Chapter Eleven: Fear
There was crashing on the ceiling, like the monster knew they were hiding in here. Monster. She couldn't believe she was using that word to describe someone she would have once considered a friend. It seemed like yesterday Josh was goading her into seeing the newest horror movie with him, Sam, the twins and Chris. She opted to see the newest Disney movie instead. Chris and Hannah had gone with her. That was the first time she saw Frozen, and the last time she had gone to the movies with the Washington's. She couldn't believe how close 2013 seemed, but it still felt like a lifetime had passed.
Ashley dug her head into Chris' shoulder, and she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. "We'll make it through, Ash. We will," she told her, pressing his head into her hair.
She turned her head up to look at him, eyes wide with fear. "I'm scared." Her hands were shaking, no, trembling. She tried to think of this as a story in her head. How would this play out if she was writing them into a book? She would probably injure someone, but nothing they couldn't recover from, and have the monster above them be able to be rehabilitated into some sort of damaged human again, like the beast transforming back to a prince, but a damaged prince. The thought racing through her mind attempted to calm her. She wanted this story to have a happy ending, but the sadistic side of her mind started to make appearances. Dark clouds filled her mind as they were picked off, one by one, dragged off by the monster, until it was just her, Chris and the monster left. Chris would face the monster, trying to protect her, and she would freeze as she watched him be brutally slaughtered right in front of her, before the monster turned his attention on her, killing her in agony. Her last sights would be Chris' mangled body. She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face. She couldn't do it. She couldn't live another night like this. The first night was hard enough, but lasting another one was a trial that she didn't deserve, one that none of them deserved.
The racing of her mind was suddenly slowed by a gentle caressing of her head. "Ash, shh, shh, Ash. Come on, it'll be okay. We can do this."
Chris. She knew he wasn't particularly brave, and she didn't know if he was being honest with his words, but she could feel something in his voice telling her that everything could be alright, everything could be okay again. They could get off this mountain and go back to living that half life they were living in before, one where they pretended life was okay after Blackwood. If they pretended long enough, maybe the fiction they created could become a blissful reality. She took a deep breath, though it shook with the weight of her emotions, and turned her attention to Chris, the solid foundation she had through this experience. "Okay. I," one more deep breath, "We can survive."
The banging on the ceiling increased in volume as the predator stalked closer to his prey. She couldn't believe that the thing she saw was once Josh. She was angry at Josh for so long, putting her, Chris and Sam through that hell, causing them to live in fear, drastically decreasing their chances for surviving against the wendigo before the wendigo could even attack them, but one day, that anger stopped. She knew about his medication, knew that there was something more, and though she doubted she could ever completely understand him, because no amount of research could help her truly get into his mindset, she could at least forgive him. If different choices were made, it wasn't too unlikely that she would need to be begging for forgiveness. She was already having to beg forgiveness from Emily.
The noise of the wendigo Josh had grown so constant, it was almost as if it was louder when it stopped. Ashley heard Sam let out a breath as she prepared to defend the rest of the group. Chris pushed Ashley away from him and led her behind one of the pillars. She knew how shaky she was, and how unlikely it was she would be able to remain still if a wendigo appeared. He gave her a quirky half smile, as if trying to comfort her, tell her everything would be fine, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He was afraid. She could tell. Everyone was getting into their own hiding spots. Emily and Jessica's feud seemed to be behind them as they hid underneath the table together, staying close to one another, looking similar to how they looked the night the prank was played on Hannah, but instead of tipsy smiles and giggles, a grim look was spread across their features. Chris was behind a column opposite of Ashley, where they could both keep an eye on one another, reassure one another that everything would be fine with just a glance. Sam, Matt and Mike stayed out in the open, ready to act as guardians for the group. They had all played this role before last time they were on the mountain, as far as Ashley knew. Mike and Sam had saved the lives of her, Chris and Emily, while Matt acted as a guardian to Jessica. There was no way they weren't terrified, but there was no way any of them were backing down either.
The wendigo burst through suddenly, right above them, to the left of Ashley. She could feel the debris of the hole fall down beside her. She froze. Fight, flight and freeze, those were typically what people did in the face of fear and danger. She could freeze until she could run, an effective strategy for wendigos, but she couldn't stand still forever. Eventually something would happen, causing her to lose focus, cause her to twitch the tiniest amount, effectively ending her life. Was there an escape? Could they get out of the basement? It seemed as though they were trapped here like caged birds. They couldn't reach the hold wendigo created in the ceiling. How did the wendigo even know where they were? Was it possible it retained memories, or feelings, from when it was human?
The wendigo was heading close to where Chris was. It's dull, dead eyes scanning the room for any sign of movement. Ashley had to stop herself from screaming when the wendigo's focus suddenly shifted. The attention turned to the table, where Jessica had visibly flinched. Deadly mistake. It grabbed her, lifting her into the air, ripping her lower jaw before taking a bite of it, killing her. It then turned its attention to Emily, who had backed into a corner seeing what the monster had done. He grabbed her and stabbed into her eyes with his thumbs, then dropping her. Ashley tried her hardest to stay still as the monster killed her friends, tried her hardest to not call out, but she could not stop the tears forming in her eyes, or stop the tears rolling down her cheeks and onto the floor. A tear dropped, and suddenly, the monster was lunging towards her.
So the new cover is in fact Wendigo Josh that was drawn by the amazing PeterJefferyPan. There are no stories currently on her account, but there will be some coming. While I am such Crashley trash, she is huge in Bathing Bird. For this story there are two chapters in the actual story left, as well as an epilogue possibly two. Go to my profile page to vote on a poll for the second epilogue.
After Again finishes there will be another story published, so keep an eye out for that. It is very Heavy Rain (another choice, QTE based video game) in tone but had nothing to do with the actual game itself, so I hope you will check it out. I'll give y'all more information in the upcoming months.
There is also the possibility of a summer story that will be coming out that I will co-write with the beautiful PeterJefferyPan that is more light hearted and based on mischief that the group gets into on summer vacation. The story will be published on her account, so follow her if you want to be notified when the story actually comes out.
Long author's note! I'm sorry, but please leave a review and tell me what you think. This story is truly a blast to write and I want to know how I can make it even better for you readers.