Sunlight spilled across the private pool as Sarah stepped outside, still wrapped in one of the resort's plush towels. Her body ached, not unpleasantly, and her thoughts were foggy from the night before. The kiss. The game. Natnat. She didn't know what this thing between them was but when she saw him at the table pouring coffee like nothing happened, and then looked up to catch her gaze with a quiet little smirk Something inside her fluttered and that scared her more than it should.
Ashley had the glow of a satisfied woman and a hangover as she lounged by the pool in an oversized shirt. Dian was shirtless, grilling leftover meat like it was still a party. Joanne was quiet, playing with her straw in a half-empty iced coffee beside Andy. He was scrolling his phone with furrowed brows.
"You good?" she asked softly as she passed by. Andy didn't even glance up. "Yeah." It seemed cold but she didn't push it. Maybe he was hungover.
The mood started to shift around noon. Nadia and Mia from the "Pick-Me" group came over, visibly annoyed. "Have you seen Loca?" Mia asked, arms crossed. Dian raised an eyebrow. "Isn't she your friend?" "She never came back to the villa last night," Nadia added, her voice flatter, more observant. "We thought maybe she stayed with one of the guys." Ashley stretched. "Well, I didn't see her. She wasn't with us." "I was with Ian," she added with a proud grin. "Congrats on the STDs," Joanne muttered jokingly under her breath. Sarah stepped forward. "Maybe she just got up early? Went walking? What about you Dian ? I thought she clings to you all night"
"Nope. She left me after a kiss. When I followed her to ask what's wrong, I saw her leave with someone else, then I just went back to the house and slept." Dian was looking at the forest not far from their stay. "Try calling her." . "Her phone's still charging on the nightstand" Nadia said. "And her bag's untouched."
That made everyone pause but still thinking that maybe she overslept somewhere else. They walked to the resort's main office together. A large building tucked between the forest edge and the helipad but the glass doors were locked. Lights off. Andy knocked. "Hello?" No answer. They circled to the side and saw a paper taped to the window:
NOTICE:
Majority of our staff is on leave for the week due to internal holiday rotation. We will resume full operations on [date]. For urgent help, please contact emergency satellite radio.
(Note: radio room is inside the staff quarters building.)
"Convenient," Dian muttered. Sarah frowned. "Where's the staff quarters?" "Back of the island, near the forest line," Ian said. "We passed it coming in. Looked empty even then." "How come there's no staff when There is still people here ? Are we not customer?" Joanne scoff angrily.
They searched the obvious areas; beachfront, pool decks, the cliff trail near the rocks. Nothing. No Loca. No staff. "I'm not going into the forest without someone who knows the trail," Joanne said, arms crossed. "Yeah," Becky added, coming over from his group. "That place looked thick. You could get lost in ten steps." They split up and scouted until dusk, but when the sun started to dip behind the trees, no one wanted to stay out too long. The group reunited at the center of the villas, tension slowly climbing.
It tore through the air like a blade. A woman's scream, distant but close enough to raise the hairs on every neck. Everyone froze. "That came from the west side," Simon said. "Group 3's villa." Without another word, they ran. The moment they arrived, they knew something was wrong.
The front door of Group 3's homestay was shattered, hanging off its hinges. Inside, the living room was a disaster. Furniture tossed, lamps broken, pillows ripped apart like claws had shredded them. "Holy shit," Ashley whispered. A thin trail of blood led from the living room floor into the hallway just enough to twist everyone's stomach into knots. It wasn't a lot, but it was the kind of blood that meant something bad had happened here. Ashley's breath hitched, and Joanne instinctively took a step back, like the sight itself could cut her. Nadia clapped a hand over her mouth and gagged, turning away as if she might throw up. No one spoke for a moment, the silence felt heavier than the wreckage around them. They checked the bedrooms for survivors or someone, one mattress was flipped, another soaked in spilled wine and what might've been more blood. A phone laid cracked by the bathroom sink. Music still played on a Bluetooth speaker, upbeat and hollow. No signs of anyone. No bodies. Just chaos.
"What happened?" Andy asked the woman, who was still trembling and sitting on the floor, crying. "I-I don't know. I just came back from the beach. They were just here a moment ago," she said, covering her eyes. "Do you want to stay with us? We cannot touch anything here. This place itself is evidence," Sarah said, crouching beside her. The woman nodded and went with them quietly.
Back at their own homestay, no one was smiling anymore. They locked all the doors and windows. Tension sat heavy in the air like a fog. "We need that radio," Ian said, pacing. "The emergency one." "It's probably in the locked staff building," Andy muttered. "Which we also can't get into." "I'll break it if I have to," Dian said, dead serious now. Sarah sat with her knees to her chest, her mind racing. Loca was still missing. Now a whole group was gone. Just… vanished.
Beside her, Natnat sat quietly, elbows on his knees, watching her. Not with lust this time, but concern. His hand brushed hers. She didn't pull away. "I don't think we're alone on this island," Nadia finally said, staring at the wall. No one argued with her.
That night, the island felt different. The waves sounded too quiet. The jungle too loud. Andy sat on the patio alone, watching the forest line like it might move. He hadn't touched his drink. Inside, Sarah stared at the ceiling and in the shadows of the distant treeline… something watched them back.
Suddenly three sharp bangs at the door. Too loud, too desperate. Ashley was the first to jolt up. "What the..." Andy rushed to the door, but Sarah beat him to it. She swung it open to find a figure standing there in the early morning light, barefoot, hair wild, skin scratched and muddy.
It was Loca.
Her eyes were wide. Not just afraid but wild, like a hunted animal. "Help me," she rasped. "You have to lock the doors! Lock them! Don't go out! Don't go in the woods! Don't!" She was hysterical.
"Loca?!" Nadia ran forward, grabbing her arm. "Where were you?" Loca blinked rapidly. She tried to answer, but her words were disjointed, breathless. "They took them. Something's there. The trees are… wrong. It whispers. I... I was running all night. They were behind me. They're not… they're not people anymore... they look human but something is not right with them!"
"Okay," Andy said, stepping forward, trying to be calm. "Sit. Drink water, you are wounded ! We have to treat you first. You're safe now." Loca grabbed his collar with both hands. "I saw them. Their faces changed. They weren't supposed to have those faces. They smiled with no lips." She started crying, hysterical.
Ashley slowly backed away and scoffed. "She's on drugs."
"No," Nadia said firmly. "She doesn't use. I would've known." Sarah noticed the scratches on Loca's arms. Not like thorns but deeper, more deliberate. As if someone had tried to drag her by force. Then there were her feet with blistered, cut, and bleeding. She had run. Barefoot. In the forest. All night. All of them watched her tight-lipped, scared and confused.
By mid-morning, word had spread. Sarah's group wasn't the only one affected. Four survivors from one of the earlier tourist groups stumbled into the main area. Their eyes were bloodshot, faces pale. "We heard screaming last night," one of them, called Jasper, explained. "When we woke up, two of our friends were gone. Doors wide open. No sign of struggle."
"We want to stay with your group," another added. "Please. We don't feel safe alone." It was decided, silently, that everyone remaining would stick together. At least they had numbers now.
The new total: sixteen people.
From the original thirty-one.
Half gone. Just like that.
Loca refused to sleep. She sat curled in the corner of the living room, whispering nonsense and flinching at shadows. Sometimes she scratched her arms until they bled. Sometimes she laughed like a child. But most chilling of all, she kept repeating one thing:
"It's not him. He knew my name, but he wasn't him."
"What does that mean?" Joanne asked quietly. Loca stared past her, smiling too wide, tears of fear falling steadily from her eyes. "You'll see."
They tried to keep the mood calm. Dian attempted to crack jokes. Ashley forced herself to do makeup. Andy cooked something bland but warm. Joanne kept the drinks coming, less for fun and more to numb the fear even though drinking seemed like a stupid idea in their situation.
Natnat stayed near Sarah. Not too close, but never far. He barely spoke, but when their eyes met, something passed between them. A silent agreement: Stay close. Stay sane.
That night, they barricaded the doors. Pulled the blinds shut. Some people slept. Some pretended. But Sarah couldn't. Her heart wouldn't slow down. Outside, the jungle swayed in the wind.
Except… there was no wind.
Then a sound. Not screaming.
Whistling.
Slow. Off-key. Childlike.
Sarah sat up.
Someone else heard it too. Andy stood by the window, his shoulders tense. "It's coming from the trees," he whispered.
"What is?"
"I don't know… maybe the thing that took them?"