As the drums continued to echo in the distance, we decided to work together to fix up our campsite again. We straightened the tents, picked up the scattered food, and stashed all our important belongings inside one tent for safekeeping.
Gian was quietly gathering the torn pages of his sketchbook when I noticed Alliyah watching him, her eyes full of concern. She walked over and pulled out a clean cloth from her bag.
"Let me help you put these back together," she said gently, holding out the cloth to him.
Gian took a deep breath and nodded. "Thanks, Alliyah. This is the only sketchbook I brought – I have drawings in here from back in high school."
They started working together to arrange the pages, placing the cloth underneath to keep them clean. As they talked about the drawings Gian had made, I noticed the sadness slowly fading from their faces. Alliyah laughed as Gian told her about the time he'd drawn their Filipino teacher speaking English with a ridiculous accent.
I wasn't the only one watching a developing connection – Charmine and Jeffrey were also catching everyone's eye. Jeffrey was adding fresh wood to the fire while Charmine stood beside him, getting ready to roast marshmallows.
"You need to hold it close enough to get warm, but not so close it burns," Jeffrey said, pointing to where she should place her stick.
"I'm scared I'll burn myself," Charmine whispered, her hand trembling slightly.
Jeffrey smiled and picked up another stick. "Just hold this one tight, and I'll hold it too. So you don't have to be afraid."
They roasted marshmallows together, jumping back in unison whenever one started to bubble and brown. I saw Charmine smile – her first real smile since we'd found the torn sketchbook.
"Hey, look at this!" Lisha called out, holding up an old photo she'd found in her bag. "This is us from our high school prom night!"
We all crowded around to look. Andre leaned against me as we stared at the picture – he was in a black barong while I wore a white evening gown. Benjamin was laughing in the background, wearing Lisha's blue prom dress as a joke.
"I look so stupid in this one!" Benjamin said, covering his face with his hands.
"You're right!" El-John laughed. "You look like you're about to trip over your own feet!"
As we laughed and shared old memories, Gian quietly slipped a new drawing into Alliyah's hand. It was a quick sketch of her laughing while helping him fix his pages – every detail perfectly captured. Alliyah's face lit up, and she tucked the drawing carefully into her pocket.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey had managed to make Charmine laugh by telling terrible campfire jokes. "Why did the mushroom get invited to all the parties?" he asked.
"I don't know... why?" Charmine replied, grinning.
"Because he was a fun-gi!"
She rolled her eyes but kept smiling, leaning a little closer to him as they sat by the fire.
Andre squeezed my hand, pulling me out of my observations. "You okay?" he asked softly.
I nodded, looking at our friends – even in the middle of this strange and scary situation, bonds were forming that felt stronger than ever. "Yeah. I just hope we all get out of here so we can see where these stories go."
That's when we heard the drums stop.
Silence fell over the woods – so complete that we could hear every cricket chirp and leaf rustle. Then, from the darkness beyond our firelight, we heard a voice singing in a language none of us recognized.
It was beautiful... and terrifying at the same time.
[TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 5]