Until Dawn: Seeking Hope

Epilogue of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.
thedarkpokemaster: Yup, those are the survivors, and I don't know where you're getting the whole 'a lot more to come' thing, since there obviously isn't...
A13x: Well, it's explained again and again why that's a bad idea with the Wendigos so that guy would be no help whatsoever in this situation, he'd just make it worse.
Wallflower: Okay, don't know about that so, yeah...
Guest Reader: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; well, here it is; read on to see just what happens :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

Epilogue

Mike sighed heavily as he approached the door. He was unsure of how to do this.

After escaping the mountain and being rescued, the survivors had been interviewed by the police and when their stories hadn't been believed, a team was sent to the mines. Only a few came back, and it was revealed that they had found Josh down there, partially transformed into a Wendigo.

The news had hit Hannah the hardest. She had lost her sister and now her brother, too. But she had taken solace in the fact that Josh and Beth could now be at peace.

'Doesn't make her grief any lesser, though. Going through something horrible like this twice in one year. And I... God...' he reflected.

It was during those last few hours on the mountain that he had realized the truth, and now he needed to reveal it. It wouldn't be easy or nice for the person involved, but hiding it wouldn't be fair to either of them.

It was only after they'd been admitted to the hospital and gotten their injuries fully seen to that Mike had learned the truth. Five of them had survived, including, to his amazement, Jess. He now approached her hospital room, noting Matt outside of it.

Looking up and seeing him, Matt nodded. They'd never been particularly close, but the events on the mountain had changed all of them.

"Matt, I..." Mike began, "I just wanted to say... Thanks for saving Jessica."

Matt nodded. "Y-yeah, I just-"

"I am so sorry about Em. If I could've done something..."

Matt shook his head. "Don't. I...I don't wanna talk about it. Besides, if you'd been there, you'd have been dead, too. You'd better go in and see Jess."

It was as if Matt knew what Mike had come there to do. Still, Mike nodded and cautiously entered the room.

Inside, he found Jess, who stared at the sound of the door opening, seated upright on her bed. She was a mess of bandages and various dressings, covering an assortment of wounds.

"M-Mike..." she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Moving closer, he nodded. "Hey, Jess. I..."

"I was wondering when you'd show up." she said quietly. She managed a small ghost of a smile as she tried to joke. "Who would've thought that I'd end up with two knights in shining armor?"

Mike shook his head. "Jess, Matt saved you, not me."

Jess looked up at him, trembling. "No, you... If you hadn't been so quick to chase after me, to try and save me... That thing would've killed me long before Matt could've found me. You interrupted it when it was trying to do so."

Mike wasn't sure if he wanted to know more. He also wasn't sure if he should share the truth about the Wendigo, or its identity.

But he couldn't stall any further. "Jess, I... I'm sorry, but we need to talk."

Jess shuddered again. "I... Mike..."

"I'm sorry." he said softly. "What happened on the mountain really made me think about my life and I began to realize... What we had, Jess...it... Even if we wanted it to be, it wasn't real."

Jess shook her head. "But we were...we were so... Why?"

"I thought that I loved you, even when I began to doubt our relationship. I still thought that I felt something, that it would work." Mike explained.

"But now it won't." Jess finished for him, a sob escaping her.

Mike lowered his head, feeling horrible. "I was just fooling myself the whole time. I didn't really know what real love felt like."

Jess was clearly in a fragile and vulnerable state, yet here he was, trying to break up with her.

"I wish that it didn't have to be this way, Jess. But think about it: we've all gone through too much together to lie to each other now. I know how much you care about me, but relationships need to be a two-way love, not one-sided affection." He explained. "

We could keep pretending, but eventually in the end, it would just make us both miserable, living a lie. Therefore, this breakup needs to happen for both of our sakes. It's for the best, for both of us, to do it now instead of later."

Jess was crying now, but trying to hold it back. The whole incident on the mountain had weakened her control on her emotions, but she was still clinging stubbornly to what little pride she had left.

"I just... Mike..." she choked out. "Just tell me one thing. The reason why you're telling me all of this... Is it because there's someone else and she opened your eyes to what real love is like, and does that person make you truly happy?"

Mike couldn't deny that this made him feel worse, but he needed to tell the truth. "Yes and...yes."

Jess let out another soft sob. "I wish that I could...find someone like that."

"You will." Mike replied, before recalling what he had seen earlier. "Maybe you already have and just don't know yet. But you deserve someone perfect for you and I know they're out there, just waiting for you."

Jess looked up at him as he said that. "Maybe it wasn't real, but Mike, what we had...it was good, right?"

"Yeah, it was." he admitted.

That seemed to cheer her up, just a bit.

It had been two days since Mike's talk with Jess, where they had finally broken up. He still felt awful about it, but knew that he had done the right thing. He'd heard from Matt that whenever she wasn't screaming from nightmares, she cried all night.

However, she seemed calmer today. Nevertheless, Mike knew that he couldn't delay any further. He'd had time to sort through his emotions and was beginning to see the truth in a much clearer light.

"Mike?"

He turned and managed a lopsided smile, for standing there was the very girl that he had just been thinking of.

"Hey, Hannah."

She walked up to him. Apart from Ashley, who was still in a bad way mentally and emotionally, and Jess, who was still recovering from her wounds, Mike, Hannah, and Matt had been discharged from the hospital that day.

"I was hoping to talk to you before we leave. There's something that I need to tell you." she said.

Mike bit his lip. "Actually, I've got something to tell you as well."

Hannah raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, it's just... I've realized it at last, Hannah. I've had terrible luck in picking girls, considering everything that I went through with Emily and Jess. I never actually loved either of them. Yet, the time that we shared together over the past year... I didn't realize something, but I do now." he explained. "You showed me what true love is, made me feel something that I've never felt for any other girl. I...I love you, Hannah."

Hannah froze, eyes wide. Mike could swear that she was blushing. But then she smiled a shy smile that he hadn't seen on her face for over a year.

"Mike, that's... I love you, too. I have for months now. But by the time I truly fell for you, you had started dating Jess. I didn't want to get in the way, so I respected your choice. But I knew that I still loved you. Thank you. You've made me happier than I've been in over a year."

She paused and Mike smiled a little. He gently took her in his arms and spoke.

"The fact that you didn't interfere just shows that despite everything that's changed about you, you're still considerate of other people's feelings. I'm glad that hasn't changed, and it's just one more reason of the many reasons why I love you."

Hannah smiled wider. "I know, and thank you. My love for you just grew, especially after seeing what you were really like on the inside, beneath that outer self-image that you usually project. You showed it to me properly that night, when you took charge, tried to protect us, put your life on the line to try and get us out alive. I saw what Beth saw in you, what she loved about you, and to be honest, I love it, too... And I'm sure that if Beth were here and she couldn't be with you...she'd be happy for us."

Mike just smiled at that. "I just hope she's at peace now. Josh, too."

Hannah nodded in agreement at that and then, finally unable to hold back any longer, they both kissed deeply, their first kiss with each other.

Two more days passed. During that time, Hannah had told the others about Sam's death, how it had led to Beth becoming a Wendigo and nearly killing them all, and how this had all originated from the prank played on her.

Ashley was finally deemed recovered enough to be released from the hospital. While still clearly upset over Chris' death, she seemed to be her usual self, if somewhat quieter. With only Jess in the hospital, the survivors had moved to a nearby hotel and stayed there, waiting for her.

Today was the day that Jess was due to be released from the hospital, having made a full recovery. It was also why Hannah had made her way over to Jess' hospital room. She needed to see her and they needed to talk alone.

Arriving, she knocked on the door and entered. Jess looked up from where she was standing by the bed. She was now dressed in normal clothes again, out of the hospital gown. Her scars were not as pronounced as before, but definitely still visible.

"Hey, Jess."

"Oh. Hi, Hannah." Jessica said in a depressed voice.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm still pretty banged up, as you can see."

"I didn't mean how you physically felt. Mike told me that he broke up with you and I was worried."

"Oh, that. Well, I felt hurt, since I was really into him, but after he explained why he was breaking up with me, I began to understand. So I guess I'm starting to feel a little better about it now, if that's what you're asking. I've had a few days to think it over and I've come to accept it."

Hannah braced herself for what she would say next. "Well...after he told you that, he came to me and told me that he loved me and wanted to be with me and I said the same thing to him. I've secretly loved him for many months now, but by the time I realized that I did, he was already with you. I didn't want to interfere, so I kept my feelings hidden. I just...thought that you should know."

After a minute of silence and Jess taking it all in, she said, "You and Mike, huh? That makes sense, considering all of the time that he spent with you since you lost Sam and your sister. When I was with him, I could tell that something about him might be changing, since he acted like a totally different person with you than with me, and he still does. I don't know how you bring out that side of him, but he's even better than before."

"So...you're okay with us being together?" Hannah asked nervously.

Jess sighed and then spoke. "I've spent these past four days, going from upset, to angry, wanting to blame someone, blame Mike, blame you... But in the end, looking at it right now...I can't deny that he was right. It hurts to admit that, but somehow, not doing so hurt even more. You bring out the best in him, from what I've seen. He also told me that it wouldn't be fair to me or him if we stayed in a relationship that didn't make us both happy, and I can understand that. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't respect his decisions? After all, you respected his decision when he and I were in a relationship. Can I do any less for his new relationship with you?"

Jess then added, "Besides, Mike can't do any better than having a girl like you, judging by what I've heard that you did on the mountain."

Hannah was relieved to hear that Jess harbored no hard feelings toward her for being with Mike. Hannah's face then grew serious.

"Remember what I told you about Beth?"

"Yeah. I still can't believe that she was that Wendigo and was trying to kill us. And...it was all my fault. I never should have suggested that prank last year."

"Jess...over the past year, I kind of isolated myself from you and Emily because of your involvement in that prank that cost me my sister and friend, and I secretly resented you both for it. But after what we all went through on that mountain, I learned that you shouldn't hold a grudge against someone because you might never get the chance to change you mind and tell them about it." Hannah explained. "And unlike Emily over the past year, you seemed genuinely sorry when I told everyone about what happened to Beth. So I just wanted to tell you that I...I forgive you. I forgive you for what you did to my sister last year. You had no way of knowing what it would lead to for Beth and Sam."

A tear rolled down Jess' cheek, but a smile came over her face. "Thank you, Hannah. It means a lot to hear you say that. After learning what happened to them, I've been feeling so guilty."

"So are we friends now, Jess?"

"Yes, Hannah. Friends 'til the end."

Hannah approached Jess and the two girls embraced each other with smiles on their faces, sharing a friendly hug, finally reconciling not only from the whole issue of Mike breaking up with Jess to be with Hannah, but from everything, dating back to that terrible incident a year ago.

"I know that Mike said it, but I know you'll find someone." Hannah told her softly.

Jess smiled lightly as they stepped back from each other. "I know. He kinda hinted at it, and I think I know who he meant."

She looked meaningfully towards the still-open door. Hannah also smirked as she saw Matt approaching.

"Well, just take your time. Make sure that you know what you're feeling." Hannah told her.

Jess nodded in agreement and she and Hannah walked outside together.

It had been a hard and horrible time for them all, but they had survived and now could look to the future, a future with hope.

End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.