"Oh dear no..."

Alice already discovered the island in the faraway bay the moment she arrived on the deserted beach before meeting Marucho but didn't pay much attention to it. It was when she borrowed tools from Marucho to fix the swamp boardwalk that she left the message on the fishing wire. That didn't matter to her now. Alice tied the boat to a tree and stepped onto land.

The fog dampened the ground, covered by bugs and plant life. Dirt brushed up on the sides of her boots as she walked uphill on a curved path. At least this isn't as tough as walking through sand. Eventually, Alice made her way to flatter land but was shocked to see what laid in front of her.

"Is he serious?!"

But then again, if Shadow could find her even on the deserted beach, no doubt he already knew about this island way before her.

Short grassed covered the entire area of flat land except for a full circle of dirt surrounded by a ring of white pebbles. In the center of the ring and dirt circle were some burnt kindling, fine ashes, and some unburnt orange material. Faint smoke trailed into the sky, carrying with it some traces of rose scent. This was more than just a campfire. This was the scene of a ritual.

"What kind of ritual is this...?"

Alice lifted a piece of the unburnt material and gasped. "How did Shadow get a hold of my hair?!" She remembered a practice Shiori told her about girls cutting off a lock of hair and giving them to the boy they liked. Considering she hadn't done that to Shun yet, of course Alice didn't voluntarily give Shadow these orange strands. "He caught me off guard."

And the smell of roses in the fire made her nauseous.

"What's this?" Alice noticed a brown book lying by a tree titled Multicultural Fire Rituals. One of the pages was folded in. She unfolded it and read the title and text. "No wonder he needed my hair and rose petals. Some stupid love ritual this is." She flipped through the table contents and found more fire rituals. "There's one for return, release, and even purification."

After reading all the pages, Alice put the book in her jacket pocket and went looking for ingredients. "Eagle feathers for freedom, juniper twigs to lead the way with the scent, and tree sap to create smoke to counteract the evil in the air. How I'll find personal items is unknown, and that's just for the burial rites.

"For a safe return, I'll also need eagle feathers and juniper twigs, but then I'll need to find a seashell for a safe journey since I'm leaving by water. The fourth item should be something personal to represent where you're returning to. Hmm..." Alice stopped walking and took out her jade koi. "Shun, when I come back, and if this jade koi ends up deformed, please forgive me."

She kissed the jade koi and continued walking. So far, Alice only found tree sap, juniper twigs, but only one eagle feather. Seashells were back on the shore or deserted beach. The only items missing were personal items of the people who died.

But Alice was beyond shocked when she realized she could find all their personal items in this place a few steps in front of her, surrounded by a metal gate with a crossed scythes design.

"Who is doing this to me?!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

"This can't be good..."

Shun landed a few feet in front of the back gate of presumably a cemetery, and the gates were open. Is this the place you discovered, Alice? Out of all things?

He looked at the back of the most recent three poems and saw Daisy Makimoto and Kato's names, but the last one was blank, which frightened Shun a lot. I hope there aren't any poems left. What does a blank mean? Is Alice still alive? He pushed the gate aside and entered. It took him a long time to walk a crooked path before he saw any real signs of a cemetery.

But when he did, he was just as shocked as Alice.

"This is definitely no coincidence."

Six tombstones were erected close to each other in a large area, surrounded by a ring of bushes and trees.

And all six of them had the names of the people who died.

Shun walked closer and noticed that all the tombstones had a circular hole through them and tiny hook hanging in the upper space. "What psychopathic mind would do something this disrespectful?" He continued down the field of graves and made his way to a more hidden and isolated area, where there was a single tombstone standing crookedly. This one also had a hole and hook, but the name space was completely blank.

It didn't take long for Shun to notice the green item dangling from the hook.

"Alice...why?"

All the evidence pointed to Alice being dead. He slowly backed away but hit his back on a picnic table. Not too far from him, he heard shoveling sounds. Who could be digging at this hour? Crawling over to the bushes, Shun looked over to see another raw tombstone lying down next to a pile of twigs, some rocks, and a rectangular hole in the ground. A patch of silvers moved up and down from below. Whose grave is that?

Then a face popped up from the hole and scared Shun half to death.

"Shadow!"

Shadow jumped out and attempted to hit Shun with a shovel, but Shun threw a pebble and injured the assailant's shoulder, thus dropping the shovel. The last thing he wanted to see was the killer who indirectly murdered Alice's close friends and possibly her as well. Now he just had to row the boat back.

-x-x-x-x-x-

In front of Alice was a cemetery, and many feet from the front gate were six tombstones, all with the names of the people who died etched on them.

Not to mention their personal items dangling like a mobile in the tombstones.

"This is definitely a trap. For the burial rite, I need the personal items which are all in this cemetery. For the safe return home blessing. I just need a seashell from the water. Should I help these people or return home?"

Alice thought thoroughly and realized it'd be too tedious to perform many rituals consecutively. She went back to the boat, fished a seashell out from the water, and returned to the campfire. Two rocks worked as makeshift flint, letting the kindling burn softly. Alice slowly placed the tree sap, eagle feather, and juniper twigs in the fire. She found a Y-shaped branch, placed the jade koi in the intersection, and held it in the fire with her hand at a distance. I hope this works...

Later, a trail of pale smoke in yellow, white, and green rose to the sky. Miraculously, the smoke trailed off toward the bay and the deserted island, and her piece of jade remained as green as the day Shun gave it to her. Soon, the smoke dissipated, and Alice went back to the cemetery.

"No worries, Shun. The book said this smoke means I'll have a safe return home. You don't have to forgive me about the jade koi, but do forgive more for taking a long time because I want to help the people who helped me during these days."

She opened the gate and walked over to the tombstones. I don't know who put this stuff up, but I must thank them still. Don't worry, everyone. I haven't forgotten the good deeds you did for me. Shun and I will be grateful for your efforts. Once Alice collected everything, she prepared to leave but stopped to see a blank tombstone and a rectangular hole in the ground. "What in the—"

A certain silverhead sneaked up on her and knocked the redhead unconscious with a shovel to her nape.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"When's he going to come back?"

Dan waited hours restlessly as Runo went to make tea for him. "I don't know what Shun gotten himself into, but this front gate is the only way out of Sunshine Point."

"You sure you don't know what's beyond the swamp?"

"I don't. Not after that incident where my leg got hurt badly, I never went there again until Shun dragged us there."

"This is traumatizing, both your leg and Daisy's death. You and Julie don't feel the same way. Why?"

"You could say that I met Alice first, thus Alice preferred me more. I swear, Julie has no grudge against either one of us, but seeing one without the other doesn't feel complete. Maybe that's why I drifted away, and I never wanted to be near guys again."

"But we're guys, and you—"

"Okay, not exactly like that. After seeing the effect Shadow had on Alice, I swore I'd never get close with a guy. I feel comfortable around Shun though because Alice constantly told us about him, but you're...different."

"If you get better from the trauma, I'm fine with how you treat me. Now I wish I could do something to help you. Why does Shun get all the action and spotlight here?"

"Do you?" Runo let out a chuckle and smirk as she sipped her tea. "I'm sure you do. I treated you coldly in the, but Shun's determination made me change my point of view." A mailman came by and handed Runo an orange envelope. "Thanks." She unfolded the metal pins and took out a sheet of paper. "No way."

"What's wrong—hey!"

"Shun?!" Runo gasped.

Shun came from nowhere and pulled Dan off the chair. "Shun, take it easy! How did you come back? I thought you'd be a goner like Alice."

"I was desperate. Dan, we're getting out of here." He literally dragged Dan down the path back to Dan's car. "Unlock the car."

"No! I'm not leaving here until you tell me what's going on. What happened to the Shun who was so determined to find Alice? Where is he now?"

"Gone, along with Alice." He took out both pieces of jade koi and held it up in Dan's face. "She's dead, and Shadow killed her. He's also digging another grave to bury me in. You're not driving? I will."

But before either one could get in the car, a voice echoed from behind. "You can't leave yet."

Shun and Dan turned around to see Runo standing a few feet away, panting from a painful run. In her hands was another drawing. This time, the picture depicted a familiar red truck that crashed into a tree and started burning. Both the raven-haired driver and the brunet passenger were injured and bleeding, but the driver had an excessive amount of blood on his head and face.

"If you leave now, you'll get into a tragic car accident... especially Shun."

"I knew it," Shun murmured. "Shadow really wants me gone...and dead."

But how did he know that I would be driving?