Until Dawn

Chapter 9: Revelation

THREE HOURS UNTIL DAWN

BETH - MINES 04:01

I stared at the figure before me in absolute disbelief, trying to process any of this. "Josh?" I asked again, "W-What are you doing here...? We all thought you were dead for a year!".

"Shut up." He hissed out, lifting up his goggles to glare at me.

From what I could see of his face, my stomach twisted. Scars crossed over what parts of his face I could see, his hair had grown and become messy, and most of his eyes were an unusual shade. "Josh... what the hell happened to you?" I asked, reaching out for him only for him to back away.

Before he could say anything, a loud shriek filled the air. "What the hell was that?!" I yelled.

"Run, run now!" Josh yelled, taking the gun off of his back, firing into the darkness.

"Hey, no way in hell I am getting separated from you again after everything!" I yelled, taking his hand and ran. We could talk later, what mattered was all of us getting the FUCK out of here! The two of us, plus a wolf, ran through the caves. We kept joking until Josh stopped, forcing me to stop. "Josh, what are you doing..?! We have to find a way out of these mountains!" I exclaimed, panting as I tried to catch my breath.

There was a moment of silence as he looked at me, trying to process what I had said, "How do you know my name?".

"W-What...? Josh, it's me Beth! I'm your sister, I-" That's when it all clicked. The busted phone, the broken sign, everything I had found earlier reminded me that... on that night they vanished, the two of them fell off the ledge and into the mines. Looking at Josh's face again, I could see a large scar around his forehead and it made my stomach roll. You can't fall that far without getting hurt. "The fall... you... You don't remember me." The words felt like acid in my mouth but it was the horrible truth I was forced to swallow.

There was visible confusion on his face, anything he wanted to say though was interrupted by another shriek. "Look, I know you're probably as confused as I am... but we have to get out of here." I said with a shaky breath, "Please, trust me.".

Staring at me for a while, Josh lowered his gun. "Fine, I'll get you out of the mines. It's a maze in here, one wrong turn and you're lost for good. Makes you an easy target for a wendigo.".

"A wendigo?! You cannot be serious!" I gasped, "They're just urban legends. Stories the locals would tell.".

"Keep thinking that and you won't be alive much longer." Josh snapped, walking ahead of me. I watched him go a bit, biting my lip before following him... and the wolf. You know what, there wasn't time to ask about that. I could only handle so much right now. Way too many truth bombs, I mean for Christ's sakes! Josh was alive after all this time!

Following Josh through the endless halls of the mines, I noticed how he carried the gun. Was that for the wendigo he talked about? If it was real, I guess the upside was Josh did know how to shoot. After all, dad used to take him and... and Chris to the shooting range up here. Some weird bonding between guys, I seriously didn't get it.

As we walked, I noticed how he was actually using the gun. Josh followed alongside the wolf, tapping the barrel of the ground as he walked. "Josh... can you not see?" I asked, fuck, how much had he gone through down here?

"I can... Sorta. It's just blurry." How... How long was he down here? Did some of his injuries get so bad it really screwed him up? His loss of memory, blurry vision, hell the really bad limp he had.

"Right through this gap." Josh waved a hand behind him, allowing the wolf through first before climbing through the gap.

Great... tight spaces, perfect.