CHAPTER 7: THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB

Just a short author's note since I don't have much to say. Anyway, hope this will reach you before I head overseas for some things to do. I may update during that time but that is entirely dependent on my workload there. As for this chapter, it will cover from 2AM to 3AM. I suspect you know how this part goes but of course I'll make sure to surprise you in the end. Or the next chapter… With that out of the way, let us continue on!

Cliffs Outside Fire Tower

2:01 AM

EMILY

Emily was terrified, her facial features conveying a wave of absolute pants-crapping fright. That much was clear.

The night sky, the low rustle of hoofs against the snow in front of her and the sheer drop behind them did little to allay her fears. The wind rustled up a storm to cap off the perfect storm of horrifying factors, causing both teens to shiver as the cold started to get to them.

"What are you going to do, Matt?" Emily choked out, trying not to be a freaking cliché and cower behind Matt, instead trying to put on a brave face

"Stay calm. They're just deer. Just checking us out…" Matt held his hand back to Emily, keeping her at bay from the murderous looking deer.

"They're gonna hurt us, Matt." Emily opined strongly, wondering just what kind of deer would look at her with bloodshot red eyes. 'They must be rabid or something… Or wild… Nothing good, I'm sure of it…' she intoned to herself.

"Shhh…" Matt placed a shaky finger to his lips, confidence shaken a little by Emily's less than helpful remark. The deer continued to stare blankly at the young couple, red eyes almost portraying a hint of anger against them. It was with trepidation that Matt held the arm holding the fire axe behind his back as he gingerly took a step forward, the soft crunch of snow only heightening the tension.

And part they did. The deer ambled back, creating a small yet traversable passage for the duo to make their own escape. A sigh of relief escaped Matt's throat, Emily quickly dashing after him. The deer watched them with token interest, shuffling and dragging their feet in their location as they watched Emily saunter over a waist high rock wall and tumble down to the pathway beyond.

"See, I told you it'd be okay." Matt patted Emily's back, brooking a rare smile amidst all this horror. 'Fine. I guess he did have a point. Sigh… I'll never live this down when we get out of here…' Emily groaned inwardly, trudging up and taking point for the remainder of the journey to the radio tower.

"Let's hope the radio still works." Matt said with slight optimism, jubilant over their luck with the angry deer and the fact that they had managed to go an hour without being subjected to the psychopath.

"If it doesn't?" Emily said in a pessimistic way. She would have called it realistic, simply wanting to ensure they had a backup plan. A contingency in case things went south…

"We find shelter until the morning." Matt responded quickly, also hefting his axe deliberately in plain view of Emily as if to add, 'And if he does find us, I'll give him a good whack.'

"As long as it's not the lodge... That's the first place the psycho would go to." Emily noted yet again. It was Matt's turn to shake his head. While he still firmly believed in safety in numbers, Emily had a valid point. The only question was, where else then?

"Let's just try the radio before we make a decision." Matt offered, to Emily's silent agreement.

The journey would take a good 10 minutes, forced as they were to weave and circle around the small hill that the tower rested on just to reach it. Matt was more used to an easy walk, taking slow but steady strides towards the looming tower with a sense of optimism. Emily on the other hand had a rougher go. Years of shopping and studying didn't wholly translate into pure cardio and by the time they finally reached the base of the tower, there was a noticeable pant coming from her.

"That's a climb." Matt whistled low, Emily unable to help herself by making one of her usual wry remarks soon after.

"What? You can't handle a couple of ladders?" Emily jokingly said, stepping forward to take the lead this time.

"Please, Em. Quarterback here." Matt thumbed towards his chest with pride, eliciting a chuckle from the young woman as she clambered up the ladder first. As much as Matt wanted to take the axe up with him, he needed both hands just in case the bars turned out to be too slippery. With deep reluctance, he set the axe down at the base of the tower out of plain sight before following Emily up the tower in earnest.

"Hurry up, lughead. It's freezing out here." She said. The wind seemed to howl in order to accentuate her point, the cool breeze washing over them as they gripped the rungs of the ladder, the metal cold to the touch. It certainly made haste all the more enjoyable and as Matt finally shuffled into the tower proper and Emily shut the hatch door behind him, he was certainly glad for a reprieve, brief as it would be.

Inside, the rickety structure sent a nervous chill down Emily's spine. She wasn't afraid of heights, far from it. But the gentle sway of the wind and the sound of creaking boards beneath her shoes washed her over in a feeling of imminent danger. She stepped outside briefly to search the outer perimeter, the gust of cold winter air buffeting her back for a split second.

The view of the mountains stretched before her, pure, white untouched snow gently covering the beautiful landscape for all to see. For someone so used to it, having been up here so many times, Emily took it for granted, a common thing in the midst of an uncommon situation. As she made her way back, her eye passed a small storage box labelled 'Emergencies only!'

'Well, it is an emergency…' she told herself with a sigh, watching a thin mist form in front of her as her shaky palm grabbed onto the handle of the box and swung it open. Inside was a small red flare gun, resting on top of one of the shelves inside. Gingerly, she yanked it out and popped open the barrel, seeing a glint of silver inside the chamber. 'Alright, this thing is loaded…' she said, walking back inside as Matt was busy reconnecting wires that had fallen out from their intended sockets.

"Here. Might need this…" She said, tossing the flare gun across the room to Matt, the star athlete gamely catching the thing in mid-air.

"Aye, aye captain..." Matt joked, holstering the flare gun by his side before resuming his intended work. Emily watched from behind, shaking her crossed arms side by side to warm her cold body. The white mist that was forming before her seemed even whiter than before and her fears of hypothermia started to cloud her base judgement. 'Come on, lughead… How hard can it be to plug some damn sockets in?!' she bitterly remarked to herself. Her eyes were trailing downward to her shaky knees that she didn't hear Matt clear his throat the first time around.

"Radio's working." He thumbed towards the radio. Like a rabid animal, Emily tore her way towards the radio, yanking the speaker from its handle and pressing on the button to send the signal.

"Hello? Hello?" Emily called twice before receiving any intelligible response, a plain masculine voice responding to her hails.

"This is the park ranger office of Blackwood County. State your name." the voice replied back amidst the static.

"My name is Emily. We're up on… Blackwood Mountain. We need help. Our friend was just… killed and some psycho is up on the mountain with us." Emily paused momentarily with each few words, the static a clear sign of a bad signal. 'Need to be clear and concise if I want to get this across quickly…' As she finished, she heard Matt gasp behind her, his feet shuffling towards the window as if looking for something.

"What the…?" he had absent-mindedly remarked, squinting to look at the snowy mountain below, the motion-sensor tripped and the light blaring out onto the snow-covered ground in front of the tower.

"What, Matt? Can't you see I'm talking to the cops?" Emily angrily retorted, her finger raising off the transmission button as she spoke.

"Something just moved in front of the tower." Matt warily replied, eyes still scanning the area.

"It's probably just a deer." Emily shrugged, just as the static cleared and the ranger's voice came back across.

"We read you. We'll send helicopters as soon as the snowstorm subsides."

"When?" Emily asked again.

"Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn, over." The ranger responded. Emily glanced up towards the moon still soaring high above the night sky. 'How long away is that? It's gotta be soon…' Emily thought to herself, her hand instinctively reaching for her pocket to check the clock on her mobile phone when she felt her body lurch forward for no reason. She wheezed faintly as her stomach smacked against the edge of the table, knocking the wind out of her.

"Em…?" Matt tumbled backwards, the tower creaking under the seeming weight of the room it was holding. Emily clutched her stomach as she stumbled towards the floor, bile starting to rise in her throat as Matt's voice got a little distorted in her wounded state.

"The tower!" she heard him cry, feeling a sense of vertigo overtake even the pit of pain in her stomach as the room seemingly tilted at a 90 degree angle, her arm clutching onto a steel cabinet that was pressing against the wall. Matt on the other hand was not as lucky, losing his balance and falling back first into the window behind him, the glass shattering on impact.

"Matt!" Emily cried out, watching Matt crash through the glass window, out into the unknown. It was only a moment to think, to possibly mourn, to even consider what she had just witnessed… And then her eyes widened as the very radio that promised their salvation came falling down on top of her and the impact knocked her out cold, her vision going dark in an instant.

It was ten minutes later before Emily would finally rise from her unconscious state, groggily clutching the bruise on her as she stumbled to her feet. All around her, the room was an abstract form of hell, at least for Emily. Fires licked the edges of the wooden room, the scalding heat contrasting with the chilly wind blowing down the… the tunnel?

"Damn it…" Emily uttered plainly, her eyes glancing past the broken window, seeing granite surrounding her. Evidently, the tower had fallen into the old mine shaft. Of all the times they had been up here, the Washingtons have made it especially clear not to come here, partially out of wanting to keep their friends and family safe from unnecessary harm but also to avoid angering the natives who once owned this mountain any further.

Before she could ponder the notion further, the tower lurched lower again, her heart seemingly rising in her chest as the sensation of mild turbulence overtook her. 'I need to get out of here!' she thought, racing towards the ladder and clambering up to escape. On the rooftop, she saw Matt, clinging to a half-broken railing as it teetered on the brink of collapsing altogether.

"Em, I could use some help here." He called out, with Emily taking cautious step after cautious step towards the edge of the tower.

"I'm trying, Matt. This is really unstable." She responded with hitched fear climbing in her throat.

"I don't think I can hold on much longer." Matt frantically responded, feeling his strength slowly sap away as his fingers squeezed around the railing to keep hold.

"Okay, just calm down for a bit. I can't carry you up, not with my weight." Emily reasoned, considering that she was hardly some all-star athlete that's almost all muscle.

"Try something. I'm slipping here." Matt clung onto the railing for dear life, his left hand hanging by his side like a limp noodle while his right was curled around the frosted metal, licks of flame from the interior of the tower drawing beads of slippery sweat from his fingers.

"Okay, okay. Grab my hand." Emily reached down and held out her arm. Matt pulled his left hand up to reach hers, only for the tower to buckle against the cave walls and sink down even deeper.

"Whoa…!" Emily teetered back and forth as she heard the crunch of metal and her core plummet a little as the tower continued to sink further into the ground.

"It's okay. Just get me up before this thing gives way." Matt calmly replied, despite the pangs of despair flooding his mind. Emily had no such filter, already panicking like crazy. 'If I try to save him, I'll fall and die. But if I don't then he will… It's not worth both of us dying now…' she convinced herself of Matt's doom.

"I'm sorry, Matt." Emily gulped, a look of mixed fear and guilt clouding her eyes. She slowly stood back up, seeing the outcrop right behind Matt. 'I don't want to die here… I don't want to die here…' she chanted to herself, trying to chase the guilt away, bending down to get a good jump start.

"Emilyyyyyyyy!" Matt's eyes bulged in outlandish disbelief, watching as his girlfriend leaped off the edge of the collapsing tower, landing with a soft grunt on the other hand. He chanced extending his arm out to grab onto her but her jump dislodged the tower, sending it careening into the abyss below. As his screams echoed down into the cavern, Emily peered over the edge and saw the fiery ball of metal and flame race down with a sickening roar, followed by an equally vicious crunch of metal.

She could barely move, slumped back against the safety of the wall behind her. A few tears started to form in her eyes, lamenting her cowardice and her inability to be there when Matt needed her most. She didn't even notice the small passageway leading out of the outcrop and into a mess of tunnels, so distraught she was in her current situation.

"I'm so sorry, Matt…" She desperately sobbed to the cavern, as if willing it to grant her wish. No sound returned her call and the young teenager slumped back to the ground, crying away her guilt as the moonlight dawned upon her prone body.

Washington Lodge

2:20 AM

CHRIS

Spending time with Sam like this was always Chris' dream since he developed that crush on her. Hanging out and talking about their interests or even broaching the subject of a relationship. He most certainly didn't think it would be to find a masked madman and supplies to fortify their little slice of life in the frozen mountains. Now, he was resting against the door frame leading to the balcony, his hands clutched around the bolt-action rifle Jessica had found in the log cabin on her way back. 'Just one bullet though….' He grimaced, pulling back on the bolt to check if the round was properly chambered. Jessica hadn't the foggiest idea as to where more ammo might be stocked and the one person who might have had some idea was dead. 'Gotta make it count then…' he said, sliding the bolt back into place.

"The place is clean. No sign of him." Sam called out from the other room, walking back to the balcony area.

"Matt and Emily aren't back yet. I'm getting a little worried." Chris off-handedly mentioned. 'If Jess and Mike could get into trouble, Matt and Em would be in as much danger too.' He surmised.

"Hopefully they managed to call out for help." Sam wistfully wished, crossing her arms as she stared out at the view before them, a peaceful contrast to their violent and tense situation.

"Yeah, I guess." He half-heartedly replied, not fully convinced. Sam kept deathly silent, her arms folded to keep warm and her head bowed low in thought, no doubt about the last few hours.

"Hey, Chris?" Sam finally spoke, breaking the peaceful silence momentarily.

"Yeah?" he said.

"About Beth…" Sam trailed off, the events all too clear for both of the teenagers.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Chris reassured her.

"I know. I'm just… whew… trying not to think about it too much." Sam let out a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"Well, if you need anything, just let me know." He offered.

"Thanks, Chris. I appreciate it." Sam nodded, warmly smiling at Chris as they both continued to stare out of the frosted window, praying with all their might for the safe return of their friends. 'Nice to see that smile. Only bright spot of this crazy night…' Chris found himself pondering,

"You want me to take over?" Sam offered, holding out a hand expectantly in Chris' general direction.

"You know how to use it?" Chris begrudgingly handed the gun over to her, Sam gingerly taking it from him with a firmness he hadn't expected from the blonde young adult.

"Sure, my parents taught me how to fire a gun. Outdoors is a lot more than admiring nature and climbing rock walls, you know." Sam mentioned off-handedly, pulling back on the bolt then slotting it back in place just to demonstrate her talent pool. Chris watched with fascination, the dull thump of his heart echoing in his eardrums as his crush demonstrated even more facets of a headstrong personality.

"I wouldn't know." Chris joked, chuckling lowly.

"Right, because you're stuck on your phone all the time." She replied in response, nudging the teenager in the shoulder as she swung the rifle on her back, eyes staring off at the thin mountain trail leading to the front of the house. Chris leaned against the wooden banister, head tilting to his right as he gazed at her without her knowledge.

"Yeah, well. I…" he made to retort with his usual biting remark when Jessica's voice rang throughout the lodge, carried all the way up to the second floor where they were keeping watch.

"GUYS! Get down here!" Jessica's high pitched scream followed the two would-be lovebirds upstairs, causing both to bolt out of their slight stupor. Chris watched as Sam abruptly turned heel and raced down the stairs two at a time, bounding down faster than the geek could himself.

"What's going on, Jessica?" Sam quickly shouted back, only to see Jessica wordlessly point towards the TV screen hanging above the fireplace where a grainy video was playing onscreen. Ashley was on the sofa, hands gripping on the material as she too watched with a sense of horror building up inside of her.

"I see you made it back in one piece. Good. Very good." The psycho noted, their whole body covering the camera. Sam however spotted something moving from behind the masked figure, as if trying to escape while their attention was on the camera.

"It's a video-tape. It was left on Mike's chair." Jessica explained before Chris could attempt talking back to their 'captor'.

"Is he…?" As the video continued to play, the four of them heard Mike trying to scream through the cloth wrapped around his mouth, vainly as the attempt was. Through the grainy filter, a looming shadow approached the restrained Mike, shushing him with a steady finger to its clown mask.

"Quiet, Michael. I'm trying to talk to your friends here." The psycho seemed to smirk underneath that clown mask of theirs, pressing a tender finger to Mike's lips just to heighten the creep factor on the whole thing. It sent chills down the four teenagers, like some clichéd horror movie that they would have had fun watching if their winter getaway was still going as planned.

"If you want to save your friend, come down to the basement. You have one hour. Or the next video I send… Well, you get the idea." As the video ended, the four of them were left in stunned silence. Their eyes darted throughout the house. 'Where was he being held? Oh, god. He's in the lodge, watching us…' Ashley shivered in absolute fear, not wanting to fall victim to the madman once again. As Sam slowly started to shake herself out of her stupor, she saw a blur of blonde hair dash past her towards the basement. Jessica had outstripped them by a few feet and with shaky and sweaty fists by her sides, had that look of pure rage locked in her eyes, scaring even Sam of all people.

"Jess, stop." Sam reached out to grab Jessica's shoulder, feeling the young woman's body shrug it off violently in objection.

"I'm going down there to save Mike. Don't try to stop me." Jessica rounded on Sam, her words echoing with barely restrained rage. As her hand flew off the blonde-haired woman's shoulder, Sam recovered her step as her hand flew back to her hip.

"I'm not. But someone should come with you in case things get dicey." Sam suggested. It wasn't by all means a bad idea. They were kids well versed in the tropes horror often had, having spent many a nights over at Josh's place watching horror films, at one point even watching his father's award winning movie to the tunes of shrieks and hastily tossed aside buckets of freshly made popcorn. Going alone was suicide. Just as Sam was about to make her move, Chris had gamely put his left foot forward to the front of the group.

"I'll go." Chris raised his hand, Jessica nodding at his eagerness to volunteer. Sam stepped back affirmatively, glad to see that Chris was taking some initiative. 'I was going to go myself, but they should be fine. It might be better, in case Matt and Emily come back.' She thought to herself, considering Emily might not be too pleased with Chris after their earlier conversation.

"Okay. Me and Ashley will keep watch in case he tries to come back up here again." Sam nodded affirmatively, gingerly shaking the rifle in her hands to accentuate her point. Behind her, Ashley cringed a little and took a step back, not wanting to be staring down the barrel by accident. The last thing she wanted was for Beth's sacrifice to be in vain.

"Stay safe, guys." Ashley said, watching as Chris and Jessica made for the basement, Chris snatching a spare flashlight from the counter top on the way down.

"You too, Ash." Chris said, leaving the two ladies to take position at their now barricaded front entrance, Sam gamely holding the rifle Jessica had brought back while Ashley continued to search the lower floor for anything they could use to fortify their position. Above them, a hidden camera continued to swivel in place, watching the group split up. And waiting in their control room was the psychopath, who gamely laughed and stretched back in their comfy chair as he awaited the two unsuspecting teens to provide with much needed entertainment…

Washington Lodge Basement

2:38 AM

JESSICA

"Mike? Mike, you there?" Chris had called out, swinging the torchlight around the empty basement, the ray of light illuminating the barely visible room for the both of them. Jessica followed behind him, her steps hard and deliberate, taunting in some peculiar way. 'I hope the bastard's listening, cowering in his little hiding spot like the coward he is….' She allowed her anger to consume her thoughts.

"I swear when I find him, I'm going to wring that bastard's neck." Jessica motioned her hands in thin air, squeezing a pocket of it like it was actual flesh and blood. Chris nodded imperceptibly, trailing behind Jessica, torchlight in hand.

"I agree, but right now we need to find Mike and get him back." Chris nodded, keeping pace with the blonde woman. He didn't like the idea of splitting up, not with a psychopath on the loose with them. But Jessica's behavior was scaring him just as much, evident by how his hand was shaking and the beam of light started to shake in accordance with the flashlight.

As he stalked down the hallway, Jessica taking bigger strides down, a faint glint to his left took his attention away. Throwing the torch that way, he spied a faint glow on a piece of wood, a sort of invisible ink splattered across the unknown object. As the light fully illuminated that brief corner of the room, Chris finally noticed what was catching his eye. A simple doll-house, made to curiously resemble their current abode by way of some minor modifications to its base model.

"What in the…?" his eyes went wide as he took a closer look at the model house. He leaned forward to stare blankly, the assembled doll figurines placed so carefully, so accurately that he could not construe it as a mere joke or coincidence. Even more disturbing was that each of the dolls' eyes was pouring all a thin stream of black ink, a touch that that unnerved Chris to no extent. Whatever his reasons, his gasp attracted Jessica's attention, who made a quick turn-about to loom behind Chris to see what he was looking at.

"Woah, woah. Is that…?" Jessica gawped, mouth hanging as low as it could get as the sight sank in and the memories started to flood back into her mind. She had done as much as she could to block it, considering how she had been a part of it. It seemed like someone else had better ideas…

"That's us. Last year." Chris pointed towards the dolls all huddled in the room, facing an equally creepy doll of Hannah standing in the doorway.

"That doesn't make sense. How would he…? Why?" Jessica stammered, eyes darting back and forth between each of the crude doll replicas in turn.

"I don't see me. Or Josh. Or Sam. Or Beth. We're not even in the kitchen." Chris noted, eyes moving towards the miniature kitchen sitting to the right of the bedroom. There were none of the three aforementioned people in the house anywhere. 'That doesn't make sense. If the psycho knew about the prank, then surely he must have known about us…' Chris started trying to put the disparate pieces together.

"I think it's just whoever was in on the prank. Maybe… Maybe it's because of what happened to Hannah and Josh." Jessica opined.

"But why target Beth then?" he responded in kind. If Jessica was right, Beth would never be targeted. And if it was Beth, he highly doubted she would kill herself as part of the grand scheme. It didn't track right and it certainly didn't explain the psycho targeting Sam as well.

"I don't know… I don't know." Jessica shook her head, quickly spinning around and clutching her head. 'No, no… This isn't real… This is all just a dream…' Jessica muttered, the memory too much for her to handle.

"God, I just wish I wasn't so stupid. And now Mike… he's with that psycho and…" Jessica blubbered frantically, pacing manically in a full circle. Chris rose up from his prone position, putting a firm but warm hand on the blonde's shoulder, feeling the pangs of anguish ripple through his veins.

"Hey, it's not your fault. We'll get him back, Jessica. Okay?" His words were nothing but a band-aid, to Jessica at least. Yet, she took some comfort in her friend's continued support and took a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves.

"Sure doesn't feel that way. But thanks, Chris. You know you're nice when you're not joking around." Jessica nodded, grateful for Chris' support.

"Easy there, Jess. Don't get all mushy on me now." He jested, patting the blonde girl's shoulder like a sibling would. 'Plus, it helps keep me on my feet…' he wistfully intoned to himself out of earshot.

"And he's back." She groaned, taking the lead into the dark, creepy basement once more. Before long, the duo had found themselves in the den of the deranged psychopath. Photos of themselves with Sam, Jessica and Emily's faces slashed with some level of anger. Pigs hanging from hooks, their guts and blood spilling out onto the floor below like they were whetting his appetite for the main course. A video reel cobbled together from that fateful night, ending with an ominous title card drawn in what appeared to be drying blood. And the freezer in the back that they were just about to head into before a sudden noise from the door to their right startled them from their investigations.

"Did you see that?" Jessica whispered, hand pressed on the handle to the freezer, a thin wisp of cold air billowing out from under the door.

"Yeah… Might be him. I'm gonna get in closer." Chris stepped forward towards the source of the noise.

"What?! Are you nuts?" she said, her mind already considering just how many horror movies have effectively mentioned not splitting up at all. Chris waved his hand in Jessica's direction, ambling further towards the door.

"Just hang back. Just in case…" He mentioned, pushing through the door and disappearing behind it. Jessica wanted to follow, to stick together but that too came at the risk of being spotted and she didn't envy that particular outcome. So, she settled for the freezer instead, pushing the large metal door on its hinges and walking inside.

"Shit… Shit…" Jessica shivered, the combination of natural cold air and the freezer making every part of her body feel like it was being flash-frozen. She endeavored to move quickly through the room, not even wasting a single glance to the line of hooks swinging on their chains above her. Exiting the room, she turned a corner and was instantly startled by Chris' sudden appearance, to which she stumbled back and landed flat on her backside.

"Jesus, you almost scared the crap out of me." Jessica cursed, slapping Chris on the shoulder after scrambling back to her feet. Chris winced in pain, rubbing his shoulder with a pang of regret etched in his face.

"Sorry." He mumbled apologetically.

"Come on. Hopefully he's not around." Jessica said, throwing open another door into a dimly lit room next to them.

"Mike?" Chris peered forward, seeing a similar looking form resting almost peacefully on a dimly lit chair. His hand stretched out very timidly towards the chair, turning it around and hastily drawing back in the hopes of not falling into yet another trap. Fortunately and unfortunately, it was merely Mike as expected but he seemed silent, unmoving. 'Oh, god… Damn it, man…' Chris cursed to himself, not even daring to think about what Jessica was possibly going through.

"No. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead." Jessica murmured, eyes widening as she continued to stare at the seemingly still form of Mike. Chris gamely stepped forward, bending down to examine his friend. His eyes caught the cloth wrapped around his mouth, yanking it off like a band-aid before tossing it aside in disgust. He pressed two of his fingers against Mike's neck, the dull thump of his heart thrumming through his fingertips.

"He's still breathing." Chris exhaled deeply. Jessica wasted no time racing to his side, crouching down beside her beloved boyfriend and looking him over. The two teenagers were so busy watching over the unconscious Mike that they barely noticed a hidden door open behind them with a soft creak, the masked psychopath emerging from the shadow of its frame and take position behind Chris with a wicked grin hidden behind its plastic disguise.

"Help me move…" Jessica bent her shoulder low enough to rest one of Mike's hands, looking over to Chris expectantly. Just as the teenager took a single step towards them, the majority of his body alight in the relatively dim light of the hanging lightbulb above them, a bulky looking arm grabbed Chris from behind and held a gas mask to the young man's mouth.

"Agghhh!" he had gasped out in surprise, arms and legs desperately flailing in a bid to free himself. Alas, the gas slowly started to take effect and his eyes started to blink rapidly. Slowly, his body gave out and Chris faded fast into an unconscious state, the psycho humming a low tune as he tossed the gas mask and its container aside, a hollow clank echoing in the occupants' ears.

"Chris!" Jessica yelped just as Chris hit the floor unconscious, a dull thud echoing in her ears. She saw nothing but red in her eyes, like a bull charging a bullfighter. Her feet took towards the towering figure, unafraid of it out of sheer fury.

"You f***ing monster!" Jessica made for a wild swing, her fist thrown at the general direction she thought the masked madman had been and striking at nothing but empty wind. It was then she heard a low chuckle emerge, then a forceful charge as Jessica felt the wind get kicked out of her as the psycho slammed into her and placed her flat on the ground, quickly following suit with a rag doused in chloroform.

"Good effort! Really good effort!" The psycho's voice echoed in Jessica's ears, slowly but surely drifiting into wordless slurs as the chemicals took hold and her senses started to fail her. Her eyes battled to stay awake, the chloroform worming her way into her blood stream. Rapid blinks soon followed and before long, the shapes started to blur as streaks of black clouded the edges of her vision.

"Mmmmpphhh…" she weakly and tokenly resisted, finally losing conscious just as she felt her hand land on the ragged floor with a dull thud.

It was several minutes or so later that Jessica would even have a hint of conscious thought, awoken as it was by the sudden sound of Mike's distinct voice.

"Jess…" His voice sounded so slurry. 'Ugghh… Please tell me this is a bad dream… I just want to wake up in the cabin, snuggled by a cozy fire…' she murmured incoherently to herself, the chloroform still working within her body.

"Jess!" It was his second shout that finally jolted the blonde teenager awake, her body shooting upwards as she shook her head to ward off the dull headache pounding away at her mind. Instinctively, she made to move her hands. She heard something brush against her wrist. 'Ropes? The hell…?' she noted as she looked down, her vision still somewhat blurry. It felt loose, like she might be able to slip her hand through given enough time.

"Mike? You okay?" she asked, starting to struggle against the handcuffs in earnest, eyes keeping full focus on her boyfriend.

"I'm okay. You?" Mike nodded, albeit with a rapidly failing demeanor. 'Come on, stay awake, Mike! Don't quit on me now…' she expressed to herself as she continued to wriggle in place.

"I'm okay. Chris, are you…?" her eyes went to Chris, now sporting a huge bruise on his forehead that he was rubbing. 'Wait, why does he have his hand free?' Jessica wondered, a faint suspicion starting to formulate in her head.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Aggghhh… Damn bastard clobbered me. He gave me too little of the sleeping gas." Chris surmised, only recalling how he had briefly awoken whilst being dragged by his legs towards the chairs they were currently strapped to. He had screamed at the top of his lungs, putting hope on a small chance of Ashley and Sam hearing his desperate cries for help. For his trouble, the psycho had let out a huge sigh at this minor 'inconvenience' and corrected it with a swift jab to his forehead, silencing him yet again.

"Hello again, my little test subjects." As if speaking of the devil, the three teenagers heard the psycho's voice echo from speakers surrounding the room.

"Hey! Come on out, you coward! What, you too afraid to face us?" Jessica challenged in an un-categorically brave tone for the blonde woman.

"Jess, not really the time." Mike grimaced amidst the hearty chuckles of the psychopath, eyes watering a little as he felt his chest ache in pain with each gasp of air filling his lungs.

"You should listen to Michael, Jessica. Better yet, you should listen to Christopher." The psychopath chimed in with a delirious song in their tone, their delight at their misery shaking Jessica's newfound confidence by a tick.

"What do you want, you murderer?"

"Chris has made one fatal choice today." The psycho said plainly. Just one sentence was enough to clue them in as to their captor's intent.

"No, no…" Mike muttered lowly, his head spinning to see the table sitting in the middle of room. On cue, the lightbulb above it flickered to life and illuminated the room even further, revealing a fully loaded handgun on the table. Jessica could hear an audible gulp escape Chris as he hesitantly reached for the firearm with his free hand.

"Now you can take that gun and shoot Jessica, shoot Michael or you can shoot yourself. Whoever's left can walk away scot free. The choice is yours." On the psycho's last word, all three of the young adults could hear a piercing buzz start up above them, the color draining from their complexion as three dangerous sawblades started to slowly descend upon them, drops of dried blood coating its sharp blades as another element of torment.

"Screw you, you piece of turd!" Chris screamed, hand raising the pistol up high and firing off three rounds at the machinery in righteous fury. The machine continued to whir and the blades continued to slowly inch their way down towards the hapless trio.

"Hahahaha… Don't be so silly, Chris." The psychopath taunted, laughing maniacally before he allowed the silence to overtake the young adults yet again. Inevitably, tensions started to mount rapidly. Five seconds of struggling elapsed. Five seconds where they wanted to fight back, to secure the best possible outcome. Yet Jessica stopped, aware they had little time to make a decision.

"Chris, shoot me." Her tone flattened, head drooped low.

"What?! No, not happening!" Chris vehemently opposed the notion, frantically trying to free himself considering he had a free hand to spare. Again he tugged at the ropes and again his hands pulled away with splotches of red against his flesh, frustration rising in his body.

"It's my fault Josh and Hannah are dead. If it means you guys get to live, then let this be the last thing I do." Jessica pleaded, only for Mike to put his own two cents in the mix.

"No, Chris. Shoot me. Look at me. I'll only slow you down. I'm at fault too."

"No, Mike. You're not going to die." Jessica snapped at him for what she deemed to be insanity. 'We came down for you. I'll be damned if we don't leave without you!' she told herself, eyes staring down Mike with purpose.

"Neither are you, Jess." Chris said in a robotic tone, uncharacteristic of the usual jokester persona he had perfected over the years. It meant only one thing to Jessica and Mike, something that they certainly had forgotten to account for despite the psychopath having laid out all the rules beforehand.

"Chris, don't." Mike found the nerve to speak, while Jessica looked at him with a hurried shake of her head.

"You deserve to be together. I mean… who gives a crap about me?" Chris said in a defeatist tone, head drooped low in a way that allowed only the top of his head to be seen by Jessica.

"Chris, don't. Ashley's waiting for you. You two…" Jessica attempted to dissuade him, only for Chris to slam the gun on the armrest of his chair in sheer frustration, hastily quieting Mike and Jessica from further conversation.

"It's not Ashley!" Chris bellowed, the stress of the situation starting to root itself in his brain. As the blades started to inch closer and closer down towards their heads, the whir of the high-velocity blades echoing in their ears, Chris gripped the handle of the gun a little tighter than usual.

"I… I… I'm in love… no, was in love with Sam. And now, I won't get a chance to tell her how I feel. I'm such an idiot." Chris smacked the gun against his chair in frustration, Mike jumping a little in place as he looked at the geeky kid that used to be brunt of a lot of jokes start to unravel just a little in front of them.

"Chris, come on! Shoot me! You can tell her yourself when you and Mike get out of this!" Jessica pleaded, struggling against her bindings with fresh resolve. She could feel the rope loosen. 'Just a little more… Come on, Jessica!' she hyped herself up. Unfortunately, she saw Chris' body cease its trembling and his eyes brimming with reluctant courage.

"Tell Sam… Tell Sam… Tell her I loved her." Chris choked out tearfully, entire body shaking as he slowly raised the gun to his temple. The metal seemed cold to the touch and soothing in some weird way, ironic considering the very nature of the weapon in question. Jessica and Mike struggled in their chairs, straining against the ropes tied around their bodies while simultaneously trying to ignore the whirring sawblades slowly descending on all three of them. As their faces scrunched up in exasperation and sheer desperation, Jessica felt time start to slow down as she saw Chris pull back on the hammer with grim determination and the sound of it clicking back in place echoed in her ears.

"CHRIS, NO!" Jessica screamed desperately. Chris however had made up his mind, his finger curling around the trigger and pulling down with swift action. The hammer creaked back into the gun

"NO!" As the shot rang out, the lights went out and bathed the trio in complete darkness. Jessica could only make out the muzzle flash before the light dimmed, the faint shadow of their friend tumbling sideways in his chair and crumpling to the floor. 'Dead. He's… dead…' Jessica muttered, guiltily looking over to the other shifting figure she knew to be her injured boyfriend. 'Why are we still alive…?' she thought in a classic sense of survivor's guilt.

"How unexpected… I would not have considered that outcome." The psycho's voice taunted over the intercom, a single click indicating to the traumatized couple that they had little time to waste with goodbyes. Jessica tugged at her restraints, her skin chaffing against the ropes. With an exalted grunt, she pulled her arms free and rushed to pull Mike up to his feet, the former class president giving a yelp of pain as he felt blood rush down to his lower body properly.

In that dim light, Jessica could barely make out anything. Only Chris' toppled body across her was close enough to make out. Everything else was simply pitch black. The silence only made the sight even harder to stomach, the young blonde struggling to bite back bile starting to build up in her throat.

"I'm sorry, Chris." Jessica muttered, biting her lip in guilt. 'What am I supposed to tell the others? What am I supposed to tell Sam?' she bitterly thought, resolved at the very least to convey Chris' true romantic intents if it was the last thing she did on this blasted rock.

"Can you walk, Mike?" she asked, feeling his arm wrap around her back for support.

"Yeah… Just give me a second…" Mike grunted, wrapping his other arm on his stomach as he made a nervous gulp. 'Can't… Can't let her know that I'm a little out of it…' Mike nervously concluded, not wanting to become another victim in the psychopath's killing game.

"Come on, we need to go find the others." Jessica made towards a general direction with caution, though Mike was quick to state the obvious to the blonde young adult.

"I can't see the exit." Mike slackened his grip, eyes squinting to see anything useful in the dark. Jessica was also trying her darndest to make out something in the dark landscape in front of them.

"Boo!" A sudden cry startled Jessica, the figure of the masked psychopath now standing directly in front of them. Eyes wide with terror, the couple hurtled backwards, Jessica's left arm smacking against the wooden leg of one of the chairs. Mike groaned in pain again, his hand flying up in a weak attempt to defend them from the psycho. As the figure advanced on Mike, all Jessica could think of was to reach for Chris' gun and bring it to bear so she could give the maniac the lead shower they rightfully deserved. 'You're not getting another one of us!' she thought to herself, throwing her body forward and yanking the pistol out of Chris' hand.

And in the floor above, both Sam and Ashley abruptly spun in alarm towards the general direction of the basement as three ear-piercing shots rang out, both teenagers immediately dashing to either save or avenge their friends…

Mines

2:56 AM

?

The winter held no grasp on the stranger any longer. Aside from the thick fur coat covering their body, the smell of gasoline filling their nostrils and the thick goggles covering their eyes, they had been on the mountain for long enough to understand its harshest punishments. To them, it was nothing. Except of course, for those teenagers back up on the mountain.

They felt the ground shake underneath them, boots quaking as they struggled to retain balance. 'Something's wrong…' they thought almost instinctively, taking huge strides to reach the source of the noise. The sight before them gave her moment for pause. To their right, small licks of flame flickered around bits of metal, a thin layer of smoke filling the small chamber the stranger found themselves in. To the far end of the chamber, there stood a lone teenager with jet black hair and designer clothes holding onto her arm. She looked like she was panting, no doubt trying to recover from whatever had occurred. 'Must be one of them from the lodge. What the heck are they doing all the way out here?' they thought as they approached.

"What are you doing?" The stranger called out, shocking the young woman as she spun around to face what she considered to be a very dangerous looking individual with a weapon designed to inflict maximum damage and pain to its opponents.

"Stay away from me!" Emily bellowed out, the frazzled young adult backing away from the stranger, her eyes darting nervously at the giant gas tanks on their back and the handmade flamethrower whose nozzle was pointed directly at her.

"Calm down for a second." The stranger said, pressing a stout gloved finger to its facial mask, head shifting behind with a look of fear in their visible facial features.

"No! Get back!" Emily kicked a rock at the encroaching figure, the small stone striking the stranger's leg. It wasn't hard, the stranger merely looking annoyed with her little intrusion. Emily was already fearing the worst, only to hear a high-pitched scream cry out followed soon after by a guttural growl.

Instantly, the stranger's eyes widened like discs and they spun around to face the entrance they had just come from. Their eyes squinted, as did Emily's in order to make a thin, lanky figure skittering on its hind legs towards them. Its eyes darted back and forth between the two potential meals, a shadow cast over most of its body with only its milk white eyes illuminated by faint moonlight coming from the crevice right above them.

"Run." The stranger slowly inched backward, their body shifting to protect Emily from any potential harm. Emily had no choice but to follow suit, seeing no particular reason to take chances with a strange and almost certainly hostile being over a hooded figure.

"Run!" The stranger finally screamed, grabbing Emily by the jacket and pulling down the tunnel in a mad dash. The stranger barely looked back as they ran, sending occasional jets of flame to dissuade the creature from pursuing them. Minutes later, they came to a halt in another larger chamber overlooking the mountain crop that Emily and Matt almost had the pleasure of falling over. Moonlight shone down on the two, bathing them in its glow, a moment of beauty in a night gone so utterly wrong. For Emily that is…

"Get back to the lodge. It's safe there." The stranger instructed, looking dead serious at Emily, a single gloved hand firmly entrenched on the young woman's shoulder. She whimpered a little as she heard the beast roar behind them. 'What the hell was that…? Some kind of… rabid animal or something? Oh no…' hey eyes started to widen again, the weight of her previous decision starting to weigh down on her.

"Matt… he's still down there." Emily said almost pleadingly, defiantly trying to shift past the stranger in some vain attempt to right her wrongs. Again, the stranger stopped her, with a sigh of seeming reluctance.

"I'll go get him. Just go to the lodge. If you see it, use these." The stranger threw a small leather bag into Emily's chest. She tumbled backwards a little, arms clutching onto the bag with a look of confusion as the stranger heard the telltale tip tap of feet following behind the both of them, spinning around just as the creature's lanky figures gripped onto the cave wall, the rock cracking at the surprising force exerted on it.

"Flares?" Emily peered inside the bag, spying a dozen or so emergency flares sitting harmlessly at the bottom of the bag. She looked at the stranger with absolute confusion, but the creature's subsequent roar and a forceful hand shoving backwards was enough to sap her of her curiosity and follow orders for the time being.

"GO!" The stranger shoved Emily further into the tunnel leading upwards, even as the creature slowly advanced upon their position. Grimacing underneath their gas mask, the nozzle of the makeshift flamethrower went up and a simple pull of the trigger jettisoned a burst of flames, peppering the gangly beast with licks of fire. The creature howled in pain, hands held up in an attempt to mitigate the damage. The stranger pressed their advantage for as long as they could. Eventually the flamethrower was spent and the creature took the opportunity to flee, heavily wounded as it was. The stranger yanked on the shotgun resting on their backpack and took aim, though by this point the creature had fled deeper into the tunnels. 'Crap… It's gone… Need to go that way anyway. Hope he stays alive long enough for me to get to him…' they thought, bending down to refill and restock their meagre supplies.