Loca's group sat in a tense circle inside the homestay's common room. The walls felt too close. The air too still. Even the clock on the wall had stopped ticking, as if time itself was afraid to move. Ian looked around at the anxious faces. His throat was dry, but he forced the words out. "We can't keep doing this," he said, his voice low but sharp. "We need to prove we're real. All of us. One by one." No one answered. Only the sound of shallow breathing filled the room.
Ian leaned forward. "What about we share something only the real you would know. A memory. Something no one else could fake." The group exchanged uneasy glances. It was dangerous to dig into the past, but more dangerous not to. Finally, they nodded. One by one, they began to share. Memories spilled out like fragile glass. Childhood scars. A broken arm from climbing a fence. The taste of mangoes stolen from a neighbor's yard. First crushes, first heartbreaks. Embarrassing secrets. Things they swore never to tell, now poured out because their very lives depended on it.
For a few minutes, laughter cut through the gloom. Tears mixed with smiles. For a moment, it felt like they were people again not prey, not suspects, not shadows of themselves. Then... footsteps. Slow... Careful... Too deliberate. Everyone froze. The air grew heavy. Muscles tensed. Hands tightened around makeshift weapons, a broken chair leg, a shard of glass, a rusted pipe. The doorknob twisted. Time stretched.
Then... creakkkk...
The door opened. They screamed and lunged forward, weapons raised. "Wait.. WAIT!" a voice shouted. Hands flew up, trembling. It was Andy. His eyes were wild, clothes torn, face pale as death. He stumbled in, panting hard. "It's me! I... I found you! Thank God, I was so scared!" His chest heaved, sweat glistening on his brow.
He looked like hell.
"Where are the others?" Andy asked quickly. His voice cracked, half-panicked, half-relieved. "I saw something at the house… When I tried to find Sarah. I thought I was hallucinating. I ran into the bathroom and locked myself in. It knocked. And then it just... vanished." He held out his arm. A fresh, ugly cut stretched across his skin. "I also… accidentally cut myself trying to hide."
Silence.
Loca narrowed her eyes. "Wha… what do you mean?" she asked slowly. "You were with us just now," someone whispered. Ian stood. His jaw clenched tight. His eyes, cold and unblinking, fixed on Andy. "Where did we first meet, Andy?" Ian demanded. Andy blinked. Confusion flickered across his face. "What?". "Answer the question," Ian said, firmer now. "Where did we meet?" Andy hesitated. Too long. Then stammered, "On the ship, remember? The day we were heading here." The room dropped into dead silence. Ian's voice cut like a knife. "If you're the real Andy… then who's with them?" The group's hearts stopped. Faces paled. Terror crawled up their spines.
Far away, Dian suddenly stopped walking. His expression darkened. Ashley noticed first. "Dian? What is it?" she whispered.
He turned toward her and Joanne, his face unreadable. "Do you remember how mad I used to get when you, Sarah, and Joanne kept teasing me in high school?" His voice was strangely calm. "When you kept saying I was gay?". Joanne sniffled. "You were mad. But it was funny." "I miss Sarah," she whispered, her throat tight. Ashley chuckled weakly. "You even slammed the table once."
"Yeah," Dian said. His eyes looked distant, lost in memory. Then he turned to Andy, who was walking just a few steps ahead. "Remember that time when I confessed to a girl and got rejected?" Dian asked suddenly. "In front of all of you. She laughed in my face."
Andy chuckled awkwardly. "Ummm… yeah, of course. It was embarrassing." Ashley smiled faintly. "You're just trying to lighten the mood again." She reached for his shoulder. "Thank you, Dian," she said softly. "For keeping us sane."
Dian leaned in, hugging her gently. His lips brushed her ear as he whispered, "I have a bad feeling about Andy. I think… I saw him smiling while we were fighting before. Something is wrong with him." Ashley's blood ran cold. She pulled back slowly, eyes wide. "W-what…?" Dian didn't answer her. His eyes were locked on Andy.
Andy was grinning. Not a friendly grin. A sick one. Crooked. Inhuman. "You know…" Andy's voice dropped, guttural. "We can hear whispers. We don't have sharp ears, but us creatures... can hear whispers of doubt." Dian's face hardened. He moved forward, arms spread to shield the girls. His voice cracked as he shouted trembling "F... FUCK! RUN!"
Ashley's feet refused to move. Her body locked in place, trembling. But Joanne's grip was iron, yanking her forward.
"Please… go," Dian whispered, his voice softer now, almost tender. His eyes flicked toward Ashley. His eyes was wet, broken, but steady. "He won't chase all of us if I stay."
Ashley's tears blurred everything. Her lips parted, desperate to argue, but her throat failed. Only a strangled sound came out. Joanne dragged her. "Don't waste it!" Their footsteps pounded away.
Behind them, Dian stood his ground. His fists clenched. His chest rose and fell like a war drum. The impostor face stretched over something not human. Tilted his head, grinning wider. His teeth too sharp. His eyes too empty. "You think you can stop me?" it hissed.
Dian spat on the ground. "Come and try." The creature lunged. They collided with bone-rattling force. Dian's back slammed into the dirt, but he twisted, driving his elbow into its throat. For a moment, it gagged. But then it laughed. A wet, sick laugh and slammed its hand into Dian's ribs.
CRACK.
White-hot pain exploded through him. He screamed, blood spraying from his mouth. His vision blurred, but he swung anyway, punching, clawing, tearing at anything he could reach. His nails raked across Andy's stolen face, peeling skin like wet paper. For a moment, the mask slipped revealing black muscle pulsing beneath.
Dian's stomach dropped. "You're not human." The creature smiled with blood dripping from its torn cheek. "Neither are you anymore. You. Are. A. Corpse." Its hand shot forward, plunging deep into Dian's abdomen. Flesh tore. Hot blood spilled like water from a broken pipe. Dian's scream ripped through the night.
Ashley and Joanne heard it as they ran. Ashley stumbled, falling to her knees. "Dian!" she sobbed, clawing at the mud. Joanne yanked her up, both of them crying, running and keep running. They couldn't looked back.
On the ground, Dian choked. His hands trembled as he clutched the creature's arm buried inside him. He could feel his own life spilling out. But he grinned through the blood. "Not… enough… to kill me yet."
With a roar, he bit into the creature's shoulder. Flesh tore. Black ichor splattered across his face. The impostor shrieked, staggering back. For a moment... just a moment... it looked wounded.
Dian tried to rise. His legs gave out. His insides were spilling through his torn shirt, steaming in the night air. He pressed his hand to the wound, shaking, laughing bitterly through the agony. "I win," he gasped. "They got away."
The impostor's grin returned. It straddled him, pressing him into the mud. "Then you die knowing you failed to save yourself. They will follow you later"
It plunged both hands into Dian's chest. Ribs snapped like brittle twigs. The sound was deafening. Dian's scream became a gurgle. Blood frothed from his mouth. His eyes widened as the creature's hands closed around his heart and one brutal pull.
Blood sprayed in arcs, warm and heavy. The impostor held his heart high like a prize. For a moment, it still beat. Then it stopped. The impostor leaned close to Dian's ear, whispering into the dying flicker of his mind. "Thanks. You were delicious."
With one final motion, it wrenched his head clean from his body. Blood gushed like a fountain, soaking the ground. Ashley and Joanne's screams split the night as they fled, never once daring to turn back
Branches whipped their faces. Mud sucked at their shoes. Roots clawed at their ankles. Ashley and Joanne stumbled through the darkness, lungs on fire, hands clenched tight together. They didn't stop until the trees broke.
After they ran for a while, the stumble upon a cabin. Light flickered inside. "Help!" Joanne sobbed, pounding the door. "Please! Help us!" Inside, Nathan's head snapped up. His hand went instantly to the weapon by his side. He shoved Sarah behind him.
"Wait," Sarah said, squinting. A voice she knew. A voice she had mourned. "I know that voice." She rushed forward, flung the door open. Joanne and Ashley collapsed into her arms. "Sarah!" Joanne sobbed. "You're alive… oh my God…" Sarah clutched them tightly, her chest heaving. Tears threatened to spill, but Nathan didn't lower his guard.
"Prove it," he demanded. His weapon stayed raised. Ashley swallowed. Her voice shook. "The time we skipped school together… to watch that stupid vampire movie. We even cried at the ending. No one else knew. You had your first panic attack that day. In the bathroom." Sarah's eyes softened. "And you stayed with me until I could breathe again." Joanne nodded quickly. "And remember when we used to climb that old shack near the school? The one we swore was haunted?"
Nathan's eyes narrowed. Slowly, he lowered his weapon. "They're real," he said. The four of them collapsed into each other's arms, shaking, sobbing, breathless. For a moment, they were just friends again but Sarah pulled back, her face pale. "What happened?" Joanne's lips trembled. "Dian's gone. He… he died saving us."
Ashley wiped her tears with trembling hands. "And in the island office… we saw them. The creatures. The way they become people. They shift completely." Sarah felt her stomach twist. "They can't remember who we really were," Joanne added quickly. "That's how we know who's real. Through memories." Nathan nodded, grim. "ahh so that's what you were doing earlier. We'll use that."
Sarah's fists clenched. Her voice shook but didn't waver. "Then it's time we plan our escape." They weren't going to run anymore. Ashley whispered, "How did you find Sarah, Natnat?"
The room fell into sudden silence. Sarah's face darkened as she told them everything about Nathan and as the truth unraveled, Joanne and Ashley's hearts sank. They realized, with dawning horror... one of the impostors had been with them since the very beginning.