Now, who's up for a blue harvest moon? Thanks for reviewing, AvrilLavigneFan2001 (they're mine too), 5everAwesome (I'm sorry, but that's already decided – I don't mess with the eliminations much, but I will be doing that later on) and Ali6132 (that will not be the last time Shannon makes an Aleheather reference).

The next day was mostly free. I was on tenterhooks all day, waiting for Chris to call us, but he didn't. At least I was in the spa hotel, so I got to chill all day. I got a massage, soaked in the hot tub, and just generally enjoyed myself. The other Villains chilled quite a bit, too. I even managed to have a normal conversation with Courtney, while she was out of competition-mode. I even thought of some flirting advice I could give Scott when he came back from exile.

I also got to talk to all of my friends, as long as the four of us hung around outside the cabins and talked there. I hadn't really spoken to Mike at all since the season began, so it was nice to finally get a chance to speak to him. Especially after what Zoey had told me about his alternate personalities being unreachable. But he seemed okay when I talked to him.

I headed back to the spa hotel just before sunset to have something to eat, no longer on tenterhooks. I passed through the dining hall, where Heather and Alejandro were both having something themselves.

"Do you have to whistle through your nose while you eat, Windy?" demanded Heather.

Alejandro gave a sigh, pushing back his chair. "Typical Heather." Heather gasped at his lack of reaction.

"You don't like him, huh?" I teased. "Don't worry, I'm sure he's still into you. He hasn't used his flirt tactic for a few days. Last season, he never stopped using that."

Heather glared at me. "Do you mind? I don't care about him, and I do not-" she paused. Then she gave me a death glare. "It was you! You were the one who left that message for me last night!"

I shrugged, trying to act casual. "Yeah. It's true, Sierra told me how popular the pairing is."

Only half an hour later, Chris' voice came through the loudspeaker. "Evening, campers! Gather around the starting line for a big announcement!"

We did, and Scott was dropped beside us from Chef's helicopter. "Oh my gosh!" Courtney cried, kneeling down. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Scott said airily. "That was nothing."

"Well, good," Courtney said, "Because we have a challenge to win. Get it together!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

I caught Scott's eye and grinned. Courtney definitely liked him already.

But there was no time to watch Courtney and Scott flirting. Chris had decided to send us on a similar challenge to last year's treasure hunt, minus Izzy and treasure. It was just a race across the island. But the difference was...tonight there was a blue harvest moon, and it was supposed to have some kind of effect on the animals.

At least, our team got a map for winning the last challenge. The Heroes got bacon hats and sausage tails, poor guys.

I noticed Mike and Cameron say something to each other, and then Zoey whispered something to Cameron.

I heard his answer. "He did WHAT?" He looked at Mike suspiciously, and I wondered what was going on.

"This'll be a piece of cake." Heather said confidently, looking at the map.

"On your marks..." Chris began.

Alejandro gave a sigh. "You mean, a piece of pie."

"Might as well be a piece of Heather's hair." I muttered to Gwen, making her smile for a moment.

"Get set..." Chris continued.

Heather glared at Alejandro, crouching to his level. "Listen, you-"

Chris sounded the horn, and we ran, forgetting the figure of speech argument. We were a fair way across the island before I noticed the light had changed. It was blue, like a dimly-lit dream. I bit my lip, hating the dreamlike feeling, but I kept running, glancing up at the full moon, which, sure enough, was glowing blue.

Things only got weirder from there. We met an alligator who was...wagging its tail?

"Um, since when do gators do that?" Courtney questioned.

"This moon is like no other." Alejandro explained. "It must be causing the animals to become their opposites."

"I guess the answer is since the moon turned blue." I joked, but then another voice cut in.

"Wow, Alejandro, you're so smart!" Heather gushed, in a voice that sounded more like Lindsay or Sierra.

"Excuse me?"

Heather's grey eyes were wide and vacant, and she was smiling sweetly. Then she went to hug the alligator, speaking in baby talk to it the whole time. Alejandro shuddered, looking a bit afraid.

"Is anyone else acting weird?" I asked, looking around. I couldn't help making a joke. "Courtney, do you want to take orders? Gwen, do you feel like living up to our team name?" But no, it seemed to only be Heather who was acting strange.

A whole bunch of rabbits went for us next. Gwen, Courtney and I had the sense to stay away, but Scott folded his arms. "I'm not gonna be taken down by a gang of bunnies." Not twenty seconds later and he was screaming "Help! I'm being taken down by a gang of bunnies!"

"Hurry, there's no time to waste!" Alejandro called, taking charge and speeding by on his hands. "Hurry up, Heather, you have the map!"

Heather looked up from the alligator. "Yay, running!" She caught up with us easily. "Good work, guys, we're halfway to the finish line! Yippee! This is fun!"

Gwen, Courtney and I all thought about how weird it was.

"Why is Heather being affected by the blue harvest moon?" Courtney wondered out loud.

"Maybe she's part wolf?" Gwen suggested. All three of us burst out laughing, until Courtney remembered that she was still holding a grudge and resumed her old glare. Poor Gwen looked dejected.

Soon, we came to a rope bridge. "Obviously it's a trap." Gwen said firmly. "We should go around."

"That'll take three times as long!" Courtney protested.

"Well, I'm not crossing that thing. And anyone with any brains will follow me."

I was tempted to agree with Gwen, but then Alejandro said something that made me change my mind. "What if you get lost? Every team member must make it across the finish line for us to win." Yeah, it would be better to stick with the team.

"Besides, if you don't come with us, we'll miss you SO much!" added Heather. I looked at the bridge again. It did look unsteady, but there was only one thing I could do – cross, eyes closed, until I got across. I couldn't go across while seeing the dangers. I shut my eyes, felt for the rope, and stepped onto the planks, carefully crossing. I could hear everything everyone else was saying.

"If you take that detour, you'll cost us the game!" Courtney warned Gwen. She gasped. "That's your plan, isn't it? Admit it!"

"I'll see you on the other side, you know, if you make it!" Gwen called. I could tell she was already further away.

"Good luck!" I heard Heather call after her. "Come on, guys," she said to everyone else. "Nothing to be afraid of!"

I couldn't hear the reply, but Alejandro definitely said something.

"Maybe someone brave should cross it first and make sure it's safe!" Heather continued.

"Cheek." I muttered. "Haven't they even noticed I'm crossing yet?"

"I'll do it!" I heard Scott volunteer. "Back home, we have a special way to cross these bridges." At that moment, my sandals touched grass and I opened my eyes. I was across! And Scott was running across the bridge, right behind me, screaming his lungs out. I stepped to the side, and finally, a teammate noticed me. "When did you get across?"

I shrugged. "Before anyone noticed I left, I guess." I grinned. "I started crossing when Courtney accused Gwen of taking the detour to cost us the game on purpose."

There was no more time to talk, since a beaver went straight for Scott, and then bit at a rope on the bridge, causing it to slip sideways. Then it went back to Scott.

"Good job!" Alejandro called. "Keep it busy! Shall we go?" he said to the two girls.

To be fair, someone nearly did die on that bridge. One of the planks fell through and Heather with it, but Alejandro grabbed her wrist. She looked up at him. "I knew you still cared!"

Wow. That was not blue harvest moon Heather. She'd spoken in her normal voice, not the one she'd adopted as sweet Heather. Had she been faking? Why? It seemed as if she'd just wanted to throw off Alejandro. Wow, that was kind of...petty, for Heather at least. Maybe that's what love did to her.

Once we were across, Courtney pulled the beaver off Scott. "Chomp this, freak!" She let the beaver on the bridge, biting the other rope.

"Now the other team can't use the bridge!" Alejandro observed. "Brilliant plan, Courtney!"

"But if Gwen can't make it around the pit, the bridge is no longer an option, is it?" Heather pointed out, again in her normal voice.

"She's right. Terrible plan, Courtney!"

Courtney shrugged, tossing the beaver over her shoulder. "Whatever. That's Gwen's problem."

We didn't find Gwen until after we reached the finish line. She wasn't there. "Gwen's not here already?" Courtney scowled. "I knew she'd sabotage us!" At that moment, a baby deer came up, growling at Courtney and making her back away. But suddenly, a branch was shoved in its mouth.

Yes. After all the mean things Courtney had said and the arguments they'd had, Gwen had still saved Courtney's life. "You'd do the same if our positions were reversed."

"Well...of course I would." Courtney lied.

"Ruthless shameless liar." I muttered.

At that moment, the light changed again, just as the Heroes arrived.

"Courtney and Gwen, the moon curse is over!" Alejandro called. "Hurry!"

"They know it's over," snapped Heather, "They don't need you to narrate, Blah-lejandro."

We would have lost if not for Mike having stopped before the finish line, looking around, and asking "How did I get here?" Courtney and Gwen crossed the finish line just before he did, and we won. It was time for the next bonfire ceremony already!

Gwen sighed as she watched the other team trudge to elimination. "Wish I was on the Heroes team." I was sitting next to her, so I gave her a sympathetic smile.

Duncan stopped by the peanut gallery. "Aw, cheer up, Gwen." He kissed her on the cheek. "There, that should do it." Then, his eyes flickered towards Courtney, and I heard him whisper to Gwen "You think she was watching?"

I gasped, and wasn't too surprised when Gwen pushed him away. Although her words did surprise me. "Ugh, I can't do this any more! It's over!"

"What just happened?"

"Did you have to be that blunt?" I whispered to Gwen. "What is he on about?"

"Courtney." Gwen said, her voice moody. "Apart from him still being obsessed with her, something's missing from what's been happening. The thrill's gone, and our relationship is nothing but hard work. He needs to get his priorities straight. Until then, we're done."

Scott volunteered for exile again, although Courtney protested. He addressed her. "Sorry, babe. I gotta find that invincibility statue." I kind of hoped he didn't find it. He would've been the last pre-merge elimination last season if he hadn't found it (of course, the Dakotazoid went instead). Someone else deserved a second chance this time. Like Gwen, or Sierra, or even me. Not one of the winners, one of the runner-ups.

Once Scott was gone, the Heroes were meant to vote, but Cameron stopped them. "Wait!"

"Now what?" Chris snapped.

"I volunteer for the Flush of Shame!"

"NOOOOOOO!" shrieked Sierra.

"Cameron, why?" Mike asked.

"Sorry, Mike. I'd love to help with your uh, problem, but I just can't take any more of, you know, this!" He gestured to Sierra, who was kneeling on the ground in her devastation.

"Oh, are you allergic to long grass?" she asked. "I could get chains instead!" I shivered. That sounded far too creepy.

"Well, isn't this a perfect way to introduce the surprise twist?" Chris said, his voice making me want to knock that smug smile off his face for good. "Today's ejected Hero is tomorrow's new Villain!"

"What?" Cameron said, looking worried.

"That's right! Instead of flushing Cameron, I'm sending him over to the Villains' side!" We all gasped, and Sierra's eyes brimmed with tears. "Sorry, Sierra."

Finally, Cameron faced our team. Gwen and I smiled at him, but the others glared. "Uh...hi."

When we walked to the spa hotel, I took Cameron's hand. "At least we're on the same team now. I've been missing you guys so much. And this is the fifth challenge. There's thirteen episodes, right? We have got to be merging soon. Besides, although the team sucks, they're not really that mean." I gave him a reassuring glance as we reached the doors of the spa hotel, and went in.

You wouldn't believe how glad I was to have someone I loved that much on our team. Finally, things were looking up for me, if only a little bit.

I just hoped my team wouldn't start picking on Cam.

Oh, Shannon...hope if you will, but they're VILLAINS. Please review!