CHAPTER 8: THE GANG REUNITED

Hey, everyone! Welcome back to chapter 8! We're in the home stretch, considering that this chapter will cover 3AM to 4AM at this point. Who knows, might go to 5AM if I think it fits the story. Anyway, couple of things to note.

One, I won't be doing a section for the cave section. I feel that it would limit interactions a fair bit and it would hamper just how much story I need to get through. I will put a few flashback parts to illustrate key points, nothing more.

Second, this will be the chapter to reveal some new story threads. I think most people guessed how the psycho will play out and truth be told, I didn't try to hide it. Hopefully the twist at the end will be more of a surprise.

Now, on with the show!

Washington Lodge Basement

3:02 AM

SAM

Sam's head still throbbed over the painful sound she had heard but minutes ago, her footsteps thudding against the creaking wood and peeling concrete as she and Ashley raced downstairs, armed with the loaded rifle and a wrench respectively. Her head only had one thought. 'Please. Please let them be okay…'

The deeper they went, the more reliance they needed for their flashlight. Each corner brought more unspeakable horror, further impounding on the dire situation at hand. Even as Ashley gasped with each succeeding scare, their drive forced them to swallow their fear. It took them only three minutes to reach the room, but it felt like eternity for the teenagers.

As Sam swung the door open and took aim with her rifle, the only thing that was visible was Jessica, eyes boiling in a combination of anger and sadness. Her hands were wrapped around a handgun, pointed towards a suspicious figure looming above her. Behind Jessica, another figure was crumpled on the floor, his chest moving ever so gently. 'Must be Mike… Thank god he's still alive.' Sam pondered with a hint of relief, only until she realized Chris was nowhere to be seen. Before she could ponder further, the figure spoke and stepped into the shadow.

"Really, Jessica?" the figure mockingly flaunted, hands outstretched and standing proudly in front of Jessica. As Ashley and Sam rounded on the figure, she noticed Jessica's firearm was already letting out a thin wisp of smoke. Her eyes darted to the bulky individual. Not a single wound.

"The hell?!" Jessica pulled back her handgun, looking at it in wild confusion. The figure laughed mirthfully again, taking another step forward. Sam cocked her rifle again, hoping it would deter the figure from making another move. Ashley suddenly gasped, her arms lunging back and holding her mouth as she stared horrified at an unmoving clump behind the figure. 'No…. No, it can't be…' Sam looked utterly drained in mere moments.

"You've heard of blanks before?" The figure continued to speak. It reached behind its head and started to untie the knot holding it together. A faint swish echoed in the room as the string fell loose and the mask fell down onto the floor with a loud thunk. All eyes went towards the face and each one of them felt their head swim with a myriad of questions and their bodies recoiling back in utter shock.

There standing before them was Beth, as healthy as the hour they had last seen her, glancing over each one of them with a steely gaze.

"Wha…? Beth?!" Sam exclaimed, pointing a shaky finger at Beth, the rifle all but forgotten by her side with the barrel pressing gently against the cold concrete floor.

"Oh, you should've seen the look on your faces! I got you good!" Beth started to double over in laughter, hands clutching her waist as her hyena-like laughter filled the room. Everyone continued to look dumbfounded, just shaking their bewildered heads at each other and then to Beth.

"What's with the long faces, everyone? Isn't this a fun little prank?" Beth clapped her hands together as she continued to laugh her lungs dry, circling her friends in a steady pace.

"How…? We… We saw you die." Sam sputtered, arms slacking by her sides in numb shock.

"A lot of money, let's just say that. You can learn all about it when this masterpiece goes on the web!" As her words rang in Sam's ears, her eyes darted towards Chris with renewed hope. His body still remained crumpled in a heap behind an overturned chair. In the dark, it was easy to assume that he was dead. In the now bright light cast upon them, Sam saw the tell-tale sign of life as his chest rose up and down ever so slightly.

"Chris!" she exclaimed, hurrying over to his side. Ashley was not as quick on the uptake but eventually she pitched in as soon as she snapped out of her stupor.

"Come on, come on. Wake up!" Ashley said, flummoxed. Her hand gently slapped against Chris' cheeks, hoping to stir the geeky teenager. No response came from Chris. Looking closer, Ashley could tell that despite the blanks in the firearm, the force was enough to leave a clear bruise on his temple, already red from the swelling.

"All of this…. This f***ing bullshit?! Was just a prank!?" Mike shouted in exasperation and anger, punctuated by coughing fits and a slight dribble of blood flowing from his dried, cracking lips.

"I can see it now. Teen party becomes viral sensation! Pranksters everywhere upping their game!" Beth seemingly ignored him, her tone switching from joyous laughter to star-struck wonder in the blink of an eye. Again, the turnabout from the otherwise level-headed friend from hours before was still shocking. However, Jessica's shock was quickly morphing into barely contained rage, veins pulsing as she gripped her paperweight of a gun with all the might she could muster.

"Your prank got Mike hurt." Jessica darkly intoned, taking a deliberate step forward. At her words, Beth stopped circling and faced what she considered a seemingly odd behaving Jessica. She looked genuinely confused and started scratching her head with her gloved hand.

"Excuse me?" she asked, plainly. Jessica simply continued to take step after step towards the insane Washington.

"You heard me. Mike's in pain. Chris is unconscious and possibly has some traumatic… shit…I don't know! Sam too! And you… are going… to PAY!" Jessica screamed at the top of her lungs, taking large strides towards Beth with a boiling rage within her and a deafening war cry. Her arm lashed out and the butt of the gun connected with Beth's temple with a bone-crunching thwack, sending the rambling Washington down to the ground with a thump.

"Holy shit!" Ashley yelped, hurrying over to see the damage. Jessica panted and towered over Beth's crumpled form, gun still clutched in her hand. Sam and Mike meanwhile slowly shook themselves out of their incredulous stupor, with the blonde giving the injured class president a hand to help him to his feet before joining the girls surrounding Beth and staring at the person they once called friend.

"What do we do?" Ashley piped up eventually, peering at the unconscious form of Beth with a hint of fear.

"Me and Sam will go lock up this crazy bitch. Ash, can you help Mike carry Chris back to the main hall?" Jessica spun her head to meet Ashley, eyes flaring with residue anger.

"Su…sure. I'll try and call the police again. Maybe we'll get through this time." Ashley stuttered, too stunned to retort. Mike nodded affirmatively, cracking his knuckles as he bent down as best he could and wrapped Chris' left arm around his shoulders. Ashley took his right and the trio was soon taking the stairs one step at a time.

"Sounds good." Sam had replied, slinging the rifle back behind her and moving to carry their cargo to the shed. Not without searching a nearby storage closet and tying up their tormentor as securely as they could muster…

Path to Toolshed

3:16 AM

JESSICA

No words could describe the blonde's anger, at least any she could recall. She was marching forward along the snowy trail, pistol in hand while marching the now restrained Beth towards the shed where she had 'perished'. Sam was not too far behind, giving her old friend a veritable stink eye. Around them, the moonlight bathed them in a soft shine and gave them just enough light to guide their way, but not enough to see too far ahead. Beth started to slow her footsteps again, earning a forceful push from Jessica, her body jerking forward with reluctance.

"Oww… Guess you like being rough. Huh, Jessica?" Beth commented wryly, giggling as she was jerked forward for the umpteenth time. The ropes binding her hands together was digging into her flesh, almost guaranteed to leave marks when all was said and done.

"Keep walking." Jessica haltingly responded, clearly uninterested in conversation with the deranged lunatic. Jessica reached for her pocket, drawing out a loaded handgun. She slid back on the hammer, Sam flinching as the sound resonated in the otherwise silent background.

"I'm telling you. I didn't hurt Michael." Beth responded in a sickeningly sweet tone, seemingly unperturbed.

"After all the shit you put us through, I find it hard to believe you." Jessica pressed the barrel against Beth's waist and shoving her forward again. Sam watched with a little nervous energy, about ready to intervene on a moment's notice.

"Come on, it was a harmless prank." Beth shrugged, trying to brush off the accusation with a haughty air. That set Sam off, which surprised Jessica a little.

"Seriously, Beth?! Do you not understand anything about what you put us through?" Sam incredulously remarked, looking extremely confused at Beth's sudden onset of psychopathic tendency. Beth again looked shocked by Sam's outrage. 'Why are they so mad? They did this too and everyone got over it!' her warped mind considered, before common sense slowly dawned on the Washington girl.

"Yeah? What about me? What about what you put me through? You try telling your parents that your siblings died on your watch? You try watching the rest of you go home and act like nothing happened!" she shouted,

"And you thought torturing us was your way of making things fair?" Sam balked. 'She was keeping this grudge against us for so long. I thought we had moved past this…' she considered guiltily, her mind already racing back to every chat she had with Beth over the past year. 'I should have noticed…'

"You know what, Sam? Screw you. You're too blind to see my point. I hope Mike gets an infection. See how he likes losing something precious." Beth suddenly felt her leg lose its footing. She tumbled forward face-first into the snow, coughing up any stray frozen dirt that had fallen in her mouth. Behind her, Jessica smiled, her leg hanging out far away from the rest of her body. The look on her face was taunting to the younger Washington, which only made her seethe with rage.

"Oops. I tripped." Jessica play-acted, pressing two bruised fingers to her mouth and pouting. Beth stared daggers at Jessica and when she leaned in to pull her back to her feet, Beth took the opportunity to spit in Jessica's face, dousing the young blonde in her saliva. Grunting, Jessica wiped the worst of it from her eyes and gingerly tapped Beth's back with her gun again.

"Don't push me, Beth. Death's too good for you. I'm going to enjoy watching you rot in jail." She snarled in Beth's ear, pushing her along with an increasingly reluctant Sam behind her.

Beth continued to rant as Jessica and Sam led her to the toolshed, the sight of which sent a shiver down Sam's spine. What once terrified her was now a source of anger and feelings of betrayal, which made Sam feel just that more disappointed in her former friend. Jessica marched the psychotic girl towards one of the sturdier wooden supports, with Sam taking guard duty. Jessica moved towards one of the

"Hold still." Jessica ordered, returning with rope in hand. Gingerly, the two blondes set about tying Beth to the pillar, using their previous experience in the scouts to aid them.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round…" Beth sung, wriggling in place with little care for reality in general. Sam struggled to finish her knots, forcing her to dig the ropes into Beth's flesh a little tighter to keep her still.

"Stop moving, Beth!" Jessica grunted, finishing the knot and making sure to pull tight on the rope.

"Oww! You girls are into some really kinky stuff. Hiding something from your precious boyfriends? It's alright. I won't tell. I love having some unsolicited fun." Beth giggled, with both her captors recoiling briefly at the sheer innuendo being explicitly mentioned. Not because of its nature, but rather that its speaker was at one point considered one of the least likely to resort to such crude humour or insults. Jessica simply responded by pulling on the ropes tightly, letting it dig even deeper into her wrists.

"Ahhh!" Beth yelped in pain, her eyes straining to hold back tears.

"Jessica, back off. She's not worth it." Sam stepped in, yanking Jessica's hands away from the rope. To her surprise, Jessica didn't object, taking a deep sigh as she kept her eye on Beth.

"Oh, right. Who am I kidding? You don't have a boyfriend, Sam. Not that you'd notice anyway. Maybe you need some glasses?" Beth laughed sarcastically, rocking back and forth in the chair as much as she was allowed.

"I'm sorry?" Sam answered, confused. Jessica just stared daggers at Beth, as if to say, 'Don't you dare say another word, Beth…'

"It was a surprise to me too. Seeing just how lovingly hilarious my scenario played out. Isn't that right, Jessica?" Beth taunted her.

"He's twice the person you are." Jessica mouthed, finger curling around the trigger on her gun.

"Aww… Threesomes now? Naughty, naughty Jessica?" Beth laughed raucously, shifting back and forth in her seat with a mirthful look on her face. Her taunts threw Jessica into a Mike-level rage, the blonde drawing her pistol to level at Beth's temple, pressing the barrel against her skull.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, hand shakily holding the pistol, finger wrapped around the trigger. Her eyes watered with barely contained fury, every fibre of her being rattling in place.

"Jessica, enough!" Sam shouted. Jessica hastily pulled back, taking a short circling walk to calm her nerves. The moment she stopped, Beth opened her mouth, seemingly unfazed by the gun that was shoved in her face earlier.

"Sam and Chris, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First come love, then comes pain. Then comes pushing him off a cliff." Beth sang in a deliberately horrible tone, mockingly tilting her head back and forth at Sam along with a wide grin etched on her lips.

"You little….!" Jessica had less time to react unlike Sam and before she could even move, Sam's rifle stock had already crashed down on Beth's head, a resounding crack echoing in the shed. Her arms reared back for a second strike, but Jessica stood between the young climber and Beth, her arms outstretched to either side of herself. Breathing heavily, Sam let her rifle hang above her head for a few moments before she pulled back and slung the rifle back by her side. Jessica was quick to release a sigh of relief, her arms folding back to her sides.

"She's just trying to push your buttons, Sam. At least she's quiet now." She mentioned, spinning around to glance at the now unconscious Beth, head slumped against her right shoulder. A single red welt seemingly throbbed on her forehead, a trickle of blood dripping from a slight cut right above her eyebrow.

"I should… head back to the lodge. Make sure the others are still in one piece." Sam shuddered. 'I can't believe I just did that. I shouldn't have let her do that to me…' she persuaded herself, taking comfort in the fact that Beth wasn't grievously injured.

"Alright. I'll stay here, make sure loony bin here doesn't do anything stupid." Jessica cocked back on the frame of her handgun to accentuate her point. Sam gingerly nodded with a slight shrug of her shoulders, spinning around to head back to the lodge.

"Sam?" Jessica called back. Sam didn't bother to turn around.

"Yeah?" she asked, still staring at the snowy landscape outside.

"Give him a chance. He surprised me and Mike. What do you have to lose?" Jessica advised. Sam's shoulders seemed to slump a little, not taking to her advice like she would for the most part. In matters of the heart, she was far from the most composed of the group.

"I don't think this is the right time to be thinking about this." Sam weakly retorted, her left hand already gripping tightly around the rifle strap.

"When will it ever be?" Jessica trailed off. Sam didn't wait to find out, taking her silence to be the end of the conversation and dashing out into the snow, back to the lodge as fast as her feet could carry her.

Washington Lodge

3:40 AM

CHRIS

Chris

"Chris, stop pacing. You're making me anxious."

"I can't believe Beth would do such a thing."

"I didn't either, but at least she's getting locked up." Ashley said calmly, her hands rubbing against one another for warmth. The blood that had once covered her hands was completely washed away, though specks of dried remnants still remained. As Chris was about to respond, the door behind them creaked open. In stepped Sam, rifle still slung on her shoulder and shivering as she made inside quickly. Her body shook from the intense weather outside but was slowly relaxing in the relative warmth of the lodge.

"I…. Sam, you're back." Ashley said.

"Yeah, took a little longer than expected." Sam begrudgingly nodded. Chris started looking behind her, expecting Jessica to follow suit behind her.

"Where's Jessica?" Chris asked, confused as to why Sam would return alone.

"Guarding Beth for the night. How's Mike doing?" Sam asked, peering over Ashley to look at Mike.

"I'm right here, you know." Mike groaned out jokingly, sprawled out as he was on the sofa, hand clutching a soft pillow close to his chest.

"Stable, at least. Though I could do without his mouth…" Ashley smirked, chuckling softly. Mike seemed to look annoyed, miffed by Ashley's casual disregard. 'Sigh… They'll never let me live this down…' he murmured to himself.

"Still here, Ash."

"Chris, can I talk to you for a second?" Sam asked, turning her attention to Chris.

"Uh, sure." Chris looked even more confused, turning to both Ashley and Mike for some hint or advice. Both teenagers merely shrugged their shoulders, equally as confused. Yet as Chris followed Sam up the stairs, he spun around to see Ashley nod her head forward, as if nudging him into expressing his feelings more openly.

Chris followed Sam as she led them to the hallway upstairs, stopping dead center in plain view of the main door and the howling wind cresting over the landscape outside the lodge window. 'Better if we both have a chance to spot any threat on the horizon.' She mused, not even considering how in any other circumstance that their location had a rather romantic view.

"Jessica told me about what you did in the basement." Sam explained, rifle rubbing against her back awkwardly. Realization dawned on Chris instantly. 'Oh, crow… She must be talking about my confession…' he immediately thought of the worst case scenario.

"Sorry." Chris blurted out, causing Sam to look bemused.

"What are you apologizing for?" Sam lowly chuckled.

"For blurting it out. I… didn't think I'd see any of you guys again." Chris scratched his head awkwardly, eyes staring down at the floor in embarrassment.

"It's okay. Really. I… I think it's nice that you had a little crush on me. Flattering, in a way." Sam said as much, with Chris blushing even more, his cheeks turning beet red.

"Look, I'm sorry about all of this. Let's just forget this ever…" Chris was about to slink away only to feel Sam's hand press on his chin and lift it up to face her. Her body leaned in as her head did, her lips gently kissing the teenager softly, his eyes widening in abject surprise.

"If I knew this would shut you up, I would have done this months ago." Sam breathlessly joked, laboured breathes matching Chris' heightened emotional state.

"You liked me too?" Chris stuttered out, too caught up in the moment to properly respond.

"Look, I think we can both agree now isn't the time for relationships. But… I'm not ruling out afterwards." Sam said softly, smiling at the bespectacled friend she now saw in a new light.

"I can look forward to that."

"Guys!" Ashley's voice rang out from below, once again ruining the otherwise lovely moment the two new lovebirds were having. Chris sighed, a little miffed while Sam shot him a wry grin as she dragged him back downstairs with her, seeing a clearly shaken Emily stumble in through the front door.

The first thing Chris took notice of was her clothing. Say what you will about Emily, but she took pride in her appearance. That was far from her current state. Her jacket was torn in multiple places. Most were accidental, no doubt from whatever predicament she had found herself in. One of them was not, a thin strip of fabric missing from the edges. Her face was matted with dirt and steadily melting snow, her left cheek slightly singed. She was limping on her right leg, a small gash visible past her tattered trousers and coated in barely congealed red-brown blood.

"Emily! Thank god!" Ashley hurried over, helping the limping girl towards the couch, a look of concern washing over her face. Mike sat up in his own chair, grunting in pain and with watery eyes taking in Emily's appearance.

"Where's Matt?" Ashley peered above her, half expecting the jock to walk back in behind her. Emily shook her head. 'I… I killed him… I…' she felt her mind wander. If by some slim miracle he had survived, one word from him was enough to ruin her.

"He fell down into a mineshaft. And there was some person… and a monster." Emily stammered out, breathless in her retelling, hands shaking as she attempted to express her incredulous story with extra visual aids.

"Slow down, just take a deep breath." Ashley said, patting Emily's shoulder.

"We need to help him." Emily just stammered again, trying to get off from the couch, only for Ashley's firm hand to set her right back down. Before Ash could say anything more, Jessica stormed in, gun drawn as if expecting danger. When no danger presented itself, she relaxed and holstered her sidearm to her hip.

"Jessica, why are you here?" Ashley asked, just as Sam and Chris hurried down the steps two at a time. Jessica pointed towards Emily, who still looked pale with fright over Jessica's sudden arrival.

"I heard screaming and I ran over here." She explained briefly before Sam cut her off.

"And you left Beth alone?!" Sam looked mortified. Jessica shrugged non-pulsed, quickly stowing the pistol in her back-pocket.

"She's all tied up. She's not going anywhere." She said, bending down to get a closer look at Emily, her eyes darting over the various wounds all over her exposed skin.

"That's not the point!" Sam roundly remarked, jabbing her finger in Jessica's direction. That only served to stoke the flames and soon enough, the argument overtook the others, all trying to get the others to see their point or to relay information to someone else.

Washington Lodge

3:48 AM

MIKE

Injured though he may be, the former class president still looked at the main doors with a worried look on his face. Once or twice, he would rise to his feet and try to get closer. Each time, Ashley had to hold him back down when the inevitable sting of pain shot up his system. He felt powerless to help and it made him extremely upset. He woke up several minutes later, hearing Emily's voice join the crowd. 'When did she get here? Did Beth plan something else for her and Matt?' he pondered to himself.

As the six continued to argue, a loud smack echoed within the hallowed halls, all eyes drawn to the main door where the sound originated from. Standing in the doorway was the same figure that Emily had described, a seemingly annoyed posture overtaking the heavily armed stranger. In one of their hands was a homemade flamethrower, the nozzle aimed downwards while a thin pipe led to a pair of canisters on their back. The other hand was carrying someone else, someone that drew far more attention for Emily in particular.

"Matt!" she exclaimed, rushing to aid her boyfriend. Matt grunted, still peeved with Emily's last act but made no move to push her away. Emily took that as a positive thing, carrying the injured football player back to the couch. Meanwhile the other five who had readied makeshift weapons in stark paranoia slowly lowered their weapons as the stranger's intent was clear. The commotion enticed Mike's curiosity and despite the pain, hoisted himself back up to his feet and walked up behind the other five.

The stranger glared over all of the gathered teens, their right hand cycling through fingers one by one as the left held tightly onto the flamethrower. A moment of silence passed before the stranger reached for their gas mask, peeling away the old piece of hardware and revealing their face to the rest of the group. Instantly, all of their eyes bulged in shock and whatever composure the more measured of their number had evaporated as they stared blankly at the familiar figure.

"Wha….?!" Chris gawped, rubbing his glasses as if seeing a mirage.

"No way…." Jessica mouthed as well, her hand shakily pointing at the de-masked figure with her face starting to drain of colour.

"I don't believe it." Sam finally punctuated the conversation, taking a tepid step forward to ascertain what they were seeing.

Hours Later, Blackwood Pines Police Station

"I can see why they were surprised. I would be too, all things considering." The detective mused on their explanation, pacing around his side of the table while carefully examining their witness. The figure was partially covered by the darkness in the room, with only a pair of hands resting rather calmly on the dusty table. The detective finally paused as he rested behind his chair, hands pressed on the back of the rickety furniture.

"But that's the problem with this story. You." The detective apprised, eyeing the suspect with a hint of confusion. He soon resumed his seat opposite the figure, staring down the person with a pointed look in his eyes.

"Now's your chance to tell us your version of events, Miss Washington." He said, looking down at the figure still draped in the dark. At the mention of her surname, the figure leaned forward and dragged the chair further inward to better meet the detective's eyes. Long strands of messy black hair fell from her head down to her shoulders, several of which was fluttering gently in the stale air circulating in the room. Other strands fell down in front of her face, covering some visible scars on her cheeks that had yet to fully heal. She was wearing glasses on her face, though tiny cracks in the glass were visible around the edges. Her hands were slathered in scratch marks and scars, giving her the look of a hardened survivor. As her entire form came into clear view, her lips finally moved.

"Where do I begin?" Hannah echoed, brooking a tired expression from the battle-hardened teenager, a wave of dread washing over the youngest Washington as she prepared to tell her tale of woe and misery…

So as you can see, Hannah was the flamethrower person all along! I intend for the next chapter to be a sole focus on Hannah, explaining the past year and how she came to be what she is in the current timeline. I hope you all enjoyed reading. Hope to see you all again real soon!