Until Dawn: The Light in the Darkness

Chapter 9 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.

Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 9

MIKE POV

With a heavy heart, I finally left the room. I simply couldn't hide anymore. Still feeling horribly guilty for everything that I had done, I figured that it would be better to face things, rather than simply keep hiding. When I reached the main room again, I noted that things were a lot quieter.

The only people in the room were Josh, Chris, and Ashley. Chris and Ashley were seated on the sofa, talking to each other, while Josh was still trying to start the fire.

"Josh..."

He looked up and nodded. "Mike. So…?"

I sighed. "Yeah man, I know. Look, I'm sorry, I know this isn't what you wanted. I...we all...need to remember exactly why we're here."

I meant it too, and hoped that my voice conveyed that.

Apparently it did, as Josh stood up and smiled lightly. "Well, I'm glad that you had the guts to at least realize that and say it, man. Truthfully though, I don't think I'm the one that you owe an apology to."

"Yeah, I'm well aware. So what about…?"

Josh shook his head. "Matt and Emily came back through earlier, apologized too, but I'm sure that only Matt was genuine. Truthfully, I think all that was needed was a time out. They've left, for some reason or another, but they'll be back."

I nodded and went to sit down, hoping that things would finally calm down and I could sort out this mess I made.

However, Josh suddenly caught my attention, grabbing my shoulder. I turned and saw his worried expression.

"Listen, Mike...there's something I need to ask you. I would ask Chris and Ash, but I think you might be better suited for this." he said suddenly.

Confused, I stepped back. "Oookay...What is it?"

Josh quickly explained, "It's been...it's been too long, man. I'm beginning to get worried, so could you see if you can find Jess and Grant? They've been gone for quite a while and haven't come back."

At once, I tensed up. The many things that could go wrong with that ran through my head. I couldn't believe that Josh was asking me to do this, asking me to seek out the girl that I had wronged.

I shook my head, unsure. "Josh, I don't...You heard Jess, I'm the last person that she wants to see. If I go out looking for her, what if she, I don't know, sees me and avoids me?"

Josh let out a heavy sigh, but replied calmly. "I get it, man. Alright, fine...I'm just asking you to find our friends, okay? If not for Jess' sake, then do it for Grant's."

"Grant, he..."

"He's not been himself lately, Mike." Josh replied suddenly. "You must have seen it, he's...not as wild as he usually is, and it's just not like him. Just, please find them. Do we really wanna risk losing anyone else?"

I bit my lip, but nodded. "Ah, yeah...good point. Alright, I got this."

Josh nodded, relieved, and I turned, grabbing a nearby flashlight and heading out into the cold to find Jess and Grant.

Almost immediately, the cold bit into me, but I didn't let it get to me. With the flashlight guiding the way, I began my search. Looking around at the forest surrounding me, I knew things would not be easy, there were so many places they could have ended up.

'Where do I even start? All I know is that Jess came out of this door, but where did she go from here…?' I wondered. 'Grant went after her, if...If we're all lucky, he caught up with her and they're together somewhere. Oh God, get a move on, Mikey.'

I wasn't going to find them by simply standing around. Continuing to follow the path, I tried to think of what I knew, what Josh had told me of the geography of the area, to see if there was anything that could help me figure out where they could have gone.

Still musing on that, I paused, worried, as I was sure that I heard something.

I almost rolled my eyes. 'Urgh, great, looks like I'm hearing things now, I...'

My thoughts were cut short as I realized that I wasn't hearing things. By now, I had stopped and heard it again. There was a second set of footsteps, so I wasn't alone out there. While I knew that, I was looking for Jess and Grant, after all, but something else, some gut instinct told me that this wasn't them. Someone else was there.

I moved cautiously as I strained to listen. Sure enough, I could hear it. Footsteps, and they were actually drawing closer.

'Shit, I have a really bad feeling about this. I'd better make sure that I know what's going on first.' I mused, not wanting to take unnecessary risks.

So I left the path and took cover, listening and watching carefully. I nearly jumped as a deer leapt out onto the path and off again. I let out a slow breath, but knew that the deer wasn't the thing I had heard, as I could still hear those footsteps.

Finally, I saw their source and almost gave myself away in shock. It was a man, someone who was a complete stranger and certainly, as far as I knew, had no business being here. He was dressed up warmly, yet also covered his face with a bandana and wore goggles of some sort.

Yet the main thing that drew my attention was that he was armed with a flamethrower and also a shotgun and a machete.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. 'Who the fuck is this guy?'

Luckily, he finally turned and left, heading in a different direction. I finally emerged from where I was taking cover and shook my head.

'This is worse than I thought. This is...who was that guy?' I wondered. 'Now I really have to find them! But where? Wait, that's it!'

It suddenly occurred me, given where I was. The most likely location from here. It had to be the guest cabin.

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