Time rapidly rolled by as the group squirmed around the forest looking for sticks and vines to make shelter in the events that the heavy downpour outside would somehow escape through the tall cover trees and rain down on them.
Max, being the only natural survivalist due to the camping experience he had with his father growing up, was tasked with making the shelter, though it took a really long time due to the limited resources they had.
"This is going to take hours to complete" Max said looking around the forest
"Scratch that, this is not even possible" Elijah huffed as he dropped a pile of sticks and small logs on the ground next to Lucas
"It is. We just don't have enough resources around us to get these shelters done. We'd need to go deep into the forest to forage for supplies and given our current circumstance-"Max said
"That isn't advisable," Lucas sighed as he finished Max's statement. He rubbed his temple just before he looked around the group that was loitered about "We can't live out in the open with the rain pouring down heavily outside"
"How about we move in larger groups?" Emma suggested "I mean we're a total of fifteen. So groups of five should be able to achieve a lot more than groups of three and that's an assurance that we can't be attacked so easily by the morphas"
"Morphas? Is that what we're calling them?" Milo said coming from behind Emma
"Yeah. Catchy isn't it?" Elijah tapped himself on the shoulder
"Their name isn't what's important right now. We'll go with your suggestion Emma" Lucas interjected
"Alright so how are we gonna sort out the pairings?" Owen asked coming into the mix
"There's no such thing as a private conversation on this island" Avery chuckled as she joined the group with Evan beside her
"You and Evan seem to be getting closer these days" Emma smirked looking between Evan and Avery
"Shut it" Evan said smacking her shoulder
"I see everyone is coming in one by one" Lucas noted as the rest of the group surrounded their campsite "So now that we have everyone's attention, we're gonna split ourselves into groups of five and well… go deeper into the forest"
There was a slight uproar amongst the group as people seemed to disagree with the plan to potentially run into a morpha while trying to gather resources and materials to build shelters.
"Is that really the best plan right now?" Sophia asked looking over at Ava who still had cloth wraps all over her body
"We don't really have another option at this point" Lucas responded
"So how are we splitting ourselves?" Isabel asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice
"So groups of five: Wonder twins, Evan, Avery and Isabel you're one group" Lucas started "Natalie, Elijah, Zara, Mia and Caleb, you guys are group two so that leaves Myself, Owen, Sophia, Ava and Milo as group three"
Everybody moved as distributed but Zara's eyes followed Caleb as he joined the new group he was assigned, standing close to Mia. She took a deep breath, her eyes closed as if trying to remind herself of why he was in the group with them before opening them up again. She moved, taking her place on Ava's right side before her fixing her gaze on Lucas as he continued to speak
"So these new groups, your duty is simple; go into the forest, grab wood, leaves, branches and whatever you can carry and then bring them back here so we can start building some shelters to protect from the rain, in the events the trees no longer hold out" Lucas said looking over the new groups "Any questions?"
"What do we do if we run into a morpha?" Natalie asked with her hand raised in the air
"You try not to get killed or tortured" Lucas responded
There was a hushed murmur amongst the group but everyone seemed to settle down afterwards
"The plan seems simple enough so let's get going and whatever you do, try to avoid the big tree in the middle. We believe that's their colony or whatever they decide to call it. Alright let's go" Lucas clapped his hands and the groups dispersed
"How's your hand?" Sophia asked as they turned east heading towards the other side of the island
"Well it's a lot better now" Lucas responded rolling his shoulder
"That would explain why you pulled it out of the sling the moment we stepped into the forest" She chuckled
"Well In the events that we do run into those shape shifting bastards then I wanna be prepared to at least throw hands properly" Lucas said
"You sound so confident that you can land a punch" Ava chimed in
"You managed to land a couple hits on it" Lucas responded
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ava arched her brow
"I don't mean it that way" Lucas said with hands lifted in the air
"And what did you mean?" Ava huffed
"I mean, you managed to hit it which means they aren't invincible. Just gotta time my punches right and I just might be able to save my life if it comes to it" Lucas smiled as he continued to walk
"Let's hope it doesn't ever come to fighting one of them" Milo said as he bent down to grab a log on the floor
Lucas stopped on his tracks, looking around the forest as if something just dawned on him. His expression somewhat confused as he looked up and about
"Is everything okay there?" Ava asked coming into view with a handful of sticks and branches
"I can see you" He said
"And I can see you too. I can see Sophia and Milo as well" Ava responded
"No, that's not what I meant" Lucas said shaking his head
"What's going on here?" Owen said coming into the midst, pulling a heavy log behind him
"It's kind of brighter compared to when we came in and found Ava" Lucas said firmly
It took Owen a quick second before he noticed the environment. At the time they first came into the forest, they needed torches to see but from the moment they came in they could actually see their environment almost clearly. Although it wasn't clear as day but it was still bright enough to see
"This place just gets weirder and weirder every single day" Milo said holding tree branches in his hands
"Let's just head back to the campsite and drop these off" Lucas said as he began to move in the direction of the campsite
On arrival they met with Max and Emma as they dropped off their haul of sticks and leaves.
"You're back. I figured I'd start off making the shelters while everyone else brought back their supplies
"Did you notice that it's kind of lit in here compared to the last time we were here?" Emma asked, looking over to Lucas and Owen
"Yeah we were actually just talking about that" Milo said coming into view
"That's a big log" Max chuckled
"You can't use it?" Owen asked breathing heavily
"We'd sit on it around the campfire. If you could get more of its size, that would be great" Max said giving him a thumbs up
Milo let out a quick breath before heading back in the direction he just came from leaving the others behind
"So how soon do you think you can get it up?" Lucas asked
"Well at the rate every one is moving at right now bringing in the sticks and leaves, maybe a couple hours, give or take" Max responded "I've already got one up" He added pointing to the first structure that had been erected.
"And this would hold?" Lucas asked walking over to the shelter
"Well with time we might have to replace a few leaves but for now, yeah it'll hold" Max assured him
"Good. I'll head back with the others" Lucas said returning to his group that was already ahead of him
"So what do you think they do that makes this island ominous?" Max asked Emma as he started working on the second shelter
"Speaking honestly, I think it's magic" Emma replied handing him a long stick for the main support
"There's no such thing as magic" Max sighed grabbing the stick from her
"How else do you explain what's going on? The currents, the time, the freakish weather that's only on the outside? It has to be magic or some sort of charm" Emma added
"I doubt it's magic though" Evan said from behind them with a pile of sticks and leaves in his hand
"I'm with Emma on magic" Avery said coming from behind Evan
"Magical killer island" Elijah blurted out when he got close enough "This place scares me more and more. Obviously there's some sort of magic here"
"Agreed" Natalie stated
"Y'all just pop out from nowhere these days" Max said turning to face Elijah and Natalie
"Well it's not that big an island" Natalie rolled her eyes at him
"It's a huge island" Avery corrected
"Less talking and more working" Lucas yelled as his group returned with more materials to build the structures "Where's the rest of your team?" Lucas asked Elijah
"Still rummaging. They should be here any moment to hand over whatever they can carry. We just had a head start" Elijah responded
"Okay let's get back to work" Lucas clapped before returning with his unit
At this point the campsite was covered in leaves, branches and sticks. It took an extra three hours of building before all five structures were erected and standing firm. The dried leaves acted as beds within the shelters, so they don't sleep on the bare floor. The sticks, branches and more leaves acted as the roof to cover from the rain if it did manage to leak through the tall cover trees and then the large sticks stood firm in the ground as support structures, holding the entire shelter from falling apart.
All fifteen of the survivors heaved heavy sighs of relief as they sat around the campfire, the sun finally setting and the forest was now returning to its dark glory. Owls hooted and crickets chirped as the night consumed the whole area.
"Now this is the forest that I remember" Elijah chuckled at his attempt to lighten the mood that was about to set
A few scattered laughs amongst the group but no one was having it. They were deep in the forest, deep within enemy territory and the morphas could be watching them at this very moment. Eyes searched about, hoping and praying that they don't meet something, looking at them from the distance
"I don't think I can sleep tonight" Avery said, rubbing her shoulder, taking in the warmth from the flame in front of her
"What do you think their plan is right now?" Natalie asked "I mean, Why'd they pull us into the forest now?"
"There's a lot of answers to that question but one very obvious answer would be-" Caleb started to speak
"They're upset we took Ava away and now they either want her back or they want a replacement" Mia completed his statement
"Or they plan on picking us all up one by one until there's no one left" Evan said and all eyes turned to him
"Way to lighten the mood" Sarcasm heavy in her tone of voice as Natalie spoke
"It's important we remain vigilant at a time like this. We don't know what these Morphas might be thinking so we need to be careful" Lucas stated
"We've been here for a week if not more, don't you think they'd be looking for us by now. Not even once have we heard a plane fly by or even a boat sail past the island. Don't you guys find that strange?" Isabel asked slapping the side of her neck trying to kill the mosquito trying to feast on her blood
"Now that you mentioned it, it does seem weird" Mia chimed in "I mean the freaking head of the department hasn't checked in since the day she left with students from the institution, isn't that something to make them worry?"
"What do you think about it Lucas?" Zara asked turning to look at him
"I think the moment we didn't arrive at Misthaven Bay, the school should've been notified. But the fact that there hasn't been a search party out there looking for us is something to ponder on" Lucas sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose
"Or maybe they can't find the island?" Emma said
"That's not possible. This-" Ava started motioning about with her hands "is a very large island"
"It's not about how big the island is, it's about whatever magic the creatures in the island use to protect it from external view" Emma said
"Magic?" Lucas arched his brow
"Emma believes the morphas possess magical abilities" Max chuckled
"It's not funny Max. There has not been one normal thing about this island and it's obviously not science" Emma huffed
"Yeah we "know" that there's no such thing as magic but given these very odd circumstances we can't rule it out" Avery said
"They may not directly possess magical powers but there's the off chance that they use artifacts" Emma added
"There's definitely something magical about this island and we've been experiencing it from the jump" Natalie chimed in
"From the moment we were on the plane, we saw the island from both sides of it" Elijah started
"Down to the moment we crashed down, when we found out that the waves and currents around the island is different" Avery added
"To the fact that time moves differently inside the forest" Mia added
"And now to the fact that it's raining cats and dogs out there-" Emma started to speak but was interrupted by the sound of thunder outside "but there's not even a drop of water inside"
"Hate to admit it but I'm with the girls on this one now" Evan said with a hand raised "There's definitely something magical about this island and I don't mean the good kind"
"Switching sides already?" Avery rolled her eyes at him
Lucas looked between the girls before letting out a large breath of air "Let's just hope we survive long enough to get out of here, alive"
Silence consumed the group as they stared blankly at the fire keeping them warm. It was yet another mystery to solve and yet another reason to be afraid of the island they found themselves in.
Deep within the heart of the island where the giant tree remained planted, the morphas gathered and shrieked in excitement as they prepared to kill the survivors. They growled in low voices as what would be described as their leader stepped forward with other morphas on its side. To each a rune stone on its neck that controlled a specific detail of the island. Four runestones to four morphas
The morphas growled, claws stretched out as blood and spit dripped down their gritted teeth.
"ᚷᚩ ᚠᚩᚱᚦ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛚᛇᚹᛖ ᚾᚩ ᚩᚾᛖ ᚨᛚᛁᚹᛖ" (Go forth and leave no one alive) The head commanded and the morphas disappeared into the night
Back at the campsite, the group tried their best to stay positive as they conversed with themselves. Although the conversations lacked depth, it was the only thing keeping them sane.
"I think that's enough chatter for one night" Lucas clapped his hands calling the attention of the group "We're going to have teams of five taking watch while the rest tries to catch some sleep. So who's going to take the first watch?"
"I can't sleep so I'll join the first team" Ava said raising her hand
"Guess I'm joining as well" Max said with Emma lifting a hand beside him
"You can count us in" Avery and Evan had their hands raised
"Alright I guess that's five. So the rest of us, let's get some sleep while we can. We don't know when next we'd have the chance to. So I'll just randomly appoint the remaining two watches. Elijah, Natalie, Zara, Mia and Caleb you're the next watch and whoever isn't mentioned would take the last watch" Lucas yawned before rising to his feet and heading towards the newly built shelter behind him
One by one the group dispersed leaving behind Owen and the watchers.
"Aren't you going to bed?" Avery asked Owen as he rubbed his palms against each other
"In a minute" He smiled at her
"Alright" She pushed herself up to her feet with Evan rising beside her
"We're gonna scout that area" Evan said pointing towards the entrance of the forest where they came in from
"Don't go too far" Max called out to them as they walked off
"Guess we're in that direction" Max said to Emma as they both rose to their feet, heading north of the woods
"And I'll stay here so I can easily alert the rest if there's any danger" Ava said, flashing a smile at Owen. He smiled back before heading over to the shelter.
He turned and mouthed a few words to her. Her expression brightened as she tried to hide her smile. About thirty minutes passed, Sophia joined Ava by the campfire, taking a seat beside her
"Can't sleep?" Ava asked as Sophia sat down
"I doubt anyone can but we're all trying our best to" She yawned in response
"You're obviously tired" Ava said, wrapping a hand around her shoulder
"I'll survive," Sophia chuckled, turning to look at Ava. Her smiled faded for a second as she searched Ava's face
"Something wrong?" Ava asked looking worried
"Oh uhm nothing. You look more tired than I am" She chuckled
"I keep seeing them whenever I close my eyes so it's hard to fall asleep" Ava sighed
"I'm sorry you had to go through that" Sophia whispered
Her head turned following the sound coming from the shelter only to see one of the guys stepping out and heading away from the campground
"Where are you headed?" Ava called out
"Nature calls" He responded before stepping out of sight
"Lemme try to get some sleep before the last watch" Sophia said as she rose to her feet and headed to the shelter leaving Ava behind
She turned North and she could see Emma and Max in the distance, with Max holding a thick branch in his hand as he looked around.
"Can you swing that thing properly?" Emma laughed as she stared at Max
"Of course" Max said, swinging the branch like a baseball bat "one hit from this and it'll knock anybody out"
"You sound so sure" Emma rolled her eyes at him
"Of course. Do you think something is going on between your brother and Avery?" Max asked looking in their direction
"Definitely" Emma chuckled
"Finding love while stranded on an island. What are the odds?" Max said with a smile on his face as he looked at Emma who had her eyes fixed on the direction Evan and Avery moved to
"Did you happen to see my switchblade?" Max asked, calling her attention
"No, why?" Emma responded
"Nothing. Just haven't seen it since this morning" He said to her
"I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere" She assured him with a smile
Their heads turned in sync as they heard footsteps coming from behind them. Max ready to swing but stopped halfway when Sophia appeared
"Don't sneak up on people like that. I almost took your head off" Max said lowering his weapon
"Sorry about that. I need to tell you guys something" She whispered
"What's that?" Emma asked
By the far side of the campsite Ava marched on to find whoever stepped out earlier
"Oh Ava. You scared me" He said
"You were gone for a while. I figured I'd come check to be sure you were okay" She responded
"Oh uhm thanks. But there's nothing to worry about. Ain't no way I'm letting one of those morphas get me" He grinned with a hand rubbing the back of his neck
"Let's head back" She said as she stepped aside for him to pass
"You're taking your watch pretty seriously" He chuckled as he walked by
"Just making sure my friends are safe" She smiled
As they walked back to camp, Ava's feet hooked on a root, causing her to trip and fall.
"Are you okay?" He asked kneeling down to check on her
"Yeah I'm fine" She winced in pain
"You're definitely not fine" He responded scanning her for any new external injuries
"I'm fine" She assured him
"Let's get you back on your feet" He said, holding on to her. He wrapped her hand around his shoulder as he lifted her up by her waist.
He stopped briefly, his eyes shot wide open as he looked down at Ava who had a huge grin on her face. His mouth red from the blood that gathered as she twisted the knife she just thrusted into his stomach. She pulled it out and stabbed him again and again.
Before could yell for help, she covered his mouth with her free hand and then slit his throat. Blood gushed out, spraying across the floor as he stumbled to the ground, trying to crawl back to camp.
She watched with a menacing smile as she pulled him back by his feet with incredible strength, away from the light that enveloped the campsite. He choked on his blood as he lay on his back, the color fading from his eyes as he laid in the pool of his own blood.
"Ava"
She turned to face whoever called her name