Until Dawn Fanfiction-Epilogue

Ashley

My hand flew to my mouth as I let out a startled gasp. In front of me, Chris fixed me with an alarmed expression, his eyes screaming a silent warning for me to stay still-- wendigoes had poor eyesight and could only detect living creatures by sensing.

I couldn't even bring myself to shut my eyes as Hannah's scaly skin brushed against mine & I forced myself not to bristle. I felt bile at the back of my throat as her face came closer to mine. It wasn't just her features which made me feel disgusted (I was ashamed to say)-- it was the look in her eyes, her brown eyes which were murky with what looked like cataracts. Yet I sensed something underneath her appalling appearance-- like she was trying to communicate with me through incoherent, deep-throated snarls.

I held her gaze bravely, even though all I wanted to do was take off screaming. What do you want to say, Han? I whispered in my head.

Suddenly, she inched back & started to jump on the spot, holding back another gasp when she almost touched the ceiling-- I had temporarily forgotten about how high these things could jump.

Chris looked as bemused as I felt.

Hannah gave a low grunt, as if she was frustrated, then darted out of the door.

I let out a sigh I didn't know I had been holding. 'Should we...'

Chris nodded mutely & clicked on his flashlight.

I wouldn't consider myself a couch potato, what with being on the cheerleading chief committee and taking self-imposed mandatory jogs after school whenever I could-- my trim figure didn't come free. But my legs were already aching as we ran after Hannah, who was always at least a few feet in front.
I didn't even register where she was taking us, until a cold blast of winter air hit me in the face as we emerged outside the mines.

'Keep... going, ' I panted as I felt Chris slow down, unsure.

We skidded to a stop in front of a whitewashed building.

'Han...' I hesitated.

She screeched an incoherent reply.

'Jesus Christ!' Behind me, Chris suddenly bellowed as a dark skinny silhouette flew down from the trees, landing squarely between some bushes beside him. His face turned ashen immediately as the inevitable dawned on him- the wendigo had sensed him.

And he couldn't run.

'No!' I let out my loudest scream defiantly. 'Get away from him, you piece of man-eating beast!' My vision blurred with tears as the wendigo came leaping towards me. This is it. It all ends here for me. At least... at least I tried. Even if it was for naught...

Another figure suddenly darted in front of me. I squinted through my tears and gasped in horror as the other wendigo began extending its claws, trying to scratch Hannah's face. A sickening river of dark red viscous blood trickled down her cheek. Undaunted, she leapt forward & pushed the scrawny beast onto the ground, but not before giving me the most intense glance.

There was only one word I could find to describe it.

Run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't even give a second thought as to where I was running towards, I was literally a headless chicken fearing for my life.  All I knew was that the most moment I heard a shriek, my legs
started carrying me towards it. It was the only time I felt truly powerless while running.

'It's locked.' Chris jiggled the handle of the door a few times, cold sweat pouring down his face.

'Ah, I knew somebody was missing.' A clear voice rang out from behind us. I turned to see a lady all dressed up in a nurse outfit, her strawberry blonde hair in a tight bun.

'You...' I gulped.

Before I could say anything, we were roughly shoved inside as the lock clicked behind us.

'Mike! Jessica...' I blurted out impetuously, gaping like a stunned mullet. A long, jagged gash of red was on Mike's shoulder, reminding me of Hannah's wound. 'What's going on? Why the hell are you doing this?' I was both terrified and frankly annoyed. Whoever this guy was, he had clearly caught the wrong people. We were merely unlucky pawns in whatever twisted game he was playing. Or controlling.

'Ugh, I don't want to repeat myself.' The man clad in a white doctor's overcoat rolled his eyes. Like he had the audacity to be annoyed. 'You'll see why soon enough.' With a sick sort of grin, he pulled the curtain separating the hospital beds from us away.

'You all did this to my boy.' I turned to see Mrs Washington, a cold and unforgiving expression on her face. 'Not to mention Hannah and Beth. All of you... if Josh can't be cured, you all deserve a fate worse than death. A fate which he is now trapped in.'

My mind went numb with shock as it registered Josh's wendigo self, handcuffed to the edge of the bed.

'Release him.'

A/n: omg, will josh attack his friends? Take note, he hasn't eaten anything for days, trying to overcome his insatiable desire for human flesh... & what will happen to poor Hannah? Most importantly...will they all be saved from Dr Hill's (& Mrs Washington!) evil clutches?

....read on (; as usual, thanks for reading, voting and commenting! xx