Stick To It

The Butterfly Effect

"I don't think I'll ever get those things out of my head," Sam admits on our walk through the mines. "They're quite nasty looking aren't they?" I agree. "Well, I noticed something weird about that last wendigo..." Mike begins. "What is it?" Sam looks at him curiously. "The wendigo. It had a scar." "And?" I ask, not following. Mike continues, "I saw these old pictures of some guy with that same scar, and he was transforming into a Wendigo." Sam gasps. "You're kidding." I think for a moment. "That thing must've been like 80 years old." Sam shakes her head.

We continue along the claustrophobic walls of the mines. "I think we're close... to the lair." Sam suddenly says. "Why do you think that?" I raise an eyebrow. "I don't know... I just... feel really terrible all of a sudden." That admission makes me notice a sinking feeling in my stomach. Mike agrees, "Ditto."

We come across a grave marker. "I wonder who this is for..." I notice Sam pick up a watch with a grim expression. "Oh my god... this is Beth's! This is her watch!" I start shaking unconsciously. My voice cracks a bit, "You mean..." My breath starts wavering before Mike slaps me. "Calm down Trenton. This is not the time." I rub my red cheek. "Yeah..." I notice the grave is empty. So who dug her up? And what about Hannah?

"Let's get a move on," Mike says through gritted teeth. We pick up on our journey until we reach a small lake in the mines. "I really do not want to go in there..." Sam says with bated teeth, her arms rubbing her body as she imagines how frigid the water would be. "But there's no other way through," Mike explains. He steps into the water and flinches a little. "It's fine. Come in."

Sam is a little hesitant. "I'm not dead yet." Probably not the best choice of words for this situation. Sam scoffs a little. "Famous last words." Both of us enter nonetheless. "Really regretting not sticking back with the lodge," I admit as I feel the freezing water around my legs and just below my waist. "I told you that you didn't have to come." Sam smiles at my honesty. "Yeah, but I'm not that type of guy."

We look to the left as Sam spots a journal on an outcrop of rock and picks it up to read it. "What's it say?" I tilt my head. Her expression, however, tells all. She reads off a passage. ""I'm sorry Beth... I have no choice. It's the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I'm sorry. I had to... I had no choice."" I resist the urge to vomit. "Oh god... Hannah..." Mike has an expression of shock as I say that. "No... no that can't be. That's, that's ridiculous!" Sam explains in my stead. "Mike... Beth must've died in that fall, but Hannah... Hannah must've lived." I'm floored at the discovery. Hannah... Hannah had become one of those things.

And it's all my-

"Trenton! Trenton, look at me." Sam snaps me out of my thoughts as she grabs my face with her hands. "Trenton... Hannah doesn't blame you." "What? But I-" "Trenton. You tried to save her and Beth when no one else was around. If anyone here deserves an apology, it's you." "But I-" Sam shuts me up with a hug. "Shh. You need to move on, Trenton. You did your best, what does it matter if it wasn't good enough?" A tear drops down my cheek. Sam wipes my face for me. "You're always doing so much, but you're never giving yourself a break. You'd willingly sacrificed yourself twice for us today. Isn't that enough?"

"I... yeah. I... you're right. Sorry, I'm an idiot." I turn away. "Well, you're our idiot." I smile a little bit at that one. Mike gives me a slap on the back. "Let's go find Josh." I nod. "Yeah."

We get to the other side of the arctic lake and come across a metal door. Sam goes to open it by unlocking its deadbolt before it suddenly opens as water comes gushing out. The room is shocking. Hooks line the ceiling as an incredibly musty smell floods our nostrils. Everything is rusted to hell. On the hooks are rotted meats of unknown origin. And the body of the stranger.

Me and Mike give his body a solemn salute in honor of his sacrifice and the fact he did this for years with no help or recognition. "I'm gonna be sick..." Mike says, disgusted with the horror show of a room we're in. We walk deeper in before Mike suddenly stops. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold on... I think I saw something." We peer through the floorboards to see Josh.

He's speaking, and his tone is crazed in a manic way. "No... no no... no no no... I don't ... I don't take orders from you..." "Josh!" Sam yelps in surprise. We quickly find a door to get down to him. "I don't take orders from you, you can't tell me what to do..." He continues his mindless rant.  "Hey... Hey Josh!" Mike tries to catch his attention.

Josh yells at whatever he's seeing. "You can't tell me what to do anymore!!" All 3 of us slowly approach him. "Josh? Buddy?" Mike continues trying to reach Josh. "You can't tell me what to do!! Okay... okay... I trust you... I trust you... I trust you..." Josh's delusions continue. "What's the matter with him?" I find it hard to talk looking at the sorry state of my friend. "He's tripping or something." Mike suddenly slaps him. "Josh!"

"M-Mike?" I guess Mike's slaps just have the magic touch. "Josh... hey man-" Mike starts apologetically. Josh interrupts. "Don't don't h-hit me... please." Mike explains himself. "You were deep in it, man. Full metal jacket."

"Josh... Hannah was down here for... weeks... a month?! She dug Beth up!" Sam brings up the journal. I look at her strangely. "Sam..." She just gives me a look that says, 'He deserves to know.' I agree, but, now of all times? "Let's just get the fuck out of here." Mike brings us back on track.

"Okay... Josh, do you have the keys for the cable car?" Sam asks Josh. "Uh, y-yeah. Here..." Josh pats himself down before handing her the keys he had on him. "Oh good..." Sam accepts them with a thankful sigh. She then points to another cliff. "See that over there? That's a direct way out of there. C'mon." I step in looking at Josh. "Sam... I don't think Josh is going to be able to climb up there."

"Okay. Well, how about Mike stays with Josh and you come with me so we can let the others know we're okay?" Sam continues with her plan. "You okay with that Mike?" I ask him hesitantly. "Yeah. Yeah, that's fine." I can't shake this bad feeling I have in my stomach though. I feel like something major is going to happen depending on what I do.