Chapter Text
6:22 – One hour until dawn
Mike’s hand was warm compared to yours, but it wasn’t the cold the main reason you couldn't feel your fingers anymore;
you kept following him, not sure whether it was the right thing to do or not. You feel like your life made little sense right now: you weren’t able to help your boyfriend, nor stop him or his hallucinations. You had threatened your friends, blindly enraged by things you could have actually avoided if you had payed more attention to them. You were pushing away the only person that could probably offer you love, without attaching any mental illness to it.
You lick your lips, trying to think: some part of you had begun questioning if getting back to the surface was actually the right thing to do: you could have found some closure here, dying exactly where Josh had. You hated the idea of being hospitalized again, surely with a bunch of new PTSD symptoms at the very least. You didn’t want to go there without him. Josh hated anything that resembled a hospital with every fiber of his being as well, but he was always there for you, holding your hand whenever you had a crisis. He had always been there, shushing the voices away.
You silently keep crying as you turn to that little part of yourself that unluckily knew always what to do.
My my (y/n), you must be truly desperate to seek voluntarily solace in me.
“I don’t know what to do anymore. Everything is so upside down.” Mike turns his head towards you, but straightens it back when he realizes you weren’t talking to him. You feel him squeeze your hand, hoping it would help you stay with him.
You’ve come to me because Josh is dead? Again?
“I don’t know.” It chuckles back at you.
Oh? Afraid little Mikey here is making fun of you?
“He would never do that.” You murmur, widening your eyes.
Because, what exactly? He’s not known for being so honest with his girlfriends, you know it right?
You stare at Mike’s back “Yes. I know.”
And what should make you so different? Because Josh’s life is at stake??
“Well… yes.”
Dear oh dear, what are our ears hearing!
You keep silent for a moment, feeling more confused than before “What do I do?”
You are the one in charge, (y/n). We won’t take control until your pills give in again. But maybe you should think about what you truly want: will you feel remorse for not looking for Josh? Are you willing to risk your life to make sure you did everything you could to save him?
You ponder what it’s saying, barely realizing the fact that Mike was leading you through a narrow frame door.
If your answers were both ‘yes’, I’d say we should close the door and lock it. Right. Now.
You quickly yank the pickaxe out of Mike’s hand and take a quick step back, locking the door with it. Mike turns around and grips the doorknob, trying to open it: the door doesn't give way and he grips the grid “(y/n)? What are you doing??” you look him in the eyes “Sorry Mike. I’m either coming back with Josh or I’m not coming back at all.” You sniff lightly, you felt you had just turned to ice by doing that to poor Mike. “Tell the others I’m sorry.” You turn around and make your way back to the caves, Mike’s pleads soon fading in the echo.
6:38
You had managed to find your way back, mostly because of the voices’ help, who were gladly leading you towards what seemed certain death. You had found the campsite, and the corner where you had almost hit Mike. You brush your fingertips on the hole you had made on the wall before turning around the corner and going on in the cave.
Strangely, nothing seemed to lurk in the shadows: everything was quiet, but in a… normal way; you had stopped having the feeling of anything staring at the back of your head.
Soon enough you hear voices, screams, echoing in the cave. You squeeze through a mauled grid door, careful not to scratch you on the already bloodied ends, and find yourself in front of a water basin: drops were echoing as they broke the still surface of the water.
You didn’t know how to get on the other side though: you hated the idea of getting in the water, first because something might attack you in it, and second because you were going to get yourself drenched on purpose in the icy water of an already freezing cave.
But then you hear another plea coming from the other side of the cave and decide to ignore everything you were thinking and jump into the water.
6:46
“Come back to us, Joshua.”
“No. No no no, you’re not- you’re not real.”
“You can’t escape from us. We’re your family.”
Tattered arms were clinging to his chest, suffocating him and restraining his every movement, leaving him to crawl on the ground. He could barely feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. Man, did he fuck up. He hadn’t thought his own mind would have betrayed him in such a horrible way.
“G-get away from me.” He manages to whimper, but deep in his mind he knows it won’t happen.
In his confused state, he thinks about you: it’s like a flash, lasting just a little moment, but that’s enough to find the courage to fight back everything around him; slowly everything fades back to normal, while he just takes his head between his hands, trying so hard not to sob.
“You’re still thinking about her?” he lifts his gaze on the man standing in front of him, wearing a jumpsuit not unlike his, but drenched in blood. “Tch. Pitiful.” He manages to stand the gaze of the masked man, even if just barely. “What do you know?” he scoffs at the man “How could you possibly understand? You’re just a monster.” “A monster you created, Washington. Don’t forget that part.” Josh stands up and gets near him, face to face “You can’t tell me what to do anymore.”
The Psycho laughs at him “And how will you fight me? No drugs, no more alcohol to keep me restrained.” He suddenly puts an arm around Josh’s shoulders and pulls him closer to his side, lifting his other hand up towards the cave “Just this cave and the two of us, my friend, for the rest of the eternity!” Josh pushes him away, shaking frantically his head “You’re not real!” he growls, but the psycho punches him in the face hard enough to make him falter. Josh takes his face in between his hands, bending in half, feeling hot blood dripping on the pavement from his broken lip, between his fingers. “I can speak, do and hurt as I please, Joshua.” The Psycho says, bending down to his eye level and putting his hands on his knees while doing so.
Josh closes his eyes, defeat and anguish taking over him again. The Psycho barely pushes him down in a sitting position again, Josh looking at the ground.
“It was so easy taking over you, man.” He chuckles while staring down at him. “I just needed a couple of hallucinations to keep you busy while I threw away your meds, and boom! Own personal playtime.” he glares back at his pitch black eyes: he had to have taken his pills. He didn’t know when, or how he managed to do that, but he knew it was him since the beginning. But how could he tell the others without blowing up his cover? He couldn’t have risked that.
Josh pulls his knees closer to his chest and wraps his arms around his head, squeezing his eyes shut. If you were just here, he could- “Haven’t you still realized she’s with Mike now?” he shakes his head, trying to deny the obvious “Oh, they’ll be kissing and fucking and flirting all the way back to their lives, forgetting about you completely. Letting you die alone in this cave.” he singsongs.
“N-N-No.” “No?” the Psycho straightens up and turns around to walk away from him, laughing “Maybe you’re right. I’ve known her for quite some time.” The Psycho disappears in the shadows “Stubborn little thing, isn’t she?”
“Don’t you dare talking about her!!” he shouts back, but the Psycho just chuckles again, until his voice begins to twist and become less and less deep, resembling yours.
He looks up and sees you stepping out of the shadows, covered in blood: your coat was ripped apart and your skin was covered in bruises and cuts, a wicked grin playing on your lips. “I didn’t think you could have fallen lower, Joshua.”
He kicks at the ground to push himself away from this, away from you. He lifts his hands in defense when he realizes his back hit the wall. “No... no please: anything but this…” he hears you chuckle again, as you step closer “Afraid of me, Josh?” he tries to shake his head, but he’s trembling “But I love you,” you cup your hands on your heart, as if hurt “and I’d never hurt someone I love, right?” your final words turn into a growl to his ears.
“I’m sorry – you should have never seen this – any of this. I wanted to protect you.” You step in front of him and kneel to his eye level, looking at him with a serious face, something different in your voice “I know you tried.” He weeps again seeing your scratched and bloodied face. He tries to cup your cheek and surprisingly you let him. “I didn’t deserve you. I knew it from the first moment I met you.” He lowers his gaze and stands up, stepping away from you. “You would have always been better off with Mike. I-I knew it. But I couldn’t resist.” He clenches his fists at his sides, the bodies of his sisters flashing for a moment in front of him, to which he shuts his eyes “I just hope you haven’t died. Hope you’re safe. Even if it means you’re with him.” He sobs and doesn’t realize you had stepped behind him;
“What are you even talking about?” you say softly as you wrap your arms around his torso “G-get away from me!” he tries to wiggle but he’s too weak and you are too determined not to let him go. “I told you: I’m not going anywhere without you, Josh.” He looks down at your hands, your fingers gently stroking his chest: no blood, no scratches. Just your skin against his “Y-you’re here…” he touches your hands, still not processing it.
You were about to spit something sarcastic back at him, when he turns around and embraces you so tight you fear for the safety of your spine. “Oh my god… you’re here.”
He loosens his grip around you, but doesn’t let you go “Why did you come back? You should be somewhere…safe.” You turn your head and speak softly into his ear. “I have already told you a thousand times, and I’ll keep telling you until you get it: I don’t care what happens. I’ll always be here for you, ‘till the end of the ride.” He lets go of you gradually, until he can look into your eyes. Then he leans in slowly, trying to understand if it’s okay for you, and he’s met halfway by your lips, softly kissing him back.
“Thank you for being here.”
6:58
You were both too tired to walk. Even though your stomachs were protesting, you decided it would have been better to take a break and rest for a little while.
You sit next to each other, your head resting on his shoulder, his fingers lazily intertwined with yours as you look up at the night sky slowly fading away and making space to the beautiful colors brought by the dawn.
You fell asleep in that peacefulness, finally forgetting about all your troubles, finally happy of being with the only person you cared about. Nothing was able to wake you up: not even the explosion of the lodge roaring in the distance.