"Be very careful, as that action might be your last."

Jessa's words, in the ruler's voice, rang in his head so incessantly that he forgot all about the coffee brewing in his cabin and marched over to the stone steps, instead. He paced back and forth in front of them, debating whether or not to run down and find Kera and warn her. Or to throw himself down the stairs and wait to see if he survived when he hit the bottom.

He cringed; no, he wouldn't kill himself. But maybe if he hurt himself badly enough, he'd be allowed bed-rest, and from there he'd have more time to waste thinking about what to do.

Because he still had no clue. Save Kera? Leave her be and play the ruler's games? Come to terms with his captivity and accept that this was his life from now on? Dismantle the alien's system from within while posing as one of the groupies? Attempt his own escape, which would risk him getting eaten by monsters or transformed into them?

"Would they rather eat me?" He slowed his pacing. "Or want me to be like them? I wonder."

He didn't wonder for too long, preferring to not envision any future with furry, creepy beasts at his heels.

When he ventured back to the camp a little while later, thirsty for the coffee he'd abandoned, he discovered Taryn and Lorenzo fighting near the fire. Not play-fighting—they were legitimately throwing punches at one another, screaming bloody murder as they kicked and clawed and tried to dodge the other's attacks. Jessa was on the sidelines, watching them draw blood with a satisfied smile; and Vick was nowhere to be found.

I'd better be on the look-out for him, since he's basically Jessa's sex slave.

Miles returned inside, poured his coffee into a to-go mug, and shrugged on yesterday's hoodie. When he exited his cabin, no one paid him any heed, so he opted to return to the stone steps to continue considering his next action. On his way out, he found that Taryn and Lorenzo were no longer fighting, but instead dry-humping each other on the ground, with Jessa seated by them, caressing Taryn's lower spine. She was licking her lips, fixated on Taryn, who unzipped Lorenzo's pants—

Miles didn't stick around any longer to witness the rest of that scene. Sure, the idea of some girl-on-girl action had always excited him, and threesomes were definitely a turn-on. But with Lorenzo thrown in the bunch, he preferred not to watch. He'd seen his share of penises so far—Vick's, and it still made him gag to think of it—and didn't plan on seeing any more.

He sat on the top stone step and set his coffee beside him. He rested his elbows on his legs and cupped his chin with his hands, letting out a sigh that released most of the air from his lungs. Trapped air, constricting air, air poisoned with the alien gods' toxic ideas and values, and with Jessa's earlier pungent scent that wouldn't stop swirling in his nostrils. A spicy floral, a peppery cinnamon, sexy and disruptive and—

"Fuck," he spat, grabbing his coffee. "I need to not let her get to me like that."

He had bigger, more important things to focus on—such as saving Kera, and then saving himself. But where to start? Hunt down Kera, which would put her in even more danger since it was evident Miles was being carefully watched now? Return to the barrier and continue to investigate? Find a means to reach out to that strange girl who'd given him Ms. Moreno's notebook, cryptically implying she wanted to help, but at a distance?

"Yeah," he said, planting his feet firmly on the step, with the intention of standing up. "Yeah, her. She knows more, she has to. Maybe she needed me to read the notebook first, and now that I have, she'll provide more information."

The notebook was useful, and yet it'd created more problems with its existence. With all its heavy implications and its truths, he'd managed to draw a new spotlight on himself, and not a good one. Jessa, or possibly the ruler, at this point, had made it clear he was on his last straw, and the gods had noticed he was flimsy, failing to participate. He wasn't joining in on all the fun festivities they organized, and if he didn't, he'd soon be tested and thrown into the same bucket as Kera—the disbelievers. The ones who were hounded by hairy creatures night and day until becoming one of them, or winding up chewed up in their bellies.

Was his only alternative to remain in character? If anything, to save himself, to cover his own ass so he could later locate Kera and save her?

If it isn't already too late, that is.

Maintaining a facade and pretending to play into the gods' hand meant potentially failing Kera. He heard Jessa loud and clear—Kera was still alive, but not for long. If she'd somehow escaped her pursuers, it wouldn't last, and sooner or later she'd be caught and devoured.

"Fuck," said Miles, after draining three quarters of his java. "I can't win. There's only losing in this fucked up place."

A hand wrapped around his shoulder, prompting him to drop his cup. Coffee spilled all over the steps, and the to-go mug bounced down to the bottom, disappearing from view.

Miles jolted around, bracing to find Jessa's purple eyes glowering at him and her claws readying to plunge into his heart.

But he relaxed at the sight of Patrek, instead.

"Dude," said Miles, getting up and smacking a hand to his chest, over his heart. "Don't fucking scare me like that."

Patrek raised his arms in surrender. "Sorry, man. I tried calling your name, but you were out of it. Or ignoring me. I thought... sorry."

Miles took note of the reddish stains on Patrek's white t-shirt, sloppily covered up by his half-zipped leather jacket. "You okay?" He vaguely gestured at the stains. "Where have you been? I feel like you're always hiding."

Patrek's cheeks turned red as he zipped up his jacket. "Hunting. Vick dragged me out and I figured I'd need to keep up appearances. Anything to get away from Taryn and Lorenzo, for real." He looked down at the tips of his shoes. "I'm getting really sick of this shit, though." His chin snapped up and his eyes met Miles'. "Please tell me the reason you're over here talking to yourself is because you're coming up with a plan? Because this place keeps giving me the fucking creeps and I don't want to play this game anymore."

***

Opting to trust Patrek—what other alternative did he have?—Miles guided him to his cabin, under the pretext of prepping for a massive orgy that night. Miles had had no choice but to fumble with an excuse, as Jessa flurried up to intercept him and Patrek when they tried to get inside. She batted her eyelashes until Miles claimed he had some surprises for that night, and they'd involve lots of nudity. Flushing, she'd sauntered back towards the fire to rejoin her violent sex session with Taryn and Lorenzo. Miles and Patrek gagged the instant they were out of sight.

"Fuck this place," said Patrek, removing his leather jacket once they were inside Miles' cabin. He held it up, implying he was asking where to put it; Miles motioned to the floor, not caring where he decided to drop it. "I was never a prude out in the normal world, and I appreciate a good round of sex. But there has to be a limit of how many times you can fuck in one day, right?"

"Scientifically speaking, I'm sure there is," said Miles, fetching them water bottles from the fridge. He tossed one to Patrek, and indicated for him to sit down. "Stay there, I've got something to show you."

He hurried into his bedroom and retrieved the notebook from where he'd placed it, mixed in with other books in a stack near the window. There'd been nowhere else to hide it, and he wouldn't stuff it under the bed or under a pillow, too inconspicuous.

He returned to the living room and dropped the notebook in Patrek's lap. "Check that out. Read it—every page. Then let me know what you think."

Miles marched into the kitchen to fix them something to eat. He had chips and salsa in the cupboard, so he busied himself pouring everything into bowls and setting them onto the coffee table in front of Patrek.

By the time Miles served them each another bottle of water, and half the chips were gone, Patrek closed the notebook and fell back against the couch cushions.

"Holy shit," he said, rubbing his forehead. "That was... I mean..."

"Careful what you say, and use codes, if possible," said Miles, pressing a finger to his lips. "I'm not sure how they eavesdrop, but leave it to them to listen in on us."

While he was in the kitchen preparing their snack, he'd noticed through the window that Jessa and Vick were going at it nearby, next to some bush. Meaning at least the ruler would be too distracted to intervene, to figure out what Miles was showing Patrek.

Unless she's not inside Jessa right this second...

He'd spent a few minutes too many absorbed in Jessa and Vick's animalistic, ritualistic mating. When his vision moved from Jessa's perfectly perky breasts bobbing up and down, to Vick's large and erect member front and center, he'd held in his vomit and drifted away from the window.

Why are they always fucking outside and close to where I can see them?

"It's... I mean, it's worse than the notion of gods, isn't it?" Patrek slid the notebook into Miles' grasp as if it were too hot to touch any longer. "Aliens. Aliens?"

"I think it's better," said Miles, stuffing the notebook between the lower couch cushions. "More believable. Aliens are something palpable, somewhat proven, disputed but definitely not unrealistic as gods. And that, I can get behind."

"Get behind what?" Patrek scoffed, crossing his arms tight over his chest. "Doing everything they've been begging us to do? Entertaining them? Ugh."

"No," Miles shifted in his seat to better look at Patrek, "I can get behind killing them, if there's a way to do so. If they're not gods, that means they're not as immortal as they imply. They might be vulnerable to something."

Patrek scrunched his nose. "Okay, but how do we find out what, without drawing attention? And where do we even start?"

A loud, near-screeching moan echoed through the room, coming from outside. Miles and Patrek both dashed to the kitchen window, where the sound seemed to have come from. They froze at the vision of Jessa, bend over, hands pressed to the walls of Miles' cabin. Vick was behind her, thrusting, his head tipped back and his eyes squeezed shut as he panted.

The moaning came from Jessa, and her eyes were wide open, immediately fixing on Miles and Patrek as they appeared at the window. A slow smile spread over her lips, and she winked at them, before whipping her hair back and unleashing another devastating moan.

Miles dragged Patrek away from the window. "Don't let her get to you."

"Hard not to," said Patrek, shaking off his stupor. His cheeks were almost purple with shame, and he looked anywhere but at Miles. "She's hot, she knows it, and I hate it."

"And it's worse now that she's basically becoming the ruler."

Patrek did a double take before dropping into the closest seat; a poofy chair near the couch. "What? She's becoming the ruler? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Miles didn't sit, but instead fidgeted, struggling to figure out how to stand. Searching for a means to not crumble and claw his eyes out to avoid re-visualizing Jessa in her sexual glory.

Had she been faking it with Vick, purposely moaning to draw Miles and Patrek's attention?

"The ruler is slowly taking over her body, permanently." Miles traveled to the couch and checked between the cushions, to make sure the notebook was still there. He'd worried for a moment that Jessa's interruption had been a distraction, and that someone had snuck in while they were busy watching her; but the notebook was there, right where he'd left it.

"Shit. And there's no way to stop it? To," Patrek gagged, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but no way to save Jessa?"

Miles shrugged. "I have no idea." He pulled out the notebook. "But if she's being taken over, it gives me a window to do all sorts of plotting behind her back. I think I need to return to the barrier, to see if I can talk to the chick who gave me this."

"A chick? From where?" Patrek's body jerked forward. "Wait, someone from the outside? You went to the barrier to get this? You communicated with someone and you're still alive?"

Miles nodded. "I don't know how, but yes. And this chick..." He grimaced. "She was odd. Not part of our group, she lives here, on the island. On the good side. And she knew a lot, had seen a lot. She found this notebook, but also witnessed Ms. Moreno being murdered, so she... waited. Waited for someone to come so she could share this with them. That someone happened to be me. And now I want to go back and talk to her again, because I think she's on our team."

"Man," said Patrek, scrubbing his face. "You got lucky before, I'm guessing. Since you're in one piece and it doesn't look like any monsters took chunks out of you. But going there again... isn't it too risky? Won't you draw them all to you, now that you're more skeptical than before? That's what happened to Kera, right? Doubt. If you take the same route she did..."

"It's worth the risk." Miles smacked the notebook's cover. "This was given to me for a reason. I don't believe in all that fate bullshit, but I do believe there's a reason for everything. With this," he held up the notebook, "we went from vulnerable to armed with knowledge. So if we can convince that chick, or even someone else, from the outside... to do some deeper digging and investigating for us, who knows? If they can continue what Ms. Moreno started..."

"They'll die." Patrek's lower lip trembled. "Ms. Moreno was safe, on the outside, and they still got her."

"What if it's someone far from the island? If that girl gets one of the other students to help; one that's going home in a few days?" Miles dropped onto the couch. "There's only so much we can do from the inside. Someone out there needs to research more, and figure out how to destroy these pieces of shit before they destroy us. They're hungry, you read it; they want more of us, more entertainment, more leverage against the government. Because the government is reluctant, slowing down on its offerings, and that's pissing them off."

Patrek eyed the book. "Yeah, I saw that. And because of the pandemic, there aren't enough students to offer up, are there?"

"Exactly." Miles blew out his cheeks. "The aliens claim the pandemics purify us, but their last one wiped out so many people that the entertainment they need to function... it's not enough. They might start asking for something else, someone else. Other age groups. Ugh." Miles closed his eyes and let himself fall into the sofa's pillows. "This shit is giving me a migraine. We can't win; that's what I was saying to myself when you found me on the stairs, earlier."

"We're gonna have to try. The barrier," Patrek jutted his chin towards the cabin door, "that's where we have to go, yeah? So when do we leave?"

Miles gaped at one of the windows and winced. "I will go, alone. I don't want you putting yourself in danger. And it'll be in the morning. By the time I get there, it'll be afternoon, and I'm not staying out there in the dark again. Not when I might have monsters on my tail."