The forest was once again shrouded in mist. The rain had eased, but its traces remained on everything—wet leaves clung to Mason's boots, and droplets still dripped from the branches.
Mason was running breathlessly, soaked to the bone, his heart pounding in his chest.
Nancy was gone. Noah was gone. He had no idea what was happening to them at that moment.
The whisper he had heard wasn't a hallucination. He could feel it like an icy touch on the back of his neck.
"Nancy!" he shouted, breaking the forest's heavy silence.Only the echo answered him."Noah! Damn it..."
He bent over, resting his hands on his knees. His head was spinning. He had to find them. He had to...
Suddenly, as if from thin air, his brother appeared before him. Mason stared at him in horror, trying to understand what was happening.
"Noah..." he whispered.
The blond's boy face was menacing. He looked nothing like the brother Mason knew. Nothing like the person he saw every day.
"How could you do this to me? How could you kiss Nancy?I ran after you... I saw you," he said, his voice dripping with venom.
Mason nervously swallowed, looking at his brother with anxious eyes, desperately trying to find a good excuse—or a lie.
"Noah... I... it's not what you think.I know how much you care about her... that you're still in love with her..."
"You're just like everyone else," Noah hissed."You stabbed me in the back, too.And the worst part is—your betrayal hurts the most, brother."
He turned and walked away, disappearing into the mist as if he had dissolved into the air.Mason didn't chase after him. He didn't have the courage. He was too afraid of Noah's rage.
*
Nancy lay on a cold stone. She opened her eyes, but saw nothing but blackness. The cold pierced her to the bone. She tried to move, but her legs wouldn't obey.
Somewhere nearby, she heard breathing. Heavy, ragged breathing. Someone was here.
"Hello...?" she whispered.
Silence.
Then something began to whisper right by her ear:
"He won't come for you. He'll leave you. He's just as vile as his grandfather... Just another beast..."
"Mason will find me," she choked out, though she wasn't sure she believed it herself."He's not like his grandfather. He's a good man."
The figure—because it had to be some kind of being—smiled, though Nancy couldn't see it.She could feel it in her entire body.
"Mason..." echoed a chorus of voices around her."Mason... is ours."
*
Will looked out the open window. Olivia lay on the bed, playing with a damp strand of her hair. She was still beautiful—even now, even in this cursed place.
"Did you hear that scream?" he asked.
"I heard it.So what?" she replied without lifting her gaze.
"It could have been Nancy or Betty."
"Or Jennifer. Or a ghost. Or your conscience, Will."
He clenched his jaw. He walked over to her and grabbed her hand.
"Listen. If we make it out of here alive, you have to tell him. Tell Mason. Or I will."
"Not now," she whispered. "Not here. Not in this hell."
Will stared at her for a long moment, then sat down in the corner and leaned his head against the wall.The only sound was the rain tapping against the roof.
And then...The creak of a door.
They both froze, staring into the darkness—but there was nothing there.
*
Jake and Betty struggled through the forest. Both were soaked and freezing, but they stayed close together.
"Do you know this place?" Betty asked.
"I think we're getting close to the cliff."
"So—the cave?"
"Yeah."
"You think he took her there? Jennifer?" Her voice cracked."Maybe she's really there.Perhaps we should go in and check?"
Jake stopped and looked into her eyes.
"I don't know. But if she's there, we'll find her. And we'll kill that bastard."
"You think it's a ghost? Or a man?" she asked.
"Possibly both. Maybe something worse."
Betty clenched her fists. Even though she was scared, she was done. Done with this place. Done with the games. Done with the fear.
"Jake..."
"Yeah?"
"If we don't make it out of here... I want you to know I never stopped liking you. Even when I was mad after that thing with Noah. You've always been my friend."
Jake gave her a faint smile.
"You'll always mean a lot to me, Betty. Possibly if that thing with Noah hadn't happened... Everything would've turned out differently."
At that moment, the ground beneath them trembled slightly. They both looked at each other, terror in their eyes.
A new sound echoed through the forest. Strange. Pulsing. Almost like... singing?
Jake turned and peered through the trees. In the darkness, silhouettes floated between the trunks.
Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Ghosts.
And they were all staring at them.
*
Mason reached an old gazebo by the cliffside. He could barely stand. The whispers were still there, stronger now. He recognized the voices—the same ones he had heard in the cave. And then he saw Nancy.
She lay on the ground, motionless. Next to her stood the same black-cloaked figure. Its hood was deep, and from within it, darkness radiated.
Mason lunged forward without thinking.
But then—everything disappeared.
The gazebo was empty. Nancy was gone. The figure was gone. Only Mason remained. And in his hands—as if placed there by an invisible hand—an old, bloodstained doll.
A doll with a name embroidered on a ribbon.
"Jennifer."