AFTERMATH [until dawn]

Chapter Sixteen

SAM

Today was the day.

She and her two friends were going to save Josh.

Everything was planned out to the finest detail. They were going to meet up at Jessica's room at 6AM in the morning and start hiking to the mountain, then take the cable car up. Once they got there, they would look for the Stranger's lair using the directions George had given them. At around 1PM, Emily and the others would notify the police about their "disappearances". As soon as Sam, Chris, and Ashley found the cure—or whatever was in store for them—they would head to the foot of the mountain, where the rescue planes are, and they will be escorted home safely.

It was a good plan.

The clock on the wall showed that the time was only 4AM, but Sam was already wide awake. She walked around her house, packing food, water, and other necessities into a big backpack. It reminded her of all the times she used to go hiking alone in the woods, before Wendigos. Sam had always loved nature and enjoyed exploring all sorts of strange places around her.

I just realized, she thought, amused. This is going to be my first hike since Hannah and Beth's "disappearances". It was another one of those moments that made Sam recognize how much the events at Blackwood Mountain had really impacted her life.

Humming to herself, Sam went to her bedside drawer and took some of the best lighters she had. She shoved them into the front pocket of her backpack. Then, Sam went to her storage room at the side of the kitchen and poked around her other supplies.

Flashlight... Rope... She dug through her messy pile. Oh, wow, a flare gun.

Sam took the flare gun out of her box and weighed it in her hand. She checked and saw that it was loaded and probably still worked.

Do I really need this, though? Sam wondered. She considered putting it back into the box, but something told her not to. Might as well bring it just in case. Who knows, maybe a flare gun could save my life someday. It was a stupid thought, but Sam placed the gun in one of the pockets of her backpack anyway.

By the time she finished packing, an hour had passed. Sam hoisted her backpack onto her shoulder again and did one final check. Everything's going to be fine. Everything. She steeled herself and headed out.

On the way to the hospital to meet up with her friends, Sam couldn't help but shiver with fear at the thought of facing Wendigos again. The strong, determined side of her tried to convince her that everything would be fine, but there was another side of her—a quieter, vulnerable side, that felt terrified at the idea of going onto the mountain again.

It's for Josh, she repeated to herself like a mantra. It's for Josh. And somehow it made her less afraid.

Sam got to Jessica's room with 10 minutes to spare. She quickly entered the keycode into the electronic door lock and went inside. Everyone was still asleep and the lights were off. Sam listened for the sounds of anyone coming out, but nobody stirred.

Okay. Sam sat down on the sofa and rummaged through her bag again, looking for something to do. Should I check my phone, or read a book...

Or maybe I'll just do neither. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her mind as Sam waited for her friends to arrive.

In about five minutes, there was a knock at the door. Sam ran over and opened it, revealing Chris and Ashley standing by the door, looking nervous. She gestured for the couple to enter quietly and shut the door behind her.

As soon as she got inside, Ashley plopped down onto the sofa, rubbing her eyes. Chris sat down next to her. Sam turned back to them and tried to force a smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace.

"I'm nervous." Ashley said blatantly. She had a blank look in her eyes, as if she just realized what they were about to do.

"Ash..." Chris began, looking tired. It seemed like they had already had a similar conversation before.

"No, no, I'm okay, it's just..." The small girl shrugged. "I'm just... Scared."

Sam smiled, her instinctive "mom friend" personality resurfacing.

"We all are, Ashley." She said. "But this is really important, and having Josh back..." Sam grinned. "Well, all the fear would be worth it."

"Definitely." Chris added in agreement.

Ashley sat up straight and brushed herself off decisively, before looking at Chris with a small, confident smile on her face.

"Yeah, you're right," she said. "Plus, I'm with you guys, right?"

Sam laughed.

"You mean "I'm with Chris"?" She joked. Ashley's face flushed to a dark shade of red and she averted her eyes. Chris just laughed awkwardly, a short "ha ha" that came out of the side of his mouth.

The trio continued to joke around for a while, trying to delay the inevitable. When they finally ran out of things to say and all turned to look out the window nervously, Sam finally spoke her mind.

"So..." She said hesitantly. "Should we get going, then?"

Ashley bit her lip and Chris replied for both of them.

"Yeah, you're right. Sure. Let's go." He put his backpack on and opened the door for the girls. Sam walked out first, inhaling the chilly air and shivering.

"Wow, it's cold." Ashley said from behind her.

"Yeah..." Sam wrapped her jacket tighter around her. The feeling of the cold air brought back painful memories she didn't need to remember right now. Sam waited for Chris to gently close the door of Jessica's room and join them outside.

"This really..." Chris swallowed. "This brings back memories, man."

Sam didn't respond; instead, she set off towards the towering mountain above them. Chris and Ashley followed silently, the sound of their footsteps the only noise in the silence. This is... Way too similar to the winters from the last two years. Sam was a little worried.

The small group walked for about ten minutes and soon reached the foot of Blackwood Mountain. Sam recalled arriving at this exact spot in the bus, watching Josh's invitation video, feeling a little worried... It felt like an eternity ago.

"Here we go again, I guess." Chris joked halfheartedly, looking distracted.

"I still can't believe we're really here again." Ashley spoke everyone's mind.

Sam, Chris, and Ashley stood still for a moment, taking it all in. The sun was rising from behind them, its warm, bright rays illuminating the mountain in front of them. Somehow, the hill still seemed threatening. The trees swayed as the harsh winter wind blew all over them. There was no sign of life, no sign of Sam's favorite animals—all was silent.

"Let's go." Sam said, trying to be confident, and led the couple behind her. They followed the path, now uneven and full of random patches of grass. When Sam finally saw the gate that separated them from the Washington estate, she jogged towards them and was surprised to find Chris' note from last year still hanging on the lock.

"Gate's busted, climb over!" Chris said in a childish voice over Sam's shoulder.

"You remember it?" She asked, surprised.

"Of course!" Chris replied. He went over to the gate and, in one violent jerk, pulled the piece of paper off the lock. He turned it around and looked at his writing in silence.

Ashley, meanwhile, moved forward and pulled at the gate. It made a sharp, loud sound but didn't budge.

"Well," Sam concluded. "Guess we've got to climb over, then."

The small group walked over to the Chris first helped Ashley climb over the rocky wall, then turned to look at Sam.

"Ladies first?" Chris asked.

Sam rolled her eyes playfully.

"Spare me the curtesy, Christopher." She motioned for him to climb first. "You and your backpack can go first, I'm fine."

"Whatever you say, Samantha." Chris imitated Sam, rolling his eyes and cocking his head.

Sam, smiling, ran towards the blonde man with her fist up, ready to swing. Chris laughed and launched himself onto the wall, climbing quickly and narrowly avoiding Sam's fake-punch.

"I'll get you next time, Chris!" Sam shouted at him as she, too, prepared to climb over the wall.

"You can try!" Sam heard him yell back from the other side of the wall.

After all three of them were inside the Washington estate, they continued on. This feels much better than last year, Sam thought to herself. It's bright, the Sun's out... And I'm not alone.

"You know, this place is actually kind of nice in the daytime." Ashley commented, taking the words right out of Sam's mouth.

"Yeah!" Chris eagerly agreed with her. "And it's great for hiking if you aren't alone." He glanced at Sam and added—"I mean, as in, with company—anyone is great." 

"How long have you guys been dating again?" Sam asked jokingly. "One year, or one day? Because you still seem really flustered around each other... Is that normal?"

Chris clutched his chest, pretending to be offended.

"Well, Sammy, at least we're dating," he said mockingly and peered around. "I don't see your boy—or girlfriend, I don't judge—anywhere... Do you see one, Ashley?"

"Oi!" Sam elbowed the laughing blonde lightly. "That's rude!"

Ashley laughed nervously, shaking her head, more than used to Chris' jokes. Chris shook his head and stopped talking afterwards, and the group continued their walk towards the cable car station. Sam couldn't help thinking about Chris' words throughout the entire journey up the mountain. She knew that he meant it as a joke, but it reminded Sam of a lot of the more... Lonely parts of her life.

I've never had a boyfriend... Or a girlfriend. I don't know. She recalled all the times people had approached her, and she'd turned them all down. They're never "good enough" for me... I have some ridiculously high, but nonexistent standards... But what's the closest I've ever gotten?

Sam vaguely heard Chris and Ashley chatting behind her, but she was lost in thought. She heard something small amidst the trees and turned, absently searching for the source of the noise while her mind continued thinking.

The closest I've ever gotten is... Probably all the casual "flirting" with Josh, I guess... But does that even count? It was mostly just teasing and sarcastic responses... But I miss him. A lot.

Suddenly, a small squirrel emerged from amongst the bushes and made its way towards Sam curiously.

"Aw!" Sam crouched down and reached her hand towards the animal. "A little baby squirrel!"

Chris and Ashley exchanged amused glances, not surprised. After all, Sam had always been a nature lover. They were glad to see her with a smile on her face after everything they had been through.

"C'mere!" Sam whispered at the animal. She grabbed a handful of nuts from her pocket and placed them in the palm of her hand.

"Uh... Sam?" Chris asked from the side. "Why do you have nuts in your pocket?"

"I remembered the squirrels being here," she responded without looking away from the creature, now hesitantly making its way towards Sam. "and thought I'd feed them this time!"

Ashley grinned as the squirrel inched its way closer and closer to Sam's open hand. Sam's smile only got wider with every second, and Chris was about to move over and whisper something in Ashley's ear, when a loud crash suddenly sounded from behind Sam, scaring the three friends.

"No!" Sam whined when the squirrel scurried away from her quickly. "It was so close! So close!" Sam turned towards Chris. "Why did you do that?"

"What?" Chris asked, looking confused. "Me? I didn't do anything."

"You scared it away!" Sam was frustrated. I finally have an opportunity to feed an actual animal, and Chris had to ruin it for me.

"No, I swear it wasn't me, Sammy—" Chris quickly backpedaled.

"Sam, I think it came from somewhere within the trees," Ashley quickly cut in nervously, before Sam could shout at Chris again.

There was a brief pause as all three of them cocked their heads and listened for any noises from the woods. Besides some quiet sounds of birds and the swishing of trees as the wind blew past, they heard nothing.

"Well," Ashley said to break the silence. "I'm pretty sure it came from the trees, and I... Don't really want to dwell on it anymore. Can we just go?"

Sam visibly paled as she realized what it was that Ashley didn't want to "dwell on", and immediately nodded.

"Yeah, yeah." Sam mumbled. "Of course, let's go." She started forwards, leading the group. We are NOT going to talk about Wendigos. Or think about Wendigos. No way.

"Thanks for that, by the way." Chris whispered in Ashley's ear after they began moving again.

"Of course." Ashley replied sweetly, grinning at her boyfriend.

The group soon found themselves at the cable car station—the same place that Sam and Chris had met a year ago before taking the cable car up the mountain together. Nothing had changed—the lights were still cool and intimidating, flickering once in a while. The torn "MISSING" poster was still stuck to the side of the little house. The sight of it made Sam miss Josh and his stupid pranks even more.

"Oh, look!" Chris had already run to the back of the place. Ashley and Sam jogged towards the direction of his voice, and found Chris excitedly hoisting the gun from the shooting range. "Everything's the same! This is still here! Remember, Sammy?"

"Yeah," Sam smiled at the memory. "I'm glad you didn't shoot the squirrel the other day—who knows what would have happened?"

Chris shrugged and aimed at one of the targets, then fired. The glass bottle fell over with a loud crash, and Chris cheered.

"Woah," Ashley commented, beaming but looking a little taken aback. "You're really  good with guns, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," Chris dismissed her concerns with a wave of his hand. "I'm not good yet—but I will be soon! I'm practicing at this shooting range place." He put the gun back down and made his way back to his friends.

A sudden thought occurred to Sam when she saw the gun. I know I got the flare gun in my bag, but...?

"Actually, Chris—" Sam interrupted, and Chris raised his eyebrow. "Should we, you know... Take the gun?"

"Take the gun?" Chris repeated, looking back at the weapon he had just placed down a couple seconds ago.

"Yeah..." Sam added nervously. "Just in case?"

Sam watched as Chris glanced at Ashley, and the couple had a silent conversation that lasted a couple of seconds before Chris shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sure," he said, and went back to get the gun. Chris slung it over his shoulder and walked back to the girls. "Should we go now?"

"Absolutely." Having a murder weapon with us somehow makes me feel... Better? Sam almost laughed at the thought. Goddamn, what's happened to us?

The trio entered the cable car station. The various computers were still on, the "Blackwood Pines Hotel and Sanatorium" poster still on the wall.

"Wonder how this place has electricity," Ashley wondered curiously. "Actually, how would the cable car still work? Where does it get its power?"

"Solar panels? Wind power? Rich people things, probably." Chris answered, unsure himself. "Josh never really explained anyway."

"I guess..." Sam responded absentmindedly. She was lost in all the memories of the place—how she and Chris had been excited to return to the mountain! They had no idea what awaited them up there and even felt excited about the trip...

"Oh, look, the cable car's already here," Ashley remarked and entered the car. Chris quickly followed, not wanting to leave his girlfriend alone. When the couple were seated comfortably in the car, they turned to Sam.

"You coming in or what?" Chris asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just..." Sam turned towards the view one last time. She took a deep breath, savoring the way the cold air entered her lungs. Her hair and clothes billowed around her as the wind howled, making the temperature colder by the instant. I'm coming for you, Josh.

"Alright, let's go."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi! Thank you so much for reading!

I know it's been a while since the last chapter and I sincerely apologize—there's been so much going on, I haven't had a chance to write!

I initially had so much more planned for this chapter but decided to scrap it because it would be way too long... But yeah! I'm so excited for what's to come and I hope you are too :)

Thank you for reading—I love and appreciate every single one of you so much. Please vote and comment (I love reading comments from you!!)