Asher Banning still mourns his mother after three years. When his friend, Caden, decides to get their group of friends together for Christmas as a way to help Asher not feel lonely for the holidays, things quickly turn upside down.
MATURE: for expl...
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"I say we go in," I declared. "But before you all start disagreeing with me, hear me out." Sam was still in his room, but everyone else sat at the kitchen table. I stood at the end as if I was about to give a presentation at a business meeting. "There's safety precautions we have to go through, I get that. If we go in, we could easily be ambushed. Especially if we don't have weapons. We don't know what's on the other side, and that's why we need to go.
"If we don't, we're not trying to solve our current issue. Think about it: what if the tunnel leads us to things we need? A radio or car parts?" I crossed my arms, staring at everyone with soft, pleading eyes, hoping they would agree.
"I—I have to agree with you," Nick said. He began spinning a quarter on the table, his eyes focused on the coin.
"You've got to be kidding me!?" Piper, who sat beside him, swung around in her chair, glaring at him.
He glared back, piercing his own hateful eyes toward her. "The world doesn't revolve around you, Piper! We have to get off this fucking thing somehow!"
"I'm not talking about me, though. I'm talking about Asher, you twat! It's dangerous and idiotic." She faced me again, crossed her arms, and sighed in anger. "We can't let people go in there because who knows what's waitin' for us? Hell, a fuckin' Wendigo could be waitin' to eat us!"
"Thanks for the thought and the Until Dawn video game reference, but this isn't a game. It's real life, and Wendigos are just mythical creatures. Or whatever the hell they are. But see, the longer we stay here and do nothing, the longer it's going to take to leave. And the longer we stay, the more in danger we put ourselves in." I wasn't too sure if my point could be met, especially when they didn't want to listen to me. But I hoped someone would take the lead and began agreeing with me.
"He's right, you know," Freyja chimed in, now having all eyes on her. "I didn't agree before, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. It doesn't matter if it's dangerous or not. We're already putting ourselves in danger every day. With Kirsty and Paris gone, there's no point in being cautious. I say we go for it." She faced me with no smile present on her face. No ounce of expression held on her facial features. Her hands came closer to her body as if she hugged herself, her lips curving into a small frown. "One of us could be the next one to die."
+ + + +
Shivers ran down my spine as I stared at the dark tunnel.
Nick, Caden, and I were to go through the tunnel—with knives and old baseball bats as weapons—so we could unravel the conundrum. It was a unanimous decision.
"The plan is simple," I began, glancing back and forth between Nick and Caden, and the girls. "We go in, find out what's up, and get the heck out of there."
