Chapter Text
Ryan froze, watching as the blood drained from Dylan's face. The sound of claws on wood was unmistakable, scratching and scraping at the wood above them. Ryan held a finger up to his lips, motioning for Dylan to stay silent as he crept closer to him, aiming his gun at the roof and taking slow, quiet footsteps. Ryan could see Dylan shaking in his peripherals, wanting to put down his gun and hold him, reassure him but it wasn't safe.
After a minute or two of waiting in silence, the noises died down again.
"Okay, is there anything we can do?" Ryan asked.
Dylan shook his head in frustration pacing back and forth, "I don't know. I-I don't know!"
"It's just an animal, right? Maybe we could scare it off?!"
"Uhh...Well...yeah. I mean, if it- if it has hearing like a...dog, maybe we- we can play, like a - like a really high-pitched feedback loop and blast it." Dylan stumbled over his words shaking his hands nervously, "And- and I mean, it would hurt like hell. But, you know..."
"Do it!" Ryan replied supportively.
"Okay," Dylan nodded, turning and sitting down at his desk, "Okay...come on Dylan. Let's do this."
Ryan made his way over to the window, knowing that he wouldn't be able to help with anything tech-related, deciding that keeping a lookout would be more helpful.
"Come on!" He could hear Dylan whispering to himself in the background, knocking things over and panicking as he went. Ryan hadn't spent a lot of time with Dylan before that night but he knew from what Chris had told him that Dylan had awful anxiety, being the reason he would appear late to things or not be able to show up at all. Ryan thought it was bullshit from how confident Dylan seemed whenever he was around him, but from their earlier conversation, and now, getting to know him a little more, it was obvious that it was just his blase Dylan persona.
"Hey, Dylan," He said calmly, "Just take a breath, alright? I'm sure you can figure this out."
He did as instructed, nodding his head, "Okay...yeah...right. There's something missing, I-. What's missing?"
A thud sounded from the wood above them, both teens looking up. That's when Dylan came to the realisation, "Oh crap. It pulled the wire."
Ryan looked over to where Dylan was staring at two white wires dangling down from the ceiling. "Fix it." He said, raising his gun, "I'll cover you."
He moved over, looking out of the window. The creature's claws were just peeking out over the edge of the gable, away from where Dylan would need to be. "Do it now! Go quickly!"
Dyan climbed up onto the table reaching up his left arm as high as could even turning so that he was facing the ground and sticking his arm up but it changed nothing, he was too short. Before Ryan got the chance to tell him to just get down, that it was useless and that he'd do it instead, Dylan's arm was yanked up through the roof. He let out a guttural scream, struggling against the thing pulling him up trying to get free. "DYLAN!" Ryan yelled, pulling the gun up. He flashed it around but knew that he couldn't shoot. The gun's spray was too wide, there was too big of a chance that he would kill or injure Dylan instead.
"FUCK! OW! HELP! HELP ME! OH MY- OH MY GOD! HELP ME, OH MY GOD!"
Suddenly the jaws released and Dylan dropped down, left arm coated in blood, immediately dropping to the ground, lying on his side. Ryan could see the bite marks, deep in his hand. "Ah, fuck! Ah, what is this?!" Dark black veins began to pop out of his arm, spreading up and up and up. "Make it stop!!" He screamed, head thrown back, eyes blown wide in agony, "Make it stop! Make it stop!"
"What do you-" Ryan stumbled over, "What do you want me to do?"
"Oh fuck it's spreading! You have to cut it off! Cut it off! Cut it off!"
Ryan couldn't bare Dylan's screams of pain, "Shit. Fuck. Okay-Okay-Okay, Just-Just hang on."
Dylan made a noise of pain, somewhere between a whine and whimper, cursing under his breath and Ryan knew what he had to do. Turning on his heel, he grabbed the chainsaw that he had noticed earlier, placed on a workbench at the back of the radio shack, thanking god it was working.
"Are you sure?" He asked, fear filling his chest at the thought of what he was about to do.
"YES! FUCKING DO IT! JUST FUCKING DO IT!"
Ryan placed the spinning blade down on Dylan's arm, turning his head away, not fast enough to avoid the splatter of blood that sprayed his face. Dylan screamed, louder than before, pure agony laced through his voice and Ryan worried he'd tear his vocal cords, even though that was literally the least of their worries. The chainsaw turned off and Ryan stood in shock staring at the dismembered hand on the ground, then at Dylan, the hand, then Dylan. Dylan's face paled even further, his body lurching to the side, "The wire," He groaned, voice taught, "Get the wire! Get the wire..."
"What?" Ryan asked, shaken from his state of horror.
"The wire...the thing. Get it!" Dyan made a vague gesture with his good hand, "You gotta, plug it into the...the thingy."
"On it!" Ryan placed the chainsaw back down and after a second thought, crouched down to Dylan, moving his right hand to cover Dylan's stump and pressing on it until his fingers flexed involuntarily around it with a cry of pain, "Sorry, you need to keep pressure on it."
Ryan climbed up onto the table grabbing the wire and plugging it into the dangling socket, just as Dylan had said before turning back, "What do I do?! What do I do now?!"
"The-The button!"
Ryan slammed his hand down onto a small red button in the centre of the control panel and instantly a loud, high-pitched wail. Ryan covered his ears, watching as Dylan covered one ear with his good hand, body writhing in pain at his inability to cover the other ear. Running to the window Ryan watched as the creature jumped down, sprinting towards the woods.
"It worked! It's running away!" Dylan said incredulously.
Then there was a second, metallic noise and Dylan gave a frustrated whisper, "Ah, we blew the speaker."
"Did the trick! Nice work Dylan."
In response he earned a delirious giggle, bringing him back to the situation. Dylan lying on the ground, one hand lighter, blood still spilling from the fleshy stump that had been left. He would need to do something to stop the bleeding.
Then the giggling stopped, "Oh fuck, my hand." Dylan had brought the stump close to his face, studying it in horror.
"Shit, alright, alright, just hold on!" Ryan said, running over to the shelves, looking for supplies to help with the continuous gush of blood that seemed to flow endlessly from Dylan's hand - or lack thereof he supposed.
"Why did you do that?" Dylan groaned, rolling onto his side again.
"You told me too!" Ryan responded, panicking.
"Th-That was a bad idea."
"I'm sorry."
"No, you- Fuck! - you did what you had to. You're right, I told you to do it anyway."
Ryan shrugged, despair growing as he searched empty shelf after empty shelf finding a grand sum of nothing. He needed to tourniquet Dylan's arm with something, a strap, a bit of rope, a- a belt! Reaching down he made quick work of unbuckling his belt, sliding it off and dropping to the ground beside Dylan. "Okay, Dylan, this is going to hurt, but I need you to stay with me, alright?" He said softly.
Dylan nodded, eyes giving away his fear.
Ryan carefully looped the belt around Dylan's arm, closing his eyes and pulling it as tight as he could. Dylan cried out in pain, good hand scrabbling desperately against the wood of the cabin floor, finding Ryan's leg and staying there, squeezing his knee. Of course, the belt wouldn't have holes that far down so Ryan had to improvise grabbing a shard of broken metal off of the ground and pushing it against the leather, twisting until there were two reasonable holes, fastening the belt there before chopping away most of the excess. Now that his hands were free he surged forward, pulling Dylan to lean against him while he caught his breath, to save him from passing out on the dirty floor.
"You still with me Dylan?" He asked after a moment.
Dylan gave a small nod, "Uh, I think so. It doesn't even hurt anymore."
"Adrenaline's one hell of a drug, huh?"
Dylan smirked, "We should probably check in with the others."
Ryan looked at him, sorrow in his eyes, leaning forward and cupping Dylan's face, running a thumb over his cheekbone. Dylan just sat, a little startled but not at all against it. Ryan gave small smile back, pressing a brief kiss to Dylan's lips before standing and helping the shorter to his feet. "You ready?" He asked. Dylan nodded, leaning against him as Ryan slung the gun back over his shoulder. "Let's go then."
The air felt somehow colder as they stepped outside of the cabin than the last time they'd been out in it and Dylan wrapped his good arm around his waist, trying to hide his shivering.
They watched as Kaitlyn made her way out of the cabin, followed by Nick, then Abi, walking down the steps and then over to them.
"Is it safe?" Kaitlyn hissed, looking over her shoulder to make sure the other two were still behind her.
"Yeah, I think we're okay for now," Ryan said, holding out his hand for Dylan to take on his right side, to keep him from falling behind as Kaitlyn began to walk, not having noticed the situation.
"We ran into one of the hunters," She said, "Chased us out of the lodge. I think we lost them on the way up here though. You get a message out?"
"I think so," Ryan said, keeping his answers short, attention drawn away.
"Good."
They kept walking for another minute or so before Kaitlyn turned to them again, "What the hell was going on up-" She paused, eyes trained on Dylan, "Oh my god, Dylan, what happened?!"
Dylan took a small step back, shaking his head to clear the fog clouding his thoughts, "Oh, um...I'm okay, I mean... I'm not uh- But it doesn't hurt-" He mumbled, tripping over his words as he stared down at the missing appendage.
"Okay, you're in shock. Holy fucking shit! Did that...thing...do this?"
Ryan flinched a little at the question, guilt curling uncomfortably in his stomach, "No, uh...well...sort of, it- it-" He shook his head unable to find an end to the sentence. That was when he felt a smaller body crash into his own. Dylan stumbled, head bowed slightly. "Ryan," He murmured, "Ry- I really don't feel good."
"Shit," Ryan cursed, "It's alright."
He snaked an arm around Dylan's waist to hold him steadily against him as the younger doubled over with a painful-sounding retch.
"Fuck, Dylan, it's okay," Nick said quietly, watching as Abi moved forwards to fuss over him with Ryan, placing a hand on his back and whispering too quiet for anyone but him to hear. Ryan rubbed his back, wishing he could help more but finding himself useless.
"Take it easy, Dylan," Ryan said, "I've got you."
Kaitlyn paced back and forth in front of them, worried about Dylan but also keeping an eye out for anyone or anything that might attempt to ambush them.
Dylan collapsed back against Ryan's chest, who quickly grabbed him, holding him up and wincing at the cold clamminess of his skin. "Let's get back to the lodge? Maybe." He said.
"Yeah, we should get him somewhere warmer," Kaitlyn said.
Abi moved forward to say something but was cut off by a gunshot, ringing in the distance.
"Kaitlyn, where's your gun?" Ryan asked.
"I lost it," She replied, recalling her scuffle with "One of the friendly locals wanted to say hi."
Another gunshot rang out and the silhouette of a person ran by, torch beam flashing wildly, unsteady in their hands.
"Did she just shoot at us?" Kaitlyn hissed.
"Who's there?!" Ryan yelled, eyes scanning the darkness trying to pick any distinguishable features of the person. He could have been wrong but they looked to be wearing an eye patch.
"Who was she?" Dylan asked, straightening up and moving off of Ryan pulling his shirt down a little.
"Do we follow her?" Kaitlyn questioned.
Dylan took lead, being the first to move, running towards where she had just disappeared from. The pool.
Reaching the edge of the water they froze, there, just below the surface was a body, the water around it turning red.
"Is-" Kaitlyn paused, trying to process everything that she was seeing, "Is she like, one of those hunter dudes?"
"I don't think so..." Ryan shook his head, jaw tight.
Everyone could tell there was something more to that.
"You okay?" Dylan asked, looking over at him.
"I don't know who that other girl was," He began, "I've never seen her before."
"Me either," Kaitlyn said, "But her...?"
"Yeah." Ryan sounded choked up, "That's Kaylee Hackett."
"Mr H's daughter? I thought she went home with her brother."
"Kaylee, yeah, I thought so too. I mean, she-"
"Dylan!" The panic in Nick's voice cut him off. Turning just in time to see Dylan's body hit the concrete, head bouncing as it hit the floor in a sickening, unnatural way.
"Oh my god," Ryan dropped to his knees beside Dylan, rolling the smaller teen onto his back and placing the back of his hand on his forehead. "Shit he's burning up."
"Okay, let's get him into the pool house, try and find some supplies to fix up his arm and head."
Kaitlyn gestured to the new gash, bleeding sluggishly on his forehead.
Ryan nodded, sliding his arms beneath Dylan's arms and knees, lifting him bridal style and cradling him against his chest as they made their way towards the pool house.
Dylan woke up when they were walking inside, curling further against Ryan's chest. It was even more concerning to see him so silent. Ryan was expecting some sort of quip like, "buy me a drink first," or something when he realised that he was being carried but no. He stayed silent.
Ryan set him down on the bench but Dylan refused to let go of his shirt, breathing fast and heavy, eyes glazed over with confusion.
"Shit, how much blood did he lose?" Kaitlyn asked, watching as Ryan sat down, pulling Dylan to lean against him, the only way that he would stay calm.
"A lot," Ryan murmured, "I had to connect wires to get rid of the thing that was outside before I could help him. The radio cabin floor is literally covered."
Kaitlyn sighed, "Yeah, well he's dropped by at least 20% volume by now, he's going into hypovolemic shock."
Abi passed Kaitlyn the med kit from the corner, watching as Kaitlyn began to examine the wound site. Dylan cried out in pain as Kaitlyn began to bandage the stump, trying to squirm away from her cold fingers.
"Can you hold him down?" She asked Ryan who looked a little reluctant but nodded anyway, looping his arms through Dylan's and holding him tight against his chest, "Well, it's an even cut from what I can tell. I mean, it's not bleeding but he needs to get to a hospital as soon as possible. This is all I've got left from the nurse's station," She said, brandishing a half-empty bottle of pain killers, "You better hope we can find you some real help before they wear off."
Kaitlyn passed a water bottle to Dylan so he could take the pills, Ryan holding it steady as Dylan's hands were shaking dramatically. "Take it easy," Ryan said softly.
"We need to start recording things and keeping evidence of everything that happens for the police."
Dylan nodded sadly, "Yeah...dead girl in the pool needs some explaining, huh."
Ryan made a face, "Little too soon, man."
Dylan murmured an apology, red tinting his cheeks.
"I mean like, photos, whatever we can get. I've got a funny feeling that the cops aren't gonna wanna believe any of this crazy shit unless we have some hard proof."
"From now on...if you've got your phone and you see something, take a photo or video or whatever."
"Yeah, you okay over there Abi?" Kaitlyn asked, leaning forwards a little from where she was seated to see Abi, kneeling on the floor beside Nick, "Look, why don't you look around and see if you find anything to help make Nick more comfortable."
Dylan couldn't remember anything but apparently, Nick had gotten aggressive so Abi had pushed him into the pool and he'd reacted weirdly like the water was burning him or something. Dylan guessed it was probably just because he was pushed into a pool with a dead body, I mean, he'd freak out too.
Abi slowly got to her feet, sending Kaitlyn a grateful smile, before wandering out towards the showers. Ryan pulled Dylan back to lean against him, ignoring the way he tensed lightly, not knowing how to react, wrapping his arms around Dylan's middle, one hand moving up to run through his hair.
Kaitlyn just smirked knowingly.
The three watched as Abi moved the heater slightly closer to Nick, sitting back on the ground again.
"Yo, something isn't right with that boy," Kaitlyn said, shaking her head.
"Dude is...real...sick," Dylan said, voice trailing off sounding slightly confused.
"Did you see how he freaked out in the water?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, he was like a...like a fish out of water, right?"
"Uh...sure," Ryan said, face morphing into one of concern, Kaitlyn also looking increasingly worried at Dylan's inability to form a fully coherent sentence.
"You know, something was weird when I tried to clean his wounds too...back at the lodge," Kaitlyn said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, all of his clothes were all bloody, but...I couldn't find where he was bit. Or scratched. Or whatever. He just kept moving around. Like, he didn't want me to see how badly he got hurt."
"Huh."
"Rabies?" Dylan suggested, Ryan looking down at him from above.
"He's not frothing at the mouth or anything."
Kaitlyn scoffed, "I think Abi would beg to differ."
"Point."
"And isn't aquaphobia a symptom of rabies?"
"Hydrophobia, yeah. But I think it's more a fear of drinking rather than getting wet. This was like..."
"Like my cat in the bathtub," Dylan giggled.
"Yeah."
They fell silent again, listening to the hushed whispers between Abi and Nick, too quiet for them to distinguish anything other than a word or two.
Suddenly, the whispers began to grow more aggressive from Nick and more scared from Abi, then Nick was pushing Abi back against a wall, moving up onto all fours. Kaitlyn was first on her feet, Dylan scrambling up second so that Ryan could stand, holding Dylan's arm to keep him upright against the sudden dizzy spell. Nick laughed manically, getting up fully, his eyes were dark, and his face looked...different. Abi grabbed the gun by her feet, but before Kaitlyn had a chance to interject, a shot was fired and Nick was sent to the ground. "No!" Abi cried, looking down at the gun as if she couldn't believe what she had done, "NO!"
Nick groaned, getting back up onto all fours, noises becoming less and less human with every passing minute. "Nick-" Dylan cut himself off as Nick-
Did he just fucking explode?!
Was he going crazy?
Dylan watched as the clothes ripped off of him, blood spraying in every direction, the skin looking like it exploded off of his bones, as he landed back on all fours. Eyes white and face sunken in. That wasn't Nick. It bounded towards the window, jumping through and smashing the glass as it tore its way outside. Dylan looked up at Ryan eyes wide and mouth agape, unsure whether or not he was just seeing things. The look on Ryan's face told him that he was not.
Abi and Kaitlyn were frozen in shock, Ryan and Dylan trying to wrap their head around what they had just witnessed.
Abi was the first to speak, struggling through panting breaths, "I- I killed him! I killed him."
"I mean...dead people don't usually jump out of windows and run into the forest," Kaitlyn countered.
"Abi," Ryan said, getting her attention, "He was gonna hurt you. You were just defending yourself."
"I don't - I don't know that for sure-"
"I do."
"No...no!"
"It was you...or him- and that definitely wasn't him."
"Man, this is so fucked," Dylan murmured, sitting back on the bench and shaking his head.
A knock on the door drew everyone's attention.
"Hey!" Ryan shouted, swinging the gun towards the door.
"Where the fuck is Chris Hackett?" A female voice yelled.
"Who's there?!"
"I need your help. Please."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Laura Kearney."
"So?"
"So, you should let me in. It's not safe out here."
"Uh, yeah, there's a crazy woman with a gun going around and killing people!"
"I'm not killing people."
"Laura Kearn-" Dylan paused, "Holy shit, you're- Laura Kearney? You're Laura Kearney?"
"Yes?"
"You were supposed to be working- uh, helping in the nurse's office, right? And you never showed up. You and the guy...what his name?"
"Max."
"Max, yeah, yeah! Mr Hackett said that you had changed your mind last minute."
"Oh Jesus Christ," Kaitlyn murmured.
"I think we should let her inside. Hear her out."
"Okay, I'm gonna open the door. Slowly. Just keep your hands up, alright?"
"Okay!"
Dylan was the one to step forward reaching out his good hand to grab the door handle, slowly pulling it open, Ryan keeping the gun raised, just in case.
There stood a woman. Her face was slightly obscured by an eyepatch, a long, thick scar peeking out from beneath. She looked like a total badass, Kaitlyn had to admit.
"So," Dylan was the first to speak, "Why didn't you come?"
"Yeah, where've you been the past two months?" Ryan added, eyeing her suspiciously.
"We did come...one night early." She glanced at each of them in turn, "That was our mistake."
They lead her over to the little seating arrangement in the corner, the four camp counsellors listening carefully to what Laura had to say. She began to explain how she had been drugged by a police officer and kept in a cell for weeks, only being able to talk to Max through the cell bars, not ever face to face.
"Max began to tell me how thought we had been attacked by a werewolf."
"Are you out of your goddam mind?!" Ryan said, interrupting her, "Werewolves, seriously, what the fuck?"
Laura laughed, looking down at her feet.
"What? What's so funny?"
"I said literally the exact same thing," She admitted.
"Okay, well, you got anything better than that? Hm? I mean like...zombies? Aliens? I don't fucking- time-hopping Draculas?"
"Ryan, right?" She said calmly.
"Yeah?"
"You want answers? I've got answers. Interrupt me with that stupid bullshit again and you're on your own."
"Whatever."
"Would it really be so crazy?" Dylan spoke up, "I mean, with everything we've seen...with Nick...That thing on the roof...It would really start to explain a lot of things."
"Dylan!" Ryan said.
"I'm just trying to keep an open mind, alright? This is like your ghost stories. Like really, how is this different from those ghost stories?"
"Those- Those are just- campfire stories. Like, there has to be a rational explanation...for everything. For all of this."
"Okay, well, you were not talking so rational when you separated my hand from the rest of my body."
"You told me to."
"And if it's bite with which you're faced, cleave limb from torso with great haste." Laura recited.
"What?"
"See, she's got a whole poem about it."
"There's more to all this than you think. Okay? Just let me finish. Then you can decide for yourself if you believe me or not. I don't care. But I think you should hear all of it."
Everyone fell silent once more, allowing Laura to continue her story.
Laura explained how she'd watched Max turn (matching the exact description of what had happened with Nick) and how he had clawed out her eye. She told them how Travis (The chief of police) had told them about the werewolves, how Laura had stolen his gun and his keys and escaped with Max, making their way back to the camp. How she had gone to the island with Max to keep him and everyone else safe while he turned, killed a werewolf and then went back to see if he had turned back only to find he hadn't.
"So the werewolf I killed can't have been Chris." She said.
"That wasn't a werewolf, that was Kaylee Hackett. Chris's daughter." Ryan said, standing from his seat to match her.
"Whatever I shot...that was no girl. Unless...I guess it turned back after I shot it. When I went to the island."
"Wait, so, how come Max didn't kill you then?" Dylan asked, leaning forward on his knees a little more.
"He tried," She said, holding up her arm and revealing a large, bloody, bite, "I got away. I need to end this."
Ryan lunged forward, grabbing Laura's gun from her bloodied hands, she didn't stop him.
"Look, we don't have much time. Where is Chris Hackett?"
"Shut up!"
"Wow, rude."
"Guys, she murdered Kaylee."
"We have been over this!"
"Hold up...you said you heard a woman crying...while you were escaping?"
"Why? What do you know?"
"It's the ghost story he told us, right Kaitlyn?" Abi said, stepping forward a little.
"This isn't a ghost story. It's a creature feature. It's real and you're all in it! So come on! Where does Chris Hackett live when he's not at camp?"
Ryan paused.
"Ryan, you go with Laura but you keep the gun. I'm going to take Dylan and Abi back to the lodge to look for Emma and Jacob." Kaitlyn ordered.
Ryan hesitated but eventually nodded, passing Kaitlyn in the doorway he whispered, "Please look after Dylan, he's high on adrenaline but it won't last long."
"Don't worry, I've got him. Just make sure you come back."
"I will."
They got back to the lodge and Kaitlyn decided that she wanted to see if they could fix the car. As they got close, however, they heard shuffling from inside.
"Wait," Kaitlyn said, holding out an arm and pushing Dylan behind her.
"What?" He asked, listening intently in the silence only to hear the creaking of the metal, "Is- Is something in there? "What is it I-I-"
"Jacob? Emma?" Kaitlyn called, moving the gun up, ready to shoot if something went wrong.
"Are they-? Should I open it up?"
"Your funeral, buddy."
Dylan slowly inched closer and closer to the car, crouching slightly and reaching to open the door.
The second it was open, Emma leapt forward with a scream, spraying something directly in Dylan's eyes.
Dylan dropped to the ground with a scream of his own, "Oh fuck! She maced me!" He yelled.
"Hey. Hey! It's us!" Kaitlyn said, holding her arms up so Emma could see they weren't a threat.
"Oh- Oh shit!" Emma cursed.
"It burns!"
Kaitlyn crouched down, looping her arms under Dylan's and pulling him away from the small lingering cloud of bear mace that tainted the air. Emma threw the can aside, dropping down to her knees. "I'm so sorry, Dylan, oh my god, I'm so sorry, I-" That was when she noticed his arm. "What happened to you?!" Kaitlyn made a face and swiped her hand in front of her throat, telling Emma she needed to stop talking there. "Oh, uh, never mind that, let's...let's get you inside!"
"Fuck, I can't see properly."
"It's okay, Dylan, come on," Kaitlyn said wrapping an arm around his waist.
The three girls guided him inside, pressing him to sit down as Abi poured water over his eyes hoping to soothe the burn if only a little. Thankfully the bottle was old and expired so it didn't work to its full ability, instead, it burnt badly for about 5 minutes before lowering to a bearable heat, eyes red and swollen. Emma felt guilty despite being told by Kaitlyn and Dylan several times that it wasn't her fault. Abi caught Emma up on everything that she had missed while Kaitlyn got a wet cloth, draping it over Dylan's face and trying to clean any remaining product away. Abi took over wiping at Dylan's face while Kaitlyn went back out to the car to check under the hood.
"Okay," She said, coming through the door with a single clap.
"Can you fix it?" Dylan asked, looking up at her with blurry vision.
"No."
"Oh."
"Not without some parts. Specifically a rotor arm. There's a scrapyard just up the road."
"So, you can fix it?"
"Well, no promises, but there's hope - and that's where we're going to find it."
"It...It sounds like a bit of a long shot."
"Dylan, come on! I need you. We need you." Kaitlyn attempted to flash him puppy dog eyes, but it wasn't very effective considering she had no idea how to do it.
"Fine, okay," Dylan smirked, noticing how everyone was beginning to look disheartened, "Once again Dylan puts himself in mortal danger for the sake of his 'work friends'."
"And what exactly are we supposed to do?" Emma asked, gesturing to herself and Abi, "I mean, the van is nice but it isn't exactly fort Knox."
"Well, there's a shelter under the lodge... could be safe in there for a while," Dylan suggested.
"Alright, Abi, come with me." She turned to the other two, "Good luck."
Kaitlyn and Dylan set off down the path, Dylan following where Kaitlyn seemed to know the way. "Have you been there before?" He asked, stumbling to catch up when he realised he had fallen a little behind again.
"The scrapyard? Nah, just seen the sign on my way to camp."
"What if we just like...walk to the main road?"
"This isn't the main road?"
"No, this is all Hackett property. The main road is another mile that way." He raised his good hand to point slightly off of the direction that they had been going in, "Wait, how do I know so much more about everything than you do?" He teased.
"Wait- shut up. So basically, it's another hour walk to the main road and then another 3 to 4 hour walk until we hit the nearest...whatever?"
"Yep." Dylan nodded.
A crack in the bush gained their attention. Both jumping and Kaitlyn shining the flashlight on the gun at it as a couple of crows flew up into the dark night sky.
"What was that?" Dylan asked, eyes wide.
"...let's just keep moving," Kaitlyn replied turning on her heel and quickly walking away making sure she could hear Dylan's steps behind her.
They walked for another couple of minutes, Kaitlyn idly kicking at the path as Dylan trailed alongside her before Dylan spoke up again.
"So...this is me now." He sighed, she turned to see that he was holding his stumped hand or rather...not hand? in his other.
"What?" Kaitlyn said, immediately trying to lighten the situation, "You're going to look great with a hook. We can call you...hooky mc...hookface?"
It didn't seem to work, Dylan falling silent beside her, eyes trained on the floor as he continued to walk.
"No one's going to treat me the same are they?" He said after a moment, almost too quiet for Kaitlyn to hear.
"Maybe that's not such a bad thing." She said thoughtfully.
"Would you date someone with only one hand?"
"I don't think it's me you're worried about, is it?"
Dylan froze, looking at the ground, "No...do you think we missed our chance?"
"You and Ryan? God no. I have never seen him talk to someone so much, or look at someone the way he looks at you. That boy is head over heels for you and it's pretty obvious that you feel the same," She laughed, "Trust me, Dylan. He's not going to let you go that easy. Don't be an idiot and ruin it for yourself. I promise it's not too late."
Dylan smirked, "Thanks."
"No problem."
The two fell into a comfortable silence, making their way towards the scrapyard.
Turns out they had both been wrong. They hadn't needed to be on the main road and they hadn't needed to walk for hours. It barely took 40 minutes for them to arrive, the big metal gates already half-open. "Well," Kaitlyn said with a sigh, "We're here." Dylan walked through first jumping back as a bright light flashed on above them, "Oh shit!"
"Relax, it's a motion sensor - we're okay...I think."
"So...do you wanna give me some direction on what we're looking for specifically?"
"Well, most of these cars look like they've already been stripped for parts...Just empty frames and chassis, which doesn't help us very much."#
"Okay, so...we're looking for...engines?"
"Well, anything relatively intact will do."
"Got it."
They split up, walking in opposite directions around the scrapyard's entry, able to tell where each other were due to the sensor lights flicking on and off every few seconds. Dylan hadn't felt great before when his hand got chopped off, but now...now he was really starting to feel unwell. His body shook like a leaf in a storm despite the raging heat that settled over his upper body. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest, harsh and heavy, breathing becoming short panting intakes of air like he'd been running. His arm or lack thereof was really beginning to hurt, shoulders and neck tightening and stiffening up. Yet, he kept walking because...he couldn't disappoint Kaitlyn, or Emma or Abi, definitely not Ryan. They needed them to bring a rotor arm thingy so that they could leave. He was going to find one. He was fine.
Dylan found a little workshop, a green button fixed to the main desk. Kaitlyn nodded at him to press it, so he did, placing his palm over it and pushing down. A buzz rang out and the doors leading to the main scrapyard swung open. He sighed, "Uh, are we gonna end up in a documentary?"
"No!" Kaitlyn said, lightly hitting his upper arm, hand lingering slightly on the skin there, frowning at how cold and clammy he felt, "Shut up, let's go."
They walked through the scrapyard, every turn looking the exact same as the last. The only change was when a bulb burst in one of the sensor lights. "Ah!" Dylan shouted, "Sorry." The light continued to buzz and flicker a little, "Well that's really annoying."
"We are being hunted by literal monsters and this is what bothers you?" Kaitlyn said judgingly.
"Yeah, both are bad."
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, urging them onwards once more.
Eventually, after 10 minutes of walking in circles, they came across a huge crane, with a car dangling from the magnet. A relatively intact car.
"So," Kaitlyn said, "You ever operated a crane before? Why don't you see if you can lower it down so that I can take a look under the hood?"
"Sure, yeah. Sure thing. Just...watch my back, yeah?" He said nervously.
"Yeah."
Dylan made his way up the many flights of stairs to the actual body of the crane, sliding into the seat and gazing disgustedly down at the mess surrounding him. "Looks like somebody's mum never taught them how to clean up after themselves." He murmured, "Let's see what we're working with. Alright, not too complicated."
The control panel looked relatively simple, with a couple of buttons and levers, labelled with their respective jobs. A walk in the park. After everything Dylan had been through that night, he could control a stupid fucking crane.
"Here goes nothing."
A level pull and a button press later, the car was headed to the ground.
"You did it!" Kaitlyn laughed.
"Yeah I think I found my calling," Dylan shouted back.
"About time!"
"Maybe we can see if we can get this thing up and running."
Dylan leaned back in the uncomfortable seat, watching as Kaitlyn opened the hood of the car before letting his gaze wander back to the rest of the scrapyard. He could see everything from up there. Well, if it wasn't so dark he would be able to. As if some devil had heard him and decided to take what he said into some twisted reality, Dylan watched in horror as one of the floodlights turned on.
"Oh no," He murmured, watching in horror as a second sensor light flicked on, closer this time.
Without any more hesitation, he surged forward, slamming his god hand onto the crane's horn and leaning out of the window, yelling, "THERE'S SOMETHING COMING!"
"WHAT?" She yelled back, straining to hear him.
"HIDE!"
That time she heard, jumping into the car and slamming the door closed.
Thankfully Dylan got the hint, lifting the car again into the air, with Kaitlyn now inside it.
"DYLAN!" He heard her scream, "GET THE DAMN WEREWOLF OFF THE DAMN CAR!"
"Oh fuck!"
"HURRY THE FUCK UP."
He slammed his hand down on the horn again, making the werewolf cringe over in pain, the sound getting too loud. Kaitlyn took her opportunity and Dylan watched as she jumped out of the now open car door, landing safely on a stack of tires below. Of course, she wasn't out of the danger zone yet. However, Dylan was the one now in danger. Since Kaitlyn had disappeared from its line of sight, the were-creature turned to the next closest victim. It crawled along the neck of the crane heading closer and closer to the control room. Reaching to the side he found a metal canister in which there was oil, someone - he guessed the previous or actual crane operator had gotten bored and attached a lighter to the spray nozzle. Miniature flame thrower, it was difficult to light using one hand and as the werewolf began breaking through the glass window of the crane, Dylan was sure it was over. But, somehow, it started a steady line of fire spewing from the nozzle. He swung it forwards, leaning back in his seat but extending his arm as far as he could catching the werewolf straight in its face. It stumbled and fell back off of the crane, dropping down, down, down, to the ground below. Right by Kaitlyn. Who began to scream once again.
"DYLAN HELP!"
Dylan grabbed the leaver to spin the car, struggling to move it across, "Come on you rusty bitch!" He cursed.
Finally, it was in a perfect position and Kaitlyn saw so too, "NOW!" She screamed.
Dylan slammed his hand down on the release.
Kaitlyn watched as the car dropped, crushing the beast below it. She panted, watching as the creature lay still, leaving her safe. "You did it!" She called, "You got it! Dylan! Dylan?"
She got no response.
Scrambling to her feet she rushed to the stairs, racing up to the crane room. Dylan was tilted forwards, chin to chest, eyes fluttering closed, open, closed, open like he could barely stay awake. The adrenaline had run out. "Shit, Dylan, let's just get you out of here, okay?" Kaitlyn said gently. Looping an arm around his waist, she helped him to stand and stumble out of the crane, and down the metal steps with little incident. When they reached the bottom, Dylan pressed closer against Kaitlyn, legs beginning to fail as exhaustion and pain crashed over him like a tonne of bricks. "We're going to get you back to the cabin, then you can lie down, alright? Just stay with me, Dylan."
Dylan nodded, hearing her - though only barely - struggling to move his feet and take some of his weight off of Kaitlyn, who kept an arm wrapped around him, guiding him and stopping him from stumbling or tripping up.
The walk back to the cabin took a good hour this time, due to Dylan needing to sit down every now and then to prevent himself from passing out but eventually, they made it, the wooden structure coming into view. Kaitlyn hurried him indoors, leading him up to Chris Hackett's office, getting inside and turning to close the door. The second she let go of Dylan to shut and lock the door, he fell to the ground, trying to catch himself with one good hand and one stump, crying out in pain when it didn't work. "Shit! Dylan!" She said, dropping down beside him and rolling him onto his back, the door ahead of them opened and Kaitlyn reached back, grabbing her gun in caution. Emma and Abi emerged from the small room, both holding up their hands, making their peace known. Kaitlyn didn't even bother greeting them, turning back to Dylan.
"What happened?" Abi asked.
"The adrenaline ran out. We got attacked. He saved me. I think the pain of his arm is only just setting in."
"Okay, well...let's get him onto the couch, there's one a little further into the office."
Kaitlyn nodded, picking up Dylan's top half while Emma grabbed his legs. Between them, they lifted him, carrying him to the sofa and placing him down on it, Abi moving one of the pillows so it would cushion Dylan's head a little better. Emma felt his forehead, frowning at the heat radiating off of him. "Shit, someone grab a cloth or something, I think there was one in the bathroom. Put cold water on it and bring it back," She ordered, a protective tone taking over her voice. Kaitlyn hurried off toward the bathroom in Mr Hackett's office while Abi and Emma worked on getting Dylan more comfortable. He was stuck in a state somewhere in-between consciousness and unconsciousness, aware of some things and completely oblivious to others.
Abi watched as somewhere in one of his more conscious moments, he reached up, grabbed her hand with his good one, locked eyes with her and in a weak voice asked, "Where's Ryan?"
"He's not here right now, but he'll be back soon." She said softly, "Don't you worry, just lay back and let yourself rest, alright?"
Dylan nodded, closing his eyes and releasing the tension in his neck where he was trying to sit up.
Kaitlyn returned with the cloth, handing it to Abi who draped it over Dylan's forehead, brushing his hair out of the way and cringing at how it stuck to his face with sweat. Figuring that they had done everything they could, for the time being, they sat back in various places around the room, talking quietly to one another and listening out for any signs of danger, lurking in close proximity to the lodge. Kaitlyn kept her gun at her side, never letting it get out of reach, ready for anything.
It was half an hour before anything happened. Dylan had woken up a couple of times asking for Ryan, where was he? When was he coming back? Was he alright? and the girls tried to reassure him as best they could but he never seemed to remember it. A dark purplish-red rash had appeared over his neck and chest beginning to spread to his shoulders and Emma was really beginning to worry. The sound of a door opening and then closing again had everyone falling silent. Kaitlyn picked up her gun, Emma and Abi scrambling to their feet behind her, pointing straight at the door to the office. Footsteps approached. Footsteps. So it wasn't a wolf, that put them at ease a little, though it could still be one of the hunters so Kaitlyn wasn't ready to lower her gun just yet. The door to the office was pushed open and...
"Ryan! Oh my god, you scared us!" Abi said, then taking in the blood staining his shirt, "Holy shit, are you okay?"
"Heh? Oh, uh, yeah." He said a little awkwardly, not knowing how to react with everyone staring at him.
"He got stabbed," Laura said, stepping in from behind him, "But, long story short, I bit him, he healed, we killed Chris, Chris wasn't the first, we killed Silas - the actual first - and now everything should be fine. I'm leaving these two here. I'm going to get Max and if anyone else is there I'll bring them back here with me, okay? I'm looking for, Nick, right? That was his name?"
Abi nodded.
"Alright, well, have fun I guess."
She turned on her heel, walking away, revealing Jacob stood behind her.
"Woah!" Emma said teasingly, "You lived!"
Jacob shook his head with an exhausted laugh, "Yeah, I guess I did."
"Where's Dylan?" Ryan asked, scanning the three of them.
Abi gave him a sad smile, pointing over to the sofa that he was lying on. Ryan's heart dropped. He looked so much worse now. In fact, he looked dead. Making his way over, he knelt on the floor beside the sofa, the others making quiet conversation to give him privacy, and reached out a hand, cupping Dylan's face.
"Dylan?" Ryan whispered, "Hey, can you hear me?"
The teen groaned, eyes opening minutely, "Ryan," He hummed, "You're here!"
"Yeah, Dylan, I'm here, I'm here."
"I- I tried to get through Ryan, but, I really don't feel good anymore."
A single tear trailed down Ryan's face, catching at his jaw and dripping off his chin, "I know, Dyl', I know, I'm sorry." He turned back to the others, "Do we have anything we can give him. Pain killers? Anything? Has anyone checked the bathroom- the- the medicine cabinet! There was stuff in there."
The desperation in his voice made everyone panic. Ryan was the cold, brooding loner, who spoke in a monotone voice, hearing how scared he really was made the realisation set in. It had been obvious that it was bad but...it was really, really bad.
Kaitlyn got to her feet, scrambling towards the bathroom as Ryan traced his thumb over Dylan's cheekbone watching as Dylan shivered from the agony he was in. Every few seconds he would whine out something along the lines of, "I really don't feel well," or "Please don't leave again." and Ryan's heart broke a little more every time. Kaitlyn returned empty-handed with a sympathetic look on her face and Emma walked over crouching beside Ryan, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ryan wanted to cry, seeing Dylan in so much pain, he didn't deserve it and Ryan couldn't help but feel guilty. He was the one that cut Dylan's hand off, even though Dylan had told him to, and now he was in an awful position that he shouldn't have had to have been in. Emma moved to sit closer to the arm of the sofa, reaching up and threading her fingers through Dylan's hair. "Sh-sh-shh, you're okay sweetheart," She whispered, "We've got you. Deep breaths for us."
Dylan's eyes gained some lucidity and he turned to look at them, nodding slowly and trying to copy Emma's over-exaggerated breaths. "Good job, Dyl'," Ryan said softly, "You're gonna be okay."
His breath just didn't seem to return. Ryan grabbed Dylan's good hand, feeling his cold and clammy skin, running his thumb over his knuckled in an attempt at soothing him.
"R-Ryan?" Dylan stuttered, "What's happened? I can't feel my arm. You- You're crying, are you okay?"
Ryan wiped his face quickly, "I'm fine, Dyl', I'm okay, you just need to rest okay?"
"I- I'm really tired."
"I know, that's okay. Just...close your eyes and get some sleep, alright?"
"Mkay," He hummed, closing his eyes and attempting to fall asleep, never getting close enough due to the shivers of pain wracking his body.
Ryan didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to fix it and he couldn't stand to see Dylan in such pain, it was like a kicked puppy but 100 times worse - it was...it was...it was just horrible. They needed to get a message to the police or ambulance to get them out as soon as possible. To get Dylan out. Dylan had to make it out.
Or Ryan would never forgive himself.