A/N: I really have nothing to say for myself at this point, do I? Other than I'm sorry for not posting in ages, even though you guys have been so incredibly supportive of me continuing this story. Well, I hope you'll forgive me, because I've been working on how this storyline is going to continue for a few weeks now, and I think I have a solid idea. Here's the next chapter, and I'm about halfway through the next chapter so it shouldn't be long before I post that one, too! (of course, my "shouldn't be too long" might end up being a year at this point. Sorry.)

Seth's POV:

Ditching his grandmother was almost too easy, but that didn't make Seth feel any better about the situation he was in as he sprinted from the mess hall, glancing back every minute or so to make sure that his grandmother still hadn't discovered he was missing.

He knew where he ultimately needed to go, but he wanted to take a slight detour first. When he reached his cabin he glared at the cutesy koala bear on the door before hurrying to turn the knob and slam the door closed behind him. Was this the first place his grandmother would look? Maybe. But he couldn't go to the cave without being as prepared as possible for anything.

He walked through the beds and dressers, stepping over piles of clothes thrown on the floor. He would be the last to claim he was a neat, organized person, but the cleanliness of the boys in his cabin resembled the cleanliness of pigs. The cabin smelled like sweat and dirt every day that he'd been there, except for the night Connor, a particularly messy seventh grader, brought home meatballs from dinner. In his pockets.

The only positive of the filth was that Seth had a front row seat to watching Bracken slowly lose his mind. At one point, he would've placed money on Bracken skipping movie night and staying in the cabin to do everyone's laundry.

When Seth reached his dresser he pulled open the second to last drawer and lifted up a few clean shirts to grab a worn, stained cereal box. He dumped the contents on the bed, quickly scanning the meager supplies left in his emergency kit.

Before the flight, Seth had asked Bracken and Warren for advice on what to add to his emergency kit. Warren had gifted him a dwarven dagger, with a slightly curved blade and hilt that seemed to fit Seth's hand perfectly. Seth had found an old sheath for a dagger roughly the same size in Grandpa's office right before they left for the airport. He took the dagger and tried to replicate what he had seen in the movies by attaching the sheath to the waistline of his shorts. It wasn't entirely secure, but it would hold.

Bracken had given him a faestone, which appeared to be a white, unblemished circular stone until Bracken explained that it had the power to store energy, which could be used in later situations. He tried to explain the connection the stone had to purity and creatures of light, but at that point Seth was too busy admiring his dagger to pay close attention.

Seth put the stone in his pocket, scolding himself for refusing to listen to Bracken. He also grabbed some thin but sturdy rope and a vial of Tanu's renowned gaseous potion, putting them in the same pocket as the faestone.

He was wearing proper clothes for a mission like this; he couldn't exactly go marching through the camp in a full set of armour and expect to be stealthy, so an athletic shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes would have to do. He grabbed a jacket from his dresser, just in case he happened to be outside as it grew dark and chilly.

A noise echoed on the porch of the cabin, making Seth jump. He immediately sprinted past the remaining beds, through the cabin bathroom, and out the back door. As he closed it quietly behind him he paused, listening to the sounds from the porch.

He was almost positive it was his grandma by the way her footsteps sounded on the creaky floorboards. But, just to be safe, he waited until the front door of the cabin opened and closed before taking off once again towards the woods, where he could almost feel the cave waiting for him.

As he entered the woods and set off in what he believed to be the direction of the cave, he remained alert, ready for the voices to overpower him at any moment. When he'd gone into the woods with Bracken and Kendra, he'd managed to pretend everything was fine for a few minutes, to make sure his sister didn't make him turn around. Then they got within a few hundred feet of the cave, and the volume of the voices seemed to triple inside his head.

If that happened again, he needed to be ready. He couldn't count on Bracken or Kendra to save him now.

He should never have to count on anyone to save him. Ever. Wasn't that the point of his lessons with Warren, and Bracken when he was around?

Seth frowned, worried he might have spent too much time training with fancy weapons instead of preparing his mind and his powers for missions. How long had it been since he practiced shadow walking?

He shook his head. Of course he could look back from a terrible situation and see exactly what he should have done. Regret would help him accomplish nothing.

As he reached the fork in the path where he knew he had to start venturing deeper into the woods, and eventually off the path, Seth heard a distant rustle, seemingly in the direction that he had come from.

In a second, he had considered his options and practically launched himself into the nearest tree off the path, silently thanking his grandfather for the green jacket he had gifted him months earlier.

He waited, quietly, careful not to move a muscle to prevent the leaves from rustling. He had managed to get himself pretty far up into the oak tree, but if whoever was following him decided to look up he would not only be clearly seen, but he would be stuck. There was no way he could get out of the tree quickly without breaking a bone.

Seth figured he would address that issue when he had to.

No longer than a minute later, his not-so-stealthy tail came into view. He blinked. Why was a camper, around the same age as Kendra, following him through the woods? Weren't they supposed to be gathered in the auditorium? He had figured his grandma had followed him into the woods, maybe one of the Knights has lurked outside of the mess hall to keep him in line, but a random teenager?

The girl paused, staring down both of the paths in front of her. She fiddled with the end of her braid, slung over a shoulder, before facing the path that led to the cave and setting off at a brisk pace.

Seth waited until the moment she was out of sight before climbing down from the tree so quickly he scraped both of his palms and hit his knee so hard on the ground. As he landed, his eyes watered.

He brushed off the dull pain and hurried after the girl, careful to avoid stepping on any fallen leaves or branches. He had a feeling, deep in his gut, that something was seriously wrong. Why would a random camper be searching out the cave, unless she knew that something was going on? He knew this wasn't Lili; Kendra had pointed her out the moment after she became a potential suspect.

As the small clearing at the mouth of the cave came into view, Seth slowed. The girl was crouched beside one of the trees, staring at the ground. No, Seth realized as voices drifted towards him from the cave, she had turned her head to listen.

Seth suddenly realized he had almost reached the cave, and heard nothing. No voices, no commands echoing in his head and making him almost pass out.

Then a familiar voice cried out, and Seth lost all focus on the girl. He winced as he heard his sister scream at the top of her lungs. It was unlike anything he'd ever heard before. He couldn't remember his sister ever sounding so terrified, so hurt.

He broke into a sprint, arms pumping wildly at his sides, almost involuntarily. He couldn't hear that sound again. He had to get to Kendra.

Halfway across the clearing, something barreled into him from behind, locking his arms into place. He fell, hard, managing to twist himself so he landed on his side instead of his face.

The air rushed out of his lungs, and he laid still on the ground. After a moment of blind panic, in which the thought occurred to seth that this might be the end, he gasped and breathed in once again.

As soon as he could move, he kicked out at the form, surprised to find that the person deflected his feet and managed to pin his legs to the ground. So he reached up blindly, ready to claw his way free if he had to. I have to get to Kendra.

As his palm met what felt like a cheek, a round face suddenly stared down at him. "Seth, shh!" The girl that had followed him through the woods hissed. "I'm here to help you!"

Seth stilled, but placed a palm on his dagger anyway. The girl still had his legs pinned down, and he was still fighting to catch his breath, but if it came to a one-on-one he would be fine if he could unsheathe his dagger in time. "Then why did you just tackle me? That doesn't exactly scream 'I'm on your team.'"

She rolled her eyes, and Seth noticed a smudge of black under her left eye. Hadn't Kendra complained to him about one of the campers putting on makeup all the time?

The girl held out her palms to him, releasing his legs. Seth slowly stood, staring down at the girl, who didn't move.

"I swear, I'm here to help you save Kendra." She repeated, palms still raised, as if he were a police officer.

Seth added it to the list of careers he could consider. If he could pull it off at such a young age…

Then the girl's wide eyes glanced at the dagger at his side, and the thought evaporated. She wasn't scared of him, she was scared of the dagger.

"What's your name?" He demanded.

The girl nodded, as if she expected that question. "I'm Kylie. I'm in your sister's cabin."

"Why are you here?"

She glanced towards the cave, still the length of a football field away. "I tried to warn Kendra earlier about Lili's odd behavior. I've been here since the start of camp, and when things go wrong, they always include Lili in some way or another."

"Why are you here?" Seth repeated.

"When they gathered all the campers in the auditorium, I knew something had gone wrong when neither Kendra nor Lili showed up. I was worried about her, and what Lili could have gotten herself into. But then half of the staff seemed to be missing. You're Kendra's brother. Once I realized you weren't in the auditorium either, I decided to check your cabin. You ran out the back, and looked like you were on a mission, so I followed you here."

Seth shook his head in disbelief. "It was you who got into the cabin. I thought it was my grandma."

Kylie didn't even blink.

Seth motioned towards the cave. "Listen, Kylie. It's not safe for you to be here. There are… things going on that you wouldn't understand, and I really don't want you to get hurt-"

"I know more than you think." Kylie finally stood, looking down at Seth with her eyebrows raised.

Seth chuckled.

"I'm serious," she said, "for one, I know your family. I know where you guys are from."

Seth glanced urgently at the cave once more; he needed to get to Kendra but couldn't risk an innocent camper getting hurt. "Yes, we're from Connecticut. What, did Kendra tell you that?"

"I meant you're from a preserve."

Seth's heart pounded as he stared at Kylie with a face carefully devoid of all emotion. "I mean, sure, we have some animals on our property there, but-"

Kylie laughed hollowly. "I don't think many of the creatures on the preserve count as normal animals… well, maybe the satyrs. But that's not important right now. We need to get to Kendra."

Seth tried to keep his face devoid of any surprise that flickered inside him. Instead, he simply rolled his eyes and kept talking, kept pushing through the conversation so he could get to Kendra without putting Kylie in danger. "No, I need to get to Kendra. You need to stay here."

Kylie held out an arm to stop him as Seth took a step towards the cave. "I know more than you about what you're facing. You might need my help to save Kendra."

Seth weighed his options. He didn't want to trust Kylie- he had been burned by trusting complete strangers before- but he also couldn't take the chance that Kendra could get hurt because he was too stubborn to accept help from someone offering it. If Kylie turned out to be a lying psychopath, as others had before, he had the dagger. And he wouldn't let her get any more surprise tackles in anytime soon.

Sighing, he held out an arm. "You stay in front of me the whole time. If you even try to do something suspicious, I'll chop your arm off."

Kylie gingerly shook his hand, rolling her eyes. "I promise you, I only want to help Kendra."

"I really, really hope you're not a psychopath."

Kylie's eyebrows furrowed, and she opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by another blood-curdling scream from inside the cave.

They set off at a sprint, Seth completely ignoring the fact that running with an unsheathed dagger was like running with the world's largest and deadliest pair of scissors (at least that's what Warren had drilled into Seth's mind). If he managed to die by falling on his own dagger, Seth supposed that would at least give Warren a hilarious story to laugh about at his funeral.

Kylie managed to keep pace, slowing down with Seth as they stood, hopefully out of sight, at the edge of the cave's mouth.

"Please," A female voice begged, "don't do this to her! Do it to me! Please!"

Seth recognized Elise's voice after a moment with a jolt.

"One of my friends is in there," He whispered to Kylie. "She sounds like she hasn't been possessed yet."

Maybe Kylie's story bore some truth, because she didn't look confused at the mention of possessions. "What is Lili doing to Kendra?" She whispered back.

Seth shook his head. Whatever it was, he needed to stop it.

Seth shivered as Kendra screamed once more, the sound worse now that he was closer. He tightened his grip on his dagger and stepped around the side of the cave and into view, eyes widening at what they beheld.

Or, more importantly, what he didn't see. Lili was nowhere to be seen. Instead, black vapor swirled around the ankle-length dress of a pale woman facing away from the entrance of the cave, making the cave much darker than it should have been in the late afternoon sunlight. The vapor seemed to create a wind that drifted throughout the room, stirring the woman's long black hair.

Seth took a shaky step forward as he saw Kendra, crumpled on the ground, a few feet in front of the woman. The vapor almost blocked his view of her completely, but from what he could see her chest still rose and fell with the slightly ragged rhythm of her breathing.

A movement in his peripheral vision made him turn. Elise sat in a nook within the rock walls of the cave, her hands and feet bound with rope that was tied to a peg in the wall. Her eyes were wide, hair tousled, like she had put up a fight. Knowing Elise, Seth had no doubt the creature had a hard time taking Elise.

Kylie immediately ran towards Elise, pulling a pocket knife from a pocket in her shorts and nimbly freeing her hands in seconds.

Seth glanced towards Kendra and the creature, who seemed to be floating a few feet off the floor. Neither moved. Taking a deep breath, Seth ignored the urge to run to Kendra and instead helped Kylie free Elisa's feet.

Elisa stared at Seth with wide eyes. "The woman has control of six children. Forty minutes ago, they left as one. I don't know where she sent them."

Seth nodded, glancing around him for a weapon. He had a much bigger chance of defeating the creature with Elise by his side.

"Something she did to get me here weakened me. I can barely move. I won't be able to help you," Elise murmured, as if reading his thoughts.

"Does she have any weaknesses?" Kylie asked, gripping the pocketknife firmly in her palm.

If Elise was confused as to why Seth appeared with a random camper, she didn't let on. "Not that I've seen. Kendra… Kendra made a deal with her. If she could look into the woman's eyes and resist the woman's control, the woman would tell Kendra why she brought her here. But they've been like that for a while now."

Seth turned, and realized that the vapor wasn't separating Kendra from the woman. It seemed to be pouring into Kendra, which must be why she was screaming. He was running out of time, and so was Kendra. He walked forward, lifting his dagger in his hand.

And stopped as a wall of the vapor, which now appeared to be solid darkness, slammed into him.

The woman turned, her heels echoing off the rock walls of the cave. "Seth Sorenson," she said in a voice higher than Seth expected, as if she was announcing the players in her favorite sporting event. "I wondered how long it would take you to find us."