His Solace.

Summary: Everyone knows the story of the eight teens who reunited in the place where their two friends went missing the year before. But what many don't know is what transpired in the year in between these two tragedies. The relationship between the group's rock Sam and the older brother of the missing girl's takes on a new light at the two lean on each other for some kind of comfort with their demons.

Hello everyone! My name is LittleMoonLover and I have written several stories here on ! The Until Dawn series has intrigued me from the get-go and despite not having the money to afford the game I've watched several playthroughs and know the story pretty well at this point. So if there is any inconsistencies in this story I apologize, anything that is changed or modified in this story is either intentional or great for the story. Basically I just was really interested in the relationship between Sam and Josh-what happened in the year before to make them so close and just how close were they before Josh decided to betray them all? And what will happen when Sam is faced with a choice in the present day that could change her life forever? I hope you enjoy!

Also: Each chapter will have a song title that helped me either write the song or something that inspired me to write it. Included will be lyrics at the beginning of each section!

Lost it All - Black Veil Brides

I'm just trying to breathe,

Just trying to figure it out

Because I built these walls to watch them crumbling down.

Sam watched as the cabin went up in flames, the sheer heat of it licking her face and warming her front while the cold bit at her back. Everyone else stood huddled together and watched it burn as the screams of the Wendigos-of Hannah-finally faded with their death's.

"Is it finally over?" Ashley's quavering voice asked over the sound of wood cracking and popping.

"I think so." Chris replied and put an arm around her and she leaned into his warmth and comfort. Somewhere deep inside Sam registered the new relationship with a mental 'finally', but then she registered what had been said and a face flashed through her mind.

"No. It's not over yet." She looked at everyone as they turned to her with confused expressions "Josh is still out there-somewhere-We've got to find him."

"No we don't need to find him." Mike stepped forwards "We don't owe that psychopath anything, he probably caused all this!"

But Sam was already turning back towards the forest "He's just as much a victim as you or I Mike. He needs help not to just be left in the woods."

"Sam! Come back!" Mike called as Sam broke out into a jog, disappearing into the blackness the last thing she heard from the survivors was "He's probably dead!"

Forty-five minutes later Sam stood at the edge of the mines. I do not want to do this. She groaned inwardly, her skin breaking out into goosebumps. It almost seemed like she knew these mines like the back of her hand at this point since she'd run through them enough in the last six hours.

"All the wendigos are gone Sam." she muttered to herself as she hunkered down onto the lip of the cave and slid down inside, pulling a metal bar with her-just to be safe.

"Josh!" she called shuddering as her voice echoed loudly off of the icy underground walls. A moment later a weak groan responded to her calls.

Following the noise Sam prayed silently that the groan was Josh and not another monster.

"Josh?" she asked as she rounded a curve, flashing her light around the small alcove until she found him curled up in the fetal position.

Her breath hitched in her throat and she hurried over to him, kneeling on the icy stone and rolling him onto his back. A finger pressed to his throat revealed that he was still alive, just unconscious, but his face was pinched with pain. Sam ran her hands down his arms and legs looking for potential injuries and found none.

"Josh?" she asked "Josh. I need you to open your eyes."

With a little groan his eyes fluttered open "Sam? Is that really you?"

A sigh of relief whooshed out of her but her relief was short-lived as Josh groaned with pain again, curling in on himself as if he was being tortured by some unknown pain. Sam watched in horror as Josh's body seemed to fade for a moment, replaced by a horrible monster, before phasing back into human.

"Oh god… Josh what happened to you?" She managed to gasp out.

"H-Hannah did something to me." The image of the wendigo-Hannah flashed painfully through Sam's mind.

"Well, how do we fix it?"

"I don't know."

Sam sat there for a few minutes with Josh cradled in her lap, she still didn't know why she was working to hard to save him-he'd tormented everyone for the first part of the night. But every time she tried to completely banish him from her thoughts an image of the past year would flash through her mind…

I said, "Then I lost it all."
Who can save me now?

1 year ago…

"Josh?" Sam knocked on the large, ornate front door that adorned the Washington's too-large home. "Josh. I know you're in there… please open the door."

It'd been two weeks ever since Beth and Hannah had gone missing. They'd stayed on the mountain for three days trying to help the search and rescue teams find the girls but eventually they'd been sent home. Beth and Hannah Washington were national news and everyone seemed to have an opinion on what exactly happened to them.

Sam had been trying to give Josh space but it'd been two weeks and no one had heard from him.

Sam leaned her forehead against the door "Please, just let me in."

A moment later, much to her surprise, the door clicked open and a grungy looking Josh peered out. His eyes had big dark bags underneath them and his cheekbones looked as if he was sucking them in. He looked at her with eyes that seemed almost lifeless.

"Oh Josh." Her voice cracked as she pushed open the door all the way and threw her arms around his shoulders. It was strange, Josh had always been the strong and confident one. Always protecting his sisters and, by extension, Sam.

He didn't react for a moment, standing rigidly in the doorway. But then his arms slowly slid around her and he was crushing her to him as if he was holding on for dear life. Josh's shoulders shook with silent sobs as Sam squeezed him tighter.

After what seemed like forever Josh finally released her before taking an awkward step backwards, sheepishly wiping at his wet cheeks.

"I'm not usually such a sissy." He spoke his first words since she'd last seen him.

"You're not a sissy." She replied curtly, wiping at her own tears, she looked around the living room which was a mess. Clothes lay everywhere, glass was shattered on the floor and one of the antique bookshelves was pushed over.

"Josh," she gasped with shock "What happened here? Did you do this?"

Josh shrugged, looking away guiltily. Sam set her bag down on the floor and rolled up her sleeves. "Come on we're going to clean this up before your parents get home."

"Fat chance of that." Josh's voice dripped venomously, "They haven't been home since the twins disappeared. I guess work is too important to them."

Sam's heart broke for him, it was true Jonathan and Marielle Washington did work all the time. How else could they afford all the opulence that surrounded them? But even now? With Beth and Hannah missing? She just couldn't believe it. "Everyone grieves differently…" She said softly placing a hand on his arm before tugging him towards the mess.

"Come on we'll clean this up and then you are going to take a shower while I try to get my hands on some food for you. I bet you haven't eaten anything in a couple of days have you? Didn't think so."

Thirty minutes later Sam shooed Josh away to go take a shower while she finished cleaning up the demolished living room. Some irreplaceable vases had been shattered but there wasn't much she could do about it now. Bending over to pick a picture frame up off the floor her heart plummeted through her feet when she saw the picture.

It was them, her, Beth, Hannah and Josh when they were about seven years old. They'd been taken to the beach that day by Sam's parents and her mother had insisted they all get in for a picture. Beth, who hated having her photo taken, glowered at the camera while a laughing Hannah through her arm around her shoulder. Josh was standing behind the girls giving Sam 'bunny ears' with his fingers.

Sam's legs shook as she sat down on the leather sofa and ran a finger over the twin's faces.

"That was Beth's favorite picture." Josh's voice made her jump as he emerged from his shower rubbing a towel through his wet curls.

"It is Beth's favorite picture." Sam corrected him, refusing to even think about them being dead.

"Yeah."

Sam stood and set the photo back onto the shelf, "I ordered some pizza it should be here in a few minutes."

"Thanks but I'm not really hungry."

"You need to eat Josh, it's not healthy to just skip meals." Sam placed a comforting hand on his forearm and he shook her off.

"I don't need for you to take care of me Sam. I can handle myself."

"You obviously can't Josh." Sam replied, hurt by his rebuff.

"You know what Sam? You should just go. I'd like to be alone." He turned his back to her then.

Sam stood there for a moment with shock, he'd never pushed her away like this before. She debated staying and arguing with him-trying to get through to him some way some how. But instead she just decided to come and check on him again in a few days.

"Okay." She said with a whoosh of breath, "I'll go. But please eat the pizza if not for yourself but for me? I'd hate to see anything happen to you too. If you ever need to talk please… talk to me."

With that she turned and left, letting the door click shut quietly and leaving Josh in that massive house by himself.

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! There will be more to come when I have a free moment but I highly encourage all critiques and comments!

Here is a little preview of the next chapter's song inspiration:

I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me, and see a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight

Have a lovely week everyone and don't forget to read & review!

- LittleMoonLover -