BODYS ; M. MUNROE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

★彡

THE CRACKLING of the slowly dying fire was the only noise heard in the lounge of the lodge, Cassandra had positioned herself in front of the embers, hands raised and curled. Ashley was waiting by the door; pacing, eager to let Chris back in.

Behind her, Cassandra heard the footsteps of Mike, he crouched down to her left, soaking in what remained of the warmth. "You think they'll come back safely?" He asked quietly, looking back to Ashley.

"I think so," Cassandra replied softly, looking over her shoulder to a lightly shivering Mike, she patted the space beside her and he scooted forward. "that guy, he seems to know what he's doing. Honestly, I'm trying not to think about it." She finished her thoughts with a sigh, placing her head on her knees, she lurched forward to grab the fire poker, and began to nudge the dying logs, managing to bring the fire back to life.

Mike nodded, momentarily closing his eyes to get the warmth of the fire on his face. He tilted his neck side to side, letting out a pained sigh, after opening his eyes, he jolted seeing Cassandra was now facing him. "Jesus, how did you move your body so silently?"

The girl snickered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry," She said with a coy smile. "I was just thinking, you said earlier — before we found Sam, that you wanted to tell me something? I know it should be the last thing on my mind right now, but maybe that's what I need right now." She lowered her legs so they were crossed, her hands resting in the gap.

"What?" Mike blinked. "Oh, that, I dunno, it wasn't really anything important-"

"What are you talking about? Your memory's better than mine and even I remember you saying you've been wanting to tell me it for a while." She smiled up at him, the faint light of the orange glowing half her face. "Was it something about Will? Like... Did you know he was cheating or something?"

Mike's brows shot up, eyes wide. "No! No, nothing like that, I just..." He rubbed his elbows, face softening as he looked over Cassandra's features, eyes landing on her smiling lips, then her eyes. "Alright-"

"Guys, I see Chris!" Ashley chirped, voice hopeful. Cassandra and Mike looked to each other with wide eyes, before quickly running over the Ashely; the fire now completely dead. "Wh-why's he alone? Where's Josh a-and the guy?"

Cassandra peered with squinted eyes as she watched Chris through the fogged glass of the side door. He was far, but quickly approaching, shotgun in hand he kept looking back with every step he took. "What's he looking around for?" She asked quietly, hands inching their way up to cover her eyes.

"A wendigo..." Mike replied, hand hovering over his revolver. "Ash, keep your hand on the door, if that thing shows up, Chris might not be able to handle it alone."

The three watched in a palpable silence as Chris ran, he squatted low under a branch and looked back once more, Cassandra gasped out a yelp, seeing, for the first time, a wendigo. It stood tall, grey and lanky in front of Chris, it screeched out with its arms raised, a wingless bat. Cassandra instinctively grabbed onto Mike's wrist, eyes glued to the outside, Chris wasted no time, and pointed the shotgun to the creatures chest, and shot it, stumbling back in the process.

"Come on, Chris come on!" Ashley near sobbed out, hand gripping the handle, her fingers shaking, knuckles going white.

As Chris' form got closer, his free hand reached out to grab the door handle, but his body was quickly pulled, and dragged backwards into the snow, the shotgun landing in the frozen ground. Ashley screeched, scrunching her eyes shut and looking away. "It's going to kill him!"

Cassandra swallowed thickly, she closed her eyes briefly to calm her sparking nerves."No," Cassandra said sternly. "I'm not losing anyone else tonight. I'm going to go for the shotgun. Mike, I need you to cover me." Before Mike had a chance to speak, Cassandra moved Ashley's hand from off of the door handle; she pushed it open, the bitterness of the cold hitting her like a bucket of water. But she persisted.

"Cassandra- goddammit." Mike muttered behind her, following her steps, revolver raised.

Diving into the snow, the cries of a petrified Chris fuelled Cassandra's adrenaline, as she grabbed the shotgun. With her body in the snow, she aimed it at the creature's legs, Chris raised high above them. "You're not taking any more of my friends!"

The blast of the shotgun to the wendigo's legs caused it to drop Chris, who hissed out a cry of pain landing awkwardly on his feet. To her right, Mike kept his revolver raised, eyes not leaving the shrieking creature's hellish face. Opening the barrel of the gun, Cassandra cursed seeing it was now empty, she was pulled to her feet by Chris in a blur of white and pointed branches. Another shot rang out, Mike's revolver sent the wendigo into a pile of snow, beside it, a canister of gas.

"Get inside! I'm gonna shoot the canister!" Mike called out to the two, Cassandra moved Chris' arm to around her shoulders, letting him lean on her to get to the door, still occupied by Ashley.

Cassandra looked over her shoulder, worried eyes meeting Mike's, she was pushed forward by Chris, and was urged on by his injury, desperate to get him inside. Another shot of the revolver rang out, this time followed by an explosion and a pained, demonic squeal from the wendigo, but she had no idea if it had been killed.

"Get in, get in, get in!" Ashley pulled the door open, stepping aside as Chris swiped his arm from around Cassandra, falling up against a pillar to gain a semblance of balance.

Mike was last inside, slamming the door and locking it as he entered. The three breathed heavily, adrenaline pumping, ears ringing. Cassandra looked down at her shaking hands, the tips of her fingers red from the cold of the snow, she moved her hands to the sides of her head, fingers getting tangled in her dark locks.

"Holy shit, d-did that just happen? I fe-feel like I can't breathe." She spluttered out, one of her bands moving to her chest, her heart thrumming against her open palm.

"You saved my life." Chris said breathlessly, he winced leaning against the pillar, arm resting across his midsection. "Cassie you're a badass." He added with a slight laugh.

Mike looked behind them and into the growing light of the outside, dawn was growing closer and closer, he looked back to Cassandra, who was still shaking with nerves and unused adrenaline. "Hey, hey, we're safe now, we're going to the basement." He reached out and took one of her hands, rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

As the four headed to the basement, Cassandra and Mike lagging behind, he slowed the two of them down, her attention on him immediately. "Everything okay?" She asked quietly, brows furrowed.

"I..." His grip on her hand tightened, then loosened. "That was really brave, back there, with Chris. Never seen anything like it." He smiled lopsidedly, glancing away when she looked at him.

"Thank you, Mike." Cassandra said quietly. "I don't think I could've done it if you weren't there."

Brave: Maxed

Relationship with Chris: Increased 
Relationship with Mike: Increased

i was struggling BAD on whether to
kill chris or not, i asked my snapchat ai
for advice lmao, if it had said heads, he'd
of been CHOPPED