Hours had passed since they left the basement.Time on the island had stopped flowing normally. Each of them felt it differently — as if every second stretched into eternity, and memories turned into fragments of a dream.
They reached the shore. The yacht, which had once seemed like a dead trap, now waited for them like salvation. Inside was Ethan, whom Jennifer recognized immediately.
"I'm the one who conspired with Mason, with his other personality. I'm sorry. The yacht was hidden on the island this whole time. I'll take responsibility, but now, after everything that happened, after all the tragedy... I've had enough. I want to leave this place and take you with me. Too much has happened. Too many people have died. My friend ultimately lost his life…"
They boarded in silence. They didn't even have the strength to ask questions. Furthermore, they were physically and emotionally drained.
The salty breeze brought relief, and the sound of waves was the first natural sound they had heard in what felt like ages.
Jake sat by the railing, staring at the horizon where Marie — his grandfather's lover — appeared. She looked at him with a sad, longing gaze, as if she regretted that he was leaving the island. Jennifer sat beside him, holding on to him tightly. Olivia and Betty were silent. Nancy stood near Ethan, staring into the water.
"Are we really leaving?" Jennifer asked quietly. "What about our friends who died and are still on the island?"
"We have no other choice. We need to take care of ourselves now," Nancy replied. "We'll tell everything once we're back on land. They'll take care of the bodies. Everything will be okay."
As the engine started and the yacht drifted away from the shore, they all looked back toward the island. Where the forest was densest, where the roof of the old hotel loomed, a shadow still seemed to move — as if something or someone would rather not be forgotten.
Nancy pulled a worn figurine from her pocket — the key to the ritual. She wanted to throw it away, leave it behind, but something stopped her.
"Not yet," she whispered. "Not yet."
When they reached the mainland, everything felt unnaturally normal. The port was quiet but populated. People passed by, unaware of what had happened just a few kilometers away. For the world, nothing had changed.
Betty was the first to fall to her knees and cry. Jennifer knelt beside her. Jake screamed. Nancy and Olivia just stood still, staring blankly ahead.
A few hours later, they were at the police station giving statements.But their stories sounded like the script of a cheap horror movie. There was no evidence. The bodies had disappeared.
The investigators wrote everything down, but their eyes showed disbelief.
"And Mason? Daniel and Will?" one of them asked. "Where are they now?"
"They vanished," Nancy replied. "Mason left only this."
She handed them the figurine. The man looked at it with distaste, then placed it on the desk.
"Strange thing. What is it, exactly?"
"A story that probably isn't over yet," Nancy whispered, turning her gaze away.
*
A few months later.
Nancy sat alone on a bench by the river. She held a small notebook in her hands — full of notes, drawings, memories. Everything that had happened. Everything she wasn't supposed to remember but couldn't forget.
A young man sat down beside her.
"I didn't expect to see you here," he said calmly.
Nancy didn't have to turn around.
"Jake," she replied.
"Do you think it's over?"
"No," she answered softly. "But it's the beginning of a new chapter."
Jake looked ahead.
"What about the figurine?"
Nancy smiled faintly, though her eyes held a shadow.
"It's in good hands. For now."
Then, as if from nowhere, a sudden chill passed over the water. The river trembled. On its surface, something appeared — like an echo of a ripple — barely visible, but real.
Nancy shivered.
"We're not finished yet, are we?"
Jake shook his head.
Before they could stand, the sound of an engine echoed over the river. A boat appeared on the water, stopping at the dock. Two young men stepped off. One of them had a face eerily similar to Daniel. The other was paler, with a quiet look and a familiar smile.
"Noah?" Nancy whispered, barely believing her eyes. "How… how is this possible? Am I dreaming? Is this an illusion?"
"I'm alive," the boy replied calmly. "I was alive all along. And I know everything."
The second man nodded.
"I'm Daniel's brother. We found a journal. Mason wrote down every detail — from discovering the island to his plan to manipulate everyone. We figured out he was sick."
Jake lowered his head. Nancy was silent. She looked at them, then slowly closed the notebook.
"So the story didn't end that night after all."
"No," Noah confirmed. "It's only beginning now. I need to know what happened to my brother's body. I want to find him — because he died because of me. I knew for a long time that he was sick, but I ignored it because I would rather not destroy his life. My 'death' only worsened it. And he," — the blond nodded at the man beside him — "he wants to know the truth about his brother Daniel's death. I promised to help him in return for the help he gave me."
"And now what?" Nancy asked quietly.
Noah raised his eyes.
"The ritual was only part of it. The island was just the beginning. That place was a gateway. But something came through it."
Jake showed a photo on his phone. The sky over the horizon. Something was happening there. Storms, winds, waves rising unnaturally high.
"Another anomaly," he said. "And again near the island."
"It's not just ghosts. Not just rituals," Nancy added. "It's something bigger. Something that was born underground… and refuses to die. We have to go back."
"Back there? Why?" Jake asked.
"To finish what was started. But this time… on our terms."
And as the wind stirred above the river and the streetlight flickered across the water, they all knew one thing:
This wasn't the end. It was an awakening. And the true horror… had only just begun.