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❝new threats.❞

CHRIS AND FLORENCE were making their way back to the lodge amidst an unsettling silence when Florence spotted another totem lying in the snow. With trembling hands, she picked it up and noted its inky black rim.

» Florence was grabbed by a Wendigo as she ran out of the mines, its spindly fingernails digging into the side of her head.

Her feet dangled above the ground, a pained cry escaping her lips as the Wendigo stuck its hand straight through her stomach, killing her instantly.

Her limp body fell to the ground, a trail of blood falling from her lips. »

Florence placed the totem back on the ground and continued walking alongside Chris — still in silence — until they eventually reached the lodge. When they arrived, Sam and Ashley were the first to engulf Florence in a tight embrace. They hardly let her get through the door before their arms were wrapped around her. Although she greatly appreciated their support and comfort, she wasn't able to reciprocate much of their warmth due to the heaviness resting in her heart. All she could focus on was Josh, how terrible it felt just leaving him tied up in the shed like that.

Moreover, Florence was rather uncomfortable with the idea of leaving Josh alone with Mike — especially in the state he was in. Mike was angry with Josh and grieving for Jessica's death, which he blamed Josh for. Add onto that being stuck in a confined space together while Josh was off his medications? Disaster was liable to strike.

Despite her concerns, there wasn't much Florence could do about any of it. She wouldn't be allowed back into the shed if she succeeded at attempting to sneak out of the lodge. The only thing that would happen would be her getting dragged all the way back to the lodge. There wasn't much reason to even try going back to the shed — no matter how desperately she wanted to be with Josh. There was just no point.

All the anyone, including Florence, could do now was wait for the police to arrive on the mountain at dawn. It was only a few hours away now. It was anyone's hope that the last stretch of time would go by quickly. Josh didn't have much more time until he slipped even deeper into psychosis. A few more hours without medical attention and he could be stuck in an episode for days, maybe even longer. Not being on his medication was the most dangerous thing before, but now that he'd been off of it for a while, there's even more to worry about.

Florence was broken out of her worrisome thoughts once Sam came up to her. She sat down beside her on the couch and placed her arm around her shoulders in an attempt to bring her some comfort. She could see from afar the amount of stress weighing down on her and she figured she'd try her best to help. After all, it's what Florence would've done for any one of them if they needed it. It was only fair that they reciprocate that.

"You okay?" Sam asked Florence, her voice soft. Her eyes were filled with compassion. She hadn't seen all of what her dear friend had been through, but she knew it was more than anyone deserved to go through. She couldn't even imagine all the trauma she'd be ending up with after this night was over — she wasn't exactly dying to see what her own would look like, either.

Florence looked over at Sam and lifted her lips up into the best smile she could muster. It wasn't much, as her body was far beyond faking it when it came to emotions at this point. Regardless, she was still trying. With her forced smile upon her lips, she said, "I'm fine. Thank you."

"We're here if you need anything." Ashley reminded Florence, patting her shoulder lightly. Florence had always been there for her and always seemed to know exactly what to do and say to comfort her. But now that Florence needed everyone to be there for her, Ashley didn't know what she could do to help; there wasn't much she could do. A pat on the shoulder and some decently comforting words was all she had right now. She hoped that was enough.

Florence nodded gratefully. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. If you don't mind, I think I'm just gonna close my eyes for a bit."

"Of course. You rest." Sam agreed softly before her and Ashley made their way over to Chris. Both of them were curious as to what all happened at the shed and they certainly weren't going to prod Florence for the answers. It was clear that something else was wrong with Florence, and it wasn't just from being upset about locking Josh up. The two of them collectively agreed that Chris was the better option. Besides, he was always willing to talk about things like that.

As Sam and Ashley began their hushed conversation with Chris, Florence tucked herself into the couch in an attempt to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. She needed some kind of reprieve, something to lift all of the emotional weight off of her shoulders. She couldn't take much more of carrying all of it at once. By the time her exhaustion began to consume her and her eyes grew heavy, her thoughts had finally begun to calm down. A breath of relief fell from her lips.

Without feeling the constant need to look over her shoulder or keep a hand on the knife — the one that had recently been taken from her — she felt like she could settle down. There were no loud noises, no potential threats lurking around every corner, just the quiet.

However, the moment Florence's eyes fell closed, someone — or something — began pounding on the front door with urgency. Everyone snapped out of what they were doing and went into an immediate mode of panic. After everything they'd all been through tonight, anything could be happening now. They all knew to prepare for whatever was on the other side of that door.

"Let me in!" Emily screamed from outside as she slammed her fist against the door. Her voice was laced with fear and panic; two very common emotions on the mountain tonight. She pleaded, "Let me in!"

Upon hearing the pounding and the yelling, Florence's eyes snapped open. Within seconds, she sprung from the couch and began running for the door to allow her wailing friend into the lodge. Chris seemed to have the same idea and considering that he was closer to the door, he got to it first.

"Let her in! Quick!" Sam called out, sensing the sudden danger that loomed over the lodge.

Emily ran into the lodge with a loud cry. Upon entering, everyone could see how battered she looked. Her body was covered in snow and soot. Her face, once pristinely done up with makeup, was now stricken with raw bruises and fresh cuts. Her hair was disheveled and tangled. One of her kneed had clearly been slashed open, she'd used the hem of her sweater as a tourniquet. It was clear that, wherever she'd been, she had been through hell.

"Are you alright?" Florence asked as she rushed over to Emily. Every one of her previous concerns were washed away as she began to tend to Emily. None of that mattered now when one of her friends, who'd very clearly been severely wounded, was now panting in her arms.

"Shut the door!" Emily screeched, falling into Florence arms. Her breaths came out jagged and uneven, her body was still trying to catch up with her. She repeated, "Oh my god, shut the door!"

"Em, are you alright?" Chris asked her whilst they all made their way back into the living room.

"I didn't think I'd make it." Emily panted, holding her stomach. The muscles were tight and throbbing painfully. At this point, though, she didn't even care that she was in pain. She was just glad she'd made it into the lodge with her friends after outrunning that hell.

"You were screaming bloody murder." Chris pointed out, receiving a pointed glare from Florence.

"Are you okay?" Florence asked.

"You look totally whipped." Ashley said, noting Emily's several intense injuries.

"There was something. . ." Emily cried, tears falling unto her cheeks.

"Where's Matt?" Chris wondered.

Sam came over and kept a steady hold on Emily's arm to ensure that she remained on her feet as she was led to the couch. She urged her, "Come sit down."

Emily plopped down onto the couch, sobbing quietly. "Something's out there. There's a monster—it's a monster!"

Florence felt knots twist inside her stomach. The second she thought they were safe, that all of their problems were gone, something else even more sinister arose.

"Wait!" Chris called out, silencing their overlapping questions and exclaimed concerns. "What are you talking about?"

"I said there's something out there!" Emily repeated, her voice shaky.

"Like what?" Ashley quizzed.

"Ash, relax." Sam scolded her for pressuring Emily when she just got into the lodge. "It was Josh, it was all Josh."

Emily violently shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no. Listen to me—"

"We got him tied up, he can't hurt you." Sam assured her, Florence's wince going unnoticed.

"No!" Emily screeched. "It was after me. And it wasn't human."

"Hold on." Chris interjected again. "Em, can you tell us exactly what happened?"

"I am trying to tell you." Emily snapped. "We were climbing up the tower and it fell. The whole tower just fell! Right into the mines."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What mines?"

"There are these mine shafts all over, running under everything, when the tower fell we ended up down there."

"I don't understand, the tower fell?" Ashley asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"How did it fall?" Sam wondered.

"I-I was walking down there, in the mines, and it was dark and I found this pile and there was Beth's head!"

Florence's breath hitched and her stomach dropped.

She felt nauseous and dizzy.

Before another panic attack could occur, she tuned into the rest of what Emily was trying to say and tried to push the sickening image of Beth's head out of her mind.

"Wait, what?!" Chris cried out.

"Beth's head, I found it." Emily restated.

"Oh my god!" Ashley mumbled.

"What the fuck?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! I'm serious!" Emily yelled, appalled that they would think she was lying even for a second. "I think they fell down there. But the worst part is I don't think Hannah died, like, from the fall, not right away."

Florence's breathing began to pick up. Her heart rattled in her chest.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I don't know, I feel like she was down there, like, starving to death for weeks. When we were all up here looking for her, we had no idea!"

"Jesus, that's horrible." Chris sighed, imagining what it must have been like for Hannah to know that her twin sister was dead and she had to survive on her own trapped in the mines.

Florence couldn't bare to know that her best friends were down there the whole time she and her friends accompanied the search and rescue teams scouring the mountain for them.

Hannah was stuck with Beth's corpse in the mines for weeks, starving to death with no way out; it was petrifying to even think about, let alone to experience.

Florence nearly threw up when she realized that they could have found Hannah and helped her if they looked in the mines. If only they had known about them, they would have been able to save her and give Beth a proper funeral.

Her best friend suffered for weeks with her sister's corpse whilst she was walking just above her, searching for her.

The panic subsided and settled into overwhelming guilt and pure anguish.

"Listen," Emily's shaky voice brought Florence out of her thoughts, "in the tower, there was a radio and I got through to someone but that was right when the tower collapsed!"

Mike ran into the lodge, clearly out of breath.

Florence jumped up from the couch, realizing that Mike had left Josh alone and completely defenseless against whatever had chased Emily through the mines and back to the house.

He was tied up and vulnerable, making him an easy target.

Panic and concern replaced everything flowing through her mind. She was in disbelief — there was an inhuman monster lurking around the mountain that tried to kill Emily and Mike had left Josh tied up all by himself.

For a moment, she hoped that Mike had taken Josh with him to the lodge.

"Em!" Mike panted, bringing Emily into an embrace.

"Mike!" Florence snapped. "Where's Josh? Did you leave him there?"

Mike looked down at her, guilt running through his bruised features. "He's fine. He's in the shed."

"What?!" Florence cried, throwing her hands up in the air in disbelief. "How could you leave him? There's something on the mountain. It chased Emily back to the lodge! She said it wasn't human!"

Mike froze in shock.

"How could you leave him?"

Florence didn't wait for Mike to respond before she walked over to the table in the hallway where she knew Mr. Washington kept a handgun in case of any — unlikely — emergencies.

Being a survivalist, Josh's dad always had some form of weaponry in his homes just in case and for once, Florence mentally thanked him for it.

She pulled the handgun out from the drawer and stuck it in the waistband of her pants with a huff.

She didn't care about morals or ethicality anymore, not when there was a creature trying to kill them and Josh was left alone completely vulnerable and defenseless.

A gun was something she would need if she was going to help Josh, so she swallowed her distaste for them and forced herself to remember what little Josh's dad taught her when she hesitantly tagged along for one of his and Josh's 'father-son' days at the shooting range per Josh's request.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mike snapped at her, standing in front of the doorway so she couldn't leave.

He didn't like seeing Florence so angry, and wielding a gun nonetheless; it wasn't in her nature.

Just a few hours ago, she would have strayed as far away as she could from a gun or any form of violence. And now, she was standing toe-to-toe with him, gun in tow, ready to go up against an unknown create that was hostile and hunting them.

Mike noticed that some sort of switch had flipped inside her head.

"I'm going after Josh." Florence stated simply. She didn't care about anything but making sure that the last person she had left was alright.

Knowing he was vulnerable like that made her heart clench and she couldn't, in good conscience, leave him like that.

"No, you're not."

"Get out of my way, Mike." Florence was tired of playing nice with everyone.

She loved her friends, but they were safe in the lodge, especially since Mike now had a loaded gun as well. Josh, however, was not safe and it was her responsibility to keep the promise she made to his parents a year ago.

The twins were gone, and she couldn't bring them back. But she could save Josh and she was hellbent on doing so.

"I won't let you do something this stupid."

"Mike, please move."

"You go out there, you're gonna get yourself killed. Do you realize that?"

"You left Josh alone to be killed by whatever is out there." Florence sniped, all of her compassion and kindness faltering momentarily. "Now get out of my way. I'll be fine."

Florence shoved Mike out of the way and left the lodge. She was tired of being the damsel in distress, the one everyone else had to protect and look out for.

For once, she wanted to be the hero who could save herself snd the people she loved.

A piece of Florence Stone had broken off, and a new one took its place.

A newfound strength filled her veins as she made her way to the shed, cautiously watching the trees and ensuring that nothing lurked around her.

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