The . Dawn . Will . Come .
AUTHOR's NOTES
This is a dark chapter. I don't do trigger warnings because sensitive people should not be playing horror games nowadays. Nothing too harsh, just thought I would preface this before anyone complains. And if you do complain, then you might not be in the right place. This is but a taste for how fucked up this story will become eventually. :D Once again, the romance will continue to progress, I just wanted a bit of horror thrown back into the story!
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Spoilers will occur for those who forgo research or those who have not finished the game.
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Chapter 10
Steam rose over her face. It was hot and soft against her skin. Her small hands shaped around the coffee mug situated on the large wooden table in front of her. Her eyes closed to enjoy the sensation privately.
Footsteps pulled her back to reality, however, and her eyes snapped open. When she turned to see who the disturber was, Sam saw Chris. His blond hair was disheveled, and he had dark bags under his eyes. As he saw her, he swallowed irritably.
"Thought you'd be alone?" she raised as she exhaled and leaned back in the dining table chair. Her leg was leveled as it rested on the chair to her left. The girl softly chuckled, "Me, too."
"Where's Mike?" he impatiently countered. "How'd you get downstairs?"
She lifted her hand and widened her eyes as her fingers moved mystically in the air beside her face, "Magic!" Seeing he would not invest in her sarcasm at the early hour of five in the morning, she lifted her brow and rolled her eyes as she kicked the chair to her right, "Sit. You look like you could use a drink."
Chris did sit down next to her, but leaned away from her and sighed, "How'd you get down?"
Sam exhaled again and smiled, "I threw myself down on the carpet at the top of the stairs, so I could sit with my legs in front of me as I literally scooted my way down one step at a time like a God damned child."
He swallowed, but he had the decency to lowly stir up a chuckle. "You're going to get yourself more recovery time if you don't be careful," he stated. His glasses slid down his nose, but he was too lazy to fix them.
Sam nodded once, "I know. I just needed a few minutes to myself with it." Her fingers moved to feather over the leather bound journal.
His hand extended to hers over the journal and pulled it closer to him, "Have you read it yet?" His voice cracked and he coughed away the dense choke in his throat.
"I don't think I ever will, to be honest," she responded distantly. She shifted her gaze over his and saw him stare at her incredulously. (BUTTERFLY EFFECT UPDATE)
"Why?"
Sam sadly smiled and laughed away the building gloss growing at her eyes, "It would change him and who he used to be for me, and I'm not entirely excited about that."
Chris twitched his eyes and narrowed them quickly. Drawing back his head, he asked, "What exactly do you mean?"
Sam tightened her hand in Chris' and swallowed. "None of you know me very well, so it's expected that I was precisely like Hannah in the way she ardently crushed on Mike. Josh...became the closet thing to a best friend I've ever had. And I know that sounds harsh, since Hannah was my best friend before, but after the twins died, Josh changed in a way that profoundly moved me. We've always been friends, and perhaps I did like him before, but Josh became more intense after his sisters went missing, and I felt I could relate to that...darkness a bit."
Chris closed his eyes, "He was my best friend, and he never told me anything about how he felt or how badly it became for him. I've thought since that night of how much I'd abandoned him after his sisters..."
Sam leaned forward and placed her other hand on the top of his, "You can't blame yourself or think about what you would have done. None of that matters anymore."
Chris took off his glasses with his free hand and dabbed his eyes with his fingers. He broke down quietly, but calmed himself and continued, "We all saw some pretty fucked up shit, Sam. I'm not about to start saying I had it the worse that night or anything, but I saw a man's head get ripped a fucking part from his fucking body, man." His head shook wildly and his grip on her hand sharpened, causing her to twist her features to accommodate the discomfort. "I thought I had to choose between the lives of my best friend and the girl I-"
"Chris, you're allowed to be selfish about it. That's okay," she comfortingly told him as quietly as she could.
He shot up and tore his hands away from her, which spooked her terribly, so she shot up out of her seat and struggled to stand behind her chair. She held out her hand, but he released tears he'd been holding back, "Says what fancy psychologist, huh?" He exhaled erratically and stared at her with unrecognizable eyes. "Huh?"
Nodding once, Sam remained calm, "Says me. I don't go to any psycho therapists."
He rushed over to her and stared down at her dangerously, "How are you able to just MOVE ON after what's happened?! How can you pretend not to know any of us for MONTHS and not want to honor the way Josh felt about you! You didn't even TRY to think about saving Hannah! You just fucking scorched her to Wendigo ashes! How are you fine!?"
He grabbed her by her arms and shook her roughly, so she reached for his shoulders to try to steady herself. "Chris, I've dealt with trauma my whole life," she started in a hurry. She was grappling at smoke to remain calm. "We didn't know the Wendigo existed until that man came to the lodge. We were being hunted, Chris! HUNTED! And I took care of who I could. I stood by all of you to try to keep you alive. It was either keep the rest of you alive and myself or be fooled by any strand of hope I felt when I realized what she'd become! It was kinder to kill her!"
Chris threw her on the ground and redirected his fist from her to the small wooden table nearby. Upon impact, he desperately shouted an expletive. While he whined, Sam arched her back to cope with the harsh pain coursing over her skull from the quick impact on the tiled floor. Her mouth was open, but no sound emerged from her lips.
The wind was stolen from her lungs. Sam struggled to turn over to her stomach. As she did so, her vision blurred, but she knew every inch of this kitchen, so she could easily try to right her ringing head. The cabinets should be just a few feet before her. Those belonged.
Her vision began to sharpen. The shifting feet in the furthest, darkest corner of the formal dining room beyond the threshold weren't supposed to be there.
Her eyes narrowed to focus through the blackness beyond, and she saw a figure erratically moving. It was tall and large. Sam swallowed and uttered, "Chris, my cell phone is in the room I'm staying in. Go upstairs and call my mom. Her name is listed under Sharon Scott."
He was still breaking down, and Sam shouted, "CHRIS!"
"What?!" he retorted brokenly.
Her eyes held the shape's stillness, instead of turning around, "My phone. My Bedroom. Call Sharon Scott. Password to my phone is 1234." The shadow stepped forward once and stopped. Sam's arms shook when she began to sit up in an effort to stand. Her movements were calculated and slow. She swallowed. He wasn't saying anything, so she yelled, "Go wake up the others and fucking call my mom!"
The figure emerged in the light, and Chris chanted a shocked, "Fuck!" Sam didn't turn around, but she heard him scramble from the area and loudly charge up the stairs.
The familiar man was crying and hysterically laughing at the same time, but his attention never left her. She held out her hand, "Robert?" Her voice cracked.
He winced at the name and lashed out at her, pulling her violently from her lowered, limping position. Sam cried out at his terrible grip on her arms. Her eyes welled up, but remained focused on the man holding her hostage in the kitchen. Her hands moved to push at his chest as he brought her closer to him. As she grunted when he moved both of her wrists in one of his hands to choke her with the newly freed up hand, he began lifting her from the tiled floor.
His head shook as spit surfaced over his lips. He bared his teeth as he tightened his grip at her throat. She coughed helplessly and felt her legs sway freely. She needed to do something. Now.
His eyes ignited with more tears and hatred and violence as he spat, "You thought you could get away from me, songbird." His chest erratically heaved, "I will make you come to know those horrors that took you from me."
Her vision blurred, and Sam closed her eyes as her hands shook. When she opened them, she scrunched her features and threw her knee in the man's groin. Hard. Painfully...mostly for her, since her legs were all fucked up.
He dropped her and immediately, she began to pull herself away from him as he threw himself on the floor to cope with the temporary, unexpected pain. When she got to the chair of the table, she used it to help her stand. And when she stood, she darted around the corner and fell on her palms as she moved up the stairs awkwardly. (BUTTERFLY EFFECT)
She ran up the dramatic incline like an animal...on all fours. As she neared the top, the man seemingly had righted himself to follow her.
Sam glanced back as she headed for her room, seeing the door was ajar. Instantly, Matt sluggishly emerged from the room with Jessica across the hallway. Sam flipped the switch to light the hall way and shouted, "Get the fuck in my room!"
Jessica turned and shouted, but took the initiative to move inside the room in front of her. "Matt! grab her! That man is gaining on her!" She stood underneath the threshold watching the two students.
Sam grunted and noticed her pace was slowing down rapidly. "Come on, girl. You got this..." she chided herself. Immediately after, her skipping/jogging movement shifted to a limping sort of fast walk. She wouldn't turn around. She knew he was right behind her.
Matt was in front of her, but he ran passed her and threw all of his weight toward the psycho and shoved the man against the wall. "Sam, keep going!" he ordered.
Mike shoved Jessica away from the door and desperately rushed to Sam, scooping her up and bringing her in the safety of the dark room. "Sam!" he choked. When he neared the bed, he gently settled her there, and Matt shouted, but rushed back inside the room and locked the shut door. The house also had locks on the tops of the doorframe, and he noticed both, pulling the knob down to secure the door further. He glanced around and saw a dresser, and he paused momentarily, but ultimately motioned at Jessica to help him push it in front of the door. (BUTTERFLY EFFECT)
"What the fuck is going on? Why is there a man chasing you in your house?" Emily cried. Her breathing was erratic, and Sam saw she was panicking. Her hands were balled by her temples, but she quickly closed her eyes and practiced a breathing exercise, which helped her to relax a bit.
"Sam, are you okay?" Mike instantly asked as he held onto her hand. He inspected her even in the dark room.
Sam swallowed, "Turn on the light. Is everyone here?"
Mike glanced around the room as Matt flicked the switch, lighting the room. "Sam, are you okay?" he firmly interrogated.
"Nevermind me, Mike," she warned. She took the liberty to glance about the large room, seeing everyone. She took a deep breath and swallowed, "I'm glad everyone made it here safely."
"You're my concern, Sam. Your legs aren't okay yet," Mike pressed.
Sam shot up, but wobbled until she leaned against the nearby wall, "Shit, Mike. I'm FINE! I'm not completely rendered useless just because a doctor tells me I need to be confined to a wheelchair."
"Guys!" Ashley eerily shrieked while pointing to the door, "I don't hear anything outside. Where did he go?"
Chris moved closer to Sam, "I can't get ahold of your mom. No answer."
Sam nodded once, "That means she's either driving or dead."
"How can you say that so calmly?" Ashley lashed out. She crossed her arms over her chest as she shivered. "I can't handle this again, Chris!" she hollered. When Chris moved to her, he moved his arms over her body, bringing her close, "I can't!"
Sam chuckled once, "At least this isn't a prank." She glanced to the others individually. They looked at her like she'd gone mental. "I've done this whole routine before with him."
Jessica put Matt's letterman jacket on, retorting, "What do you mean?"
"Sam?" Mike questioned anxiously.
"He's my dad. He has a mental illness cocktail of schizophrenia, bipolarism, and multiple personality syndrome. It started before I was born and got worse after the twins died," Sam explained.
Emily whined, "Oh, my God! Sam! Why didn't you ever tell us?"
Sam shrugged, "Y'all weren't friends I thought I could trust with this."
Ashley squealed, "Shouldn't we call the police? He's still inside the house!"
Sam swallowed, "He's a senator of New York. If this got out, my whole family would be torn apart by the media. I've fought to keep this between my family because being senator and involved with the shit he's involved in keeps him away from me and forces him to take his medicine...usually."
"So what do we do? Are you expecting us to die because it'll be bad press?" Emily retorted sarcastically.
Matt coughed, interrupting the conversation, "I think we should find a way to isolate him. We at least need to find him. We all survived Wendigos...one man shouldn't be a problem."
Sam smiled sweetly, "That, my friends, is precisely what we'll do." (BUTTERFLY EFFECT)
Emily and Ashley both said, "But how?" They shared an annoyed glare between each other before turning their attention back to Sam.
"There's a safe room in the basement specially ordered for my pops. We get him there, he won't be a problem. Besides, it's soundproof," Sam told them casually. "We should devise a plan."
When it seemed everyone was in agreement, Ashley whined, "Hashtag WeGotAPsychoAfterUsPart2..."
A knife pierced through the door, and nearly everyone shrieked, shouted, or jumped out of their skin.
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Butterfly Effects
Sam was given Josh's old journal, and she has decided not to read it.
Sam chose to not react angrily against Ashley.
Sam left the journal downstairs.
Matt chose to barricade the door.
The group chose not to involve police.
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Status Updates
Sam:
Mike: Highest
Jessica: Medium
Matt: Medium
Chris: Neutral
Emily: Medium
Ashley: Neutral
Mike:
Sam: Highest
Jessica: Higher
Matt: High
Chris: Neutral
Emily: Neutral
Ashley: Low
Jessica:
Mike: Higher
Sam: Higher
Matt: Highest
Chris: Medium
Emily: Neutral
Ashley: Neutral
Matt:
Sam: High
Jessica: Highest
Mike: High
Chris: Medium
Emily: Low
Ashley: Neutral
Chris:
Sam: Higher
Jessica: Neutral
Matt: Medium
Mike: Neutral
Emily: Neutral
Ashley: Medium
Ashley:
Mike: Lowest
Jessica: Low
Matt: Neutral
Chris: Highest
Emily: Lower
Sam: High
Emily:
Sam: Highest
Jessica: Neutral
Matt: Medium
Chris: Neutral
Mike: Neutral
Ashley: Lowest
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AUTHOR's NOTES
So, in the game I REALLY enjoyed the Psycho aspect, so I decided to pay homage to the game one more time. It won't be the last time I do this sort of thing, either. I must be evil because I left on a cliffhanger, right? It was a good stopping point. You all appreciate frequent updates, and this will likely take up three chapters worth of words...so I'm splitting it up so you all do not have to wait until may for it. I have big plans for this story. Stick around a while to explore the life after the mountain. :D
As for the Status Updates, here are the scores I've gone with:
1 = Lowest
2 = Lower
3 = Low
4 = Neutral
5 = Medium
6 = High
7 = Higher
8 = Highest
These do not quantify love, hate, etc. They simply quantify the relationships as they change.
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BREVIARY-ROSE