Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn, its plot/story or characters. Those rights go to Supermassive Games and Sony Computer Entertainment.
Alright, so this chapter got longer than usual but because I don't want to drag this out and wanted to get closer to the time skip, I'm gonna roll with this. But hey, longer chapter for you guys!
Sort of important news: this year is probably going to be busy, school wise. So if there ever comes a point where an update may take too long, it may be because of that. But I will try to keep this going as consistently as possible.
A couple of days had passed since Jack and Beth's argument and resolution. That night, Beth admitted that she made a mistake and Jack (eventually) saw where she was coming from and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. They still spent the day after sitting in awkward silence as they did another sweep of the Sanitarium, but the two of them saw it as slowly but surely building their trust back up.
Jack was too proud to admit it but the past few days after Beth teamed up with him, he had a growing respect for the teen especially seeing how she handled the Wendigo the first time around. Granted, their most recent capture didn't go exactly as planned but she seemed to trap it well given the circumstances. His argument with her seemed to cause him to recognise her resolve. He didn't think that she would have the guts to defy him but proving him wrong was something Beth seemed to enjoy. Immensely.
During those couple of days, Beth smugly made fun of Jack whenever he called the wolves by their new names. Yes, he liked them and yes, he thought they were kind of cute, but that didn't mean that Beth could tease him whenever he used the names.
Nevertheless, the two of them agreed that since Jack was out to capture the Wendigos and Beth was searching for any trace of Hannah, they decided to do their own thing and keep to themselves. As long as the Wendigos were captured and kept away from other people, Jack wasn't complaining.
He had actually taken Beth's earlier advice and agreed to try to do some maintenance on the faulty elevator shaft. It would've been risky to do it both in the day and after sundown, but if they knew what they were doing and were quick about it, they could make it less of an accident waiting to happen. Fixing a lift from way back in the day wasn't the easiest endeavour in the world, but compared to her new… lifestyle, Beth was pretty content to help out.
During one sweep of the mountain one early morning, the duo came across something that both of them dreaded to see. Beth tugged her jacket tighter around herself, unsure whether it was due to her shock or the chill from the falling snow.
Police tape.
"Well. That's problematic.", Beth stated in a deadpanned voice.
Based on the look on Jack's face, he wasn't going to laugh at Beth's sarcasm at any point. With no hesitation, he grabbed her arm and the two of them ended up sprinting back to the Sanitarium before anyone could possibly catch them. "In some shape or form, this is your fault."
Neither of them had it in them to start another shouting match.
"So what's the plan for tonight?", Beth asked as Jack was pacing back and forth in front of her. She was sitting in a chair, petting one of the wolves. Deep down, she was terrified about the prospect of the authorities crawling around the mountain. On the one hand, she didn't want the police to get in the way of her search for Hannah but also if they found her, it would lead to an explanation that she didn't want to give.
She had actually considered approaching the police with the truth and continue the search for Hannah in the mines, where they should actually be looking. Except there were a few things wrong with that plan:
One, the police wouldn't know the first thing about handling the situation of the Wendigos and would probably get themselves killed, which would just further complicate things.
Two, there would be concerns about how Jack would fit into everything. There would most definitely be questions about his involvement and would probably not allow him or Beth anywhere the searches. Which kind of defeated the whole purpose of her being there in the first place.
Three, she and Jack had agreed that if he was able to capture the Wendigos his own way, he would let her search for Hannah. Even considering letting the police into what was going on would throw everything out of proportion.
So, yeah, letting the police find Beth or discover what was going on wasn't in their best interests.
Jack ceased his pacing and sighed. "It can't be just for tonight. You know, they're gonna sweep the place until they find one of you girls." He didn't miss Beth wince slightly. "It's definitely gonna be hard to capture another Wendigo with the police so we just gotta make sure neither of them finds the other."
"And how are we gonna do that?", Beth asked incredulously, standing up from her chair.
"The rituals.", Jack replied like it was the most obvious answer. Beth stared at him, unable to gauge what he meant by that. "By the Shamans." Still nothing. "Come on, I wrote it in the journal."
All of a sudden, realisation came flooding back to Beth. She had recalled reading something about that in the notebook before the 'incident' but forgot to ask him a bit it. "Oh, yeah, what's up with those?"
Jack sighed, pulling out his journal again. "I swear, you make me lose my patience on purpose." He cleared his throat. "The artefacts, totems and feathers that help keep the Wendigos at bay. They don't get rid of them but, when used correctly, they should keep them away from the police."
"And us.", Beth added.
"Yes, and us.", Jack repeated, trying to get the conversation back on track. "If we have them ready by nightfall, we can use them or divert them away from other people."
"And back into the mines?"
"In a perfect world. That job will be up to us."
Beth nodded. "Which brings us to another matter entirely: our weapons. How are we gonna use them without drawing attention to ourselves?"
"Well, as long as we're a good distance from the police, the flamethrower shouldn't be a problem, but the shotgun…"
Beth glared at him. "Yeah, I get it." She sighed. "But it's not like I can just stop using it. I might need it if we come across a Wendigo."
Jack shrugged. "Unless you have a silencer or something to at least make the shotgun more useable in this circumstance, you've got a problem."
After a moment of contemplation, Beth winced. Jack gave her a concerned look that asked her to explain. "The good news is I do have a silencer."
Jack groaned; he knew where this was going. "The bad news?"
"Its in the lodge."
"Why would your parents have a silencer in the lodge?", Jack asked, annoyed.
"My dad likes to use the shooting range outside of the lodge and keeps a silencer in case sound becomes too much of an 'issue'.", Beth replied. She had never used the shooting range whenever they visited the lodge but she had seen her dad and sometimes Josh using it. Beth looked slightly confused when Jack looked to the ground, looking as if he were in thought. "What?"
"Near the end of the Sanitarium is a tunnel leading to the lodge basement.", he replied bluntly.
Beth gaped at him. "What?!"
Jack threw up his hands in self-defence. "I never entered the lodge. Just needed to know where the tunnel led to to add it to the map."
She rolled her eyes. How many more things was she going to find out about this place? "Then getting in shouldn't be a problem then?"
The older man held up a finger. "Not exactly. The ladder's busted and climbing down a tall rock wall is pain, let alone climbing up."
Beth let out an exasperated groan, running her hands through her hair. "So we're back to square one!"
"So you can see how getting it will be a problem.", the old man replied with a knowing look on his face.
Beth's face took on an expression of determination. "Not really. I can get it myself."
Jack looked at her as if she were crazy and let out an exasperated laugh. "Again, there might a slight problem with, I don't know, the police all over the area."
Beth sighed and shook her head. "Look, nightfall is getting close and we've established that getting rid of the shotgun isn't a good option so this might be our only choice."
Jack had to admit, the girl was being more pragmatic than he gave her credit for. It was a risky suggestion but unless they could find Beth a new weapon that was just as effective, getting this silencer was the only option they had. "And how exactly are you planning to sneak in undetected?"
Out of all of the plans Beth could've come up with, this one was up there in the 'stupid' category. Jack had argued 'get inside the lodge, grab the silencer and get out without the police finding you out at any point' didn't count as a well thought out plan. Beth then rebutted again that nightfall wasn't far away and if he wanted her to help then adjusting her weaponry was the best option.
When Jack asked her to consider her plan better, she thought about sneaking in through the back of the lodge, sneak up the stairs, slip into her parent's, find the silencer and, finally, make a run for it. All without the police catching her. After Beth relayed the plan to Jack, he still didn't look convinced. "It's probably simpler than it sounds.", she mumbled.
"Humph", he huffed. "Sure."
Beth rolled her eyes. "And while I'm handling that, you use those rituals to keep the Wendigos away from the police."
Jack paused. "That plan… might actually work."
Beth beamed. "See? I can be smart."
"That's still debatable."
Once nightfall came again, Beth and Jack went about to set their-Beth's-plan in motion. The two of them went their separate ways to carry out their end of things, although Beth was slightly unsure why Jack was bringing the wolves with him but she didn't have time to ask. Approaching the police tape they saw earlier, she took in a deep, shaky breath before ducking underneath it, as if passing into a new experience. From this point on, Beth was at risk of being caught and had to be extremely cautious.
The tracks she was obviously making in the snow would've been a dead giveaway as to what was going on. However, since there numerous police officers walking around the area mixed with the heavily falling snow, it probably would be easy to slip around without arousing that must suspicion. She kept to the tree line, not heading straight for the lodge but instead decided to make her way around.
When she a police officer with a flashlight walking in her general direction, Beth quickly hid behind a large tree, strategically hiding her from view. She carefully peeked from around the tree to see the officer still walking towards where she was. She sucked in an icy breath and dug a hand in her pocket, pulling out a small rock. She had collected a few on her way over, knowing that she was going to need a distraction if she was at risk at being caught.
Making sure that she was still out of sight, she threw the stone at another tree with enough force to knock the snow off the trunk. The shifting of the snow caught the attention of the officer causing them to investigate the movement. With their back facing where Beth was, she took that as cue to continue running from tree to tree. She had to continue this process for several more minutes before she was a safe distance away from the lodge. There were a larger number of officers surrounding the lodge and every few minutes or so, one or two entered and exited through the front door.
She carefully made her way to the back of the lodge, thankful that only a few were at the back. There was a small wooden walkway by the stairs that led directly into the building. The miniscule stone suddenly felt heavy in her hand. This next part had to be carried out perfectly. Standing behind a tree by the side of the tree, she threw the stone with all of her strength to the side wall, a dull thunk sounding off of it. She closed her eyes, praying that her move worked and heaved a silent sigh of relief when the officers rounded the corner of the lodge to investigate the sudden sound. When she was sure that they wouldn't see her, Beth bolted for the walkway that led to the stairs to the lodge.
It didn't seem like the officers were ever standing near the walkway since there weren't any snow tracks. She bit her lip nervously since stepping in with her snow covered shoes would definitely drawback attention to herself. Taking a huge gamble (she was making a lot of them today), confident in the possibility that they wouldn't look this far, Beth slipped off her boots, hiding them from view, stepping on the walkway as she did so so that she didn't make any tracks.
She quietly trotted up the stairs and slipped through the door. There didn't seem to be any officers on the top floor. Since their 'disappearance' took place in the mountains, the police probably weren't that concerned about the details of the lodge. Not wasting any time, her footsteps light, Beth made a beeline for her parent's room. Nothing seem to be out of place since the last time she saw it. She immediately opened one of the drawers of the dresser and swiped the silencer.
The item felt foreign in her hand. She never thought that she'd be the one in her family who'd desperately needed a silencer for a shotgun. It brought back memories of her dad showing her how to attach it to the gun and then demonstrating his shooting abilities at the shooting range. She shrugged it off at the time but now she was grateful that she remember what he told her. He'd probably be proud of her if the circumstances were different.
She shook her head, reminding herself that this wasn't the time to reminisce. She had to get out of there. Beth snuck out of the lodge, relieved that the officers didn't seem to have returned to their previous position. She didn't both trying to be quiet this time and hastily shoved her boots back on and went to sprint away.
A flash of light in the corner of her eye caught her off guard and turned to see a amber glow in the distance behind the tree line.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Of all the times…
Beth could practically hear the police freaking out over this. A sudden wolf howl caused them to split their attention and a cluster of officers were confused as to what exactly was going on. Beth was also wondering that herself. A flame burst out in the distance again but this time it was seen in a different place. The police were already approaching the source of light and Beth decided to go with her gut with what she was going to do next.
She made her way towards Wolfie. Or Winter, she couldn't tell. With the police's attention elsewhere, they didn't notice the teenager sprinting behind them, heading towards a wolf's howl. As she was running she had to hide behind a couple of trees when she saw a couple of officers easing towards the fire since it was probably radioed in that something strange was going on. Once she was sure that no one else would be wandering in that area, she ran with all of her energy.
She ran for several more minutes until she saw Wolfie sitting in the snow patiently as if waiting for Beth. "Hey, boy. I'm guessing Jack has something to do with this?" She honestly didn't know why she was expecting an answer. However, Wolfie stood up and began to run off. Beth rolled her eyes and followed after him but got slightly annoyed every now and then when the wolf suddenly decided to change directions.
Just when she was about to run out of breath, she saw Jack standing behind a tree holding his piece of paper in his hand with Winter by his side. He looked up and scowled when he saw Beth. "What took you so long?"
Beth huffed. "I'm fine, by the way."
Jack sighed. "Nice to know that you didn't get caught."
"And what have you been doing?"
"Well, the Wendigos are still an issue so I had to use the wolves as a distraction so I can use the flamethrower and get away before the police could catch me."
"So what are we going to do know?"
In response, Jack dug through his bag and pulled out a couple of totems with elaborate designs and patterns with feathers attached down the sides. "Keep the Wendigos away from the police." Beth opened her mouth to reply but a Wendigo's screech beat her to it. Jack wasted no time shoving the piece of paper into her hand. "When they show up, read those words out. They don't have to be perfect, just make them comprehensible."
Beth blanched as she read what she assumed to be the ritual words written in a language that she didn't understand. She had no time to fully read over them since the sound of the Wendigo was getting closer and closer. She began to frantically read the words out and judging by the look on Jack's face, she was pronouncing it correctly. As she spoke the words, the Wendigo seemed to wince as if the words harmed it. It looked over to the totems Jack was holding and hissed at him, backing away slightly.
Seeing the obvious effect they were having on the Wendigo, Beth spoke with more urgency and Jack waved the totems closer to it. He motioned for her to follow him and the two of them circled around the Wendigo so that it was driven further into the forest and away from the lodge and the police. Beth repeated the words one more time and it was enough to drive the Wendigo further away from them. Jack finished their process by quickly stuffing the totems into his bag and let out a final burst of flames to buy them enough time to escape.
"We're not gonna catch it?", Beth called out as they were running.
"It will draw too much attention to us. The police are already suspicious that something is going on and it will be hard to concentrate on avoiding the police and diverting the Wendigo to the Sanitarium at the same time."
They both looked behind them and the Wendigo seemed to have lost track of them, which Beth was grateful for. When they were sure that both the police and the Wendigo weren't going to find them, they both let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, that happened.", Beth huffed.
When they all returned to the Sanitarium, all of them, including the wolves, felt like collapsing from exhaustion from everything that happened that night. Jack ran a hand over the length of his face. A lot of things could've gone wrong during both of their plans and though he was confident in what he was doing, he wasn't too sure with what Beth had planned. But Beth had a track record for proving him wrong.
"Good job back there.", Jack said to her.
"T-thanks.", she breathed out, trying to catch her breath.
"Got what you needed?", he asked.
Beth nodded and pulled out the silencer out of her pocket, a couple of stones falling out as she did so. She held it up triumphantly and then went over to the shotgun that was lying on the table and quickly attached. She was half-tempted to try it out but Jack put a hand on it as if knowing what she had in mind. "How about you save those bullets for the Wendigos?"
Beth smirked. "Gladly." She set the gun back down. "Well, that should make hunting the Wendigos with the police around a little easier."
"I got to admit-", Jack started, crossing his arms as he did so. "-didn't think you were gonna be able to do all that on your own."
"Wow, thanks.", Beth drawled out.
Jack smirked. "But you did. And to be honest, I'm not sure if I could've done it."
She chuckled. "That must've taken a lot of guts to admit."
"Don't let that be an excuse to slack off."
"Wouldn't dream of it.", Beth shrugged. "I know you're probably too proud to admit this, but I think we're a good team. You know, when you're not a jerk."
"Or when you're not a brat."
"I'm not a brat.", Beth whined defensively.
"Thanks for proving my point."
Beth threw her arms up and turned away to lie down on her mattress, laughing lightly.
As Jack was preparing the food for them to eat that night, he thought back to what Beth said. Yes, they were working well together and Beth was learning fast, especially after her 'mistake'. She didn't seem to show it but Beth did seem to be pretty devastated over what happened and Jack couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. If he was in her situation, he would probably feel the same.
When he first found Beth, he thought she was going to be the bratty teenage girl he expected most kids to be and at first he thought he was right. But then she showed resolve and skill in fighting and capturing Wendigos in a span of only of a couple of days. She may have been a pain at first, but Jack wanted to admit that she was growing in him.
For a moment, Jack thought, Okay, maybe she isn't that bad.
Not sure if the Washington parents had their own room in the lodge, but here let's just say that they do. By the way, the elevator shaft they used a couple chapters ago and fixed here was the one that Jess fell down in the game (*cough*ButterflyEffectUpdated*cough*). I do not know how two people can fix an elevator from decades ago and I definitely don't know how to write it, so if it's a little unrealistic, just roll with me with this. Okay, so, if all goes as planned, the infamous timeskip we've all been waiting for should be coming in the next few chapters (sorry if this is dragging out too long, this just what I've planned and what I'm going with and I don't have it in me to change it).