• Hunt on Washington Lodge •

< The Man >

The screams continued as Sam and Josh ran through the forest. Josh ran ahead of Sam. He'd had almost tripped multiple times, but managed to stay on his feet. They were running aimlessly as the screams came to a stop.

They eventually approached the cabin Josh told Mike about previously. Mike was pacing back and fourth while holding a rifle in his hand. "Mike! We heard Jess screaming!" Sam said as her and Josh came to a stop in front of Mike. "Where is she? What happened?" Josh asked.

Mike looked at them, beginning to stumble over his words. "She-.. oh god-.. someone- somethings.. grabbed her.. broke straight through... oh shit shit shit.."

"Mike take a breath." Sam said resting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him slightly. Josh looked back and fourth carefully before stepping closer to his two friends. Mike looked at Sam, then at Josh before speaking once more.

"We were settling in. The suddenly she walked in front of a window while I was looking for her phone... Then there was the sound of the window shattering, and then screaming. God... so much screaming.. We need to find her." Mike spoke fast, almost as if he was running on borrowed time.

"Did you see what or who broke the window? Did she get ripped through the window? I mean, what exactly happened?" Josh said, taking the rifle from Mike and leaning it on the side of the cabin next to the shattered window. Where broken glass almost blended in with the white snow. Some of the snow had turned red from blood. That gave Josh the hint that Jess was in fact injured.

"I didn't see! When I turned the corner... all I saw was a broken window.." Mike said as Sam hugged him, trying to give him a sense of comfort. "We need to go after her!" Mike said once more.

"We don't know where she is, Mike..." Sam said, letting go of the taller man. Mike was clearly panicked and worried.

"We should head back to the main cabin. We should tell the others." Josh mentioned as he walked back up to the other two. "But what about Jess? She's probably terrified.. What if she got killed? Josh we need to find him!" Mike continued on, he was terrified. Sam looked at Josh with the same fear. Josh himself was a little frightened too.

"Mike I know!" Josh said before patting Mike's back. Mike took a second to breathe as Josh continued to speak. "But we need to figure out what to do before we go running around looking for her." Josh said as Sam looked at him. "That's literally what we just did." Sam said with an unamused look on her face.

"I mean like.. searching.. You know what I mean!" Josh said with a deep sigh. "I do agree however. We should head back." Sam says as Mike nods.

Sam begins to head back to the cabin, Mike walking right beside her. He looked around almost paranoid. Josh stays behind them as they walk. He looks at the ground as he followed the two people in front of him.

They were walking for what felt like hours to Josh. He had been deep in thought, about something not even Sam knew about. He was cut out of thought when Sam spoke. "I can't be the only one who feels like were being watched."

"I feel like we are as well." Mike says as he looks around. Josh looks up at them then lets his eyes gaze around the snow covered forest. Josh always felt like someone was watching him, so the feeling wasn't new. "Let's not worry about it. It's probably just-" Josh begins to speak before he's interrupted by a blood curling shriek.

The shreik makes the three freeze in place. "What the hell was that.." Mike said as he looked around fast. "Hell if I know... but its definitely not good." Sam said. Josh remained quiet until he heard the sound of something drop into the snow not to far behind him.

Josh turned around and saw something he didn't believe. A creature about 7 feet tall, a pale blue color, ripped clothes, and grey eyes. It was horrifying, and ugly. Sam and Mike turned around and looked as well but started running. "Josh fucking run!" Mike shouted. Josh didn't think twice before following them, and picking up speed as he continued to run. "Holy shit! Holy shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Mike shouted as he looked behind him to see the creature jumping off of trees following them closely.

The creature seemed to be much faster than them. In fact, it was incredibly faster than them.

Josh looked back for a second and in the blink of an eye the creature jumped on top of Josh. It pinned him down, and shrieked. Josh swore the creature just took out his hearing. "Ooooh.. What the fuck!!" Josh shouted, as his ears rang. Sam and Mike both turned around and looked at Josh. "Josh!" Sam shouted as she tried to run to him. Mike held her back so she didn't end up getting herself killed.

"What is that fucking thing!?" Mike shouted as the creature fought the man under it. Josh squirmed and kicked at the creature but it didn't seem to budge. Josh's ears were still ringing by the time the creature moved its hold onto Josh's head. It kept its hands on both sides of Josh's head. Josh began to panick even more. Then suddenly there was a loud shot. The creature went flying back from Josh, smacking into a tree as it flew.

'Was that a gun..?' Josh thought to himself. When he processed what had happened, he sat up. He saw the creature laying lifeless under a tree, snow burying it as it fell from the tree.

Josh stood up fast and backed up, almost falling right back down. He turned around to see Mike and Sam staring at a man. The man Had a blue coat on, with blonde fur on the hood, blonde hair, a mask covering the bottom half of his face, and glasses. The glasses were cracked on the left lense. He stood there holding a shotgun in his hand.

The man spoke, "Is everyone alright?". Sam and Mike remained quiet for a second before Sam spoke. "Yeah.. we're... fine."

Josh slowly walked over to his two friends and joined them in staring down the man. "Hurry. The shot only stunned it." The man said before throwing the shotgun over his shoulder, using the strap conected to the weapon to keep It in place.

The man turned around and began to walk. "That's the man I saw.." Sam mentioned as she watched the man walk. Josh looked at her before following the man and grabbing his shoulder. "Hey wait. We don't even know who you are. You could be leading us to a trap for all we know!" Josh shouted. The man instantly used his gloved hand to cover Josh's mouth.

"Lower your voice. Loud sound attracts the wendigos." The man said. Josh was stunned for a second. He got to have a closer look at the man covering his mouth. He managed to lock eyes with him. The man had icey blue eyes and a gentle gaze. He didn't look mean at all. In fact he looked like a college student just like Josh. Although Josh of course is a drop out.

The mann lowered his hand as Josh sighed a bit. "Alright- got it." Josh said as he remained eye contact with the man. Sam and Mike approached them and the man turned his gaze towards them. "What's a wendigo?" Sam asked, "And who or what exactly are you?"

"A wendigo is a person." The man said as he looked back at Sam. "A person? I got a pretty close encounter. Saw it real nicely. That thing is NOT a person..." Josh said. The man returned his gaze towards Josh. "Was a person. A wendigo was once a person. A person who had a taste of human flesh." The man said.

"So a cannibal." Mike added. "Sorta. Wendigos are people who eat human flesh, mostly for survival. Once they form into a wendigo, they are no longer considered human. They gave up their human rights when they consumed flesh of their own kind." The man mentioned.

"You still haven't answered my other question. Who are you? And- how many 'wendigo's' are on this mountain? Oh also why the fuck are they on this mountain in the first place?" Sam ranted on. The man seemed to stare at her before shaking his head.

"One question at a time." The man said. "I'll answer questions along the way." he continued. "Firstly," he started.

"My name is Christopher Hartley" He continued.

"Just call me Chris."