Desolation

Chapter Twenty Six

((here is a picture of Tessa! and thanks so much for over 2.5k reads! I am really enjoying writing this story and I hope that you are enjoying it too!! I hope that you guys like this chapter!))

"Alyssa?" I whisper out into the darkness.

She stands there, motionless, staring at me.

"Alyssa?" I ask again.

She still doesn't respond. She just stands there, frozen in place, staring at me through the darkness. Something about her looks off. I take a small step backward, slowly inching away from her.

She is starting to scare me.

I start to bend over to wake Ian when all of a sudden she breaks the silence.

"You have to come back," she says robotically.

I look up at her, my heart beginning to pound in my chest.

"What?" I ask, trying to hide the fear from coming out in my voice.

"You have to come back. Or bad things will happen. Really bad things," she says mechanically.

It seems as if Alyssa is possessed; her voice does not sound like it belongs to her body. I stare at her, widening my eyes. She still hasn't broken her penetrating gaze, her eyes boring into mine.

"Why...why would we come back to the cages? Why would we go back to the people who are holding us captive?" I ask nervously.

"Bad things will happen if you do not. This is your final warning; you have until tomorrow at sunset to return," Alyssa says.

"What bad things?" I call out, my voice trembling.

But it's too late. Alyssa stiffly turns around and walks away in the dark depths of the jungle. I stand there, listening to her footsteps fade away as I try to process everything that just happened. I turn around to see that everyone is still asleep. 

Bad things will happen if you don't come back...

Alyssa's words echo in my mind, sending shivers down my spine. There was definitely something off about her; they must have somehow programmed her and sent her to say that. I shudder when I try to think of how they could have done that.

I don't want to know.

I then realize that I have to tell the others.

After taking a deep breath, I bend down and shake Ian lightly. He grumbles, then rolls over, turning away from me.

Great.

This time, I shake him harder.

"Ian," I whisper.

"Huh?" he says groggily, rolling back over and opening his eyes.

He looks at me for a few seconds, his eyes adjusting to the darkness.

"What is it?" he asks, propping himself up on his elbows.

I immediately blurt out everything that just happened. When I am done, Ian stares at me for a few moments.

He then asks, 

"Are you sure this actually happened?"

Does he not believe me?

"Yes I am sure," I say flatly.

He nods slowly, still looking at me curiously.

"So you're positive that you didn't just imagine it?" he asks.

Now I am mad.

"What, do you not believe me? Do you think I'm crazy?" I exclaim hotly, raising my voice.