"Is there something you know that you're not telling us?" Lucas asked as Ava settled down by the campfire
"We're not alone on the island" She responded
"That much we've figured out" Caleb said
"But what you haven't figured out is what they are" Ava said
"Don't you mean who they are?" Elijah asked
"Not who, what" Ava corrected "They aren't human although they have the shape of humans. They have really long limbs and very sharp claws. Their faces are empty. There are holes where eyes should be and they move with the dark"
"That sounds like a scene straight out of a horror movie" Elijah said rubbing the bridge of his temple
"It's scarier than you think" Ava sighed
"What happened to you while you were there?" Lucas asked
"I thought I was dead and done for until you guys found me. They tortured me for so long, I lost count of the days or weeks that went by. It was like a sport to them. They used their sharp claws to stab and cut into me. They didn't want me screaming so my mouth was always covered whenever they acted" Ava sniffled "Escape was futile. No matter what I did, I couldn't run, I couldn't hide. They always knew where I was"
"Were you the only one in there? What about the professors?" Caleb asked
"I met with Professor Turner and she told me that Dr. Bennett didn't survive the crash. She said she saw his body floating in the ocean before it sank along with the air hostesses on board" Ava responded
"Shit" Elijah muttered
"So Professor Turner is still alive, let's go find her" Lucas said pushing himself up
"That doesn't sound like a good idea" Milo stated looking up at Lucas "We can't just storm inside the forest and rescue Professor Turner when firstly, we don't even know where she is and also did you not hear the description of those things in there?"
"How many of those things are in there?" Lucas asked, looking at Ava
"I never saw the whole colony but I counted more than ten when I was in there" Ava replied not meeting his eyes
"And what about Professor Turner?" Lucas asked
"Professor Turner is dead" Ava said trying to hold back the tears in her eyes
"How?" Lucas fell back to the log beneath him
***
Ava's eyes bulged as she stared at the horrific scene in front of her. The coconuts fell from her hand, rolling off to the side as she stood there watching. Her hands cupped her mouth right after a gut wrenching scream escaped her lips.
Professor Turner was suspended in the air by the long claws of what appeared to be a human-like being. It turned to look at Ava who was frozen where she stood. You could almost hear it cackle as it pulled its claw out from Professor Turner's stomach.
"Run" Professor Turner yelled softly as she held her bleeding abdomen
Stilled with fear, she couldn't move. Her legs seemed planted to the ground as she watched the creature take slow steps towards her
She took steps backwards, before turning to run but only made it a few feet before she was picked up into the air by the back of her throat. The creature was fast, covering the distance between them in a blink of an eye.
With brute force, it slammed Ava face first into the ground before dragging her back to the tree by her hair, tossing her against it like a doll. She slammed into the tree, her forehead splitting open, her vision obscured as the blood flowed down her face
It moved back over to Professor Turner who was barely holding on to life. It looked down at her as she clutched onto her stomach hard, adding pressure to the wound in hopes to stop the bleeding. It looked over to Ava who watched in terror before turning back to face Professor Turner. A wide smile spread across its face, revealing its razor sharp teeth. Its claws outstretched again as it dug it deep into Professor Turner's chest.
She screamed and yelled as her mouth began to fill with blood. She pushed and kicked, trying her best to separate herself from the claw digging into her but there was an overwhelming difference in their strength.
Afterwards the kicking stopped. The screams became numb as her hand fell to her side. The color in her eyes faded as life escaped her. She was gone and there was nothing Ava could do about it, except watch. She watched as the creature killed her Professor right in front of her. Her eyes rained a mixture of tears and blood as she lay helpless.
She watched as the creature removed its claw from Professor Turner's chest and stabbed her again and again and again, just for fun. It dragged her into the forest and when it returned, Ava wasn't where it left her. The creature moved closer to the spot Ava last laid and smelt the ground. Checking for the blood trail on the floor, it tracked her going around the tree but she wasn't there.
While it searched, Ava jumped out from the bushes, hitting the creature across the face with a stick. It shrieked as it fell over. She limped over to it with the stick firmly gripped in her hand. She hit it again on its side, and then again.
As she lifted the stick to continue her fury of attacks, a hand from the side smacked her jaw, sending her flying into the tree again. Another creature came out from the woods, before several others followed. A total of ten creatures including the one she just attacked stood in front of her, all shaped like humans but slightly bigger, mouths filled with rows of sharp teeth and limbs longer than the average man
ᛇᚦᚱᛖᚲᚲ ᚦᛖᚨᚲ ᛒᚱᛖᚨᚲᚲᛋᛈᚱᛖᛞᚨ (You let this thing attack you)
ᛇ ᛞᛖᚲᚲᛁᚾ ᚷᛖᚾᚲᛏᛖᛏᛈᛖᚾ ᚺᛟᚾᛏᚨᚱ ᛚᛖᛏᚲᚱ ᚨᚾᛏᚺᛖᚱ (I didn't know she had any strength left in her)
The creature who attacked Ava moved closer to her, picking her up by her neck. It squeezed and grinned as it watched her choke and gasp for air. It was amusing to watch. It seemed… entertaining.
It let go, reducing its clutch on her neck as she gasped and sucked in air.
"Just kill me" Ava mumbled
"Kill… me…" The creature repeated before it smiled.
A huge back hand to the side of her face was enough to knock Almost knock Ava out. Her body fell to the ground just before she fell unconscious. She watched the creature walked up to side of the forest where Professor Turner was dragged through
Ava's vision slowly dimmed as she saw something else come out from the bushes
"Professor?" Ava mumbled
***
"So she's alive?" Lucas asked
"I don't know anymore" Ava responded "I saw that creature kill her. It stabbed her multiple times before dragging her away"
"But now you're saying-" Elijah chimed in
"I'm saying that I saw something that looked like her come out of the woods all well and good. Like nothing even happened." Ava stated
"What in the actual fuck is going on in this island?" Caleb yelled
"Calm down Caleb" Mia said holding his hand
Zara's expression dulled as she watched Mia try to comfort Caleb. She let out a large exhale before looking away from the sight unfolding beside her.
"Are you sure it was her?" Max asked
"I don't know" Ava rubbed her head "It was the last thing I saw before I blacked out so I must've imagined it"
"What if it was her?" Emma said
"I don't think shape shifting is possible" Owen said
"I believe we've established the fact that anything is possible on killer island" Elijah stated
"Well not anything but weird shit can happen" Sophia said
"By the time we start harboring those thoughts then everyone becomes a suspect and right now, I don't want to start looking at anyone with the mindset of "they aren't who they claim to be" so let's pause on the shape shifting theory" Lucas started to speak "At least until we're sure of it"
Eyes trailed across the campfire. Everyone seemed to be on edge as they watched each other curiously.
"Hey… I said not tonight" Lucas clapped
Everyone focused their attention on him. All but Owen who had his fixed on the fire in front of him.
"Owen, you good?" Lucas asked, tapping his shoulder
"Yeah. Just tired" He replied
Is there anything else you remember about the creatures?" Lucas asked
"When I woke up, that's when the torture started. They spoke in a very strange language so I couldn't understand what they said the entire time" Ava said "They took turns cutting me and they were happy about it. Like barbarians"
"You don't have to remember that anymore. You're safe now" Caleb cut in
"Is anyone really safe knowing what we know now?" Isabel asked
"For all we know, they could be any one of us right now. Pretending to be friend" Evan said
"But they're not," Lucas said looking over the group. "Did you happen to see Professor Turner when you regained consciousness?" Lucas asked turning to face Ava
"No I didn't. It must've been my imagination" Ava responded holding on to her head
"I think that's enough questions for the night. I need to check her wounds" Sophia said standing up. She stretched out her hand to Ava who took it before they both walked off to the side where her bed was
"Shape shifting creatures" Owen mumbled "And you think we've seen it all"
"Morphas" Elijah said
"What?" Caleb gave him a confused look
"Well considering they shape shift and saying the words shape shifting creatures is a mouthful we can just call them morphas" Elijah explained
"Do you just sit and come up with weird shit?" Owen snapped at him
"Now's not the time for you two to go at it again" Lucas yawned
"I don't think it's bad though" Emma started, looking between Owen and Elijah
"Sounds like a good name for whatever they are or might be" Max added
"Of course the wonder twins are in agreement" Owen scoffed
"Owen, what's your problem?" Natalie snapped at him
"Nat, just leave it" Elijah said holding her hand
"I think we're all getting heated so let's call it a night" Lucas tapped his thigh
Owen ran his hand through his hair before storming off to the beach front to sit on the shore. The rest of the group stepped away to sleep on the ground, close to the campsite leaving behind Max, Emma, Elijah and Natalie.
"So now they're shape shifting?" Max asked rhetorically
"These "morphas" seem to have some abilities that aren't human" Emma stated
"Super strength for one" Max added
"Ava said it smacked her and she was sent flying into the tree" Natalie said
"Not to mention how it picked her up by her neck and slammed her into the ground" Evan said from behind before rejoining the group with Avery beside him
"And then there's super speed" Avery said, sitting down beside Emma
"When it covered the distance between itself and Ava just like that" Natalie snapped her finger
"And shape shifting" Elijah added
"That we're not so sure of considering Ava was almost out of it by the time that happened" Emma said
"But then, if that is true, how do we tell humans from morphas?" Evan asked and they all looked at each other
"First we'd need to understand how their shape shifting powers work" Emma said
"And the extent to their abilities" Max added
"Do they just copy appearances or they can copy memories as well?" Emma said
"Let's use Ava as a case study" Elijah spoke up calling the attention of the rest of the party "For obvious reasons, she's the best specimen for study"
"He's right" Evan said as he scratched his forearm
"Is there any physical difference in Ava's looks?" Emma asked
"Well she obviously lost weight from the blood loss and probably starvation, cause I doubt they gave her a three course meal" Elijah said
"How about the difference in the way she spoke tonight?" Emma asked
"I didn't know her that well so I can't say I noticed any difference" Evan responded
"The only person that knows Ava that well is Sophia" Avery said as they all turned to look at Ava and Sophia as they laughed and conversed
"Think Sophia would be willing to observe and suspect her friend that she hasn't seen since the crash and then accuse her of being a uhm… what's the name?" Evan snapped his finger trying to remember
"A morpha" Elijah said, helping him out
"That" Evan smiled
"I guess that's out of the question" Max sighed
"So what's the plan now?" Avery asked
"For now we'll just have to watch and subtly gather information about Ava from Sophie" Emma suggested and the group agreed
"How long do you think we have before they actually start coming for all of us?" Natalie asked
"For now let's not think about that. We should all just focus on survival and everything else would fall in place, I guess" Evan said looking over the group
They all turned to look at Ava who was all smiles as she talked with Sophia. With the way she laughed, one wouldn't even imagine she went through what she did unless they looked at the scars on her body.
"For now, let's get some shut eye" Evan said as a yawn broke through his lips
"Sounds like a plan" Elijah stretched as he pushed himself off the log
"Looks like it's going to be another eventless night" Natalie said as she yawned
They dispersed to different sections of the campsite one after the other until everyone was tucked away by the sounds of the crashing waves. Deep in the forest, at the base of the trees, a low growl followed by a snicker came from the mouth of one of the morphas
ᛒᚱᛖᛞᚲᚨᛚᛚ ᚦᛖᛗᛖ (It's about time )
ᛋᚺᚨᛚ ᛇᛊ ᛒᚱᛖᛈᛁᚾ ᚦᛖ ᚺᚢᚾᛏ? (Shall we begin the hunt?)
ᚦᚱᛁᚲᚨᛚ ᚨᚦᛖᚾᛏᚨ (Bring down the rain)
The morpha removed the rune stone dangling on its neck and clutched it in its hand as it began to chant ᛗᛖᛚᛖᚾᛏᚢᛗ ᛊᚺᛁᚢᚾᚷᛏᛖᛏ, ᛞᛖᚢᚱᛖᚾᛏᛏᚨᚾ ᚲᛟᛊᛏᚢᛚᚱᚨ (Elements I call, elements I command)
The clear skies outside above the forest became cloudy, strong winds began to blow, just as the sky became lit with lightning with the crashing sound of heavy thunder following after
"What's happening?" Avery yelled
"I think it's about to rain" Emma yelled back
Everyone gathered by the campfire, hands on their foreheads shielding their eyes from the wind and now rain "What do we do now?" Ava asked.
"We didn't think there'd be rain so we never made shelter" Lucas said looking at the sky, the rain slowly pouring down before it became a heavy downpour
"We don't have a choice" Owen started "We have to take shelter inside the forest"
"The forest with the deadly morphas?" Natalie questioned
"I don't think they'd want to attack us with this amount of rain" Caleb responded
The sky opened up and a lighting bolt struck the beach mere feets away from the group.
"Everybody move inside the forest now!!" Lucas ordered and the group scrambled inside the woods
The heavy downpour outside the forest was barely a few drops inside of it. It was like the forest was a world of its own, existing within its own time and space
"Anyone else getting the worst vibes from this?" Elijah asked noticing the almost dry ground
The girls had their hands up faster than Elijah could finish speaking.
"I think we just fell into their trap" Owen sighed
"What? They can control the weather now?" Elijah asked exasperated
"Stay together everyone" Lucas instructed
They said nothing as they all came into a tight circle. The winds blew heavily into the entrance of the forest where they stood "We can't stay here" Max stated
"It's like they want us to move deeper into the forest" Ava shivered
"We don't have any choice" Lucas said pulling his arm out of the sling "Let's move"
They moved inside with slow synchronized steps as they marched deep into the forest.
ᛚᛇᛏ ᚦᛖ ᚺᚢᚾᛏ ᛒᚱᛖᛈᛁᚾ (Let the hunt begin) The head morpha growled.