That was the million-dollar question.
Trying to unravel her thoughts, Claire walked forwardthrough the trees into the sunlight on the shore. She lifted up her face to feel the sun on her cheeks.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
She ran through ballet combinations in her head, trying to center herself in the moment:developpé to arabesque...Mariana was right—whatever had happened years ago with their parents and the missing boy was not the issue. They had a much more immediate problem.
Just need to tackle one issue at a time, she told herself.Think through the puzzle.
She sat on a rock by the lake. The water lapped at the pebbles peacefully, as if it had never stormed. Hugging her knees to her chest, she tried not to think about how hungry she was.
Maybe they could have found a way to survive here if it was just them on the island. Maybe they could have figured out how to fish, how to snare rabbits, how to build a shelter, how to do it all.But we aren’t alone, she thought.
And the thing that lived on this island wasn’t going to let them thrive. Whatever it was, whatever its story, there was no denying that it was after them. The sooner she accepted that, the better their odds. Just because none of this was possible didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.
She took a deep breath. Inhaled. Exhaled. Again.
“What does it want?” Claire said, thinking out loud. “It wants to live. It needs a body to live, apparently. A young body. Arthur got too old, and now it wants a replacement.”
“Yep,” Reyva said. “It tried possessing Jack’s father for a while, then he managed to kill himself—guess it didn’t have complete control. But he wasn’t who it really wants anyway. It wants one of us.”
“Only one,” Mariana said. “It said it will let the rest go. Obviously the answer is no. Not leaving either of you behind.” Looking back, Claire smiled at her. She felt the same way. So, from the expression on Reyva’s face, did she.
We stick together, Claire thought. The spirit from the cave wanted to break them apart, wanted them to sacrifice one of them so it could live, but they weren’t going to allow that. They’d sworn to stick together, and that was what they were going to do. They could survive this—together.
Of course, there was one obvious solution that didn’t involve sacrificing any of the three of them.
Claire didn’t want to be the one to say it.
Someone had to say it.
“Jack,” Reyva said.
“No,” Mariana said.
“You still like him?” Reyva said. “After what he did? And what he tried to do?”
“I don’t, obviously,” Mariana said. “But... Look at Arthur, what thatevildid to him. It took his mind, his future. It took him away from his family. It destroyed him. We can’t knowingly do that to someone else. Maybe our parents... Maybe they didn’t know what they were doing when it happened. They were scared. They weren’t thinking. I can make a lot of excuses for them—I have a lot of practice at that. Maybe they didn’t knowwhat fate they were condemning him to. But we know.”
Claire nodded. “We’re not going to make the same mistake they did.”
Reyva sighed. “You’re right. We can’t leave anyone tothat, even Jack. But... that doesn’t leave us with many options.”
Oranyoptions, Claire thought.
Careful of her arm, Reyva lowered herself onto the ground next to Claire. “You asked about my greatest fear: it’s being powerless. Admittedly, I never imaged this exact scenario, but... I hate this. Hate feeling helpless.”
Mariana sat on the other side of Claire.
Putting their arms around each other, they leaned closer together and watched the sun glitter on the lake.
Listening to the birds, they foraged along the shore. No mussels this time, but they drank rainwater that had collected on the rocks, scooping it into their mouths with their hands.
Mariana located a blueberry bush, and they stripped it of every berry, even the bitter still-partially-green ones. Splitting their meager harvest, they ate them all. Claire felt the berries slosh inside her, barely making a dent in her hunger. Her innards churned as if they didn’t remember how to digest food anymore. Straightening, she felt her head swirl and put her hand on a tree trunk to steady herself. Light-headedness wasn’t a good sign.
“We should check on Jack,” Claire said. “See if he’s regained consciousness.” He’d need water and food too, if he woke enough to swallow them.
