𝐎' 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 || until dawn

01 | severed ties

┏━━━━━ CHAPTER ONE ━━━━━┓
★゜・。。・゜゜・severed ties
──── Mason Hartley

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❝ When God is gone,
and the Devil takes hold
Who'll have mercy
on my soul ❞
- O'Death, Amy Van Roekel

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MASON HARTLEY WAS NOT A SPECIAL PERSON.

So, it was a wonder why grand things always happened to him. He was a magnet for horrible events. Maybe not the direct reason these things happened, but it sure was shit luck to always wind up a bystander when chaos ensued. Just always had to be in the wrong place at the right time.

Beth and Hannah Washington were an accident that should've never happened. One silly prank turned into a whole clusterfuck and suddenly, a whole group of people were grieving the loss of two beautiful souls. Mason's grief came mostly from the what if. What if Hannah and Beth suffered? What if they were still alive? What if they could've done something?

Or maybe what Mason was feeling most was guilt.

Mason was an imposing figure. Not that he ever used that to his advantage. Some would call him rather soft. He was tender-hearted. He had all this capability to be so vicious, and yet, he never utilized those traits. His imposing figure became a slumped mess of anxiety and awkwardness.

But he could've flipped the script that night.

Mason, as clear-headed as he was that night, could've followed Hannah and Beth out into those godforsaken woods. If they were perturbed, then it wouldn't have mattered. At least, they would've been alive.

Or maybe that was Mason's daydream mindset. He always believed himself to be some sort of hero when it was evident he was not.

Unfortunately, time could not be rewound. Hannah and Beth were tragically gone, and a heaping load of ruin was left in their wake. It defiled the once vibrant lives of their friend group, rattled the community, and left more than enough mystery as to what actually happened that night. The stench was god awful, and Mason couldn't escape it no matter how much he tried.

So he began to resent those responsible for the prank when he had no right to bear that malice in his heart. It made him feel wrong. Like something poisonous was living rent-free within his heart. A parasite of hatred that just festered and grew. He wanted to vomit the sickness out.

Mason watched as the once lively friend group dwindled into its own little subgroups. Josh Washington, the last remaining Washington sibling, went AWOL after the accident. No doubt was he sequestered in the labyrinth of his mind and trying everything to get out. Maybe Mason could've tried harder in that area, too.

Every opportunity he had to help someone he never took.

What a shit friend he was.

Maybe that is why when Josh invited everyone back up to his family's lodge, a year after the twin's disappearance, he jumped straight into action. He didn't think about the logistics, the emotion that was sure to come out. He finally seized the chance to make something of his guilt. Find the silver lining they all needed.