On the way back to the hotel, a deep, heavy silence fell. Drops of dew slid down the leaves, and only the distant hooting of an owl and the rustle of shifting shadows could be heard.
After what they had seen, after what Nancy had witnessed, she couldn't stop looking at Mason.
His shoulders were trembling, and his gaze was fixed on the ground, as if something inside him had just broken.
Something inside her had broken too.
Every scene from their stay on the island — the conversations, the glances, the sudden disappearances — started to form a new picture. A picture she hadn't seen before, or perhaps hadn't wanted to see.
"Mason..." she whispered softly, but the words caught in her throat.
He looked at her, confused. His eyes were full of exhaustion, sadness, something fractured. He was still himself. The same boy who had tried to protect them all along. The one who had fought for his brother. But Nancy now knew something that couldn't be undone.
Noah wasn't real. Mason was Noah. He just didn't know it, assuming his brother's face every night, while by day, he saw him standing beside him.
*
That night, she didn't sleep.
While Mason lay asleep beside her, covered with a blanket, his hands clenched to his chest, Nancy sat by his side, trying to gather her thoughts. Thoughts swirling around her like darkness above.
He was Noah.
At first, maybe a hidden personality, buried deep inside him by trauma. Perhaps he had created it to survive, to avenge his brother's death... But now... presently, that personality lived. It breathed. And it had started to act independently.
He was the one who had taken revenge on their friends. He was the one who had planned everything from the beginning. Not as Mason — as Noah.
Ethan knew. He had known from the very start, which was why he had kept Jennifer away. Why he trusted only himself.
Nancy looked at the sleeping Mason. His face was peaceful, almost innocent. But she already knew that, beneath that face, someone else was hiding. Someone unpredictable.
She was afraid. Afraid to fall asleep. Because she knew that when she opened her eyes... Mason might no longer be there.
Only Noah would remain — appearing when no one else could see.
*
A few kilometers away, Ethan sat by a barely flickering campfire. Jennifer slept fitfully, her body tossing in rhythm with silent nightmares. Ethan kept his eyes on her, feeling that every second pulled them further from rescue and closer to disaster.
He knew time was running out. That the truth was about to surface — like a body rising from deep water.
"You won't understand, Jennifer," he whispered, as if speaking to himself. "He doesn't even know he's doing it. For months now, he's been broken, split into two people. Because of his father, the violence, the death of his brother... and he had to endure it. It's not his fault. He was most afraid of losing Noah — and when he did, he saved himself."
He heard a branch snap.
Immediately, he sprang to his feet and grabbed the flashlight, aiming it at the edge of the campsite.
"If that's you, Mason..." he called. "Not tonight. She doesn't know yet."
No response. But Ethan felt it — the forest was watching. Someone was out there. And it wasn't just a person.
Maybe Mason was no longer in control.
Perhaps Noah had taken over.
*
Morning came like a dagger in the back. Gray, heavy, suffocating. Nancy woke up suddenly, panic surging in her chest when she realized she was alone.
Mason was gone.
For a moment, chaos flooded her. Then — emptiness. A strange, calm emptiness that only comes when hope dies.
She headed into the forest. She knew his movements, how he moved, what he left behind. Furthermore, she followed broken branches, footprints, faint scratches on tree trunks.
After several minutes, she stopped.
He was standing there. Among the trees. Motionless. His back to her. His figure was tense, ready to spring.
"Nancy," he said, turning around slowly. His voice was calm. Too calm. "We need to talk. About everything."
And he smiled.
But that smile was different. Too wide. Too calm.
It wasn't Mason.
It was Noah.
And Nancy nodded. Gently, almost imperceptibly.
Pretending she didn't know yet.
But inside, she was already a few steps ahead.
She was starting to plan.
"You know," Noah said after a long moment, "I wasn't going to tell you anything. I was just going to vanish, like a shadow. However, I deserved for you to finally hear it."
Nancy held her breath.
"I loved you my whole life," he said, his voice empty and trembling. "And my entire life, you didn't see me. Because you chose him. Mason."
She tried to deny it, but he lifted his hand.
"You don't have to say anything. You always looked at me like I was smaller. Quieter. Different. And I only ever wanted you to really look. To see who was there for you when everyone else walked away." His voice cracked mid-sentence. "But you... you were always his. I knew that. That's why I stopped being myself."
He took a step toward her.
"Because of you, I stopped being Noah. Because of you, I became Mason."
And she... she didn't answer. She couldn't.
Because part of her heart knew it was true.
And part of her was terrified of him.