UNTIL DAWN

FOUR HOURS UNTIL DAWN

"Hello, and thank you all for joining me. Tonight, we're gonna conduct a little experiment." It started. "Hello, hello children. No...that's not right. Greetings pilgrims." The voice changer faded out to Josh's voice.

"Holy shit." Kara mumbled, wide eyed. They left the recorder, following the hall to another door. It was double doors, and the girls gasped when they saw what was inside. A video camera, and a mannequin dressed in Sam's clothing. As Sam looked at the clothes, a hand reached out, grabbing Kara's leg. She gasped, before realizing it was just Mike. Sam rushed near Kara, sighing in relief when she saw Mike.

"Oh, thank God you found us." She muttered.

"It's okay, you guys are okay." He told them. Kara's eyes widened when she saw Mike's hand.

"Oh my God, your fingers, Mike!" Where two of his fingers used to be was now a bloody mess.

"Yeah...and I'm the lucky one." He sighed.

"Jesus, what happened?" Sam asked, making sure her towel didn't fall off.

"There's a fucking maniac up here on the mountain. He's trying to kill us all!" Mike exclaimed.

"This guy you're talking about...he attacked us. He showed us videos, and one of them showed Josh being killed. Just...ripped apart by this huge fucking saw-blade." Sam told Mike. Kara was starting to doubt it now. What did the papers mean back there? The voice recording?

"Jesus Christ." Mike muttered in shock.

"We think Josh is somehow involved in this." Kara told Mike.

"Wait, what? How?" He asked.

"There were texts from his doctor about plans, and the doctor was worried. Josh never replied. We found papers with a planned mapped out, and a voice recorder with Josh's voice." Kara explained.

"What the fuck is going on around here?" Mike asked.

"There's a door here. It won't open. Can you unlock it from your side?" Mike asked, and Kara nodded, jogging to get the door unlocked. Sam followed her, grabbing the backpack on the door handle, not wanting to be separated, even for a second.

Kara picked up the board that was keeping the door shut, and hugged Mike when she saw him. He hugged her back, sighing in relief.

"Jeez, you look like hell." Sam told him. "Nice to see you, too."

As Sam walked to the back of the room, Mike became confused.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Well, it turns out a towel is not the best outfit for killing off killer maniacs." Sam remarked, and Kara chuckled softly. They turned around, letting her change.

"You okay, Kara?" Mike asked, and she shrugged.

"Ask me when we get out of here." She told him.

"Okay, done. Let's put this thing to bed."

"Amen to that." Mike responded. They stopped when they heard a voice.

"Please, I can't! I can't decide!" The voice begged.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"Is that crying?" Mike asked. They walked further, till they reached a closed door. With the three of them slamming their bodies against it, they forced it open, seeing Ashley and Chris sitting at a table; saw-blades over them, and a gun in Chris's hand.

The three watched as the psycho taunted Chris.

"You've heard of blanks before?" The psycho questioned. The man pulled his mask off, and Kara felt weak when she saw his face. It was Josh.

"Josh?" Chris asked, panicked. Josh started laughing.

"Josh!" Sam and Mike yelled, running to untie Ashley and Chris. Kara remained frozen in her spot.

"Oh, very good! Everyone of you got my name! And after all you've been through; good! I mean, how does that feel? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked?" Josh laughed.

"All those emotions my sisters got to feel once one year ago? Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No, no, no. They're gone!" He exclaimed. Kara started walking closer to them.

"I don't know if you noticed, Josh, but none of us are laughing." Mike said, pissed.

"Oh, come, come, come on. Why the long faces? Come on!"

"Josh, how could you?" Kara asked quietly. He faltered for a second before continuing.

"It's good to get the heart racing every now and again, right? And race they did! I mean, every one of you; pitter-pat, pitter-pat. I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle. I mean, no detail to small, no opportunity missed, it was such a delight to play the puppet master! To all of your Pavlovian panic!" Josh rambled.

"Josh!" Kara shouted.

"And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore! Fake bodies, I mean, God, that shit was expensive. And no retakes, no, only double takes. Oh, you should've seen your faces, Ashley, Chris. Hook, line, and sinker, for every little stinker!" Josh shouted, throwing his fists in the air.

"Josh, why the fuck would you think this would be okay?" She asked.

"Oh, come on! So you got a little bit of egg on your face. Nobody got hurt!"

"What are you talking about, you ass hat?" Mike asked.

"Jessica is fucking dead!" Mike exclaimed. Kara could see Josh's triumph fade away. Now, he was shocked.

"What?" He asked. He seemed so innocent; Kara wanted to feel bad for him. Despite everything, she still loved him.

"Did you hear me? Jessica is dead. You are gonna fucking pay, you dick!" Mike shouted, hitting him across the face. Kara didn't know how to feel. She knew he deserved it, but he looked like he had no idea what Mike was talking about.

"Chris, let's take him to the shed." Mike said, and Chris nodded.

"Wait!" Kara yelled.

"I'm coming with you."