.

Failed Attempt

"How many more of those wendigoes are up here?" Alan asked Dallas as they worked on the trap.

"I don't know. I haven't had a chance to examine the totems," Dallas answered, working on the finishing touches of the trap.

"The answer is in them, then?" Alan asked.

"That would depend on the memories they show," Dallas said.

"I suppose they work as containment units? The wendigo spirits fill them when the bodies are burned with fire?" Alan jokingly asked. Dallas missed a beat and Alan's smirk fell. "Never mind. I don't want to know," he deadpanned.

Dallas gave him a look and focused on the job again. Soon he stood with Alan, brushing off his hands. Alan wiped his own on his clothes. "Now we wait," Dallas said. "It's up to Bob at this point."

"This is a bad idea in every sense of the word," Alan remarked.

"I know. But who am I to stand between a father and their only chance at rescuing their last surviving child?" Dallas asked.

"I suppose you have a point," Alan agreed. "There is no love greater than a parent's love for their offspring, considering that parent is in a stable mental state." He sat on a rock and watched the path, waiting for Bob. Dallas sat next to him and watched as well. "What are the odds this works?"

"Very slim," Dallas confessed. "But there is still a chance."

"I suppose that's all we can hope for anymore," Alan grimly said.

UD

Mr. Washington scouted the forest determinedly, keeping an ear out for the sound of the wendigo. If he didn't find it, it would find him. It knew he was here. He stopped suddenly when he heard a sound in the trees. One far too big and loud to be a squirrel. He stood stalk still. He didn't dare to try and look around. Slowly, down in front of him, a head lowered. His son's. So twisted by the curse yet still so familiar. It breathed in and out growling, staring right at him. He stared evenly back. Suddenly the wendigo roared and leapt. He ducked under it and it soared behind him. Swiftly he turned, racing back the way he'd come and springing over Joshigo. Josh roared in anger and spun, immediately giving chase!

Bob Washington tore through the forest thanking the powers that be he'd stayed fit to the point he was in better shape than a good number of younger men. He heard his son closing the distance. He could all but feel the hand reaching out to catch him. Panting for breath, he threw down a totem. Josh seized it and gave a scream, suddenly stopping and giving Bob an opportunity to get ahead again. Mr. Washington swallowed. That totem had been the one that showed the fates of his daughters… He didn't hear the sound of Josh pursuing for a good long while before it started again. He threw down another totem, as Josh drew near once more, throwing him off a second time. Then another, then another, then another, and on and on. He had to have tossed them all to his son before reaching the trap. That was the plan. Josh was to see everything and then they would finish with the last totem.

Bob looked back in time to see the latest totem Josh had touched dissolve and something that looked like a wendigo spirit enter his child's body. For a horrible moment, he feared he'd been tricked before determining he couldn't question things now. This was his one and only chance. If he was being deceived, he would be no better off than before. If this was real, then this would be the only opportunity they had to save Josh. With those totems dissolving into nothingness, there would be no other way to restore the memories to his boy again. If this fell through, all was lost. There would be no more chances. The last totem couldn't fail.

He looked ahead again, shoving roughly through a thicket. He checked his bag and grimaced. The last totem before the special one. It was now or never. He threw it down and Josh froze in place for the last time. There would be no more slowing him down. Too quickly his son seemed to fall back to wendigo mode, tearing after him. Joshigo was gaining quickly and Mr. Washington cursed himself for not spacing out the totems better. His lungs screamed in protest, his heart drummed in his chest so hard that it was physically painful, and he could swear he was going to have a heart attack. He wasn't as young as he used to be, after all. When he felt his child's breath on the back of his neck, he didn't honestly believe he would make it. He had half a mind to just give up and collapse like his body was begging him to, and let the boy tear him apart.

He heard the screams of his daughters in his head. He saw his son happy and his baby girls alive like they used to be. He watched his son turn his head, laughing and beaming at him. He had so badly wanted to be just like his father… And Hannah, Beth, all the plans they'd had…

No. He wouldn't fail them. He wouldn't fail! Scowling to himself, he drew strength and determination from the memories, pouring on a burst of speed as his adrenaline kicked in full force once more. He pulled ahead and out of Josh's reach. The trap couldn't be far now. He hadn't gone so far from it that he couldn't reach it in time! This was going to work. It had to! Then all at once, everything went very, very wrong.

UD

Suddenly, from the bushes ahead, sprang a cougar with a vicious roar, foaming at the mouth. Mr. Washington slid to a stop with a terrified cry. The animal turned his way snarling. It was so thin. Starving, Bob realized. Which meant it was desperate. Which meant he was prey! S**t! The cougar sprang with a snarl. Bob threw himself desperately to the side to avoid the attack. He turned, half-expecting it to leap on him and finish him off, but suddenly Josh sprang through the brush with a screech and raced straight at the cougar. Taken off guard, the cougar jumped into fight mode and sprang at the wendigo with a vicious roar, clamping down savagely on Josh's arm and violently shaking him before throwing him to the side and tackling him with ferocity. Determinedly it tried to tear out Josh's neck while clawing him to pieces.

"Josh!" Bob cried in terror. He quickly grabbed a heavy rock from the ground and threw it with all his might at the cougar. The wildcat roared, startled, and turned sharply. Now that its attention was diverted from the prey it was currently after—prey it by now had realized was stronger than it and certainly not normal food—it turned its focus to the weaker target and charged while the wendigo was recovering itself. Bob fled frantically from the wildcat down another trail that led away from where the trap was. He hadn't had much choice. He couldn't hope to outrun the animal, not for long, so all he could do was buy himself some time.

Racing down the trial, he suddenly recognized it. It was the path Hannah and Beth had fled down. The path Mat and Emily had been pursued along a year later. Which meant nothing but bad things, because if he recalled correctly, it led to a sheer drop to near-certain death off a steep cliff. Sure enough, he came out of the forest and gasped, sliding to a stop at the edge and looking down in horror. Quickly he judged the situation. He might be able to survive the fall if he jumped far enough, but he doubted it. Then again, the odds of him surviving an attack by a starving cougar were about the same. The thing was probably rabid too, with his luck. It had certainly seemed more aggressive than was normal. Of course, that could be due to starvation, but starvation might only be the secondary problem. Wryly he congratulated himself for long ago getting a rabies shot for himself and all his family. Unfortunately, unless he could muster up the carnal strength to pry a mountain cat's jaws apart, a bite from a rabid beast was the least of his worries. A rabies shot would do crap all for keeping him alive through a mauling.

He heard a guttural growl and caught his breath, eyes wide. He turned around slowly. The mountain lion approached, fangs bared and foaming at the mouth. Somehow he doubted that making himself look bigger in this situation would do anything at this point. With a roar, the mountain lion suddenly lunged! Bob cried out in fear, covering his neck in a last-ditch attempt to possibly survive being mauled long enough for Alan and Dallas to save his sorry hide. The mountain lion pounced, claws outstretched. What happened next almost seemed to happen in slow motion. Suddenly Joshigo leapt from the side, and tackled the cat before it could land on top of Mr. Washington!

Bob gasped, looking quickly over. Time seemed to go back to normal. He watched in shock as his son and the wildcat fought a battle to the death. For a horrifying moment, Mr. Washington feared his son would lose and cursed himself for not bringing a gun, though he knew that if he had been carrying one, he would never have outrun Josh like he had. Suddenly, though, Josh recovered himself and swiftly ended the life of the mountain lion, breaking its neck with extreme prejudice. Bob could only gape in disbelief, stunned by the strength of the wendigo.

"Bob! Bob!" he heard Alan and Dallas shouting in the distance as they raced to try and find and help him. He registered their calls, but he didn't care. They weren't what he was focused on. They weren't what Joshigo was focused on either.

Josh growled, turning to him and approaching dangerously. Bob shook his head in denial, knowing he had nowhere to run. He stood his ground, though. He would face death bravely, if death was what lie in store for him now. Josh got right up close to his face, centimeters away. He could see into his son's eyes, still so human. He could feel the warm breath on his face. He tried so hard not to move, but he couldn't help choking up. "Joshua," he sobbed out loud. Josh growled then screeched at him… But he didn't attack… Instead, he crouched down and scrambled away out of sight, dragging the cougar's body with him. Only moments later, Alan and Dallas appeared, panting for breath with guns drawn. They started upon seeing only Mr. Washington. Bob sank to his knees, inwardly cursing fortune and luck. There it went. His one chance. Could he even still save his son anymore? The doctor and ranger were quiet. Dallas licked his lower lip in a frustrated and upset tick. "Let's head back to camp," he finally said. Mr. Washington was still, eyes tightly shut. After a moment, he rose and started dejectedly back with the other two.

"Don't give up hope, Robert. Tomorrow we can try again," Alan assured, trying to lift their spirits. Bob's in particular.

"By then it might be too late and Josh will forget what he saw in the totems," Dallas quietly murmured.

"Then it must be tonight. It will be tonight," Alan firmly said. "I've been against this from the start, but now that we're so very close… I can't give up on this particular patient. I won't. If there's even a slight chance that Josh can be saved, dammit he will be saved!" It was his job to save people as best he could! When Bob didn't respond, though, the doctor grew concerned. "Bob?" he questioned. Mr. Washington was silent.

Dallas shook his head negatively at the doctor. "It's probably best not to talk anymore until we get back to camp," he murmured quietly. "I don't think it's what he needs right now." Alan frowned, not liking this, and observed the bereaved father in silence, watching carefully for any concerning signs.

UD

The trio sat by the fire in absolute silence. "Are you giving up?" Alan finally dared ask, looking straight at Bob.

Bob was silent. "I don't want to, but at this point... At this point, I have seriously considered admitting defeat and just going home. Who was I even kidding? He's… he's gone… He's gone, and I need to stop torturing myself by believing my boy can be saved. Maybe once it was possible, but these heroics? They're a young man's game. I'm not a young man anymore, and this whole thing… It's just taken such a toll on me. I'm so, so tired… I just want things to be like they were." He knew, though, that they never could be.

Alan opened his mouth to speak, but just then his cell phone rang. He frowned curiously and picked it up. "Dr. Alan Hill speaking," he said. He listened and his expression became a serious and solemn one. "Oh. I see," he sadly said. Bob looked up curiously. "Yes, I have him here… Yes, I'll tell him. Thank you," the psychiatrist said. He hung up the phone gravely.

"Who was that? Was it about Melinda? Is my wife alright?" Bob asked, but the tone in his voice… They knew immediately that he already knew what the answer would be.

"I… I'm sorry, Robert. She… she passed away only minutes ago in her sleep," Dr. Hill sympathetically said.

Bob Washington's mouth trembled, he closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head in denial. "No," he said through a sob, holding his head in his hands. No, no, this couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. None of this was real! Melinda! "Oh god let me die. Please, please god let me die!" he begged, breaking down into sobs so violent they shook his entire body. Alan was quiet. Now wasn't the time to try and soothe him. It would be best to wait until he'd calmed down a little and wept as much as he needed to.

Dallas watched silently and felt a pricking at his own eyes. How much could one person endure, he wondered, before it became too much? He had never seen a man broken before… Not like this… It hurt to see. How much more painful was it for the bereaved husband and father who was going through it? Mr. Washington had lost everything, wife and children all, in the span of two years. He didn't even want to imagine how that must feel. "I'm sorry," he murmured to Mr. Washington. He didn't know what else to say. There was nothing else that could be said. Even he, he who had lost his family—both his brother and the grandfather who had raised them—couldn't think of the right words to offer. Mr. Washington would not be soothed. Maybe he never would be again, though Dallas suspected that if anyone could pull him back from the brink of suicide it would be Dr. Hill.

Bob slowly looked up gasping for breath through the tears and staring into the woods. "Bob?" Dr. Hill gently said. Mr. Washington didn't respond. There was this look in his eyes, though... Dr. Hill tensed up. "Bob?" he asked more firmly. Mr. Washington stood up, eyes fixed on the forest. "Robert!" Alan said more loudly. It was like the man couldn't even hear them anymore. An almost terrifying calm was beginning to wash over the face of the mourning father and husband. At an alarming rate, the man began to compose himself. To say Alan was on guard was understating it. He saw the look in his companion's eyes and his own widened.

"So this is how it will be is it?" Mr. Washington said. "This is how it will be... Fine. I'll play this cruel game of life until the last breath leaves my body. If I can't save my son, I die on this mountain with my children!"

"Bob, wait!" Alan shouted. Too late. Bob had already taken off, dashing into the forest.

"Come on! We have to stop him before he gets himself and us killed!" Dallas said, leaping up and racing after the man. Alan followed closely. There was nothing more dangerous than someone with nothing left to lose, and all that could hope to compare was a parent trying to protect their offspring. Now they were dealing with a mixture of both, and that couldn't possibly end well.

UD

Bob Washington charged swiftly and determinedly through the forest. If he succeeded, at least his boy would be able to say goodbye to his mother. If he failed? Well, he'd been over that more times than he could count. The long and short of it was he was no worse or better off than he was now, so what did it matter? "Josh! Joshua!" he shouted. He alternated between calling his son's name and the name of the wendigo spirit taking over him. He kept challenging it to come forth. He moved like a madman through those woods, and Alan and Dallas both started to fear the man had genuinely and completely lost his mind.

"He lost us again!" Dr. Hill said after the third time they'd lost sight of Bob Washington.

"We won't catch him like this or talk him down from it. We need to get to the trap. It's all we can do for him anymore," Dallas said. "The man knows this property like the back of his hand. We're doing no good trying to hunt him down on his own land, but we know where he'll go."

"We can't leave him out there!" Alan protested.

"We have no choice, and you know it," Dallas answered.

"I… You're right," Alan relented. "Very well. Let's end this once and for all." Quickly he and the ranger headed back to the trap.

Bob darted down another trail, and suddenly, from the bushes, sprang Josh with a shriek! Bob turned heel and began running straight for the trap again. Again he could feel his son's breath on his neck as the wendigo closed the distance between them. He didn't care. Suddenly he was there. The trap was just ahead with Alan and Dallas watching on in shocked disbelief! Bob Washington ran for it and leapt through. Josh, however, ran right into it and was immediately snared.

"It worked!" Alan exclaimed.

"Quickly, get the last…" Dallas began. He stopped, lips parting. Josh was beginning to break through the snare, tearing his way out of the ropes and sticks. "Oh no," he said. Was this really about to happen right now? He began backing away. "No, dammit, no!"

"What is it? What's happening? Get him the totem and maybe we can stop him from breaking out!" Alan insisted.

"Hide!" Dallas ordered instead, pointing at the bushes. Neither Mr. Washington nor Dr. Hill questioned him. There wasn't time to. Swiftly they got out of sight. Dallas did as well. The trap was broken apart the next moment, Joshigo shrieking in rage. Immediately he went for the place Dallas had hidden like he had some kind of vendetta. Josh may not have, but the thing corrupting him? That was another story.

"No!" Mr. Washington shouted, darting out of hiding. "No, no, no, Josh!" The wendigo spun around, screeched once more, then darted into the forest as swiftly as the wind. Quickly Alan and Dallas got out of hiding, regrouping with Mr. Washington. The three men were left gawking in horror and alarm at the now empty snare and the now-deathly silent woods.

"Oh no," Alan hollowly said. "Have we…? Have we just become the hunted?" The three men carefully listened for any movement in the brush or even the faintest of growls. This was not good.

"He's become more powerful than I had begun to anticipate. How he still looks so human is beyond me," Dallas finally dared to whisper.

"What now?" Dr. Hill asked in a whisper as well.

"Pray," Dallas answered. He turned to Mr. Washington and withdrew a pouch slowly. He handed it to the man. Bob looked curiously at it. "It is for the healing of your son's body," he said. "When you use it, after you've shown him the last totem, you must chant these words. Write them down if you have to. Do whatever it takes to remember them. Uneasily Josh's father removed a paper and pen from his bag with shaking hands. There was only one reason the ranger was telling him this. Just in case Joshigo ended up killing him and he couldn't do it himself. Bob began to write the words of the chant as Dallas spoke them. Alan kept a wary eye out for any sign of Josh. It was far, far too quiet. The ranger finished the chant. Mr. Washington tucked the paper carefully away. Dallas nodded and began to keep an eye out again, chanting the chant under his breath over and over to drive it into Bob Washington's head by any means necessary. Bob shuddered at how eerie it sounded and fingered the final totem in his pocket. The one that would make or break Josh. He didn't know how he would be able to tell which way it had gone or how quickly it would work.

"Where is he?" Alan whispered. They could feel that he was still near, stalking about.

"I don't know," Dallas answered. "Move upwards. Slowly. We'll have the high ground then. Maybe it'll give us a chance. The moment you hear anything, stop moving. Go." Bob was the first one to cautiously start up. Alan followed him warily. Dallas scanned the area once more. "Where are you…?" he murmured out loud. He wasn't about to suffer the same fate as his brother and grandfather. He looked up after the other two, then began to follow them.

Mr. Washington reached the higher ground and began to cautiously trek along it, searching for a way back to camp. The other two followed him. All at once there was a shriek. The three men spun in fear just in time to see Josh pounce from the bushes and go straight for Dallas! Dallas shouted in alarm, bracing for the attack. "Move!" Mr. Washington shouted, throwing himself at the man and knocking him out of the way. The next second the wendigo had tackled him through a wooden fence and off the cliff! Bob Washington cried out in terror as he toppled through empty air with his son locked onto him.

"Robert!" Dallas shouted, racing to the ledge with Alan. The two looked over in terror and watched, unable to do anything, as father and son struck the ground and seemed to break right through it. A weak mine shaft! Helplessly they watched the two be swallowed up by the darkness.

"No!" Alan shouted. "Robert!" No answer. "Robert!" he shouted again. Nothing. His heart sank into his stomach. "They're-they're gone…" he realized numbly.

"No. We can't assume that! Every time it's assumed a missing person on this mountain is gone, we end up learning they weren't and find ourselves worse off than before!" As evidenced by the damned wendigo plaguing this peak, he inwardly added. "We won't give them up for lost. We need to find our way back to town and get a search and rescue party up here immediately," Dallas said.

"They won't have a clue what they're dealing with!" Dr. Hill replied.

"I'll go with them," Dallas said. "They'll know."

"I'm coming with you. They're more likely to believe me than they are to believe you," Alan said.

"Agreed," Dallas said. "We have to hurry. A blizzard is in the forecast. It could last for days. We have to get him out of there before then, or we really might be recovering a body."

"Lead the way," Alan said, nodding quickly.

"Robert, we're coming for you, do you hear us?! We're going to come back for you!" Dallas shouted. Whether or not the man could hear, or whether he was even still alive to hear, he didn't know. But he hoped so. Then maybe the man wouldn't give up. Marking the area, Dallas and Alan quickly headed back. There was no time to lose. The longer Bob was lost up here, the less likely it was they would get him out alive. They had to act now.

"I hope to the powers that be he'll be alright," Alan said.

"I hope so too," Dallas admitted.