Until Dawn: The Light in the Darkness

Chapter 30 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 30

JESS POV

I bit back another sob, trying hard to focus through the pain. I could no longer hear that strange noise, but that didn't mean that I was alone. I needed to find a way out. But I was lost. I had no idea where to start, and it was so dark. I couldn't see a path.

'Please... Oh God, don't let this be the end...' I thought in dismay.

It was so hard to tell where the pain from one of my injuries stopped and the other began, everything just hurt. It was then that I heard the noise again. I wasn't sure what it was, and in my panic, I simply reacted. I grabbed the nearest thing I could; a shovel. I saw the shadow not too far away and approached. I moved as quietly as I could and, with all my strength, swung the shovel. Only for the figure, who had been turning at the time, suddenly illuminated by a lantern, to react and block the strike.

"No!" I screamed, staggering back, bolts of pain shooting through me.

The shovel had been so worn and rusty that it snapped in two. But then I realized that I recognized the figure and they recognized me. For at that moment, their eyes were wide with disbelief and joy.

"Jess! Holy shit, Jess, it's you."

I couldn't believe it, either. I barely choked the words out through rapidly forming tears. "Grant."

I never thought I'd see him again. Even through the haze of tears, that blue hair was unmistakable.

Grant shook his head, glancing at the wrecked shovel. "Nice to see ya, too... But Jess, what the hell happened? I thought you..."

I nodded, sniffling. "Yeah, I...I don't...I don't know it was..."

I was growing more distressed and, apparently seeing that, Grant nodded and held out his hand.

I stopped and, when he put his hand on my shoulder, flinched.

"Jess?"

I trembled and spoke. "Please don't...it just, hurts."

He bit his lip and nodded. "Ah, right. I...I'm sorry."

I shuddered again, overwhelmed with fear and sorrow. I definitely sounded childish, but the words just burst out. "I just wanna go home."

Grant, however, nodded understandingly. "I don't blame ya."

There was a lengthy pause as Grant looked around with the lantern, looking worried. I knew then that he could hear the noise, too.

"What is that?"

"I'm not sure I wanna know." he replied darkly, before shaking his head. "Ah, fuck. Jess, listen. We have to go, we have to get outta here. We'll find a way."

I looked up at him, hopeful. "Grant, I..."

He nodded. "We can do this together."

I nodded too, a strange tingling sensation briefly overcoming the pain. I wondered at its source and then remembered, at the cabin, that 'moment'. Something about it stuck with me and I wondered, I even hoped, that we might revisit that once we were safe, once everything stopped hurting so much.

I admit, one thing did amaze me; that Grant still seemed so at ease around me. I knew that I looked drastically different, covered in blood. I would certainly have massive scars across my face and chest and many others, too. Whatever that thing was, its claws ripped through my clothes and skin as if they were paper. The ratty old miner's coat and boots provided only some warmth, but it was better than the alternative. I was so pale now, I could see it and it scared me. My paleness only emphasized the blood even more. Finally, I was sure that my eyes were completely surrounded by dark shadow and were puffy.

We immediately began walking, Grant taking the lead, going slow for my sake. He nodded to me reassuringly. His hand twitched and I suppressed a smile. He wanted to take my hand, to make sure that I would stay with him, but was wary of hurting me further. We pressed on and made our way down the only path available; a tunnel by some rail tracks and tool stands. We walked in silence, except for my labored breathing. We turned and made our way down another tunnel, this one was mostly bare rock, until we reached some wooden walls. Suddenly, we heard the screech again, this time louder. It was getting closer.

"Huh?" Grant gasped.

I looked around, desperate. "Fuck."

Grant began to move quickly. "Jess, over here!"

He began to move faster. I tried follow but struggled to keep up. I stumbled, I couldn't run, the pain was too much. Grant stopped around looked around, seeking another way, finally spotting a gap in the wooden wall.

"Alright." he said at last. "Come on, Jess."

I followed him into the gap behind the wall and we pressed ourselves up against it. Grant gently motioned for me to stay quiet and I did my best, screwing my eyes shut against the agony ricocheting through my body. We could hear skittering and screeching behind us, and the ragged breathing of the creature. Then it began to fade as it moved away. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and began to stumble. Acting quickly, Grant caught me, making me cry out.

"Jeez..." he whispered, looking around. Nothing had heard us. "Shit, I'm sorry that I hurt you."

I could only respond with a choked gasp. "Oh God..."

"Alright, alright..." he said gently, letting me go once I could stand.

I shook my head. "Grant, I'm just slowing you down. Go...just get out of here. Escape..."

"Jess, no." he whispered. I began to reply but he cut me off. "No, Jess. I am not leaving you. We get out of here together, or not at all."

He then gently guided me out and we began to move down the tunnel, a lot more wary now. I was still in amazement at what I had heard, actually touched deeply by Grant's words. Grant quickened his pace slightly, but not to a run. I was still able to just about keep up.

"Let's go, we gotta do this, we gotta get out of here." he told me. "Come on, come on, come on, come on."

Urged on by him, I followed as quickly as I could. As we turned another corner, we heard the screeching again.

"Jess!" he cried out in a panic. "Jess, come on."

Looking back, we could see the creature leaping around the corner behind us. Grant then stopped, as did I. The path split, we could go left and continue, or we could try and break through the wooden boards to our right, where we could see light filtering in. Grant looked at me, he knew that I couldn't make it down the long path to the left, not with that thing so close behind. So he barged through the boards, breaking them.

"Whoa!" he cried as he nearly overbalanced, almost falling off the cliff.

We were outside now, the snow falling down. Seeing a ledge to our right as I joined him, we moved carefully over to it.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I felt the cold immediately bite into my body, adding great discomfort to my already agonized state. "Oh my god...Okaay..."

I edged up next to Grant and we stopped, staying as still as we dared. The creature leapt out and looked around, growling, but didn't seem to see us. It finally turned and leapt back into the depths of the mines. Grant let out a breath of relief and I slumped against the rock wall behind me, letting out a dry sob. We both looked up in relief at the rising sun and heard the blessed sound of approaching helicopters.

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