O Death
O Death
Won't you spare me over 'till another year?
...
Well what is this, that I can't see?
With ice cold hands taking hold of me
When God is gone and the Devil takes hold
Who'll have mercy on my soul?
O, Death, O Death, consider my age
Please don't take me at this stage
...
O Death
O Death
Won't you spare me over 'till another year?
"Today is the one year anniversary of the dreadful tragedy that took place on Mount Washington... Sheriff Annie Cline who was in charge of the investigation..."
"Thanks for having me, Marty."
Static occasionally flickered in and out of the radio broadcast, causing some words to be unheard. Hannah didn't really mind. She already knew what happened, but she just wanted to hear any recent news on Ashley and Mike. Not that it mattered.
Everybody now assumed that the two were dead, but they were still labeled as missing due to a lack of confirmation. Hannah would have liked to believe that they were alive and waiting, but there wasn't any way for the duo to survive that long in the cold without either finding help or being found.
The brunette simply watched the snowflakes rushed past the windows of the bus as it drove down the path to Blackwood Mountain. Usually Hannah would be alongside Beth, but her twin had left before her, probably to prepare the rest of the lodge. Josh had started the job, but he ended up passing it so he could help his new girlfriend Sam. Her breakup with Beth was very rough and messy, so Sam ended up starting a new relationship with the twins' older brother.
Everybody had felt guilty and remorseful about the prank, including Chris and Jessica for not doing anything in the situation. Their whole group was like tiny leaves floating in a pond, just one stone sinking two friends and sending other people drifting away from each other in the ripples. Some leaves still floated together, but most of them didn't, examples being Matt and Sam planting resentment between them or Jess and Emily exchanging venomous words and insulting remarks.
Even Hannah didn't spend much time with her siblings due to their involvement in the prank. Sure, they still talked about what was bothering them or to share opinions, but the warm paths between them had been partly blocked by an icy wall of unease.
"...Listeners an update on Ashley and Micheal, the two teenagers who are still missing..."
"One year ago tonight, the duo left the safety of the Washington Estate and headed out into a snowstorm..."
"...Foul play?"
"Not officially no. There is one individual we're considering as a person of interest, but his whereabouts are currently unknown. He has an interesting history with the Washington family. He had warned them against pursuing their construction project and claimed the land was sacred to his forefathers."
"You know, there is still the old Sanatorium on the mountain. Could he be hiding there?"
"My officers did search the grounds, but... The kids themselves couldn't have made it that far."
"Something about that mountain seems to breed tragic events."
"More than you know Marty."
The bus violently shuddered, causing Hannah to look up. Seeing it was nothing serious, she focused again on her phone playing the local Blackwood radio app.
"Well thank you for joining us, Annie... To the families and friends of the two teenagers... the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Ashley Welsh and Micheal Munroe."
The teenager just sighed and tapped out of the audio, thinking of her lost friends.
Hannah only knew Ashley because of their interlocked social groups, but their time together caused them to realize they had similar qualities. Favorite movies, favorite type of music, favorite soda, just to name a few. Eventually, they grew warmer to each other, and the loss of the inquisitive redhead tore a large hole in their group. Mike was a little bit more difficult for Hannah to get past.
Okay, it was pretty obvious to the whole group that Hannah had a crush on him. She just couldn't help it. He was just so funny, so brave, so nice... Her list just went on and on, but she never got her hopes up. It wasn't that Mike ignored her, he was actually pretty polite to her, he just never took Hannah's crush on him seriously and always flirted with Jessica, Emily, and sometimes even Sam. She was still on the edge of denying that Mike was gone. And so was Chris.
She knew the boy was absolutely crushed by the aftermath of the prank. Ashley was one of his closest friends, Mike was a good companion besides Josh, and losing them both was like a brick smashing into his head. Hannah and her brother had been by his side, but it was still hard for Chris to accept the harsh reality. He had done worse than her, but she found out that they both related to the disappearance. Hannah lost Mike, and Chris confessed to both her and Josh that he had a crush on Ashley.
With some reluctant therapy and comfort from all of his friends, Chris seemed to have gotten a lot better, even good enough to ask Josh if they could have another getaway with the rest of the group. He claimed it was to get some closure, but he was still pretty hurt over the disappearances, and there were some not-so-good relationships among the friends, so Hannah was a little concerned on how it would all go down. She at least hoped that nothing too major would spoil the party.
Speaking of the big event, Hannah searched through her phone to find the video that was sent out to everybody in the circle of friends, informing them of the getaway. Then she hit play and listened to Josh's voice through her earbuds.
"Well, hello friends and fans..." The image of her brother popped up on the screen, with his arms spread out in a welcoming gesture. "Alright, lets do that again." He walked up to the camera and adjusted its clarity. Then he walked back again with his usual lazy smile plastered on his face.
"Alright. Well hello friends and fans! It's beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year. Um, so, my buddy Chris would like a few words, since it's his idea... So, Chris?"
"Okay, I'm coming!" A voice yelled from off screen. A moment later and Josh had left the screen, replaced with another boy with dirty blond hair worn in a faux-hawk style, black rectangular glasses similar to Hannah's, and a happy grin.
"Okay! Hi there guys! So..." Chris cleared his throat, "First off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!" He raised his hands and imitated a cheer. Then he looked away from the camera for a moment. "Was that good?"
"Yeah bro, that was epic!"
"Okay, okay... Thanks..."
Hannah couldn't help but smile at the chuckling two friends. The teenager on the screen then looked back to the camera, his smile brightening, and then fading a little bit more.
Uh oh... It's going to get serious.
"So let me just let you know..." Chris' smile had completely melted off his face, leaving behind a mournful and almost devastated expression. "Let's take a moment to address the 'elephant int he room' for a second..."
There was a long pause. Hannah always held her breath at this part, knowing the touchy subject Chris had a hard time dealing with.
"I know you're all probably worried about me... And I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year..." The blond seriously looked like he was going to break down at this point. Josh's movement was audible, but Chris held up his hand and choked back a sob threatening to crawl out of his throat.
"But-I just want you to know... Um... It means... It means so much to me that we're doing this. And I..." He looked straight into the camera, his pale blue eyes filled with a sorrowful determination.
"I know it would mean so much to Ashley and Mike that we're still all here together, thinking of them." Speaking the names seemed to crack the dam holding back his endless grief, but at the same time, some of the water behind its prison evaporated at the thought of being together.
"I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments that we'll never forget." Chris smiled hopefully and Hannah's heart fractured a little, watching him try to be strong in the face of the traumatic flashback.
"For the sake of our friends, you know?" Chris nodded, then his depressed mask was replaced with a joyful face.
"Okay! So... Let's party like we're fucking porn stars, okay?" Hannah immediately heard Josh trying to muffle his laughter and she smiled, both at the absurdity of the line and her brother's poor attempts at staying quiet. "And make this one trip we will never forget, alright?"
"Hell yeah, Cochise!" Josh's voice yelled off-screen, and Chris started cracking up, throwing his arms in the air and cheering, "Yes!" just as Hannah stopped the video.
Small rays of late sunlight peeked through the clouds and illuminated the trees blanketed with snow and ice. The brunette resumed her interest in the winter background, but her mind wandered away the frozen droplets blurring past the glass barrier. She already knew she would remember this trip, whether it was good or bad. She just hoped it would turn out fine, but she knew the unexpected was lurking around, waiting to ruin the whole thing.
Hannah was correct being wary of the unknown.
But she didn't count on the harsh stone ridges of the mountain and the wavering frost-coated leaves to provide it.
And she certainly didn't expect Native American culture to be involved.
Or a blue butterfly fluttering across a broken ice patch to cast a breeze that would turn the tables for better or for worse.
Or the one year ago to return and haunt that night more deeply and differently than anticipated.
She didn't even think about ten hours changing eight lives forever.
If she could see the complete future, she would have done things differently to defy Death and save everyone from the darkest points of that night.
But she could only see transparent outlines for the future.
So she remained unwary of what was yet to come, only knowing that her actions will shape what will happen.
She didn't expect her actions to determine who will live and who will die.
And she didn't expect the stranger prowling outside the cabin, or something inhuman hunting for prey in the woods, or the occasion taking place behind the closed windows to infer with the night or even happen.
Ah, how quickly all of them learned...
O, I am Death, and none can tell
If I open the door to heaven or hell
No wealth, no land, no silver, nor gold
Nothing satisfies me but your soul
I'm Death, I come to take the soul
Leave the body and leave it cold
...
O Death
O Death
Won't you spare me over till another year?
OMG I LOVE THAT SONG SO FREAKING MUCH I HAVE TO PUT IT IN HERE!
Yeah, this is the theme song of Until Dawn itself, O' Death. I've been listening to it nonstop as I'm finishing this up. It's an actually song, and I think it was also used for Supernatural, but the lyrics were rearranged to fit the game. Check it out, it's so beautiful...
I'm sorry this took such a long time, I've been having soon issues with *cough cough* writer's block *cough cough*
Like I said last time, here are my replies to your reviews:
Frog The Kermit: In all honesty, I really did hate killing Ashley and Mike. Ashley's actually my fave, and when I think of this story, I think about what Ashley and Mike are doing and then I realize they're dead. Yep, sorry, but I didn't want to do another story with a dead Hannah and Beth. I planned out some other role reversal stories with the twins not dying, but the one that made the most sense was with a dead Ash and Mike. *Waaaaaah* Otherwise, I'm glad you're on the hype train for this. And I'll give you a hint to your question: I dropped a detail in the scene before everybody popped out of their hiding places. I'll keep adding more hints as the clues come into play.
PamPotterEvans: Thank you for your interest! It's people like you who make me want to keep updating!
SuperCalebX: I'm glad you agree with my thinking of not killing the twins, because it was tough for me to kill Ashley... and I know not all role reversal fanfictions use therapy sessions, but I wanted to make this story more connected with the game, like the totems and eventually the clues and the butterfly effect. Thanks for your review!
Guest: I'm happy you enjoyed it! It's fun to play the game and make the decisions without knowing what will happen, (Unlike me... Because I couldn't stop myself from the spoilers *sigh*) so if you plan on reading this story all the way through, you'll get a close experience to the game.
MulishaMaiden: Thank you so much for your encouragement! I'm also excited on how this story will turn out, because there are some places in this story that will have to change because of the role swap or maybe because I just want to change some things.
Again, I will try to get the official first chapter out sometime, and I hope you like the last part of the prologue! Criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive, and if you're wondering what I'm doing, check my profile for updates.
NOTE: I do not own any of the characters or the plot of Until Dawn. The cover image also belongs to Supermassive Games. All mistakes are mine, and any offense in this chapter is unintentional, so I apologize if I do offend you in any way.