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Golden light filtered through the windows of the lodge, a taste of the beauty of the gleaming morning outside. A beauty that ignored horrors that occurred in the now still woods the night before, but the councilors in the lodge couldn’t ignore it. Last night was a nightmare they had managed to wake up from, but they would never really escape it. Hackett’s Quarry had forever made its mark on them.
“We could go check the house.” One of the councilors finally said, cutting through the quiet. His hair was pressed flat to his forehead, the blood in it starting to dry and stick in clumps, but that wasn’t at the top of Dylan’s list of worries right now. Between the councilors still not accounted for, the possibility of monsters out in the woods, and, oh yeah, the fact he was now missing one hand, the blood and grime didn’t seem all that important right now. “The sun is up. If they’re like, you know, werewolves, they should be human again, right? The moon is what makes them all… wolfy isn’t it?”
Dylan was pacing as he spoke and Kaitlyn had no idea how he had that kind of energy right now, especially considering how much blood he must have lost. Now that things were maybe safe, she just wanted to pass out on the floor until rescue arrived. If rescue was ever going to arrive; they hadn’t even started trying to figure out how to get a call out.
“I don’t know, I guess. Believe it or not, I’m not some expert on werewolves. I thought that was you.” Kaitlyn moved to one of the tables in the mess hall, choosing to lay on that instead of the floor. With a sweep of her arm the leftover trash fell to the floor, leaving space for her. “That’s what Laura said though and Caleb looks like Caleb now, so she’s probably right.”
Her eyes cut over to the boy sitting silently by the fireplace, a thin blanket draped over his shoulders. He hadn’t spoken since he had changed back to the odd, reclusive boy knew. A part of her wondered if he could remember that she had shot him and he was holding a grudge about that. More likely, he was just as traumatized as the rest of them.
“Laura…” Dylan sighed her name and Kaitlyn knew exactly the feeling. A wistfulness and jealousy that could not be easily quashed.
“Yeah…” Her own feelings aside, she hated to see Dylan so bummed. They hadn't been close this summer when things were still normal. Outside of seeing him as a romantic rival, she hadn’t been sure their personalities were even compatible. Last night proved her wrong. Then again, that could just be the trauma bonding. She could use another friend though. “Based on her story, she went through a lot of shit just to un-werewolf her boyfriend, I don’t think you have to worry about her being competition for Ryan’s affections.”
“Shit, Kaitlyn, I’m sorry…”
She held up her hand, but didn’t open her eyes. “Listen, it’s fine. Count me out. When he was the mysterious, brooding, sailing instructor it was one thing, but after everything, I think I know too much. Besides, I’ve seen how you guys mesh; he actually smiles around you. It’s gross and it takes away from the broody appeal.” She looked at him now just in time to see a small, but genuine, smile on his face. He really did have it down bad.
While Dylan was sure that she had been bending the truth a bit for his benefit, he was glad there was no resentment between them. He stopped pacing now and looked at the doors to the lodge, his brow knit in consideration. “I’m gonna go.” Kaitlyn sat up to protest, but he was already shaking his head. “I have to know he’s okay. Besides, while I’m out there I can get a look at the whole power situation. Maybe we can finally call for a ride out of here.”
“Fine. But I want it noted that I think this is a terrible idea.” She jumped up from where she was laying and helped him move the table they had used to block the door. “I guess… power first, if you can get it up and running I can see about getting help as you go to the house. You take a quick peek when you get there. If you don’t find them, come right back, okay? He knows to come back here if he’s okay.” One look from Dylan and she corrected herself. “He is okay.”
“You keep an eye on Caleb and keep an eye out for any of the others. I’ll be back in no time.” Dylan let out a breath, preparing himself to go back outside. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find out there and he didn’t think he could stomach seeing any mutilated corpses at this moment.
“Be careful out there, don’t die.” Kaitlyn pat his arm a couple of times. “I would offer to go with you, but I don’t really want to go.”
“Awww, thank you for that.” He said with a sardonic smile. Knowing he would never be truly ready, he forced himself forward without another word. As he pulled open the door, he nearly ran into three people standing on the porch. “AGGGH.” Dylan yelled as he hopped back, his remaining hand moved to his chest where he could feel his heart pounding through the fabric of his shirt. “Jesus H. Macy.” He breathed out.
Once the initial fear had passed, Dylan was immediately overcome with relief when he saw Ryan was one of the three. He was looking even more withdrawn than usual, but he was alive. With him was Laura and a man in uniform Dylan had never seen before. He wondered how they had called for help and, more importantly, what they might have told him that didn’t sound immediately crazy, but he didn’t get a chance to ask.
“I see you made it alright. How about the rest of your friends?” Laura asked. Looking at her now, she was doing her best to keep it together, but she looked in rough shape. Although, considering Dylan’s missing hand, maybe he had no right to say whether anyone looked rough or not, even if she was literally drenched in blood.
“Uh, Kaitlyn's good. Emma and Abi are here too and they’re alright. We just have to go look for the others and-” He watched as her gaze, which he was surprised to see she had two eyes again, moved past him to the lake and the secluded island in the middle of it. Clearly she had other things on her mind. “Caleb Hackett is here too. He’s…” The sheriff that was with them looked up quickly and pushed past them to get inside without saying a word.
“That’s Travis. Hackett.” Laura explained as her grip on the gun shifted. “Do you mind?” She gestured with her head toward the lake.
“Oh no, for sure. I think we’ll be okay now. Do you need someone to go with you?” He offered, but he hoped more than anything she wouldn’t take him up on it. Now that Ryan was here, all the bravery pushing him to step into the woods had fizzled out.
“Everything should be fine. If not…” She raised the shotgun as an answer. She had already proven that she was skilled with it and could more than handle herself. What help would Dylan be at this point anyway?
“Right. Make good choices.” Dylan watched her leave and suddenly he was alone with Ryan. He felt his heart skip a beat or two at the thought. How ridiculous to still feel nerves after everything that had happened. “So. Laura…”
“Huh?” Ryan’s head tilted a little, finally coming out of the daze he seemed to be in. “What about her?”
“She’s… cool. Badass. Definitely would have been the Final Girl if this was a horror movie.” Dylan was still full of anxious energy, swinging his arms a little as he spoke.
“Is this going somewhere?” Dylan could hear the exhaustion in Ryan’s voice and suddenly he was thinking that maybe he should bail. Did he really want to know Ryan’s thoughts on her anyway? If he was interested in her, it might hurt more to hear him say it out loud.
“Oh, no. Just making observations.” He shrugged, looking in the direction she had gone though she had already disappeared from view. “Like, if this was a horror movie, I would definitely be dead. The sarcastic comic relief and the gay guy? That’s a double death sentence right there.”
“Hey, you don’t know that. Maybe they cancel each other out.” Ryan suggested, his normal monotone had a bit more affectation to it now.
“No, no, I get a super brutal death. It’s rough. Some tears might even be shed.” Dylan gave an exaggerated sigh.
“Luckily we’re not in a movie then.” Ryan seemed to be giving him a once over and it made his skin itch. “You doing okay?” Ryan pointed to the bloody bandage that covered where his hand used to be.
“Yeah, of course.” Dylan raised his arm to get a better look at it, at least he was no longer squeamish at the sight of his missing limb. It was too bad it didn’t come back like Laura’s eye. This was going to take some getting used to and the gravity of it was only now starting to sink in. He managed to squash the panic for now, focusing on Ryan instead.
“Really?”
“I’m built different, you know? It’ll take more than a little amputation to bring me down and besides, what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” Dylan said in a peppy voice, but Ryan didn’t laugh. If anything, the joke made him look more morose. Dylan inwardly cringed, he needed to get better at reading the room when it came to Ryan. He cleared his throat and continued with a mostly genuine answer. “But really, I got some painkillers from the office and I am doing fine. I’d very much like to go to a hospital soon, but for now seeing you is healing enough.”
“I can never tell… if you’re joking or serious.” Ryan mumbled as he looked away.
“Huh?”
“When you say… that stuff. Is it Blasé Dylan or is it Dylan Dylan?” Dylan could swear that the slightest tinge of pink was tinting Ryan’s cool, brown skin.
“You mean the fact that I have been clearly flirting with you this entire summer?” Dylan asked with a raised eyebrow. He knew Ryan didn’t always pick up on things the same way as the others, but he also didn’t think he had been that subtle. “It’s Dylan Dylan.” There was sincerity in his voice now that he hoped Ryan could recognize. “I thought you were cute from day one, but yeah, no… sometime between your ghost stories and your being you…” He shrugged a shoulder. “I guess I should be glad my embarrassing crush wasn’t too obvious to you.”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind this summer.” Ryan started to look away again, but instead forced himself to make brief eye contact with Dylan. “I’ve been trying to decide whether to go to this animation school I got into or not. I don’t want to leave my sister but…” His words faded out as he looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You can talk to me about it, you know? I’d like to think we’re at least friends and that’s what friends are for.” Dylan scratched behind his ear with an awkward smile. “I can learn to shed the Blasé Dylan around you a little more. I can’t promise to not make any jokes, but you just have to let me know and I can turn it down a notch.”
“Okay, I might take you up on that later. I don’t really want to… with everything that just happened, I don’t really want to talk about it. Now doesn’t seem to be the time to try to figure out my future.”
“That’s cool too, I just wanted to put that offer out there. We can talk about something else.” Dylan rocked back on his heels, nervous about bringing the conversation back to the previous topic, but he had to know. “Does it bother you? The flirting?”
“Well… I mean… knowing that you mean it…” Ryan fumbled with his words for a moment. “It’s not… I just have to get used to another way of viewing it.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Dylan had been hoping for an outright ‘no’ and he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice. “I can lay off a bit if that would make you feel better.”
“No, it’s… it’s fine.” Ryan took in a sharp breath, suddenly nervous as well. He was quiet for a moment before suddenly holding his hand to his face like he was on the phone. Dylan tilted his head curiously at the gesture. “Hello? Oh, hey. Uh-huh. Okay. Yeah, I definitely agree. Dylan should give Ryan his number. I’ll let him know.” He pretended to hang up, a slight, awkward smile on his face. Dylan himself was fighting to keep from smiling. He appreciated the throwback to his terrible flirting from the night before more than Ryan probably realized.
“Who was that?”
“Um, a very important person. They told me you had to give me your number. Weird.” Ryan looked at Dylan expectantly and it was Dylan’s turn to have a slight blush on his cheeks.
“Well… I guess if it is that important, I can give you my number.” He finally let himself laugh as the both of them started into the lodge now. “Was it that lame when I pulled that move earlier?”
“Yes, it was, but it was kind of… it was cute when you did it. I just felt ridiculous.” Ryan chuckled as he closed the door. “Maybe I'll leave the flirting to you from now on.” Dylan’s smile turned into a goofy grin at the invitation to keep flirting.
“Finally.” Kaitlyn groaned as they approached. She looked between the two of them, easily noting the look on Dylan’s face. “If you guys are done making out, Officer Not-So-Friendly over there is making a plan to get us out of here.”
“Making- we weren’t making out.” Dylan said quickly, the red returning to his cheeks quickly.
“Oh sorry right, that’s just what you were wishing was happening.”
“Shut up.” He said, not so eloquently, as Kaitlyn laughed. “Can we just get an ambulance here so that I can get away from her please?” He plopped down on one of the benches, exhaustion finally hitting him.
“Here.” Ryan took a seat next to him as he offered out an earbud. “Want to share my earbuds until my phone dies?” Dylan took it with a soft thank you before taking the now offered phone to put his number in. At least something good had come from last night.
It wasn’t dating right away. Despite all of his flirting, Dylan was surprised to find that he didn’t mind taking some time. It was a chance for them to really get to know each other and become true friends. It was only once the investigation into the events at Hackett’s Quarry was over, which Travis Hackett was instrumental in making sure fell in their favor, that Ryan first asked Dylan on a date.
Almost a year later, despite the long distance, they were still going strong. One particular weekend, Ryan had come to the city to visit Dylan in the hopes of just spending some relaxing time together, but Dylan had apparently come up with plans for the two of them. Ryan hated surprises, and Dylan knew that, but this one felt necessary.
"Where are we going?" Ryan grumbled, holding Dylan’s hand with one hand and the other shoved in his pocket to try to keep it warm.
"We're just meeting some people. I found this online forum-” Ryan groaned loudly at his words.
"Dylan…" Hackett’s Quarry was in their past now and sometimes he wished it would stay there. While Ryan, who had always been the one interested in ghost stories and the supernatural, had found himself trying to distance himself from that world since that summer, Dylan had delved in deeper. He often sent Ryan links to different conspiracy forums and Ryan would humor him and go through them, but this was a new level.
"Listen, this is Dylan Dylan talking here. These guys seem legit. They went through something similar to us like 7 or 8 years ago. Look, let me show you.” Dylan freed his hand from Ryan’s to grab his phone. He pulled up an article he had bookmarked about a mysterious incident at a ski lodge back in 2014 and handed the phone to the other man. Ryan quickly skimmed the article. It was about teens who had been trapped at a ski lodge that had then exploded. One of them never made it out and the rest had been severely scarred emotionally and physically from whatever had happened at the lodge.
“Okay, but this doesn’t prove anything.” Ryan sighed as he locked the phone and tucked it back into Dylan’s pocket for him. “There have always been stories like that online, that doesn’t mean they’re true.”
“I did my research, Ryan. There was something weird that happened on that mountain and none of the news sources were clear on what happened.” He ruffled his own hair as he spoke. “I was able to track one of the people down and started talking to them though and that’s what confirmed it for me. They definitely saw something.”
“Yeah, because no one on the internet is ever crazy.” Ryan was exasperated, but he loved Dylan, for some reason. If this made him happy, he’d go along with it for now. “If you get us killed…”
“We’re meeting them in public at a bar. I don’t think they’re gonna murder us right surrounded by people. Besides, if we get bad vibes from them, we just get out of there.”
“And hope they don’t follow us back to your apartment and murder us then.” Dylan stopped to glare at Ryan at this. “Fine, keep leading the way. Maybe next time just give me more warning when you’re dragging me to meet strangers from the internet.”
“We’re here.” As they entered the nearly empty bar, Ryan got a bad feeling again.
“Surrounded by people, huh?” He watched Dylan look around for a moment before the man took his hand and started to lead him to a booth in the corner. The two they approached were several years older than them. One was a man with dark brown hair, the scruff on his face gave him a look that Ryan was sure Dylan had made a mistake, this man was definitely going to murder someone. The woman, however, put him a little more at ease. She had her blonde hair pulled back from her face in a loose ponytail. Her face, while serious, looked a little kinder at least.
“Hey… I think we’re supposed to be meeting you here.” Ryan caught the slight tremor in Dylan’s voice as he tried to not let his nerves show.
"Proably.” The woman spoke as she studied them closely. It took everything for Ryan to not immediately turn and leave. Apparently she saw whatever she needed to see as she gestured between her and her friend. “I’m Sam Giddings and this is my friend Mike Munroe."
“Dylan Leviny.” Dylan shifted to bring Ryan more into view. “This is Ryan Erzahler.” Ryan waved half heartedly.
“Well, have a seat and we can talk about… your experience.” Sam put it delicately. It was an odd dance they were doing, neither group really wanting to start an earnest discussion, just in case the other was crazy.
“Why’d you agree to meet with us?” Ryan asked, letting Dylan slide into the booth first so he would be able to hold Dylan’s hand through this.
“Because I showed them the picture that Emma took of… it.“ Dylan corrected himself before naming anyone. Max already felt bad enough about attacking Emma that night, he didn’t need that information to be shared with these strangers.
“It was pretty compelling, at least at first glance.” The man named Mike finally spoke. He rubbed his face before looking over the two of them. “What got you? The photo didn’t look like… what we encountered.”
“Well first, what did you guys come up against?” Dylan asked curiously. “You saw our evidence, I think we’re owed a little something in return.”
“Fair enough.” Sam reached into the bag next to her, pulling out an old notebook. She flipped through a few pages before pushing it across for them to see. Ryan immediately began to thumb through the pages. “This is information someone before us had managed to learn, but then we did our own research after and have since added to it. We don’t say the name anymore. It’s a Native American spirit associated with cannibalism and in their beliefs saying the name invites the spirit. Not wanting to take any chances, we came up with a new name. We call them-”
“Lecters.” Mike was grinning proudly, a hint of the less serious man he might have been once upon a time. Sam looked as though she was trying to stop her eyes from rolling out of her head.
“Yeah, that.” Sam sighed softly. “It’s a little ridiculous, but it is what it is.”
“Cannibal spirits? Are you serious?” Ryan shook his head as he pushed the note book back to Sam. “Dylan, come on.” He went to slide out of the booth, but a hand gently rest on his arm as Dylan stopped him.
“Is it really any less believable than werewolf?” Dylan pleaded. “Come on, we gotta hear them out.”
“Sorry, werewolf?” Mike laughed in disbelief and it set Ryan’s teeth on edge. The man hadn’t done anything to prove what he was saying was true, besides a journal that looked like the scrawlings of a mad man. On the other hand, Dylan had at the very least shown them the picture of Max. It was aggravating to hear that he didn’t believe them.
“Mike, you saw the photo.” Sam looked at Mike with a small shrug of her shoulders. “You have to admit that it did look a little wolf-like… in a weird naked mole rat way.”
“Yeah, and that was one that had only been cursed for a couple of months. Apparently the longer they were cursed, the more the features changed.” Dylan made the motion of a snout in front of his face.
“Hm.” Mike made a small noise. Maybe he wasn’t fully sold on them yet, despite Sam seeming to believe in them. Ryan was starting to lose his patience with him though. “Werewolves though, really?”
“Yes, really.” Ryan scoffed.
“Listen, listen.” Sam interrupted before either side got more heated. “I’m far more willing to believe just about anything at this point. They could be a bunch of kids trying to make a joke of us, but I remember that look.” Mike looked at her before looking at the two across from them again.
“What look? Trauma? Disbelief? Trying to come to terms with the fact that the world is not what we thought it was?” His expression softened a little, maybe finally seeing whatever it was she saw. “Is that what happened to your hand?”
“Mike, a little subtly, jeez.”
“My hand? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Dylan blinked innocently as he set the amputated arm on the table. “Something wrong with my hand?”
“It was the first thing I noticed, that’s all.” Mike raised his hand now to show that he was missing most of two fingers. “I was an idiot. I got my hand caught in a trap that had been set out to capture one of the creatures. Had to cut myself out with a machete.”
“Ouch.” Dylan flinched at the thought of having to do it himself. His experience had been traumatic enough without that. He raised the stump, looking at it as he carefully chose his words. “My hand got bit, I saw something spreading and I panicked. I believed that I would get infected if I didn’t cut it off. Which we learned was right, by the way.” He looked at Ryan now who was decidedly not looking at him. “I told Ryan to cut it off with a chainsaw and here we are.”
“Jesus…” Mike muttered softly, flexing his fingers at the thought.
“I didn’t want…” Ryan started, but he was still looking away. It didn’t matter how often Dylan told him he didn’t blame him. It was still hard for him to face what he had done. “It’s not like it was that easy to do…”
“I am the one who told you to do it and I’m glad you did. Who knows how the night would have gone if I had turned? I like to think I was instrumental in saving us for sure.” Dylan’s joking fell flat so he turned serious now, squeezing Ryan’s hand under the table. “But really, if we want to start blaming people, the party was my idea in the first place. If we had just gone inside like Mr. H asked and you wanted, we might never have had any of it happen.”
“How about…” Sam gently butt in again. “Instead of casting any blame or anything like that, we’ll tell you our story and then you can tell us what happened to you.”
“We can compare notes.” Mike added as he pulled out a notebook of his own. “Things will never be normal again.” He gestured to himself. “I recognize I look a little crazed-conspiratorist and I wasn’t always that way. So, you won’t ever feel normal again, but we can talk about what helped us get back into the world at least.”
Sam watched as the table slowly relaxed. “Maybe after, if you’re interested, we can start a group chat with any of our friends and your friends that want to talk, how does that sound?”
“Okay.” Dylan was nodding almost eagerly now. Even Ryan himself was finding his opinion changing. “Tell us your story.”
“Well,” Sam breathed in sharply as she crossed her arms on the table. “It all started with a bad prank and two girls going missing…”