AFTERMATH [until dawn]

Chapter Thirteen

EMILY

Emily woke up in Ward A of the Whitetree Psychiatric Centre Hospital with a start. She wiped some sweat off her brow and shuddered from her nightmare.

I dreamed that we were back on the mountain, and a Wendigo was after us... Chris... Mike... Sam... They were killed... And the rest of us, we were next...

Emily shivered from the images in her head as she reached for a glass of water—before she realized that her broken arm was in a cast. Goddammit, she complained in her head. She grumbled and took the cup using her other hand. There was a rack of Fashion Magazines on the bedside table as well—something that would have interested Emily if she didn't feel so damn tired.

Emily drank the water, suddenly realizing how thirsty she was. She glanced around the room and saw a couple more unoccupied hospital beds around her. There didn't seem to be anyone else—no nurses, no doctors, no patients. It seemed like injuries weren't too common in this Psychiatric Centre.

Emily enjoyed the peace and quiet, and her sedatives must have been quite strong, as she felt no pain in her arm at all. She reclined against the soft pillows on the bed, allowing herself to relax for once. Emily felt free in solitude—she loved it because she could act however she wanted to, without worrying about what other people might think or her insecurities.

Maybe I can use this broken arm as an excuse and stay here for as long as I can, Emily thought. Safe from Wendigos and all that madness... Here I'd be safe, at least for a while so I can calm down.

However, the split second that thought crossed her mind, two nurses barged in through the door, hoisting a half-conscious man in between them.

"Mike!" Emily exclaimed, surprised. Mike seemed to recognize her voice and nodded halfheartedly, before his shoulders slumped again. Emily started to get off the bed, but the nurse put an arm out to stop her.

"Now, now, Miss," she said warningly. "You stay right there and don't move your arm too much." She signaled at the other nurse to pause. "You know this man, Miss?"

"Uhm," Emily stuttered. "Yes?"

"Well, in that case, we'll leave him right here," the nurse said, and started moving Mike towards the empty bed next to Emily's.

"Uh—" Emily said. "Okay..." She stared awkwardly as the nurses gently placed her ex-boyfriend on the next bed, while Mike made strange, delirious noises with occasional sounds of "Em?"

Once they placed Mike down and made sure he was stable, the nurses quickly excused themselves to check on the other patients with more "severe conditions". Emily watched them leave in silence, not sure what to do.

There goes my enjoyable moment of solitude, she thought bitterly, then turned to look at Mike. He appeared to be asleep now, eyelids fluttering as he mumbled incoherent words. Emily was worried—she'd never seen Mike like this, all feeble and tired. Must be some bug going around...

Emily settled back into her bed, listening to Mike breathe. It was awkward—being in the same room alone with her ex-boyfriend was bad enough... An unconscious ex-boyfriend who'd gone through a seriously traumatic event with you? Even worse.

She considered calling for the nurses and asking for extra sedatives just to make time pass faster. Now that Mike was in the room, Emily felt like she was dragged back into reality and forced to think about everything that had happened last night: from Wendigos to the strange man, George.

I thought everything was over, but we're back again with more injuries and fear and pain. Emily rubbed at her cast, trying to ignore the itch. It's like we're cursed—always to return to Blackwood Mountain at this time of the year to face Wendigos. First Beth and Hannah, then Josh... We've lost three out of ten people already. What are the odds?