Betty ran wherever her legs took her. She wanted to be alone, away from the people who had once been her friends.
Breathing heavily, she fell onto the sand and only then looked around. She was by the rocks, against which the waves were persistently crashing, furious like water demons.
The redheaded girl burst into tears at one point, regretting that she had shown up at Mason's party and gotten on that damned yacht that belonged to his family. If she had stayed home that night, she wouldn't have experienced that hell firsthand.
She may not have been a saint, she had her agenda, but punishing her like this was too brutal!
In this place, incomprehensible thoughts were happening — paranormal, and people were dying! Was this all a hallucination? Maybe they all really weren't in their right minds? What if there was someone else with them, someone who was causing them to fall into paranoia?
She still couldn't believe Daniel was dead. He was really dead! She had seen it! She had seen a corpse!
Furthermore, she still had the image of those devilish eyes in her mind, and she had witnessed Daniel trying to kill Will. So what happened after something had broken the glass, and she had fallen? Was it possible that it had been something else, not a man, that had killed him?
No, that's impossible. It wasn't in the book or the movie that paranormal activity could kill people.
The growling in her stomach made her realize how hungry she was. She didn't even want to think that if no one found them, they would die here without food!
Will they really have to swim and fish like people did in the movies to survive?
Sitting huddled on the sand next to the tall rocks, she stared ahead, tears of helplessness spilling from the corners of her eyes. Once a strong and rude girl, she was weak at this moment.
She didn't know what awaited her.
Will they all die here?
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood up from the sand, wanting to walk a little further. She climbed the rocks and stood on one of them, feeling the strong wind push her back. Furthermore, she watched the waves as they crashed against the rocks, splashing her with water.
She glanced to the side and narrowed her eyes as her attention was caught by four large crates lying on the sand on the other side of the rocks.
She headed in that direction, carefully climbing down the rocks so as not to hurt herself. That would be all that was needed if she hurt herself in a place where no one could help her.
She jumped down to the sand and walked over to the wooden crates, both excited and worried at the sight of them.
What if this was some kind of trap? Maybe the killer left them there deliberately to lure another victim? On the other hand, it could have been a chance to discover something that could help them all.
Betty felt her heart pounding as she placed her hand on the opening of the chest and, pursing her lips, in one confident motion, opened it.
It was emotional when she cried like a baby, with happiness in her eyes looking at all the intimate hygiene products. The second one had food, the third one had drinks, there was even alcohol, and the fourth one had clothes!
And that momentary happiness was replaced by anxiety when she realized that this was no accident. This was all prepared by someone who had long planned to make hell for them in this place!
This made her even more scared—scared as hell!
***
"What are you talking about, you crazy woman? What do you mean, crates prepared for us to live in? Why are we all running after you?" Jennifer wailed the entire way, but Betty ignored her words, leading the entire group behind the rocks.
She watched the people she knew like the back of her hand as they all approached the crates. Each one of them looked confused. She couldn't find the culprit among them who was responsible for this whole nightmare.
She focused her attention on Mason, who was her best friend. He owned the yacht, so he could be the prime suspect, but his behavior gave no indication that he had anything to do with it, because she knew him very well. She knew when he lied or was hiding something, and at that moment he was frowning at the food packages, trying to communicate something to everyone:
- Both the food and drinks have a good expiration date. It looks like they were prepared especially for us. Isn't that strange? - he asked, then added. - We have all the intimate hygiene products here, even sanitary pads for the girls. - Nancy blushed because he looked at her. - And the clothes are new, with tags and fit our sizes.
The young people watched him with concern in their eyes.
"So you're saying there really is a psycho hiding among us who set this up for us?" Will looked clearly worried as he said this. "He wants to have some fun? How did he know about this abandoned island?"
Jake, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed, was looking at one point, clearly scared. In his head, he still had that strange image he saw while being in his grandfather's body.
"Something's wrong... it can't be a coincidence that we're here," he said, catching his friends' attention. "I had a strange dream. I think it was the seventies, and I was in the body of my grandfather, who was a co-owner of this hotel. The second one was Daniel's grandfather, and he was the first to die..."
- What the hell are you talking about? - Mason attacked him. - We do see some paranormal phenomena and I don't know what to blame it on, but being in your grandfather's body, in the seventies? You're stressed and dreaming nonsense - he added, looking at him with contempt. - We're serious now. There's someone else here with us, someone who hates us. - He aimed his gaze, especially at his brother, wondering where he disappeared since he ran after Betty and she found those boxes herself. Now he reached them, looking tired and scared.
- Why are you looking at me like that? I couldn't catch up with her, she disappeared from my sight - the blond boy explained and Mason waved his hand, intending to talk to his brother later anyway.
Nancy watched Mason, then moved her gaze to Noah, and then something caught her eye. Her eyes widened, certain that someone was watching them from the woods. When caught, he hid behind a tree, and the blonde could have sworn he ran somewhere because the branches moved behind him.
"Are you okay, Nancy?" Mason asked, noticing that the girl's face had gone pale. She raised her hand and pointed to a specific spot in the woods.
- Someone was there just now. He was watching us. He ran away when he noticed I had seen him. I'm sure it was a man.
Everyone looked in that direction but came to the conclusion that the girl was hallucinating due to fear.
Only Noah looked concerned, which still didn't please his brother.
- Are you sure you saw someone there, Nancy? - he asked the blonde girl.
- I swear! I wasn't seeing things! I saw a man there! It's too far away, so I couldn't see his face clearly, but it was definitely a man!
Betty bit her finger and moved her leg nervously.
- Maybe there really is someone here who has prepared all this for us. He is watching us at every step and is having fun.
"And perhaps he was Daniel's partner and killed him," Mason added, once again turning his attention to Noah , who was acting strangely. "Let's all try to stick together so no one else gets hurt. Eventually we'll find out the truth. No one will mess with us." They all nodded. "Now let's get these crates and head back to the hotel. I'd love to wash up, change into some fresh clothes, and eat something."
***
The brothers felt like they were reborn when, despite washing themselves in icy water, they were refreshed and clean. Each member of their group was to clean up and then meet in a common room where they could share food and drink.
However, before Mason and Noah left the room, the brunette boy wanted to talk to him.
- You're not hiding anything from me? - The blond boy looked surprised by his question. - You were acting strange when you ran up to us after following Betty earlier. That was just an excuse. She didn't run away from you, where did you go?
Noah bit his lip, knowing full well that he couldn't hide anything from his brother.
"I ran after her, but just like Nancy, I noticed someone in the woods. I changed direction," he said.
Mason was concerned about his words.
- Who was that? Did you see him?
The blond boy shook his head.
- I only saw his back. He's a man, but I have no idea who he is. I didn't catch him.
- We should tell the others to believe Nancy that she actually saw someone.
- Maybe we shouldn't panic for now? - The brunette boy frowned. - Let's not tell anyone that there really is someone else on the island. Perhaps we should find out for ourselves? It'll be easier for us than with this whole group.
- Are you sure you didn't see this person? You don't know who this is? - Mason asked him, to which the blond boy shook his head. - Because you're acting as if you want to cover for this man.
- Are you crazy? That's some psycho who killed Daniel! Why would I cover for him? I've never hidden anything from you!
"Okay. Let's go get something to eat," he said, patting his brother on the shoulder.
They went down to the first floor, where there was an abandoned restaurant. The others had managed to clean the dusty tables and chairs so that they could eat there like civilized people, although being in this place, on an abandoned island, they could not call themselves that.
They were more like savages who were starting to go crazy.
Betty looked at Will with concern in her eyes as he approached her and motioned her aside to talk. The redhead girl glanced at the others before getting up from her chair and walking with the boy a short-distance away so no one could hear their conversation.
- You saw us that night, me and Daniel. You're a witness that that nutcase tried to strangle me. - The redhead girl nodded. - If you hadn't appeared in that window, I'd probably be dead.
- What happened? Why did he try to strangle you? - she asked in a whisper.
- He said that I was the one who filmed the whole thing with him and Noah. He went into some weird frenzy.
- What happened after something broke the window and pushed me back?
Will looked at her with concern, then swallowed hard.
- That's precisely what I wanted to ask you. Did you also see that woman leaning out the window after you disappeared?
Betty looked at him with terrified eyes.
- What woman, Will?
- A beautiful woman who looked like an angel, but her eyes were red, like the eyes of a demon...
Jake, walking past them, felt a chill run through him. That one sentence brought back memories of a dream he had, of being in his grandfather's body.
A beautiful woman who looked like an angel, but her eyes were like the eyes of a demon.
He still remembered the way she looked at him. As if she had wanted him then...or rather, his grandfather.
- Let's forget about all this hell and have a drink, since someone gave us alcohol! - shouted Mason, raising the bottle.
"What if this isn't a good idea? Maybe getting us drunk is a trap?" Nancy asked.
- If someone wants to kill us, we will die anyway, regardless of the state we are in, so let's forget about everything for a moment and relieve stress with food!
They did not realize then that the second night was coming, and they would experience hell once again.
And with each subsequent one, it was going to get worse...