.₊꒰ 🪓 ꒱:⩩┆( 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙬𝙣 )⊹.*

𝐸𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇. ☠︎︎    𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙨

⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ 𝑯𝑰𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑼𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑳𝑺 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑮𝑼𝑰𝑫𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑨𝑰𝑹 𝑨𝑾𝑨𝒀 𝑭𝑹𝑶𝑴 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑴 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲 𝑻𝑶𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑫𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑫𝑰𝑹𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑫𝑮𝑬. For the entirety of the way back, Marlowe could not stop talking about how everything had been so connected. She would discuss with Mike that the man they were following could have already gotten to the rest of their friends. He, however, was much more positive in saying they may have beaten the man if he was still in the Sanatorium.

      There was minimal light, and without the lantern due to Mike's mishap of shooting the lock and causing it to shatter from the impact of hitting the ground, they were practically going in blind.

Despite not being able to see much, Marlowe was able to make out the basement of the lodge. Her eyes squinted toward a small opening guarded by iron bars. Beyond that were a pair of small, and pale legs. She gasped and hit Mike's shoulder, pointing toward the gap. "Look!"

      The man caught on and jogged over, Marlowe right by his side as she slipped her slim hand through the bars, grabbing the ankle of whoever it was. It was yanked back from her grip before a torch was shone in their eyes, forcing the pair to close their eyes and look away due to not being used to such a bright light for the past few hours.

      "Marlowe! And Mike?! What the hell are you two doing down there?" The mystery girl said, moving the light off to the side to get a better look at the roughed up pair. Samantha Giddings kneeled on the ground, dressed in nothing but a towel. "Thank God you found me."

      "It's okay. You're okay..." Mike whispered.

      Sam passed her gaze back and forth between the two on the other side of the bars. "I just don't understand... How did you two get down there? How did you find me?"

      "Well thanks to my great sight, I saw you through the bars," Marlowe explained, "but there's a whole web of tunnels that connect a medical facility to the lodge. We've been following some maniac around. He is up here on the mountain, did he get to you, too?"

      Sam checked behind her for a moment, "yeah..." she turned back to face them, "what do you mean 'too'?"

      With his head down, Mike forced himself to look away, "now probably isn't the best time.."

      "Okay... well, look," Sam's voice was dry and strained, "this guy you're talking about... he attacked me. He showed me these videos, too, and one of them showed Josh being killed... just... ripped apart by this huge fucking saw blade."

      Marlowe's hands flew to her face followed by a gasp, her eyes wide as her heart sank at the news.

      "Jesus Christ!" Mike rubbed his face with his bloody hand.

      "I know it might seem far fetched, but you guys, I think Josh was involved in all of this-"

      Marlowe grabbed onto the bars that separated her from Sam, "what? How?"

      "I'm not exactly sure, but... while I was wandering around I found some papers. There was this message from his doctor, and... it mentioned a "plan" that was like a "bad idea", and now he's dead!" Sam explained, placing the flashlight on the ground beside her.

      Mike stepped away from the bars and faced away from the two girls with his hand on the back of his head, "what the fuck is going on around here..."

      "We need to get everyone together..." Marlowe whispered before turning to Sam, "I think there is a door right around the corner. You think you can get to us through there?"

      Picking up the flashlight, Sam casted it against the door, "yeah, I'll see what I can do."

      Once Sam disappeared around the dark corner, Marlowe and Mike just looked at eachother, unsure of all the information they just heard. "My gosh, Mike! I knew I shouldn't have come. Why would the poor guy whose sisters both disapeared because of us decide to have a reunion without having some sort of hidden agenda.. I can't believe Josh is dead. None of this makes sense... I could be at home, and instead I'm on a fucking mountain with a maniac and people are dying!"

      "Hey! Hey, look at me," Mike brought her closer to him by gently taking her hand, "it's going to be okay. I won't let anyone fucking touch you, you understand?"

      Marlowe instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist, tucking her hands underneath the jacket that he was wearing to gain some kind of warmth. Using his non-bloody hand, he embraced her.

      "Thank you..." She whispered softly, feeling a soft kiss to the side of her temple.

      Suddenly bursting through the door, Sam popped around the corner, one hand holding the flashlight, while the other ensured that the towel was not slipping now that she had her backpack slung around her shoulders. Her towel was no longer white, but muddy with strings of cobwebs coating the bottom edges.

      "Sorry to interrupt..." Sam smiled with a raised eyebrow.

      "Hey..." Mike sighed, mutually pulling away from Marlowe whilst rubbing the back of his neck with his injured hand.

      The blonde took in the pair in front of her, "jeez, you two look like hell," she whispered, noticing the scrapes, stains and holes in their clothes. Marlowe's knees were just barely exposed through her jeans, small gashes on each one.

      Marlowe looked at her knees and slapped her hands to her sides, "thanks..?"

      Turning around to watch where Sam was going, Mike observed as she hid behind a corner of shelves, digging through her backpack. "...What are you doing?"

      "Well actually, the towel didn't turn out to be the best outfit for fighting off killer maniacs, you know?" Sam smiled, sarcasm evident in her speech. She waited for the man to get the hint before rolling her eyes, "mind turning around, Mike?"

      "Oh, right..."

      Marlowe and Mike stood facing the door, waiting patiently for the girl to change into something other than a bath towel. The silence was far too much for Marlowe to handle, she brushed her short fringe that clung to her forehead as she braved to ask the one question she had, "so... Sam, how the hell did that towel manage to stay on if you were being attacked?"

      She heard Sam laugh behind her while she finished zipping up her clothing, "A miracle towel is what it is... now... let's go put this thing to bed."

      "Amen to that," Mike whispered, both him and Marlowe to see Sam kitted out for an outdoor hiking adventure in the snow.

      About to make a joke, Marlowe was cut off by a scream coming from a few rooms over from them. The trio glanced at each other before leaving the room they were in. Leaving one door remaining, they all began barging on the blue metal door who lead to God knows where.

      Busting through the door, they were welcomed to a dark sight. Two silhouettes sat across from each other, strapped to their chairs. The rooms light illuminated the scene as soon as they passed through the doorway, causing most of the people in the room to flinch away from the sudden brightness.

      "What the fuck..." Marlowe whispered.

      The individuals strapped to the chairs were now visible. Chris and Ashley. A door to their side burst open. What appeared to be this so-called "maniac" came into view, dressed in blue overalls and a skull mask with shoulder length black strands of hair.

      Wasting no time in raising the gun in his hand, Chris shot all remaining rounds in the chamber at the maniac, but to everyone's surprise... there was no affect whatsoever.

Shaking its head, the psycho briefly chuckled, "oh, Chris. Chris, Chris, Chris... you've head of blanks before. I mean, really?"

      Marlowe shoved past Mike and Sam to get to Chris as the maniac moved closer, but a strong grip on her wrist prevented her from stepping further. She turned to face Mike, giving him the glare of the century as his face fell whilst looking past her.

      "Josh...?"

      Hearing everybody's hushed shock, Mike's gripped loosened on the girl and she turned around to see the identity of the "maniac."

      As though he was a movie villain that had come back from the dead, Joshua Washington stood in all of his cinematic glory, holes from the blank bullets in his chest and a self-righteous smile on his face. He looked at everyone in the room, and lastly, his best friend, Chris, who was strapped in the chair of his sick game.

      Laughing hysterically, Josh filled the room with the laughter that the others all lacked.

      "Josh!" Sam shouted from across the room.

      "Oh, oh very good! Every one of you! You all got my name! And after all you've been through! Good, good-good-good. I mean how does that feel?" Josh looked around, taking in the distraught faces of everyone around him, "do you enjoy feeling terrorised? Humiliated? I mean, panicked? All those emotions my sisters got to feel one year ago... Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No no no! They're gone!"

      Marlowe was first to speak, yanking her hand back from Mike's grip, "none of us are laughing... you're sick, Josh... we didn't mean for what happened to Hannah and Beth..."

      The man in front of her was hardly recognisable... his demeanor so different from when he was greeting her at the lodge.

      Josh looked at her briefly with emotionless eyes before putting on the show again, "oh come on. Why the long faces, guys? Come on! It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did! I mean, each and every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat," he raised his hands in the air, "I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle! No detail too small, no opportunity missed!"

      Marlowe felt sick, she turned away from the man, and she hated that she could still hear the man, whose mental state clearly had reduced to the thinking of a five year old.

      "And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was a gore galore! Fake bodies... God, that shit was expensive! And no retakes. Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! God, you should have seen your faces! Hook line and sinker for every little stinker!" The maniac laughed.

      "Why are you doing this... Josh?" Sam whispered... still unable to wrap her head around the fact that she was saying the name of who she thought was a friend, not a foe.

      Mike held up his hand to silence Sam from asking anymore questions, "don't even ask this squirrelly little runt. He's got no clue. He's out of his fucking tree."

      "Well he's definitely off his meds..." Chris added, looking up at his best friend.

      Josh couldn't understand why nobody else was laughing. Taking in the distraught faces on everyone, realising he was the only one finding this amusing, "aw come on, you guys. Revenge is the best medicine!"

      "Revenge? We played a prank and it went wrong!" Marlowe shouted, defending herself for the three hundred and sixty five days that she felt guilty for what happened, "if you want to find someone else to blame.. look in the fucking mirror... you were drunk and passed out on the kitchen counter, Josh."

       "You're gonna blame me for the death of my sisters? Really? Well soon enough you'll all be thanking me when you guys become internet sensations!"

      "What...?"

      "That's right, you heard me... this little puppy is going to go viral ladies and germs. I mean we got unrequited love. We got... we got blood! I don't think there's enough hard drives in China to count all the views we're gonna get, you guys!" Josh looked at each and every one of them. The people he called friends a few hours prior.

      Mike moved past Marlowe, approaching Josh rapidly, "what are you talking about you ass hat? Jessica is FUCKING DEAD. She is DEAD AND YOU ARE GONNA PAY YOU FUCKING DICK," he pulled the gun from his back pocket and used the end to hit the maniac over the head, watching the man who was previously laughing hysterically collapse to the ground from losing consciousness.

      Silence. There was now only silence among the group that remained. Marlowe took the initiative to take the straps off from Chris' wrists, allowing him to go help Ashley.

      Looking at each other, Marlowe and Mike shared a look, as if they were communicating. "What now?"

      "We lock him in the shed outside of the cabin."

⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━ '' - «🕸»‧₊˚𓍯 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚
╰┈➤ alright 6 more chapters + two extras to go y'all. i'll write the next chapter tonight, and write the chapter after that tomorrow since i'm off work.

ALSO YALL EXCITED FOR THE UNTIL DAWN MOVIE THAT IS IN THE WORKS??!! some of the fan casts i've been seeing r crazy bc why are you making kj apa... mike 😭 and a white girl as em, or literally making matt white 😞 one thing i do agree with is making billy / the stranger an indigenous man bc that makes so much sense