Crushing on your best friend was basically like being cursed. So maybe that's why Nona wasn't more surprised when everything went to hell. Maybe that's why she figured it was probably all her fault.

At first, it was great. It was just the two of them, Nona and Clarissa. Granted, at the end of the day, it was always just the two of them, and Nona liked that just fine. She got the impression that her best friend wasn't of exactly the same opinion. Clarissa had always been a social creature – it was one of about five million differences that made their friendship so confusing.

But yeah, it was actually really nice. They made themselves at home on the beach, getting a roaring fire going, setting up the drink station, putting out beach towels. She would have called it domestic if it weren't for the fact that it wasn't really the right word.

Eventually people did show up – though 'people' was putting it generously. It was that strange Ren guy, his friend Alex, and her step... Oh no. As introductions continued, Clarissa immediately snagged on the fact that Alex had a new brother now. Nona could see the anger building in her in slow motion, and it was absolutely terrifying. Yeah, okay, so she had dated Michael for quite a while and watching him be replaced was probably a serious shock to the system. But Clarissa wasn't taking it well, and it served as a shitty reminder that she probably had no romantic interest in Nona and that she was straight as an arrow.

Things didn't exactly get much better when they got back to the bonfire. Somehow, it was rapidly decided they get into a round of Truth or Slap, which was just an awful idea. Before anyone could really get a word in edgewise, Clarissa just went for it, asking Ren about his feelings toward Nona. She groaned and sat down on her towel, pressing her face into her hands. "That's really... You don't. You don't have to answer that."

"No, come on, if you want a piece, you should have the chance to admit it!"

"Clarissa! Don't be so harsh..." Well, at least Alex was trying to diffuse things too.

"It. It's complicated..." he fumbled through his answer, not making Nona feel particularly confident. But at least he said he just liked her as a friend. Yeah, okay.

Then there was Alex's marry-bang-kill response, which was probably even more embarrassing, if that was possible! "Okay, so I would... marry Nona. I like the quiet types." It was stupid, but Nona filed away that piece of knowledge for another day. She was still a little bit too focused on her best friend. But it was interesting to know! "And then I would screw Clarissa." Hah, get in line, blue-hair. She mine.

"Wait, that means you'd murder me?" Ren seemed legitimately upset, and Nona couldn't help but giggle brightly at his distress.

Alex was having trouble taking this too seriously either. "That's just how it worked out, calm down!"

It almost felt like things were winding down, but Clarissa seemed dedicated to settling her grudge and stirring up trouble. She dug in her heels and started questioning Alex about her family, her parents, and her brother. To everyone's surprise and embarrassment, Alex answered honestly, admitting that it was Michael's death that caused her parents to get divorced. That pretty much ensured that their delightful little game of Truth or Slap would come to an abrupt end. The only good thing about it was that it left her and Clarissa with some time to go back to talking like normal people.

Alex did come over briefly to speak with her, looking like she had something on her mind. Nona couldn't decide which would be worse – if it was about Ren, or about their apparent impending marriage. She was apparently more focused on being a decent friend because she awkwardly brought up Ren's not-crush. Nona sighed and shook her head. "He um... I mean, Ren seems like a good dude. But... if he is... Uh, just... Yeah, just tell him I'm not really looking for like... anything right now."

Alex looked understanding, with some combination of relief and worry. Nona didn't envy the job she had just given her, having to tell the poor love-sick puppy to put his efforts elsewhere. As the girl walked away, she felt Clarissa playfully nudge her with her foot, smirking slightly. "Lying to that poor kid. I mean, it's good to cut him off early. But are you telling me there's not a single person on this planet that you wanna get with?"

Dammit, why did Clarissa have to be so observant and snarky? Nona knew she couldn't lie to her. "Well! Well it's still true. Ren is like. Ren seems like a good guy. But I think he wants a real-ass girlfriend or something. And I can't be that. And he's not exactly what I'm looking for. So just... It was a white lie. Yeah." Her fumbled answer seemed to satisfy the redhead, mostly. They went back to drinking their beer in a comfortable silence, staring at the waves. Almost fifteen minutes went by like that when it suddenly occurred to both of them at roughly the same time that things had gone oddly quiet.

"How much could there possibly be worth seeing in a damn cave? It can't take that long to tune in and find out that there's absolutely nothing here to see. If they would get their asses back out here and just hang out like normal human beings this party could be half-decent..." Man, Clarissa really could gripe about anything when the mood hit her. But she did almost compliment the others, which was kinda sweet.

With all this talk of crushes and romance and marriage, Nona could feel the urge to be honest scratching at the back of her mind. "Hey, 'Rissa, what are you up to this weeke-"

That was when the light show exploded and everything went to shit. The air was filled with a fog of static – which made no sense because static wasn't a physical thing, right? It was tough to see even five feet in front of her face, which meant Clarissa was completely out of sight. And the static was getting loud, which meant all their attempts to call out to one another were essentially failed. Suddenly, the static hit her, as if that was a thing that normal people could understand, knocking her out.

"Nona..." The voice calling to her was sweet, oddly charming. It was familiar, but Nona's head was swimming and she couldn't place it. "Get up Nona..."

"...'Rissa...?" She groaned and searched for her phone to switch on the light, finally managing to climb to her feet. A few things in succession occurred to her, the first thing being that she was, like, across the island in the middle of the freaking forest! And the voice speaking to her had come from Alex. She breathed a sigh of relief and was about to see if she knew what was going on. But Alex cut her off and started speaking in a spooky, hollow voice, and Nona could swear her eyes were glowing slightly.

"Tsk tsk, Nona. You should know it's wrong to lie. Your family has tried so hard to teach you morals. Ren is such a sweet boy and you're kicking him in the balls so you can jump your best friend's bones. Your grandfather is spinning in his grave..."

Nona prickled, her hands clenching slightly. Was Alex actually evil? It would make a twisted kind of sense if this was all her fault. "Hey! You just... Leave my family out of this! What I do is none of your business!"

"And let's say you get what you want. Then what? Will you be girlfriends? Will you bring her home to meet mommy and daddy? Well, at least it will be delightfully dramatic when they disown you! Eventually you'll come to resent each other over it and she'll hate you and the cycle will begin anew. It's going to be a good time." She never moved, she stood perfectly still, just staring and smiling.

Nona didn't really like to yell or explode at people, but this was enough to drive her outside her usual comfort zone. "Shut up! Just shut up. You don't know anything. Get the hell out of here and leave me alone" Deciding that if shitty-Alex wasn't interested in leaving her alone, then she would take care of it herself, turning her back on those creepy eyes and storming off to find somewhere she could hide and be alone to catch her breath.

For a while, she just sat on the ground, leaning against an uncomfortable stone wall, trying and failing to not break down. She wasn't exactly sobbing, but there was some pretty pathetic whimpering and sniffling. Only her phone could really keep her aware of what time it was or how long it had been since she was on the beach – several hours, impossibly. She could hear footsteps and conversations in the distance and shot up to her feet. "Dammit, Alex, what did I tell you, get the hell out of here!"

The reaction was instantaneous, but now she was regretting it. This looked a lot more like actual-Alex and she had that step-brother with her. Jonas, that was the guy. "Woah, Nona, it's cool. I haven't seen you since the beach. What are you talking about?"

"You... You showed up here and you were talking to me about my..." She paused, not really wanting to dive too deep into her worries and insecurities, like any normal person would. Probably best to choose her words carefully. "You talked about my grandfather. You knew things." Nona hugged herself, really needing to trust these two, but finding it difficult.

"Hey, it's really us, I promise." Jonas seemed like a nice dude. And the first time Alex talked to her it had been pretty harsh and she wasn't interested in a conversation. This time around she looked more genuine.

"What's going on anyway? Back on the beach, and... There were lights and static and..."

Alex took another step toward her and the anxiety kicked in, causing her to stumble back a few steps. "No! Just... Are you actually you? Because... you weren't! Earlier. So. Tell me you're you." She knew she was being ridiculous, but given the circumstances, who could blame her.

Alex smiled, to her surprise. But unlike before, it wasn't smug or condescending, just... nice. "Yeah. It's me. Alex. Regular old Alex. Your wife, remember?"

The stupid joke was enough to dissolve her anxiety and had her erupting in bright laughter. "Christ, okay, yeah, it's you alright."

"Things are a little weird right now, but I promise I'll tell you about it soon. We're going to get Ren."

Wait! If they were going after Ren, and these two were still alive, then Clarissa had to be somewhere, right? "Have you seen-?"

"We're going to find her next, she's at-"

"Not yet!" Jonas, oddly, cut off Alex before she could finish her thought. That hit Nona as a particularly strange moment since the two had seemed to be getting along really well so far. Her chest tightened slightly to think that the brother and sister knew where to find Clarissa but didn't want Nona getting hurt or something ridiculous like that.

"You guys, please. If something creepy-spooky and possibly dangerous is going on here, then I'm not going to just sit idly by and wait! Please~?" She didn't want to come right out with the obvious reason, but something in Alex's face told Nona that she understood what she was thinking. She watched as the girl put a hand on her brother's shoulder and sighed softly.

"That's not the face of somebody who is going to be willingly pushed aside." She looked back at Nona with that same understanding smile. "Come with us."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think that would be for the best. Thanks. For being cool." She finally felt herself calming back down, fiddling with her sleeves as she joined the two siblings in hunting down Ren.

Finding Ren hadn't been so bad. Except for the part where everything started looping. And then that thing where Ren got hypnotized. And then he was possessed and talking crazy. And Alex had to do something super-weird with that little radio. But they finally had Ren back, leaving only Clarissa to complete the party. Then they could get the hell out of dodge.

Unfortunately, finding Clarissa turned out to be a hell of a problem. There were like five million buildings around Fort Milner, and Clarissa was able to make announcements that were scattered at best. "Does this place even have a gym?" Nona sighed in despair as she looked around at all the derelict buildings. "Come on, Clarissa, what the hell are you doing? Just get out here already!" She suddenly heard a crackling sound and saw a flash from where Alex was messing around up in the old tower thing.

Ren motioned toward the edge of a little pathway. "Hey, this door just popped open, like magic or..."

As he made his way down the ladder, Jonas gave an overly dramatic sigh. "I swear to god, if you say something about ghosts..."

"I'll stop suggesting something supernatural is happening here when supernatural things stop happening."

Nona approached the door, hugging herself and trying to convince everyone to join her in pressing forward. "Guys, please! I-I just... Let's find Clarissa and get the F outta here. I know we were supposed to be here all night, but frankly I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

Unfortunately, things only got worse from there. Jonas got locked in a room, Alex saw a ghost, it was entirely possible that Ren peed himself a little.

And then there was the game. It was getting more difficult to deny the fact that these were ghosts, once they started going out of their way to make it clear that they were part of the Kanaloa's sinking decades ago. Unfortunately, their methodology involved a twisted game of hangman, possessing Nona, Ren, and Jonas and forcing Alex to answer questions. Whatever the girl had done, it was clear she was their chosen hero. Possession was not fun; you got this splitting headache, and nothing could prepare you for the feeling of your body moving without your say-so. Nona really didn't like it.

Somehow, some way, Alex actually managed to pass the ghosts' little test and radio'd everyone to freedom. Once her head was no longer spinning, she made sure to give her heroic new friend a quick hug of appreciation. Alex held the embrace for a surprisingly long time.

Clarissa was so close Nona could taste it. She scrambled up the ladder and the rough broken wall. Pushing through the exhaustion and fear, she stepped inside a small room and almost squealed with delight to see that familiar ginger hair. Clarissa was just as excited and the two launched themselves at one another in a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, you gigantic idiot, where have you been?"

Nona became vaguely aware of the sudden lack of presence in her arms as that familiar, horrifying static sound filled her ears. She looked up to see that Clarissa had somehow moved across the room and was standing in the window. "Woah! Hey, woah, whatever... Like, whatever it is, this isn't the answer! Just come back inside and we can make our way through this nightmare together."

Clarissa turned her head to look back at her, and Nona saw those glowing red eyes. That hollow voice spoke through her grinning mouth "You had your chance, Nona. She is ours now, and we do not let go easily."

Everyone showed up just in time to watch her leap from the window, hitting the ground below with a sickening sound.