Ohhhhh myyyyyy hearrrrrrttttt

Omg, that was so sad and beautiful. I feel like crying. Bravo to you sir or madam!

.God.
I can literally not describe how good this is. I AM CRYING RIGHT NOW

This mountain, Blackwood Mountain is evil, pure evil, the worst Hell on Earth. The Mountain of Purgatory is what it should be called because that's how I see it. Purgatory for the people who come to that cursed mountain is the worst Hell on Earth where Men, Women, and Children are imprisoned there to suffer, die, and/or give in to the evil that plagues their souls. This Godforsaken mountain should be forbidden, abandoned, and forgotten from existence unless it is forever cleansed of the evil spirits that haunt it. The Evil Spirit of the Wendigo must be sent back into the Dark Abyss of Hell from once they came! Unless that works, unless the evil of nightmarish monsters are vanquished from the face of the World, Blackwood Mountain must be destroyed! It is necessary to destroy an uncivilized and unstable area or place before it's disease spreads epidemically across the land and sky. Some people and things are beyond saving and must be aloud to die. No more bad and burdening memories, no more pain, no more hate, no more fear, and no more monsters.

WHY did it take me so long to read this? UGH, my HEART!
I gotta say, I was really curious who was with Sam! I just automatically assumed it was Josh, but MAN! It being Hannah was so. much. better. And you know how much I love JAM, lol. It's just... it was so sad and unexpected. You really did great at building up the suspense and so eloquently and ultimately just LOVELY. You have always been so great at conjuring up such a picture in my head when I'm reading your work. It's something I've always loved.
I also love that at the beginning of this story, even after reading the synopsis, the reader ASSUMES it's taking place at the beginning of the game, when Sam is riding the bus up to Josh's weekend the year after Hannah and Beth went missing. Once the reader realizes that she's there AGAIN, after everything and she is the only one left it kinda hits you right in the gut. Leave it to Sam to be brave enough to face it one more time. It's as though she knows she will never be able to move on with her like unless she does.
When you describe the sandbag swinging at the shooting range and Sam getting the chills, *I* got the chills. Maybe my office is drafty. Or maybe you are just that awesome. But really, her kinda going on this tour de memories of all of them as she goes up the mountain is so so sad. I know it's hard for you to kill off your babies, but I'm so glad you did for this story to exist. It is makin' me feel some sorta way.
The guilt Sam feels is heartbreaking, and I can only imagine what was in her satchel. I LOVE this story, her survivor's guilt and her returning to the place she feels she "committed a murder" but in the end she was no different that Mike - Just doing what she had to do to survive and then having to live with the consequences. Hannah's cryptic, internal monologue the entire time was haunting and so beautiful. And I know it was brief but I LOVED when she said "I'm not Josh. I don't know where he is." There was something so tragic about that statement. His whole purpose of revenge was for his sisters, and to realize he's in some kind of afterlife devoid of them was... ugh. My heart. Or he's down in the mines as a wendigo. You stayed really canon with this, which I also love.
And when she said "Hannah?" I found myself inwardly cheering. It is so underrated, their friendship! She was her best friend and they way she somehow saved her was just perfect.
This was truly beautiful. Thank you for writing it!

There's a knot in my stomach. This story was so good. I haven't read a story that has caused me to react so much in a long time. This was really great. I was expecting it to be Josh, then when it was revealed not be Josh I assumed Mike. Hannah surprised me and it was the best kind of surprise. Thank you flr writing this!