As a child, my Mother loved to tell me bed time stories. Most of which were about children who went on the most amazing adventures, escaping villains and criminals alike. She never told fairy tales in the traditional sense, something I loved.

    Over time, I learned of the traditional stories. Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, and Snow White. Lovely, but not homey. They felt more foreign than fables ought to.

    As I lean over Max, the first thing I notice is that he could very possibly give Snow White a run for her money. Pale skin, a sickly white, and in a deep sleep. Robert says he slept through the cold air of this morning, not even stirring.

    It seems that the frost had woken most of the boys, and they were frustrated to lose out on the few precious hours of sleep they had. Most had gone back to bed, once they had warmed up. It's well into midday, but only a few boys are awake now. The lunch table was completely empty.

    Sweat is beaded across Max's forehead, a crown of illness.

    He wears a thin blue shirt, and has a soft yellow blanket draped across him. Even the colours he wears remind me of Snow White. The only difference between the two is his brown hair, very different from the black hair of Snow White, and his lips. Lips as red as blood; that's how the story described those of the princess. His lips are a pale purple, and are peeling beyond believe.

    He looks like he's dying.

    "He'll be alright." Robert assures me.

    He kneels next to me, facing behind me. On the cot behind us, there's another boy. One of the guards who karted of Dominique and the other boys that fought us. Robert drapes a cloth across his forehead, to cool him down.

    There are still so many people here who I don't know the names of. The guard included.

    "You should've seen Max last night." He tells me. "Wouldn't stop vomiting. He's got a fever, so his body is killing off the infection."

    Nodding, I pick up a cloth, carefully wiping it across Max's forehead. He's so sick, and I'm frustrated I can't help him. It's not like I can jump into battle and hurt his opponent. Only his body can safe him. I feel helpless.

    The tent doors flap together and I look up, watching Harry walk in. He squats down next to me, looking over Max's body.

    "He came with you, didn't he?" Harry asks. "His name is Max, right?"

    I nod.

    "Do you know him well?"

    I shrug, unsure of my answer. I wish I knew him better. "Well enough I guess. I don't see the poor kid around all that much. He spends a lot of time with Thomas."

    Harry nods, grinning slightly. "He tells me the stuff Thomas says. He's very nice, and he tried to beat up Gregory, which I respect. Don't worry, we've had food poisoning before. Give him another day."

    "It's mostly been vomited out of his system anyway." Robert adds in.

    Harry nods, standing up. Gesturing for me to follow him, he leaves the tent.

    I drop the rag down, trailing after Harry. He continues to walk, into the forest, completely off a trail. A direction I've never headed. I follow him, struggling through the tall brush, moving around vines and bushes. Eventually he turns to me.

    He looks me up and down, biting his lip.

    Even for Harry he's beating around the bush. The boy has never liked to tell me hard truths, but I can hear his thoughts in his breaths. They fill the air, but I wish he'd fill it with words. Why did he need to drag me out of the med tent?

    "Felix is missing." His voice is in a hush whisper, as if he's worried someone could have followed us and listened to him speak.

He continues walking and I pause confused. What does he mean, missing? People don't just go missing. As I realise he's still moving forward, I leap forward, catching up to him.

    "I know that Felix is gone. Pan was surprised when I got him this morning and not Felix." I pause. "Wait, is he like, gone gone. Like, no trace of him at all?"

    He hushes me. "I guess missing isn't the proper word."

    He doesn't finish the thought, as he purses his lips together again.

    "What is the proper word?" I prompt him further.

"You know the other boy who got food poisoning last night? Steven? He's one of the guards of the cages." He tells me.

"I know, he's the one who peeled Dominique off of me during the fight." I say.

"When he came down ill, Felix went to the cages to take his spot as guard, joining up with Victor." Harry says. "We always have to have two guards on the cages, especially when we have that many prisoners. Alex and I, we went to get Felix when Pan showed up after the freeze."

"Only he wasn't there." The ideas are there before he even says them.

"Only Victor had his head smashed in and all the cages were empty."

    "Victor's dead?" I ask. "The other guard?"

    He nods. "I didn't know him well. I occasionally saw him when it was my turn to guard Lily."

    "Did the tiger break out?" My breath hitches in my throat.

    If that tiger is on the loose I swear I will-

    "No, Lily's been stored elsewhere on the island." He tells me. "Much farther away from camp this time, might I add. We don't need any more Evans."

    Nodding, I duck under a branch. We definitely don't need any more kids to commit suicide via tiger. Not only is that horrifying to watch, and incredibly dangerous, but so very messy. "What happened to Felix?"

    "We think he got abducted by them." He says. "Them being Dominique, Fred, Eric and Sam. They probably want to trade him as a hostage for their passage of the island or what not."

    The conspiracy. The one Johnny is a part of. It normally takes me a bit of work to put pieces together, but bargaining for passage and secret goings on could only be the conspiracy. Nevermind that Johnny told me the conspiracy was run by Dominique.

    "Does anyone know where they went?" I demand.

    He shakes his head, holding back a tree branch so I can step around it. "They've managed to disappear too."

    "Why did you bring me?" I ask, suddenly clueing in to the fact this information is on the down low at the moment.

    He purses his lips together, but doesn't answer.

    Looking him up and down, my mouth parts open. "Why did you bring me?" My voice is more serious now.

    Please do not be Johnny. If Johnny is implicated in this, I will lose my mind

    He told me he was involved with a conspiracy, involving Fred and Dominique. He did not tell me that conspiracy involved kidnapped and murder.

    And that's only what they've accomplished now. It's only the beginning.

    "It's not much farther ahead." He tells me.

    He's right. After a few more minutes of the sickly silence we enter a clearing. Blood stains the ground, and I spot Victor. His skin is a sickly yellow, and there is a giant gash on his head, surrounded by a pool of blood. I breathe, taking a step forward.

    It could be worse. His death was probably instantaneous. He's no Lyle.

    I don't look anymore; I can't look. Not when Lyle's name is on my tongue like a stain on my shirt. I can seem to wash out his memory from my mind.

    My focus turns to the cages. They are tied in the air, and small.

    I walk around, peeking inside the small spaces. I spot the cage that is furthest away, filled with white fabric. Soft and plush. I take a step closer.

    "What's in there?" I ask.

    "A permanent resident." Alex tells me, scowling at the cage. It hadn't even clued into me that he's standing right next to me.

    I wonder who could do something so awful to be a permanent resident. Even the murderers here get punished and are set free. I wonder what this boy did. Something so awful it could make even Pan shudder.

    "They escaped too?" I inquire. There's no one in there anymore.

    "When Pan got here, the prisoner got moved." Harry says. "Another location, across the island. No one's risking letting them get out."

    "Then we'd actually have a disaster on our hands." A third voice adds.

    I turn and see James standing with Harry. The only people from the Hunting Party missing are the murderers, Johnny, and Robert.

    I think it's fitting to call Gregory and Keaton murders, I mean, it takes one to know one.

    "Alright," I say. "So what now, we search the island? Why doesn't Pan know their location? He knows everyone's location."

    "We don't know," Alex scowls.  "All we know is that we're to stay here."

    "Why?" I ask. "You guys are the best offense we have."

    "We aren't playing offense, are we?" Alex rolls his eyes. "We're playing defense."

    James has a scowl across his face, which is abnormal for him. "Can't leave here because then we'd be in danger."

    "What do you mean?" I ask. "Why would we be in danger?"

    Alex scoffs. "They're looking to kill us, isn't it obvious?"

    That's why Harry brought me here? I can understand why he didn't tell me I was in danger, even if I wish he had.

    "Because we got in a fight?" I ask. "That's ridiculous. They are nothing but cowards, couldn't hurt us if they wanted to. We should move, and search for them."

    "I didn't say I liked having to stay put, did I?" He grits his teeth together.

    I turn to Harry. "You didn't tell me why I was supposed to come with you, and for what reason? Because you didn't want me to know I was being hunted?"

    "We aren't sure we are being hunted." Harry says. "We aren't sure of anything. They've gone off the grid; Pan can't find any sign of their movements. It's only happened with Nick, Caleb and Wilbur before."

    Has it? Is Pan that omnipotent that he's shocked when he can't locate someone's exact position?

    "We should search for them." I say. "What about Robert? He isn't safe at camp if he's being hunted then. Why didn't you bring him here when you brought me here?"

    "They need him." Harry tells me. "He's treating Steven and Max."

    "Dominique and his lackeys won't go back to camp." Alex argues. "There's too many boys."

    "Then why are we here?" I demand. "If they won't go back to camp, we should be at camp."

    This seems stupid, and that's coming from me. I'm not known for my sharp reasoning, but when it comes to war, I know my stuff. History was my specialty in school, and war was the best. Large numbers win a fight, and if we're hiding from the conspirators, we should hide at the camp. Not in the woods.

    "Why do you always ask so many questions?" Alex spits back out.

    "We can't just sit around." I say. "Not when there are kidnappers on the loose, and they've already left Victor dead. Who's to say Felix isn't inches away from death."

    "And Robert is stuck back at camp." James adds. "It's only News who hang around during the day; they could go after him if they think we aren't there and kill him."

    "Thomas is at camp." Harry jumps in, suddenly worried.

    "And a few sick boys." I add. "They could be after that other boy, Steven. If they know he's sick they might go after him."

    "Quiet!" Alex screeches.

    We fall silent, the only sound is that of the leaves dancing as the wind brushes through them.

    "I can't think when you are all talking." He says.

    We stand in silence, as Alex breathes. A hush seems to rush over the forest as well. As if they know the gravity of this situation.

    "The only solution I see, is to go looking for them." His voice is calm, and assuring. "But we cannot, it's simply far too dangerous."

    Harry grins, almost a smirk. "Since when have you ever not done something simply because it was dangerous?"

    Alex pauses, before Harry's grin spreads to his face. Like a contagious weapon. "They'll want our weapons. They won't have weapons on them, except for what they managed to get off of Victor and Felix."

    "We should put the camp on lock down, supervising the armoury. If they go to camp that's what they'll be after." Harry offers.

    "James, should head back." I jump in." Tell Pan and Robert what we are planning."

    "And why should I, and not you?" He demands, more annoyed than challenging me.

    I know he's itching to defend the boys as much as I am, but I figured he'd want to be able to keep an eye on Robert.

    Alex rolls his eyes. "Sure, we'll send Charlie back to organize the camp. Please, he's incompetent at best and has the diction of a toad. No one will listen to him."

    As much as he is blatantly insulting me, it feels as if he's defending my position. He needs me more here than he does at the camp, which is more than I can say for James.

    "Then it'll be four against the three of you." James adds. "You'll lose."

    "He's right." Pan's voice rings out from above us.

    He leaps out of a tree, falling to the ground. He swings a hand and hits James on the back.

    "I'll go help the others. You four go find them, and stop them." He says.

    And with that he disappears.

    I turn, and notice the other boys dispersing already, walking off. Alex pulls his hood up, hanging it over his eyes. Harry and James follow suit. I pull my hood up over my hat as well, and jog until I catch up to him. James puts his finger up to his lips as he steps carefully around a tree. Silently; that's how we have to do this.

    Without making a single sound.

    We walk, in a direction I haven't been in during my stay here. Nimbly leaping through the underbrush.

    It's odd to find the Hunt being hunted. It's almost poetic, in a sense.

    I can't shake the feeling that Johnny is out here. Even in the thick of the forest, I can't seem to escape him. He is involved in the conspiracy, and I can't help but feel as if the conspiracy is intertwined in this. Well, I'd be an idiot to assume it wasn't.

    James hand blocks me from stepping forward. Alex pulls out a sword, and Harry's fingers are itching, his knives spinning in circles. James takes his bow off from around his shoulders, loading an arrow.

    I wish I had my bow. It's best for long distance fighting. Swing out my dagger, I brace myself for the threat. At least I know how to use a dagger better than a bow.

    Robert runs towards us, panting.

    James is the first to lower his weapon, the rest of us falling suit. He pulls Robert into an embrace.

    "What are you doing here?" Alex asks.

    Robert exhales. "The camp has gone under lockdown. They broke in, stabbed Blake."

    "Is he alive?" Harry asks.

    Robert panted. "Barely. They dragged him into the forest, hid his body while they stole supplies. Weapons mostly."

    Great, weapons. The last thing we wanted them to have.

    "What are you doing here?" James asked. "Are you alright? Where's Pan?"

    "Everybody's alright," Robert says. "People are a bit shaken up. I need you to come back with me though James. I can't take care of everybody at once."

    James looks at us, nods once before running of with James.

    It's down to us three.

    "They're armed now." Alex says. "Hopefully they haven't found any dream shade. See anything with a black tip, surrender. One hit, and you're dead."

    I nod, not daring to argue. The quiet is my greatest strength, but also my greatest weakness.

    Life or death is an experience I've grown used to. Run, or get mauled by a tiger. Move, or get stabbed to death. Fight, or get beaten to death.

    I've thrown myself in front of others, and run away from potential threats, but never have I been hunted. During the game, sure, I had to run for Samuel, but I wasn't being targeted. Not me specifically anyway. It could've been anyone, I just happened to be there.

    Now, it can't be anyone. It's me, and Alex, and Harry, and the silence. If we take flight, who knows what they will do to the boys back at camp, and to Felix. If we fight, four against three, we might die.

    For now, we walk.

~~~~~~~~

A conspiracy. The conspiracy. The foreshadowing has become full. So far, two are dead. And Felix has been kidnapped. And then there's this illness that Max has, and the other guard. And that bet too.

What do you think is the worse thing that's happened so far? What are you most worried about, the illness or the conspiracy? Let me know in the comments below.

As always, smell something nice, and I'll see you Friday.