Until Dawn One Shots

Survival (Part 2): Emily, Mike, Ashley, Sam, Chris, Josh, and Beth

Emily sat back against the plush cushions of the couch, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Beth to continue. At first, she had been ecstatic to see the brunette, but now, she was pissed. It had been a year since the prank, and not only did Beth still hold them all responsible, but she had to keep bringing it up after everyone had spent so long trying to move past it. They'd all almost stopped being friends because of that night, Josh actually cutting them off from him for the first couple of months while Sam and Chris tried to patch them all up, and they were lucky they all managed to pull themselves back together. They didn't need to dredge up that past, especially not by someone who allowed them all to think they were dead for the last year or so. Besides, it was just a prank. They never meant for it to go that far. They never meant for it to turn into such a horrible terrifying depressing mess.

"We're waiting Beth," she spoke aloud, crossing her arms over her chest and looking expectantly at Beth, who was seated on the arm of the couch Sam sat in.

"Then shut up and let her get to it Emily," Chris shot back, giving her a clear look of warning before gesturing to Beth. "Beth?"

"Okay," Beth started, taking in a deep breath. Beside her, Emily noticed Sam grab her hand and give her a light supportive squeeze and has to resist the temptation to roll her eyes.

"Okay. So, that night. After Hannah ran away from the lodge, I ran after her to find her and bring her back before she did something stupid. I was running and there were voices echoing throughout the footsteps, but heavy footprints leading everywhere in the snow, so I was a little out of it trying to figure out which way to turn. There were also columns of flames erupting from the trees above us out of nowhere, and they were scaring the shit out of me, causing me to not really pay attention to where I was going. Eventually, I ran over this rickety bridge thing and fell, dropping my phone into one of the cracks. I couldn't waste time on getting it out so I just left it, assuming I could come back for it later,"

"I've been there, to that bridge, with Matt," Emily interrupted her. "We found your phone in one of the slits between the floorboards. I'd give it to you, but Matt had it, and then we got split up and now he's...well, you know,"

Beth nodded; her gaze suddenly sympathetic as she looked at Emily.

"I really am sorry about that Em,"

Emily waved her off uncomfortably, gesturing for her to continue with the story, trying to remind herself that she was pissed with Beth.

"Anyway, eventually I found Hannah sobbing at this cliff top, and I managed to give her my jacket and pull her up to her feet. She kept sobbing about how stupid she was and what and idiot she had been, and when I tried to bring her back to the lodge, she refused and didn't want to. Then thing big thing burst out of the trees, with long white limps and sharp pointed teeth. It was a Wendigo, but it was massive, like the size of a truck. Not like the ones here now, bigger, even scarier. And it just slowly approached us on the cliff. We were scared, and trying to get away from it, so we were taking stops back closer to the edge. Eventually, Hannah slipped, falling off the edge and pulling me with her, but I managed to grab onto a large root. Then this figure appeared above us, extending its gloved hand down to me. There was no way I could grab it without letting go of Hannah, and I wasn't going to do that. We didn't even know if the figure was trying to help us or not. So, I let go of the root, and we fell down into the dark abyss. We both screamed, and then I heard Hannah hot the rock and let out a grunt before going silent. Then I too hit the rock, and I felt a jolt of pain shoot up my legs and back and my head throb painfully before everything went completely black,"

Mike waited as Beth paused and took a shaky breath. He tried to smile at her as her gaze travelled loosely over the group, and she swallowed thickly before continuing.