIKE THIS, BUT THAT'S HOW BROKEN AND HURT HE REALLY IS! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THAT UNTIL NOW THEN I'M NOT THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE BLAMING, IT'S YOU! YOU FEEL GUILT FOR THIS AND YOU CAN'T TAKE IT, SO NOW YOU'RE BLAMING ME...!
Sam didn't know what she had gotten herself into, until she was on the ground looking up at the ceiling, her nose felt hot, her ears were ringing, her head hurt and there was crashing going on around her, a coffee cup shattered on the ground. Bob Washington bellowed something, her mother screamed, another body hit the ground with a dull thump...
and then it was over, silence reigned after a door slammed shut and Sam was left looking up at her white faced mother.
"Oh my God, Sam, Sam, did you hit your head!? Oh my god, Sam, Sam, answer me! Linda Giddings was stuttering, her voice breaking, she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Mum as always, I'm fine" Sam informed her, she lifted herself from the ground and placed a hand on her nose when she brought it away, dots of blood were present on her palm.
"Did that bastard punch me!?" she asked of her mother.
Her mother didn't answer, she merely directed her to the sofa, where her father (Harry) was also sat with a bloody nose, he must have been punched by Bob Washington as well, when he tried to intervene with events. Her father (despite his size and muscle) was a fairly shy man, but even he wouldn't stand for his daughter being punched in the face by a grown man, Sam couldn't imagine any father sitting back and allowing such madness to occur. (Well, any good or present father).
Linda Giddings went to kitchen, muttering about getting something, Sam faced her father.
"After last time, they told me it was fine" was all she said "They didn't blame me or anyone else for Beth or Hannah's disappearance, what the hell changed Dad?"
Her father gave her a blank look that wasn't helpful in the slightest.
"I don't know" he eventually replied "But maybe they refrained from saying anything, because Josh told them it wasn't your's or anyone else's fault, now with him gone..."
He finished there, Sam strained her ears and could hear a car leaving the drive, the screech of the reporters outside had grown to a fever pitch, no doubt the sight of Josh Washington's parents leaving her house, with one of them sporting a bloody fist was going to send the press into overdrive. What had happened!? They needed answers and if Bob and Melinda were going to give them, then Sam couldn't see herself or any of her remaining friends coming out of this smelling of roses. It was bad enough that the prank last year was known to the press, but the story then was nowhere near as big as it was becoming now.
"Maybe you're right" Sam muttered at her father "But Dad, do you think I went too far with them?"
"Too far!?" her father replied with a beliwered look on his face "Sam, you told them exactly what they needed to hear, that's how my girl does things, I was proud of you"
Sam couldn't help it, she felt her face grow warm at her father's smile and a flush of pride soar through her body.
"Okay... okay wet towels..." her mother said, appearing from thin air it seemed and handing her daughter and husband the damp rags, which they immediately pressed against their bleeding noses. As they did, she sat between the pair of them and faced the door, the waterworks were already flowing down her cheeks, as her father placed an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him "Come on Lyn..." he said, using his nickname for her "It's gonna be alright now..."
"I was speaking to them just last week!" Linda Giddings wept "We'd been friends for so long, after the incident at the lodge last year, they were still so caring and understanding and... God..." she needed a minute to compose herself before she continued "They never blamed Sam, or anyone for that prank or Hannah and Beth's disappearance, I felt so sorry for them all this time, but now!? What the hell was that!? What the hell did they just do...!?"
"Mum, they weren't thinking straight" Sam said, to try and make sense of their actions and calm her upset mother "Imagine if I died up at the lodge and Josh survived, completely unharmed. He called us back to the mountain, he performed those pranks on me, Chris and Ashley, if I died it would have been his fault, what would you have done if that had happened?".
"Stop it Sam" her mother sobbed "I- I don't want to think like that..."
"I would have killed him" her father answered more clearly "But it was different Sam, you never took part in that prank. You were always there for Josh, how Bob and Melinda can blame you and attack you is beyond me, after everything you did for them".
"I know Dad" Sam answered "It feels like I've been betrayed by all the Washingtons, Josh, his parents..." and she wanted to say "Hannah" as well, as she had transformed into the Wendigo that had almost killed her during the night, but she refrained from giving that information away at the time being.
"We all do" her father replied glumly.
They sat in silence for a short while, before her mother got to her feet and started to sweep up the broken shards of the smashed coffee cups that lay on the ground around the table. As herself and her father held the wet towels to their noses. It certainly helped dull the pain and soon Sam found herself not needing the aid of the wet towel to get by, the punch hadn't been that severe and the bleeding had stopped. Although it still hurt like hell to prod her nose, she imagined her father was in the same predicament. Looking around at everything and hearing the roars of the press outside and their snapping cameras, she had to wonder what was worse, being stuck on Blackwood mountain or being stuck down here.
The nightmare never seemed to end, the attacks were relteneless, from Wendigo's or the press, what was the difference anymore? Sam suspected there would be some interest in this story but not to this scale, this was insane.
"But Mike was right" she told herself "We'll get through this, they'll have to stop eventually, interest will die down eventually, Mr and Mrs Washington are in a fresh state of grief and the media haven't helped matters, once it all dies down, they'll apologise, I'll visit Josh. We can talk through this and..."
Even her head, this all sounded like a pipe dream. Things were never going to be the same again, she should have realised that the minute Hannah and Beth Washington never returned to the lodge that night.
As she pondered on all this, a faint vibrating noise was coming from somewhere, as Sam got to her feet she saw her phone was ringing on the table, avoiding the shards of the cups, that her mother was still sweeping up, she reached out for her phone and saw she was being called by none other than Chris himself.
"Whose that?" her father asked.
"Chris" she replied "He must want to check up on me"
"Well, you'll have a story to tell him" her father said "Unless he has one to tell you"
"I doubt anything can top the craziness we just went through" Sam said in a naive misunderstanding, as she lifted the phone to her ears "Hey Chris! How's it... what? What's on the news? What about Jess...?"
Did it ever end?
Mike had wander that, night had fallen once again and he was staying at Jess' place. Her parents had never been too openly fond of him, due to his womanising ways and "cocky" demeanor. Yet at this moment in time they welcomed him with open arms and told him he was more than welcome to stay at there's. Although he knew the reasoning behind this was more for their own daughter's wellbeing than his own,he was grateful nevertheless.
His mother had phoned him and despite (as always) being worried about his safety he assured her that he was fine and would be staying at Jess' for the next couple of days. Until this whole thing blew over, his mother seemed happy with that but told him to eat, wash and look after himself and Jess, before Mike was finally able to hang up on her, exprasrated he found himself in the kitchen, Jess had fallen asleep on his shoulder and (silently getting out of bed) he got up and found he needed to stretch his limbs, he realised then he hadn't packed any of his nightwear with him and would have to sleep in his jeans and t-shirt, not comfortable, but he'd rather not strip to his underwear with Jess' parents closeby.
Speaking of them, as Mike entered the kitchen, he didn't spot Gerry Riles drinking from a whiskey bottle until the young man found himself inches in front of Jess' father, before he could turn away, Gerry had spotted him.
"Ah, Mike" he slurred "Sit down, take a stool".
With no other option and nowhere else to go, Mike drew up a stool.
"Do you like whiskey?"
"Legally I'm not old enough..."
"Do you like it?" Jess' father snapped, cutting through him.
Mike sighed.
"It's alright, I guess"
"Take a glass and drink" Gerry snapped.
Knowing this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, Michael grabbed a glass from a nearby drawer and allowed Gerry to pour him some of the alcoholic beverage, he took a sip and found it too bitter for his taste. But despite the face he pulled, he found Gerry still watching him. Feeling like he was being judged, Mike gulped until half the glass was empty, only then did Gerry find his voice.
"So, how long are you staying here?" Gerry asked.
"Until this all dies down" Mike replied.
"That could be days, or weeks, hell even years!" Gerry raved "I mean, what are the odds? Friends prank leads to their death, their brother invites them back to the same place a year later. He conducts a sick prank, but as all that's going on, some... monsters or cultisits or whatever decide to kill you all, they kill your friend Matt and the rest of you escape and my Jess, my daughter..."
He took another gulp from the bottle, before he continued.
"She comes back... like I've never seen her before" He muttered, more to the counter than Mike "My wife's in such a state over this, Jess is in a state, those paparazzi sicko's break into my house, it's never happened to me before, it scared me something silly..."
"You could have taken those bastards on!" Mike found himself saying, he was aware of how the alcohol (it must have been strong) was making his head feel light and his voice louder "It didn't matter how many of them there were, I know you'd protect Jess at any cost".
"Do you think them hurting me or Jess, scared me!?" Gerry snapped, taking another gulp of alcohol, he answered his own question.
"It scares me how low people can go" he replied in a small voice "How they can harass and break into the home of a vulnerable girl just for an interview and for their five minutes of fame, it scares me how a mean spirited prank started all of this hell, a prank I know my own daughter and you had a massive involvement in..."
"We didn't mean too..."
"My daughter didn't mean too cause any harm and look at her now" Gerry snapped "Yet you... you always get to walk away from things unscratched don't you!?"
Mike didn't know how to reply too this.
"You know why I don't like you?"
Again Mike couldn't seem to find his voice, he merely drank until his glass was empty.
"It's because you Munroe's are all the same" he snarled "I knew your Daddy when he was at high school, I knew a few of your Uncles as well, they were the most vile bunch of womanising, abusive, foul mouthed pieces of shit I'd ever seen. Oh they were handsome certainly, like you and that's how they got away so much. When I heard Jess was friends with a Munroe I let her hang out with you, because maybe you were different so I didn't want to judge, but then you and Jess became more than friends and I... I couldn't bring myself to like you, not at all".
"Why didn't you say anything then!?" Mike found himself snapping back.
"For her" he replied simply "She was happy, so kept my mouth shut, but the things I've read online since this story broke..."
He smiled to himself there.
"That Hannah liked you and you performed that prank..."
"I didn't mean too cause her harm, I just...!" Mike began.
"Several girls have already told some kiss and tell stories, you slept with your ex Emily and two other girls while you've been with my daughter, isn't that right!?"
Mike felt his gut sink in his chest, the fact that his fun flings had already sold him out and the way he had behaved before... it was all true of course. But how could he admit that in front of Jess' father of all people? He'd be kicked out instantly, he'd have to go back home and Jess was already devastated enough as it was.
"So, was my daughter just another fun fling for you!?" Gerry Riley snapped, taking Mike's silence as an answer "I wish I could tell her what a piece of shit you are and how one night doesn't change any of that, but now she's dependant on you. I won't tell her, that's down to you. But if you hurt my girl, if you hurt her bad or if she dumps your lousy ass, then I'll hurt you and I guarantee you, the injuries you'll have will be worse than any your father has given you...
Mike found himself on his feet.
"Where are you going!?" Gerry inquired.
"I'm going to your daughter, you're wrong about me, I do love her..."
Gerry laughed at this point, so much so, it drowned out the rest of Mike's sentence.
"You're so full of yourself and shit!" Gerry bellowed "If you loved her, you wouldn't have cheated on her, you'll just walk away when things get rough. Because that's all your family knows how to do. Run away and never take any responsibility. I would feel sorry for you Mike, because I know the type of man your father is, too bad you're the exact same..."
Mike was walking away now, he didn't want to listen to any of this.
"That's it, keep walking, keep runnin, we'll see how much of a man you really are at the end of the day!"
Mike didn't know what to feel.
He hadn't told Jess or her parents about the Sam's run in with the Washington's, in which Sam had told the whole group, whereas everyone also knew of Jess' breakdown and to be wary of the press. Now Mike had to deal with Gerry's words ringing in his ears, he had ran to save Jess, he had loved her, he didn't just dump Emily because...
"A new piece of candy appeared, a shiny piece!" a sleazy voice in his head told him "Why have boring, frigid Emily, when a much more willing and cheerful replacement appeared? and those one night stands you had while you were with Jess, I mean who cared? They didn't mean anything, that's what you always done. While you were with Emily or any other girlfriend you've had, you have a man's needs..."
"I should have been better..."
"You aren't, no matter how much you try and prove yourself as a hero, you're the biggest liar going" the sleazy voice told him "Gerry was right about you, you're only out to get laid. The more girls the better, who cares if it's an ex, or a crush, or some one night stand. Your looks and lies have gotten you into many girls pants, why stop now?"
"Because, after all of this, I can't just ditch Jess, I..."
"You're only staying with her out of obligation, you never cared about anyone's feelings. Emily or Matt, Hannah, Jess, her parents, you don't care who you hurt, as long as you get off at the end of the day, that's all that ever matters".
Mike had remained dry eyed this entire time, as he looked up at the dark ceiling of Jess' room and then down at her sleeping form, the first tears came as he struggled to hold them back. His inner voice and Gerry were right, he was a piece of shit and acting heroically during one night up on that mountain didn't erase all the stuff he'd done. He didn't even have the courage to tell Jess he'd been unfaithful and could he tell her now? While she was like this? Why did he never actually stop and think about any of this!? He was a shitty person all around and it had taken him several near death experiences to make him stop and think about his actions.
"I'm sorry, Jess, I'm sorry" he wept, holding her sleeping form closer to his own, he wanted to change, he wanted to be the good guy from now on. But did he really have it in him to change? Did he...
He stopped there, his heart freezing in his chest as he followed the shadow around the room, before it vanished.
It had come from the window.
The press had left for the time being, but there must have been one of them lingering around, but for some reason Mike got a shiver up his spine, the shadow of that man had to be looking in through the window. The blinds had been drawn, but it was like he was looking in, with something in his hand...
Mike remained still, holding onto Jess as tightly as ever, the shadow of this man so close to the window was alarming enough in itself, considering what had happened earlier.
Considering it was a member of the press holding a camera to get a snap of himself and Jess was creepy and disturbing enough as it was.
But, the item Mike saw the outline of, didn't look like a camera at all.
"It was something else" Mike thought wildly, trying to sleep, but finding that near enough impossible now.
Because it looked very much like that man had a knife in his hand.
