Aurora opened her eyes and looked around. Then everything came flooding back. The hole in the ship, the way her heart was racing when they tried to get Mirage out, how the storm whipped her hair around when she was on the top deck, and Paradox.

Paradox.

Aurora sat up and balled her fists at her sides. She wanted to hit someone. Hard.

A fire was burning just a few meters away from her. Most of her inmates were gathered around it. She didn't bother to see who wasn't; she genuinely didn't care. What she did care about was making sure Paradox hadn't died in vain. She was determined to get off the island, go home, and tell everyone the truth about what her friend had found before they were sentenced. It was to be Paradox's legacy.

Aurora stood up. She felt disgusting, which made her anger surge through her even more so. Her clothes were damp, her hair was clinging to her neck, and she had sand all over her body. It had even made it's way into one of her boots. She sucked on her teeth, making a snapping sound, and started to walk towards the bonfire. As long as no one talked to her, she would be fine.

They all looked up at her as she approached, but no one spoke. Good. She yawned and stretched, putting her arms above her head with her hands behind her neck. They still stared.

"What time do you think it is?" Nicole finally broke the silence.

"A time where people argue if you should call it really early in the morning, or really late at night." Logan replied.

Another long silence followed. Aurora looked at each one of them. The boy that knocked her out, he wasn't there. She glared. Coward.

"They should be back by now." Aurora heard Jake whisper. The sound of his voice made her crazy. She wanted to strangle him. No, she wanted him to drown too. While anyone who wanted to help was made to watch, and wait. Aurora's insides burned. She took a step in his direction when she was stopped by the appearance of two figures on the beach. One of them was carrying something. She tilted her head and watched as they came closer.

No, not something. Someone.

Aurora ran, her black boots kicking up sand behind her. Just before she reached Warren, she began to slow down. She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak.

"She's fine." Warren spoke before she had a chance to.

Every tense muscle in Aurora's body relaxed. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay?" Warren smirked. "No, 'thanks Warren for saving my friends life' or anything?"

"No. Just 'okay.'"

"Alright." The smirk stayed. He tilted his head towards Paradox. "Can you walk?" He whispered.

"Yes, Warren, I'm fine." Paradox responded.

Aurora watched him set Paradox down and hold her elbow to keep her steady. "I've got it." She said, taking hold of Paradox's other arm.

"No its oka—" Warren started.

"I said, I got it." Aurora repeated, staring him down.

"Alright," Warren said. He left them alone and walked towards the fire.

"You're a jerk." Aurora hissed at Paradox after he was gone.

"What did I do?" Paradox laughed and coughed at the same time.

"You made me think you were dead, you a—"

"But I'm not." Paradox interrupted. "And I'm perfectly fine to walk without your help.

"Shut up and let me act like I care about you."

Paradox smiled. "Okay."

Aurora nodded. "Good."

"I know you're capable of that feeling... what's it called? Oh yes, love?" Paradox shivered violently while she spoke.

Aurora started walking faster, knowing that the sooner they made it to the fire, the better it would be for Paradox. "Love is for children."

Around the circle of the fire, there was a circle of people. And around the circle of people, there was another much larger circle made up of the eleven survivor's trunks. Jake flinched at every noise and every movement. It was one of those night where everything was bad. Like every nerve ending in his body was firing at once, and his blood was made entirely of adrenaline. Staring into the flames helped, but he knew he needed to take action to make sure everyone stayed alive. No one else seemed more qualified than him.

"Okay," Jake spoke in a loud voice. "We're going to need to take shifts watching the fire. If it goes out, we're going to freeze to death."

"In light of prior events, that doesn't sound so insane." Logan said with a laugh laced with disbelief. "Normally, that would sound crazy. Go to sleep and die... That only happens to old people, when their bodies just shut down from living a long, happy life. Guess this is our life now, huh? Not wanting to fall asleep incase we become so cold we never wake up?"

"Logan..." Kithara reached out and touched her fingertips against his arm.

"Don't." Logan moved away. "I don't know you, you don't know me."

Jake sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This is never going to work. "I'll be one of the first to stay up. Three other people need to join me, and then we'll switch out after... four hours... ish. Okay?"

He waited for an answer, but everyone just stared.

"I said, 'okay?'" He raised his voice

"Alright." Foster spoke. "Nicole and I will stay up." His wife glared at him.

"Anyone else?" Jake looked at the faces illuminated by the fire's light. "Fine. Just three of us. Mirage, Audrey, and Oliver next."

Audrey opened her mouth to protest, but wisely decided against it.

Jake stared into the fire again. "Go to sleep." He demanded, poking the charred wood with a stick.

Mirage woke up to someone shaking her. One of these people she didn't remember the name of yet. It wasn't the boy that had saved her from drowning in her cell; he had already gone to sleep.

"It's your turn, hun." A woman's voice filled her ears.

"Thank you." Mirage sat up. She felt stiff, and wasn't sure if it was from sleeping on the beach, or from how tense she was. She scooted forward, towards the fire, and held her hands out to warm them. She smiled when she thought about the last time she had been near a campfire.

~~~~~Mirage~~~~~

Mirage jumped on top of a fallen tree, holding her phone high in the air.

"What do you think you're doing?" Her older brother laughed.

"Cell service. I was in the middle of a conversation. It was important."

"Come on, M. I know you're used to the hollywood glam, but this is a family vacation, remember?"

"I know, and I'm enjoying it, really! But..."

"No buts." He lifted her off the trunk of the fallen tree and threw her over his shoulder. "S'mores. We're going to make s'mores and tell stories about every stupid thing we did when we were kids."

"Alright." Mirage laughed. "If I get yelled at for not answering calls though..."

"Then you can blame me."

~~~~~~~~~~

Mirage bit her lip and looked up at the moon. It shone like diamonds and looked like hope. She might be a million miles away, but her family was looking at that exact same moon, and when the sun came up, they'd be looking at the same sun. They were still connected, they always would be. As long as she could see the moon at night...

The fire cracked and flickered. Mirage jumped when a spark landed on her jumpsuit.

"Don't worry, it probably won't hurt you," Oliver said.

"Probably," Mirage repeated with light sarcasm.

"Well, if you catch on fire you could always run into the ocean, so I think you're good." Mirage laughed at his smile, only visible because of the fire's glow.

"Good thing I can swim."

"Good thing Paradox can swim..." Oliver turned his head and looks at her sleeping body, curled into a ball beside Aurora.

"Yeah," Mirage whispered. "No kidding."

"I've only known her for like... what? A little more than a week? But I felt sad when she died." Oliver paused and then laughed. "When I thought she died."

"Warren called her Ghost when he brought her back." Audrey finally spoke.

"Fitting." Mirage said.

"I agree. And I mean, it's Warren. You know that nickname is gonna stay." Oliver raised his eyebrows.

"He likes nicknames then?" Mirage asked.

"Oh right, you're... Yeah. Yeah he does. He used to call Paradox green eyes."

"She does have really, really green eyes." Mirage nodded.

"Yeah." Oliver yawned. "How long do you think before we're rescued?"

Mirage shrugged. "Who knows."

"Well it better be soon." Audrey kicked the sand. "I can't sleep here another night. I'm freezing and wet."

Mirage rose her eyebrows. I have a feeling it won't be that soon...

*YouTuber voice* HEY WHAT'S UP YOU GUYS

Thank you for reading! And for voting maybe? You should do that too ;) 

What are you opinions on some of the character relationships so far? I'd love to hear what you think, or what you'd like to see in future chapters. 

Until next time, Andrea out. *drops mic*