Connection - Josh Washington x M!Reader [Until Dawn]

Chapter Four

"Calm down. It's going to be ok-"

"How? I was supposed to watch them and now they're gone!" (Y/N) shot back at Jack. His heart was racing. What happened to his friends? He was supposed to keep them safe. He was supposed to be there for them! He failed. He failed them. "There's, there's blood a-all over..."

The older man sighed. "You know what to do. I can't come over right now, I'm-" There was a noise, like crying. It wasn't a wendigo, though. It was hard to tell the difference between the voices, but this one was genuine. Who was it? "I can't."

The boy nodded, biting his lip. "Okay. Okay." He took a deep breath. Follow the blood. Find his friends. He looked to the floor. He squatted down, dipping a finger in the blood. He had to see if this was the work of a wendigo. It felt too perfect to be a wendigo.

(Y/N) sniffed the blood. What? This wasn't real blood. It was fake. He felt relief, but at the same time he felt more worried. What was going on? What had happened to his friends?

Maybe it was Jack playing a prank. Maybe Jack was trying to sharpen (Y/N)'s senses. No, it didn't add up. All this trouble, lost friends and love, to teach the boy a lesson? Jack wasn't like that. And deep down, even if he didn't know it, (Y/N)'s friends weren't like that, either.

The boy looked up. The blood had a weird pattern, as if something had been dragged on top of it. (Y/N) stood up and wiped the blood on his pants. He followed the trail as it led to the end of the hallway. The walls were coated with splatters of blood. None of the patterns matched. None of them made sense. This was fake. Why? Why would someone set this up?

The boy felt a chill. He looked to the source. A door was left wide open, the wind flowing in freely. (Y/N) walked to the door and noticed the drops of blood in the snow. Footprints littered the ground as well.

His foot stepped in the snow, then, he paused. Sam was still here. He was supposed to protect her. But he was always supposed to protect the others. As far as he knew, Ashley, Chris, and Josh were missing. Three was more than one.

The boy bit his lip and sighed. Josh. All he could think of was Josh. (Y/N) began to walk, the snow falling heavily. It was getting dark, too. He had to hurry fast before the wendigos began their hunt. He was worried if the group had ventured too far that a wendigo would kill them.

Mike, Jessica, Matt, and Emily. They all left the lodge. Where were they now? Jack was keeping an eye on the first two. Matt and Emily should be back at the lodge at any minute. (Y/N) had to hurry and find his old friends before everyone else got suspicious.

The tracks led to two places. One (Y/N) knew was a dead end and the other continued into the forest. (Y/N) went to the shorter path. A clown scarecrow stood there. Its face was horrifying. (Y/N) remembered going into Halloween shops and finding masks just like these. He made his way to the end, where a dead, gutted pig lay in a pile of blood. Why? What was going on?

The boy turned around, walking with a faster pace as he continued down the path. He walked on the edge of the path, in case anyone was walking he could quickly hide in the bushes. The walk was short. It led to shed of some sort.

Jack never let him in here. Only Jack could go. There was sharp hooks, chains, weapons. The older man didn't want the boy to get hurt, so he always went instead of him. It was childish, really. (Y/N) hunted and trapped creatures with weapons, chains, hooks, and even fire. What difference did it make? Part of him knew it was because Jack wanted to keep him safe.

As he got closer, he could hear screaming. Crying, coming from two voices. The boy felt his heart jump and quickly ran inside the shed. The voices quieted, the man's voice trying to calm whoever woman he was with down. She was spluttering nonsense, saying 'Josh' over and over again. He saw a window, peering into another room.

He was careful in the shed. Jack was right, it was scary in there. Bear traps, guns, knives. Chains littered the ground, almost like a trap. He made his way to the window, but stopped a few feet before it. He crouched and looked into the window. There was no one in there. He saw a body in the corner of his eye. His heart sank, and his legs gave out. He hit the floor, a loud thump echoing. He failed.

His fingers shook as he retrieved the Wally talky. He fumbled to hold down the button, his mind was hazy. He looked at the thing in his hand, desperately trying to get it to work. He failed.

"(Y/N)? I heard you trying to reach me," Jack's voice was the only thing (Y/N) could hear. Everything else seemed to fade. "Son? You okay?"

The boy finally calmed himself enough to where he could hold the button down. "J-Jack-" He gasped. "My friends, t-they..." He couldn't even speak. His tongue and mind were numb. His heart ached, but everything else was numb.

"What? What happened?" Jack asked, concern clear in his deep, raspy voice. One of the wolves barked, loud. He was in the sanatorium, his wolves were there. What about-

"I-I found a body." (Y/N) breathed. His mind was racing, he couldn't think straight. What on Earth was happening? Nothing has ever made sense since he awoke that cold, winter morning. Wendigos, friends, death. That's all he knew now.

There was silence. When Jack responded, the wolves were barking violently, angry, defensive. "Investigate." That's all he said.

"Wait! W-what, what do I-"

"You know what to do, kid." Silence once more. The world around (Y/N) seemed to reappear. He felt the floor again. Cold, metal. He felt the chilly air and the wind nipping at his exposed skin. He heard talking, four different voices. Whose?

The boy stood again, his legs shaking. To his right he saw a door, open. He made his way through it, trying not to look up. He knew he had to at some point. He continued walking. There was rails for a cart, or something on the sort. He followed it. A giant saw. With blood coating the ends, dripping onto the floor.

(Y/N) sighed, his breath shaking. Please don't be Josh, he thought. He repeated the saying, aloud now, as he looked up to find out who it was.