My Shadow (Climbing Class: Until Dawn)

Chapter 4: Old Habits Die Hard

Chris's POV
I finally made it back to my apartment, I was now sweat-covered and panting. I had started to run when I made it to the halfway point to my house. I ran for a multitude of reasons. The pitiful stares, the watching feeling that had only appeared for a second but made me scared it would return, and Sam's warning.
"He's back and that's all I can say." I replayed Sam's words over and over. "What does it mean" I mulled over Sam's cryptic message and hurry to get out of the cafe for a while. I then decided to text, to see if she would give me any more idea as to what she was saying. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and began to text Sam
Chris: Hey Sammy, wanna give any more meaning to our conversation at the cafe?
A minute passed.
No reply.
An hour passed.
No reply.
???? POV
I had parked my rental car in the back road of Sam's house. I put Sam's unconscious body in the backseat and got to the driver's, as I started the car and drove off I heard a phone go off.
"Must be Sam's phone, I left mine at the hideout. I'll check to see if it's my Chris when I get to the hideout" I thought.
Chris's POV
I received a text message from Sam 3 hours later. I was in the kitchen, heating up some dinner when I heard the notification bells. I practically ran to my phone and check Sam's text.
Sammy: Hey, Christopher
I stood there. My breathing getting irregular, my heart beginning to race.
There was only a few people in the world that I openly knew called me Christopher.
My mom and dad.
Josh called me Christopher too.
I stared at my phone screen, intaking the two words staring at me.
"Chris get your head straight. It can't be him. He's on the mountain as a corpse or a wendigo. He does not have Sam's phone. Think rationally." My thoughts zoomed and ran inside my head for a few minutes as I tried to calm myself down. I began to text back.
Chris: Sam this isn't funny! You know he was the only one to ever call me that!
A minute passed.
So did another one before the reply.
Sammy: Your right, I am the only one to ever call you that. Old habits die hard, Christopher.
I dropped my phone.
My heart was once again pounding inside my ribcage.
My breathing went ragged.
"It can't be true" I tried to reason with my self.
They went after him. The police went missing. He is dead. Dead altogether or dead inside. Either way he does not have Sam's phone. He did not just text me. He is gone.
I picked up my phone from the carpeted floor I stood on. I stared at the text, the words staring back.
Chris: You are not Josh, Josh is dead. Stop pretending Sam!
I set down my phone and went back to the kitchen. As I continued heating up my dinner, doubt began to resonate inside of me.
"What if..." The what if's circled and cried inside my head. They were crying for me to pay attention to them, for me to let my doubts come true in my head.
My phone went off, startling me out of my pondering trance. I set the leftovers in the microwave and continued on my short walk to my phone.
My phone went off again. There was now two new texts.
I looked at the newest, it was Ashley. I pondered whether or not to ignore it like I do all the others. "Well, with the day I had I may aswell check it out. Maybe Sam told all the others." I thought.
Ash: Chris, did Sam talk to you? Because she sent confusing messages to everybody from the mountain. All she said was that he's back.
My breath hitched.
Did this confirm everything?
Is the he Sam is talking about... is it Josh?
Chris: Hey, Ash. Sam did talk to me today in person. She said the same thing. Just he's back.
I didn't tell her about the texts. Deep down, my instincts told me telling her about the texts, would put her in more danger.
After texting Ashley back. I checked the older text. It was from Sam or Sam's number.
Sammy: Do you believe me now, Christopher?
Underneath was a picture of Sam. She tied to a chair, unconscious.
Chris: Yes I do, just let her go. Please Josh.
Sammy: Have a nice day, Cochise.
There was no point in texting back. He wasn't going to let her go.
"Why did he take her! Is it because she told us... of course it is! Sam being the usual Sam. She put our safety above her own and now she could die at any moment! She i-" My thoughts were cut off, by my phone going off. Someone was calling me.
It was Ashley.
I picked up the phone
"Hello." I managed weakly, tears pricking at the eyes.
"Chris, I think Josh has Sam! I just went to her house and she wasn't there and some of her stuff was knocked over. And I've been calling texting her nonstop and she hasn't replied! We all need to meet up! We have to go save Sam!" She practically screamed into her own phone.
"Ash. He does have Sam." I started. I told her everything that had happened today. I finally ended with a hitched breath and tears finally starting to slide down my face.
"Chris. I'll call everybody. They need to know. We will all meet up tomorrow at the cafe, you went to today. Please be safe Chris.
"Okay Ash, I will. Be safe too. Bye" I was managing my sentences with strangled breaths.
"Bye" She now whispered into the phone.
She hung up as so did I.
Then I finally started to sob. I curled up into a ball on the floor.
The horrible memories of the mountain flooded my head.
Everything I thought couldn't happen, was happening.
Nothing was right
It was as if an earthquake was happening in my head.
"Josh is alive." Was the only coherent thought, I was able to think of before I passed out on the floor.

AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry that it takes so very long to update each chapter. I am typing most of the chapters on my phone. Anybody reading could you please be a dear and help out with my book gaining popularity. Also comment any grammatical or spelling errors, so I can edit them and make this book better. Thanks and bye! *Fox*