By the time we reach the forest, it's night. And I already feel the Vex's power.

We've all got torches on, except me, who doesn't have a torch and is stood as close to Gem's torchlight as possible. She's clearly just as nervous as I am. Skizz is behind, recording. Impulse is wielding his ghosting technology like it's some kind of weapon, wearing a head torch that clearly shows his sudden movements whenever he hears the smallest noise. Grian and Martyn are tracking the path in the front.

None of us speak.

Tree roots threaten to trip us at every step. Rain from the last few days turns the ground beneath our feet to bog. Fog rises. It's freezing cold, and I regret not grabbing an extra coat before I left. The forest around is dark, flickering with ghostly lights. They ignore us. Vines choke tree trunks.

A snap. A yelp from Gem as she stumbles. I stop, attention turning to her.

'Gem? Are you ok?'

'Yep- yep I'm fine...' she lies. 'Notch, this place is a death trap.'

'Hopefully not too much of a death trap as we are hoping to not die,' Grian replies, just ahead. 'Martyn, I'm going to admit at this point that I don't actually know what you're following, I'm just going wherever you go.'

'I'm not following anything except my vague instincts as to where Ren would go.'

'Where's that?' I ask.

'The Crastle ruins.'

Impulse stops.

'What.'

'Impulse we'll be fine,' Skizz replies, almost too fast. 'This isn't like last time. We know what we're doing now.'

'We're not going back to the Crastle.'

'What happened at the crastle?' I turn to Gem, trying not to look as panicked as I am. She's fiddling with the end of her braid, as she does when she's nervous.

'That was where Skizz almost died.'

'That's where I almost let The Hand kill him,'

'Impulse, it wasn't your fault.'

'The Hand?!'

'We're going back,'

'Absolutely not.' Skizz is fast to reply to Impulse's decision. 'We need to move on.'

'We need to go back before you get yourself hurt again. Or before anyone else gets hurt. Especially with Scar being utterly incompetent most of the time.'

'I'm right here, you know!' I snap back. All my emotion burns to growing vex instinct. 'What's The Hand?'

'Axe Vengeant. And Impulse is right. We need to be more prepared if we're going into The Crastle again,' Grian too argues. 'And, Scar, no offense, but you're not ready for a mission with a Vengeant, especially not The Hand. You will get hurt. You might even get someone killed.

Kill? You wanna kill? We wanna kill

The Vex. Their influence pushes into my mind. I start fiddling with the fidget toy in my pocket.

'Ok, this is how this is going to work.'

The click of a gun.

Martyn.

I raise my hands. The stress ball drops to the ground, but I'm not worried about my terrible pockets when Martyn's stood there, holding a pistol.

'I am paying you to handle whatever's going on with this. I have been forced to wait for at least an hour to help my friend, and now you're considering ABANDONING HIM? You are going to FUCKING SAVE REN.'

'Martyn we never decided anything!' Gem's insistences come out as a shriek of terror. 'Put the gun away! Please!'

'We need to keep going. We can't give up on Ren. And maybe the Vengeant moved on,' I suggest. Impulse shakes his head.

'That's not how ghosts work, Scar! They don't just 'move on',' Grian snaps.

'Gem?' Martyn's aim turns to her.

'Martyn, we already have enough votes to continue,' Skizz steps in front of Gem. I note he's still recording. 'We all need a moment to calm down, prepare ourselves, and only then go on and find Ren. How far away are we?'

'We've waited to fucking long already! Move or I fucking shoot.'

'Fine! Fine!' Gem decides, hurrying forwards. 'Notch, Martyn. I didn't know you were a psychopath!'

'Gem, you weren't even conscious for half of that mission,' Impulse argues. 'You do not get the casting vote.'

'Impulse quit it,' Skizz snaps. 'Everyone else, come on. If he wants to be left behind, he can be left behind.'

Skizz continues walking. I do the same. My hands return to my pocket. One grips tight to my phone. The vex are constant, and now the argument is over, unignorable. With every step further and further into the forest they get louder, their push for control greater. But if I turn back now, that'll give Impulse and Grian another incentive to push for us abandoning Ren. Or Martyn would shoot me. Kill me.

'Scar, what's going on? Are you ok?' Gem asks, whispering.

'Why were you unconscious?'

'That mission was when I got turned Wereish. I don't want to talk about it. Are you ok?'

'I'm fine,' I lie. The Vex laughter rises. Images of blood, death, them attacking, wash through my brain, impossible to block out. 'I'm just scared Nothing else.''

'I know what fighting against a ghost's control looks like, Scar.'

Gem knows.

'Ghost?' I feign ignorance.

'If it's bothering you, we can get rid of it. We already helped my friend Pearl with her wolf were situation...'

I turn my attention to anywhere else. We've reached sight of the crumbling castle ruins, where King Ren's Crastle once stood. But deep down, cutting through the Vex, my mind screams. Gem knows. She wants to exorcise me. She'll get me killed. She'll tell the others. Or they already know. They got me here as bait. Where no one will hear me scream.

Go. Go get away. Not here. Anywhere but here, the Vex screech. Traps us. Kills us. Go. Go. Before they kill. Go. Go no. Leave humans. Only Vex. Only Vex. Run away. Run now.

A low growl gets everyone else's attention. And then Ren. I take the distraction, slipping from Gem's side, and towards the forest. Where I can run and get Cub to take me home. Cub will protect me. Cub will help me.

The moment I'm out of others' sight I break into a sprint.

The world around appears moments before I reach it. I stumble over tree roots, push past brambles that tear at my skin and clothes until I'm bleeding and have to faze free. A ripping sound as half my sleeve stays stuck in the tree. I don't have time to get upset. I can't get possessed. Not here. Not in the forest. At night. Alone. The Vex still fight for control, tell me to run. My mouth twitches closer to that horrible grin of possession.

No.

No. They can't take over. They can't. I reach into my pocket to find my phone, call Cub, get help.

It isn't there.

My phone isn't there.

Terror turns to panic. I want to stop, but the Vex still drive me forwards. I've lost my phone, somewhere in the forest. I know these pockets are terrible for keeping stuff secure. I already lost the stress ball to them. And now my phone?

The world disappears.

I scream as I fall off the edge of a bank, crashing too far down below. Something snaps. My leg shoots with pain, and goes numb. The breath disappears from my lungs.

My head slams into something hard and everything turns black.

:)