Until Dawn: A New Path

Chapter 12 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

Chapter 12

Unaware of everything else that had been happening, Sam lounged in the bath. Her iPhone was situated on the wide edge, far enough away from the water to avoid any problems. Her headphones were plugged in and she was listening to Bach, Suite No. 1 prelude in G Major. She was deeply into the music and rocking her body slightly in motion with the music, eyes closed.

Therefore, she was unaware of the black clad figure with the red and white terror clown mask standing and watching her. He had already retrieved what he came for, so it was time to begin. He turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Sam only barely heard the door, but she felt the gust from it, as well as noticed the candle extinguishing from it, too. She pulled out her headphones, pushing them and her iPhone away from the ledge completely.

"Hello?" she called out. "Guys? What are you doing out there?"

She glared and shook her head, muttering, "You being creepy?"

She got no response, however. Sighing heavily, she began to climb out of the bath.

She quickly retrieved a white towel nearby and wrapped it around herself, covering herself as best as she could. Holding a hand against the towel for added security, she approached the chair that she had laid out her clothes on, only to stop and stare in disbelief. Her clothes were gone, all except for one sock.

"Oh for Pete's sake. My clothes? Really?" she complained, before calling out, "Whichever one of you did this is off my Christmas list. Seriously, not cool, guys. Not cool at all."

She stalked over to the bathroom door, opened it, and stepped out into the corridor. She looked around and couldn't see or hear anyone. Instantly, her mind flashed back to when they pranked Hannah and she felt uneasy. She glanced down to make sure that the towel covered her and she began to walk.

"Chris? Josh?" she called out, hoping for some reassurance from the least likely suspects. "What the hell?"

Suddenly, a loud noise startled her, making her stagger back, but it was just the old grandfather clock chiming.

"Ugh, stupid clock."

She was now out on the balcony and called out again. "Chris? Mike? Emily? This is really getting out of hand, okay?" She shook her head and continued.

"It was all very funny, ha ha, look at Sam walking around in a towel. But now I just really want this to be over, alright? You had enough?"

Still no answer, but she noticed something that bothered her. Next to the stairs was a balloon with an arrow on it, pointing down the stairs. She bit her lip and made her way downstairs. She was still damp, but thankfully not dripping wet. Still, it didn't make her feel any less embarrassed.

She reached the lower main room and looked around before stalking out to the front entrance.

"Can I have my clothes back now or am I supposed to hang out in a towel for the rest of the weekend?" she demanded, only to again be greeted with silence. "Towel it is, then."

It was then that something caught her eye: a strange business card for a slaughter house. On the back of it was a request for dead pigs and circular saw blades. While confusing, Sam left it. She had more pressing issues as she returned and decided to continue following the balloons that showed up, guiding her to the basement.

"Okay, if you were trying to freak me out, guess what? You succeeded." she said, trying to reassure herself, as she was getting unnerved by all this.

She found that, to her surprise, the normally locked cinema room doors were wide open. She picked up the flashlight Josh had used earlier and turned it on, stepping into the room, unaware of the masked figure in the shadows by the stairs.

"Where the hell are you guys?" she demanded. "Whoa, this is weird..."

The room was actually set up and seemed to be showing a movie, or rather, the static when a movie wasn't in focus.

Sam exhaled sharply. She was at the end of her tether now. "Hey! Guys, come ON! I am DONE with this! I really don't appreciate the silent treatment here!"

But her angry tirade was cut off by the cinema doors slamming shut by themselves. Sam screamed and did so again when a distorted voice began to talk.

"Hello, Samantha." it said, sounding rather sarcastic and mocking. "Looking for me? I don't think you'll have much luck by looking, Samantha."

Sam looked around wildly, her heart pounding.

"What the...what the hell?!" she whispered in fear.

The distorted voice spoke again. "You're only going to see what I want you to see, and I have quite a lot to show you."

Sam shook her head. "What is...what is going on?!"

"Open your eyes."

The large screen flared to life properly and Sam turned to face it, eyes widening with shock and revulsion as it showed footage of her in the bath. Someone had been recording her, they had seen her naked.

"Oh my god..." Her words were barely breathed out. She now felt utterly violated.

The distorted voice continued, mocking her. "She's quite beautiful, isn't she? A beautiful bathing bird…"

Sam looked around frantically again. "How? Why? Why did you…?"

"Do you think she has any idea what lies ahead? Do you think these were the last happy moments of this creature's life?"

An icy stab of fear ran down her spine at those words. "Why are you showing this to me?"

"Why are you watching?"

With a shaky breath, Sam turned around before screaming at what was now being shown: footage of Josh getting cut in half.

"Josh!" she cried. "OH MY GOD, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

The voice, however, took on a more menacing tone at that moment. "I'm going to give you ten seconds... Nine..."

"No, no..." Sam whispered, looking around frantically, retreating to the nearby wall. "Nonono..."

"Eight... Seven..."

"Please, no!"

The door suddenly burst open and Sam screamed as the Psycho entered, the grin of his mask likely hiding a sadistic grin of his own.

"Sam." he growled. In his hand, he held a canister of some sort. Attached to it was a nozzle and a breathing tube, connected to an oxygen mask.

Sam's heart raced. There could be anything in that canister, so she had to keep it away from her.

"No... No!" she pleaded.

But the Psycho began to draw closer.

Acting in a blind panic, Sam grabbed a nearby vase and threw it blindly at the Psycho, striking his arm and making him stumble. She ran for her life, running through the door at the other end of the room. She was in now in the guest room.

"Shit!" she cried out. She could already hear his footsteps. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Wasting no time, she leapt over the bed, flashlight guiding her path, grasping at her towel to keep it covering her body. The last thing she wanted was to lose it. She was only halfway over the bed when the Psycho burst through the door and laughed. Screaming, she hurried over the rest of the bed and straight through the guest room door. She ran along the hallway and down to the basement, making sure to avoid the damaged step. It had been damaged for years and nobody had ever gotten around to fixing it.

She stopped and looked around. She was in the basement, near to where the boiler was. Still in a panic, she ducked down near where the boiler was located. A damaged pillar was her only cover and only went so far. She instantly shut off the flashlight and waited, fear pumping through her as she squatted, praying silently.

"Sam?" the Psycho called out, slowly walking up until he was level with the pillar. "Why are you hiding?"

Sam went rigid and stayed as still as she could, praying that he wouldn't hear her.

He began to move away, but stopped further up the corridor, blocking her only path. "Sa-am...why prolong the inevitable?"

Gritting her teeth against her terror, she stayed put.

He looked around, seemingly at ease. The videos were all the evidence she needed to know that this man was dangerous.

"Why kid yourself into thinking you can get away? Don't you know I can smell you, Sam? I can smell your fear."

He mockingly tapped the gas canister and Sam opted to remain where she was. That turned out to be a mistake, for he turned back, walked until he was level with the pillar again, and then leapt out the other side, behind her.

"Gotcha! So sorry." he mocked.

Sam screamed as he grabbed her and pressed the mask over her mouth and nose, muffling her screams as the gas hissed. She instantly felt herself getting groggy and realized, whatever it was, it was going to put her to sleep. But then she remembered the last time she had been there, what she had spoken to Josh about, what she had left, just to her right. Acting with her last strength, she grabbed the baseball bat and smacked the Psycho on the side of the head. He cried out and fell and the mask also fell away. Coughing and trying to recover her equilibrium, Sam hurried away, turning the flashlight on again, more desperate than ever. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline fueled by fear filled her, but did nothing except add to her current panic.

She reached the end of a cellar corridor to find a door. She struggled to open it, only to find a problem. "Are you kidding me?" she screamed in despair. "No HANDLE?!"

She heard laughter. The Psycho had caught up. Screaming, she pulled the nearby wine storage cabinet down. He stopped before it could hit him. But there, on top of it, now fallen right at her feet, was the door handle. She grabbed it and frantically tried to get the door open as the Psycho began to step over the fallen cabinet, stepping right through the wood in his effort to catch her. She finally got through and slammed the door shut, locking it. But there was a grill in the door that was open. The Psycho reached in, grabbing for her.

"Ahh!" she screamed. "Get out!"

She slammed it shut on his hand, forcing him to withdraw it before she closed that, too. It could only open from her side. But she couldn't stay there, it was getting more and more dangerous the longer she evaded this man.

She turned and ran to the door at the end, but it was locked. She didn't have time to do anything other than force it open. She shoved her whole weight against the door again and again until she finally broke through and fell down the gap into what appeared to be an underground hotel.

Wincing in pain at the jarring fall, Sam forced herself upwards and looked around. To her left was a passageway. To her right was an elevator that was halfway down, yet the doors were still open, providing her with a place to hide. She made up her mind at once and leapt inside the elevator.

Switching off the flashlight, she ducked down and pressed herself against the wall below the door as much as possible, clutching her towel tightly. She heard his footsteps drawing closer. She frantically held her breath and shut her eyes, praying desperately. Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest, she was amazed that he couldn't hear it.

"Here little kitty." his distorted voice mocked her, right above her. "Here pussy, pussy."

Her body was rigid with tension and fear as she waited, desperately not moving, in hopes it would hide her presence. She dared to open her eyes in time to see him turn around, his back to her.

"FUCK!" he snapped.

Then, unbelievably, his footsteps faded as he walked away. Sam waited a long moment until she was sure that he really was gone, before exhaling heavily and allowing herself to break out, shaking, as tears spilled from her eyes. She had escaped...for now.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.