Chapter Three

A video camera lay on the ground, still recording. Every once in a while the video feed would glitch and turn to static. It was abandoned, on the ground, in favor of it's operator attending to something far more important.

It had come out of the shadows, blank white eyes glowing like the moon above. It was deformed, hideous. It was completely jet black, and had a beak that resembled a bird's. It's head was propped up on what appeared to be a curved spine. It had long, spindly arms like metal sticks, with scissor-like claws on each one. It floated through the air, mouth agape, tongue lolling, showing off rows and rows of jagged, pointed teeth.

Lottie hadn't even screamed when she'd first seen it. She'd stood in shock and horror, body trembling. Never in her life had she encountered something like this. She didn't know what to do. Should she scream? Run?

She backed up, looked back and forth. Was everyone still there?

Her vision was slowly being obscured by a red fog, and the echoes of screams around her seemed to be closing in. She suddenly tripped in her effort to back away. Her head struck the ground and she was sent into darkness.

Lottie found herself in the jungle once again – or at least, that's what it seemed to be. She didn't remember waking up, but she was certain she couldn't be dreaming this vividly. Fog crept from the ground and up past the trees. She sat up and looked around, eyes half closed.

“Help?” she whimpered softly. “Please help me.”

She heard murmurs of voices in the distance, and laughter. Standing up, she turned in the direction the noises were coming from. She could barely make out the fog-obscured figures in the distance. They walked in and out between trees, speaking with one another.

Without warning, she found herself being whisked in their direction by some unknown force. She was up close now, but they didn't seem to be able to see her. There was a dim light illuminating both of them, and she took a good look.

There was man, with bright orange hair and icy blue eyes. He looked worried, but also as though he were attempting to seem cheerful.

With him was a young woman with black hair and green eyes. Lottie was reminded of herself when she looked at this girl. There was the same spirit, the same spunk and the lust for adventure. A similar vibe was certainly not coming off the man.

Lottie now began to wonder if she'd died. Everything seemed colder, and there was a hint of nostalgia in her surroundings. The clothing of the couple seemed to be from the early 1980's. Had she traveled back in time somehow?

“Well, no Necryptos yet, kid,” the man was saying. “Perhaps we're looking in all the wrong places.”

The black-haired woman shook her head. “We know what the tunnels said. We'll find them. I know they're around here.”

The man with the orange hair looked at her solemnly. “So do I.”

“Wait, did you see something move over there?”

Lottie followed the direction they were looking in and saw a strange skeletal creature, reached up from a pool of mud. The man and the woman stood their ground, and the man pulled out a book from the bag he had slung over his shoulder.

“This isn't the right one to speak with regarding exiles,” he said. “In fact, it's in our best interests to get away from this one as fast as we can. It'll pull you down into the mud with it.”

Both of them stepped away.

“We've got to keep looking!” the woman cried. “This is a matter of life and death for me – for the both of us, even.”

“I know that, kid,” he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn't ever let anything happen to you. I am doing everything for you. My life is yours to take.”

Lottie was perplexed by the conversation. She didn't know what either of them were talking about, but it sounded vaguely sinister – tragic, even.

“Thank you. You're the best friend I've ever had,” the woman said.

“Friend,” the man repeated softly. “Just friends.”

Unrequited love, it seemed.

Lottie blinked. Something was tugging her again.

“Lottie, are you alright?” someone was asking. “Oh, god, please be alright.”

She opened her eyes and saw Daran standing over her. So what she'd seen had only been a dream, and she hadn't died.

“Daran,” she murmured. “I'm alright. What happened?”

“It got Terrence,” he said to her solemnly. “We can't get Daisy to calm down now. She's shouting and screaming. It's horrible.”

“Terrence?” she repeated. “What got Terrence?”

Daran reached a hand out towards her and helped her up off the ground. “Didn't you see that – that thing. It ripped Terrence's heart straight out of his chest. I'd never seen anything more gruesome in my entire life.”

“What is going on?” Lottie was upset now. “These things aren't supposed to happen. It's just supposed to be electromagnetic fields and vaguely creepy happenings. Not monsters tearing out hearts!”

“But Lottie... this is the ultimate adventure we've always wanted!”

“No one is supposed to die!” Lottie snapped suddenly. “No one is ever supposed to die in situations like these. We have got to leave now.”

Daran was taken aback by Lottie's aggressive tone. “We can't leave, not for a couple more days. We have no way to contact anyone outside the island,” he told her.

Lottie looked into his eyes for a moment, a stern looked on her face. Daran was right about there not being any way to escape from the island, but the least everyone could do was go back to camp and hide for the rest of the time. There was no point in getting anyone else killed, anyway. She'd could put her own life in danger for the sake of adventure, but not the life of anyone else.

She turned away from him and walked over to where Daisy was crouched over Terrence. The poor woman had tears streaming down her face.

Terrence's body was a bloody mess. There was a huge hole in his chest, and blood was leaking from his mouth. His eyes were open wide in fear. It was indeed a horrific sight to see.

Lottie turned away and put her head in her hands.

The next thought to cross her mind involved Hayley. Had she seen the creature? If so, how had that effected her? Now that she had no reason not to belief in paranormal happenings, what would she do? And where had she gone?

She had a sudden flashback to the dream she'd had while asleep. What if it wasn't a dream? It could have very well been a message – a warning. What had happened to the two people she'd seen in her dream, anyway, and were they even real to begin with? Had they met their end on the island somewhere?

“Lottie, Zack wants us to keep hiking,” Daran said, coming up to her.

“Is he insane?” Lottie gasped. “Someone just died. If anything we need to go back to camp and – and I don't know, but I don't want to hike anymore. That's just crazy!”

“We're lost, Lottie,” said Daran with a sigh. “We can't go back to camp because we don't know where camp is.”

Lottie stood there, jaw agape. No one had even thought to mark a trail behind them. She shared just as much of the blame, and she hadn't thought of it either, but you'd think in a group of savvy adventurers, at least one person would remember to leave a trail of bright ribbons or reflectors.

“Well, what now, then?” she asked.

“We keep hiking until we find the camp,” replied Daran.

She sighed and picked the video camera up off the ground, turning it off to conserve battery power. Zack was trying to convince Daisy to leave Terrence behind, much to her upset. Hayley was nowhere to be seen, though Lottie got the feeling that she was nearby at least.

“Zack Miller,” Lottie called out, using his first and last name for emphasis. “If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to you stop antagonizing Daisy. She just lost her brother, can't you see that? She doesn't need you pestering her.”

The man paused, tensing up a little at the sound of Lottie's voice. He turned around slowly, his teeth clenched, and a look of intense annoyance on his face. “Mrs. Fox,” he said, “we can not stay in this one place. If we expect to get anywhere soon, Miss Burke needs to pick herself up off the ground, take a deep breath, and get over it.”

“You can't expect her to get over it just like that. Her brother died, he was her family. She can't just suck it up and get over it!” Lottie's eyes were wide with fury. Zack's insensitivity was infuriating to say the least.

She turned back to help Daran comfort Daisy, whilst Zack walked away with a look of cold fury. He scanned the jungle with his flashlight, looking for his missing girlfriend.

“Hayley, get over here!” he yelled. “Where are you hiding?”

Hayley emerged from behind one of the large, vine-covered trees. Her teal eyes were glowing intensely as she witnessed the scene before her. In one large leap, she jumped on Zack, knocking him to the ground. She used her long nails to scratch long marks into his previously flawless face.

“You are a bastard,” she said in voice so calm that it was surreal. “You are a heartless man, and you don't deserve to be alive.”

He reached up, pushing her off of him and sending her falling back into the dirt. He reached a hand up to touch his face, which now stung intensely. Blood was dripping from every cut that sliced across his face. He stood up, gazing at Hayley with an intensive hate. “You're not going to last long, you stupid girl,” he growled at all. “Not long at all.”

Zack lunged for her and grabbed her by the arm, slamming her into a tree. She let out a broken scream before falling back unconscious. He then grabbed rope from his backpack and tied her arms with it. He pressed her body up against the tree, watching as the blood dripped from the wound on the back of her head.

He used the rest of the rope to bind her to the towering tree. He tied them tightly, doubling the knots him some places. He stood back to admire his handiwork. Her blond hair hung down in front of her face, and her eyelids were fluttering lightly.

“I didn't want to sacrifice you, Hayley...” He murmured as he took a knife out from his pocket. With a couple of quick slashes he made an X mark in the middle of her forehead. He then ripped at her shirt and tossed it to the ground. He then used the sharpened blade to carve rune-like symbols into her chest and down the insides of her arms.

The cuts oozed her body's vital liquid, and it ran down her delicate physique slowly. Zack placed his knife into his pocket, and placed a forceful kiss on her bleeding lips.

“... but you didn't leave me much of a choice, did you?”

–

Daran and Lottie found themselves practically holding Daisy in their arms. She was on the verge of either vomiting or passing out, perhaps even both. Her heart was beating at an alarming rate, and she wouldn't stop her sobbing.

“It's alright, Daisy, it's alright,” Daran kept repeating. “Calm down now, it's alright.”

Zack approached them from behind, startling them with his noise. “Hayley's gone missing,” he said calmly. “But we can't afford to go looking for her. If we want to save ourselves, we're going to have to get moving immediately.”

He was greeted by cold looks from Daran and Lottie.

“Daisy, do you think you can make it now?” asked Lottie, patting the wailing girl on the back lightly. “Mr. Miller says we have to go, or else we'll also be killed.”

Daisy's tears had made trails through her makeup, taking some of it along with them. She nodded softly, sniffling and taking in gulps of air. “I'll try,” she sobbed.

“That's all we can ask of you,” said Daran.

They picked her up and sat her on her feet. She used her hands to wipe away tears, and clutched onto the arms of her supporters.

Zack looked around before choosing a direction to go in. He held a compass in his hand, though none of them could see what it said from where they were standing. They followed him along, Daran and Lottie paying close attention to Daisy.

Despite the direction choice being seemingly random, Zack seemed confident enough in where they were going. Perhaps he'd remembered the way back to camp through the darkness? It would be an amazing feat, but if Zack was experienced, perhaps he knew a thing or two about directions.

“Which direction are we going in?” Lottie asked, vocalizing the thoughts of everyone in the group.

Zack stopped walking. “The right direction,” he said, before carrying on again.

He didn't see fit to give them a better answer than that. They blindly followed their leader into the haunted jungle. As they walked along, they could feel that something was watching them. There were noises coming from the depths of the tangled undergrowth, whispers and growls, snarls and groans. Now everyone except for Zack Miller were huddling together. They looked around, wild-eyed and scared.

Lottie hated to admit it to herself, but she actually felt a little excited. Adrenaline was her drug. She couldn't help her euphoria, the sense of adventure had overwhelmed her. She did still feel sorry for Daisy, however, but guilt was no match for addiction.

“Are you sure this is the way back to camp?” Daran spoke up, after a long time of traveling.

“How can any of us be sure of anything?” replied Zack, much to the annoyance of everyone else.

Daisy started crying again. “This is all your fault! It's your fault that my brother died, not mine!” she screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Zack Miller.

He shook his head. “You signed the papers. None of this is my fault, at least not legally. I'm afraid, Miss Burke, there's nothing you can do.”

“Bastard,” growled Daisy. “Filthy son of a –”

“Daisy, calm yourself down now. It's true, we signed papers. We all knew that there was a threat of danger here. It isn't anyone's fault, anyway. This island is just out to get us, that's all,” Daran muttered. “Yelling at Zack isn't going to help anything. It won't bring your brother back.”

“Nothing will,” Daisy whispered. “He's dead, just like mother. Both of them dead. I've got to find their spirits!”

Lottie cast a wary glance at the paranormal investigator. “For now, let's just stick to getting back to camp, alright, Daisy?”

“No, no, no!” Daisy screamed. “Where is my equipment?”

“We couldn't carry it all,” said Daran. “We had to leave it behind.”

“Stop, we have to go back!” The ghost hunter broke free of their grasp and rushed into the forest, leaving Lottie and Daran in shock.

Lottie darted a few steps after Daisy before stopping. “Wait, Daisy! Come back, please!” she yelled to no avail.

“Forget her as well, then,” Zack said. “She was just dragging us down, anyway. It's a shame she had to run off, though, because we're almost there.”

Daran breathed a sigh of relief. “Almost at camp? Thank goodness.”

“Never said that,” murmured Zack, inaudibly.

Lottie let out the breath she'd been holding. She walked over to Daran and grabbed him by the arm. She closed her eyes softly, bracing herself against him so that she could both rest and walk at the same time. Gone were three of the people they'd come to the island with, and in such a short amount of time as well.

She promised herself that this was her final adventure – it was fitting, anyways. It had been the most dangerous, the one where their lives had been in danger all the time. She would make it out of it alive, and she'd never forget it, but she wouldn't want to relive it. Never again was she going to risk her life or Daran's life for cheap thrills.

Lottie only hoped she could keep her promise.

The group of three carried on through the woods. So far, nothing else had emerged from the shadows to destroy them. Zack seemed as though he knew exactly where he was going, though it could have very well been only a mask of confidence he had on.

As they went on, the trees seemed to grow closer together, and the vines seemed to be coming in larger amounts. In the distance, the was a large object, illuminated by the moonlight.

“What is that?” questioned Daran.

A closer examination, along with light from flashlights, revealed a temple-like structure in the distance. This triggered suspicion in both Lottie and Daran. They looked at each other, wondering whether to take another step forward or not. It was clear now that Zack hadn't been intending to lead them back to camp. So what was he leading them to?

“Is something the matter,” Zack asked, noticing the couple's hesitance.

Daran's eyes darted from Lottie to Zack. “Where exactly are you taking us? It's not to camp, we both know that. We're not stupid.”

A flash of anger appeared on Zack's visage, but was gone as quickly as it had come.

“Wait a minute, what's wrong with your face?” Lottie gasped, shining her flashlight at Zack. For the first time she could see the cuts and scratches clearly. They were fresh, as well. “Where did you get those scratches?” They were from a fight, that was clear enough.

Zack ducked out of the beam of light, blinking and rubbing his eyes. “What is the matter with you?” he growled. “And why does it matter to you where I got these scratches? We're on a haunted island. They could have been from anything.”

“They're new. We didn't see anything happen to you.” Lottie narrowed her eyes.

Daran was now fully suspicious as well. “Who did you hurt, Zack? Was it Hayley?”

Zack's flashlight went flying through the air and it hit Daran right in the forehead. He then reached for his knife, quick as a flash. Lottie screamed, and grabbed Daran, running and dragging him along with her. She'd never felt so strong in her entire life.

So Zack had snapped, had he?

Or something along those lines.

Lottie felt as though she were all alone. Everything was moving in slow motion, except her. She could hear Zack shouting at her from close behind, but she didn't stop moving. She was running for her very life this time.

The ground suddenly disappeared from beneath her feet. She felt herself falling downwards, tumbling into a dark pit. Pain jolted through her entire body. She instinctively reached out her arms to stop herself from falling, but she only landed with a thud on cold, hard ground.

She spit blood out, her vision burring.

“No...”

Then nothing.