Joanna’s complexion was abnormally pale.
The moment Nora called out to her, she seemed to hesitate.
"Joanna. What are you doing there? Are you feeling okay? It almost looks like you’ve seen a ghost."
"Ah, I..."
Joanna’s lips parted, but no words came out of her mouth. She looked at us, almost uncertain of whether to move forward or stay where she was. Though subtle, her face appeared rather tense as she continued to scan us with her eyes.
"Joanna?"
By now, everyone had already realized that something was wrong.
"Are you okay? What’s going on?"
Nora tried to approach her, but Joanna took a step back.
"...J-just give me a moment."
Joanna held her hand forward, stopping Nora from moving forward.
"I... need a moment."
"What? Did something happen?"
Nora’s brows furrowed, and the surroundings started to feel heavier. I took a moment to stare at Joanna before shifting my attention back towards the fire.
"Give her a moment."
I didn’t know what was going on, but given Joanna’s current condition, I knew that she needed time to collect herself properly. I motioned to the others to sit down while Joanna remained standing where she was, her expression gradually calming alongside her complexion.
Crackle~
Watching the fire crackle, I eventually turned to her.
"Are you feeling better?"
"...Yes."
Joanna nodded, still pressing her hand against one of the trees. But this time, she seemed to be able to speak without any issues as she finally moved towards the camp, taking a seat.
The moment she sat down, Mia and Nora almost jumped out of their seats, seemingly on the verge of exploding from curiosity, but I held the two back.
"Wait."
I stopped them and looked at Joanna.
"What happened?"
The camp turned silent, all eyes fixed on Joanna. Now that she was a lot calmer, Joanna answered after carefully chewing on her words.
"I was... just returning when I saw all of you standing by the trees, staring at the camp."
"Nnn?! What?"
Mia’s shoulders jumped.
"What are you saying? We were here the entire time."
"...I assume so."
Joanna calmly nodded, taking a small breath.
"When I tried asking what was going on, all of you turned to look at me and told me to stay silent. Niel even beckoned me towards him."
"What?"
Niel frowned, but Joanna didn’t stop.
"I... know. I can tell from your expression that you don’t remember."
"What do you mean, I don’t remember?"
"I don’t know."
She was almost whispering now. Turning her attention towards me, Joanna licked her lips.
"...I don’t know whether what I saw was just a mirage, or you guys had been taken over without even knowing. Or..."
Joanna’s chest rose, her face tensing further.
"Or... we’re currently being watched."
Crackle—!
The fire crackled even more ferociously, one of the logs breaking down as the fire rose and the heaviness in the air rose. Staring at Joanna and then the fire, I wiped my hands against my pants.
Holding onto the knife with the otherhand, I tried to feel for anything in the surroundings.
The more I thought about Joanna’s words, the more tense my muscles felt. Taken over...? Although I wanted the possibility, who was there to say that it wasn’t possible? Although the scenario where it was just an illusion felt even more likely, I couldn’t dismiss the other scenario.
’Could this also be a clue as to how the citizens of Point Z have disappeared?’
"...What about you recording?"
Raising my head, I looked in Ariel’s direction. Her attention seemed fixed on the camera strapped around Joanna’s chest.
"That’s right!"
Mia smacked her fist against her hand.
"If you really did see something, then it might’ve been recorded. Let’s see it!"
"That’s true."
Joanna muttered, her face easing a little as she mumbled, "I had turned it off when I went to take care of my business, but I did turn it on right after. I should be able to see something. At least, it should be able to confirm if you guys have been taken over, or I have been seeing things."
Taking out her phone, Joanna tapped it against the camera. As her thumb scrolled across the screen, she suddenly stopped, then slowly turned the phone toward herself.
"Yes, I’ve got the video."
She tapped play, and the video began.
—Crunch!
The first thing I heard was the soft crunch of the branches beneath Joanna’s feet, snapping as she moved towards the camp. The fog was thick, but under the beam of the flashlight, she was able to see ahead with no issue.
She continued to move unhindered until a small, flickering light bled through the haze. The camp soon appeared, and so did our silhouettes.
But strangely, the beam of her flashlight didn’t settle on the fire. Instead, it swept past us, trembling as it caught the trees at the perimeter of the clearing.
—Guys?
Joanna’s voice whispered through the speaker, the camera shifting around the trees. Almost as if she were talking to someone.
But there was no one.
In fact, looking closely, I also realized that we had yet to take notice of her.
I raised my head, meeting the eyes of everyone present as the air suddenly started to feel oppressive.
The warmth of the campfire died instantly.
"With this, we can confirm that we weren’t taken over."
I tried to keep my cool. I tried to calm everyone down.
But—
—Khhhh...! Khhhhh! Kh! HAAAAAAAA! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Heart-wrenching cries suddenly erupted from the phone’s speaker, the sound so raw it felt like the plastic was splintering. The screams weren’t just loud; they were distorted, overlapping as if there was more than one person screaming.
"W-what the hell!?"
Mia was the first one to jump up as Joanna’s hand shook, nearly losing grip of her phone as the screams continued to pierce through the surroundings.
—HEEEELP! HAAAA! HAAAAAAAAAAA! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
"Turn it off!"
Mia shrieked, her hands clamped over her ears.
"Joanna, kill the damn thing!"
Joanna’s fingers fumbled frantically over her phone, her finger pressing onto the screen over and over again. But the recording didn’t stop. The screaming grew louder, overlapping itself until it sounded like a hundred people were howling in unison from inside her phone.
—HAAAAAAAA! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!—
Then, the screams stopped. Amidst the silence that followed, the collective sound of everyone’s breathing echoed, all eyes fixed on the screen. Towards the nine figures sat by the campfire, huddled together while staring at a certain phone.
Shivers immediately ran down my entire body, alongside the others, as the crackling of the fire stopped.
For just a moment, everything fell completely still.
Until—
Crackle~
The crackling of the fire returned, and the recording finally paused.
But even though the recording stopped, the sound of our collective breaths didn’t as nobody made a sound, several heads turning in a certain direction, only to see nothing but a dense fog.
I closed my eyes, tightly holding onto the knife in my grasp.
’One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.’
All of us are here.
I couldn’t feel the presence of any anomaly.
We...
We were still fine.
I swallowed.
"Pack up your stuff. Let’s head to the central area. We’ve overstayed our stay here."
The others didn’t question my order, all jumping up to pack up their stuff. I could tell. Nobody wanted to stay a second longer in this place.
But I couldn’t blame them.
I was no different.