SUBJECT NINE | KIRIN O'CONNOR

TEN

"THE NIGHTS WERE cold and almost unbearable. I stayed awake most of the time, I didn't exactly want to, I just wanted to give in and sleep. But I knew that would be a mistake." Frances muttered.

She watched as Daniel leant forward slightly. He was always so eager to ask more questions. But half of the time, she wasn't ready to answer his questions.

The more she thought about the thirteenth night, the more vivid her memories became. And that was the last thing that she wanted, so instead she decided to spill about the jaguar and ignore the actual important facts.

"The first night that the jag came, Bo was the first to hear it. No one really believed him at first, but when we all heard the snarl. We knew we weren't alone on that island."

D A Y T H I R T E E N

Frances laid awake, she tried to think of positive things to occupy her mind. But in reality, all she could think of was that Kirin chose to sleep away from her and that Seth chose to sleep right next to her.

Seth must've thought that everyone else was asleep, so he allowed his hands to grip the girls waist and pull her ass into him. Tears brimmed the girls eyes, she tried to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong.

"Did anyone hear that?" Bo questioned as he sat up. Frances let go of breath of relief as she jumped away from Seth. She shuffled closer to Ivan, hoping he would notice her discomfort.

"Hear what?" Josh asked, turning to face Bo.

Ivan turned to face Frances, he offered her a closed lipped smile and showed her the booklet he was writing in. He had marked 13 tallies, one for each day.

They'd nearly been stranded and missing for two weeks.

"I'm not sure." Bo whispered.

Kirin sat up slightly, his eyes flickered over to Frances. Who was now sat beside Ivan. He didn't care what Bo thought he heard or what he did actually hear, as long as the girl was safe.

"Boner, dude. Don't cry wolf while we're trying to fucking sleep."

"I think I heard it again." Bo muttered.

Frances tried to listen, but all she could hear was the rustles from the leaves and the crashes from the ocean onto the rocks. She glanced over at Kirin, but he was still laid down.

"There's always a lot of noises out there." Seth spoke up. "I'm sure it's nothin."

Frances scoffed at the boy, she was going to say something in response, but Scotty spoke up first.

"If Bo heard something, he heard something."

The blonde liked how Scotty had so much confidence in his best friend. It was nice to see that even on the island they were standing up for one another. It made her wonder what they were like back home.

Frances noticed how everyone shot up once they heard the snarl. Kirin went to reach over from Frances, but he didn't want it to seem like he cared so much.

"Please tell me we all just imagined that." Josh practically begged.

"Can nine people all imagine the same thing?" Raf questioned back.

"Whatever it is, I bet it's decided to steer clear." Seth tried to speak optimistically.

Frances couldn't help it, but every time she spoke, she felt a pit of uneasiness in her stomach. She just wanted to get out of the makeshift tent, but she knew that none of the boys would let her leave after they just heard the snarl.

"Death will come for us. Be it by carnivore, disease, or fates unknown death will come for us." Henry looked around at the boys.

"Henry not now." Seth muttered, trying to persuade his brother to stop with the dramatics.

"Sorry, but it's true." Henry continued. "The Grim Reaper is sharpening his scythe, just for us."

Seth's eyes darkened, it seemed as if he knew that something was about to happen. Frances glanced back at Kirin, who was watching the boys intently.

"Henry, not now." Seth spoke more sternly.

"And the wind and the rain and the winter squalls. We'll be found with barnacles-" Henry began to dramatically sing as he looked towards everyone.

Frances knew that she shouldn't have, especially since they just heard snarls from outside their makeshift tent, but she found Henry funny.

"What in the ever loving fuck was that?" Ivan questioned, his voice shaking as he spoke.

Everyone fell silent.

No one moved an inch.

Especially not when the snarls got closer and the shadow of the jaguar was seen on their tent. Frances covered her mouth to quieten her uneven breathing. But that wasn't any use when Josh let out a loud yell.

Everyone rushed towards the sea, thinking that they would be safe there. Kirin didn't even think twice about everyone else. He just ran into the ocean.

When he knew he was safe he looked around at the others thankfully. Everyone was safe and in the water.

"Where's Phineas?" Josh questioned as he looked around.

"Franny?" Kirin whispered, trying desperately to find the girl. "FRANCES!" He shouted, going to rush towards the shore, hoping the girl was merely injured and not dead.

Seth quickly pulled the boy back. He thought that if the jaguar killed Frances, then at least then the experiment wouldn't be ruined because there was a girl on this island.

And at least then he wouldn't have to kill her.

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