CHAPTER TEN

Josh didn't know what to do. When he had that brilliant plan, this had never been a possibility. No one was supposed to physically get hurt. It was all a joke and now…

He couldn't get her to breathe. She was dying in his arms and he didn't know what to do. IN a desperate final attempt, he slammed his fist against her chest. There was a faint crack that only increased hi panic. No, no… He hurt her. "I'm sorry, Clara." He laid his head on her chest and sobbed, trying to memorise the way her life was beating into his ears.

Suddenly, her body jerked and she began to cough out water. The sound of choking made him jolt up and help her to her side. Mouthfuls of water spewed out of her before she was left gasping for air.

"Clara! Clara!" He hovered over her with tears in his eyes. She was alive!

She stared groggily at him. "J-Josh…?" Where was she? What happened to her? Her entire body felt as if it had been ran over several times. Her arm hurt. Her legs were sore. Her face felt swollen and her chest ached. It was even difficult to breathe.

"I thought I lost you," he cried, pulling her against him.

She winced in pain, but managed to find comfort in his arms.

Clara had never felt so confused. She could vaguely recall everything that happened in these mines, but it was like an out of body experience. Did it all really happen?

She gingerly gingerly touched her upper arm where Mike had shot her.

It hurt.

Other than the pain, she felt safe in his arms. She wanted nothing more than to remain there, but she knew that she couldn't because it wasn't safe. Miraculously, whatever was left of Hannah decided to leave them alone, but that didn't mean the others weren't going to want a free meal.

He reluctantly let go. "I don't know how." He looked shamefully away from her.

She touched his arm to catch his attention before giving him an encouraging smile. "It's alright. We'll be fine. You told me that and we will be." She could only hope that she'd remember how to get back. It all seemed like a blur. There were several turns that she would be able to recognise, but that was it.

Never in her life had she thought that she'd be in a situation like this.

Josh carefully helped her to her feet. Immediately, her vision went black and she stumbled into him. The darkness parted in a flurry of colourful spots.

"Are you okay?" Josh sounded ready to lost it, again.

Blinking several times, she mumbled an affirmative answer. It didn't matter if she was alright or not. They had no other options. "This way," she whispered, dragging her feet forward. She was grateful that he had pulled her on to the correct side of the lake. There was no way she'd be able to make it otherwise.

One foot in front of the other. One-two, three-four. One-two, three-four.

It was going so smoothly. They had to have made it half way before they turned into an unfamiliar fork. She started doubting if they had gone the right way. Was this the correct path? It they had already taken a wrong turn earlier, she didn't know if she could bring herself to go back. It had been a substantial distance and all she wanted to do was lay down, close her eyes, and give up.

Maybe for just a few seconds…

"Clara!"

Her eyes snapped open. She couldn't be selfish now. Josh was counting on her. She owed him at least this much for what she had done to him. Not only that, she knew that her feelings were also stopping her. It had never been her intention to fall in love. She had seen what it did to people, but she couldn't seem to shut that part of herself off.

"Left. Let's try left." They had to move forward. Each step was agonising. Her vision wavered. She took one more step and collapsed.

When she next opened her eyes, Josh was in front of her, dabbing her head with his sleeve. She gave him a small smile, but noted how the sleeve was already covered in blood – his. That was her fault. Tears stung her eyes as she tried to keep the feelings from devouring her. "I'm so sorry…" It was her fault. If she hadn't been so bent on revenge, perhaps this wouldn't have happened. She had been Josh's only hope when his friends had all forsaken him and the only thing on her mind was to make him suffer. Where did it get her? Nowhere.

She watched as Mike landed another punch on Josh's face. There was already bruising around the eyes. She wanted to help him. Despite what his family had done, he elicited a foreign emotion inside her. "Are you sure it was Josh who did it?" she spoke up without meaning to. Immediately, a voice in her head was chastising her. There was a chance to get rid of him and she was ruining it! It was like her mouth had a mind of its own. She was foolishly sabotaging herself.

But then he turned to Sam. Sweet Sam who could do no wrong. Clara could tell that the blonde had a crush on him and when she revealed what Josh had said to her, Clara could feel that terrible jealousy rearing its ugly head inside her. Men, they were all the same. Inconsiderate assholes who played with women.

So she watched him burn and poured fuel into fire.

The sinking feelings of guilt and regret was overwhelming, now. "It's all my fault," she whispered.

He swallowed hard. "No. He told me it was a bad idea. I should've listened to him. We'll get out. It's just a stinkin' mine. Heard some miners who were trapped here got out alright. We can, too."

Screeeech!

"Oh, no…" Clara looked into the darkness in horror.

"Come on! Come on!" Josh grabbed her hand and began to lead her forward. It didn't matter where they went as long as it was away from the creature.

Screeeech!

It was getting closer.

"There!" He pointed to where light was filtering into the cavern.

Clara followed his finger up a small cliff and paled.

He immediately began to scale it. His body moved nimbly up the rocky surface.

With shaky hands, she grasped on to the first ridge and tried to pull herself up. Not even a metre off the ground, she slid painfully back down, scraping her arms. She shook her head. There was no way she'd be able to make it up there. She leaned her head against the rocky surface in despair.

At least one of them would be able to get away. She didn't mind being a distraction. Maybe the Wendigo would take her and leave him alone.

Josh was a third way up when he noticed a presence missing. "Come on! We have to hurry!" He held his hand out to her. Why wasn't she moving? They didn't have time to rest now.

She looked back up at him with teary eyes. "Go. I-I'll just be a second…"

Screeeech!

She covered her mouth to keep the sob from coming out. She was so scared, but she couldn't let Josh know. He'd come back down here and neither of them would be able to get out.

Screeeech!

A form jumped down in front of her. She kept her eyes shut. They were terrifying. She didn't want the last face she'd see be that monster's ugly visage. Josh. That was who she wanted to see. Josh.

"Clara!" Hands were on her. "Hold on." She opened her eyes to see the back of the blue, ugly overalls. "Get on. I'll help you up."

"No, Josh, you have to go," she cried. She would be nothing but a burden to him. "There's no time."

"Then stop washing it!" He tugged her arms around his neck. She sniffed and wrapped them tighter, pressing her entire body against his back. All the while, she was apologising. "We can do it, Clara."

The constant reminder that the Wendigo was behind them was unsettling. It was growing louder and louder. She looked back and immediately felt her heart drop. She buried her face back into his shoulder. The image of the pale-skinned creature was searched into her mind.

Sensing her distress, he started to turn his head to see what was wrong, but she quickly stopped him. "Go, please. Just hurry."

He squared his shoulders and continued onward.

Screeeech!

His heart leapt to his throat. It sounded as if it was just at the base of the cliff. The only thing that kept him going strong were the soft whispers coming from the redhead wrapped around him.

Once the top was within reaching distance, he leapt for it and pulled himself and Clara up. As he was helping her to her feet, he caught a glimpse of its face and the tattoo on its arm. "Hannah…" He shook his head. "You're not real… You're not Hannah…" His vision began to distort. The walls were moving and a hole in the ground was going to consume him. The hole morphed into a mouth. It was Beth's face was growing out of it. "No… No… You're not real! You can't control me anymore!"

A hand touched his face. He looked at concerned grey eyes. "We have to go. That's not Hannah – not anymore." She couldn't afford to lose him to a memory. It was difficult enough keeping herself together.

He gave the Wendigo one more glance before nodding. It wasn't Hannah. Hannah would never try to hurt anyone.

They raced through the trees with the creature following closely behind them. The mine opening hadn't taken her anywhere familiar, but it didn't matter. They needed somewhere to hide and the trees weren't enough.

Not long, Clara was panting heavily. Her shaky legs were threatening to fold beneath her weight. "J-J…" She gasped for air. "J-Josh!" He continued to drag her forward. "Josh! I c-can't!" She wasn't getting enough oxygen. Her lungs burned. They ached painfully in her chest, but he wasn't listening. She tried to pry his hand away from hers. It was useless. He was too consumed with fleeing.

Her knees buckled and she fell, taking him down with her. She laid flat on her stomach in the snow, slightly buried by the cold slush. Her blood was already painting the snow red. She was so tired. She couldn't do it anymore. Tears slid down the side of her face, leaving a frozen trail behind.

Suddenly, a warm body covered hers. Josh rested his head on her shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." He wound their fingers together and waited for the Wendigo to claim them.

Screeeech!

Its pace had slowed as if it knew exactly what was there – waiting helpless. The footsteps crunched deep into the snow.

Clara bit her lips to keep the sob in.

Josh had his face buried into the crook of her neck.

The Wendigo stopped in front of their motionless bodies.

This was it.

This was really the end.

Screeech!

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So after contemplating for a while, I've decided to end it here. I know most of you wanted a happy ending, but I thought it'd be a good place to just cut it off. I had planned for it to be longer, but somehow, it just got away from me. I couldn't find a place to end it where I had first intended, so I thought it'd be best to leave it here instead of having an incomplete ending.

I'm really, really sorry that it couldn't have been better. I know I promised you guys at least two more chapters. I hope this won't disappoint that many of you. I've tried my best to make it as exciting as possible and kind of let them go with a bang – a quiet bang…

Thank you everyone for being so supportive in this story. All the reviews for the previous chapter had made me so happy that I ended up acting so silly.

I was writing and writing and writing and considering the theme or the game and all the underhanded plots in this story, I just had to do this.

I do wish to apologise to anyone who decided to stop reading after the first paragraph in this Author's Note, though. It'll probably reflect negatively on me, but here's the rest of the chapter.

The footsteps circled around them. Josh's breath quickened. He could feel how hard Clara was trying to make herself blend in with the snow, but there was still a violent tremble racking through her body.

He shifted his head and pressed his lips against the pulse of her neck. If he died, he at least wanted to kiss her one last time. He never thought that it could so quickly be his last. He wanted more time with her. He thought he had more time!

Gathering up his courage, he trailed up to the corner of her lips.

Clara felt herself relax as she was completely enveloped by Josh. She angled her face to look directly into his eyes. He was staring back at her before glancing at her lips, as if to ask for permission.

Despite the situation, she gave him a smalls mile. It was enough for him to press his lips on hers.

Warn tingles exploded where their lips connected. They travelled down her body and filled her with a sense of contentment. For the first time in her life, she felt complete. Never did she think that she'd be able to experience something like this.

Screeech!

The Wendigo paused by their heads.

If this was it, she didn't mind dying like this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I apologise again for the silliness! This chapter still ended in a cliffhanger, but it's not the end. There will be a next chapter. I hope there is actually people left reading this and they haven't all left after the first Author's Note…

Well, if you have… Then no one would mind me ranting about Mike and his cowardly behaviour… I mean, how could he have just left Josh to the Wendigo's hands like that?! After everything that he had done in the sanatorium and how he was the one to tie Josh in the shed by himself because he was an idiot who thought Josh killed Jess! After he realised that there were actual monsters on the mountains, he went to find Josh, but only for the bloody cable car keys! I thought he actually wanted to rectify his mistake – that he wasn't such an arse and cared for the friend who lost his sisters and lost his mind because of Jess' half-arsed prank! What a bloody prick!

Okay, I'm done. I apologise for that as well. I haven't been able to get it off my chest because none of my friends are particularly interested in this game nor seem to be as affected by what Mike had done to Josh.

That being said, I have seen how all of you seem to want a happy ending for them. I also think Josh deserves it for all the things he had to go through. The game never gave us an option to truly save him.

Dusk-deerfluff also mentioned wanting perhaps two endings. I've slept on it and thought… Why not? But I hope you know what you're about to get yourself into. Muahaha

Now that I may have scared you off of the idea (I hope not because I do have something planned, now), I'd like to thank Solleo93, peach-barnes, Dusk-deerfluff, ILovePotatoes94, and PorcelainPuppetLady for your wonderful reviews.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has followed and favourited this story.

I hope I haven't lost any of you to the lil prank/joke. Too bad it's nowhere near April. It would've been more appropriate then, but… I'll have to make do with what I have. Since none of you can give me a Treat on Hallowe'en. That was the Trick for you all!

This is why I shouldn't eat chocolate so late at night.

Despite that, I hope you guys will leave a review - an opinion, a random thought, some suggestions, what your thoughts on Mike are or even how unhappy you are with me for pulling that little prank.

Echo