"You sure are a clever boy Isaac," Asher said a few moments later as the ideas inspired by what Isaac had said slowly settled in his mind. "By the way, where are Ariyana and Arman? They shouldn't be wandering around alone. It's not safe."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Isaac said quickly. "All clear! You can come in now!"

After receiving a questioning look from Asher, Isaac sat down at the foot of the bed, crossing his legs, with an exasperated look in his eyes.

"You've been inside alone for a while, so when we came back, I told them to wait outside while I checked if the coast was clear," Isaac said, looking at Asher significantly, then directing the same look at Jasmine.

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked, confused.

"In case you were in here kissing," Isaac whisper-yelled with such exasperation that Jasmine didn't know whether to laugh or die of embarrassment.

"What do you know about..." Jasmine started to ask, but her words were interrupted by Ariyana and Arman's loud entrance.

After giving it some thought, Jasmine decided it was for the best because she didn't need to know where Isaac managed to pick up all that knowledge that she didn't expect a kid his age to have.

"What took you so long?" Arman asked, grudgingly pushing Isaac to make room for him at the foot of the bed. "You said it would just take a second. And it took you forever."

"Sorry, I was just helping these slow adults figure things out and got carried away," Isaac said, gently nudging Arman when the other boy refused to look in his direction. "Oh, come on, it was just a bit longer, don't pout."

"I am not pouting," Arman said sulkily.

"Are too," Ariyana chimed in.

"Am not," Arman responded.

"Are too," she answered almost immediately.

Jasmine rubbed her forehead, right between her eyes, where an awful headache had already settled in. It was one of those that made you feel like a hammer was attached to your forehead, not allowing you to properly move, making you feel like if you tried to move your head, you might topple over.

"Alright, you two, play nice," Asher said, throwing a quick glance in Jasmine's direction, sympathy clear in his eyes. "There is a pack of cards in that drawer. Why don't the three of you play some cards? Quietly."

"Sure," Arman said as all three of them quickly jumped to get the cards, almost toppling over each other.

"Are you okay?" Asher asked once the children had finally gotten fully engaged with their game.

"I am fine. Just a little bit of a headache," Jasmine said, continuing to rub at the spot that seemed to carry all the world's burdens. "I think I am just a bit overwhelmed thinking it all through. It's way too much to process, to deal with."

"And your leg? Is it feeling any better?" Asher asked, scrunching his eyebrows as he looked over Jasmine's frail figure.

Yes, my leg doesn't hurt as much," Jasmine said, feeling pretty confident that she wasn't lying but wondering if the headache was just more painful and made her forget all about her leg. "I think it's more like a big scrape than a bullet wound."

"So, do you think that aliens have been transforming the planet for a while, with pollution and all that? Did they secretly guide the human race to contaminate our own planet, and now it's a perfect living environment for them who adapted to those living conditions as they didn't need oxygen to breathe but pollutant gasses?" Jasmine ranted, trying to see if the words roaming around her head sounded any better once released. "Oh my God! I am starting to sound like Isaac with all the conspiracy theories stuff!"

"Honestly, I am not sure if any of it was conspiracy theories to begin with, at least not completely. It always felt like they had to be based on a grain of truth," Asher said, thinking aloud. "The problem is that the grain of truth I had imagined turned out to be more like a planet-sized rock than anything else."

"But do you really think that aliens have been around us all this time?" Jasmine said, a shiver running down her spine at the very idea. "Like, was every bald person I ever met an alien or something?"

"I don't think that's how it works," Asher said, smiling patiently at Jasmine. "Besides, maybe they could have changed into other things more easily, like animals, plants, or objects. Who knows?"

"That's even more terrifying to think about," Jasmine said, squinting her eyes as she tried to remember moments in the past when something seemed off. "They could have been anything, anyone at any given time."

"Don't think about it too much, Jasmine. You already have a headache," Asher said gently. "Won't you leave your poor brain to rest? You are being too hard on yourself, tiring it like that."

Even though Jasmine knew he was probably right, letting go of those thoughts and doubts was extremely hard. It was somehow even more difficult to accept than their current reality of being hunted around their own planet by some random alien species, a scenario she had hoped to only see in books and movies.

It was terrible to learn that the reality you lived in your entire life was one big fat lie. Nothing you ever thought you knew was true. Not history, science, or even the laws of physics. Her whole past was being rewritten with each new piece of incredible revelation, and it was rather disorienting to keep up with the changes.

"You are right," Jasmine said, shaking violently her aching head like a dog trying to shake off water from its fur. "I should get some sleep. With this fog in my mind, I can barely even keep my thoughts straight, let alone understand anything."

"You do that," Asher said, gently covering her with a thin blanket they had in the cabin. "And don't worry. I'll watch over you. You'll be perfectly safe."

It had been a long time since Jasmine trusted anyone, and she wasn't sure why she believed Asher at that moment, but she did. She had complete faith that he would do just as he said. Whether that trust came from her feelings or her dazed mind was debatable. However, at the end of the day, it didn't even matter as she needed to rest.

There is something... A presence that is trying to enter Jasmine's body. To possess her brain. To make it its own.

A strange entity is slowly taking over her mind, attempting to erase who Jasmine is, who she wants to be. It feels like it was trying to rewrite her essence. Trying to turn her into itself. Into that slimy being slowly taking over inch by inch of her body.

Her brain rebels.

It fights.

It screams.

Yet it is like there is no strength left in her body.

A deep sense of despair settles into Jasmine's heart, telling her there is no way out.

There never was.

From the beginning, she has been fighting a losing battle. Now, she is slowly accepting it.

"Jasmine, wake up," a barely comprehensible whisper reached her consciousness. It was coupled with a warm breath tickling her ear that didn't belong to the cold reality she was one step away from accepting. "We need to go. Please wake up."

The desperation in his voice helped her dispel the darkness that had almost managed to devour her, guiding her to full consciousness much quicker than usual.

"What's happening?" Jasmine whispered sleepily, still not fully awake.

"I am not sure, but I think we need to leave," Asher said quietly. "Those strange clicking noises I've heard before are back, and I am pretty sure it's the aliens or their technology making the sound."

"What about the children?" Jasmine softly voiced her first thought.

"Arman and Isaac are awake and ready to go," Asher murmured. "They're scared, but they'll be able to keep it together. They want to compete with each other to see who is braver so that'll keep them from being too scared. Ariyana is still asleep, and I am thinking about carrying her without waking her up because I am afraid she might be too scared and give away our position. Can you walk by yourself?"

"I'll be fine. I am sure I can manage. Is Ariyana a sound sleeper?" Jasmine quickly asked.

The image of a child screaming at just the wrong moment she had seen in a movie flashed through her mind.

"Yes, usually I can carry her anywhere and she never wakes up," Asher answered, offering Jasmine her backpack.

"You carry her," Jasmine said, putting the already familiar weight on her shoulders. "I'll help keep an eye on the boys."

It was a miracle that Asher had managed to do so well alone with two children, and Jasmine was ready to alleviate at least some of the pressure he must have felt.

"Alright, follow me. I know a small forest spring that's out of the way. It might be a good place for us to regroup and maybe even spend the night or wake up Ariyana and make a run for it, depending on how it goes," Asher said, walking quickly on with his children.

Isaac stayed by Jasmine's side, helping her hobble out of the house more quietly than she thought possible. It could have been because the pain medication was still working or the adrenaline was pumping again. But she did manage to keep up the pace with Asher and Arman.

And into the dark forest they went.

The place Jasmine never saw herself going to.