The fire poker hit the floor with a loud clang as it slipped from the woman's hand.
Ben was rooted to the spot, not daring to take a breath or even blink in case she disappeared as she'd done so many times in his dreams.
His mind was working in slow motion. He needed to move closer to her, to speak that name again. But he didn't get the chance. He saw the woman take a tentative step backwards, and then she was gone, spinning into the darkness.
All at once, the feeling rushed back into his body. He felt the weight of Meg's body against his. She hadn't noticed anything, hadn't heard what he'd said. It had all happened in a matter of seconds, though Ben felt like he'd been standing on that cold concrete floor for five years.
His senses regained and the realisation that the woman at the door had gone, he propelled forward, pulling Meg with him, 'MARIA!' he yelled, running towards the door.
Startled, Meg pulled at his arm to a stop, 'Ben, what are you doing!?'
'MARIA!' he shouted again, resisting Meg's pull and reaching the doorway. Before him was only the dark corridor.
The woman had gone.
Ben's head spun. He needed to find her, but which way should he go first? Meg's voice once again brought him back into reality. She had been screaming his name but he hadn't noticed in his panic.
'Ben! Ben' she said shaking him. 'What is wrong with you?!'
'Maria' he said by way of an explanation.
It wasn't the first time that he'd said her name in a moment of confusion. Meg was somewhat used to it. But what came next was new to even her.
'I saw her' Ben said, his breath speeding up. 'She was right here'.
Meg finally understood. In this moment of fear, being that close to the trauma of losing her, Ben had imagined Maria in the doorway.
She placed her hands on his arms to steady him. 'Ben, it wasn't Maria ok? Let's just get out of here and call the cops and…'
'I know what I saw!' Ben said, pulling away from her grasp. 'I have to find her'.
'Ben stop!', Meg screamed and grabbed his hand to prevent him from chasing shadows down the corridor. She'd put up with Maria's ghost haunting them for too long. 'Maria's gone, ok? You were mistaken'.
Ben turned again to hear footsteps coming towards them.
Casey, Michael, Sarah, Vanessa and Gabi ran towards them into the darkened corridor.
Ben wasn't going to wait a minute longer. 'Casey, look after Meg please'. He tried to push past the group but Casey blocked him after hearing Meg scream at him to stop.
'Whoa man, what's going on?' Casey asked with concern, holding him back from moving any further.
'Maria' Ben said frantically. 'She's here'.
A collective gasp came from the group.
'He's not thinking straight' Meg said, tears of shock now streaming down her face. 'Casey tell him!'
'Look calm down and tell me what happened' Casey said calmly, keeping a firm grip on Ben's arms.
'Did any of you hit him with the fire poker?' Ben demanded before anyone could ask any more questions.
'Hit who?' Michael asked.
'A couple of minutes ago' Ben said impatiently pointing at the spot where he'd seen the woman. 'Were any of you at this doorway? Did you hit Derek?'
'Derek's back?!' Sarah said hysterically.
In the tangle of shock and concern, Ben could barely focus. All he knew was that no-one believed him.
'We've all just got here' he heard Casey say.
'Then if it was none of you, who was it!?' Ben shouted, addressing everyone.
No-one answered.
Casey held onto Ben, gently trying to bring him round, 'let's all calm down for a ...'
'JUST GET OFF ME!' Ben shouted and finally tore himself away from Casey's grasp, disappearing down the maze of corridors.
Meg placed her hands on the sides of her head, 'Oh my God, oh my God'.
Vanessa and Gabi rallied around Meg, enclosing her in a hug.
'We have to go after him, he's not in his right mind', Meg said shakily.
'I'm not going anywhere!' Sarah exclaimed dramatically.
Meanwhile, Michael tentatively had a look in the boiler room, finding Derek's body on the ground.
'I think it's best we get out of here' Michael said, gesturing to Derek.
'Right, we need to get a signal to call the cops' Casey said.
'No!' Meg said, suddenly regaining her strength. 'We're not doing anything until we find Ben'.
Everyone knew better than to argue with Meg when it came to her determination about Ben.
'Meg's right' Gabi reasoned. 'It's a storm out there, if Ben and this woman are out there alone, we need to go and help right now'.
Michael went into the boiler room to check Derek's pulse. Crouching over his body, he said 'I don't think he's going anywhere soon'.
Closing the door on Derek, the group scoured the house for torches and warm clothes to brace the storm with.
As they congregated at the bottom of the stairs five minutes later, Meg asked, 'I haven't even asked if you guys are ok, did he hurt you?!'
'All of us were locked in our rooms' Casey explained. 'Michael and I managed to smash the lock and force our way out, we got the girls out and came straight here to find you and Ben'.
'We're fine Meg, it's gonna be ok' Vanessa reassured her, not wanting to make the situation worse.
But as they rushed out of the front door, Vanessa sensed that whatever the outcome of their search, nothing was going to be ok.
Out in the woods, the woman was running. Barefoot and exhausted, she fought with the branches and dirt that snagged and clawed at her.
The wind was blowing aggressively, making it harder to see a path in the already blackened night. She didn't know where she was going, just that she had to run as fast as she could away from that house.
In the far distance, she could hear a man's voice calling out. Although she had no idea what he was saying, she knew he was chasing her. Now was her only chance of escape.
After tearing away from Casey, Ben ran out of the corridor and into the living area. Immediately, he saw the front door flung open and ran outside.
Looking left and right, he had to make a split decision on which way to go. Ahead would take him to the cliff edge so he ruled that out. Left was the way into town and the harbour. And right was more woodland.
Left would be the logical direction to take, he thought. But something was pulling him to go right. Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps it was the knowledge that Maria was right handed and her own instinct would've taken her that way.
He had a second to decide, and in that second he followed his gut and went right.
Running through the trees, he called her name over and over again until it felt like his own voice was separate from his body. The darkness was so thick, the wind so strong that anyone else would've turned back by now.
But the brief glimpse of those eyes that Ben had witnessed in the house we enough to keep him pushing on.
Out at the front door of the house, the group stood shining their torches in circles for any sign of Ben.
'Which way?' Gabi asked.
'You know I think I'd be better use staying here' Sarah said, realising the severity of the weather and struggling to pull the hair away from her face.
'You wanna stay with the dead man?' Michael said teasingly.
Sarah's eyes widened suddenly remembering Derek was in the house.
'How about half of us go left and half right?' Vanessa suggested. 'Casey, Sarah, Gabi go right and the rest of us go into town'.
'I am NOT going into the woods!' Sarah piped up.
'Oh will you shut up Sarah!' Meg screamed in frustration.
The sisters began arguing, incoherent squeals coming from both of them.
But Casey for one wasn't focussed on that. Over the years his work as a lifeguard had helped him to identify the sounds of people calling for help in the distance.
'Guys stop! Do you hear that?' he said. 'There's someone's shouting in the forest out there'. Casey turned to where the thick row of trees began.
'You sure Casey?' Meg asked warily, not hearing anything. She didn't want to risk going the wrong way.
'As sure as I can be right now' he said.
'Then let's go...all of us' Meg replied.
The woman continued to run. By now, her feet were bleeding, and her dress was torn.
All she had to rely on was her sense of smell. Every now and then she would inhale the sea breeze and she followed it until it became stronger.
Suddenly, the wind started to pick up, almost carrying her forward. She knew that to mean she was out of the woods, no longer protected from the elements by the trees. No longer protected from him.
The forest floor was now replaced by hard rock. Although she could barely see, she could hear the sea's waves rising, crashing and falling. She knew instinctively where she was.
With nowhere left to run or hide, the woman stopped fighting, letting the wind and rain lash over her. There was only one place left to go. Trembling, she walked to the cliff edge.
Forward Ben went. It was his only option. If he turned left or right in the woods, he was sure to get lost. He had to rely on the idea that the woman would've done the same thing.
It had felt like he'd been running for an hour, but in reality it was only ten minutes before he reached a clearing in the woods. The trees were suddenly replaced by an expanse of empty space.
With no trees surrounding him, he could hear much clearer. He turned back to the woods, glimpsing a small shard of light between the trunks. The rest of the group must not be far behind him.
He had found the edge of the island, he was sure of it.
'Maria!' he called again, squinting into his surroundings. He walked ahead on a slight incline, planning to walk around the edge of the island.
And then he spotted it. Silhouetted on the cliff edge was the woman in white.
Ben's heart skipped. Firstly with relief, and then with panic. It would only take him a few seconds to get to her if he ran but something about the way she stood concerned him. She was standing so close to the edge that Ben couldn't see where the rockface finished and she began. Her head was bowed, looking into the sea that started five metres below.
If he called out now, he could startle her. Holding his breath he stepped closer to her until he was only ten metres away.
'Maria?' he said as calmly as he could, though he had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. 'Is it...is it you?'
The woman lifted her head and turned. Ben had been so sure it was her, but now in the darkness he was too far to make out her face. He began to second guess himself. Maybe Meg was right, maybe he had been mistaken. After all, why would Maria run from him?
She said nothing and he tried again.
'It's me, Ben' he said. 'Don't be afraid'.
The woman took a sudden step back, but this time it wasn't because of him. A band of light flashed behind him. The group had arrived.
'Ben!' Meg screamed.
Ben shot out his arm behind him, 'stay there! Don't come any closer'.
They obeyed, stopping just in hearing distance.
The woman was clearly scared. Of what, he didn't know but whether this was Maria or not, he had to help her. A group of people cornering her wasn't going to help.
'Listen' he said. 'Please just come away from the edge. No-one's going to hurt you'. He reached out his hand to her, stepping closer inch by inch.
The woman took another step back from him.
'Ben be careful!' Meg yelled. He was getting close to the edge now too.
He was straining his eyes, desperate to catch another glimpse of her face, but it was no use.
The woman took one last look at the sea beneath her, and back up at the man she was so desperate to escape. In a final moment of resolve, she took her only chance and jumped.
Ben watched as she leapt lightly off the cliff, her dress billowing around her making her look almost angelic.
"MARIA!"
This time he didn't wait. He didn't even register the screams behind him telling him to stop. He ran across the rocks to where she had just stood.
Without a second of doubt about the jagged rocks and violent waves that could hit him, he dived in after her.