Author's Note: Honestly, I didn't think I was coming back to this story, seeing as I got distracted from this and lost interest in the game. However, I got a surge of inspiration, and I decided this story just had too much potential to pass up. I really like what I've done with Beth's story and her character, and I'd hate to see it go to waste. I just hope my original audience is still interested.

Reunion

Beth stirs in the night, finally awaking from her slumber. The sleeping pills had certainly done their work, Beth had fallen asleep shortly after Josh had left her room. Only problem is, Josh was supposed to get her up before it got too late. Instead, she finds herself waking up alone. She can already tell by the way she feels that she has slept more than she wanted. And it's quiet. Way too quiet. She expects to hear her friends' voices, maybe some loud music playing, even some footsteps, but there is nothing. She goes for her phone, checking the time.

1:33 a.m.

Not that long, but didn't Josh say he would wake her up? Maybe he lost track of time. She rises from the bed, making her way to the door, still pretty groggy. She was so upset and distracted before she had fallen asleep with her shoes still on. She stops just short of the door, a fear suddenly grabbing her. What will she say to her friends after her all that? She can't just go back down and act like nothing happened, can she? Are they mad at her? Beth shakes her head.

"Fuck it, I can't keep being afraid." Beth says to herself, taking a deep breath. She doesn't have to explain herself, they know she's troubled. Hopefully, they'll all just understand, and they won't have to speak about it ever again. She reaches for the doorknob, opening it, to find nothing.

No one.

The cabin is dark, quiet, and empty. And she is alone.

"H-hello?" Beth calls out, hoping someone will answer, but she hears nothing, only the sound of the cold wind crashing against the lodge.

She starts down the stairs, slowly. The stairs are creaking faintly, she's never noticed that before. It's never been this quiet.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she calls out. Still no answer. "Josh? Sam? Emily?"

She can't believe she just called for Emily. At this point though, she'll settle for seeing anyone. Almost anyone.

She comes to the bottom of the stairs, walking into the center of the room. "Guys? Guys? You guys?! Come on! Hello?!" she screams, begging for a response. She had developed a fear of the dark, because that's where Hannah usually was. Now that Hannah is gone, the fear has faded, but not totally. She's still alone in a dark, empty lodge, miles away from any civilization, with no explanation of where anyone has gone. The whole thing is unnerving enough to creep anyone out. She feels the darkness surrounding her, the silence screaming at her.

"Guys! This isn't funny! Is this some kinda fucking prank?!" They wouldn't do this to her, would they? After Hannah they wouldn't prank her too. They aren't that cruel, right? If they are, she'll seriously have to start thinking about branching out. "Okay, okay," she takes deep breaths, trying to calm down. "Maybe they just split up. Maybe there's still someone here. Somewhere."

Suddenly, a light flashes on, shining through the doorway in front of her. Someone had turned on the screen in the home theater. The doors are wide open, inviting her inside.

"Alright, this has prank written all over it now," Beth squints, turning from scared to annoyed. "They're trying to freak me out even more. I can't fucking believe it." She won't believe Josh or Sam have a part in this, there's no way.

With not much of a choice, she heads into the theater to see what's planned for her. She's already figured out the joke. Frankly, it was a pretty ridiculous idea to start with. She's upset, not stupid.

"Alright guys, come on this isn't funny," she says loud enough for anyone inside the theater to hear her.

When she walks in, what she sees playing at first on screen is about what she expected to see. Dead bodies, images of human disasters, disgusting bugs, things of that nature. Anything that would freak her out to strengthen the prank. She doesn't know where they got this footage, but who knows how long they were planning this. After last year's prank, she doesn't think there's any limit to how far they will go. None of the things playing on the screen bothered her in the least, especially not bugs, but she was a girl, so maybe her stupid friends figured she was grossed out by them, like her sister. She had been hunting with her father and her brother over a dozen times, she had seen more big bugs than any of them put together. She isn't so easily frightened, even in her state. She begins to wonder who's in on this. Not Sam. Definitely not Josh. Probably the same assholes who pranked her sister last year. At first she wanted to forgive her friends, but if this is how they're going to continue their relationship, even after what the last prank did to Hannah, maybe she just has shitty friends.

"Yeah, ok, this is dumb," she sighs, actually smiling a bit at the stupidity of this, but the smile instantly disappears when she realizes how mad she is at them. "Do I look five years old to you assholes?! Guys, seriously! STOP! If you really think this is funny, then I don't wanna be friends with you anymore! I mean it! You guys are jerks! Emily, if you're in on this, I swear to God, you're fucking dead! First you talk shit about my sister, and now you pull this shit?! Fuck you Emily! If you don't quit this now, we're over! You think Jess hates your guts? You, have, no, idea!" she screams as loud as she can. She doesn't really hate Emily. She certainly wants to, and at this point she's certainly on her way, but Beth isn't a hateful person by nature. She just wants them to stop and start taking her issues seriously, like Josh, or Sam.

She figures they're all hiding out of sight, but she's screaming to no one. No one's in the theater, that is, except one person. Someone sitting in the front row she hasn't noticed yet. Now, something else appears on the screen. Something specifically chosen to cause a mental train wreck in Beth's head.

On the screen is Hannah. A young Hannah. And a young Beth, playing together. Beth stops her screaming, already feeling her heart twisting and turning. A slightly older Josh stood off to the side, standing by his mother. Her dad was holding the camera. This was an old home movie from years and years ago. Her family kept countless copies of those old things up here, but they never got watched, they just sat in a room encased in layers of ancient dust. Had those assholes raided her family archives? She vaguely remembers the day this was filmed, but she's never seen the end result. After Hannah vanished, she certainly doesn't want to see it now, if ever. She stares, transfixed at the sight before her, blindly stepping forward into the theater. They were just running around the yard like stupid kids, playing tag or something. They can't have been anymore than nine in this recording. Josh was around eleven at the time, standing next to their mom, looking bored. He thought he was too cool to be playing with his little kid sisters at the time, even though they were less than two years apart. Not to mention, they were girls, Josh didn't want to play with girls at age eleven. That quickly changed though, at least for Beth. This video was reminding her not only of her friendship with Hannah, but how different they would eventually become. Hannah would go on to meet and become best friends with Sam, Beth started hanging around Josh, and eventually becoming closer to Josh than Hannah, but Hannah was still her sister. Her twin sister. They would have always been friends, they would have always had a certain connection no one else could ever understand. She was Beth's second half.

And now she's dead.

She shakes these thoughts from her head, trying to get a grasp on what's happening. Are her friends really behind this? Are they really this cruel? This is absolutely killing her. It's sadistic. She hangs her head, tears forming in her eyes. She just stands there, shaking, sobbing, seething. If her anger were a physical force, the entire room would be trembling so furiously, you'd think an earthquake had struck.

"STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! I CAN'T TAKE THIS! TURN IT OFF!"

And just like that, the screen goes dark, and the room lights up. Beth flinches and shields her eyes from the sudden brightness. When the shock finally dims she spotts the figure sitting in the front row. They have long dark hair, and as far as she knows, there's only one person here who looks like that.

"Emily, you fucking jerk! What the hell is wrong with you?!" yells Beth, half in tears, storming up to the front row. The figure rises, stepping into the aisle. Beth freezes. It's not Emily. It's not any of her friends she came here with, at least not this year.

"Hey sis, you miss me? Just thought I'd keep myself occupied while I wait for you. Watch a few old videos. Reminisce," Hannah says smiling, as if nothing is wrong with any of this.

Beth stands motionless, as if she's been turned to stone. Her sister looks pretty pleased with her reaction.

"We really had you going, huh? Yeah, I guess I felt like playing a little prank of my own. Sorry, Emily's not here, aaaaaand I don't think we'll be seeing her anytime soon. Or ever again."