chapter nine – unknown variable.

  Sage and Mike's walk through the mines was silent, both their moods somber with the worrying thoughts of how their friends were. Were they even alive? Neither of them knew and it sucked.

As the duo jumped down into a larger tunnel than before, Sage holding back a whimper as pain shot through her shoulder. Their only light, Mike's lighter, suddenly cuts off leaving Sage and Mike in complete darkness.

" Fuck. That's it, " Mike curses quietly as Sage could only watch as Mike continued to struggle with getting the lighter back on. He tries to light it once again and fails, both also failing to notice the pair of eyes watching them inbetween the planks of wood. " Come on, Come on. . " Mike mutters as Sage looks around trying to find anything that could help them out. She notices a lantern laying on the ground only a few feet away and heads to grab it, seeing Mike finally able to get the lighter to flicker back on.

" Third times the charm, huh? " Sage teases him with a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood atleast a little but fails making her smile quickly turn into a frown. She holds the lantern out to Mike with her good arm, raising an eyebrow when he looks at her in surprise. " What? "

Mike only clears his throat before shaking his head as he quickly grabs the lantern from Sage, lighting the lantern and illuminating their path on the first try, " Nothing, Sage. "

They walked in silence once again, both spotting the exit from the mines and quickening their pace. Sage lets out a sigh of relief at the thought of finally escaping the mines that had already brought her so much pain. The duo finally left the mines, walking through the thick snow slowly as they hoped to spot the unknown man or one of their friends.

" Mike, " Sage shouts over the howling wind as she nudges him quickly with her bad arm accidentally, letting out a whimper from the pain that shot through her arm once again. " I'm fine, M, " She reassures the worried looking Munroe before gesturing to the building that she had quickly spotted in the distance and the man quickly walking towards it. " Is that the guy you saw earlier? The guy who took Jess? "

" Yeah, " Mike nods rapidly as they moved through the snow quicker than before, squinting at the building infront of them in curiousity. " Jesus! The fuck is that place? "

It was obvious that the building in the distance was rundown, wood boarding up some windows and the building obviously not being taken care by the Washingtons or the unknown man.

" I have no idea. " Sage frowns as the thought crosses her mind that maybe they should turn back around and just try to find their other friends, but she shook her head quickly and got herself to focus. Her and Mike needed to find out who this man was.

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  Approaching the stone wall that had a direct view of the Sanitorium's entrance, Mike spots something in the distance and ducks behind the wall before tugging Sage down with him.

Looking over at Mike, Sage furrows her eyebrows in confusion as she whispers, " What the hell, Mike? "

Mike wordlessly gestures towards the other side of the wall before Sage and Mike slowly peek from behind the wall. " That's not good. That's really not good. Really not good. . " Mike mutters as he watches the oblivious stranger.

" You think? " Sage hisses quietly as she tries her best to not move her bad arm while watching the stranger that was continuing to walk towards the entrance of the Sanitorium as growling was suddenly heard. " Holy shit. " Sage's heart started hammering even harder as her and Mike immediately ducked behind the stone wall once again out of fear of the dark grey wolf only a few feet away.

The duo peeked from behind the wall once again to see two more wolves joining the unknown man, one with dark fur and the other with light colored fur. The man walks inside followed by the wolves making Sage and Mike sigh in relief.

" Alright. " Mike nods to himself as he pushes himself off the wall and slowly stands up before pulling Sage up. " Let's have a closer look. " He wordlessly helps Sage over the wall before climbing over himself and jumping down with a grunt.

The two walk in silence, their nerves making them jump at the howls echoing in the air as they approached a condemmed sign.

" Awesome. Why wouldn't we end up on the creepiest place on earth? " Mike mutters, his tone showing how annoyed he was. Sage snorts before replying, " We're the most unlucky people ever, Mike. I'm surprised we didn't find this place last year. "

" Well. . " Mike trails off as he was obviously about to mention the prank on Hannah that Emily and Jessica had planned plus Hannah and Beth's most likely death. He removes the cover to reveal a small entrance leading inside of the Sanitorium.

" Fuck me. " Sage mutters as she huffs in annoyance at how small the entrance was and the jump she would have to do.

" Come on, " Mike gestures towards the entrance before holding his hand out for Sage to take. " I'll help you. " He frowns as he notices how hesistant Sage now looked, making sure to look her in her eyes as he spoke next, " I'll make sure nothing happens to you. I promise. "

Sage sighs before shaking her head and taking Mike's hand and flinching at how cold it was. He grips her hand tightly as she slowly climbs inside before taking a deep breath and jumping down after letting go of his hand. Mike almost immediately jumps down after her and lands next to her with a grunt.

The two venture deeper inside the Sanitorium, climbing onto the main floor from an elevated path and walk across the debris covered floor to peek inside the chapel, seeing the unknown man tending to the wolves that they had seen only minutes ago.

" Whoa. " Sage mutters in awe as she stares at the scene, sighing as the wolves left following after the man that had already exited the room. Mike tries to open the door as soon as he sees the wolves leave, but ultimately fails.

" We gotta go look around to find a key. " Mike glances at Sage as he explains their new mission. The brunette only huffs in annoyance and wordlessly starts looking around, hoping to find the key and venture deeper inside. They head back the way they came and turn left, ending up in the Administration Area.

Sage finds a packet of administration notes and scans through it, her eyes widening in shock as she continues to read through the packet.

" That's so. . " She trails off and doesn't know what to say to describe what had happend to the people that were once patients here. " Horrible. They just forced everyone out like that? "

Finally putting the notes back where she found them, Sage turns to find Mike staring at a broken camera in the corner of the room curiously.

" Hey, " Sage calls out to Mike, snapping him out of whatever daze he was in, as he immediately turns to look at her. " You ready to go to the morgue now? "

" Yeah. " Mike mutters as he immediately heads out of the administration area with Sage following behind him. The two falling back into a comfortable silence as they thought about the things they had found in the administartion area.

What had happend here?

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authors note.

ya'll ain't going to like next chapter lololol.