AFTERMATH [until dawn]

Chapter Eight

This Chapter is dedicated to the wonderful imsuchabadliar :) Happy Birthday and enjoy the Chrashley content!

ASHLEY

No, no, no... Not again.

That was her first thought when Ashley heard the unmistakable screech of the Wendigo. We escaped, we made it, we were supposed to be safe...

Without thinking, she had run into Chris' arms, sobbing, hoping that he would tell her something along the lines of "there's nothing wrong, Ashley, you're just seeing things", but he didn't. Instead, her boyfriend just stood there, frozen, staring at nothing. We're going to die, we're going to die, we're going to die. Ashley felt the tears welling in her eyes. She wanted to just stay there in Chris' arms forever. Come on, Wendigo, she thought. Kill us. Kill us both. Go ahead—I dare you.

As if responding to her thoughts, the Wendigo screeched again, and Ashley heard its footsteps coming closer. She shut her eyes and waited for the inevitable when, suddenly, Chris decided to run. Grabbing Ashley by the hand and forcing her to run with him, he moved towards the other side of the parking lot quickly. The Wendigo jumped onto the roof of Chris' car, completely wrecking it. Chris winced at the sharp crunch but kept on running. The Wendigo followed them with a growl, and Ashley screamed, the terrified sound echoing in the night.

Ashley heard the Wendigo jumping from one roof of a car to another, destroying them in the process, in hot pursuit of the couple. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but already Ashley could feel herself gasping for breath. She glanced fearfully over her shoulder once, then immediately regretted it.

The Wendigo was half-transformed, with its limbs in the messed-up process of changing. It ran awkwardly, as if its body wasn't used to its new strength and agility. Blood dripped from the half-human face of the creature—it must have been devouring some poor animal before Chris and Ashley walked into the parking lot. Its clothes were practically shredded, but strands of blonde hair still remained on the creature's head. It's a new Wendigo, Ashley realized fearfully. It must have transformed recently—oh crap, why are there new Wendigos?

The sight of the monster behind her gave Ashley the strength to run even faster through the huge parking lot. Her and Chris zigzagged around cars, trying to lose the creature, but it only seemed to be getting closer. Soon, they could hear the footsteps of the Wendigo almost right behind them. Ashley panicked and felt tears rolling down her face. Maybe this is how I was always destined to die, she thought bitterly. I was always meant to be killed by one of these horrible Wendigos. I would give up and stop running—but Chris is still running, and I can't just die in front of him...It would destroy him. Sniffing, Ashley tried her best to keep up, but she was stumbling, and almost tripped over her own feet twice.

Chris turned when Ashley let out a small audible gasp, and saw her struggling to keep up. He swore, and Ashley saw him take something out of his pocket. Before Ashley could see what it was, there was a loud bang, and the Wendigo sailed backwards, screaming.

"Ashley, c'mon!" Chris shouted at her, and the couple hid at the edge of the lot behind a small convertible. They tried to slow their racing heartbeats as the horror of the situation finally settled in Ashley's mind.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..." Ashley mumbled, trying to keep her voice down.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this..." Chris said to himself, and Ashley turned to see what was in his hand.

"A gun?" Ashley exclaimed. "Y-you have a gun?"

"It's legal, I promise—" Chris quickly explained, but Ashley shook her head and silenced him.

"I don't care, I don't care, not right now." She furrowed her brows, still terrified. Ashley tried her best to keep her voice down. "If you had a gun this whole time, Chris, why didn't you use it earlier? We wouldn't have had to run like that!"

"I'm sorry..." Chris refused to look at her. "It's just—I... I thought... Or, part of me hoped t-that it'd be..." He gulped.

Josh, Ashley completed his sentence in her head. Of course. Who knows what happened to him in the mountains... Oh god, please don't let him become a Wendigo, he doesn't deserve it...

"Oh..." Ashley stayed silent for a second, trying to think of something to say. "It's alright, Chris." She comforted her boyfriend. "He...It...was blonde, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I saw." He took a deep breath and sighed. "It's fine." A sudden crash from in front of them made them jump, but then all was quiet again. The Wendigo didn't come from there... It was behind us... Please don't let it be another one, please... Ashley begged in her mind. I just imagined that, I imagined that, the noise wasn't real.

Chris cocked his head, listening for the sounds of the Wendigo from behind them. It sounded like it was far away, jumping around on cars, searching for its two prey. "We just need to figure out a way to...I don't know, get out of here alive."

"Yeah..." The couple stayed as still as they could, learning from past experience, while they tried to devise a plan to escape. The Wendigo continued to leave a path of destruction in its wake, the sharp noises of broken cars not helping Ashley's concentration.

"Oh, I know! I-" Ashley suddenly said aloud, before clamping her hand over her mouth. Stupid, so stupid, she thought. That was too loud. Way too loud.

Chris moved over and wrapped his arms around Ashley. They heard the Wendigo pause, before its footsteps started getting closer and closer at an alarming speed.

"Chris, Chris," Ashley said hurriedly, searching inside her bag while her confused boyfriend looked on, his eyes darting between her and upwards, listening for the Wendigo. C'mon, where is it? Ashley dug through her bag, throwing out random items before she finally found it. "Here it is!"

She took out the small object and held it in front of their faces. Using a finger, Ashley pressed down on it—and a small flame came to life, its light dancing off the couple's faces. They stared at the flame, entranced, like it was a beacon of hope—and it literally was.

"Ash," Chris breathed, and engulfed her in a hug. "You're so smart... A lighter... Fire... Their biggest weakness!" He laughed, full of hope. Ashley loved seeing him like this, and she was grinning stupidly, despite the situation they were in. I knew you could never be too careful, she thought giddily. Carefully, Ashley switched the flame off, and the pair were in total darkness again.

"Okay, now we've just got to figure out how to use it against—" Chris began.

Maybe it was the slight movement of the air above them, or the sudden silence of the night; either way, some primordial, animalistic instinct inside Ashley told her to grab Chris and jump away—and she did. Split seconds later, a long, pale Wendigo arm reached downwards and grabbed at the exact same spot Chris had been a second ago. If Ashley hadn't dragged him to the side, he would have been impaled through the stomach. Oh god, it would have killed him! Ashley whimpered and glanced upwards. The Wendigo was perched on top of the car like a sick, twisted-looking bird, glaring down at them with its fangs bared.

"Shit!" Chris shouted and ran, holding onto Ashley's hand and pulling her behind him. The Wendigo was closing in. Panting, Ashley fumbled with the lighter in her hand as she followed Chris. C'mon, c'mon... She struggled with it for a while until a bright flame finally started. Okay, okay, Ashley, just turn around and...

Before she could do anything, though, a loud bang sounded from somewhere to their left. Ashley turned, shocked, as a bullet raced out of a spot behind a truck and lodged itself in the Wendigo's head, sending it sprawling backwards with a screech.

"Chris...?" Ashley turned to her boyfriend on her right, as if he had somehow shot the bullet from his gun.

"I—I didn't..." Chris waved his gun around, just as confused as she was, to show that it wasn't him.

The couple turned towards the direction of the mysterious bullet. The Wendigo was on the ground, slowly picking itself up, but its target wasn't Ashley and Chris anymore—instead, it stood up, and started towards the other direction. Chris put an arm in front of Ashley to shield her while they continued moving backwards away from the creature.

A man stepped out of the shadows slowly, holding a flaming torch in one hand and a gun in the other. Ashley was surprised that she hadn't noticed him earlier. The shadows of the cars around the man hid his face from view as he advanced towards the Wendigo, now up and snarling at its new enemy.

Ashley felt Chris suck in a breath beside her.

"...Josh?" He whispered, just as the Wendigo charged.

Before Ashley even had the time to scream, the man thrust his torch forward, directly at the Wendigo's chest. In that split second, the light of the torch illuminated the man's face. Ashley felt Chris' shoulders slump as they glimpsed his face. It's not Josh, Ashley thought sadly. Definitely not Josh.

The man seemed to be in his fifties or sixties, and he was half-bald, with a small, thin beard around his mouth. He was dressed in a grey jacket, grey pants and combat boots, like he just came back from some sort of mission. He reminded Ashley of the flamethrower guy who had saved them last year—but an older, and more sinister-looking version of him.

Ashley watched as the Wendigo recoiled, arms flailing, flame consuming its body. It screamed, and for a second the human-like sound was all Ashley could hear. So much pain, so much agony... Ashley flinched as it struggled, the Wendigo thrashing around and lashing out with its arms randomly. The man held the torch up high, pointing the burning end at the monster in front of him.

"Stay away, fucker!" The man shouted in his raspy voice. After a pause, without taking his eyes off the Wendigo, he shouted again in a different, perhaps less aggressive, voice. "What you starin' at? Run!"

Ashley figured that the man was probably yelling at her and Chris, but she remained rooted in position, frozen. Chris made no move to run as well. The man, sensing their presence, just groaned and waved his torch around.

"Motherfu—" The man started to say, but he was interrupted by the Wendigo, who suddenly charged and knocked the man backwards with a growl. There was a loud crunch as the man fell against one of the cars beside him. Ashley gasped. Oh my god, I hope he's okay, please let him be okay...

"Fuck no, not again, not again..." Chris whimpered next to Ashley. She turned to face him, a little confused, but he was staring straight ahead.

All three watched the fallen man. Ashley felt Chris' arms tightening around her as the man slowly picked himself up, bleeding from a wound in his head. The Wendigo, shaking the remains of the fire off its body, was now half-burnt, with pieces of charred skin hanging off its body. It growled again, advancing towards the injured man with a murderous look on its face.

Somehow, the man still had his torch, now flickering weakly as the wind picked up and threatened to snuff out the flames. Before anyone could react, the man lunged towards the monster and shoved the burning stick through its body, killing it once and for all. The Wendigo screamed and fell backwards, twitching on the ground a couple of times, engulfed in flames, before it finally went limp. The fire kept on burning.

"Oh..." Ashley exclaimed, speechless. They watched as something small shot out of the creature's body into the sky, flaming, with an almost animalistic scream.

"Get away! If that shit gets near you, you'll become one of them!" The man shouted suddenly, and Ashley scrambled away from the strange, spirit-like wisps of smoke, with Chris following quickly behind her. They saw the smoke float around aimlessly, before shooting towards the direction of the Psychiatric Centre, leaving a burning trail behind. Shaking, Ashley stood up and watched it fly away.

"What..." Chris frowned, confused. The couple were panting, trying to calm themselves down after everything that happened. He turned to Ashley, standing a few feet away. "We made it, Ash." He said breathlessly, running over and hugging her.

"Yeah, all thanks to—" Ashley turned towards the man on the ground, who was, again, slowly standing up. The wound on his head was bleeding, and blood rushed down the sides of his face. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She rushed towards him, putting her arms out to help him up. Chris quickly restrained her, giving the man a suspicious once-over.

The man simply laughed.

"Yeah, your boyfriend has sense, girl," he said, amused. "Don't run towards any random old guy with a gun, even if he's bleedin', yeah?"

Ashley blushed, embarrassed.

"I just wanted to help..." She mumbled.

"It's alright," the man swayed a little, but stood upright. He raised an eyebrow at the trembling couple in front of him. "Wendigos are nothin' to fuck around with, yeah? Stay away from this mountain if you know what's good for you, kid."

"We know," Chris said. He gritted his teeth. "This mountain... We've been here before."

"Huh," the man eyed them curiously. "Makes sense...That's how you knew about the fire, hm? Well—" He stumbled for a second, before holding himself upright again. "If you've been here before, then you should know—Stay away, kids, just stay away."

"Chris," Ashley turned to her boyfriend. "What mountain? What do you mean?"

"Ash," Chris said with a sigh, like he didn't want to tell her. "I... I think that," he gestured at the dark mountain above them. "This...This mountain is..."

He didn't need to finish his sentence. Ashley saw the pure fear in his eyes and understood. Blackwood Mountain... The realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. No! With a shriek, Ashley ran backwards out of instinct, wanting to create as much distance as she could between herself and the giant, towering hill of her nightmares right in front of her. No, no, no... It can't be...

"Ash, it's okay," Chris reached out for her, but Ashley just backed away.

"No, no, no, it's not!" Ashley screamed, crying again. "I told myself I would never come back here again. Never! No, I'm not, no..." She wailed, then turned to Chris. "Why didn't you tell me? How did you not know? Does nobody know? Why didn't anyone talk about it?"

"I don't think anyone bothered looking it up, Ashley..." Chris murmured quietly.

This makes no sense, Ashley thought. Seriously? Nobody thought about it? Ashley shivered as tears continued to roll down her eyes. Whitetree... Blackwood... Is that on purpose? Oh, god, that's why it's felt so scary being here all this time. Because we're back here again. It's like we can't escape this mountain!

"Oh, god..." Ashley gasped. "Jess is stuck here... This Psychiatric Centre... Poor Jess... Does she know?" She sniffed, rubbing at her eyes with her sleeve.

"I don't know, Ash, but..." Chris reached towards her, offering her his hand. "Let's just get out of here, okay?"

"Yeah, kid, get out of here while you can," the man said, and Ashley flinched. She had forgotten he was there, watching them the whole time.

"Yeah, we're leaving," Chris responded roughly. He turned to Ashley again, and his features softened. "Let's go, Ashley. We—" His face paled as he realized something. "Fuck, the Wendigo wrecked our car."

"Take my Jeep," the man interrupted, fishing for a key in his pocket with shaking hands. "Just get out—" He groaned and pointed at a black car close to them, parked in a spot at the edge of the parking lot. It wasn't damaged by the Wendigo at all. "Just get out of here."

Chris nodded, observing the keys while Ashley watched the man with concern.

"Are you—" She started, but the man silenced her with an angry glare.

"Do you want to live or not?" He said, and Ashley nodded. "Well, get out then! Why won't you kids leav—"

The man suddenly gasped, clutching his head, and stumbled for a few steps before he fell facedown onto the ground. With a cry, Ashley ran towards him, but he was down before she could reach him. Chris ran towards him and shook his shoulders, trying to wake him to no avail. The man simply lay on the ground, still, with blood rushing out of his head in buckets.

"No, not again, get up, goddammit!" Chris shook him. He had this strange look in his eyes, like he was remembering something painful.

"He needs help, Chris, he needs..." Ashley turned towards the complex of the Psychiatric Centre. Of course, she thought. "We can save him, Chris...But I need your help."