Tense, uncomfortable, and fearful were all fantastic synonyms for the hike back to camp.

Lucia was on constant edge from not only constantly keeping an eye out for any game, even the smallest of animals would be acceptable at this point. They needed to come back with something other than a possible human host.

Taking her to the next point : Darko.

He walked calmly and collected, not in the fearful way he should be, especially with Jackson and Clyde so near and ready to kill him if necessary. But, the dark-haired boy just kept his head held high with blank eyes staring forward.

His gaze still unnerved her, just the way that ring of light shined and reflected with the mid-afternoon sun blasting through the covering of trees. It wasn't only the unnatural look of it against the black of his pupil, but the memories it brought back to her.

:::

"Lucia, down now!" A voice whispered urgently and harshly. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her throat and panic twisted her stomach in knots as rough hands brought her down to a kneeling position. Glancing downward, she saw that her hands were absolutely trembling in complete and utter fear.

"Jackson," She cried pitifully, "I can't do it, I can't fucking do it." Her voice broke and she tried her best to keep her sobs to a minimum.

The older boy grabbed her by the shoulders, "Listen to me," He wouldn't allow her to break eye contact. "Those humans you see, those ones," He pointed out to the crack in the shed door. She risked glancing away from him to see the four people, feeling like she was suffocating when she saw her father and sister standing awkwardly, as if they didn't fit quite right in their skin. "They are not who you think they are anymore. They're not alive, those disgusting, filthy parasites have killed them." Lucia could clearly see the regret in his eyes when he realized how much that statement had hurt her, but he continued to push. "If you want to live, you have to listen to me and do exactly as I say. Promise?"

She didn't know what she could promise anymore. Despite knowing that her families bodies were no longer their own, they still looked like their own. The way her sister's dyed blonde hair glimmered in the sunlight, twisting and twirling and how her dad's face looked so concentrated...

That was right.

He was concentrating on finding them.

And for the reason?

To capture and murder them.

Her back stiffened as she glanced back at Jackson, basically a stranger to her back then. His eyes were trusting and full of a certain softness, but also determination. Determination to get them out of here alive and free.

"We're going to get out of here alive, I promise, but you have to do as I say or we're going to end up just like them." Again he gestured to her family, and when she glanced to look at them again, she could see the difference the parasites had made on them.

Her father's eyes had never looked so harsh and cruel, not to mention his posture was never so straight. Her sister, Claire, didn't have that constant smile that used to shine across her face, nor was her skin tanned to a perfect golden brown, it looked washed out and pale.

Lucia turned back to Jackson, now nodding. "What do I have to do?" Her voice sounded pained even to her.

"This," And he handed her the bow and arrow they had recently stolen from an old, abandoned shop.

Lucia looked down to it, hands and eyes memorizing every single bit of the wooden object. She had been shooting since she was a child, memories of her dad taking her out to the shooting range made her eyes sting with tears as she realized what she had to do.

"I'll be right there," He promised, pointedly looking at the ancient crossbow they had also confiscated and Lucia felt her face pull into a critical look, Jackson had never had the best aim with it as far as she knew. He was much more of a forward fist-fight kind of person.

She looked back to his face and saw he was trying to give her his most reassuring smile. "Lucia, we're going to get out of this alive and free, and when we do, I promise to take you somewhere you'll be safe and happy." This promise brought a flutter in her stomach despite the tense situation.

But, she knew happiness would be hard to find after this.

She nodded anyways, "Let's just get this over with."And he nodded back, glancing to crack in the shed door. The two Seekers looked to be almost annoyed with her sister and father as they started to ask questions, no doubt, about her.

"Are you sure you're ready?" He asked quietly, dark eyes concerned.

She knew there was no other choice, "Yes."

And with that they readied their arrows and Jackson took hold of the handle, counting to three.

"One,"

Her heart raced and she felt the unfairness and hatred weighing down on her shoulders.

"Two,"

She kept her tight grip on the arrow, ready to shoot.

"Three,"

He bust the door open and summer light flooded towards them. All four of them turned in complete surprise, eyes widening and mouths open in shock. Jackson didn't hesitate to take down the first Seeker, a white male in his early thirties, the arrow hitting its target : right above the rib-cage.

He went down without a word, the light fading from his eyes.

Lucia took down the next Seeker, not having much sympathy or regret as the arrow met its target and she also fell to the ground, blood streaming from the wound.

Then she froze.

The faces were too similar and innocent looking. She knew them all too well, they were her families' bodies after all.

Jackson must have noticed her horrified pause because he had his crossbow reloaded in seconds and without a moment of hesitation, shot down her father.

She didn't scream or cry out like she thought she would have. Maybe it was because seconds ago the man had been glaring hard at her with no recognition, his once perfectly green eyes ruined by that cold circle lining his pupil.

The only one left alive was her younger sister and Lucia could have screamed from how much pain the fear in her Claire's eyes brought her. She was horrified and scared.

But, it wasn't really her sister's fear that was creating the motion on the bodies face.

It was the parasite.

With achingly slow actions, she re-loaded her bow, aiming it directly at the smaller girl's heart. She could see from her distance that she was shaking, her honey brown eyes that she had inherited from their mother were wide.

But the eye was also ruined. That unnerving circle of light sent shivers down her spine and a feeling a rough hatred.

"I'm sorry," She hardly whispered and then let the arrow go.

:::

"Lucia,"

"Lucia!" A voice broke through her memory, leading her back into the current time.

It was Jasey, having come up from the rear. The younger girl was smiling and radiant, completely confusing Lucia. How could she possibly be happy when they were in so much danger?

"What is it?" Her voice was harsher than intended, but she didn't apologize, she was under enough pressure and stress as it was.

A bit taken aback, Jasey responded, "I just wanted to thank you." She talked quieter now. "You know, for not killing him. I think he was telling the truth."

Lucia could have been imagining it, but she could have sworn she saw some sort of admiration in Jasey's eyes as she talked about Darko. If that was the case, well, they in for a bit more trouble than she thought.

"Don't bother," Lucia talked back, now not feeling sorry for being so harsh, Jasey needed to know this was not alright. "He's not out of danger quite yet." That statement seemed to stab some reality into Jasey's mind and the girl slowly fell back into line, leaving Lucia back with her own thoughts again.

She was still upset and fragile after recalling that dreadful memory. All she wanted right now was to be alone and not have to deal with all these issues, the group had enough problems without having to put up with this situation.

But, she still couldn't pull herself to regret that decision she made back there. Deep down, she knew it was the right thing to do.

They were arriving at camp at a much faster pace than what Lucia would have preferred. But, they couldn't put this off for even the slightest bit. A few hundred feet away from the opening of their burrow, she paused, patiently waiting for the rest of them to catch up.

Clyde was still looking murderous, mouth set in a hard line and Jasey was obviously still upset with Lucia's earlier comments.

"What's the plan?" Jackson asked, leaving the decisions to Lucia still and she was surprised at how much gratitude she felt at having his complete and utter trust.

"I'm going to get Kevin and Tom, you all wait here." She couldn't risk Darko seeing their camp site incase things did go wrong. "You four, wait here." But, before turning around she shared a quick glance with Jackson, needing the reassurance of his confident gaze.

He smiled back and nodded encouragingly, filling her with the hope she needed to convince their two 'leaders' about Darko and to at least hear him out.

But, before she turned around, she caught Darko's eyes and was surprised to see a spark of something, she couldn't quite place the emotion though and wasn't sure if she wanted to decipher it.

Without hesitating anymore, she hurried to the door.

(A/N : Okay, this chapter is a bit longer than the last, and I hope you all enjoy it. I'll hopefully have another up by tomorrow or Friday, I'm trying really hard to find more time for writing, especially because it's summer.

This is directly to RainbowTeeth8 - Thank you so much for the shout out, if you ever need help or ideas or anything, just let me know!)