The surrounding forest thickened. Branches seemed to reach for their faces, and the undergrowth beneath their feet grew increasingly soggy. Mason walked ahead, glancing back at Nancy every few steps. He noticed his brother was nowhere to be seen and wondered where he had gone, what he was up to. When they were at the cave and everyone was sitting, he had been the only one standing off to the side. At one point, he simply vanished from sight.
The others had fallen slightly behind, trying to follow the same path.
"We need to hurry," Mason said quietly, grabbing her hand. "I don't like this atmosphere."
The sky suddenly went dark, as if someone had flipped an invisible switch. Within seconds, it was nearly pitch black. The silence was shattered by thunder, followed by a lightning bolt ripping through the sky.
Rain fell like a waterfall.
"Damn it!" Mason hissed. He looked around again, but still couldn't see his brother—he had vanished into the darkness. Worry gnawed at him.
He pulled Nancy toward a thickening grove. Wet leaves slapped their faces, and the wind howled in their ears. In the distance, they heard screaming—Jake and Betty, clearly cut off from them.
"We're going to lose them!" Nancy cried, barely audible over the rain's roar.
"We'll lose whatever's following us, too," Mason replied.
He didn't stop. Only when they had gotten far enough away did he pause beneath a tree, leaning against the trunk to catch his breath. Nancy pressed herself against him, trembling from cold and fear.
"Shit…" she whispered, gripping his hand. "Did you see something in the trees?"
"Yes…" he nodded. "I saw faces. Corpses. The same ones that were in the cave."
"Mason… I'm scared."
He fell silent. Their eyes met. Rain streamed down her face like tears. At that moment, they couldn't pretend anything was going on between them. There was—at least from her side, and for a long time now.
"Nancy…" he said softly. "There's something I need to tell you before… before things get even worse. It's about Noah… I know how much he's cared about you all this time, and I—"
"I like you, Mason," she blurted out, stepping closer. "I think about you every day. Even when I try not to. I know it's wrong because of your brother… I've thought about it a lot. But I want you to know now, with something deadly closing in on us."
Her confession stunned him. He hadn't expected it, but something shifted inside him at that moment—maybe because of the danger. Ever since they arrived on the island, he'd started seeing something in Nancy that he hadn't noticed back home. He understood now why his brother had fallen so hard for her.
He leaned in, and their lips met in a fevered kiss. The rain didn't matter. The forest didn't matter. For a brief moment, it was just the two of them.
Suddenly, something rustled to the side. Mason jumped back, shielding Nancy. Figures emerged from the bushes. Their skin was rotted, eyes black as tar. They moaned with agonizing wails.
"Run!" Mason yelled.
They grabbed each other's hands and bolted. The ghosts followed, gliding just above the ground, amid lightning and howling wind.
*
Jake and Betty had taken shelter under a large rock ledge. Rain poured before them in a wall of water. Betty was shivering—more from fear than cold.
"Were those… ghosts?" she asked softly.
"Yes," Jake replied. "From the cave. I saw their faces. Each of them looked like they'd been suffering for eternity."
They fell silent. Only their breathing and the rain filled the space.
"I'm worried about Jennifer," Jake finally said. "I love her, Betty. I have for a long time. But I never had the courage to tell her. She was always… too important."
Betty looked at him, surprised. She hadn't expected such a confession.
"I thought there was only friendship between you two," she said.
"That's what it looked like. But hearts don't lie. And now I don't even know if I'll see her again."
"You will. You have to," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If not for yourself, then for her. You'll save her."
*
Meanwhile, in one of the abandoned hotel rooms, Will pulled back a heavy curtain and looked out at the rain-drenched courtyard.
"They're lost," he said flatly.
Behind him, Olivia was zipping up her hoodie.
"That's not our problem," she replied coldly. "They brought this on themselves."
Will glanced at her over his shoulder.
"Olivia… if this all gets out…"
"It won't. No one's going to find out. Not now. Mason can't know." Her voice sharpened. "Our affair doesn't matter as long as we're stuck here."
"And afterward?" he asked. "Are we still pretending?"
Olivia stepped closer, placing a hand on his chest.
"We'll see. I haven't looked that far ahead yet. But…"—her gaze met his—"don't deny that you care."
Will leaned in slightly.
"I do care. But I don't know if you're worth the war that's coming."
"Are you more loyal to Mason than to me?" she scoffed.
"No, but I know what'll happen when he finds out."
In response, Olivia kissed him—briefly, almost mechanically, as if marking her territory.
"Let him find out. He already hates me."
*
Mason and Nancy only stopped running when they could run no more. They stumbled into a small rocky hollow. The water reached up to their ankles.
The ghosts had vanished. The silence was even more terrifying than the screams.
"Did we lose them?" Nancy asked.
"I don't know, but we need to find the others."
They didn't even have an opportunity to talk about what had just happened between them. Mason felt guilty toward his brother. Now he realized he shouldn't have done it—not even in a moment of danger and Nancy's sudden confession.
They were about to move on when they heard a howl. Unnatural. Terrifying. When they turned around, a figure emerged.
Mason backed away, holding Nancy by the shoulders.
"No… it can't be," he whispered.
The figure came closer. It was Jennifer. Her eyes were completely black. Blood dripped from her mouth.
"Mason…" she whispered. "Nancy… help me…"
As they took a step back, Jennifer dissolved into thin air.
Behind them, a man in black appeared.
Before they could react, Nancy was yanked into the depths of the forest.
Mason fell to his knees in the mud, screaming her name. But only silence answered.
Silence… and a low, chilling whisper:
"Now it's your turn."