Until Dawn: The Light in the Darkness

Chapter 26 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 26

CHRIS POV

I bit my lip worriedly as I stood. Sam and Ashley were also worried as we all heard the screams and had no idea what had caused them. At that moment, Mike came rushing in.

"You guys okay?" he asked in a rush.

We all nodded, but before we could say anything, a loud bang was heard, it was the sound of someone knocking on the door, heavily.

"Whoa?"

"Who the fuck can that be?" Mike muttered.

"Josh?" Ashley suggested.

I looked over at Mike uneasily. "Jess?"

He shook his head. "It's not Jess."

"Sorry, man..." I replied, but then queried, "But who is it?"

"I don't know...We should check it out." Mike answered.

I agreed and the two of us made our way to the door and Mike pointed his gun at the door, cautiously.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm gonna open the door, you ready?" I bit my lip and repeated, "You ready?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, just do it already. Whoever it is has probably gone by now."

I still stalled. I admit, I was getting a little too jittery. "Unless you want me to take the gun."

"No, no, no. I think that's less good. You do the door, I got the gun." Mike replied.

I nodded and approached the door. I had barely turned the handle when it was suddenly kicked open. Mike and I both cried out and tried to urge the sudden visitor to stop. It was an elderly man, grizzled with many scars, gray eyes and hair, and carrying a flamethrower.

"Freeze...Ahh!" Mike cried out as the Stranger effortlessly disarmed him. "What the, alright. Alright, just it easy, grandpa..."

"Okay." the Stranger spat in a thick accent. "Everybody just calm down. Now just move over there, go on, move! Let me say what I came to say."

By this point, we had backed up and now we were all back in the great room, with the girls all staring in shock at the sudden new arrival.

Glaring at all of us, the man shook his head. "I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned." he told us darkly, dropping his bag near the fireplace. "I don't know why you did after what happened last year."

We all shared a look and Ashley nervously asked, "You mean with Hannah and Beth?"

"Yeah, how could you know that without being involved…?" I queried.

Sam jumped in then, glaring. "Or responsible!?"

"You hold on to your horses." the Stranger spat. "I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain-"

Mike scoffed at that. "Your mountain? I'm sure the Washingtons would be very surprised to hear that."

The Stranger laughed at Mike's comment. "Well, this mountain don't belong to me, it's true." he admitted, but then added in a growl, "But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo."

There was a stunned silence after that. We all shared a look, all voicing our confusion, pretty much asking what a Wendigo was. In the end, we had no choice. We decided to hear the old man out.

The Stranger glared at us all again, giving us enough time to notice that the flamethrower wasn't his only weapon, he was carrying a machete and a shotgun, too.

"Now I'm only going to tell you this once. It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reasons I want to..." he explained, before sighing and adding, "Get it off my chest..."

Mike jumped on that, however. "See? I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!"

Sam quickly cut in, "Shh. Shut up, Mike!"

The Stranger had a faraway look in his eye, as he began to tell his story. "There is a curse that dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods, the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed."

Looking at us all carefully, the Stranger warned us, "You're going to need to find somewhere safe."

"The basement might be okay." Sam suggested.

The Stranger instructed us to go down and wait there. But none of us knew for how long.

It was while we were discussing this that Mike suddenly blurted out, "Guys...I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming."

The Stranger turned to him at once. "Where did you leave him?"

Mike shuffled his feet and admitted, "In the shed."

The Stranger gave a short snort. "Your friend will already be dead."

"No, no he can't be." I burst out. "We were just with him!"

"A lot can happen quickly on this mountain."

I wouldn't accept that, however. I couldn't, there was no way. "No, I'm gonna go get him."

The others protested, Ashley most vehemently.

"I'm supposed to be his best friend and I let him down." I replied.

Ashley shook her head. "No, he let YOU down, Chris. He let all of us down."

I didn't care, I still intended to go and, despite my initial unwillingness, I agreed to accompany the Stranger with everybody else being sent to the basement. We began to make our way to the back door, while everybody else headed down to the basement. After giving me his shotgun and a few warnings, the Stranger stepped out into the snow. I was about to follow when I heard Ashley's voice.

"Hey..." I turned and she smiled softly. "Come back safe."

With that, she suddenly kissed me and, before I could say anything, she nodded and I followed the stranger while Ashley closed the door. I was still slightly dazed by what had just happened, but forced myself to focus, I needed to keep going and pay attention.

On the walk to the shed, I insisted that the old guy tell me what he knew. He grudgingly began to fill me in on Wendigos and their weaknesses. It was a shock to realize that the shotgun wouldn't kill them, only slow them down. Apparently, fire was their only weakness. They also had some patterns that they adhered to, like only hunting at night. Much of what I heard made me even more uneasy and not too happy about my chances.

"Any, uh, pro Wendigo tips?" I asked nervously. "Like, if I rub garlic all over me, they won't be able to smell me or something?"

"No, they'll still smell you." the Stranger replied disdainfully.

"Anything like that?"

The stranger grunted but conceded that apparently, their vision was based on movement and, although he didn't recommend testing it out, standing perfectly still might make a person invisible to them.

It was then that we arrived at the shed, only to find the stool that Josh had been tied to was empty and broken. I rushed to it and realized that we were too late. I was so desperate to find Josh that I was willing to disregard further warnings, but the Stranger insisted that we leave, revealing to me how the Wendigo was fond of rendering its victim immobile and then stripping the skin from their body piece by piece and keeping them alive and aware while it feasted on their organs. That was enough for me, I was freaked out enough to finally agree to give up and we began to leave.

We had barely gone ten paces from the shed when the Stranger yelled, "Wait, don't move."

I froze, a second too late, as my foot came down on a twig that snapped.

The Stranger reacted at once. "RUN, GO, NOW, NOW!"

I darted forwards, just as a monstrous creature leapt in front of me. I leapt back in shock, crying out, "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK!?"

The Stranger blasted the Wendigo with his flamethrower, yelling out, "BACK, BACK!"

After warning me to get out of there, to get back to the lodge, the Stranger stepped back, raising his flamethrower again when he suddenly let out a choked gurgle. I watched in horror as his body hit the ground, his head hitting it separately a second or so later.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." I gasped, shock almost setting in.

It was then, however, that I was forced to act, for the Wendigo then turned and lunged right at me. I did the only thing that I could. I raised the shotgun and fired, point-blank, right in its deformed face. It felt back with a shriek and I immediately took off running, desperate to reach the lodge before it was too late. I hadn't gone far when the Wendigo returned, or maybe it was another one. I wasn't sure, but it leapt out in front of me. I fired and hit it. As it fell back, I ran until I reached a ledge and leapt off. I landed and cried out as pain flared up in my ankle. Looking up, I saw the Wendigo coming back for more. I shot again and ran as fast as I could, limping on my injured leg.

'Sprained ankle, it's gotta be a sprained ankle.' my thoughts raced, but then I saw ahead. 'Oh, shit!'

The Wendigo was back for more again. I fired and struck it again. I was now within reach of the lodge.

I ran up to it, yelling, "Oh, thank God. Please, let me in, quick!"

Ashley opened the door at that moment. I burst in and slammed the door shut behind me, locking it, for all the good I felt it would do. Ashley turned to me, eyes wide, noting the state I was in.

"Chris, oh my god, what happened?"

I shook my head. "We gotta go, that thing was, like, right behind me-"

We heard it shriek as it leapt at the door and slammed into it. Ashley let out a short scream and I urged her to go. We hurried as quickly as we could down to the basement. Mike was halfway up the basement stairs, apparently on his way up to get Ashley. He quickly turned and headed back down with us.

Only once I was down in the basement, with the adrenaline wearing off, did I realize just what I had witnessed and shock set in.

'I saw a man die. He died right in front of me….'

"Oh my god, guys! Thank God!" Sam gasped, relieved. "What took you so long?"

Still reeling from the Stranger's death, I shook my head. I was shocked at how dazed I sounded. "It's not so good up there right now-"

"Understatement of the night." Mike muttered with a sigh.

Sam looked around worriedly. "Chris, where's the flamethrower guy?"

"Ah yeah, he uh..." was all I managed to get out.

I didn't need to finish, however, as they all realized the truth: the man was dead. We were all shocked and instantly scared. It was clear that the man was an expert on these Wendigos and there was no doubt that with him on our side, we'd have a chance of survival. Now he was dead, which completely shattered those hopes.

"What happened?" Sam gasped.

I shuddered, hating the sharp horrible memories. "The thing, it... it tore him apart! Right in front of me!"

"Oh God..."

There was a stony silence as we all took this in, realizing what we felt was our best chance had been torn away.

Finally, Mike seemed to come to a decision as he paced around the room, looking around wildly.

"Alright." he said, sounding frantic. "Are these all the doors?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?"

He sighed and admitted, "Another way out."

"Mike..." Sam shook her head. "I really don't think that's a good idea. We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we're safe down here."

Mike turned to her, incredulous. "Oh yeah? All wrapped like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?"

Sam tried to reassure him. "People will come for us in the morning."

"You don't sound so sure."

She insisted. "That's what'll happen...right?"

Truthfully, none of us knew for sure. For all we knew, there might be no help coming. I was only dimly aware of all this, since I was still locked in the horror of what I had witnessed.

Mike shook his head, stepped away. "Well, you can wait. I'm leaving."

"Mike, there's no key for the cable car." Sam queried, pointing to one of the monitors, which showed said key missing.

Mike bit his lip and thought for a moment. Finally, he turned back to us. "Josh. He's gotta have it."

"Josh?" Sam queried.

Mike nodded. "One of his dirty little tricks."

Sam groaned. "Great. Great!"

"If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then..." Mike sighed and shrugged. "Then we're shit outta luck."

Things were quiet after that. I was dimly aware of someone next to me. I turned my head and saw Ashley, gently touching my shoulder. I gave her a shaky smile and nodded, trying to reassure her, and possibly myself.

"Fuck it." Mike said at last. "I'm gonna get that key. Right from thing's goddamned bedroom, and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here."

Before he could leave, however, he saw Sam observing something at the work bench, a map of sorts, and a journal. Several other documents, all from the Stranger's bag.

"This guy was prepared for anything." Sam noted.

"Not quite." Mike muttered, shaking his head.

Ashley had joined them by now, but didn't speak. I remained where I was, sitting against another bench, staring blankly at the floor. I still couldn't get those images out of my head.

Sam must have then spotted something, for she then spoke up.

"Wait, wait, wait, what is that?" she asked, disturbed.

Mike shook his head. "I was down there, it was horrible."

"You were?"

He began to relate the history of what he had seen; the survivors of the mine collapse, what the reporter found out, the cover up and the fact that the owners knew that the mines were a death trap, also the discovery of the restraining chair. The others gazed at him in utter shock. I, however, was just too numb to respond.

"I'm just saying," he told them, "It's weird how much crazy shit's gone on up here."

He then looked at the map and pointed to something on it. "That's how I got back here." Mike explained. "Alright, alright...You guys know what to do. I'll be back. Until then, nobody leave."

With that, he turned and left quickly. Sam leaned against the work bench and sighed. I couldn't help but notice a sad expression on her face as she watched the door that Mike had left through.

Ashley, meanwhile, picked up one of the journals and began to read it. Out of nowhere, she suddenly gasped, "Oh...Oh no, no, no, no, no..."

"What?" Sam insisted, hurrying over. "What is it, what does it say?"

Ashley didn't reply, she simply handed the book to Sam, who read it. I saw her eyes widen.

"Oh shit, shit..." she gasped. "We gotta find Mike."

She sounded so panicked, that neither of us questioned her, we simply grabbed what we needed and followed her out of the basement. Spurred back into action, I was able to at least push the horrible thoughts out of my mind, at least for now.

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