Until Dawn Fanfiction-Epilogue

Josh

A/n: I haven't written a single PoV of his apart from the short one when he was turning into a Wendigo. To end this off well, (there's nothing more disappointing than a bad ending ie. Cliffhangers: I can't stand those; it's like the writer gave up on the story) I'm going to be revealing his thoughts and emotions to you & whether he has truly received closure. Enjoy.

One week later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room was cold & clinical. A work desk was placed right in the middle, empty safe for a stray paper clip. Attached to the end was a long metal chain, and the other end of chain held a thin wrist.

All the emotions lighting up her face just a week ago had clearly made its steady exit soon after. Her face was just so withdrawn and void of life that I felt as if I was staring down at a corpse.

'Mother.' The term of endearment that left my tongue was also void of affection.

'Why are you here?' When my mother finally spoke, I was surprised that it was the same strong voice which had dominated most of my childhood days, before she became preoccupied with work & drowned herself in grief.

'To see you.' I state lamely.

'I'm fine, son. I'm sure you didn't come here to tell me how sorry you are to see me in such a pathetic state.' she snapped curtly.

I was sorry to see her in such a pathetic state.

'Mom, what you did was wrong, ' I said instead, 'but I know you did it out of love, as twisted as it sounds. And what you did, it'll take me some time to get over it, but it will never, and has never, made me stopped... respecting you.' I couldn't bring myself to say the l word. Not right now.

'That's right. I love you and your sisters. I love all of you.' she began raking her fingers through her hair almost violently, as if trying to pull them out. 'But I can never please anyone. It's never ever enough. What I do...for all of you.'

And then it hit me. All those times where she would silently work in the kitchen, the heated whispers exchanged with dad, the tired smiles. We all thought them to be insignificant, for she always put on such a happy front.

But that was just it; a front.

'Mom, you don't have to worry anymore. I don't need anything from you, ok?' I levelled her vacant gaze. 'Love is unconditional.'

'You think so?'

I gave a firm nod.

'Then get me out of here. Even if I have done something wrong, you would still want to me with me, don't you?' My mother's sordid expression morphed into desperation.

'I can't, mother. But once you've done your time, I'll still be around.' I said.

'You promise.' Her voice was tired, as if she didn't believe in anything or anyone anymore.

'I do.' I promised with much conviction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I would be the first there, but Sam and Chris had beat me to it. They were both silent, their eyes on the two headstones standing side by side. I waited a few moments before going forwards quietly, placing Hannah's journal in front of her headstone.

We lingered in the comfortable silence, and my eyes fluttered shut as I flashbacked to the memories I had shared with my sisters. Their bright smiles, insanely annoying personalities. That time when Beth accidentally ruined Hannah's shirt and they had a cold war, choosing me to be the messenger between them.

I felt someone come up from behind me, ending my flashback abruptly. His usually stoic and/or
grinning expression was stricken with grief & dried tears. It took me a moment to register that Mike was showing his vulnerable side. A quiet sniff was emitted from beside him. Clearly Jessica wasn't spared from the waves of emotions that had overcome everyone. I realised with a jolt that even though none of this was their fault, I had projected blame of my sisters' deaths onto them & their guilt had intensified unnecessarily.

The loose semicircle we had formed became whole when Emily arrived and I cleared my throat to speak.

'Thank you all for coming. Today is day 34 of my sisters' death anniversary.' I said. 'Throughout the past month or so, I have been holding onto the anger & grief that I had kept bottled up inside me, unleashing it in the form of a twisted prank.' My voice seemed to grate against my own windpipe. I clenched my fists; I felt like I was no better than a mindless, emotionalness Wendigo, putting my friends through hell. 'And I want to apologise for everything. My selfish, despicable actions that almost led to all of your...potential demise.' I shut my eyes, but the tears fell freely anyway. 'And about my mom...'

I don't know who did it first, but the warm pair of arms that suddenly enveloped me became many pairs and soon I felt warm body heat surrounding me on all sides.

'Josh, we're all okay.' Ashley said timidly.

'Don't start blaming anyone, not even yourself.' Jessica said seriously.

'You've made up way more than your actions called for.' Emily said firmly.

'What matters is, we've put this all behind us.' Chris spoke up, and the other guys nodded in agreement.

There seemed to be some unspoken unanimous agreement as they slowly drifted away, murmuring well wishes as they left me alone with Sam.

'Hey you.' I looked in those beautiful crystal blue orbs which had captured my heart from the very start.

'Hey jerk.' Sam said playfully, and I felt my uncertainty dissapate, a grin forming across my face.

Sam fixed me with a concerned glance, as if trying to decipher how I really felt despite my smile at her insult.

'I wasn't done when I said today was day 34. Tomorrow,' I let my voice grow steady. 'Tomorrow will be day 1 again. Of the rest of my life.' I reached down for her hand, & pulled her in gently for a kiss.

A/n: This has been amazing journey! I've never written fanfics for video games before, but I must say I'm pretty proud of this.  Any of you know any good story-based games as well?  I'm working on a Life Is Strange one, but it seems like not a lot of people are reading it, so how would I know if it's good enough to continue if you don't tell me? ): Nevertheless, I do mean it when I say it has been wonderful writing this & reading all of your feedback!