He was way too old for this. The stench of this island reeked of death, that along with the makeshift masks of those...would it be fair to call them people? He didn't know anymore. No...calling them people wouldn't be fair, however they were human. Oh thank god they were just human. Crazy humans sure...but cut them at their core and they'll die. Leonard looked out to the side, though the water's edge was obscured by the great amount of brush he could hear the sounds of the ocean waves brushing on the shore. This island was terrible...but that boat...whatever walked it's deck wasn't human. Shoot it with a gun and it would keep walking. The sounds rang in his head. Shink...shink...shink...snapping blades seeking to dig into flesh.

However much he wanted to hide away inside, he couldn't. Though it was dangerous, his students needed him. Rooney needed him. He was out of breath, sweating like mad, but it didn't mater. There was a cabin up ahead, one of those cultist's mask was currently serving as a disguise for Leonard. It itched like mad, I suppose this is the cost of mad faith, he thought. He slipped into the cabin and out of sight from the rest of the cultists. Though the disguise had worked Leonard was sure he wouldn't have gotten away with it for much longer. The cabin at least gave cover, and who knew what he'd find in it!

The interior was an organisational disaster. Dirty dishes were on the table and the floors looked like they hadn't been washed in a century. If only these people poured their devotion into proper cleaning instead of doing live sacrifices. The table had a couple of wine bottles on it, some of them were only half finished. Joy...not only are they cultists, they're drunk cultists. Still...there was something else lit up on the table...a glowing rectangle of some sort. Leonard approached it carefully, there was no telling what kind of crazy artifact could be emitting that kind of light...carefully...closer...closer...it was a...

Oh. It was just a cell phone. False alarm.

Did he feel kinda dumb? Sort of. Still considering the other encounters that night perhaps caution was the better option. Leonard played around with the phone a bit, it seemed to belong to one Will Anderson. When I get back to the ship, Leonard thought, I'll have to look into this one. Uck...the light on the lamp was flickering. Where did they get the electricity to power that anyways? Did these cultists build a full on generator or did they just bring a bunch of really big batteries? Was it...magic? Eh, it was only one of the hundreds of questions this place brought up. Leonard pulled out his own cell phone and turned it's flashlight on. The bottles on the table began to wobble, the hanging lamp began to sway and flicker more and more. Was this...some kind of earthquake? Was this somehow caused by those cultists? Leonard began to loose his balance, he tried to lean on the table. His hand hit the table supporting him, however as the earthquake increased in intensity it felt as if the table was made of liquid. Leonard scrambled as the liquidation seemed to extend down into the floor as well. Though it was against his best judgement, he screamed. He flailed around like a child starting to drown in a pool. The back door to the cabin flung open, it would seem one of the cultists had been guarding it. Was this Will Anderson? Suppose it didn't mater much now. Leonard's thrashing was futile, his body having been absorbed into the floor. Though one of those gaudy masks was covering the cultist's face, he could have sworn he could see the tiny sparkles of the man's eyes. He could tell, this man knew not what was happening.

A gut feeling hit Leonard, the kind you feel when on the downwards turn of a roller coaster. He screamed and screamed, but not even he could hear his screams anymore. The cultist was reaching for him, for Leonard. His hand phased through the cultist's as if made of air. There was a shutter all throughout Leonard's body as his head went under the ground. 55 years of life...just to go out like this? Head spinning and gut swirling, soon to be swallowed by the abyss? He struggled, he felt like he was choking on air. The world around him dissolving into a mess of blue purple and black. The world itself was tearing him apart. Everything was about to be infinity and nothing forever. Everything...

What did Leonard think his last thoughts would be? One of fear? Bargaining? Acceptance? Perhaps he though his last thoughts would be one of joy...

In that moment...Leonard felt embarrassed. Embarrassed at how little he'd done. Embarrassed at how close he'd come to figuring out everything. Embarrassed from disappointing his students and those who relied on him to do this. He had been doing so well...all for it to end like this?

Thump.

Luckily...Leonard's last thoughts weren't as pathetic as that. He was laying on the ground. Is this...the cabin? He though. He sat up. Everything seemed like...normal. As if nothing had happened at all. Bottles still on the table, though they stank extra bad. The light had gone out, but his phone still seemed to be working. He checked the ground and the table, they seemed solid. Next he peered out the windows.

Nothing. The campfire was gone. The cultists were gone. Not only that, but the campfire hadn't just been extinguished. No lingering embers, no smoke...Leonard reached for the doorknob, thinking he'd get a better look. Still as his arm reached for it his hand felt cold as ice. Was this...fear? No...everybody knew he loved researching the occult...he was suppose to find the unknown interesting, not scary. Everybody knew that about him. He knew that about himself. Still...something deep inside of him was being challenged, something core to his perception of the world as a whole. How was this it? Out of everything...this is what scarred him frozen? Seeing people's guts sprayed on the ground, seeing that cloaked creature with it's shears...and a mere disappearance did it? A mere disappearance of some cultists was the thing that brought the weight of his sheer mortality upon him?

Focus Leonard...people are counting on you...

Focus...

...

That sound...

Something creaking...was it coming from upstairs? Did he want to know? There was a rickety ladder heading upstairs, did it have this many cobwebs before? He couldn't tell. He tested the old wooden rings, they seemed sturdy enough. Slowly, foot by food he began to make his way up. I need to get in shape... he thought to himself. Every inch of his body already hurt and all he was doing was climbing a latter. He mustered himself over the edge. It creaked like hell. Leonard could hear it, a small faint breath. He held up his flashlight, it was...a kid?

Yeah...a kid was laying down on the floor. By the look of it the kid was about 9 or 10 years old. He was dressed up in a ragged blue gown that seemed just a touch too big for him. A mat of underbrush blond hair hung like a carpet on his head. For just a second in time Leonard could swear the boy's eyes had a red glare to them, but upon a second observation they were blue. He was laying on the floor with his limbs spread out, the kid seemed confused, but Leonard wasn't sure as he couldn't read his face.

"Hey Kid," Leonard said, "Get up."

The kid didn't respond. He just sat there, stone faced and occasionally blinking.

"Hey, did you hear me?"

"...You're...talking to me..."

"Yeah, get up. I don't know what's going on here or how you're involved but I'm not going to just stand idle."

"Hehe...someone's talking to me."

"Look this isn't funny, you could be in danger."

"Hehehe...ahahaha! AHAHAHAHA! I-I'm finally loosing it! This must all be some sickening hallucination!"

"Grnn..." Leonard checked out the nearby window, thank god there didn't seem to be anybody there. This kid's laughter would have alerted them. "Look kid, stop playing around, this isn't some kind of dream. You have to get up!"

"Right...right...heh...my bad." The kid slowly got up, though he seemed a bit shaky at it, "You're..."

"Leonard Cosgrove, you?"

"Ed-en..."

"Eden?"

"Y-yeah. Eden..."

Eden was starring at Leonard, the blues of his eyes seeming to darken under the moonlight.

"Say...Eden if you don't mind me asking," Leonard asked, "Those robes you're wearing..."

"Oh uh...I've been stuck here awhile..."

"I see. Look, this place is dangerous, I'm not sure what just happened nor where everybody went but I do know we have to get off of this island."

"Island..? Wait we're on an island?"

"You...didn't know?"

The kid's eyes seemed to pierce Leonard's soul. He noted to himself to keep an eye on the kid, Eden wasn't rubbing him right. Was this kid one of the cultists? If he was...well he was already in trouble if he was.

"...Wait..." Eden said, "I remember now...the Oceanus..."

"Eh?"

"That thing with the scissors, it killed them, my parents. I must have been knocked out after that."

Was this kid going to be used as a live sacrifice by the cultists? Leonard thought to himself. That could explain the robes perhaps? Still...it's a better idea to be weary of him until I knew for sure.

"You know, if you leave me here..." Eden said, "I'll have nowhere to go. You care about kids right?"

"Hey woah there," Leonard said, "Don't worry I'm not going to leave you on a cultist ridden island alone. No need to guilt trip me."

"Good...I was just worried," Eden said, "Anyways let's get off this island." He began to make his way towards the latter heading back to the main floor.

"Hey hold on," Leonard said, "There's still so much to learn here, if I just leave now I won't have found anything useful to help everybody else back on the boat!"

"So you're going to elect to haul around a kid while you investigate a cultist ridden island."

"No...no...I just...uck..."

"Very well then!" Eden began to head down the latter, "You must have used a smaller boat to get here from the Oceanus, so we'll just use that to get back."

"If you're goal is to avoid danger, then that boat is just a death trap."

"Eh, I just don't like how this place smells."

"There's some kind of monster on that ship and you want to head towards the boat?"

"Yeah!"

"You're...like...10 years old!"

"I'm 12."

"Wh-what? No way..."

"I have lived for 12 years. That makes me 12 years old"

"...Well...I clearly can't convince you otherwise. You win. Here, let me just check my-"

...phone...

The date...what the...it was...

July 14, 2017. Just short of a full year had passed since he landed on the island...that phenomenon Leonard experienced, was it a time portal? Or was the island itself doing this? Eden was already heading down the latter, so he had no choice but to follow. His whole body ached...

"Okay..." Eden said, "Lead the way to your boat!"

"H-hold up kid...something's wrong..."

"We're on an island full of cultists with a scissor wielding crazy person on a nearby cruse ship. What's not wrong right now?"

"It's...the date...it's been...nearly a year since I got here somehow. But...I could only have been here for an hour max..."

"Oh. Okay."

"D-did you...know that already?"

"No...but in terms of the weird things I've experienced this is mild. So let's get to the raft."

Without checking for guards, Eden slammed the door to the cabin open. Luckily, nobody was there.

"Are you not worried they're might be cultists here?"

"I can take them."

"Of course you can. The boat was that way," Leonard pointed towards the pathway leading to the shore. "I have no idea if my friends are still over there, we may have to operate it."

"Ooh, I've always wanted to sail a boat!"

"Well, there's no sail on it so we wouldn't be sailing it."

"Ah...I see..."

The two dragged their feat along the overgrown paths, Eden was picking up the dragging bits of his gown.

"Say...when we get back to the mainland...or even back to the ship...do you think we could find some better cloths?"

"We can kid...we can."

They pushed pass the brush and onto the shore, there wasn't anything there.

Eric and Cobie had already left. Perhaps they had left a year ago. Still...despite that Leonard could still see the Oceanus in the morning light.

"Well...this is where we'd get on the boat...if there was one."

"Huh. Wood floats right? We could just make another one."

"Do you have anything we could use to carve wood out of?"

"Dude, this is a cultist island. What do you think they used for their sacrifices, blunt weapons?"

"I...okay I see what you mean. But before we head back, I'd like to make a call. I want to make sure one of my relatives knows I'm safe. I...I want to make sure she's safe."

Leonard began to scroll down on his contacts list. If Rooney hadn't escaped...if a year really had passed...he didn't want to think about what that would entail. He punched her number in and the phone began to ring. Please Rooney...please pick up...

Please...don't be dead...anything but that...

Please...

Riiiiiiiing...riiiiiiiiiing...riiiiiiiiiiiing...

...riiiiiiing...

...riiiiiiiiiing...

No...please oh god no...

...riiiiiiiiiing...

No...

Beep!

"...H-hello?"

Leonard knew that voice. She was alive. She was actually alive!

"Rooney!" he said, "You have no idea how happy I am right now!"

Silence.

"You...you're..."

"Rooney...are you safe?"

"Y-you're...No...no this can't be...what...what are you?"

"It's okay...it's just me, Leonard!"

"N-no...you're...dead."

"Hey can I see who you're talking to on your glowing square thing?" Eden asked.

"Eden no...stop."

Eden was trying to wrestle the phone from Leonard, for a 12 year old he was quite strong. He managed to grab it and push Leonard away.

"Hello person! Who are you? I'm Eden, hehe!"

"Eden, give that back!"

"Are you...10? Wh-what's going on?" Rooney asked.

"No I'm 12! Why is this so hard for people to grasp! I'm with this old guy who seems really confused and dare I say a little scared. Something about time I think. Who are you?"

"Um...Rooney...look I don't know who's next to you...but it...it can't be Leonard...he's dead, I know that..."

"Okay hold up I'll just ask him. Hey Leonard, are you a ghost?"

Leonard was standing there blinking, "Um...last time I checked...no?"

"Well there you go Rooney! He's not a ghost. If he was a ghost he would have replied with a more stern 'no' instead of the unsure 'no' that he did respond with."

"N-no...I know he's dead...I..."

"Ooooh, I see, I asked him if he was a ghost when I should have asked if he was a zombie! Hey Leonard, are you a-"

"Eden you're not helping. Here," Leonard snatched the phone back from Eden, "I have no idea what's happened since I left, but it's clear you think I'm dead for some reason Rooney. What happened?"

"I...saw you...flayed up to you're neck...you begged me...to k-kill...you."

"Well...that...wasn't what I expected to be sure. Uh...yeah I don't really have a response for that. As it is...I do appear to have all my skin."

"So," Eden asked, "You had your skin removed?"

"I mean, not that I remember but Rooney-"

"Cooooool! Was it all bloody? Could you see his organs? Did he still have a skeleton? Where did all the blood go?"

"What is your problem kid? This isn't some movie or game, this is real!"

"I like bloody things."

"Well...that's obvious."

"Oooh! look over there!"

"Eden, I'm trying to sort this out, what is it-"

"There's a helicopter!"

So there was, it seemed to be hovering near the Oceanus.

"Fires single helicopters right? I'll go make one!"

"Eden, you are NOT making a fire."

"You just need to rub sticks together! I got this!"

"That could take hours! Besides I'm not trusting a 12 year old with fire."

"Geez you old man, it'll be fine. Besides didn't you want to talk about the scared lady on the glowing thing?"

"I swear Eden, you're going to kill me one day."

"Eh, probably."

"Right, Rooney, where are you right now? It's clear we have a lot to catch up on, and we gotta signal that helicopter right now."

"U-uh...I'm at home? Y-your home...after you died uh...you left it to me in-"

"In my will. Got it, I'll meet up with you there, we'll sort through everything and try to figure out what's happened. I've got to make sure that- OH MY GOD EDEN."

The mad lad had done it, somehow he'd already managed to get a fire going in the minute or so he'd been trying.

"See!" Eden said, "I said I'd be fine!"

"Uh, yeah got to go. Take care Rooney."

Click.

"How."

"How what old man?"

"Not even a minute and you get enough friction going on those sticks to make a fire."

"Um...I was in boy scouts?"

"..."

"Uh...old man?"

"That's bullshit, but I'll trust you."

The smoke from the fire was raising into the sky. The helicopter seemed to have finished up rescuing whoever was on the boat and began to come their way. The sky was starting to brighten up as the sun began to rise.

"So...where are we heading?"

"England. I was travelling with my students, we were coming back from field work in Italy and the Oceanus was making a stop in England and I thought they could use some luxury time. Well...it didn't go as I hoped. Obviously."

The helicopter began to land on the shore, blowing large dunes of sand everywhere. The face of a skinny pale man peered out of the copter. He had a pair of red headphones with a microphone attached.

"Need a lift?" He asked.

"That would be great," Leonard commented. The two of them were helped up into the green helicopter. There were some other people on there already, none of which Leonard or Eden recognised.

"Name's Charlie, and you two would be...?"

"I'm Leonard Cosgrove, and this is Eden...uh...hey wait what is your last name anyways?"

"My last name?" Eden seemed to go a bit pale, "Uh...well funny story...I don't remember."

"Eden," Leonard said, "You don't need to fake amnesia, we're here to help you."

"U-uh...I'm not faking, I don't remember."

"Good god you are hopelessly bad at lying."

"Yeah okay sure, but here's a question for you, do you think anything you say could get me to tell you my last name?"

"Hold up everybody, we're taking off," Charlie said. The helicopter began to lift up into the air.

"To tell the truth," Leonard said, "No."

"Now tell me this, are you still going to take me along with you even if I don't tell you my last name?"

Leonard bit his lip, "Yeah...probably."

"Haha nice."

"Eden."

"Yeah?"

"You're an asshole."

"Hell yeah I am."

The other passengers on the helicopter watched halfheartedly as the copter lifted up into the air. The island became but a dot as the clouds became the copter's new sea. The water below became but a tapestry of blue as the helicopter began to fly far away from that cursed ship. That cursed placed full of blood and guts...away from there.

They were safe. It was over for now. However questions still remained...

Questions that Eden and Leonard knew they'd be seeking.