.₊꒰ 🪓 ꒱:⩩┆( 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙬𝙣 )⊹.*

𝐹𝐼𝑉𝐸. ☠︎︎    𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙

⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑳𝑶𝑾𝑬 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝑺𝑰𝑻 𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑨𝑿, 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑭𝑬𝑬𝑻 𝑲𝑰𝑪𝑲𝑬𝑫 𝑼𝑷 𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑶𝑭𝑨 𝑨𝑺 𝑺𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑬𝑫 𝑼𝑷 𝑨𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑫𝑮𝑬𝑺 𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑿 𝑪𝑬𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑮. With slender dingers fiddling with the hem of her brown and green striped sweater, she was aching for something to do. Occasionally she'd spare Ashley a glance while she stood close by Chris as both he and Josh shared a conversation. So many thoughts behind the red heads eyes, and yet none of them clearly displayed what she was thinking.

Time had been moving so slow that it almost felt like hours since Sam had gone upstairs to take a warm bath, yet it had only been a few minutes.

Creaking from the wooden stairs brought Marlowe from her trance of staring at the ceiling, and Sam was coming back down in the clothes she had already been wearing. Had she not gone for a bath? Marlowe slapped a hand to her forehead in her imagination... of course she hadn't, it had been merely minutes since she had left.

"Hey, Josh. No hot water's kinda a major oversight, doncha think...?" Sam said, taking her final step from the stairs.

While Sam waited for a response from the Washington boy, Marlowe took the time to stand up from the sofa, a few dust particles following her figure. One twist, two twist, and her back finally cracked in a satisfying way.

"Yeah yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler. It's in the basement," Josh instructed, turning to Ashley and Chris in the process, he pointed toward the pair, "you guys see if you can find the spirit box."

Ashley practically boomed with excitement, ready to run ahead of Chris. "Let's go find it. It'll be like a scavenger hunt!"

The blonde man followed suit, rushing to catch up to the red head, "alright, let's go find it."

Once out of sight, and out of mind, Josh clicked his fingers and turned toward Marlowe, pointing at her. "And you, miss 'bored out of her brains'... wanna get the fire started?"

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that..." Marlowe sighed, but as she took her first step toward Josh, she looked past him toward the wood holder, "but there seems to be just one issue... can't get the fire started if there's no wood."

Josh turned his whole body to look where Marlowe was, and he sighed as the shorter girl chuckled at his mannerisms, "right... um, there is a shed along the path that Mike and Jess took to the cabin. Should have a crap ton of cut logs. It's an easy path, but quite a walk. You would have to carry the logs back, is that alright with you?"

Her fingers finally stopped fiddling with the damaged part of her sweater and Marlowe stuck her thumb up in enthusiasm. "Yeah, that's all good. I'll be back in record time." She smiled as she took the beanie and flashlight from her backpack. She contemplated taking her beloved Walkman with her, but she left it for now. She would be back soon.

Without looking back to Josh and Sam, she waved a hand and exited the cabin. Shivering as she stepped into the open area, a strong gust of wind slammed the door behind her. The sudden realisation that she had forgotten her coat in the lodge hit her, and when the girl attempted to open the door, it seemed like it had either been jammed or locked.

Great. Just great... Marlowe thought to herself.

The blast of cool air hit her once more, harsher than before. The cold made her cheeks have a burning sensation, like the aftermath of a slap to the face. Oh how she wished she had her coat. She would have never imagined being outside without it, but here she was thinking over everything she could have done to prevent forgetting her stupid coat.Marlowe's fingers trembled as she lodged the flashlight between her knees, freeing her hands so she could place the beanie on her head.

Successfully, she did so, ruining the shortly cut fringe, but that was the least of her worries. She chose to follow the footsteps that had already been embedded in the snow, her feet stepping in the larger prints. Sometimes her left foot would miss the next print when her right foot was in the previous one. All she could think of was the large strides Mike had taken compared to Jess.

With the help of her flashlight, it was easy to make out the way that she needed to go. It was a large area compared to the path she had taken to the lodge, making it far easier to get lost.

Is this what the area felt like to Hannah and Beth?... No... she shouldn't think about it.

The farther down the path she got, Marlowe began to consider turning back. Was she really this determined to get the fire started? She didn't even know anymore. Isolated and alone, there was no sound, and no music, to keep her company in the deafening silence of the mountain.

Consumed by her thoughts, she rapidly spun around with her flashlight as a twig snapped nearby. Her eyes were alert, similar to a deer in headlights. She was closer to the shed than to the lodge now, it would be too late to turn back when she was already so close. So, she ignored her concerns and continued after the footprints with an increased pace.

Screeches... the same from when she was coming up the mountain followed after the twig snap. Marlowe chose to stay curious this time, her eyes and her flashlight focused in front of her. She wanted to check her surroundings, but something in her body kept her still from turning. A chill fell upon her. There was something out there. There had to be. It was watching her. Following her pace, following her every move, hearing every breath and step she took.

      Within seconds of speeding up her pace for the second time, a twig snapped on her right. Every part of her body had forgotten how to walk, immediately slipping into a run. Her hair blew into her mouth, and she desperately attempted to spit it back out until the thing that had caused the twig snap jumped out from the tree line. Marlowe lost her balance on the icy path, collapsing to her hands and knees. The grip she held on the flashlight was lost as it flung from her hands, hit the path and rolled down the mountain.

      SHIT. Shit shit shit, she screamed at herself. She needed to get to that shed... now.

      Maybe she was just overly paranoid, but she still wasn't willing to stop and check behind her. One mistake and it could be fatal, leaving her to face immense consequences. That wasn't something she was willing to risk. The fearful girl sprung from the ground, groaning as the denim at her knees had become wet and damaged, looking more disheveled than she. The running mixed with the cold win caused the beanie on her head to be torn from her and fly in the opposite direction she was going. Right now, she did not care. Her body forced her to follow the footprints in front of her, her strides now larger than the ones Mike had seemed to take.

      An old, run down building came into her view, and she thanked the Lord despite her lack of religion, running inside without a second to spare, shutting the door and locking it behind her. Marlowe's breath was ragged as her back pressed against the locked door, the thing that she considered to be a barrier between life and death. She slid down until her knees her pressed close to her. The poor girl was exhausted. Despite being an experienced runner, she was sure she had never run so much in her life.

      For the first time in a while... Marlowe King was scared.

      She should have just ignored the invite. She should have chosen to be cruel. She should have never come to this mountain.

      Marlowe remained in her position for a few minutes, waiting for her body to regulate back to its original way so she could properly process what had just happened. Without a flashlight, a coat, and she was sure she was now without the will to live, the girl sighed, but pursued on. Pushing off the ground, she looked around the shed.

      No wood was in sight.

      A lie? Josh would never lie. He probably had no idea since he hadn't been up here in a year. Everything that had once been here was not the same. The girl balanced on the tips of her toes for a moment, waving her arms back and force anxiously. She needed to find some type of light source to get her back to the lodge.

A lantern of sorts was sitting in dust on one of the wooden benches. Marlowe examined it, looking for some sort of switch. When she found it, all she could do was pray it would actually turn on after sitting there for a year. To her surprise, it did. A sigh of relief escape her slowly cracking lips, and she blew the dust from the lantern. She felt much more at ease with a little light by her side, but now, the real task was getting back to the lodge.

As she yanked open the door and prepared herself to run back up the path, a feminine scream echoed through the dark forest of the mountain. It was close by. She was tempted to run the other direction, until another scream followed and she recogonised it.

"Jessica!" Marlowe shouted after the scream stopped, keeping a tight grip on the lantern as she sprinted down the snow covered path. Wait... but if Jessica was screaming, then what happened to Mike?

Scream after scream filled the air, and the more she ran toward the direction they came from, the louder they got. She was in such a rush she hadn't bothered to pay attention to what was in front of her. Her body crashed into something hard. When the panicked girl looked up, she expected to see the bark of a tree, but she instead saw Mike Munroe in a white tank top, a gun slung around his shoulder and a lantern in one hand.

"Mike?!"

Marlowe was relieved to see he was okay, but he said nothing as he grabbed onto her hand and yanked her along with him down the path, following trailed of blood mixed with specs of glass entangled in the liquid.

"Michael what on earth is going on?" Marlowe questioned, reciprocating the grip that the man had on her hand as she gripped his even tighter. None of her hands were free as she refused to lose her grip on the lantern she carried.

"I don't even fucking know! Someone just grabbed her out the fucking window at the cabin!" Mike cursed before the pair reached a split in the path. One appeared to be a safer option, and the other looked to be a shortcut.

"Well, hurry up then! Just take the stupid fucking shortcut!" Marlowe slid down the snow and landed on the old, rusted pipes that were surrounded in the freezing water of the mountain. She hoped from one another, almost slipping each time. Mike was quick to follow after her, prepared to catch her at any moment. On the final pipe, the light finally slipped from her grip due to her awful balance, and it dunked into the water before disappearing down the stream.

The pair finally made it to the other side of the river, and Mike refused to take any risks, gripping Marlowe's hand once more until the path ended, overlooking an open valley. The almost naked man in the cold placed down his lantern and brought forward the gun from his shoulder, looking through the scope as Marlowe paced, biting at the skin on her lips.

There was not a bone in her body that could believe that this was happening, and yet, it was. Jessica could be dead for all they knew, since the screaming had died down. However, Mike was quick to spot the blonde down below as she began yelling for him and calling his name, dragged away by something with force. "ARGH!! NO! MICHAELLLLLL! HELP ME!!! PLEASE HELP ME!"

After hearing Jessica's cry, Marlowe stood on the edge of the path and slid against the icy rocks and snow, pain digging into her body as a few rocks dug into her back. The sweater she wore caught on one of the sharper rocks, ripping as she went down. Landing on her hands and knees, the knitted sweater slipped awkwardly around her body due to its damage. "Mike! Come on! It's safe... sort of. Just be careful!"

He slid down after her, but unlike Marlowe, Mike had a safer and more stable landing on his feet. "Fuck! Come on!" He cursed and brough his gun into his hand while the other held the lantern to guide them on their path.

      The pair sprinted after Jessica's screams, ducking and weaving around logs that had fallen, before facing a deadly hole in the earth. The option to either shimmy around or jump was presented to them. Marlowe wasn't up for either of them. After the pain Mike felt from sliding down the cliff, and he was sure Marlowe felt it too, he chose to take the shimmy route by clinging to the outskirts of the hole. The girl behind him followed close behind, but they were slow due to their injuries.

      "Shiiiiiiit!" Marlowe swore, running out of breath after what seemed like an hour of running after Jessica and her pleading screams. But, when they finally reached some sort of abandoned building, Mike slid down a slope of snow, and Marlowe slid after believing it was a safe path.

      "Aah shit damn it!" Mike grabbed onto a loose branch that stuck out from the side before reaching the bottom of the slope, barely catching onto Marlowe's hand to stop her from falling off and injuring herself even more. "Okay, Lo, I'm gonna drop you down, okay?"

      Marlowe looked down to the edge of a slope and back up at Mike, nodding her head. "Okay!"

      She mentally prepared herself as Mike let her go, and she slid the rest of the way down before falling down safely on her feet as the man followed after her. He grabbed the light that he had let slide down the slope, and held it up whilst Marlowe stripped the ruined sweater off of her, revealing the grey tank top that clung to her body. She threw the sweater to the ground and nodded at Mike, who admired her from a distance, looking over the cuts that were now on her back.

      Jessica's screams abruptly ended when the pair were halfway through the tunnel, racing as fast as they possibly could to get to the poor girl. By the time they reached the end, they wished they had closed their eyes.

      "NOOO! JESSICA!" Mike yelled and rushed toward the body on the metal platform. Marlowe covered her mouth and audibly gasped at the sight while she ran behind Mike to examine the blonde girls body.

      There Jessica laid, her body covered in scratches with blood smeared across the white top she wore. The blood from her scalp that had been a result of the shards of glass embedded into the skin caused the red liquid to entangle into her hair. The braids that had once been neat were now disheveled.

      Mike covered his mouth as he yelled, progressively getting louder as Jessica's body did not move from its position. Marlowe was speechless as she stared at the poor state of the bloody girl. It couldn't be real. It just wasn't possible.

      "Mike..." Jess coughed her eyes fluttering open, "Lo..."

      Marlowe reached out to Jessica, with her feet planted on the platform. It shook violently before collapsing beneath her feet, taking Jessica and Marlowe down with it.

      With adrenaline still pumping through his body, Mike's reaction time was incredible. He grabbed onto Marlowe's arms before she could fall any further. Pulling her up, he held her desperately in her arms and looked into the void where Jessica had just fallen. She had been alive, and now, he just wasn't sure.

      He pulled back from Marlowe and looked into her eyes with a mix of anger, sadness and fear. "Let's go find the son of a bitch that did this to Jess."

⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━ '' - «🕸»‧₊˚𓍯 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚
╰┈➤ um... it's been almost 3 months since i last updated this whoops. ignore any mistakes, i'll come back and fix them later. also ik this part is actually 7hrs until dawn, but idrc tbh. consider it to be around 7hrs until dawn until mike and marlowe meet up.