• • •

THIS WASN'T HAPPENING.

Mouth sandpaper-dry, I stifled another gasp while squeezing my eyes shut. My heart lurched violently, racing faster and faster with every passing second. An invisible hand clamped itself over my mouth, and my ribs heaved as if they were tightly bound. The forest started to spin as I squatted down, pressing shaky fingers to my temple.

I couldn't breathe. My exhales became shallower while radical theories bounced around in my head, a carousel of fears spinning me around and around and around. The ground was melting under my feet. I collapsed onto my hands and knees. The rush of the wind and rain was distant and muffled, washing over me like a deluge of icy water.

My muscles tightened, and I couldn't hold myself back from uttering a pained noise. Gritting my teeth, I clenched the knife at my side until my knuckles turned white.

Come on, Angelina. I needed to get a grip. It was just a mutilated finger, which paled in comparison to other monstrosities. This was an accident. It meant nothing.

Did I really believe that, though?

Still, I couldn't let Xander, Leilani, or even Zachary witness my reaction. Leilani would ask too many questions, Xander would know too much, and Zachary would be insufferable.

As I slowly steadied my breathing, my hearing returned, eyesight soon following suit. I regretted my reaction instantly. Letting my emotions run rampant would be like giving in to whoever brought us here — and I hated to lose.

So I forced myself to turn back towards the box.

Thankfully, no blood was visible on the greying, mangled finger. No matter how hard I willed my hand to move closer, I couldn't bring myself to touch it.

My stomach rolled. It was most likely my brother's based on the ring, but Adrian died last summer. Whatever—or whoever—erased my memories couldn't bother to wipe that part.

How did someone get a hold of it in the first place? And why?

A sickening feeling wormed its way into my gut. This location was too specific to be coincidental — someone planted the box here, knowing I'd come across the finger. It wasn't an accident.

The only person who could foresee this would be our abductor.

This must've been a sadistic joke. Awakening in the middle of nowhere was bad enough, but now I had a psycho on my heels.

No one should have known about me and Adrian, especially not about his traditional ring. My knees threatened to give out. Only someone who knew me well could expose my vulnerabilities—but who?

Could it have been one of the others?

A sudden movement caught the corner of my ponderous gaze. Jumping up, I whipped around, eyes wildly focusing on the shifting shadows. How could I have been so careless? I should've paid more attention as the wind picked up.

By instinct, my hand drifted to my knife. Turning around slowly, I scanned the surrounding area, making two full circles as a precaution. Heart thundering against my chest, I forced myself to keep up a calm facade. I couldn't lose control again.

A leaf crunched behind me, which sent a jolt down my spine. So many horrible possibilities — a fist shooting at my face, a knife swinging at my back, a gun aimed at my head. I wouldn't be taken down today.

So I spun around and slashed my blade towards the footsteps.

Everything blurred, and I barreled forward without registering the familiar face. In a split second, the figure caught my wrist in his cold grasp and twisted it around. The knife clattered to the side.

"Ange, it's me, Xander."

My hand stilled. Blinking a few times, I shook my head, squinting hard at his concerned expression. Shit, it really was him — how was I going to explain this now?

"Sorry, I didn't realize who you were." Wrenching my arm away, I stumbled over my words. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Zachary and Leilani?"

"We thought something happened to you since Leilani returned nearly half an hour ago. We made a deal to stay together, didn't we?"

"I can protect myself just fine." I took a step back, making sure to block his view of the box.

He pursed his lips. "Obviously you can, but what's bothering you? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"You just startled me."

He raised a brow, unconvinced. Thankfully, my clothes weren't soaked yet, but I wrapped my windbreaker tighter around me. I hated how perceptive he was.

Xander sighed, feet kicking loose rocks. "Your eyes dart from side to side, you jump at the slightest movements, and your hand is always on your knife. What are you afraid of?"

He looked at me expectantly, and I snorted. "I barely know any of you, so sorry if I don't feel like revealing all my family secrets."

Unwilling to back down, he continued. "You're always paranoid, but this time you're more on edge." My silence answered for him. "You found something new, didn't you?"

As much as I hated to admit it, there was no point lying again. Xander could stand here all night waiting for my response. "Yes. Yes, I did." Stepping away from the partially covered box, I dragged a hand through my black hair. "You can go look for yourself."

It was frustrating to study his reaction. Even when he caught sight of the finger, his expression stayed neutral, and he barely recoiled in disgust. Either he was adept at suppressing emotions or he had seen such gore before.

I was willing to bet on both.

After inspecting it for quite some time, he finally spoke. "Do you know who the finger came from?"

"No, I don't know." Another lie.

Before he could prod further, I strode over and shut the lid. "We should return to the others. It's getting dark, and I'm pretty sure we don't want to be caught out in the storm."

I didn't particularly care for his response. Gingerly picking it up, I struggled to not loosen my grip. Thankfully, the rain drowned out the silence stretching between us.

I could feel his flat stare on me the entire trek back.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

"You found a what?"

Leilani's face contorted as the branch she was holding dropped on her foot, but her attention stayed solely on us.

When Xander and I returned, she and Zachary were placing the final touches on our shelter, setting down insulation inside the shallow cave and patching up holes in the wood. Unfortunately, that would have to wait.

Zachary rubbed his jaw. "Where and how did you come across it?"

"After Leilani and I split up, I continued to search for resources closer to the lake we originally came from," I chose my words carefully, "I ran into the partially hidden box and found a severed finger in it."

"Can we see it?" Leilani inquired. I shrugged and unsteadily opened the box.

Although she attempted to conceal her disgust, her face paled, and she eventually turned away. Zachary, however, had no visible reaction at all, not even batting an eye. Unlike Xander's normal expression, his seemed unnatural. What was up with him?

Gathering herself together, Leilani leaned forward again. "There's a ring on it," she realized, "Have any of you seen it before?"

"I haven't," Xander responded, "because I'm certain that this was placed specifically for Angelina to find." All eyes turned to me.

Of course, he would notice. My skin felt hot, and I shifted uncomfortably under their watchful gazes. How was I supposed to get myself out of this situation?

Leilani spoke up, rubbing the back of her neck. "You know who this came from?" I glanced at Xander, who was watching me intensely; he had asked if I recognized anything from the finger earlier.

At last, I sighed, biting my lip. "My brother always wore that ring." The words were cold in my mouth. With every second that passed, the weight in my chest pressed down, becoming heavier and heavier in the silence.

For once, Leilani was at a loss and kept her mouth shut. I couldn't bear to look at Xander — seeing pity on his face would be worse than any other pain.

"Your brother's dead." With Zachary's inference, everyone's conclusions were confirmed.

I steeled myself and nodded, wanting this conversation to be over. "Yes. Yes, he is." Leilani inhaled sharply while Zachary and Xander remained impassive. They'd known all along, hadn't they?

"I'm sorry." Staring away from the finger, Leilani wrapped her arms around herself.

Unable to stop me, I tore my eyes away from the ground and made eye contact with Xander. Wearing a strange emotion on his face, he watched me, brown eyes blurred by the raindrops. I looked away after a while, hoping he'd do the same, but his stare remained on me.

Clearing my throat, I clutched the box closer to my side. "The past is in the past."

So why can't you let it go?

"We need to discuss this, but for now, we should take shelter," Xander advised, "At least for the night." I was grateful for the subject change.

True to his word, the thick clouds blackened, and heavy rain poured down — deluge after deluge, misfortune after misfortune. The wind picked up, muffling Leilani's curses. While running across the dirt to the cavern, I shielded my face from the icy torrent. The others were doing the same as well, our animosity forgotten as we all entered the small cave.

"Great, now my hair is wet," Leilani muttered. I, too, was wringing my bedraggled hair. We all caught our breaths for a moment without saying a word.

We were all sitting at our own isolated corner of the small cave — Leilani and I closer to the entrance, Xander and Zachary further inside. The lean-to acted like a door of sorts by partially blocking the opening; I took note of the quickest way to exit.

"What are we going to do?" Xander glanced down at the box and back up at me.

"You tell me. We don't know who cut off my brother's finger or who brought us here." I couldn't help how clipped my voice was.

Zachary shoved his hands in his windbreaker. "No need to get defensive, Angel."

"Don't call me that," I snapped. His vaguely amused tone set me on edge.

Thankfully, Leilani stepped in, directing the discussion back to the topic on hand. "Did you notice anything unusual where you found the box?

Diverting my cold glance from Zachary to her, I frowned. "Nothing out of the ordinary. It was hidden under some leaves, and—"

The dirt was slightly overturned.

I gasped and gripped the stone wall. How could I have forgotten such a crucial detail? I met Leilani's bewildered gaze — hoping, praying, that my conclusion was wrong.

Zachary narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"When I found the box, the dirt was already slightly overturned," I rushed, "which means—"

"We might not be alone." Xander finished.

An uneasy silence filled the cave. The blood drained from Leilani's face, and she fumbled for words. "So, you think the person behind our temporary amnesia is out there right now, near our current location?"

A single, slow nod from Zachary sealed our fears.

Leilani wiped her forehead. "This is crazy," she muttered, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to go back to college. I want to go back home."

If we somehow survived this ordeal, would I still be the same Angelina Jung, or would I be a shell of my former self? I didn't want to find out.

"There's no use worrying right now," Xander mused, "We can't find some answers in a storm, so we should get some rest. I'll take the first watch."

I fought sleep for as long as I could. Zachary and Leilani must've not cared about sharing a shelter with strangers because the two dozed fitfully in a matter of minutes. Aching from the day's events, my legs finally gave way, but as I drifted off, a question from earlier still lingered in my mind.

What if one of the others brought me here?