Lisa, John, and Louis were walking through the jungle, calling out their friends' names. But no matter how hard they tried, no one answered.
In the end, Lisa sat down near a tree and sighed.
"I don't think we can find them any longer," she said tiredly.
"Hey, Lisa, don't give up. Maybe we'll find them soon," Louis said.
"How are we supposed to find them? We've been walking for so long. I'm so tired of this," Lisa muttered.
"We're tired too, Lisa, but giving up isn't the solution," John said calmly.
"I really hate this place. I just want to go home," Lisa said weakly.
"How about we rest for a while, then start searching again?" Louis suggested.
"Good idea. I'm exhausted," John said, sitting down on the ground.
Louis joined them, and the three of them sat quietly, resting under the trees.
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On the other side, Luka and Louis were running toward the direction where they had heard Luna's voice. But when they reached near a tree, both of them suddenly stopped. Luka pointed ahead and said,
"What the hell… is that our van in the middle of the jungle?"
"I don't know, but why is it here? Who drove it?" Louis asked in shock.
"Isn't that the same van that broke down? That's why we came looking for help. So… who brought it here?"
"Hey Luka, when you and Anna came to find us, did you two lock the van doors?"
"Yes. When we left, I made sure to lock it. Some of our stuff was inside," Luka replied.
"Then how did someone drive it here if the doors were locked?" Louis said, confused.
"Let me check if the lock's broken," Luka said, pushing Louis aside.
He grabbed the handle and tried to open the door—but it was still locked.
"The van door's locked. So how did it get here?" Luka said, frowning.
"Do you have the key, Luka?" Louis asked.
"Yes, I do." Luka took the key from his pocket.
"Open it," Louis said.
Luka unlocked the door, and they both climbed inside. Luka sat in the driver's seat while Louis sat beside him.
"Try starting it," Louis said.
Luka turned the key again and again, but the van wouldn't start.
"It's dead," Luka said.
"Then how could someone move it here without the key?" Louis asked.
"I don't know," Luka muttered. "But I'm sure of one thing—something's wrong with this jungle."
"You're right. We need to find everyone and get out of here, fast," Louis said.
They both got out of the van. Luka locked the door again.
"But how will we find them? We've been searching for hours without a clue," Luka said.
"We just have to keep looking," Louis replied.
"We heard Luna's voice, but she's nowhere to be found," Luka said.
"She's close. I'm sure of it. Maybe if we keep going past the van, we'll find her," Louis said.
"I'm not so sure… but what about the van?" Luka asked, pointing back at it.
"Just leave it here," Louis said.
"Yeah… not like we can take it with us anyway," Luka said.
They both started walking again, leaving the van behind.
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Elsewhere, Max and Anna were walking quietly through the jungle. Anna still looked shaken from earlier, but the short rest had calmed her down a little.
"Hey Anna, how are you holding up?" Max asked.
"I'm feeling a bit better now," she said.
"Good," Max smiled.
"Hey Max…" Anna stopped walking.
"Yeah?" Max asked, turning toward her.
"Aren't you scared?" she said softly.
"Scared? Me? No way," Max said proudly.
"You sure you're not scared?" Anna raised an eyebrow.
"I told you, I'm not scared," Max said again.
"But I am," Anna admitted quietly.
"Hey, don't be scared. I'm with you," Max reassured her.
Then suddenly, Max stopped and took a few steps back. His face turned pale.
"What… what the hell is that?" he whispered, pointing toward a tree.
Anna looked in the same direction—then screamed.
They both saw something so horrifying that their faces went white. They wanted to move, but their feet froze in place. They couldn't even look away from the thing in front of them.
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Meanwhile, John and Luna were running toward the direction of Louis's scream. After a few minutes, when they couldn't find anyone, Luna stopped.
"I can't run anymore," Luna said, panting.
"Really? You can't run just a bit longer?" John teased her.
"I'm exhausted! Don't tell me you're not tired," Luna grumbled.
"I'm fine. I can run a little more," John said, trying to sound tough.
"Oh yeah? Then why are you panting and sweating so much, Mr. Strong?" Luna teased.
"It's because—" John started, but he was cut off by another scream.
"Hey, did you hear that? It's Louis again!" Luna said.
"Yeah, and it's closer this time," John said.
"Maybe he's nearby!" Luna said quickly.
"The scream sounds like he's in trouble," John said.
"Then let's go. We have to help him!" Luna said.
John nodded, and the two started running again toward the sound.
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Lisa, Max, and Stephanie were walking through the jungle, still hoping to find her parents and Louis. But after a while, they realized no one was around.
"Where are they?" Lisa said anxiously.
"It feels like we've been walking forever," Max said.
"Are you tired, Max?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah, a bit," Max admitted.
"I'm tired too," Stephanie said softly.
"To be honest, so am I," Lisa added.
"So, what do we do now?" Max asked, stopping.
"How about we rest for a while?" Lisa suggested.
"I'm down," Max said.
"Hey Stephanie, what do you think? Should we rest a bit and then look for your parents again?" Lisa asked.
"Okay," Stephanie said quietly.
The three of them sat down on the ground, catching their breath while staring up at the night sky.
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Luna sat under a tree, exhausted. Her breathing was heavy, and her thoughts drifted back to what she'd seen when the light had flickered earlier.
She remembered how, when the light flashed across them, everyone had covered their faces. But when she looked down—she saw something that froze her blood.
She was the only one who had a shadow.
When she looked again… the others had none.