Mike raked a hand through his hair. ''Maybe... for now. Shit... fuck, fuck.'' He looked back at us all, swallowing hard. ''Keep an eye on her. If you see anything strange, you know what to do.''
Ashley gave a small nod. ''Yeah,'' she replied.
He took a deep breath. ''No one leaves, okay? It's not safe out there.''
With that, Mike moved toward the stairs and vanished up the steps. The sound of his footsteps echoed through the basement until they faded away.
I glanced at Emily, who was hugging her arms close to herself.
We had all been on edge, but this... this was different. The threat had come from inside, from one of us. I had never felt so uncertain about who to trust.
But for now, all we could do was wait.
I wanted to go after Mike, to find Josh but... after I saw what he wanted to do with Emily, I didn't feel safe in his presence.
Emily slumped slightly, her hand resting on her bitten arm.
''I thought that... that he was going to help us...'' she whispered.
Sam turned to her, brows furrowed. ''Who, the flamethrower dude?''
Emily's face fell further. ''Now we don't have a chance...''
Sam's expression hardened. ''No, guys, it just means we've got to be tough. We've got to do this on our own.''
Emily shook her head slightly. ''I don't know if I can.''
I took a step closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. ''Yes, you can, Em. We'll figure this out together.''
Her gaze softened, but before she could reply, Sam's voice cut in. ''Hey, what happened out there?''
Chris's eyes darkened, and he looked away, rubbing his forehead with a shaking hand. ''You... you don't want to know.''
Sam's voice softened as she tried to meet his gaze. ''Hey... are you okay?''
''He was right there...'' Chris whispered.
Sam frowned, confused. ''What, the flamethrower dude?''
Chris nodded, staring down at the floor as if replaying the scene in his mind. ''Yeah... the weird guy. He got himself killed.''
Sam's mouth dropped slightly. ''Was it... the Wendigo?''
Chris swallowed, his face pale. ''Yeah. He was definitely not lying about that.''
''Jesus,'' Sam muttered, her eyes wide. ''What did it look like?''
Chris shook his head slowly, as if trying to wrap his mind around it again. ''Like, like a... like a person, only... but just... distorted somehow.''
I shivered at the memory. ''More like a skinny, ugly bear with a human head and big claws.''
Chris looked over, nodding in agreement. ''Yeah, that also fits the description.''
The uneasy silence settled again as Ashley moved toward the table where the stranger's journal lay, its pages worn and weathered. She reached out, gingerly flipping it open and beginning to read aloud.
''This guy's a little OCD,'' Ashley mumbled to herself, trailing a finger along the words.
Her eyes skimmed further down the page. ''There's... there's a lot of history to this.''
She paused, then read a line aloud, her voice shaky. ''It says that because the Wendigos are... mutated from humans... when they hunt, they know how to perfectly mimic their prey...''
The room grew even quieter.
Ashley continued reading. Suddenly, her face paled, and she let out a quiet, horrified, ''Oh... oh, no, no, no, no, no.''
Sam turned. ''What? What is it? What does it say?''
Ashley swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper. ''It says that... well, the bites... if it bites you, it's not infectious. It doesn't do anything.''
Sam's hand shot out, grabbing the journal from Ashley's hands. ''Let me see that,'' she muttered, scanning the lines, her eyes widening.
Emily stared, as though frozen in place. ''I'm sorry, what did you just say?''
Ashley's voice softened as she repeated herself, looking directly at Emily. ''Em, it says you'll be okay...''
Emily blinked, as though the words didn't quite register. ''It says what?''
Sam looked up from the journal, nodding slowly. ''You're going to be fine.''
''Fine? Mike almost shot me! Is that fine?!''
Sam met her gaze, trying to stay calm. ''He didn't shoot you, Em.''
Emily's anger erupted, directed squarely at Ashley. ''And this bitch almost let him!''
Sam stepped in, trying to diffuse the brewing storm. ''Hey, that's not fair! She was scared!''
Emily's voice trembled, but her anger remained. ''I'm the one who's scared!''
Ashley's face crumpled, remorse filling her eyes. ''I'm... I'm sorry! I didn't know what was going to happen! None of us did!''
''There's no excuse!'' Emily shot back. ''There's no excuse for this!''
Ashley took a step back, her voice barely holding together as she pleaded, ''Please, Emily, please, just try to understand...''
Emily's hand flashed out. ''Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!'' The slap echoed sharply, Ashley staggering back.
Tears brimmed in her eyes. ''I'm sorry... I'm so, so, so, so sorry...'' she whispered, looking down, clearly devastated.
Ignoring the tension, Sam focused on the journal, her fingers flipping to another page. ''Shit. Shit, shit, shit...'' She looked up. ''We've got to get to Mike, like, now!''
Without a word, we began moving as a group, filing out of the basement.
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