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❝the psycho.❞

FLORENCE HADN'T GIVEN much thought to how she would die.

She never wanted to dwell on the possibilities nor the anxieties that came with worrying about death.
Living in constant fear of what was to come was suffocating and she refused to succumb to her anxiety about her future. But now, as she crept around corners as stealthily as she could with a knife gripped in her hand, it was all she could think about. Her death — her demise — seemed to loom dangerously close to her, the fear of being murdered breathing down her neck.

Whatever psychopath that had joined her and the others on the mountain had taken her friends hostage after knocking her out and tying her up.

She knew what possibly lied ahead for her if she continued to search for the psycho like she was, but saving her friends meant everything to her. If she had to offer her life — the few — to save her friends — the many — she didn't care. All that mattered now was saving her friends and getting the psycho off the mountain and into a place where he belonged: a maximum-security prison.

Heavy pants rapidly brought Florence's chest up and down, her heart slamming against her chest as she walked through the lodge. The nervous pit in her stomach expanded. Frightened chills soared up her spine.

With every creak in the old wooden floors and every distant cry of the wind, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

It was only after Florence came down from her adrenaline high that she questioned her ability to do what she might have to do if she came in contact with the psycho. She didn't know if she had the strength to hurt another human being, and it was only now that she truly realized what she was doing — she was creeping around corners with a knife in her hand, completely ready to hurt someone. All in the name of defending herself and her friends.

Some kinds of violence sat on the fence between unjustifiable and justifiable. Pacifists were meant to believe that all violence was unjustifiable, that there was always a more peaceful route that could be taken in the face of conflict. But what could she do when she was incapacitated by a psycho who'd probably already incapacitated or hurt her friends?

She didn't want to succumb to violence, but it became more and more apparent that she might have to in the near future if it meant protecting herself and her friends. She was jumping between two sides of the same coin — having an internal debate on the value of her morality versus saving herself and her friends was something she couldn't afford right now, when she was searching for the psycho.

With a deep breath, Florence hid behind one of the wooden pillars along the top floor to collect herself. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down.

"Okay." Florence mumbled to herself, rubbing her palms against her jeans. "I can do this."

She waited until her heartbeat slowed to a normal pace and until she settled a few of her nerves to move away from the corner and continue her silent trek downstairs.

She was about to walk down the stairs when she heard Chris calling out for Ashley. Her eyes widened in surprise, her feet carrying her down the stairs and into the living room where she heard his voice. She hurriedly rushed down to meet up with him.

"Chris!" Florence whisper-yelled, wrapping her arms around his neck in a much needed hug. She was ecstatic to see that he was okay, even if he had a large purple bruise forming on the right side of his temple; he was alive and she was overjoyed to see him.

"Flo!" Chris wrapped his arms around her in shock, happy to see that she was alright and seemingly unaffected by the psycho's insidious antics. "Are you okay? There's a psycho in the lodge a-and he's got Ashley!"

Florence pulled back from the hug, nodding. "He knocked me out while I was asleep. He tied me up in Josh's room. I'm okay, though." She then looked around frantically, as she was hoping that Josh was with him. "Where's Josh? Did the psycho hurt him? Please tell me he's okay."

Chris shook his head lightly. "I'm sorry, Flo, he's not here. I think he went outside a while ago to clear his head."

Florence pushed the hair from her face, nodding hesitantly. "As long as he's not in here, he should be fine. Now, did you see where Ashely got taken?"

Chris walked her over to Ashley's homemade change purse that had her nickname sewn into it. Around it was a small pool of blood. "This is all I found so far. We've gotta find her, Flo."

Florence placed a hand on Chris' shoulder for comfort. "We'll find her. Everything will be okay."

Florence tightened her grip around the knife as Chris sent her a single nod, the pair moving to search the lodge for any more clues as to where Ashley could have been taken.

They searched every room, yet nothing came up, much to their shared dismay.

However, once Chris opened the double doors that led into the second half of the lower level of the lodge, a crow cawed loudly and flapped its midnight wings in their faces. They simultaneously jumped back, light gasps escaping their lips.

"Oh, my God." Florence whispered in fright upon seeing the large blood stain that decorated the cream colored wall.

"Oh, shit." Chris groaned, his worry for Ashley increasing exponentially. "No."

Florence offered him a forced smile although she knew it wouldn't do much now.

They continued down the hallway, exiting the open side door where snow blew into the house.

"Ash!" Chris called out, shining the flashlight around as they made their way down the steps that led onto a path that circled the lodge.

"Ashley!" Florence yelled, the knife still clutched in her hands.

"Ashley! Anyone out there? Ashley!"

Their feet crunched the snow beneath them, creating large footprints that would be easy to follow for at least half an hour until the snow covered them.

Florence silently worried that wherever the psycho was, he would follow their footprints and attack them. She tried her hardest to focus only on finding Ashely, yet the antagonizing worry and persistent anxiety warped its way into her mind and refused to stop burdening her.

Upon seeing a totem on the ground, Florence stopped and picked it up. Once she turned it over, she noticed its red rim.

» Florence sprinted as fast she she could through the mines and away from the screeching beast behind her, heavy pants rapidly bringing her chest up and down.

The creature let out a single roar, jumping towards her.

Florence cried out in agony as its long, protruding fingernails slashed the side of her neck.

Blood pooled from the three scratch marks, but Florence forced  the pain away and pushed herself to keep running.

She refused to give in to death. »

Florence placed the totem back down, returning to her place behind Chris.

"Ashley!" Chris called out one last time before they came across one of the shacks that Josh's father used to store and cut any of his game he hunted on the mountain.

Florence closed the knife she had been clutching like a lifeline and put it into her back pocket as she looked around the shack. Old carcasses hung from the ceiling on metal racks, the stench of age radiating from their bodies and swimming in the air. The sight of the poor creatures lifelessly dangling from the ceiling tormented Florence endlessly.

She put her hand over her mouth to keep herself from gagging. "Jesus, this place is horrible."

"Chris!" Ashley sobbed from the corner of the shack, out of Chris and Florence's sight lines. Her cries caught their attention immediately.

Their eyes widened as they dashed off to find her.

"Ash, I'm here! Where are you?" Chris shouted out.

"I don't know." Ashley cried.

"We're coming, Ash." Florence assured her calmly as to not worry the poor girl anymore. "Just keep talking to us."

Florence and Chris continued to attempt to find their way to Ashley in the dark and freezing cold.

"What happened?" Chris asked. He was trying to keep her calm by talking to him instead of worrying about her current situation.

"He tied me up." Ashely panted, her sobs cutting through her words. "I can't move."

"Ashley, we're gonna get you out of this." Chris promised her. "Don't worry."

"I'm really scared, guys." Ashley admitted tearfully.

"We are too, Ash. It's gonna be okay." Florence told her, straining her eyes to see through the dark.

"You have to get me out of here before he comes back!" Ashley pleaded.

Florence stopped in her tracks as she saw Josh limply hanging next to Ashley. He was clearly unconscious, but his hands were bound together tightly just as hers were. Tears pricked her eyes, a sob bubbling in her chest. "Oh, my God."

Florence threw herself at the chainlink fence that separated her and Chris from Ashley and Josh. She yanked at it with all the strength she could muster up, but it remained unmoving. There was no busting through it, not in the dark when she could hardly see. Her eyes then landed on the saw that rested just a few feet ahead of him and Ashley, her jaw dropping in horror.

"Hello." The same deep, distorted voice Florence had heard when the psycho knocked her out echoed above their heads, causing all of them to jump. "And thank you for joining me."

"Josh!" Florence cried, trying to awaken him by banging on the fence. Her efforts came to no avail.

"Josh, wake up!" Ashley screamed.

"Josh, please!" Florence sobbed, banging her fist against the fence as hard she could.

Suddenly, Josh jolted awake and frantically looked around.

"What? What is this?" He asked, making panicked eye contact with Florence. His heart ached seeing the tears falling unto her cheeks. He didn't want her to be here to to have to see what was going to happen. But, here she was. Too late now.

"Tonight we're going to conduct a little experiment. A sort of test." The psycho continued tauntingly, striking fear deep inside of them all.

"What the hell is going on?" Josh demanded, receiving no answer.

"Now, for this experiment we'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects, Joshua and Ashley." The psycho continued.

"No!" Florence screamed, tugging at the fence. She couldn't stand to see Josh tied up in front of her, especially not to be privy to the psycho's sick game of torture. He didn't deserve this, not on the weekend trip he'd planned for everyone to reconnect and gain closure. This was supposed to be a good trip for Josh. Now it was just a nightmare.

"But, we're going to need one more brave participant to help decide which subject will live and which will die."

Florence's hand covered her mouth as a sob erupted from her chest.

"Please don't do this!" She begged the psycho, wherever he was, obviously to no avail.

Ashley began loudly sobbing, thrashing around in her restraints. "Get us out of here!"

"No!" Josh wailed, breaking Florence's heart. "You can't do this! Let me down from here, you maniac!"

"Please, everyone calm down." The psycho soothed. "It's all very simple."

Florence nearly fell to her knees as more sobs wracked her body, her eyes never leaving Josh's.

"Christopher," The psycho addressed, "you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do is choose who you will save."

On either side of the lever was a photograph of Ashley and one of Josh, the lever sitting in between them.

Chris walked forwards, eyebrows furrowed.

The saw suddenly powered up.

The blood-soaked saw blade began moving at an incalculable speed.

"No! Please don't do this!" Florence wailed to the psycho who didn't seem to listen at all. He hadn't even acknowledged her presence at all, which she found to be a bit strange. It was almost as if her being there wasn't a part of his plan for them.

"This can't be happening." Ashley sobbed. "This isn't right!"

"Shit! Shit! No!" Josh thrashed around in his restraints as he looked the saw whirring before him.

"Okay, okay." Chris mumbled to himself, internally debating who he would choose.

Florence looked at him with disgust written on her face. She couldn't believe he was actually choosing who lived and who died. The psycho hadn't told them what would happen if he refused to choose, meaning that there could be a way to save them both. But Christ hadn't stopped to think about that, he just went straight into making his decision.

"Chris, what are you doing?" Florence screamed at him. "You can't do this!"

"I have to." Chris whispered to her, tears in his eyes.

Florence shook her head, her bottom lip trembling. "Please. . . you can't."

"I'm sorry." Chris apologized to her.

Meanwhile, Ashley and Josh begged him not to choose either of them.

Florence grabbed Chris' shoulder. She tearfully pleaded, "If you do this, you'll be a murderer! Don't do this, Chris!"

"There is no other way!" Chris snapped.

"Yes, there is! We-we can try to—"

It was too late.

Chris pulled the lever unto Josh's side, the saw speeding towards him at an uncontrollable speed.

"NO!" Florence roared, yanking on the fence with all of her strength.

"I see." The psycho said softly. "You've chosen to save Ashley."

"NO, NO, NO! Please!" Florence wailed as Josh profusely begged both Chris and the psycho to stop.

Ashley squeezed her eyes shut.

Chris apologized over and over to Josh.

The saw came closer and closer to Josh's torso.

Florence screamed until her throat became raw, her heart shattering as she slammed her fists against the fence. The chainlink cut up her knuckles, but she didn't care.

"NO!" Florence fell to the ground as Josh's pained screams of agony tore through the frigid air.

Blood coated the walls all around him.

Josh was murdered right in front of her and she couldn't do anything to save him.

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