O' Death, won't you spare me
                                over till another year.

The snow was caked in thick wet crimson you'll never see.

Jagged rocks at the end of the mountain by a stream you heard was a fisherman's dream. It didn't feel real. That a haunt like this would forever be held here, amongst the screaming trees and freshly pulled caution tape signs. That night had changed everything, a bunch of drugged-up teens making their own personal haven from the world outside. It was supposed to be simple. A final goodbye as senior year treated them the way it was intended.

College was a mere months away. It was supposed to be simple. The sounds of panic start to flood in and you're looking around for someone you already know is gone. You can't accept it, you just can't. And your friends are apologizing, snot-nosed and teary-eyed while you sit back in horror.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

But bad things happen all the time. Perhaps it's some sort of karmic debt for all the chaos you brought when inviting over bully friends to lunch tables full of elementary-bound friends you once had. Maybe it was because your life had always craved a little piece of death. And when the helicopters finally touch down 48 hours later, everyone's wrapped up in blankets coming up with a story on how and why everything went down the way it did. A joke or rather prank, how we're all nothing but kids and had no idea that Hannah Washington had it out that bad. Or that Beth would chase after her.

Excuses, it was all excuses.

The footprints in the snow were gone by the time Josh woke up. His semi-slurred words filled your ears first. It always felt like you were the only one who truly listened. They're gone. He choked out, They're gone, My sisters, They━━over and over again as the police tried their best to calm him down. But how could they? It was a disaster.

And that sickening pit that's been eating away from the minute you realized you knew nothing of what your friends were capable of starts to twist and ache even more. It's a hardened ball that sways as you step forward for your statement, it keeps itself there like an anchor afterward. Makes itself at home by spring.

And you start to rot there, feeling a slight comfort in the void that came with being now. It makes you sick, the normalcy that comes with knowing that all the things you could've done to prevent Hannah━━prevent Beth from ever leaving that night...was for nothing. Because as it is, you can't change the past. Not when it's been so long.

A year feels more like a lifetime. College courses bleed into therapy sessions and you are starting to feel numb. The sick is normal. The sick is good. The sick means your healing. And that's all you could've asked for. To heal.

And Josh Washington wants to be like that, wants everything to go back to the way it was. At least that's what he believes.

In his messages, emails, and happy tears, he hopes this masquerade of false hope brings the closeness that felt so familiar. Something, anything to keep it, keep them, from breaking. It'll be simple, it's supposed to be simple.

Time to decide now if it's worth it...

(It won't be.)

havana rose liu,            JULIET HAYES.

&  &  &.

hayden panettiere        SAM GIDDINGS
rami malek          JOSH WASHINGTON
brett dalton                   MIKE MUNROE
meaghan martin                  JESS RILEY
galadriel stineman    ASHLEY BROWN
noah fleiss                  CHRIS HARTLEY
nichole sakura                 EMILY DAVIS
jordan fisher                 MATT TAYLOR
ella lentini                HANNAH / BETH

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author's note. WE ARE SO BACK! I'm here and currently hyper-fixating again so here is my impromptu (but not really) until dawn fic! I've had this in the drafts since my old account but never knew when was the right time to post it. But now in the year of 2025, I figured why not make something for this dying-out fandom ESPECIALLY since the new movie looks nothing like the original plot. Also to note with this story, I do plan on having flashback au-ish type scenes just to make the story more fleshed out because I love Juliet and I feel like with who her love interest is in this story it makes more sense to do that sooo...hopefully you enjoy.

warnings & disclaimers. Mild depictions of blood, gore & violence, guns, mentions of cannibalism, adult language, crude humor, sexual themes, PTSD; mental illness/mental health issues; panic attacks, depression, use of/lack of use for medication, very cliché horror movie tropes, and anything else triggering mentioned throughout the Until Dawn game. Please be advised. Your mental health is far more important than this book.   /    I do not own the Until Dawn franchise, all respective rights go to the Supermassive Games company. However, I do own Juliet Hayes, her storyline, and any other characters I choose to create or add to this story.

dedication tags. katsukist  maenadscult  pearljars 
knxcklevelvet  glampires jagrawrs  hearterys  dancefevers

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