After the unspeakable tragedy of last year, Charlie Pruitt never would've guessed she'd leave her sunny safe haven in California and return to that mountain. A mountain tainted with loss, horror, and unknown death. Thrown back into a group of friend...
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PAIN JOLTED UP CHARLIE'S ARM AS SHE attempted to move it, her eyes flying open with a shudder as she struggled to push herself into a sitting position. "Fuck..." the Pruitt girl groaned, her teeth clamped together like iron.
"Charlie!" A voice, the sound that her woken her, continued to call from somewhere. It was hushed, but carried a weight of urgency that made her spring up.
The brunette scanned the room with tired eyes until she noticed the small barred window near the floor, and Michael Munroe was standing behind it. "Charlie, come here!" The boy beckoned her.
"Oh my God, Mike!" A rush of relief fell over the teen as she scrambled toward him, only now realizing her wrists and ankles were bound by rubber cords.
Mike's face was battered with dirt and bruises and cuts, but he managed a small, reassuring smile as the girl crept closer. The Munroe boy was now wearing only a green jacket with his white undershirt, and from the looks of it he had been through a lot.
"Mike, thank God you found me," she huffed, her body aching all over as she collapsed near the window, her face a few inches from the gaps between the bars.
"It's okay. You're okay," Mike assured her in hurried whispers, until his eyes trailed down to the blade sticking out of her shoulder almost like a lever. "Holy shit, Charlie! What happened? Who the hell did this?"
The girl let out another wince of pain as she adjusted her position, moving herself closer to the window and to Mike. "It was Josh, the fucker."
"What? Josh?"
"Yeah, you need to listen to me," the girl's lips parted but words struggled to bubble out. She didn't know how to tell Mike that one of his best friends had turned into a complete maniac. "J-Josh, he's..."
"Yeah?" He coaxed.
"He's lost it, Mike. I mean, completely lost it. He knocked Chris and Ashley out and then stabbed me when I tried to fight him. He was wearing this psycho costume with a, uh...a mask and everything. When I found out it was him, he went fucking crazy. Said I was ruining his plan or something."
"Holy shit..." Mike trailed off, his golden eyes drifting downward as he contemplated this.
"What about you? Where's Jess?" Charlie inquired, heaving another agonized grunt as she moved and felt the knife twist inside her.
"Jess..." Mike shook his head, his face distorted with pain. "She's, uh...she's fucking dead."
