The next day, Hazel woke up earlier than usual. To make sure she was ready to move for that time she made sure to wear light clothes, ponytailed her hair, and wore a mask.
"Let's go," Hazel said to her sisters.
They got into the car as Hazel drove them to the beach.
"Will you be joining us?" Courtney asked.
Hazel pondered before answering, "That will depend."
They arrived shortly at the beach. Hazel parked the car in a shady area. A few of Courtney's friends had arrived already. They gathered around and started chattering.
Looking at the easy-going bunch, Hazel decided to walk along the beach. The morning sun was too bright, so she rested under the shades of trees that were nearby.
Boredom finally struck her, so she decided to keep walking. She got up and was about to step out of the shade but to her surprise, she stepped not on sand but on a moss-covered ground. Quickly she looked around and found herself back in the forest. This time she was a few meters from the ship.
Hazel looked in the opposite direction from the ship. There was nothing but primordial forest, eerily quiet and serene.
"I wonder what goes beyond the forest," she mumbled. "Are there other monsters as well? ah best not to be too curious."
She walked towards the ship and noticed Roy and another man talking on the deck. Noticing Hazel, Roy gestured for her to come. She climbed the ladder noticing how sturdy the ladder was.
On deck, she saw there were only three of them including her.
"Are we the first to arrive?" she asked the two young men.
"Seems so," Roy answered as he scanned the forest. "By the way this is Danny, he's been here for twelve days already."
Danny and Hazel greeted each other. She scrutinized Danny a bit. Short curly hair, a sunny smile, and a young face that belonged to a college student. He has neither the maturity of a working male or the naivety of a high school student.
"Leader," she looked at Roy, "how come no one lasted for so long?"
Roy scratched his head. "I'm not too sure myself. When I came here the previous leader was also the longest one."
"But he still didn't last long," she commented.
Roy crossed his arm. "That day he was just unlucky. He was the last to arrive before the monster bird appeared. He didn't have enough time to get on board, so he got taken. He was a good leader too."
"Is only our safe place the ship?" she asked. "Can't we hide in the forest as well as long as we don't get seen?"
Roy and Danny turned silent then exchanged looks. No one has ever tried hiding in the forest before, at least not to Roy's knowing. Everyone would just instinctively gather in the ship the moment they see it.
Both men racked their minds trying to come up with an idea.
"Also," Hazel added," can the monster bird be killed?"
Now Roy and Danny stared in awe at Hazel. Never have they thought of that possibility. No, in fact, the monster was just too mysterious and terrifying that no one was brave enough to retaliate against it.
Hazel stared at the two men before her and thought everyone must have been too scared to try that idea.
"The problem with that is who would be brave enough to try it," Danny said. "You've seen how everyone is. They're all afraid the only thing they can do is hide and stay quiet."
Hazel didn't say anymore. She knew the fear everyone felt when the monster bird appeared. The tremendous pressure of just being near the monster was enough to make one faint.
Sometime later people had started arriving. Roy told Hazel to go inside to find a hiding place while he and Danny keep watch.
A couple of minutes later the inside of the ship had become a bit crowded, despite that the cabin was quiet.
The sound of someone running could be heard from outside and from the door rushed in Danny and Roy. They slammed the door shut then quickly looked for a spot to hide. The rest followed and started to hide as well. Hazel took out a large tarp she found on one of the benches used it to cover herself. She wrapped herself and crouched on the floor to Danny's amusement.
"She looks like a dumpling," Danny whispered to Roy.
For how long they stayed like this they could not tell but they could feel that the bird was roaming outside. Hazel held tightly on the tarp making sure it won't unravel. She did not dare to even peek.
"Ahhh!"
She flinched as a scream reverberated in the cabin. Her heart palpitated as the scream echoed in her ears. Someone was taken but Hazel was relieved it was not Roy or Danny as the scream was that of a girl's. Though she silently scolded herself for being biased and heartless.
'So even if we hide someone still gets taken,' Hazel thought.
A chill ran down her spine as a thought came to her.
'There was no sound…there was definitely no sound of the breaking in. Not even the sound of the door opening. How did the bird snatch someone? Was there someone who arrived late? No…the scream was from inside the cabin. Wait, the windows…I didn't notice it yesterday but not all the windows had glass. The second to the last one in the back I remember…there was a girl sitting on that window. There was no glass to protect us from the bird there.'
Hazel flinched and gasped as she was shaken up. She finally heard Roy calling her, she could feel his hand trying to shake her. She quickly loosened her grip and unveiled herself from the tarp. She saw Roy's worried face turn relieved.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought," she said meekly.
Hazel revealed a pale face and sweat all over her body as she came out from the tarp.
"We thought you turned into a dumpling," Danny mused. He helped her sit down on a bench as she tried to calm her breathing.
Hazel saw Danny was also worried but tried to hide it with humor. Glancing behind the men the ship was already empty the others had already started descending the ship.
"I should really stop overthinking," she said to herself.
"There has never been a time no one was taken away," Roy said, "at least from the days I've been here. No matter how much we all try to hide someone will always be snatched up."
"Well, that's reassuring," Hazel said sarcastically.
Roy helped her get up while Danny put aside the tarp, then they walked to the door. Hazel glanced at the tarp before leaving.
Descending the ladder, she sighed.
"What's wrong?" Roy asked.
"I can't wait for tomorrow," she said in a sarcastic tone.
Danny and Roy gave a wry laugh before stepping into the forest. They disappeared from Hazel's sight. She sighed again as she followed.
Hazel was now back to reality but seemed like this was a dream and that forest was reality. Staring at the road ahead of her she remembered she was supposed to be on the beach but somehow, she ended up on the side of a road in her hometown. She sighed and started walking it was still noon and she finally felt hungry. Her sisters must have been worried since she suddenly disappeared from the beach.