Ryan's POV, Washington Lodge Library, 22:56
As our group were just setting up the Ouija Board, while I was standing off to the side messing with the settings on my camera, my sight started to blur and black out as the latest totem vision came into view.
As the scene came into view, the first thing I noticed was that I was looking at a very dark cave, so dark in fact that I could hardly see the scene in front of me. As I looked, I could see what looked like some sort of grate with a figure on top of it. I notice the figure was only wearing a bra and some underwear and was really cut and bloody. As the figure sat up, I recognized the person to be Jessica, who at the moment was on her way to the guest cabin with Mike. This made me kind of worried as the library faded back in.
I need to talk to Will about this. I thought striding over to him sharpish.
"Will, I need to talk to you for a sec." I urged Will, poking him on the shoulder.
"Oh, ok. Be right back guys. Ryan needs to talk to me quick." Will announced to everyone in the room before we came out of the library and went back out into the lounge. "So, what's up?"
"I just saw another totem vision." I said.
"Really? What did it look like?"
"Wait, you didn't see it?"
"No, I didn't. That's weird."
"Anyway, I saw what looked Jessica in a cave, looking battered and bruised, like she had been attacked."
"Well shit, I hope she's alright. I may not like Jessica or even Emily because they're both bitches, but I do want everyone to survive tonight. That's my goal: Get everyone off this mountain safely."
"I want everyone to survive as well, but we need to make sure that WE survive too. We can't put ourselves in harm's way just because of fictional characters. I think most of the group will survive because of other people anyway, not just us Will. We're just a small part of a bigger game. And anyway, that totem felt like a good one somehow."
"Really? That doesn't seem like a good totem... Well, all we can do is try, I guess. If that means that I have to put myself in danger to save someone, then so be it. They're still people, even if they aren't strictly 'real.' Now let's get back to the group, I want to talk to some spirits." I shook my head lightly, as we headed back to the library. He could be so stubborn at times. I wasn't going to let him die over these people.
"Do you seriously think that we'll be talking to the supernatural and it's not just another prank by the others?"
"I don't know, but considering where we are, it's highly likely we'll be speaking to ghost tonight." Will finished. I was still sceptical, but there was always a chance.
When we got back to the table, Chris and Ashley were already sat down at the table with the Ouija Board, with Josh standing off to the side lighting candles. Will sat down in the chair opposite Ash and I stood over where Josh was by the window and the banister. I clutched my camera in my hands, aimed it at the scene before me and pressed the button to record with a digital click.
"So, it says here: 'To communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the spirit-master', which is me-" Chris said.
"Yeah right." I murmured.
"It doesn't say that-" Ashley said as Josh sat down in the chair opposite Chris.
"...And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion-" Chris continued joking around.
"Chris, come on, this is serious-" Josh said.
"Oh, I'm deadly serious." Chris said in a weird accent with his hands on his hips.
"Oh, shush it, let's try this." Ash finished.
"Yes please." Josh pleaded.
"Okay then, let's see what happens." Chris agreed.
"Alrighty then." Will agreed as they all put their hands on the board, while I stood off to the side, trying to keep my hands steady and everyone in shot.
"Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?" Chris said to Ashley.
"Ok. Um... Is anyone there...? Will you reveal yourself to us... if you're there...?" Ash asked the air, hoping for an answer.
Just then, the counter started to move around the board. I zoomed in on each of their faces to get their reactions.
"Wait a minute-" Chris said, looking surprised and slightly giddy.
"Whoa!" Will gasped, looking shocked, like he hadn't expected it to move so soon.
"Did you do that...?" Josh questioned. His face looked scared, but his eyes didn't show it.
"I didn't do anything!" Ash exclaimed, actually seeming scared.
"It's moving again!" Chris said, laughing a bit.
"Ok, who's doing that?" I interrogated, a little shocked at this turn of events. I zoomed in on the board to see what it was saying.
"'H.'" Ash read out as it moved over to the H symbol.
"What's it spelling?" Josh asked.
"Hold on." Ash said waiting for it to finish as it moved over to the E symbol.
"How is this happening?" Josh said sounding scared as it moved over to the L symbol.
"Are you moving it...?" Chris asked the others.
" I swear to God, I'm not doing anything. If it's anyone, it's one of you." Will said waving his other hand in a defensive motion.
"I swear it's just moving." Ash said as it finished on the P symbol.
"Chris, come on! Enough of the pranks now." I exclaimed, zooming in on his face.
"OK, for once, it's not me." Chris said defensively, glancing up briefly at me and the camera.
"Holy shit!" Josh said scared.
"'Help'?" Ashley read, looking between the four of us in bewilderment.
"...How are we supposed to help?" Chris asked.
"I don't know. What does it mean?" Ash questioned, looking at Josh like he had the answers. He just looked stunned.
"We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them." Chris said.
"We need to ask it more questions. That's the only way we're going to find out." Will stated.
While this was happening, I stood to the side and watched. I was a little shocked by this. I had a feeling this was going to happen though. I have watched as many horror movies as Will has, mostly from Will making me watch them with him, and that's a lot. I heard that this game had loads of horror movie tropes and using a Ouija Board that summons the demon is one of them. I panned back over to Ashley to get her question.
"Who are you?" Ash asked the board.
"Uh..." Josh gasped quietly as the counter started to move again.
"Ohh here it goes-" Ash said scared.
"What's it going to say?" Will said staring intently at the counter.
"Ok, 'S.'"
"'I.'"
"'S.'"
"'T.'"
"'E.'"
"'R.'" Everyone around the table read out one at a time as the counter slithered around the board to the appropriate letter.
"'Sister'. Sister?" Ash questioned confused.
"Whose sister?" Josh asked, desperately looking between the others.
"Oh, come on is this for real?" Chris said sceptically.
"Shut up. Ask it whose sister!" Josh snapped, looking deadly serious.
"Josh... It's... it's gotta be..." Ash said.
"Yeah? Ok, well. Which sister is it then!?" Josh questioned really wanting to know.
"Ash, ask who it is..." Chris said, giving in.
"Maybe we should stop." I said, thinking this might not be too good for Josh.
"It's fine, Ryan! Ash, ask it." Will dismissed.
"Who are we speaking to...? Hannah...? Is that you?" Ash asked. The board's counter moved over to 'Yes'.
"Oh god." Ash exclaimed.
"This is messed up." Chris said.
"Wait, so you're saying that we're talking to Josh's sister, one of the girls who disappeared on this mountain a year ago." Will summarised while I was still standing off to the side, still listening and watching with my camera, which I wasn't going to turn off any time soon.
"This is insane. This is fucked up, whoever is doing this! This is gone way past a joke at this point!" I shouted.
"Josh... Are you-" Ash tried to ask.
"I'm fine." Josh interrupted knowing what she was saying.
Obviously not. I can tell it in your voice. I thought panning to Josh. He looked scared and worried as all hell, but, again, something in his eyes didn't completely show his emotions.
"Are you sure, because we can stop-" Ash tried to asked again.
"No." He interrupted again.
Dude, I know you want to know what happened to them, but you should just walk away. I thought again starting to worry about him and also get a tad angry.
"Dude, it's cool-" Chris tried as well
"Yeah, if this is too much-" Will interrupted this time.
"I want it hear what it says." Josh insisted yet again.
COME ON JOSH, GIVE IT UP MAN! I shouted in my mind getting frustrated with the guy.
"I don't know where to start." Ash said wondering what to ask the spirit next.
"Think about it. If this actually is Hannah, I mean, we can find out what happened that night..." Chris suggested.
"Josh?" Ash asked, wanting his opinion.
"...I can handle it." He pushed hesitantly, trying to sound confident. It wasn't working.
"Oh...kay... Umm... Let me think." Ash said trying to think of a question to say or ask. "Hannah. We miss you... and we want to know what happened to you. Can you... Can you tell us... what happened?" The counter started to slide around the board again.
"'B... E... T... R...'" Ash read as the counter moved, her voice getting progressively sadder as it slid.
"Uh oh." Chris uttered, sounding like he knew what the spirit was spelling.
"This can't be good." Will said.
"I don't like this." Ash said sounding distressed.
"'Betrayed.'" Chris read out before it had even finished.
"What does she mean -" Josh asked.
"It's still going!" Chris said surprised as the counter started moving again.
"Oh god. 'K... I... L... L... E... D-' No!" Ashley shouted, horrified with what the spirit had spelled. I stood there with a shocked look on my face. Would one of these people go that far for a prank?
"Killed?" Josh said shocked.
"We didn't KILL them! It was just a prank!" Ash wept.
"Ash, calm down, okay?! Just- we need to find out more!" Chris said trying to calm her down.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Ash said.
"Guys, guys... What do they mean?" Josh said.
"Ask them what happened. It's the only way to know! Ask them, Ash!" Chris ordered.
This had gone on long enough. This needed to end. "Ok, I'm had enough. This needs to stop, now!" I roared, stepping forward, with my camera in one hand, and reaching to grab the board and counter from the table. Will intercepted me.
"No, Ryan! We need to know what happened that night. This is the only way we are going to find out!" Will explained, looking slightly angry at my interruption. I pointed my camera at him and stared at him in astonishment.
"But look at what this is doing! Ashley's in tears and Josh isn't much better. Whichever one of you is doing this, it needs to stop before it's too late!" I bellowed, looking between the participants of the séance.
"Ryan, none of us are doing this. How could we!? None of us would be stupid enough to make this up. We ARE speaking to Hannah, and we ARE going to find out what happened that night! So how about you just stand back and continue filming!" Will shouted, getting quite angry at me. I was stunned by Will's attitude. I could do nothing else but stand back and aim the camera at the crazy scene.
"Okay. Who killed you? Hannah? Who was it?" Ash asked after she had composed herself, as the candle on the table flickered and illuminated the board and counter as it skimmed around.
"'L... I... B-'" Ash read out.
"'Library!' Maybe there's something in the library here-" Chris said but was cut off by Ash continuing to say the letters out loud.
"But what?" Will questioned.
I filmed in the back silently, taking in the spectacle before me. As I watched, I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I looked past the table and back down the hall and saw what looked like a figure of some sort disappear into the darkness.
What the fuck. What was that? I thought walking around the back of Josh and Ashley to try and see what I just saw, turning my camera away to see if I could see the figure better, hearing Chris saying something about proof in the library.
Then, suddenly, everyone at the table screamed, catching me off guard and nearly making drop the camera. Luckily, I had the strap on. I turned around to see the counter fly off the table and hit the ground with a wooden clank.
"Holy shit. Chris!" Ash said putting her hands on her head to calm herself down.
"What the fuck just happened?" I said, looking from the board to the hallway to find nothing there anymore. Chills ran up my spine.
"You know what? No, this is bullshit. This isn't real-" Josh uttered, looking around the room at the people in said room as he got out of his seat.
"Josh- I don't know what was going on..." Ash said bending down to pick up the counter that had magically leapt off the Ouija board.
"Listen, I don't know... I don't know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me get over my grief or whatever but this is not cool." Josh said.
"Yeah, whoever did this needs to own up now!" I yelled.
"Josh no! You wanted to use the spirit board-" Ash said defensively as Josh walked away from the table and away from our group.
"Hey calm down, it's not Ash's fault!" Chris said.
"Or any of our fault for that matter." Will added in.
"I don't need this right now, okay?! You guys are all full of it!" Josh shouted as he retreated downstairs.
"Josh! Wait!" Will shouted, getting up to go after him. I stepped in front of him, stopping him.
"Will, don't! He doesn't want to see any of you right now. Leave him to be alone for a while. He'll cool off." I said, still filming. He seemed reluctant to follow my direction, but nodded nonetheless.
"I don't blame him... That was crazy... The pointer flew right off the table!" Ash exclaimed.
"I mean if- if either of you were faking it you were doing one hell of a job-" Chris said to us.
"I wasn't faking anything..." Ash defended.
"Me neither." Will concurred. I shook my head in disbelief.
"I think we should do what it says." Ash said.
"And that is? Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention at the end there." I said, thinking about the Spector.
"We should look in the library." She said.
"Do you really think the girls were communicating with us?" Chris asked as Ash, William and Chris got up from their seats.
"I don't know. I don't know if I wish they were or wish they weren't." Ash replied.
"I guess all four of us should find out" I said as we all headed towards the stairs to the lower library.
Washington Lodge Library, 23:14
"Before we go, I need to talk to Will." I said as we started to head to the stairs.
"Again? Really?" Chris said.
"Yes again! Don't worry, we'll catch up you go. on ahead." I replied.
"Fine, come on Chris." Ashley said sounding a little irritated as the disappeared downstairs, whispering to each other all the way down.
"What's up, Ryan?" he said sounding irritated that I keep pulling him away from the group.
"Well, I-" I was about to say what my sight dimmed and another vision started.
The vision started and all I could see was a beam of light coming down from a dark shaft, all of a sudden, a body fell down the shaft and hit a grate like floor, making me mentally jump. I looked at the body and the first thing I looked at was the jaw line, this person, who looked like Jess, didn't have a jaw. The jaw was completely gone, all that was left was the tongue and a lot of blood. I also noticed that she was in her underwear as last time. I gasped in shock as William came back into view.
"Argh, did you see that too?" I asked Will.
"Yeah, looks like another one of the possible death scenes." He replied.
"But did you notice. Jess was only wearing her underwear. This might link to the previous totem I saw." I added.
"Well, let's hope that Mike makes the right choices." Will said.
"Yeah. Anyway, what I was going to say was, while you guys were doing the Spirit Board, I noticed a ghostly figure down that hall and then it disappeared."
"Really? So, we really must have been talking to Hannah."
"I don't know, I still don't completely believe it. But we'll see as the story progresses. Now let's catch up with Chris and Ash." I said as we walked down the stairs, grasping my still recording camera in my hand.
We walked downstairs to see that Chris and Ash were waiting for us.
"Well, what are we waiting for. Let's go in." I said striding into the library first.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, some of the books started flying off the shelves, with one nearly hitting me in the face almost causing me to drop my camera again (Thank god of the strap), accompanied by shouting and cursing from all of us.
"Are you all ok?" Chris asked us.
"I think so..." Ash replied, looking between us and where the books had been.
"Yeah, I'm fine, except from having the life scared out of me." Will said
"And me nearly getting knocked out with one of those books." I added on, panning back over to the rest of the group.
"Look-" Ash said pointing at the bookcase. I gazed over to see a button behind where the books once sat.
"What?" Chris asked, having not noticed the button.
"There's something behind the books." Ash stated. "What is that?"
"It looks like a button." Will said.
"Why would there be a button back there?" I asked.
"That's a good question." Chris said.
"Should we push it?" Ash asked.
"That's what buttons are for I guess." Chris agreed.
Ash walked over to the bookcase and pushed the button tentatively, then the bookcase started to move.
"Whoaa. Panel opens. Head explodes." Chris said jokingly, making a mind blow gesture as the bookcase slid across to reveal a secret, hidden room.
"Are we in like, a movie right now!?" Ash asked disbelievingly.
Nope, a video game actually. I thought in my head with a scoff.
"If we are, I hope it's a rom-com." Chris said jestingly.
Nope, wrong again. I thought again.
"Leave it to the Washington's to have secret passages in their house." Ash said.
"Maybe they didn't even know. This place is super old." Chris mentioned, glancing around the library.
"So, should we take a look?" Ash inquired to us.
"I don't think we really have much of a choice in the matter." Will stated, leaning over to gaze into the darkness of the room.
"After you." Chris suggested to Ash.
"No no nonono, you go." Ash insisted back to Chris.
"Ugh, if you two are going to argue over this, then I'll go first." I said, deciding to take the initiative, as I walked in between them, grabbing the candle Ash was holding with my hand that wasn't holding my camera, and marched into the room.
I soon as I walked in, I regretted my decision immediately. I felt like I was being watched by someone other than the people in my group, but I just put it to the back of my mind and tried my best to continue to venture forward without shaking constantly. There wasn't much in the room to be honest. I looked over to my left and notice a desk with shelf above it with all sorts of boxes and books on it.
"This is actually so creepy" I whispered to myself as I panned the camera around the room, not that you could see much with how dark it was. I unsteadily want over to the desk and saw a picture of what I assumed was Hannah and Beth before they died. I picked it up and turned it over to find a note of some kind written in what I hoped wasn't blood. I pointed the camera at it and read:
'I WILL TAKE THEM AND BLEED THEM LIKE PIGS AND RIP THEIR SOFT WHITE SKIN OFF. FUCKING 16 YEARS. 16 YEARS I'VE WAITED FOR PRETTY LITTLE HANNAH AND BETH.'
I winced at the thought, wanting to leave the note and the room and completely forgetting they even existed, but this was important information that could be useful in order to find out what happened to Hannah and Beth and what is really going on on this mountain. I needed to tell the others
"Umm guys? I-I think I found something." I called back at the group, still not controlling my shaking.
"What did you find, bro?" Will asked me.
"I think I found this proof the spirit wanted us to find."
"What? Let me have a look." Chris said, barging his way past Will to see.
"It's a picture of Hannah and Beth with some quite disturbing writing on the back." I said as Chris took the photo from me to look.
"Whoa, this is... graphic." Chris said reading it, then passing it to Will.
"This is some fucked up shit." Will said reading it, leaning into me and holding me close.
"Let me see it, Will." Ash said before he handed it over. "Guys, this is serious. We need to find Josh right now." She finished as she walked away from us, with the picture in hand, and us in tow.
As we walked out of the library, I heard what sounded like a creaking coming from a door that we passed a minute ago.
"Ummm? What was that?" Ash asked fearfully. I guessed we all decided not to answer her out of either fear or not knowing.
We walked through the door that had mysteriously open and went down the hall.
"Do you think someone was actually after Hannah and Beth?" Ash asked us.
"If so then that would be really messed up." Chris answered.
"And creepy." Will added.
I had passed Ash and was out in front with the camera pointed forwards. I saw a door at the end of the hall but I decided to turn left instead and I saw a window, seeing that it was really snowing hard out there. I looked to my left to see a piece of papar on a desk. I picked it up and it read:
'Dear Dr. Swaffham
Thank you for your response. It's good to know that the tribe still fell an attachment to the land here, even if we have had a few unfortunate problems (graffiti, people sleeping in the outbuildings). This is an ancestral home, after all.
I have made contact with the descendents of the tribe and and intent to make a dotation to thier elder council. Healing the wounds of the past wouldn't be easy, but I fell it is a step that is necessery.
Yours sincerely
Malinda Washington.'
I turned the paper over to find some writing on the back too that said:
'Saw that crazy guy again. Thurs 9:17pm - Hanging around the generator shed. I'm going to start keeping a record.'
"Looks like it was written by Josh's mom." Chris mentioned looking at the letter from over my shoulder.
"Yeah, she's really making an effort to set things right with some native tribe or something." Ash stated.
"Yeah, the bad karma goes back a long way." Chris said.
"Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite US in the ass." Will hoped as I put the letter down and moved through the door, which brought us back into the lounge.
"So, um... I've just been thinking about what I saw earlier with Sam, Ryan, and Will..." Chris started to say as we entered the lounge. I stood more so in the lounge, trying to keep everyone in shot, while Will stood on the stairs leading back the way we came.
"What?" Ash asked.
"There was, like, a wanted poster - like full on western-style, you know?" Chris said.
"So?" Ash questioned.
"And Sam really through there was someone following her and Ryan around." Chris continued.
"I keep getting the feeling we're being watched. Even back in the secret room." I said.
"So... so what? You're saying there's some criminal up on the mountain with us?" Ash continued to question.
"There was a message... on this answering machine we found and it- it was from this sergeant saying there was this guy who had just gotten out of prison and there was nothing he could do-" Chris explained.
"What do you mean?" Ash said.
"It sounded to me like he was saying it like a warning of sorts." Will said.
Before Chris could say anything else, my sight started to fade as another vision came into view.
I saw what looked like antlers as the snowy forest came into view. An animal lifted its head up and I saw it was a large herd of deer and they looked angry, but I couldn't see any of the characters in this totem unlike other totems.
The lodge's lounge came back into view and Chris and Ash were still talking.
"Chris, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better... You're fired." Ash said.
Suddenly, the door to our right started to rattle, as if someone was trying to get through desperately, and a shout rung us around the room. We all snapped our hands, and camera, to the door.
"You hear that." Chris said as Ash ran to the door.
"That sounded like Josh!" I realised.
"Coming from the kitchen." Chris stated.
"JOSH?!" Ash shouted as she opened the door.
"JOSH! We're coming! Hold on!" Chris shouted.
Without warning, Ashley was pulled into the kitchen with a scream. From my angle, I couldn't see who and pulled her through.
"Ashley?! Ashley, what's going on, let me in! Will, help me bust the door open" Chris said as Will tried to help Chris open the door.
"Don't worry Ash. We'll save you!" Will shouted. I continued to stand there and film as they pushed on the door. "Ryan, come on! Put the fucking camera down and help us!" At that shout, I let the camera fall onto my chest, still filming, and started to bang against the door as well.
We slammed into the door twice before it gave way and we all fell in. As I got up, out of nowhere, a guy in a mask came in front of me and tried to punch me in the face, but just like with Adam, I managed to dodge it quickly thanks to my quick reflexes. But, as a result, Will was punched instead. Then Chris was punched in quick succession.
"What the fuck?!" I said as I quickly ran past the guy and around behind the counter, putting the counter between me and the scene before me. A guy in a scary mask was looming over my brother and friends knocked out bodies. And Josh was nowhere in sight.
"What? How did you avoid that?" The guy roared in a very deep voice frustratedly, which sounded modulated.
"I'm quite nimble when I have to be." I said. He suddenly knelt down and picked up something. In his hand was my camera. I looked down to see that it wasn't there anymore. It must have fallen off my neck when I fell.
"Hey! Give that back!" I yelled from my place behind the counter. He ignored me and stalked over to the middle of the room where he started setting my camera on a tripod. A tripod! It was almost like he had prepared for me to lose my camera.
While he was doing that, I was thinking about my next move. I had to act fast. I needed to get Chris, Ash and Will out of here all without getting caught myself. I couldn't see Josh anywhere so, even though it pained me to think this, I would have to leave him for now and save later. Thinking under this sort of pressure was making my brain turn to mush, when I was usually so good at planning. I pulled at my hair in frustration. He was blocking both my way of escape and my way to get to the others.
Unfortunately for me, he was finished setting up my camera and was now walking around the counter to get to me. "Where's Josh?" I had to ask, backing away from his advances slowly.
"Don't worry. He's safe… for now. But don't worry, you'll be seeing him soon. Very soon!" The guy exclaimed vaguely, throwing another punch, which I luckily dodged again (QTE Successful). I ducked behind him again and made my way to the centre of the kitchen, far enough away from this maniac.
Who the fuck does this guy think he is, punching my brother and friends and threating Josh? What can I do now? I need to concentrate and THINK! Sam is upstairs in the bath and Mike and Jess are at the guest cabin, so they won't be much help right now. I don't really see much choice than to save them myself… Wait, Matt and Emily! They went down to the cable car station! They should be on their way back by now! I could go find them... But that means I will be leaving these three alone with this maniac. Grrr, what do I do?
I looked from the way out on one side of the room to my unconscious friends on the other. I couldn't leave them alone with this guy. It would take too long to get to Matt and Emily, and who knew what could happen in that timeframe? I had to do this by myself (Butterfly Effect).
I started to move towards my friends, but before I could do anything, the Psycho intercepted me and punched me before I could have a change to react. I fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes, with a loud thump. As darkness surrounded my vision, all I heard from The Psycho was "I'm sorry, Ryan." (QTE Failed, Butterfly Effect Update).
Butterfly effects:
Will chose not to shoot the squirrel; Nature remained in balance.
Will decided to face the 'danger' on his own; He attacked his 'attacker' who turned out to be Chris; He gave him a bloody lip and black eye.
Ryan tried to save his friends himself; He was caught by the Psycho before he could save them.
Hey guys, sorry for taking a long time to write this chapter, I wasn't really inspired to write this chapter. That's not to say I had writer's block, but every time I listened to DAGames' Until Dawn song I felt like writing.
BTW, thank you to Arkham's Incurable for the review and the criticism, as you can see, I've changed the format of the chapter so that each line the characters say is its own separate paragraph so it's easier to read.
Bye guys.