chapter twenty —
the mystery of hannah
& beth washington.

      Sage walks beside Mike as Sam lags behind the two, surprise still evident on the blonde's face because of what had just happend. The three walk in silence for a few minutes before Sam finally starts to speak.

" I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would be up close, " Sam says in shock as Sage and Mike both pause in their steps.

" Yeah. . " Sage nods in agreement, " I don't think any of us were. It's one ugly motherfucker up close. "

" So I noticed something kind of weird about it, " Mike mentions as he grips the flashlight in his hand tightly.

" Uh. . what? " Sam asks with furrowed brows as she starts to venture farther into the mines, the light on her headband shining brightly.

" The Wendigo. " Mike states making Sam pause in her steps, " It had a scar. "

" So? " Sage questions as she raises an eyebrow, " A lot of people or things have them. "

" I've seen it before, " Mike starts to explain as Sage and Sam continue to stare at him with confused looks.

" What are you talking about? " Sam asks.

" I saw these old pictures of some old guy with the same scar– and he was turning into a Wendigo. " Mike explains making Sage and Sam's confused looks turn into ones of disbelief.

" You're kidding. " Sam and Sage chorus with wide eyes.

" It was one of those miners that had been trapped, back in the fifties. . in the cave-in. " Mike reveals the identity of the Wendigo as Sage and Sam share a look of shock.

The Wendigos had been around longer than they had even been alive.

" That means the thing's like eighty-something, right? " Sage asks in disbelief as she glances between Mike and Sam, " Jesus. "

" Spunky for an old timer, " Sam humours making Sage laugh quietly.

The three start to venture further into the mines as Mike starts to speak once again, " They cleaned the place out. . killed a lot of people. "

" They? " Sam repeats as she stops again, " You mean there're more of them? "

" Definitely. " Sage nods as she thinks of all of the Wendigos that had chased her and Mike on this mountain already. It was definitely too many to count.

" How many? " Sam asks quietly.

" Too many. " Mike answers just as quiet as Sam and Sage were.

Sage suddenly feels her stomach drop as she glances around the mines, she chews on her bottom lip nervously as her hand itches to draw out the gun in her waistband. The Wendigo had to be near, it was the only reason that her heart would be pounding in her chest as her anxiety rose.

It wasn't the time for guns, Sage reprimands herself silently, You gotta find Josh first.

They needed to find Josh first – Sage hoped that they found him soon.

" I think we're close, " Sam whispers as she leads Sage and Mike further in, " To the lair. "

" How can you tell? " Mike asks as he furrows his brows in confusion while following Sam, the three getting closer to an open pool of water that a very old broken bridge was next too.

" I don't know. . I just. . feel really terrible all of the sudden, " Sam shrugs as she pauses infront of the pool of water with a frown, " I really don't want to go in there. . "

" Me too, " Sage agrees with a nod as she pauses beside the totem on the other side of the bridge, kneeling down to look at it as Sam and Mike talked quietly.

FORTUNE TOTEM
      found by sage.

Sage lets out a laugh as she stares up at the burning building that was the Washington Lodge. She glances over at Mike and smiles in relief.

They had made it.

Sage throws the totem back on the ground before venturing over to where Sam and Mike were and quickly sitting on the ledge that would drop her into the water and taking a deep breath. The brunette pushes herself off of it with a frown and inhales sharply as the cold water consumes her.

" Come on, " She turns to see Mike and Sam staring at her apprehensively, " It's not that bad. "

" You sure? " Mike asks as he and Sam sit on the ledge, preparing themselves for the obviously freezing cold water.

" I'm not dead yet, am I? " Sage asks with a raised brow as she watches the two jump into the water and gasp at how cold the water truly was.

The three venture further into the water without a word, Mike quickly taking the lead as they try to make this as quick as they can.

" It's freezing. " Sam complains quietly from behind Sage while the three get closer to the end of the pool of water. " I can't feel my fingers. "

Seconds later, the three all climb out of the water as Sage and Mike sigh in relief while Sam pauses and picks up a journal that had been on the ground. They all pause as Sam reads through a few pages before reading the next page out loud.

" 'I'm sorry Beth. . I have no choice. It's the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I'm sorry. I had too. . I had no choice.' " Sam's voice breaks at the end as Mike and Sage stand there in shock. What the hell had happend to Hannah and Beth down here?

" What does it mean? Jesus. . " Mike mutters in disbelief.

Sam flips through a few more pages and reads the last entry before gasping in shock as she remembers Beth's grave that her and Mike had found while Sage was looking around, " Oh god. . It makes sense. "

" What are you talking about, Sam? " Sage looks at the blonde in confusion making Sam sigh.

" Mike and I found this grave for Beth and her watch was nearby and it looked like somebody dug her up and I think. . Hannah dug up Beth. " Sam reveals her thoughts make Sage look at her in surprise. The blonde repeats it more firmly, it being obvious that she was sure that Hannah had dug up her sister.

" That's ridiculous. " Mike denies as he shakes his head repeatedly.

" Michael. . Michael, it has to be. " Sage tells him quietly as Sam looks on sympathetically. She hadn't seen the grave, but it was obvious that Hannah had to have been the one to dig up her sister out of desperation. Sage couldn't see the Stranger from earlier digging up an unknown person's grave and leaving just their watch behind, " It's the only thing that makes sense, Mike. Beth died in the fall, Hannah didn't. She survived somehow and buried Beth. She was starving, probably got desperate and dug up Beth– "

" No! " Mike continues to deny Sage and Sam's theory as he shakes his head in denial, " Fuck! "

" We need to find Josh." Sam speaks up with a strong voice as Sage tried her best to comfort a visibly upset Mike, the shorter girl hugging him tightly for a moment before pulling away and choosing to grab his hand. " Right now. "

" Yeah, " Sage agrees quietly, " He doesn't. . He can't go through what Hannah went through. "

Sam moves ahead to pull open the metal door to the side with Mike and Sage right behind her and pulls at the handle before jumping back as the door suddenly busts open and water gushes out along with something that trips Mike, Sam, and Sage.

Sage and Sam both let out screams as they spot the multiple heads that then roll out from further in the room.

" Oh my god, " Sage covers her mouth in shock as she stares at the heads of Chris and Matt. She wipes away the tears that were threatening to fall as she follows Mike and Sam into the room, letting out a yelp as she spots even more bodies that most likely belonged to her friends.

" You guys see that? The bodies? " Sam asks quietly as she sees the shadows of the bodies and a head ahead of them.

" Yeah, " Mike says quietly as he grips Sage's hand tightly, he may have been ecstatic that Jessica's body hadn't been among their fallen friend's bodies but it didn't mean that he wasn't grieving his friends. It just gave him hope that Jessica may be alive. " There's a lot of bodies. "

" I'm gonna be sick, " Sage and Sam both repeat as they walk by Chris, Matt, and the Stranger's bodies and Ashley's head.

The three finally make it out of the room as Sam exclaims her disgust and grief at having to see their friends bodies hung like prizes won at a carnival.

" Wait, wait! I think I see something. " Mike says quietly as he squints at something in the distance. He walks ahead with Sage and Sam and peers inbetween two wooden boards before Sam and Sage follow his lead.

" Oh my god, " Sage sighs in relief as she looks ahead, " He's alive. "

They had found Josh.

━━━━
authors note.

surprise?? ashley and chris both got the ending where they go looking for jess because i thought that was the funny shit ever lmaooo. they literally had the stranger's journal and there was nothing about the wendigos mimicking human voices to capture their prey?? that's crazy!

three more chapters + the epilogue are left ):