Until Dawn|| Wendigo Bride|| Ch1

“What do you mean he’s gone?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly as I looked up at my brother. His face, usually goofy and smiling changed. It was scratched and bruised and bloody. His usually bright eyes were glassy and dead behind his cracked lenses. They’d tied some tape to one of the earpieces to keep it in place.
I couldn’t breathe, everything felt so cold, even colder when me and my parents finally got the call that everyone was okay. When they’d gotten the first calls from the tower out on the mountain the police had rounded us all up. It was a process of elimination, they said, what with the Washingtons owning the mountain and the anniversary and all. We sat at the station forever with the other parents too, answering questions, waiting for more word, but finally got news they’d been transferred to the local general hospital. They were my brother, Chris, and his ring of friends. I knew some better than others, but I knew one best of all. “Chris...people don’t just...him...Chris, tell me,” I spluttered, trying to grasp at what he was saying. My stomach was squeezing and writhing with anxiety. Not him of all people. Why did it have to be him?
Chris sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and wincing with the action. His bleak eyes lined with tears, trimming them scarlet. I just waited for him to speak. What else could I do?
“Angie...he’s-gone,” Was all he said, his voice cracking, unable to meet my stare. My chest went tight. Sure, I’d been scared like everyone else. We had no idea what had been going on at the mountain lodge. Mom was furious. She didn’t even know that’s where Chris had gone, thinking he was just going to the Washington’s house for the weekend. She didn’t want Chris anywhere near the lodge since the incident last year. My brother had been able to pry himself away from the group, from mom and dad, from Ashley who seemed a lot clinger since the last time I’d seen her, and Chris wasn’t being a complete dork around her, which made me wonder. We’d found a little corner of the waiting room so he could tell me. The quiet buzzing talk of the others in the room felt like bees humming in my ears. I shook my head, trying to get my mouth to work. It wouldn’t, my throat had closed shut. Chris didn’t look at me as he put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.
“Josh is gone...I’m sorry, Angie...just don’t...please don’t ask,” He said hoarsely. The world seemed to spin out of control. I could feel myself choking on the tears that sprang to my eyes. Everything just shut down as I pressed my face to Chris’s ruined parka and began to sob.
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Angela, that’s my name. No one really started calling me Angie until Josh showed up. Then it was like everyone had called me that all along. I mean, my parents would call me “angel” from time to time, but it kinda hokey and it was something I enjoyed more as a kid. It was weird because Josh just seemed to appear overnight and blended into the family seamlessly. He was quirky and goofy, a little loud, but respectable around the parents. He reminded me of the oddball characters you’d see on early nineties sitcoms in a way. The eccentric, best friend of the child that wormed his way into everyone’s hearts, though you just had to roll your eyes at him sometimes. He just showed up and then was always there, like, it was normal. His parents, the Washingtons, they were never home. They were movie producers. I always thought that sounded so cool, but I wondered what that was like, having parents that were never there. Mom and Dad didn’t mind it, always saying Chris needed more friends. It was like he and Josh were joined at the hip.
Sometimes, he’d take Chris with him, going wherever his parents were shooting a movie, and Chris would come back and tell me how cool it was. I was a little jealous. I never got to do anything like that, but I couldn’t be angry. Not at Josh. Not after what he’d done for me.

I was exhausted when we finally got to go home. I just went straight into my room and flopped onto my bed. I could hear my mom hovering around Chris in the hall as he tried to get to his bedroom. She wouldn’t quit asking him question; was he okay, did he need anything, he needed to get her right away if anything started hurting. He was getting snappy with her. Couldn’t really blame him, I guess. I could hear my dad intervening on Chris’s behalf. Chris’s door shut and the house seemed to go quiet. I reached out and grabbed the teddy bear off my pillow and hugged it tight. The tears burned my eyes again. He couldn’t really be gone...could he? I never got to say…
The lump in my throat became unbearable, I almost couldn’t breathe and hot tears trickle down my cheeks. That was such a stupid thought, like I’d ever tell him. I never had the guts to tell him and even if I did, he was way out of my league.
I had a self flagellating crush for Josh that went all the way back to middle school. I mean, you couldn’t blame me, could you? I guess not everyone would understand. He wasn’t your typical “hottie”. He wasn’t like Mike, Chris’s other friend, I met a time or two. No square jaw or solid physique. His face was unique, Romanesque almost, with its long shape and sloping nose. Dark short wavy hair and he had thin lips that he always seemed to be nibbling or licking at, when he wasn’t giving his patented half smile. I like his eyes best. They were hooded, but bright. Sometimes they gave the appearance of him being sleepy, but he wasn’t. He was always thinking, always quick with some joke or plot or wit. It was more than looks too. I liked his awkward, over the top humor. I mean, my brother was my best friend, and Chris never failed to make me laugh. I liked his perseverance, to keep going and keep trying, even after what happened to his sisters last year. I liked so many things about Josh...I dreamed of telling him one day. It was so stupid, having a crush on your older brother’s best friend, but there it was.
Josh couldn’t be gone. He just couldn’t be.
I slipped into a heavy sleep, like my brain had overloaded and tripped a circuit breaker in my body. I was still trying to wrap my head around it. My pillow was wet and cold with tears as I drifted off, vaguely aware of my environment before sleep took me, and I could hear a voice. Was that Chris’s voice?
“I know, what I saw, Ashley...I know my best friend. That monster was wearing his jacket…”