Insanity - Josh Washington x Reader [Until Dawn Fanfiction]

[Chapter 3: Guilt]

So you went left, desperately searching for your friend Hannah. Around ten minutes passed before you spotted Beth - relief filling your heart once you noticed Hannah was with her. "Hannah! Oh my God, you must be freezing. Here, I know you have Beth's jacket, but take my scarf as well. It's sure to help."

After you'd wrapped your scarf around the shivering Hannah, you hugged her tightly; fretting about what the three of you were going to do. "I'm such an idiot." She wept in despair, "I'm so dumb."

"Oh Hannah, you're not." You comforted her soothingly, "The others are just...just cruel. They take their pranks way too far." A few second passed before you heard something - making you tense up and turn to face both sisters with uneasiness.

"Hannah...? Beth...?" You spoke their names fearfully, "We're not alone. We're not safe here." You helped them to their feet, stood in the middle and grasped both of their hands; the three of you deciding to run.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" Hannah wailed, sensing the danger in front of you guys and then seeing the edge of a cliff behind you all.

"No!" Beth shrieked, "No! Shit! No...Get back!" Her threatening words had no effect, so you broke the handholding and decided to stand in front, acting heroic.

"Beth! Hannah! Get away from the edge and don't step back any more! Go around me and just...I don't know, just fucking run!" You yelled at them fiercely.

"NO! ARGH! You whirled around at the sound of Beth's screech, gasping loudly when you saw the two girls dangling off the cliff's edge.

"Hold on!" You tried to calm the situation down, extending your hand and reaching out to Beth - who was clutching a random branch. "I'll pull you up!" She reached out with her other hand too, but the two of you were just out of reach - both sisters falling off the cliff with a ear-splitting scream.

With a scream of your own, you bolted upwards and clutched your covers with both hands; shaking whilst you tried to ignore the memory that continuously plagued your thoughts. Almost every night...for the past year...had that horrifying incident haunted your mind. For the past year it had messed-up absolutely everything - from the way you thought about things all the way to how you acted. Your behaviour switched from optimistic to pessimistic, you changed from being an extrovert to an introvert and you rarely spoke to anyone - not seeing the point. The guilt that consumed you, it was unbearable.

Why? Because in your mind it was all your fault. Hannah and Beth...they'd still be alive if you'd reached out towards Beth's hand just a little further. They'd still be alive if you'd stopped Hannah from entering the Guest Room and followed your suspicions. And they'd still be alive if you'd remembered the right way back to the lodge and lead them back inside. Your fault...all your fault. Shaking your head, you brushed away the tears that had streaked down your cheeks and picked up your phone from your bedside table - wanting to check the time and whatnot. 5:00AM. Oh, and you'd also received a text message from Sam.

To: (Y/n),
I said I'd send you the details - aka the time and date and stuff. Well, it turns out that it's tomorrow instead of Sunday...
From: Sam

To: Sam,
What's so bad about it being tomorrow and not Sunday?
From: (Y/n)

To: (Y/n),
Don't you remember? Tomorrow is the anniversary. Y'know...the anniversary of Hannah and Beth's...death. I just thought Josh would want to...that he'd want to skip it, that's all.
From: Sam

You stiffened up after your eyes skimmed the most recent text - not knowing what to think or what to do. Of course...how could you have possibly forgotten? Had your mind shut it out? What the...What the fuck...?