After That Night: Until Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter Seventeen

Sam

I walk out of the room with newfound determination, ready to grab my purse and leave for the mountain. But, when I walk out and start to walk towards the coat room, I'm stopped by Mike.

He grabs my arms, speaking urgently. "Sam, there's something I have to tell you."

I break free of his grasp. "Mike, you've been acting weird for a while. I don't have time for it. Can't it wait? I have to go back to Blackwood Mountain."

"Oh, no, no, no. You can't do that. Crap. I should have told you sooner. Now you're ready to go back there and it's all my fault."

My forehead creases in confusion. "Mike. What the heck are you talking about?"

"I lied, Sam."

"I don't understand... You lied about what?"

Mike puts his hands on my shoulders. "I lied about seeing Josh die, Sam."

I back up, away from him. My head is spinning. "You, what? But you said..."

"I know what I said. But I lied. I lied to you, I lied to the cops, I lied to the others, I lied to the Washington's, and I lied to myself. I lied to everyone. I didn't watch Josh die. The Wendigo didn't crush his head. It didn't kill him."

I can't believe what I'm hearing. "But why!? Why did you do that!?"

"I was ashamed, Sam," he says. "I was a coward. I was scared and didn't save Josh because of it. Who knows? Maybe it was a good thing that I didn't try. Maybe we both would have died. But even so, I was so ashamed that I didn't do anything. So I lied. Like I said, I even lied to myself. I just kept lying to myself until I started believing it. Eventually, the real memory faded and was replaced by the one I made up. The one where I saw Josh die. I thought that it was better to pronounce him dead. It made it easier. It managed to... appease the guilt enough."

"But, I don't understand. Why would making yourself and everyone else believe that Josh was dead be better?"

Mike looks down at the ground. "Because I was ashamed that I left Josh to die later or be tortured."

"Holy-"

"Sam," he interrupts, walking closer to me and putting his hands on my shoulders once again, "you need to listen to me and listen carefully."

"But wait. Why did you decide to come clean?"

"Because when you got that call from Josh's phone and then asked me if I actually saw Josh die, it brought back the memory that I had worked so hard to suppress. That day you told me that it was Dr. Hill who called from the research team, I called Mr. Washington to ask some questions. You got me thinking. I was... worried."

"About what?" I ask him.

He holds up a hand to silence me. "I called Mr. Washington and asked him how soon he sold the mountain. He said that it was two days after the incident. The day they sold it, cops and the research team searched the mountain from top to bottom, starting with the mines like you suggested in the police interview. I was scared that Josh would have been somehow alive and trapped and then resorted to... desperate measures in the weeks after our night on the mountain."

"But they searched the mines only two days after we were there," I finish. "Hannah survived down there without eating... anything for much longer. He wouldn't have been desperate enough. The curse wouldn't have gotten to him that fast. And Dr. Hill said that the Wendigos were all gone. That means Josh could-"

"No, Sam. That was just one of my fears. You are right, he didn't turn, but that doesn't mean he's alive and well. Argh! This is part of the reason why I didn't want to tell you!"