Jayed bit his nails as he heard the messages, Quinn having to put his hand on his shoulder for him to calm down. Sweat pooled down his forehead, and soon he was just using Jayed to stay up. He was exhausted, and he felt it impossible to run anymore. There was no way. 

"We need to split up so that the monster follows just one group," Marisa whispered before anyone had a chance to start running.

"Are you kidding me? No!" Jayed protested, hushed from fear. "We can't make sacrifices."

"Jayed's right," Quinn said. "Plus, no splitting up. I will not split up." They had split up before, and every time something bad had happened. Sure, they were given a heads up that the monster was coming, but the others were probably all dead by then. He only heard three voices, anyways. 

"Okay, we're staying together," William said. But three people were already ahead on that. Dylan, Naya, and Ty (and technically Nico) were running for their lives, and the others decided not to loose anymore time and joined them.

Quinn coughed as he tried to run a few yards. Jayed was still beside him, not leaving his friend behind. But Quinn urged him to go on, saying that he could handle himself. Secretly, Jayed was exhausted to, but Quinn would not let him stay behind. "Go!" He ordered. "I'll catch up!"

"No way!" He replied, trying to pull Quinn along. But he was too busy wheezing and coughing.

"I'm not asking, Jayed!" Quinn cried. And finally, his eyes wet, he let go, running away and turning his head to keep from showing Quinn his tears.

As soon as Jayed was gone, he collapsed. Saliva rose to the top of his throat, and he spewed it away into the grass, his face turning the same shade as what he was laying on. He wanted to throw up, but he kept it inside. It would just slow him down.

After a few seconds of coughing and spitting, Quinn shakily rose to his feet, loosing his balance as he did so. He suddenly felt a little lightheaded, choking on his own spit as it flew out of his throat. 

He wasn't going to be able to run, but he could hide until it went away. Except... 

It was already too late.

It was a long way away but he could still see it quite clearly. And as soon as it saw him, it charged. And Quinn, once again, failed to run. He couldn't even stand up, legs like noodles and frozen. 

"Help!" He screamed as loud as he could, voice cracking from fear and the insane volume he was using. "Somebody! Somebody, please!"

But he knew nobody was coming. Or, at least, he thought.

Lany wasn't running like the others. No, that wasn't the way to go. The monster could catch up to you almost instantly. He had climbed one of the trees, with was apparently one of his skills. Great camouflage, and nobody could see you.  

He didn't know what to do. On one hand, he could run away from the monster and he'd be safe, but he couldn't say the same for Quinn. On the other hand, he could try to save him, putting his own life in danger.

He was hesitant, but knew what he had to do. He moved down the tree as fast as he could, running towards the boy and the monster.

Quinn fell on the ground, his weak twig doing no good anymore. His face was completely pale as he tried to run away, only to find a wall of trees blocking his way. He panicked, trying to fit through the small opening between two of the trees, but it was almost impossible.

Right as soon as the monster got close to Quinn, Lany sneaked up behind it, using a piece of sharp and sturdy bark he found to stab it in its left eye. It screamed, its claws clutching its now blinded eye. Lany found another piece of sharp bark and quickly ran over to the other side of the monster, jabbing it into its right eye as well.

It collapsed, all of its previous strength completely failing it. Lany pulled one of the thick, sharp pieces of bark out of its eye, avoided the blood splatter that followed. He didn't wait another second later to find the monster's heart, using all of his might to stab it all the way through the beast's strong skin. It shrieked once more, and it took a second piece of bark for it's wails to come to an end, as well as its breathing.

Lany ran towards a confused Quinn, grabbing his hand. Quinn coughed, but with Lany's support, Quinn was able to walk a little. He put his hand on his shoulder, and soon enough was able to walk. Quinn was completely shocked, his mouth finally closing as the body was out of sight. Lany tried to get Quinn running, but he did nothing more than slowly jogging.

"You can stop gaping now," Lany said, looking down at their interlocking hands. He let go after he realized that he hadn't before. "It's weird for me, too."

"It's not that," Quinn said, but he didn't continue. Lany-someone who wasn't good at reading people-didn't understand what he meant, but he didn't ask, either. What else could it be? Wasn't harming creatures normal to Quinn?

Quinn and Lany had never spoken until then. Yet, Quinn wished they had. Lany always seemed like an interesting person, a trait Quinn admired very much, but he never would have guessed that he would save his life. Actually, he wouldn't have guessed that anyone would have saved his life, considering that no one was really close to him besides Jayed, and Jayed had already gotten himself into enough trouble.

The thought of the monster stayed in Quinn's head, but he was relieved with the fact that it was dead. But Lany knew that that couldn't be further than the truth. Sure, maybe he had killed that one to save Quinn and one was dead, but on an island with little to no life, it was quite doubtful that there was only one single monster.

No, there were probably hundreds of them, waiting for their chance to strike. 

***

As he ran, Dylan didn't look back to see if people were catching up. He didn't know if they had all been killed, or the exact opposite. And quite frankly, that wasn't on his mind. However, he wasn't completely heartless. He did want them to survive. He wasn't going to get off the island alone. He needed bait for later, anyways. Oh, and some were quite smart, like Elliot. That would come in handy later to outsmart the beast.

But for those other younger and/or weaker kids, like Nico, Ty, and Eira, they were really no use to everybody else. If anyone had to die, he would probably want it to be one of them. Actually, he was quite sure that they were going to be monster prey. Along with Talon, who couldn't even walk.

Long story short, it was survival of the fittest. And Dylan would make sure he was on top. 

It only took a few minutes to find something interesting. It was huge, like a sudden rocky hill or something with a giant boulder in the way. No, Dylan knew what it was; it was his ticket to surviving. A cave. A shelter.

As quickly as he could before people noticed, Dylan ran to the boulder, using all of his strength to try and move it. Sweat poured down his face onto his arms, and soon enough, his limbs were numb. It wouldn't budge. There was no way.

Dylan fell onto the ground, panting before trying to use his back to move it. He grunted, shutting his eyes. He thought he felt it move across the dirt, but still no real progress. After a minute or so of trying, he heard somebody's-or something's-steps toward him. Either way, it was shit for him. He opened his eyes, sighing in relief.

It was only Naya.

"Wow. Nice muscles you got there," She said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes. "We're getting chased by a monster and you decide now's the best time to make a joke?"

She shrugged. "It is." Without another word, she jogged over to the boulder and took her place on the same side as him, pushing as hard as she could. Dylan didn't want to admit it, but she actually was sort of strong. Well, for a girl. The boulder did move a little further.

Another thing he didn't want to admit was that they needed one more person to move that rock. And he was quite annoyed when that "other person" was the weakest of the bunch. Dylan was actually surprised that she could move so quickly while holding a fourteen year old. Ty almost didn't stop, but when she noticed Dylan and Naya, she paused to try to understand what was going on.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Run along, freak," He said. He wasn't looking, focusing on pushing the rock, but he could tell that her face was turning red. She ran over, and he heard her gasp, and he guessed that she almost dropped Nico.

"No one tells me what to do, asshole," She said. "Now, what the hell is going on?"

"There's a cave behind here," Naya said bluntly. Dylan gaped.

"Why'd you tell her?" He asked, falling down from pushing too hard. Ty glared at him, as if she wanted yell and scream at him but didn't.

"I'm not going to let an innocent little kid die," Naya said. "They did save Nico's life, and that's pretty impressive." She went right back to pushing, ignoring Dylan.

Ty's glare dropped. Dylan didn't know exactly why, but it happened right after Naya finished her second sentence. She looked at Naya sympathetically, even though she wasn't looking back, and Dylan could tell that she was trying to find the right words to say, but couldn't.

"Impressive? Come on. She's 15!"

Ty's glare came right back, but this time, doubled and straight at Dylan. She started charging at Dylan, but stopped. She couldn't touch Dylan while taking care of Nico. Dylan smirked, teasing her.

"Dylan!" Naya started. He expected her to start yelling at him for insulting Ty, but that's not what she did. "Come on, puny arms, push! We don't have all day!"

Soon enough, William and Marisa appeared next to Ty, and Dylan was both relieved and annoyed, happy that William was there since he was the strongest but disappointed that Marisa was still alive. But he wasn't going to let anyone see that he couldn't handle it himself.

"Why did you stop?" Marisa asked, panting.

"Cave. Behind the rock," Ty answered. William and Marisa looked at each other, and without a second more they ran over to Dylan and Naya and started pushing.

"Dylan, get out of the way so I can help," William said. Dylan scoffed.

"No way, pretty boy!" 

"Dylan-" Marisa started, but Naya interrupted her.

"Move it, loser," She said, grabbing him and shoving him to the side. Shocked by Naya's action, William and Marisa took his place and started moving it.

Dylan rubbed his head, the amount of impact making his body sore. A few others joined them, but he didn't pay attention to them. He instead payed attention to William and Marisa, the greatest heroes of them all, use all of their strength to remove the boulder from the entrance. Everybody raced in, and Dylan glared at William as he entered. 

It was actually quite nice for a cave. The walls were all the color of concrete and some yellow shade mixed together, and the floors and well were clean cut and there were hardly any cobwebs in sight. There was an entrance, and Dylan assumed that it was to another part or something. 

Overall, it was perfect for hiding out.

Jayed sat by the side of the the cave, looking at his hands. William and Marisa were by the entrance to the cave to look out for the others, making sure that there was a small opening so that if the monster did come they could slip in. Ty was sitting next to Nico, as if waiting for him to wake up. And Dylan was on the side of everyone, looking. He was surprised when Naya came and sat beside him.

"What do you want?" He asked. She shrugged.

"Do I have to want something to sit against a wall?" She looked away from him, instead staring out into space. "People are interesting, huh?" She asked. 

Dylan tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"You always watch them, like me. I guess it's easier to observe than to actually communicate."

Dylan was still confused, but nodded anyways. They both sat in silence, watching. Maybe she was right. Strange, but right.

***

"Quinn!" Jayed cried, running to the entrance of the cave. He grabbed his friend, pulling him into a hug. Quinn returned it, patting him on the back as well. "I was so scared!"

Lany entered beside him, but he stayed silent. Liam, Sparna, Eira and Talon came next, looking around the cave. It was basically an hour after everybody else found the cave, and people were starting to doubt they were ever coming back. 

Where's Elliot? Orion signed. Zeke turned his head to look at him, then back at the group that had just entered, eyes wide. He didn't translate. In fact, nobody even noticed Orion had signed anything at all, except for Talon.

"What, Orion?" She asked, heads turning to the boy. Orion sighed, trying not to sound impatient.

Where is Elliot? He mouthed. Most didn't know what he said, except for Sparna.

"Oh," She said nervously. "Where's Elliot?" Talon and Eira dropped their heads, not wanting to see the reactions. "Well, um-"

"She's gone," Liam interrupted, not wanting to make Sparna upset by making her say it. Sure, it was painful for him, but he was strong. She was more sensitive. There were gasps, and William was suddenly washed with guilt. "We were trying to be quiet, but she stepped on a branch, which made her run faster than all of us. Then, it got her."

William smacked his forehead. "Why'd I make her stay?" He muttered, Marisa patting him on the back. 

"It's not your fault," She said comfortingly. But he didn't believe her.

"Quinn?" Jayed asked. "Lany? What's wrong?" Lany and Quinn didn't even notice that they looked troubled until Jayed brought it up. Lany was unable to speak, so Quinn-who was still shaken from the event-was forced to explain it.

"Um..." He started, thinking about the event. "Well, I fell on the ground, and I couldn't stop coughing. Then, the monster came up behind me and I just ran. But I.... but I couldn't. It cornered me against trees and that's when Lany-" He stopped.

"That's when Lany what?" 

He sighed. "That's when Lany killed it. He blinded it in both eyes, then stabbed it."

***

The sleeping boy barely made any noise. Even though they had only really known each other for about a day or two, Ty knew that Nico was a quiet sleeper. He had fallen asleep in the woods, and now, there he was, deep asleep beside Ty and not likely to wake up anytime soon. It had been almost two hours, and the sun had risen a while ago, but they still didn't wake him up.

He was so peaceful. Even when he was awake, he was just so peaceful. The two were polar opposites, for Ty was anything but calm and happy. But that's what they loved most about him; his personality was so bright and deep, with more layers than the oldest of Earth. He was someone that would light up the room just by walking in, and his kindness only made that grow. He was someone that cared more about others for his own good, and would do anything for them. He was someone that Ty would spend every moment around every single day. 

They had no idea what they would have done if Nico had died by the river. 

"Hey," Someone said from behind them, and Ty knew who it was without looking. Ty looked up at her, but didn't say anything or really react, looking back down at Nico. It took a second before Sparna sat down beside them, which was a little awkward, since they had never really spoken before. They looked back at her when she started talking.  "Marisa told me about what you did by the stream, for Nico. It's the first time something like that's ever happened to him, so I'm not exactly sure what caused it."

Ty pursed their lips, focusing their attention on the ground now. "Seizure," They said.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Nico. I think he had a seizure."

Although Ty wasn't looking, they knew that Sparna looked confused. "Are you sure? Because in the fourteen years that he has been alive he hasn't had one once."

Ty didn't really want to respond, but it felt inappropriate not to. "Trauma," They suggested, shrugging their shoulders.

"Well, maybe, but I would think that it would have happened earlier, not right then." That time, they didn't answer, looking at Nico instead. There was a moment of silence before Sparna broke it.

"Look, Ty, I know this might seem weird since you probably know things about me from Nico, but I want to talk to you." Why did she want to talk to them? What did they do?

"What you did was very courageous of you, how you thought so quickly when put on the spot like that."

Wait, was she thanking them? Why? They hadn't done her any favor. They saved Nico because they cared about him, not because she did. "It's okay," They insisted quietly, trying to end the conversation in a way that wasn't too obvious.

"No, it's not!" She said. Ty stayed quiet after that, making eye contact. "It's just..." Sparna trailed off. She looked at her hands as she thought of what to say. "Nico's lucky to have a friend like you. I haven't been the best older sister through the years. I guess, well, I want the best for him and sometimes that causes us to fight."

She paused. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... thank you. He needs someone to count on right now, and I don't really think that's me." A few tears formed in her eyes as she fought to hold them back, her cheeks becoming red. Ty knew that they should probably say something, but they didn't know exactly what. They didn't want to say something out of place or too personal, so they stayed silent and tried shining a small smile. It was somewhat genuine, but the fact that she was still pretty much a stranger was a little uncomfortable to them. But they weren't going to be rude.

"I-I'll leave you alone now," She said, smiling a bit. She touched their shoulder before standing up and walking away, glancing at her brother before doing so. She went to the other section of the cave, and Ty knew that it was probably to help teach Talon to walk again. She wasn't doing too bad, since her muscles were starting to function again. She just had a terrible limp. 

It was only four minutes later when Nico's eyelids rose, squinting in confusion. "Where am I?" He asked sleepily. 

"A cave. We found it while running," Ty answered.

"Running?" He asked. They nodded.

"Yeah. Sparna, Liam and Talon warned us that the monster was coming, so we got a bit of a head start. Then, Dylan came upon this cave thing and William pushed a rock in front of it so that nothing could get it."

Nico's eyes widened. "Sparna?" He started, his voice full of panic. He sat up. "Is she okay?" He quickly turned his head to scan the room, scared when he didn't see her.

"Yes," Ty said. "She's fine, just in the back of the cave with Talon, Eira and Liam. She actually saved Eira's life, and probably the lives of every one of us. Including you. "

He sighed in relief. "Was anybody hurt?" He asked, worried again.

"Um," They started, scared to finish. But Nico knew what the answer was.

"Who? Who was it?"

"Elliot Germaine, that girl with the freckles that was forced to stay behind."

His face turned painful, like giving a moment to remember her. "Poor girl." Suddenly, some sort of cloud of confusion overcame him. "Ty? What did happen, at the river? I just remember feeling dizzy, weak in my bones, then next thing I knew it I was asleep and woke up on the ground."

Ty bit their lip. How were they going to explain? "Well, I don't really know why, but all of a sudden, everyone was crowded around you, and Marisa was saying something about you passing out." They stopped, but Nico was unsatisfied.

"That's it?" Ty lied and nodded. "How did I wake up so fast, then? I don't remember being able to breath very well.

They bit their lip even more, blushing a little at the same time. "W-well, I gave you a few compressions on your chest, which helped you get breathing again."

Nico nodded along with what they said, not questioning it anymore. Instead, he just smiled at Ty, playing with his hands, but Ty could tell what he wanted. He was a terrible liar, after all.

"Go," They said.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Ty was surprised that it actually seemed genuine.

"Your sister. I can tell that you want to see her." He gave a guilty grin, and after a moment, it turned into a full blown smile and a hug. Ty smiled back, and this time, it was real. 

Nico called Sparna's name, and when she came, her eyes quickly filled with tears, pulling him into a huge hug as she stroked his hair. Ty couldn't hear exactly what the two said, but they sure looked happy. God, it made them feel good to see him happy.

Sparna pulled him to the other part of the cave, and Ty could hear the faintest conversation between Talon and Nico. It was weird, how almost dying brings people together. But it did. 

***

"Do it." Sparna ordered. Her posture stiffened, not a sense of nervousness in her body. Well, there was a little, but she didn't listen to it. 

"Sparna, are you sure? This isn't like you, to do this," Talon said. They were the only two in the back of the cave, for Liam had left to talk to Zeke, Nico had left to talk to Ty and ask them for questions, and Eira had left to check on everybody's injuries, including her own. But Sparna took that to her advantage; she needed some time alone with Tal.

"Of course I'm sure, now do it!" She urged, her tone sounding more angry than before. Talon gripped the knife strongly, but she found it hard to move it anywhere near Sparna's head. She tried doing it really slowly, but again, it was hard to believe that Sparna wanted her to do it.

"Tal! Come on!" Sparna said, frustrated and impatient. Talon's hand shook as it near her head, wanting to believe this was a dream. She decided to try and change her mind one more time.

"You haven't been yourself recently. Do you want to sit and talk about it? Rethink this whole thing?"

But Sparna had enough. She turned around, prying Talon's knife from her grasp and raising it to her scalp. It wasn't pretty, since it took so long to saw it all off, but Talon couldn't help but watch in horror as every little piece of hair that was dangling in her ponytail was cut off, falling to the ground until all that was left was some sort of pixie cut on Sparna's head, strands of hair sticking out everywhere. 

Sparna dropped the knife that Lany made on the ground with a thud, leaning back onto the cave walls. She ran her hand through her hair one time, trying to ignore the fact that she was shocked when there was so little to run it through. 

"Spar..." Talon started, voice upset and confused at the same time. "You've loved your hair for as long as I can remember. You said you'd never cut it." Her voice started to crack. "Karimah Leya, you and I used to style it all the time! You said that you were going to try to grow it out as long as you could!"

"Whatever," Sparna said, looking at the ground. "It's just hair."

"No, it's not! It's your hair! Your precious hair that you always kept in a ponytail, that people would be jealous of because of it's curl and body! Karimah Leya-"

"Stop it!" She shouted, grabbing the knife and standing up, chucking it across the room as hard as she could. It landed with a huge smash, which was when Sparna's face turned upset and she slid right back down to the ground. It didn't take long for Nico, Eira and Liam to rush back, making Sparna groan. Great, she muttered.

"Sparna! I heard-whoa." Liam stopped as he saw her hair, and he stayed frozen in shock. Nico's mouth dropped, moving his focus to the knife across the cave walls. 

"Um..." He started. "Wow. Y-your hair." He paused as Sparna looked down at her hands in embarrassment. "I-it looks good," He said quickly.

"Thanks," was all she said. 

"Yeah," Liam said. "It looks... different." Talon glared at him. Eira was surprised, but got out of it pretty fast, nodding as if to say it looked good.

"Can you guys please leave?" Sparna asked. Nico looked at her nervously before following her instructions, Eira starting to leave but stopping when she realized that Liam wasn't coming.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked. 

"Yes, Liam, I'm fine. Now please go," She lied. Eira gestured for him, and after taking a moment to think, he did. But he still looked concerned for her.

After everybody left, Sparna looked at Talon, who moved closer to her and gave her a hug. There was silence after that. A long, calming silence.

A/N

I just wanted to address something really quick. Yes, I realized that all of the deaths have been basically the same, but it has been hard to make them different. From now on, they won't  just be effects of a monster chasing the group. In fact, almost all of them will be very important to the story/characters (with an exception or two). But just know that I am trying to make them very different.

In fact, I already have who is living and dying planned out, along with some deaths that I have in mind (by "some" I mean three or something). So yeah. Hope you enjoyed the (by a longshot) longest chapter in the book so far :)