"Josh? Josh! Where the fuck are you?"
Sam's voice was lost to the wind, desperate yells swallowed up by the heavy wall of snow building up all around her. With each new step her boot seemed to sink further, dense whiteness crawling up her shins. She couldn't feel her toes.
He had to be somewhere. Nothing existed this far out - not even a shed he could have ducked into, out of sight. Just pure, bright white stretching on forever.
Shivering, Sam pulled her jacket up to her face, sinking into the fluffy fake fur surrounding the hood. It didn't help the icy grasp around her legs or the dull pain starting to form above her eyes, but it had to do. She had to find Josh before he got himself lost in the vast mountains - or hurt himself, or a million other possibilities. Why was she so stupid, talking to him like that and then letting him run off?
A long, piercing howl drifted over the plain of snow; like a distant wolf calling to the moon. It stretched on and on, apparently never ending - only to cut off as suddenly as it began. The silence that followed was deafening, the screeching wind barely reaching Sam's ears.
With her heart pounding in her chest, Sam picked up speed. Dragging her boots through the snow left her calves burning, feet freezing, but she didn't dare stop. With her head ducked low against the snow, she carried on.
When she next looked up, the once grey sky was already tinged with golden yellow.
"Fuck." Her voice was barely a breath, unheard above the wind. Distantly, another howl seemed to mimic her. She had to get moving now - find Josh and get back to the cabin. For all the protection it actually gave her, she knew it barely made a difference - but four walls and relative comfort was better than fighting that Wendigo out in the open.
Shit. She didn't even have her gun.
Another boot in the snow, another step further from the cabin. Out here, it felt like she was hundreds of miles away from civilisation. Where could Josh have gone?
The answer popped into her mind unprompted, like a late night revelation just before falling asleep. The lodge. He had gone to the burned remains of the lodge. Of course!
In one stumbling motion Sam spun around, ignoring how the sudden movement tore at her coat and scarf, and forced her aching legs to carry her up the mountain.
Somehow, without thinking, Sam's hand dug for her phone. Cold fingers struggled to type her password - Josh's birthday - but finally she was staring at her list of music. She clicked a playlist, turned up the volume, and clutched the phone as if her life depended on it.
This was her song - their song - and dammit Josh wasn't around to hear it but she needed something to keep her from losing her mind. Somehow, she thought, it might make finding Josh easier. Like the music was drawing her to him. Absurdly, it made her think of a documentary she watched with Emily once about psychic dousing. It had seemed like utter nonsense at the time, but right now she was willing to believe anything.
The further she walked the heavier the snow became, the sun dipping lower with every second. Sam let the song play out, audible even over the screaming of the wind, and she marched.
Up close, the lodge looked even worse. Half of it lay miraculously untouched, mildly charred but still intact - the rest was a charcoal husk barely recognisable as a building at all. Looking at it then, it occurred to her how lucky they were to all get out alive. Well, almost all of them. Was Hannah's body still in there, shrivelled and burned?
The water that hit her face was freezing, almost like ice. When she wiped the tears away they were already half-frozen.
Around the side, where the lodge was intact, Sam found the back door. Caked with white snow and grey ashes, it looked like it had been abandoned for years. The Washington's weren't going to rebuild - not with so many horrible memories attached to this place.
Sam remembered it all like it was yesterday. The bath, the sanatorium, searching for Josh and not knowing what was happening but Mike had fingers missing and christ, they were so lost.
Breath in. Hold. Release. The words were like a mantra, the only thing keeping her grounded. When she pushed the door open, her hands only shook a little.
The hallway was dark, side table coated in a thick layer of dust. The flowers were long dead. Sam felt like she was stepping into the setup for a ghost movie. Except she knew what lurked nearby were far worse than imaginary spirits.
"Josh, are you here?" Her voice shattered the illusion of peace, voice shrill in the quiet. There was no response. "Josh it's me, Sam. We need to get somewhere safe; I think the Wendigo knows we're not at the cabin any more."
She wandered through the remains of the lodge, poking her head through doors, each time finding nothing. It wasn't until the pristine hallway started to become a charred, ruined version of itself that Sam knew she wasn't alone.
The song, having finished but started up on repeat, echoed strangely off the walls in a way that shouldn't have even been possible; the beat of the music playing back to her.
What was left of the front foyer was just a facade - the roof had caved in, though the fire had destroyed almost any traces of debris except for chunks of wooden beams. Carefully stepping over a burned up lump, Sam prayed the foundations would hold.
Quietly, so quietly Sam could have put it down to the wind or the damaged beams creaking, something shuffled past the door leading to the living room. When she turned there was nothing - but something had moved. She knew it.
Using the her phone as a torch Sam crept forward, gently pushing the door open with a foot, and stuck her head inside. This was the worst of it, the room where the fire had started, swallowing up everything in its path. Two of the four walls were almost gone, the rest a blackened mess. Somehow the mantelpiece was still intact; enough so that she could see the little photograph of the Washington family sitting by a broken vase.
Then, curled up like a cat by a warm fireplace in winter, sat Josh. With his head tucked into the crook of his arm she couldn't see his face - but she couldn't miss the shallow rise and fall of his chest, or the tiny whimpers muffled by his hands.
Something crunched under her feet - probably wood, she reasoned, but the mental image of blackened bones and singed flesh rose in her mind and Sam didn't let herself look down. "God Josh, what happened?" Another step forward, another soft crunch, and Sam fought against the image of blazing fire rising high above as smoke filled her lungs. When she took in a breath it was shaky, uneven.
She didn't expect Josh to react, but disappointment still settled heavily when he didn't move to look at her.
She crouched beside him and didn't pay attention to the ashes clinging to her jeans or the snow soaking through to her knees. Leaning forward she let a hand gently drift across his shoulders, giving him space to move if he wanted. When he didn't, Sam allowed herself to wrap an arm around him and pull him close. Dropping her head into the crook of his neck Sam inhaled.
He smelled stale and sweaty and at any other time she would have wrinkled her nose and made some stupid joke about his relationship with hygiene - instead she just sighed and closed her eyes, letting that smell envelop her. He was here, uninjured and safe.
"I don't know what's going through your mind, Josh, but if you ever need to talk - now or any time - I'm here. I'm sorry I sprung that on you the way I did. I guess I thought you were ready to go home; I should have paid more attention." She had never been good at knowing how he really felt, had she? This was just another one of her hundreds of failures to be a decent friend. She was going to try harder - so much harder, even if it seemed impossible.
A tiny whimper escaped his torn lips as he curled into her, skinny arms wrapping around her torso and pulling her ever closer. He pressed his face close, so close she felt his teeth graze her throat and it took every ounce of self control not to flinch. "Don't want anyone to see me. Up here I can't hurt anyone." His voice was gravelly and slurred, somehow even worse than usual.
Sam's grip tightened around him, strong arms clinging as if that could somehow take all the hurt away. It wasn't much, but in that moment it was all she could do to keep from breaking. "I've been here for five days and you haven't hurt me. You wouldn't."
"Sammy, I hurt everyone-"
Sam pulled him closer, gently nuzzling into his shoulder. "Shoosh. That's a conversation for later. Now let's get back to the cabin." When Sam pulled away she caught a glisten of tears on Josh's cheek. Without thinking she reached out to brush them away, hand grazing the torn side of his cheek.
He flinched back, shying away from her touch as if it had burned him. A clawed hand reached up, hovering right where Sam's had been moments ago. Then he ducked his head, mangled cheek angled away as if to hide it from her.
He looked so nervous, self conscious in a way so unlike the Josh she knew that for a moment she couldn't form words. There was an ache in her chest like a physical pain, a yearning to reach out and tell him no, you're gorgeous, and somehow make this all better. She couldn't though; no number of kind words were going to fix this.
Instead she shuffled forward to take his clawed hand in hers, squeezing gently. When she spoke, her breath plumed out in front of her. "Hey, you're just as handsome as the day I met you. Some people are into fangs you know." Internally she cringed at her stupid choice of words, but then Josh let out a snort of laughter and it was worth it. "Seriously! Mike dated a girl who had a thing for vampires. Or was it werewolves? Either way..." A grin of her own curled at her lips as she leaned forward to peck his forehead.
He didn't flinch away this time. Good sign.
"Now really, can we head back to the cabin? My nose is about to freeze off and it would be really embarrassing to survive multiple Wendigo attacks and die by frostbite instead." Despite the lightness in her voice Sam shuddered at the reminder that they probably weren't alone. Was it even a good idea to venture back out into the snow?
At least Josh was in better spirits. That smartass grin was contagious, and he looked so cute with those lopsided lips and teeth peeking through the tear. It shouldn't have even been possible - but the sight of him made Sam melt.
She pulled herself to her feet and dusted down her jeans - not that it made a difference to the dampness soaking through, chilling her - and stuck out a hand for Josh. Despite being so much taller than before he was lighter, Sam pulling him to his feet so easily he stumbled forward. Right into her arms.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Neither spoke. Sam felt heat creep into her cheeks and hoped to God he put it down to the cold instead of this. He was so close... if she just leaned forward an inch or two their lips would meet...
"Slow down Sammy," Josh said with a laugh, "not the time for a kiss."
Ah. There was the Josh she remembered.
Huffing out a sigh she socked him in the shoulder - then dodged out of the way before he could retaliate. Even with her cold feet and stiff legs she managed to cross the destroyed living room before he caught her. Or maybe he was just pretending to try. "Man, I can't wait for a cup of tea by the fire," she said wistfully, glancing down to carefully step over broken wood. No bones after all. Obviously. With Josh back she was feeling so much better.
At least she was; until a low, drawn out shriek reached her ears. There was nothing for one impossibly long moment - and then another shriek, an amalgam of human and something else that was so close Sam swore she felt the vibration through the remains of the floor.
The third time, it was just around the corner.
