May 12 • General discussion
Chapter 6 - The Watcher
Here is chapter 6 draft!
Chapter 6 — The Watcher
After the memories came back, everything changed.
Not completely.
But enough.
The air around camp felt heavier now, like every conversation had something unspoken sitting underneath it. None of us trusted our own memories anymore, and that made trusting each other harder too.
Especially Jack.
I hated admitting it to myself, but ever since the flash on the riverbank, I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on his face in my memory.
Cold.Empty.Almost cruel.
It didn’t match the person standing beside me on the island now.
The Jack I knew here carried extra firewood for Emma without being asked. He always walked closest to the jungle whenever we explored, like he wanted to protect the rest of us without making a big deal about it.
But memories didn’t just appear for no reason.
Something had happened on that boat.
And part of me was terrified of finding out what.
Dark clouds rolled over the island late that afternoon, turning the sky gray long before sunset. Wind moved hard through the trees, carrying the smell of rain and ocean salt across the beach.
Emma sat cross-legged near the fire trying to untangle fishing line from the boat supplies.
“I miss normal problems,” she muttered. “Like homework. And annoying teachers. And phones.”
Charles looked up from the map he’d been sketching in the sand. “You miss homework?”
Emma pointed toward the jungle dramatically. “There are glowing-eyed murder creatures out there, Charles.”
“Fair point.”
I smiled faintly despite myself.
For a few seconds, things almost felt normal again.
Then thunder rumbled somewhere far out across the ocean.
Jack stood near the shoreline staring toward the horizon. His hoodie moved slightly in the wind, and rain had already started dripping lightly into his dark hair.
He barely looked at me anymore.
Not since the memory.
And honestly, that hurt worse than if he’d gotten angry.
The distance between us felt strange and uncomfortable, like something important had cracked between us overnight.
I stood up quietly.
“We need more firewood before the storm hits.”
Charles immediately looked toward the sky. “He’s right. That rain’s going to kill the fire.”
“I’ll help,” Emma offered.
Jack shook his head before she could stand. “No. Stay here.”
Emma raised an eyebrow. “Bossy.”
“Nobody should go into the jungle alone,” Charles added without looking up from his map.
Jack glanced at me briefly. “I’ll go with her.”
The walk into the jungle felt different in the darkening weather.
The trees blocked most of the remaining sunlight, leaving the forest shadowy and dim. Wet leaves brushed against my arms while insects buzzed somewhere overhead.
The deeper we walked, the quieter the beach sounds became until all I could hear was the wind moving through branches above us.
Jack carried most of the larger branches under one arm while I gathered smaller pieces from the ground.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
The silence stretched painfully between us.
Finally, Jack stopped walking.
“You really think I’d hurt you?”
I froze.
Rain dripped softly through the leaves around us.
Jack looked down at the branches in his arms instead of at me.
“That memory,” he said quietly. “You looked terrified of me.”
I swallowed hard.
Because he was right.
“I don’t know what to think,” I admitted softly.
Jack nodded slowly like he expected that answer.
“I don’t remember tying you up,” he said. “I swear.”
Before I could answer, Jack suddenly grabbed the side of his head sharply.
He stumbled backward against a tree.
“Jack?”
His breathing became uneven.
Then his eyes widened.
“I remember something.”
The words came out strained.
Rain dripped steadily around us while he pressed a hand against his forehead.
“What do you remember?” I asked carefully.
Jack looked sick.
“It wasn’t me.”
“What?”
“The ropes.” He looked up at me quickly. “I remember who tied them.”
Every muscle in my body tensed.
“Who?”
Jack swallowed hard.
“Scarlett.”
The name hit like ice water.
“What?”
“She was tying all of us up.” His voice shook slightly now. “Our wrists. Mine too. Charles and Emma were already tied when I saw them.”
A cold chill crawled up my spine.
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know.”
Jack squeezed his eyes shut tighter.
Another memory flashed across his face.
“The boat was moving fast.” His breathing quickened. “Emma was crying. Charles kept yelling at Scarlett to stop.”
Thunder cracked loudly overhead.
Jack looked terrified now.
“And you…” He looked directly at me. “You kept trying to get free.”
A sharp pain exploded behind my eyes instantly.
Another flash of memory slammed into me.
The boat rocking violently beneath my feet.Rain pouring across the deck.Rope cutting painfully into my wrists.
Scarlett smiling.
Not normal smiling.
Wrong.
Cold.
And Jack shouting something I couldn’t hear over the storm.
I gasped and grabbed onto the nearest tree.
“Alyssana?”
“She was smiling,” I whispered.
Jack stared at me. “What?”
“Scarlett.” My voice shook violently now. “She looked happy.”
Lightning flashed overhead.
For one horrible second, another image flickered through my head.
Scarlett leaning close beside me.
Whispering something into my ear.
“You shouldn’t have trusted him.”
The memory vanished instantly.
I staggered backward.
Jack grabbed my arm automatically to steady me.
Before either of us could speak—
Crunch.
Both of us froze instantly.
The sound came from somewhere deeper in the jungle behind us.
Not leaves moving in the wind.
A footstep.
Heavy.
Slow.
Jack immediately stepped slightly in front of me without thinking.
The forest became completely silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
My heartbeat slammed painfully against my ribs.
“Did you hear that?” I whispered.
Jack nodded slowly without taking his eyes off the trees.
Another crunch echoed through the darkness.
Closer this time.
Rain dripped steadily from the branches overhead.
Then I saw them.
Eyes.
Two pale yellow eyes glowing deep between the trees.
My breath caught instantly.
They stared directly at us from the darkness without blinking.
Too high off the ground to belong to a small animal.
Too still.
Too human.
Jack went completely rigid beside me.
The eyes didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Just watched us silently from between the trees.
I could barely breathe.
Then lightning flashed somewhere overhead, briefly lighting up the forest.
For half a second, I saw more than just eyes.
A shape.
Tall.Thin.Standing unnaturally still between the trees.
And then darkness swallowed it again.
The eyes blinked once.
Slowly.
My stomach dropped.
Because whatever it was…
It knew we could see it.
Branches cracked violently somewhere deeper in the jungle.
The thing moved suddenly, fast enough that I barely caught the motion between the trees.
Jack grabbed my wrist instantly.
“Run.”
We ran blindly through the jungle.
Branches snapped beneath our feet while rain poured harder around us. My lungs burned painfully as we pushed through vines and wet undergrowth.
Behind us, I thought I heard movement.
Following us.
I didn’t dare look back.
By the time we burst out onto the beach near camp, I could barely breathe.
Emma jumped to her feet immediately. “What happened?”
Charles grabbed one of the spears beside the shelter. “What’s wrong?”
Jack turned sharply toward the jungle, chest rising and falling hard.
“There’s something out there.”
Rain poured harder now, soaking the beach and hissing against the fire.
Emma looked pale instantly. “What kind of something?”
Jack hesitated.
Then he looked at me.
“Eyes,” I whispered.
Charles frowned deeply. “Animal?”
“No,” Jack answered immediately.
The certainty in his voice terrified me more than the eyes themselves.
Emma stood slowly. “You’re serious.”
“We both saw it,” I said.
Charles looked toward the jungle carefully while gripping the knife tighter. “Could it have been another person?”
I thought about the footprint.The backpack.The whispering lullaby.
And now this.
And Scarlett.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
But deep down, I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.
The storm fully hit after dark.
Rain hammered against the tarp while thunder shook the island hard enough to rattle the branches overhead. Wind tore through the jungle, making the trees creak and sway violently.
None of us slept.
Emma sat closest to the fire clutching a flashlight with both hands. Charles stayed near the edge of the shelter with the knife across his lap, constantly watching the tree line.
And Jack never stopped staring into the jungle.
At one point, lightning flashed brightly across the beach.
The entire forest lit up white for half a second.
And standing far between the trees—
A figure.
Tall.Still.Watching us.
Emma gasped sharply. “Did you guys see that?!”
Nobody answered immediately.
Because we all had.
Another flash of lightning lit up the jungle.
The figure was gone.
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Chapter 6 - The Watcher
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