Chapter Forty-One: The Doctor

(Ending, Part 4)

***

They were going to get arrested.

That was the only thing running through Hayden's head. They were all going to get arrested, despite the evidence, despite what they said. The cops didn't believe them and wouldn't anyway even if they directly said werewolves were responsible, they were all heading to jail.

Hayden breathed in and out shakily, watching as the cops walked around, as the government agents and the Delgados watched them, Dr. Delgado giving them all a kind smile, as if trying to assure them everything would be okay.

Hayden highly doubted that. That, after last night, they'd be truly okay.

"If only the van had been working, maybe we might..." Abi mumbled, looking as terrified as Hayden felt.

At that, Emma looked again at Jacob and hissed, "Tell them, Jacob."

"What? Tell us what?" Kaitlyn demanded.

Jacob looked away, eyes shuttering with guilt as he said, "I... I didn't intend for any of last night to happen."

Something cold slithered into Hayden's bloodstream as Laura and Max looked confused while steadily growing realisation dawned on Kaitlyn's face as she said, "Oh Jacob. You didn't."

"I... I just wanted one more night with Emma. One more chance. Stupid now, I know, but I just..." Jacob sighed, guilt wracking his features as a roaring filled Hayden's ears right before Jacob confessed, "I took the rotor arm from the van and left us stuck here."

Dead silence. Then,

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

That came from Nora, who glared fire and brimstone at Jacob as Ryan yelled, "Dude! What the fuck?!"

"What the hell were you thinking, Jacob?!" Kaitlyn shouted. "That hypothetical back at the van... God, you asshole!"

"Seriously man, what the actual fuck?!" Dylan exclaimed.

"You're the reason we were stuck here and Nick, Emma and I were bitten and turned into werewolves?!" Sarah yelled, temper flaring.

"I got turned into a monster and nearly killed my sister and the girl I love because you left us stuck here!" Nick yelled, Allison pressing a hand against his chest, as if to calm him down—only to whirl on Jacob, fire spitting from her eyes.

"We nearly died several times last night! Ryan would have died if it weren't for infection! Dylan lost his hand and Abi will never walk properly again and will have a limp for the rest of her life, and so will you if you don't lose that foot! We're now being accused of murder after what we did to survive and save everyone infected! And it could have all been avoided if you never fucking messed with the van just to restart something that had thoroughly ended?! That's what you're saying?! Are for fucking real?!" Allison screeched.

"Jacob, that's just fucked up," Abi said, those words saying enough of her anger.

"I'm sorry, guys. I made a stupid mistake. I'm sorry," Jacob whispered, hunching in, guilt all over his face.

Hayden was silent as she stood up and walked to Jacob, her body trembling, fists clenched. Jacob looked up, and said, "Hayden—"

Hayden's fist eradicated whatever apology he could have made.

"Whoa!" Max yelled as Nick, Dylan, Kaitlyn, Allison and Emma stood up, all of them staring at Jacob, nearly off his seat as he rubbed his cheek from where Hayden clocked him in the side of the face, wincing as he mumbled, "I... I deserve that."

"Yeah you fucking do and more, you motherfucker!" Hayden exploded, grabbing the front of his shirt and glaring at him as she roared, "You made me and Nick miss our flight back home! You made sure we were all stuck here last night and either nearly died or got bitten and turned into monsters! All so you wanted to get some with Emma?!"

"Hayden—"

"I NEARLY LOST MY BROTHER BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID!" Hayden screamed. "I nearly lost Nick last night because of you! I had to watch him be turned into a monster and be terrified I would never get him back, that he'd be stuck as a monster forever! I could have fucking lost him!"

Snarling, she spat out, "Dylan may have said we should do a bonfire party instead of staying in the lodge, but you made sure we were all fucking stuck here to do it!  It's your fault! All your fault!"

"Hayden—"

Hayden let go, only to punch Jacob again. Her knuckles throbbed and through the haze of painkillers her wounded right arm ached with pain, but anger numbed it more effectively than any painkiller, as she thundered, "We all could have died last night because of you. You selfish, inconsiderate, motherfucking son of a—"

"HAYDEN!"

Nick and Dylan and Ryan pulled her back away from Jacob, who now sported a blooming black eye, looking both terrified and extremely guilty.

Despite her injured arms, Hayden wrestled free of their grips—but before she could lunge at Jacob again, arms wrapped around her.

"LET ME GO!" Hayden shrieked. "Let me go so I can kill him!"

"Well, considering my profession, I can't advise that."

Realising the doctor was holding her, Hayden thrashed as she snarled, "Let me go, Doc"

"Not until—"

"I WANT TO KILL HIM!" Hayden roared. "I want to kill him and he should have died last night, he should have—"

"He didn't and be grateful for that!" Dr. Delgado shouted, saying in her ear, "Be grateful that by some miracle you all got out alive, including him! Be grateful he's alive so that he can face the consequences of leaving you stuck here and regretting that choice and wanting to fix things, to atone for them. Be grateful that he's alive. Be grateful that you, at least, have him back. Not like..."

The woman's voice cut off, something strained and grief-heavy weighing on her before she whispered, "Just be grateful."

At that, Hayden stopped fighting. At the lack of fight, Dr. Delgado let her go, letting Hayden see the firm look in her face, the shadows of regret and grief, old and yet still sharp, still haunting her face, clinging to her as she whispered again, "Be grateful."

Hayden stared at the doctor in a new light, and whispered, "Who did you lose?"

Dr. Delgado's face shuttered and she turned away, murmuring, "Me and Mateo... we made our choices long ago, that we can't take back. That... that we can't bring him back. Just be grateful that you have Jacob back. That you have your Jo—That you have him back."

Then she was walking away, heading to her husband as he held her, similar grief and regret on his face as he held her.

Hayden looked at the couple, wondering what that was about—who they lost—before she returned back to the others. Neither she nor Jacob made eye contact as he massaged his sore cheek and squinted through his swollen eye. He didn't ask for an apology. Neither did she.

Both of them understood that nothing he could say would ease Hayden's anger, as that anger was justified.

The rest of them were silent, processing what Jacob revealed—what he'd done—as Hayden understood the wisdom of the doctor's words. Jacob was alive, and that meant he could atone for what he did, try to fix things, instead of the alternative where he didn't make it. A wisdom that seemed to come from... experience.

Hayden eyed the doctor and her husband, now sitting together as they held each other.

Who were Dr. Delgado and her husband anyway? Why were they here? 

And why did Hayden have the strangest feeling they knew more they were letting on?

***

When the cops came back, it was clear to Hayden what their decision was.

They found them all guilty of murder.

"Alright, hands above your heads," the cop ordered. "You're all arrested for the murders of the Hackett family and of two unidentified men."

Hayden's heart thumped in her throat as she obeyed, lifting her arms above her head. This is it. They were going to jail, they hadn't believed them or the evidence or they hadn't found enough to credit their stories, they—

"Stop."

The cops turned as the woman who'd been with the Delgados stepped forward, a stern look on her face as the suits gathered around her and she said, "Do not arrest these young adults. They're innocent."

"Ma'am, they murdered people," the officer returned.

"So? They were trying to survive against crazed, extremely violent locals and very violent... bears, and had called your station as a desperate plea for help—a plea that didn't get answered until this morning and therefore leaving them no choice but to help themselves in staying alive in whatever way they could," the woman replied coolly.

"These two have no other alibis, no credibility of their innocence," the cop argued, pointing to Max and Laura.

"I think the fact they arrived a night early and were thrown into a situation they had no idea of qualifies their credibility," the woman fired back.

"There are nine people dead, and they are the only ones who—"

"Are heavily injured, traumatised and just relieved they all made it through the night after doing what they had to just to survive until dawn," the woman cut him off. 

The cop glared at her. "Why are you suits here anyway? This ain't your field."

"This is actually our field, as the Delgados here can attest—who, just like their friends, were the unfortunate victims of slanderous accusations of murder when all they did was make it out of a deadly situation alive," the woman answered, gesturing to them. "And, from what we and they have gathered, what happened to these unfortunate counsellors is exactly the type of situation the Delgados and their friends were in. Just with... a different force behind it."

Hayden frowned, as they all exchanged looks of confusion as the cop snarled, "What do you want, Caldwell?"

"Drop the charges—as if you could hold charges on the Furcillos, given they are Australian citizens visiting America for a brief amount of time. Drop them all, and we will keep quiet about what really happened here in Hackett's Quarry, just like we did six years ago," the woman, Caldwell, said. "Unless, you want a similar situation like that tragic fire and with the Delgados' case to happen all over again?"

A muscle feathered in the cop's jaw before he spat, "Don't arrest any of them."

Hayden blinked, not believing their insane luck as one by one the cops left, though some—including the main cop—gave them looks that told Hayden they believed they were guilty. That if they could, they'd all be arrested and in jail right now.

But even as the cops and the paramedics left, Hayden didn't trust the black-suited woman who had saved them and prevented them from going to prison, as she now looked at them.

"Thanks," Laura muttered, breaking the silence. "For saving us back there."

"I only did that because I did not want my department to go through the same trouble of legal action and the media circus that happened six years ago again," Caldwell said cooly, before her tone softened and added, "Also, anyone with eyes can see you're all innocent. Well, mostly. That you only did what you had to against creatures some might call... supernatural."

All of them tensed as Caldwell gave them a smile.

"Relax. My department's specialised in this. We know the supernatural exists and are... trying to keep it contained," she explained.

"You mean keep us quiet, like Kaitlyn said," Nora muttered.

"Well, that too. I am assuming it goes unsaid none of you should say anything about what really happened last night, what really happened to Mr. Furcillo, Ms. Coleman, Ms. Mountebank and Mr. Brinly? Or what really caused the loss of Mr. Lenivy's hand and injured Ms. Furcillo?"

They were quiet, before Caldwell turned and strode away.

"So you're really gonna cover this all up? No one will know about the werewolves or threaten us with what will happen if we tell the truth?" Allison called out to her, looking at her suspiciously 

"We're already doing that with containing those who were also infected by Silas Voraz over the past six years and continued his cycle of infection. Thank you, by the way, for killing him and ending the infection and freeing those innocent lives, Ms. Kearney and Ms. Reid," Caldwell revealed, shocking them all. "Now, let me and my people do our jobs."

"Okay, one more question," Dylan said.

"What question, Mr. Lenivy?"

"Why are they here?" Dylan questioned, pointing with his stump toward the Delgados. "I mean, not complaining about Doc Delgado, but why?"

Caldwell's lips quirked up. "Why don't I let them explain? Their situation six years ago was... very similar to yours."

Then she was gone as the Delgados stepped forward, Dr. Delgado's husband—Mateo—grinning, making the faint moustache above his mouth twitch.

"Sorry about Helen," Mateo apologised despite his grin. "She can be scary as fuck, right?"

"Honey," Dr. Delgado chided.

"Hey, I'm just saying the truth, mi amor."

He pressed a kiss to his wife's head, the doctor smiling before she looked at them and said, "I think perhaps we should explain some things."

Silence was enough of an answer.

"I'm going to call Em—make sure she and Matt haven't killed Aurora, though I think Sam said she and Chris were coming over to check up on her anyway along with Jess and Mike when I called them," Mateo told his wife."

"I have full confidence in Emily's ability to keep our daughter alive, along with Matt. Mike, on the other hand..." Dr. Delgado said.

Mateo chuckled. "Okay, you got me. Still, I'll just call them—see you in a few minutes, querida."

Then he was walking away, phone out and showing Hayden for a brief second him, his wife, and a baby with curly hair and a big toothless smile dressed in a star onesie in Dr. Delgado's arms and a large grey dog—no, wait a second, a wolf—behind the family on the lock screen before he unlocked it and called up whoever was watching his daughter, saying, "Hey, Em! How's our princess? Still alive? No, no, I know you wouldn't kill Aurora on purpose—What? I'd never say—"

He left the lodge, cutting off conversation and leaving silence to hang.

It was broken when Abi asked the doctor, "You have a kid?"

"And am I crazy, or did I see on your husband's phone that you have a pet wolf as well?" Sarah asked, excitement in her voice at that as Hayden looked at the doctor, a grin coming out over her face that this couple apparently had a pet wolf as well, even as she wondered how they had one.

The doctor smiled. "Yes. Our only daughter so far—Aurora Beth Isabella Delgado. And yes, we do have a wolf. His name's Wolfie and he's been with us for six years."

Hayden frowned. "How did you get a pet wolf, though?"

At that, Dr. Delgado's smile flickered, pain entering her face. "His previous owner died, saving our friend's life—trying to save our other friend's life—after he'd saved mine and Emily's. Mateo befriended him along with Aurora's godfather, the best man at our wedding and Mateo's best friend, Mike, and we... just decided to adopt him and have him be my service animal, for my anxiety, which he's been really good at with helping me for it—it's how we originally got away with keeping him six years ago. That and he was pretty tame thanks to his owner and what he... originally trained him and a former pack-mate of his to do. He's been with us ever since."

Looking at them, the doctor grabbed another chair and sat down, saying, "I know you are suspicious of me and my intentions, of those people's intentions. But trust me, when me and Mateo and our friends needed it after what had happened six years ago... they helped us. Yes, they covered it up, but they made sure we got to live our lives without the worry of murder charges upon our heads. Just like they'll do with you."

Laura frowned, looking suspicious as Hayden looked at her brother, then at Kaitlyn, Allison, Dylan, Ryan, Abi, Nora, Sarah and Emma. She wanted to trust this woman, and yet...

"Sorry, but your friends' names. They sounded really familiar, and so does your husband's name. Like I read about them or heard them before somewhere," Sarah said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, same here," Ryan agreed, Nora nodding as well.

Dr. Delgado's lips quirked up in a rueful smile. "I'm sure you did. Our story was the hottest amongst both the news and paranormal podcasts and conspiracy theories for years. After, well... what happened the year before."

"What story?" Hayden asked, feeling locked out of the loop since it was clearly an American story.

The smile widened a fraction, turned sadder. "My name is Dr. Jordan Delgado. But six years ago, I wasn't married yet so my name was—"

"Jordan Rutcher!" Sarah and Ryan shouted in unison, their loud voices making several of them jump.

Dr. Jordan Delgado looked at them, a knowing look in her blue eyes. "I knew you'd recognise my name."

"Oh man, I remember now! Your story was crazy," Sarah breathed, before amending, "Not that our story is any crazier..."

"I heard about it on Bizarre Yet Bonafide. It was their very first episode. The episode went over what happened to you, that apparently you claimed monsters attacked and nearly tried to kill you on the mountain and you tried to get authorities to search some mines, but they found nothing and agreed that what attacked you wasn't real at the end of the episode. And that someone disappeared in those mines when you were found." Ryan  frowned. "His name was Josh something?"

"Wait, Josh Washington? You mean the still-missing son of the Washington family, AKA the biggest horror movie producer family in the business, who would have taken over the family business? The son who vanished after their daughters disappeared and were declared dead seven years ago? That Josh Washington?" Nora jumped in, eyes wide as she stared at Jordan.

Pain and guilt speared her face as she looked down and mumbled, 'Yes. Josh. That's... that's him."

Be glad you have him back.

The words struck in Hayden again as she looked at Jacob, then at Jordan. From what she said, this Josh sounded like he'd done something like what Jacob did.

That unlike him, he never made it back to atone for it.

Guilt washed over Hayden at her anger-born words of wishing he'd died last night. No matter how angry she was at Jacob, she was glad he was alive. No matter what he did, she was glad he'd survived and could atone for what he'd done.

At least he had that compared to this Josh Washington person.

Jordan sighed, before she said, "Anyway, the episode was right about the monsters. Just like you, we had no idea there were monsters on the mountain—that we actually thought something a lot more human was stalking us before we learned the truth. And that when we did learn there were monsters... we barely survived. Just like all of you. Except in our case, you could not save someone once they turned into one of those monsters. That it was permanent."

A chill skittered over Hayden's skin as Jordan looked at them and continued, "I will tell you our story, of what really happened that night on the mountain in February 2nd, 2015, of what also lead to that—of Beth and Hannah's disappearances and why they were never found until it was too late. Why Josh will... probably never be found. What we had to survive against before help arrived and try to stay alive."

Silence, before Abi asked, "How... how long did you have to survive for?"

The smile Jordan gave was just as chilling as the words she said before beginning her story of a prank gone wrong, and then a year later where she, her then-boyfriend and all their friends gathered together for an anniversary of their friends' disappearance before they had to survive a night that felt straight from a horror film like they did, the words that reverberated inside Hayden's head and spread ice through her bones.

"Until Dawn."

***

MWUAUAUAUHHHHH!!!!! PLOT TWIST!!!! >:) >:)

But we've reached the end!! I am both stunned at how quickly this has come to its end, yet this was still such a joy to write. I hope you enjoyed this fic, and these last few chapters that gave more closure and offered explanations between the characters and just gave a better, much more fulfilling end

Yeah, Jacob confessed about the rotor arm and everyone sans Laura and Max and Emma (who already knew) was, rightfully, angry about what he did, with Hayden angry the most and would have kept punching him if Dr. Delgado hadn't pulled her away and told her wise words that had realise, and also realise she and Mateo know more than they're letting on. And yeah, they did have murder charges before government agent Helen Caldwell made the cop drop them and then she and her people went and covered everything up about the werewolves and leave Jordan to explain while Mateo checked on their child...

And for the final plot twist, Jordan and Mateo are survivors of their own supernatural event!! They are both characters from my upcoming Until Dawn fic that I wasn't planning to have be connected with this fic, but I decided to connect them anyway, and have Jordan tell the Hackett's Quarry survivors about what happened on Blackwood Mountain six years ago >:) 

Anyway... this is the end!! Thank you all so much to everyone who's read this and commented and voted!! I love you all so much and am so glad you loved this fic and characters as much as I do <3333333333

See you all in my Until Dawn fic and for Jordan's and Mateo's story, Hazy Shade Of Winter >:)

For the final time for this fic, please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!