Stick To It

Divisive

As Chris and I are astonished by the revelation Mike walks toward Josh furiously. "What are you talking about you asshat?! Jessica is fucking dead!" I can see reason come back into Josh's eyes as the shock, "What?"

"Did you hear me?! Jessica is dead, and you are gonna fucking pay, you dick!" I realize too late what Mike is about to do, as I watch him pistol whip Josh. Knocking him out cold.

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"So Mr. Washington was the Psycho, that does correlate to the police report I got... but if you'd already figured out it was him then and solved the problem..." Dr. Malagrene ponders for a moment before refocusing. "What else happened on that mountain Trenton? You've been beating around the bush." I lick my dry lips a little bit, "It wouldn't make any sense if I didn't tell you the whole story. Especially with how unbelievable it is. But trust me when I say I'm getting there. In fact... shit starts hitting the fan pretty soon."

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Me and the boys had left the girls in the lodge. Mike angrily drags a bedraggled Josh with him. "Guys! Guys come on... seriously, this is crazy, you know?" Josh speaks up nervously. Still trying to worm his way out of Mike's grip. "Shut up." Is Mike's response.

"Josh, why the fuck did you do this?" Is something I find myself asking. "This... this doesn't make any sense." Mike shoots a glare at me. "Of course, it doesn't make sense he's a fucking sicko Trenton." I open my mouth to defend Josh, but the words don't come out. I just look away disappointedly. "Where are you guys taking me?" A question that, I too didn't know the answer to. I had a feeling though... "We're locking you up." Mike answers. "What?!" Josh exclaims, while I nervously mess with my hair. I get this sinking feeling, the others' conversation falling to deaf ears.

I get a flashback to that night, Hannah and Beth, scared out of their wits. The scene was eerily similar to what is happening to Josh. And I get another feeling, something I also remember that night. That feeling of being watched by something. I look around, a bit paranoid. I see nothing of course, but that doesn't ease my worries. I get pulled back to reality as I hear and see a loud snap in my face. "Trenton!" Chris says looking worried. "You alright man? You seem kind of out of it." "Y-yeah, well, no, uh... maybe. I don't know... that's not important." I stop to take a deep breath as I look at the last Washington sibling's sad figure.

"Can we be a bit more lenient with Josh? We don't," I really don't want to say this but I feel I have to. "We don't even know if it was him who took Jessica. I mean, what happened even? How would he have even been there to do that since he's been busy doing this shit at the lodge?" I don't know exactly what happened with Jessica, but I can't see Josh killing her. I can see a bit of the anger hidden behind Mike's eyes die out. He gets sobered up a little bit.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't punish Josh, but... it's really not right to treat him like this. I mean look at him! He's scared out of his mind! We're treating him exactly like... we're treating him like his feelings don't matter!" This gets the others to really stop. They noticeably flinch towards the end of my speech.

"Look... if you don't want to stay with Josh. I'll keep an eye on him until the police get here." I sigh disappointedly. We enter the shed, but fortunately, we don't tie anybody up. We all sit down together. "Let's... let's just set the story straight alright? Because if it wasn't Josh who got to Jessica..." I don't even want to finish the sentence as everyone else nods solemnly. "So, Mike, I hate to ask but... what happened?"

Mike begins to relive his tale, "Me and Jess were at the guest cabin together. We were getting along nicely until we heard some strange noises outside. Jessica went up to the window and started yelling and taunting whoever was making the noise. And when she turned around she got yanked through the window. I ran after her as best as I could... but I just wasn't fast enough. I saw her fall down an old elevator into the mines. I couldn't save her." I can feel the guilt laced in Mike's voice. I understand the feeling very well. Considering everything that happened.

Looking and listening to Mike gives me a realization. That husk of Mike... is that how I've been?  Of course I'm getting retrospectful now. For Mike, his way of dealing with it was anger... but, I think h was just trying to do anything except be angry with himself. I want to give Mike some comforting words, but who am I kidding? I may understand, but that doesn't give me the right to console him with phrases that are meaningless to me. I've really been a big coward.

"Mike, I swear that wasn't me. I've been at the lodge the whole time." Josh starts, and Chris backs him up. "Yeah, I don't think Josh could outrun you in the snow while dragging Jess along." Mike nods at their statements. The words are unsaid but I can tell the only thing on all of our minds is, 'Then who took Jessica?'

Mike suddenly gets up at the realization. "Shit, wait, Josh if it wasn't you... we need to get back to the lodge! The girls could be in danger!" His hurried state also gets everyone else nervous as we all get up. Before we can exit the shed though, we hear a sickening screech, one that makes our blood run colder than the winter snow.