Until Dawn: The Light in the Darkness

Chapter 22 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 22

CHRIS POV

I sighed as I began to make my way down the stairs, back to the main room. We had returned to the lodge and searched frantically for Sam, but when I searched upstairs, I couldn't find her anywhere. I was now heading back down to rejoin Ashley. She was pacing frantically, looking petrified. The left side of her face and clothes were still stained with Josh's blood and it still looked sticky.

"She wasn't up there?" she queried as she stopped and looked up, seeing me.

I shook my head sadly. "I don't know, I didn't see her...She must have come down here."

As I said that, I gestured to the signs; balloons with arrows and, at least until they faded, damp, bare footprints. She had probably gotten out of the bathtub and walked downstairs.

Ashley shook her head. "I haven't seen her, either."

I bit my lip, worried. Using my own flashlight, I lead the way and we began to walk around towards the stairs leading to the basement, incidentally following the arrows on the balloons. Just then, the candle to Ashley's left, on the table, suddenly lit by itself.

"Ahh!" she screamed. "Did that just happen?"

I shook my head, I was seriously getting freaked out now. "Dammit, what is going on around here?!"

I could tell, like me, Ashley was all the more desperate to find Sam now, so we continued onward. We made our way downstairs and, seeing that the door was open, into the cinema room. Just then, I realized that Ashley had stopped, just as I was about to call out Sam's name.

"Chris..." she said suddenly.

"Sa-!" I began to call out, but stopped. "What?"

I watched as she shuffled her feet and shyly spoke. "Chris, I just want to say, what happened back there in the shed...I know how hard that was. Josh was your friend..."

I turned to her, shaking my head. "Ashley, stop."

But she continued. "No, I want to say...I mean, thank you. Thank you for saving my life-"

I shook my head. "Ash, what was I gonna do? I...I couldn't let anything happen to you, I couldn't..."

We both stood awkwardly, aware of the various meanings implied by my words.

Finally, I broke the silence. "Let's just find Sam, okay?" I said firmly. "That's what we're doing now."

Nodding, Ashley followed me as we exited the cinema room and into the hallway, just as the door suddenly slammed shut behind us.

"What the heck?!" Ashley whimpered in despair.

This was seriously doing a number on her nerves, I could see that. I gently put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she exhaled softly, trying to relax. It only lasted until she tried to open the door to the guest room. It suddenly closed, nearly taking her hand with it.

"This is so eff-ed up!" I cried out.

Ashley nodded. I was frustrated. All we wanted was to find Sam and get the hell out, but I couldn't help but wonder and worry about the others.

"Wait a minute!" Ashley screamed as we went through a door at the other end of the hall, which opened by itself. "Did you see that?"

"Uhh..." I replied, turning. "Did I see what?"

"That, Chris! That!" she cried out, gesturing.

I shook my head. "What 'that' was that?"

Groaning, she tried to explain. "It was like...a see-through shape, like a ghost."

"Oh boy."

"I'm serious, why don't you believe me!?" she insisted. "I said I saw it, doesn't that count for anything?"

Ashley was frantic and I wanted to calm her down. This incident in particular was crazy and I didn't want to say the wrong thing. I tried to help her understand where I was coming from, without insulting her.

"We've been through Hell tonight. Okay? Your mind is fried. My mind is fried." I explained, adding gently, "I don't even trust what I've been seeing."

Ashley sighed. "I don't know, I don't know...I just, I saw something, Chris."

I gently touched her arm. "Ash, it's okay. You're just... we're both... kind of out of our heads right now. I mean, we just... we gotta pull it together, okay? You with me?"

She bowed her head and I said softly, "Let's just keep our heads."

"Are we going crazy down here?" she whimpered.

I didn't know, but I reasoned, "It's the only place left that Sam could be, Ash."

She agreed and we walked on a bit, before stopping again.

"I wish that we could just go and find everybody else and-"

"What if Sam needs us?" I asked. "What if she's in trouble?"

"Oh God..."

Just then, the door to the basement opened by itself. Steeling myself, I gently urged Ashley to follow. She did, and together, we made our way down. Once down, we were greeted by a loud noise, followed by a louder one, and then a cabinet to our right jerked as an item flew from the shelf, nearly hitting me. We both leapt back, startled.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" I yelled. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

Ashley backed away, freaked out more than ever. "What the HELL is going ON!?"

Ashley then suddenly screamed, getting my attention. She shook her head, holding up a hand to reassure me. "Oh my god, that scared me."

"You knocked into it, right?" I queried, worried. "You knocked into it?"

Ashley groaned. "I don't...I don't think so, I mean, I don't know."

She turned back to me, clearly upset. I couldn't blame her.

"How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever it was-"

I tried to reason with her. "Ashley, I think you're kind of ignoring what's really happening here..."

Ashley gestured and replied, actually sounding irritated for once. "Don't tell me you didn't see that translucent white figure just passing right by us?"

"We...we could be seeing things-"

"I'm not imagining things!" she insisted.

I sighed and replied firmly, reminding her, "Yeah, well, I saw things, too! I saw what happened to Josh in the shed! You know? And that's what I'm worried about!"

Ashley's shoulder's slumped, her anger evaporating. She looked up at me, contrite. I couldn't deny that it still hurt, knowing what I had done.

"Oh...Chris..." she whispered softly, "I know, I know."

Shaking my head, I tried to reassure her and we resumed our journey. It was difficult, having to find keys and more encounters with the 'ghost'. I actually saw it that time, or at least saw "something."

Things changed, however, as we ended up underground and I reached a doorway. I stopped dead, looking through the doorway.

"Wait, there's a whole 'nother room through here." I gasped. "It's mammoth."

I heard Ashley groan, but she followed me and soon we stopped, gazing in wonder at the ruin of what seemed to be an old hotel, right underneath the Washington's ski lodge.

Walking slowly onward, Ashley whispered, "Where in the world are we now?"

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed.

She turned to me. "Did you know this was here?"

I shook my head. "This? This is like a whole 'nother hotel, I had no idea that this was here."

Ashley shuddered, but nodded, and we continued onward. We had no idea where we were going, so much of what we found freaked us out and I had to urge Ashley to keep going. Some of what we found was downright disturbing. But we pressed on, desperate to find Sam before something happened to her.

Our journey led us to, of all things, a door smeared with blood.

"Oh crap, look at that..."

"Blood?!" Ashley gasped, worried.

I nodded, sharing her worries. "Might be Sam's...let me see if I can get this.."

I began trying to open it, but it was struggle. "Ugh, got it. But...damn, this thing is heavy."

Ashley stepped closer. "Be careful!"

"You gotta come through...Ash..." I told her. "I can't hold it...ugh, come on..."

It was then that Ashley turned to her right. "Oh, Chris!"

"What?" I grunted.

"I think I just saw Sam over there." she said quickly, pointing.

I shook my head "Ash...are you SURE?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, but come on, I think we should check it out."

"Well, I'm pretty sure whoever's bleeding came through here, okay? So we really got to get moving, like, now!" I pointed out.

Ashley pondered briefly. "Okay, yeah, you're right." she said at last, before moving closer. "I'm coming."

With that, we were able to slip through the door, which slammed shut behind us. We recovered quickly and began searching again until we came to a room with double doors.

We heard a muffled shout. "Nh, plmhfm nh!"

I stared and looked at Ashley. She nodded and we pushed the doors open, entering a darkened room.

"Sam!" Ashley cried out.

I gasped. The room was dark, but we could see Sam sitting in a chair in the middle of it. She was clad in only a towel, tied to the chair, and was tightly gagged by a length of cloth, wound tightly through her mouth. We hurried over.

Sam shook her head, wide-eyed, crying out, "Ghrnf, Hfh, lhhg hht!"

Suddenly, someone grabbed me and I felt a mask being clamped over my mouth and nose. I heard a hissing sound and became light-headed. I was being gassed and knocked out.

I hit the ground, my vision fading. I could hear Ashley screaming, Sam's muffled screams...then darkness.

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