Before they could reach the forest, a storm broke out. The sky ripped apart like a torn curtain, and the rain poured down with such force that every step became a battle against the mud and blindness. Thunder shattered the silence, reminding them that the island was alive — and furious.
Mason couldn't walk by himself. He was weak, barely holding on to his feet. Noah carried him for the first few hundred meters until he ran out of strength, and then Jake and Ethan alternated, supporting him under his arms. Time was chasing them like animals.
Nancy led the way. Her eyes scanned every tree, every shadow. She had the feeling that the forest was breathing — or perhaps it was what was lurking inside it. Whatever had crawled out of the cave had not stayed there. It was following them.
"There!" Olivia pointed at the ruins of a overgrown cottage. "We can take shelter there."
The building was almost completely collapsed, but inside, a drier silence prevailed. They all rushed inside, dripping with rain and mud. Mason collapsed against the wall, breathing shallowly, as though the mere fact of being alive was a pain.
"What did he see?" Jennifer asked, kneeling beside him. "What... kept him there?"
Mason opened his eyes. For a moment, there was fear in them, but also something else. Something much older. Something that didn't fit his face.
"It... was alive. It wasn't a ghost. It wasn't a demon. It... was something from this place. It waited. It fed on the scraps of my thoughts. It talked. It led me through the past, through nightmares, as if it wanted me to forget who I am."
"Is it still there?" Noah asked.
"No." Mason fell silent. "It's not waiting anymore. Now it's coming for us."
Silence settled in. The rain hammered on the roof with increasing intensity, and from outside came a sound like a crunch... as if something were crawling across the wet leaves.
"I'm sorry... for everything... though I don't remember most of it, I don't know what happened on the island," Mason rasped. "My brother is alive, right? He's real? I'm not crazy anymore? You all see him?"
"Yes, I'm real. I've come back to save you, Mason," Noah said, patting him on the shoulder. "I promise, once we get home, I'll make sure you get proper treatment. It'll be okay."
"Do... do we know who killed Daniel?" He glanced around, his gaze heavy. "Is Betty and Will okay?" he added in a whisper.
Everyone fell silent, knowing the truth. No one had the courage to tell him that it was his crazy, second personality, which turned out to be murderous, that killed Daniel and Will.
Nancy approached the entrance. In the darkness stretching beyond the threshold, she saw tracks. Long, serpentine grooves in the mud, as if something had been crawling on hundreds of limbs.
"We need to move on. This hut won't stop what's coming."
"Where to?" Jake asked. "We don't have a map, Mason can barely hold on..."
"We have his," Noah said, looking at his brother. "He knows more than any of us. If we want to survive, we need to figure out what really happened here."
Mason closed his eyes.
"In the hotel... in the basement. They left something. A thing that controls the other gates. It allows them to close. But if we get there too late... all of them could open."
Jennifer looked at him, terrified.
"All of them?"
Mason nodded.
"Not just this island. There are more. And if they open all at once... the world won't defend itself."
The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. A silence fell, so thick it was almost unnatural.
And then Olivia, standing at the back door, whispered:
"I think we have a problem."
From behind the trees, directly at them, dozens of pairs of eyes stared. They weren't animals. They were too high up, too still. Furthermore, they resembled people, but moved in a disjointed way, as if their bodies didn't know the laws of physics.
Nancy reached for a knife. Jake blocked the door.
"We have to break through," she said. "Otherwise, we'll die here."
Mason lifted his head, and his voice was suddenly stronger.
"There's only one way to stop them. Through the basement of the hotel. That's where it all started. And that's where it has to end."
"Lead the way," Nancy said.
They rushed out of the hut into the rainy mist. The forest behind them moved. It was no longer just a background. Now it was a monster.
And they — the last hope to stop it.
*
The hotel appeared between the trees like a nightmare's memory. The abandoned building loomed over the island, its peaks sinking into the mist. The walls were moss-covered, with broken windows, but still emanated something that made it impossible to look at without a shiver. Something was waiting inside. Watching.
They entered cautiously, flashlights cutting through the darkness, which seemed to swallow every beam. The passage was cluttered, but Ethan, with Jake's help, removed wooden crates and collapsed shelves.
"Here," whispered Noah. "Do you hear it?"
They all froze. The sound was quiet, barely audible. It resembled a pulse. As though a heart was beating somewhere beneath the ground.
They passed through the collapsed door, descending steep stairs. The walls were covered in moss and something that looked like dried blood. The lamps didn't work. Only the flashlight beams accompanied them, flickering and going out for no reason.
"Don't split up," Nancy said. "No matter what you see."
When they reached the bottom, they found themselves in a space larger than they expected. The concrete floor, columns that once held up the ceiling, now looked like black teeth. In the center – a ritual circle. And something inside it... moved.
It was a table. On it lay a man – or what once was him. The body was mummified, but the eyes... still open. And they were staring at them.
Jennifer recoiled with a scream. Olivia covered her mouth. Even Jake turned pale.
"It's him," Mason said. "Grandfather. One of those who started this."
"I thought he had been dead for years," Ethan stammered.
"The body stayed here. But the soul... it could be anywhere."
Nancy stepped closer. The circle was marked with symbols. One of them flickered with a faint light, identical to the one from the medallion.
"This is where it was done. This is where it all started to live."
Then the ground trembled. Black goo began dripping down the walls. A brick fell from the ceiling. And then, from the darkness, something emerged that shouldn't have been there.
A figure. Human-like. But with a deer's head. Empty eye sockets and claws for hands.
"Don't look!" Mason shouted. "It's the guardian of the circle!"
The creature let out a prolonged, guttural sound and moved toward them.
Jake lunged at it with a rod but was thrown into the corner. Jennifer screamed. Ethan tried to chant a ritual prayer, but his voice faded away.
Noah grabbed the medallion and threw it into the center of the circle. The symbol blazed with intense light. The creature howled, stopped – and began to retreat, as if something was burning it.
"It works!" Nancy shouted. "Mason, what now?!"
"We need the second symbol. The second ritual. Without it, this is just temporary!"
Olivia pulled something out of her bag – a crumpled note from Mason's grandfather's journal.
"There's the ritual to sever the connection between the gates!" she said.
"Read it!" Noah cried.
Olivia began the incantation. Her voice trembled but was strong. As she spoke the next words, the light from the medallion pulsed. The creature howled once more, then exploded into a stream of black smoke.
The ritual circle cracked. Silence returned, but this wasn't the end.
Mason fell to his knees.
"It was just the guardian. Now the true form will awaken. And it knows we betrayed it."
New cracks appeared in the ceiling. Red seeped through the gaps. Nancy looked at everyone.
"Either, we close it now. Or we'll never leave here alive."
Then, from the floor, a voice echoed. Not human. Not demonic. A voice... from the heart of the island.
"You made a promise. And the time for payment has come."
At that moment, Mason shuddered and looked behind him. Two figures emerged from the darkness – pale, distorted, familiar.
Will. Daniel.
Both dead. But now they stood at the edge of the light, staring at Mason with eyes filled with pain and rage.
"You betrayed us," Will said.
"You sent us to our deaths to fulfill the plan that was conceived in the monster's mind," Daniel hissed. "And now you're its vessel. Don't justify it with the sickness. He pulled you here on purpose... It was all planned by him! Noah, he wasn't your second personality... that monster was it, the one who took over you!"
Mason recoiled, terrified.
"I didn't want to... It wasn't me..."
"But you opened the door for him," Will replied. "And now he's back because of you."
The voice from the floor echoed again. Deeper. Darker.
"My grandson..."
From the shadows emerged the figure of an old man. A figure Mason hadn't seen since childhood. His grandfather. His real name – forbidden in the family – spoke on its own:
"Elias."
Elias smiled. His face was wrinkled, but his eyes were alive. More alive than they should have been.
"We made the ritual. And now... I will live again. Thanks to you, Mason. You are the final link."
Mason froze. Noah shielded him with his body.
"You won't have him. Not his soul."
"I'm already in him," the shadow replied. "For a long time, that's why he passed through my image, had my memories, and now... it's time to awaken."
Before anyone could move, the temperature in the basement plummeted sharply. The air thickened, and the flashlight beams dimmed. The group froze, hearing a soft whisper coming from the darkness. Jake spun around suddenly, as if someone had touched him.
Behind him stood a woman. Pale, with wet hair. She had empty eyes and lips that moved silently, until finally, she spoke in a soft voice, full of dread:
"Jake..."
"Marie..." the boy whispered, stepping back a step.
"You've returned, grandson of George..."
Behind Marie, the shadow of a second figure appeared – her husband. His eyes were empty, though he still looked at the boy with hostility, as if he had sinned, not his grandfather.
Marie approached Jake.
"We are trapped here. All of us. Because of him. Because of the true demon of this island. Because of Mason's grandfather. Elias never died. His soul made a sacrifice to bind itself to this land. And now, thanks to Mason, he is trying to be reborn."
"But why us?" Jake asked, trembling.
"Because you are blood. The final link. The gate was opened by rituals, by death, by revenge. And Elias feeds on souls. The more that die... the stronger he becomes."
Marie looked at Mason.
"He's not just himself anymore, but he can still be saved... if Elias doesn't take over his body completely."
Marie's figure began to fade. Her husband pulled her back into the shadows, as though the darkness wouldn't let her speak any longer.
"Close the gate... before it's too late," she whispered, disappearing entirely.
Jake fell to his knees, devastated. And around them, silence settled once more... but only for a moment.