AFTERMATH [until dawn]

Chapter Seven

JESSICA

"Hello again, Jessica." The man said as Jessica took a seat across him. With a small, restrained smile on his face, the man leaned back in his chair, silently observing Jessica's every movement. His eyes appraised her as he occasionally nodded to himself, like he understood everything that was going on in her mind. He crossed his fingers and waited patiently for Jessica to respond.

"Dr. Hill." Jessica said quietly, not bothering with the polite greetings.

"Ah, I see you still remember my name." Dr. Hill smiled even more; a grotesque expression that did not make Jessica feel any better.

"Of course I remember," Jessica responded stiffly. Her eyes wandered around at the posters hanging around the room, horrific images of monsters and woods and houses. Every image seemed designed to bring back her worst memories of last year.

"Well, let's begin the session, shall we?" Dr. Hill asked, snapping his fingers to attract her attention. Jessica grimaced, but nodded. "How are you feeling today, Jessica Riley?" He picked up a pen and held it above his black notebook, ready to take down her words.

"I feel...Fine." Jessica lied, not wanting to explain to the man her struggles again.

Dr. Hill sighed and looked up at her.

"Look, Jessica." He crossed his arms, exasperated. "As I have told you multiple times in our previous sessions, nothing will work unless you agree to be honest with me and tell me the truth."

"I don't understand!" Jessica yelled. "I get medication and treatments from the doctors in the hospital. I already have therapy. Why do I need to keep coming back here?"

"Because," Dr. Hill explained patiently. "A man's greatest enemy is himself. You need to help yourself heal, Jessica—starting from the inside. Starting from your mind. And that is exactly what I am here to do—your other doctors can't do that for you, I'm sure you understand."

Jessica huffed but didn't know how to reply. Dr. Hill took her silence as a signal of affirmation and continued on with his questioning.

"Now, as I was saying, Jessica," He raised an eyebrow at her, demanding her attention. "How are you feeling today? Especially after the reunion with your friends?"

"It was...Nice." She said finally. Dr. Hill nodded and wrote it down on his notepad, gesturing at her to continue. "I missed them, a lot. I've had Mike with me but it was great to have the big group of people together again." Jessica bit her lip and stopped at that.

Dr. Hill glanced at her.

"And how do you think your behavior was tonight? Do you think you fared...well?" He asked slowly.

"I..." She searched through her memories. "I was fine at first but I just...My mind kept wandering, and I kept going back to watch the news, I mean I know I didn't really talk or do much and I was really preoccupied—" She took a deep breath, struggling to organize her thoughts into coherent words. "The news on TV. About the murders. It really bothers me."

Dr. Hill let out an annoyed sigh and put his pen down, rubbing his eyes.

"Jessica." He said. "We've talked about this. Too many times. You have to stop thinking about Wendigos all the time. I understand that the events last year have traumatized you but you really, really need to snap out of it." The doctor paused, and studied her closely. "There is something else bothering you, isn't there? The reason why you're constantly worried about the murders? Something that concerns your friends, and the reunion itself, as well?"

Jessica gulped.

"I-I..." She gripped the armrests of her chair tight. "I don't think anyone realizes, or knows, that—that." She felt tears welling in her eyes. "The Psychiatric Centre—it—it's right at the foot of Blackwood Mountain..." Jessica cried and slammed her hands on the table. "I don't know why or how they haven't looked it up but they haven't and they're just, here, like there's no problem at all but it's a huge fucking problem... but nobody's scared because they don't know anything!"

It was something that terrified her—being forced to stay somewhere so close to the hill that killed three of her friends. She had fought the doctors at the police station when she first heard of the name "Whitetree Psychiatric Centre" and saw its address, but they refused to budge or send her elsewhere. They said it was going to be fine, and that there was still some distance between the Centre and the mountain and that there was nothing to be scared of—but Jessica still felt frightened.

When Mike proposed the idea of having their reunion at her place right there, she wanted to scream and cry and tell him not to. Instead, she had agreed slowly, thinking that having her friends together there for a night without incident could convince her that the threats she imagined in her mind were not remotely real. Mike didn't seem to realize the proximity of Blackwood Mountain either—she guessed nobody bothered looking it up. She had expected Emily or Chris, maybe, to run inside and tell everyone about the location—but nobody had. They seemed completely unbothered.

"I mean—" Jessica sobbed. "It doesn't have to mean anything, I know we're only close but—" She started babbling. "I had so much to think when I was stuck in the Centre and... They said that Wendigo spirits were released after the host body was killed, right? And my friends, they killed tons of Wendigos in the explosions last year. I-If the spirits are looking for live people to possess, and there are no more people living on the mountain, wouldn't they j-just go to the nearest area with people, which i-is this Psychiatric Centre?" Jessica was full-on crying now, as she finally, honestly, told the doctor about her suspicious—her worst fear.

Dr. Hill was silent.

"You're being ridiculous, Jessica." His lips were turned down into a frown. "You worry too much, and your paranoid thoughts are driving you insane!" He shut his notebook violently, causing Jessica to flinch back at the sudden noise. "You need to stop thinking about your unrealistic theories and ideas. I can't help you if you keep making your condition worse." Shaking his head, the doctor walked towards the small window at the side of the room and stared outside, deep in thought.

"I just—" Jessica cried. "I just have a really bad feeling about the night. W-Wendigos seem to always target us and I-I'm just scared! We've gone through too much, I can't lose anyone else. I just wanted a life far away from all this cannibalism and d-danger but it's like—it's like I can't escape!"

Dr. Hill stomped up to her and slammed his hands on the table.

"Damn it!" He yelled, frustrated. "Do you ever stop thinking and worrying? The police have taken care of you and they sent you to a wonderful facility where the doctors try and help you. You ARE far from danger, and you ARE safe, Jessica! When will you realize that?"

Scared and hurt by Dr. Hill's harsh words, Jessica recoiled against her seat, hugging herself tight. She sobbed as her mind continued to conjure up horrible scenarios and possibilities of the future, ones that contained death and pain and everything in between.

"Jess?" A distant voice called to her. Jessica looked around, tears rolling down her face, searching for the source of the voice. "Jessica?"

Jessica opened her eyes to see Mike shaking her shoulders, a concerned expression on his face. She sat up groggily and felt half-dried tears on her face. It was just another dream, Jess. Just another dream.

"You okay, babe?" Mike asked her, holding her small hand in his. She sniffed and reached over for a tissue to wipe her face.

"Yeah," Jessica was alarmed at how messed up her voice sounded. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Yeah. I'm fine. What happened?"

"I heard you crying in your sleep," her boyfriend said, frowning. "Another nightmare?"

Jessica shuddered. This man—this Dr. Hill, he keeps appearing in my dreams, she thought. He's so strange—like he knows me so well. Could it be a part of my mind? My imagination? I don't understand why I even have these therapy sessions in my dreams... I must be going crazy...

"Yeah." She replied with a small voice, refusing to say anything else.

"You know," Mike started cautiously. "You've had so many dreams recently where you wake up crying, maybe you should talk to the doc—"

"No," Jessica cut him off before Mike could say anything else. "I've said this many times, Michael. I don't want to. They're already worried about me enough during our usual therapy sessions, I don't want them to ask me anything more."

"Okay, okay." He raised his arms in fake surrender. Jessica managed a weak smile. Mike hesitated again before continuing. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jessica stayed silent for a while, pondering. Does he really need to hear this? He's been so sad. I'd only be burdening him further, and I don't really want to do that... She knew that Mike was worried about her and she was glad. Telling him won't make me feel any better, though, and it'll only make him feel worse... Maybe Dr. Hill was right, I'm just thinking too much—Mike doesn't need to know.

"I'm just..." she mumbled. "I have a bad feeling, you know?"

A playful smile tugged at the edge of Mike's lips as he raised and eyebrow at her, evidently trying to lighten the mood.

"What do you mean?" He questioned, reaching over and holding Jessica in his arms.

"Well..." Jessica leaned back and relaxed in Mike's strong embrace. "If you haven't noticed, we attract trouble. The ten—I mean, seven of us. And us being here together tonight? It's bad, because its like all our bad luck gets multiplied. I feel like—like something bad is going to happen."

Mike didn't respond, and Jessica feared she had scared him...Until he finally spoke.

"You're thinking of Wendigos, aren't you?" He asked slowly, searching her eyes for the answer. Jessica bit her lip, and knowing there wasn't a way to conceal the truth from him, she slowly nodded.

"Jess, c'mon, you know that we're not in danger anymore—we're completely safe. We're back in the real world, yeah?" Mike whined, trying to comfort her. "Plus, you have me here to protect you, there's nothing to worry about."

Jessica laughed, despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Fine, Mike." She forced a grin, and shoved her boyfriend in the chest playfully. "I've got you, so there's nothing to worry about, correct?"

"A hundred percent, Jessica Riley," Mike replied, smiling at her. He knows, she realized when she looked in his eyes. He knows that I'm still scared and in pain—but he's just choosing to not press any further. Jessica suddenly felt thankful that she had such an intelligent and considerate boyfriend. With that thought, she smiled and kissed him, a long, lingering kiss that caught Mike off guard.

When she finally pulled away, he laughed and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Well, Jess," he said with a smirk. "You seem completely fine now, hm?"

Jessica smacked Mike's muscular arm playfully.

"Shut up, Munroe. Even sick, I can still beat your ass." She grinned at him, genuinely this time.

"Oh, I bet you could... Ms. Jessica the Snowball Queen." The couple laughed at the nickname, then both went silent as memories of the past year came flooding back, reminding them of their situation. It soon got a little awkward, as the couple sat in silence, deep in thought. I need to stop, if I keep thinking I'll only get more and more terrified.

"I keep thinking about something," Jessica started. Mike glanced at her, curious. "Tonight, Ashley kept insisting that she'd heard me sometime during the night last year...But I was never there. I know that, but she insisted." Jessica frowned, a little confused.

"Hm..." Mike thought about it for a moment. "Oh! I just remembered..." He glanced at Jessica, as if unsure whether or not he should bring up the topic, but continued nonetheless. "Remember the old man that I told you about? The guy who saved us?" Jessica nodded. "In his journal, he wrote that... That Wendigos can mimic the sounds of their pr—I mean, other people perfectly." He quickly corrected himself.

He almost said prey, Jessica thought. She shuddered at the thought.

"That's..." Jessica struggled to find the words. "Awful. The Wendigo must have been trying to lure Ashley—using my voice—i-it would've killed her." She couldn't imagine sweet Ashley losing her life, thinking she could save Jessica. "Gosh, that's really terrifying."

Mike didn't respond—instead, he just hugged her and rubbed her shoulders. She tried to allow herself to feel comforted and safe, but she couldn't. He's trying, though. Jessica scolded herself. He's trying his best.

"Mike?" Jessica asked quietly, turning to face her boyfriend. Her voice seemed to have pulled him back from his thoughts, as Mike turned to face her as well.

"Yeah?" He asked warily. With a small smile, Jessica leaned in and kissed him for the second time that night. Mike let out a surprised noise, but kissed her back all the same. Jessica used the kiss to distract her from her thoughts, and tried to empty her mind—as well as try to help her hurting boyfriend.

Mike's here with me, she thought. No more fears, no more worries. Everyone is safe, and everything is fine.

"It's alright, Jessica," Mike said later, holding her close. "I've got you."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi! Thank you so much for reading!

Now that I have finished introducing all seven (yes, only seven, sorry guys) POVs, I will be switching to them randomly every chapter. I will try my best to make them equal, but some characters may appear more often than others. Readers, if you ever feel like I have forgotten about a POV in the future and want to remind me to use it again, please comment and tell me!

Hope you enjoyed the story so far! There's so much coming and I'm really excited.

Please vote and comment :)

(P.S. Sorry about leaving you in suspense about the fate of Chrashley in the last chapter)