Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Frank, please let me go! Let me see Duncan and Mother! This isn’t fair!”

Amy’s cries filled the empty air surrounding White Peaks, the once popular tourism attraction had been closed off for weeks. People shared the sparse sprinkles of news they could receive, but all vital information remained dispersed among the higher ups. With little information about what happened, there wasn’t much the Pacific Bay police department could do. However, they couldn’t stop the yelling from the scene Amy had caused outside. Lined with yellow tape, the bold “CRIME SCENE” appearing every 3 inches didn’t make the scene look any prettier.

The department stood outside the main entrance, peeking into the dark fog covering what used to be the snowy trails and rugged mountains. They couldn’t help but squint and ponder what was going on inside there. The only one who knew anything was Andrea. She stood solemnly with her arms crossed, holding a blank expression to not try and give anything away to the rest of the department of what was going on in there. She was the only one who knew anything about what had happened, yet she refused to tell the others.

Out of the group, Amy was absolutely taking it the worst. Ever since she found out, she had been pleading to be let in. However, Andrea forbade her from even trying to go inside. The department had decided this was going to be the last day they visited before they let the problem figure itself out. While it wasn’t protocol and definitely not what they should have done, it was the only choice that wouldn’t result in a death on the team.

Frank held Amy in his arms. He resembled a bear trying to protect its young, as Amy violently kicked and yelled, hiccuping between tears to at least see her family one last time. Everyone knew she hadn’t fully processed that she wasn’t going to see them again, and they knew they let that lie go on for too long as the days turned into weeks.

“Amy, you can’t go in there. Andrea has said it time and time again. You need to calm down.”

“You don’t understand, Frank! If it was your family, you’d react the same way! You have to understand!”

Frank stayed quiet. He knew Amy was right, but this wasn’t his family. He knew he wouldn’t be much of help if he kept talking, but he didn’t let go. Amy’s kicks and screams slowly declined until they turned into silent sobs into Frank’s chest. Frank embraced her as she just melted into him with sorrow. His face didn’t say much, but his mind knew that this wasn’t good for anyone in the department.

Andrea stayed quiet. No matter how much Amy asked about what was going on, she didn’t say anything that had happened to her family.
She knew this “virus” was affecting everyone.
She knew the “virus” had started to completely take over.
Most importantly, she knew the “virus” had started with Duncan.

Chapter Text

The sound of my pencil hitting the paper filled the silence that sat between Roberto and me. I was engaged in my novel while Roberto stared at his sister, gliding across the ice. Her skates violently hit the solid ice that sat on top of the lake, breaking the quiet cold air that sat between the three of us.
White Peaks has gotten quiet over the past few weeks, it isn’t unusual for certain towns, however the whole district has been at a standstill. I tried asking around, even as a tourist I could tell something was up. However everyone I asked either didn’t know, or wasn’t willing to tell. I soon quit bothering to ask about it, I never got an answer that satisfied me about this weird feeling. When I wasn’t asking around, I started hanging out with Roberto and Juan to get this whole situation out of my mind. They seem to know something is up too, but we’re all keeping our silence about what we assume is going on.
We continued our individual tasks, the silence continued to be broken only by the sounds of skates hitting the ice and my frisk pencil movements.

“HELP ME! HE’S TRYING TO KILL ME!”

A feminine screech can be heard at the other end of the ice pond, all of our heads abruptly turn to see a lanky woman appear from the outskirts, her purple ski suit making her standout against the white and green surrounding us. Her eyes shooting tears as she ran up to us, almost tripping on the ice as she scampered away from whatever was chasing her.
I shot up and went to her aid as quick as I could, Juan and Roberto sliding to the side as she approached. She desperately latched onto my arms, wailing about some man trying to hurt her. I could barely understand her between the sobs and gags breaking up her sentences. I tried to get her to calm down, but she was too riled up to compose herself in the moment.

“Anjulie! You can’t run forever!”

A playful voice could be heard from where the girl ran from. The girls head quickly shot up, her teeth clenching as she briskly swooped behind me, leaning against me so whoever that was couldn’t see her. I was being played as a human shield to whatever situation I was thrown in.

Juan and Roberto slowly backed up and left me in the forefront of whatever situation was about to be brought upon me. I desperately swallowed the spit in my mouth as I waited for whatever fate was going to meet me.

A blonde man appeared out of the forestry, brushing his hair to the side as he used his cane to approach us. Despite this mobility aid, he was disturbingly fast.

He approached me with a snobby yet charming smirk, looking me up and down before saying anything, his eyes burned into me as I watched them move. They were completely blue, with multiple white irises moving in them. I didn’t want to look at them for long as just even seeing it from a distance made me nauseous.
His gaze finally met mine, I could feel the girl behind me dig her hands into my back. Trying to keep my composure, I smiled at him as a desperate plea for some sort of mercy.

“You have something I want, and I’m giving you a chance to give me her before I take matters into my own hands.” He demanded, his words sharp and cold, stabbing into my chest.

“I’m sorry? I think there’s a misunderstanding here.”

“No misunderstanding, you have that girl, give me her.”

I didn’t know her, but it would be shitty of me to give her up after she just screamed that he was trying to kill her. I couldn’t fight, but at least if something did happen I would go down as a hero to maybe three people.

The silence irritated the man, his face contorting into some sort of angered smirk, he wasn’t used to being told no.

“Give her to me.” His face dropped, finally letting go of that smirk, his eyes not moving from mine.

“I’m sorry but no.” I stood my ground, not letting him get a chance to pull me away from her, I slightly nudged my body back moving the woman along with me.

He shook his head and laughed to himself, standing taller as he looked back up. He glanced between Juan, Roberto, me, and what little he could see of the woman behind me. Knowing he had all of us in a vulnerable position, he placed back on a smile, placing his hand in front of mine.

“You know what, I’m sorry. I’m coming off too aggressive, I’m Duncan. Duncan Young.”

He reached his hand out to mine, trying to initiate some sort of handshake with me. His fingers were completely white, with the white continuing up his hands making vein-like lines. I couldn’t see past his sleeve, but I assumed then continued on from there.

I didn’t reach my hand out, but I softened my posture, trying to ease the atmosphere created between us.

“Paula.” I answered, continuing to stare at his hand.

“Good! Now we’re on a first name basis. Give me Anjulie, Paula.”

The girl tightened her grip as what I assumed was her name was spoken. I still wasn’t just going to give her to him to save myself and just two other people.

“Again, no.”

Duncan just stared at me for a second before loosening his grip on his cane, cocking his head to the side and giving me a snobbish pity look.

“Fine then! I have other matters to handle too, I’m not going to sit here and bicker with you when I have other people that I can torment. You keep Anjulie and see how good she does you.”

I just stared at him with a concerned look, I didn’t bother to respond, I didn’t want to screw anything up.

“This matter isn’t over Paula, just you wait and see.”

He walked off after that, None of us dared to move or speak until he was entirely out of view. Roberto stepped off the ice, Juan following behind him, approaching me and the other girl.
Juan had a gentle concerned look, giving a glance at me then darting her eyes to the other woman. Roberto didn’t bother to do anything, shaken up by whatever stood before us a second ago.
The girl let off my back after Juan and Roberto moved, gently brushing her hair back out of her face and wiping under her eyes, a measly attempt to fix the eyeliner and lashes she was wearing.

I decided to break the silence between us.

“Anjulie, is it?”

“Yeah.” She responded, her accent was heavy but her words were gentle. She seemed to have her head back on her shoulders as we spoke.

“What… the hell was that.?!” Juan interrupted us, fiddling with her fake nails that she was wearing.

“My guess is as good as yours.” Roberto scoffed, obviously annoyed at his sister's boisterous remark.

“I don’t really know either, I was hanging out with my girlfriend until he startled us both, lunging at her in specific. I just got up and started running, I don’t understand how he was that close behind me.” Anjulie grabbed a strand of hair and started to rapidly braid it, an attempt at trying to ease her nerves recalling the story.

“I’m so sorry that happened. You can stay with us if that would help you feel better!” I smiled, gently placing my hand on her shoulder.

Anjulie’s face seemed to soften, wiping away the leftover tears before giving me a weak smile. Juan and Roberto stood behind her, just staring at the two of us. Juan flared her nose and Roberto just cocked his head. I could tell they didn’t like me just abruptly adding someone to our circle, but this seemed desperate.

“Uh. I don’t think it’s safe to stay here anymore.” Juan chimed. She looked around, paranoid that Duncan might catch us off guard.

“Let’s start heading somewhere else, at least just away from here.”

I quickly gathered my things, and the others followed suit before letting me lead them off to another safe location.

Chapter Text

“I swear to Christ himself I have seen that rock three times now! We are walking in circles!” Juan cried, obviously agitated at our current situation.

“Well if you would like to help that would be lovely, your majesty.” Roberto gave into his sister’s grief, making it worse with his sarcastic remarks.

“Stop it you two, I can’t focus with both of you yelling in my ear.” I spoke, getting them to stop before their argument got worse.

I flipped through the guidebook in my hands, Anjulie peered over my shoulder, looming quietly as she also pondered where we were. I didn’t want to admit it, but we were lost.
The forest around us was thick and seemed to go on for miles, it felt like we were mice lost in a power plant. Running around in circles was the best I could do.
My finger skated along the pages of my guidebook, desperately flipping through to find any sign of where we could go. I was looking for any answer, no matter how weird it was.

I tried asking around, but the locals were just as hard as the ice. None of them believed me when I pleaded in front of them, even with the others backing me up. The responses were bleak, no help whatsoever.

“You’re fucking with me aren’t you? You have GOT to be fucking with me. Get out.”
“Uh- look I’m going to go now, I’m sorry I’m just not into the whole roleplaying scene.”
“I’m just following my girlfriend around, sorry man.”

I wondered why I even bothered asking.

“Ah! Look here!”
The others gathered around me quickly, I could feel the warmth of their bodies on all sides of me, giving me a weird sense of hope in this mess.

I pointed at one of the paragraphs on the page, accompanied by an image of a rather homely looking building, set up as a “Tourism Office”.

“Logan’s Pass, that’s where we need to go.” My finger kept on the paragraph, circling the photo as I finally found an answer.

“Logan’s Pass? That Place? Are you sure?” Juan doubted me, her voice nasally giving back.
“That place is practically a ghost town. Nobody goes there anymore because it basically sucks.” She snickered after the fact, I cocked my head in response.

“I know it sounds dumb on paper, but would you rather just keep walking until we die of scabies or starvation?” I snapped back,a tad agitated at Juan’s snobby response.

“Oh Roberto’s not dying of starvation anytime soon.”

My eyes widened, Anjulie slapped her hand over her mouth, we both held back a sorry laugh. Roberto very visibly got angry at his sister, but didn’t do anything in response. Just a deep glare, it was off-putting but I didn’t think too much of it.

“Whatever, I’m heading to Logan’s Pass, whether you come or not is not my issue at this point.” I stood my ground, I wasn’t going to let Juan walk all over me like she does her brother.

“I think it’s a great idea, Paula. We can start heading there to look for some sort of answer.” Anjulie finally chimed in to help me out, Juan’s face grew disgruntled.

“Fine.”

A silence sat between us after Juan gave in, I looked at the others before awkwardly turning towards where we were supposed to be heading. The three followed suit behind me, Juan dragging towards the back as Anjulie and Roberto kept right behind me, chatting about whatever they could to keep it from going quiet again.

–

We had been walking for a while, slowly trudging towards the way to Logan’s Pass. Juan had finally decided to let up and join the conversation going on between everyone.
It was a bunch of casual talk, mainly all of us asking Anjulie questions about her life because we didn’t know her as well. Turns out she’s wildly famous, woman of the year level famous. I was in awe of her, but there were bigger matters at hand.

The conversation stayed upbeat until Roberto decided to ask something a little different.

“So Anjulie, not to… trigger anything, but could you tell us about what happened right before you were getting chased?”

The air between us suddenly went thick, Anjulie sighed before bringing her hands to her chest and slowing down to a halt, her gaze didn’t dare to meet any of ours after the question rang in the silence that quickly followed.

It completely ruined what pace we had, I decided quickly to try and dismantle the situation.

“Roberto I don’t think now is a good ti-”
“No, it’s fine.”

Anjulie interrupted me, reaching her hand in my direction.

“Uh- I was with my girlfriend, Sharon. We were just hanging out just the two of us. Something happened beforehand and she wanted to go out to get our minds off of things. I appreciated the offer, and decided to go with her.”

Every sentence was broken by shaky breaths, this was heavy on her. I placed my hand on her shoulder to give her some sense of comfort, and to let her know I was listening to every word.

“She’s so dumb.” She gave an uneasy laugh. “She wanted to go somewhere we had never gone before on our walks. I agreed, and I wish I didn’t.”

Her face scrunched up before she reached her hands under her eyes, trying to stop herself from crying.

“Before I knew it that blonde man jumped out to attack us, I panicked and ran off and left Sharon to deal with him.”

At this point in the story she was full on crying, the three of us stared at her, not knowing how to properly handle this emotional breakdown.

“God I feel so stupid for just leaving her like that, all I can hear ringing in my ears is her yelling my name. I left her to die! Fuck!”

Anjulie leaned down and hunched over, her sobbing was loud, and took force over her body. I leaned down with her to have somebody there on her level, Juan slightly leaned over, Roberto didn’t move, both of them trying to give some sort of comfort, but not putting much effort into it.

“Anjulie you were in some sort of fight or flight, it’s not your fault.” I tried to bring her an answer.

“Sharon’s dead because of me, Paula.”

“But what if she’s not?”

Anjulie calmed down after I broke that to her, looking up at me from her hands that she had cupped over her face.

“She’s not?”

“I mean, I don’t know.” Which was true. “But Duncan doesn’t seem like the type to immediately kill people. He didn’t even mention killing you earlier. I think he’s going to just use her for his operation.” I paused. “While still horrible, it means she’s not dead.”

I didn’t know if this answer was one hundred percent true, but it was better than whatever Anjulie had conjured up in her head.

“...Could we find her?” Anjulie squeaked, her face softened as she pleaded to me.

I glanced at Juan and Roberto. Roberto shrugged his shoulders, while Juan didn’t dare to look away from Anjulie. I took it as a yes.

“Of course, We’ll find her.”

Anjulie’s face lit up, still wiping her tears as I helped her get herself up. We set back on the path, gently continuing the conversation we had before Anjulie’s meltdown. Heading forth towards Logan’s Pass with another mission in mind.

I pray that Sharon shows up somewhere.