“Father please leave me alone!” I choke out. My body is trembling at this point. I can barely breathe with his hands around my neck. Mother is sobbing in the corner. ‘Why won’t she help me!?’ I think, desperately looking around. My vision starts to fade as I see mother getting up in the corner. She’s trembling violently as she tries to pick up a glass bottle.

I hear something crack near my head.

My vision goes dark and I- I’m cut of as I wake up gasping for air and I finally realize that it was only a bad nightmare. My whole body is trembling, and my face is red and tear stained from the memory.  ‘Lily, where are you when I need you the most...’ When I finally calm down, I slowly walk over to my journal. Writing has always calmed me down. But I open my book only to find all my ink smeared and something written in red ink. Or at least I think it’s ink. I look away, reluctant to face the paranormal. What is written shakes me to the core. The message reads,

“I see you :)” My scream echos through the forest.

I scramble to pack up my items, shoving clothing and hygiene products into my bag. I throw on my old, torn up shoes, and an old hoodie from my boyfriend. The smell is familiar and calming and I realize how much I miss him. Knife in hand,  I’m ready to go. I don’t know where I’m going, as long as it’s away from here, it’s in my travel book. But just as I grab the door handle, the door bursts open, striking me straight in the face.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Are you ok!?”

The sense of urgency in the male’s voice prompts me to get up, but when I try, I fall back to the ground with a thud. Gripping my head, my anxiety gets the best of me and I start to scoot away from whoever is standing in front of me. Their tall shadow looms over me like a massive giant. I grip my knife hard in one of my hands.

“There’s no need to be afraid of me…”

The mysterious man states.

“I only came to help you, not too hinder your work. The company sent me because they said you needed a new partner since your old one…”

His voice trails off. I’m suddenly aware of how vulnerable and fragile I must look to whoever this person is. Mustering all of my courage, I stand up and brush off my shirt.

“It’s nice to meet you mister…”

I give him a questioning stare.  

“Noah.” He says. “You?”

“Oh i’m Liam.” I tell him.

“So… are you just going to sit there like an idiot or are you going to show me around?”

Dumbfounded by his rudeness, I glare at him. Spinning around, I point out the main places in the tent. The sleeping quarters, kitchen, and bathroom. Remembering that I was leaving, I realize that I must abandon the idea. My morals are too high to leave this guy here with whatever wrote in my book despite his attitude so far. He better be thankful. Crawling into my bed for a second time, I hope to sleep forever as I don’t want to face whatever is coming with the next day.

Day 2: I cleaned out my notebook. Years of valuable notes ruined! All my memories gone. This new guy, Noah, doesn't seem to know much about research which isn’t helping either. He simply brings me grass expecting me to turn it into some big, money-making discovery. I still need to know what happened to Lily. I’m  very worried but everytime I ask Daniel he ignores me. I even emailed our company, Research Inc, and no response came. I’m really concerned. I’m going to look for her.

I shut my notebook quietly. Noah’s steady snoring in the background is a good sign that I can slip out of here undetected. I quickly jot down an apology on a sticky note and leave it next to his bed. ‘I cant believe I’m doing this…’ Swiftly grabbing my knife and bag from before, I slowly let the door creak open. Cringing at the sound, I look over, but Noah is still sound asleep. I step out into the cold night air, the shrubbery and thick canopy of trees provide good cover, and on top of that, shelter from the cold. Breathing in a crisp, sharp breath, I head out into the direction of the mountains.

Lily had always fascinated about going there, so maybe that's where she disappeared. After about 5 minutes, I look back. The tent is barely visible through the trees, but I’m still close enough to notice the inviting warm glow emanating from it. I resist the pulling urge to go back. ‘I hate this!’ I think to myself. I hate how chilly it is out here because the cold always reminds me of my father, bringing back bad memories. Ever since my mom divorced him, he became abusive and it didn’t help that I was…  I shiver as hatred bubbles inside me. Never again will I open up to someone.

I slowly tread on until reaching the foot of the mountain. But something stops me in my tracks as I sense something bad. Upsetting thoughts leak from my brain as I’m surrounded by darkness. ‘What if Lily’s dead? What if I die looking for her? Will I ever see my boyfriend again?’ These thoughts carry on until I snap out of it.  A crunching sound from the leaves behind me cause my breath to catch in my throat. I run as fast as I can to the nearest tree and hid behind it. Peaking around the corner, I notice it’s Lily!

“Lily!”

I exclaim. I almost run up to her but notice something is strange about her... she’s not moving. The tension grows thick and heavy, enough to slice it with a knife. She slowly turns around. Empty pits of black for eyes stare back at me. Her teeth are falling out and her hands have been chopped down to stubs. She smiles an impossibly large smile, her mouth is simply a slit from from ear to ear. Leaving a trail of blood behind her as she walks off. Startled, I slowly creep back towards the cabin. Careful not to make a sound.

“Noah!! You have to believe me! I know what I saw! We NEED to leave.” Rolling his eyes, he ignores me like that cold-blooded person she is.

“Please!”

The desperation in my voice is obvious at this point. He must have noticed. “Look. Next time when you get high or drunk or something, don’t go out exploring out on your own. You’re so worthless! It was probably just a dream or something..”

He dismissed me we a flick of his hand. I’m starting to get very irritated at this point and I’ve given up trying to talk to him. ‘If he wants to die, let him die! I don’t care anymore! I’m leaving.’  But then I think. ‘Where would I go? Lily- No, she’s not Lily anymore. She’s a monster.’ It pains me to call her that. My heart shatters at the realization that my sister is gone. I have to leave. Darting down to the beach side, I jump in the boat. As I untie the rope that’s holding the boat to the island, there’s a shuffling in the bushes. The air is silent as I stand on the dark moonlit beach. Squinting into the forest, I see empty eyes staring back at me.

“I can’t believe I’m going out to search for this idiot…”

I mutter under my breath. Why am I like this?  

“The beach is nice tonight…”

The waves are so soothing and nice. My mind’s calm as the breeze flows through my hair.

“What was that!?”

I hear loud screams from a little way down the beach… Liam! I pick up the closest thing to me and run.

“C’mon please be ok… i’m almost there…”

Through the oceans mist I see him and… a monster?! Was he telling the truth? No way… I can’t believe it. I stand there with my mouth hanging wide open until I’m jolted back to reality as a high-pitched squeal of pain comes from my partner. *crack* I throw my bottle and it hits that thing straight in the face and i grab David and run. There’s blood gushing out of the back of his neck. He was stabbed…? We’re almost there, it’ll all be ok…

“N-Noah…?”

He says squinting at me. His clothes are soaked and he looks disoriented. “What is this? Is this...blood?!”

He jolts up quickly in surprise and shock. I lay him back down on his bed. He looks deep in thought. He looks up at me as if he’s looking at a monster. But considering I’m all bloody and panting, i’m not surprised.

“Are you okay?! Oh my god what happened to you?!” He says.

I smile in relief, and it shows on my face as he said that.

“You’re alive!” I shout.

His face twists into confusion as I hide a blush behind my jacket. No stop. You have no time for love. No one would ever love you anyways.

“We need to leave!”

He shouts.

“Please Noah listen to me! Just this once!”

My expression changes into a sad frown.

“That's the thing… the corp said we can’t leave until we find something that they can make money off. So I guess we’re stuck here… together.”

Day 3: Everything is falling apart, this can’t be happening! I’m stuck on an island far from any other people with a monster and a hot guy who saved my life… but is also a prick. The corp is forcing us to stay and there’s nothing we can do about it. Even if we leave they will find us and send us back here against our will. The worst part is that I still don’t know what happened to Lily -if that’s even her- to make her like that and I don’t even know if we will make it off of this island alive! For christ’s sake we’re going to die here!

I stand up from my desk and walk over to the kitchen where Noah is cooking. The cooking reminds me off my mom. But I don’t have time to languish in good memories. I grab my coat and notebook and head out to find the next money-making discovery. Everything seems to spin as what’s happened seems so surreal. From the beginning of our trip here, something seemed off, nothing big stuck out to me then though. The forest seems grim and musty as I trudge through the mud and leaves. Brushing a few leaves aside, I see… paper? It’s a note.

“My dearest brother,

If you receive this letter, heed my warning and leave immediately! Something weird is going on in this island. I was out wandering for something, anything to eat after I got lost in this woods, and I come across this strange dripping liquid from the trees and berries. Just thinking about their mouthwatering sweetness made me drool. It was like a godsend from above, and before even coming to my sense, I gobbled them up. Please, don’t eat anything you find here! My insides are turning and it feels as if I’m being ripped apart from inside. I’m turning into a monster… i’m not the same as i was before and it hurts so bad! Leave and go home to mom. Bring her this letter. And please… tell her I love her.

Sincerely, your loving sister,

Lily.”

My eyes tear up at what seems to be blood on the bottom of the letter. I run.

I arrive back at the cabin with tears streaming down my face.

“Noah!”

The confused look on his face tells me that I need to explain… but instead, I just hand him the letter. His face twists in terror as he reads it. He hugs me. She looks me straight in the eyes and says “I’m sorry…” He grabs my face and pulls me into a kiss. But it’s short lived as I rip his hands off of me.

“Noah?! What the heck? This isn’t the time for this…”

Pushing him away I run to the forest with tears in my eyes. The world seems to stop. I step forward into what seems like a new hope for me.  A camp with people. The team of researchers approached me and I lead them back to my camp after explaining everything that's happened.

“Please! You need to help us! We are trapped here and I understand that your our competting company… but we need help. They won’t let us leave until we find something...anything.”

I break down in tears.

What happened to him?? We haven't seen anyone here for months!

“Are you okay sir? Are you hurt?”

This poor soul is panting he must of ran here. He begins speaking. Very quickly at that.

“Sir please slow down.”

After everything that he tells us, we are all in disbelief.  

“Please! You need to help us! We are trapped here and I understand that your from our competting company… but we need help. They won’t let us leave until we find something...anything.”

He breaks down sobbing on his knees.

“Sir, is there anyone else here with you?”

We ask, patiently waiting for a reply.

“Y-yes. My research partner Noah…”

We gather our equipment and help him up.

“Take us to your camp.”

Why did I do that!? Idiot, he’s right this wasn’t the time for that. He has a boyfriend for god’s sake! I open a can of soup and sit down. *Knock, knock* I jump as the knocks on the door startle me. I hesitantly open the door, but am relieved to see Liam at the door… with three other people. His cold eyes seem to pierce my heart as I turn my head away.

“Are you Noah?”

One of the strange men says.

“Um… yeah. Who are you?”

“We are from DAGA. We wish no harm. It seems that your partner wandered away from camp. Is what he says true? You know, about the monster and stuff...?”

They have a worried look on their faces.

“Um… no, sorry. He just… imagines things sometimes.”

I let out an awkward laugh. I grab Liam by the arm and pull him inside. “Heh, thanks for bringing him back.” I smile and wave before slamming the door on their faces.

“I have nothing to say to you.” He says as I smile sadly.

“I know…. I’m sorry. But if it makes it up to you, I found something today and I think might be useful for us.”

I cave as I see Noah’s eyes glimmer with hope. I say nothing. He walks out the door and I follow him.

“You know, sometimes I wonder if what were doing is right.”

Confused, I just stare at him.

“Just like, providing all this information for a company that we know nothing about. Like sure, we work there. But we don’t know what they do with this information. For all we know, they could be plotting world domination and we could be helping.”

He laughs, attempting to lighten the mood.

“If that was your attempt at a joke, that was sad. Have you ever had friends?”

I say rolling my eyes. We walk in silence to a spot that seems pretty normal. I patiently wait for him to say something but he just looks around, puzzled.

“I-I swear that there was something here… I don’t understand…”

He mutters. He starts walking and after what seems like hours of wandering aimlessly, something weird happens.

“Hey, look at this!”

As I heard my partner yell to me, I spun around. I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“What do you mean? What am I looking at?” I say.

But then I notice the gigantic footprint, probably at least 5 feet long and 6 feet wide. I look horrified.

“Are you ok?” He says.

“You look like you just saw a ghost!”

Suddenly, the thick, lush forest looks horrifically dark and ominous in the moonlight. What could have made this big of a footprint? We’ve been everywhere on Earth and not once have we seen this. I whip out my camera and grab anything that I could use as a weapon to defend myself. Camera and knife in hand, I say,        “Let’s go.”

Noah looks confused.

“Why? Where are we going? This could be our breakthrough! We found something that no one's ever seen before! We could be FAMOUS!!”

I shake my head and grab his hand. I desperately try to pull him back in the direction of our camp, and he finally goes with me. We‘re about five minutes away from our camp when I hear the screams of people from the nearby camp. We freeze in our steps. Then, dead silence. A flame of fear blazed in my heart as I feared for our lives.

I run. Faster than I ever thought I could run, dragging Noah along with me. Soon enough, we reach the waters edge. Damn it!! I mutter under my breath. I try to think if  we have something, anything that could possibly be used as a raft but my brain draws empty.

“Noah what do we do!? Where do we go? We’re going to die out here!!”

I wait for the comforting words that he usually speaks when I’m upset, but I hear nothing. I look around, but I only see the glistening water and blood-stained sand around me. I feel like i’m getting consumed by darkness and fear, and soon I’m overwhelmed. I drop to my knees, sobbing until there is nothing left inside me. I feel numb as I sit there, awiting my inevitable death.