My heart was still racing from kissing Grant. As I stayed close behind him, I could audibly hear myself breathing fast. We heard footsteps staggering their way closer to us from around the corner. Grant put his arm out behind him to shield me and I grabbed onto him. We came around the corner together, expecting the worst. My mind was reeling, so it took me a few extra seconds for my brain to focus on what was in front of my face.

It was Cal. At first I almost didn’t recognize her. She was dirty and both knees were dripping blood down her legs. Her hair was piled in a messy knot at the back of her head. The expression on her face was a mixture of fear and utter anger. She charged at us full force, stopping only a few inches away once she realized it was us.

"Cal!" I screamed, and shoved past Grant.

"Oh, Ryleigh!" she cried and collapsed in my arms.

I stared up at Grant with shock. Cal had completely gone limp in my arms as though she could barely move. Grant ran to her other side and she hobbled along with us. We went to the back of the cabin and helped her sit down on the ground. I sat down next to her as Grant stood above us with a concerned look on his face.

"I’m going to go...check over by the water. Stay here?" he asked me and I nodded in response.

As Grant went to see if the canoe was gone by the water, I studied Cal.

"Are you okay?" I asked her softly.

She had her eyes closed and was rubbing her head.

"This is just much harder than I expected, you know? I don’t think I can do this much longer," she told me harshly.

I reached over and squeezed her hand. "You won’t have to. Will and Beth - we found them - they’re going for help. Gina and Dean are gone. They took the boat and left and from what we can tell, they were in a real hurry. But, there was also a small canoe. Will took Beth with him and they’re going to call the police. They’ll get us help. We’ll be rescued soon."

Her brow furrowed deeply and she shook her head. "What do you mean they left?"

"Well, they didn’t really leave. They went for help," I told her.

"No, not Will and Beth!" she spat. "Gina and Dean!"

I flinched. "Oh, them. I don’t know...Grant and I got here and the cabin was just a total mess. Things are thrown all over the place and most of their stuff is gone. The boat is gone. So we’re just assuming-"

"Of course they left!" she sighed.

"I don’t blame you for being upset. Grant and I were pretty mad, too. But, you know what honestly helped? Knowing we’re going home soon! Don’t you want to be rescued?" I said softly.

She blinked a few times before looking over at me. Her face softened a little.

"What? Oh, yeah, of course! Rescued!" she said.

"This will all be over and we can go home to our families..." I began.

"Yeah," she said dreamily. "I want to go home. I can’t wait to see my mom and my little sister."

She smiled brightly at me.

"Your mom and your sister-" I started to say, but she reached over and hugged me.

I wrapped my arms around her, thankful to have my friend back. Grant came jogging up to us and crouched down next to me.

"The canoe’s gone," he said. "We should be rescued soon."

I smiled at Cal. Her conflicted expression softened into a small smile when her eyes met mine.

"We shouldn’t wait here," she said. "There were other people following me. I outran them, but...it’s probably not safe sitting out in the open like this."

"Let’s go inside," I suggested. "We can wait there."

Grant offered to help Cal stand up since she seemed weak. She thanked him and leaned on him for support.

"I’ll be right in," I called after them.

As soon as they went inside, I looked through the backpack for the list of names Grant and I had found previously, wanting to show it to Cal. The black t-shirt I had been wearing took up too much room, so I took it out and tossed it onto a branch. It hung there like a flag calling out defeat for the team in the black shirts, which was somewhat satisfying, so I left it there.

Unable to find the pieces of paper, I gave up and went inside the cabin. Grant had brought Cal to the sofa and he was pacing the floor. He smiled brightly when he saw me. It would be dark soon and not knowing how long it might take until the police came for us, we decided to get comfortable. Since Cal was sprawled out across the sofa, I took a seat on the floor below her. Grant laid down on the floor and yawned. After a while, we had all nodded off to sleep.

A little while later, I jolted awake and forgot for a moment where I was. Grant was asleep on the floor and I wanted to crawl over to lay beside him, but decided against it. I didn’t want Cal to see us like that just yet. It would be too awkward. Straining to look over my shoulder for Cal, I realized she wasn’t on the sofa. I stood up and looked for her.

"Cal," I whispered.

I went into the kitchen and found the back door open slightly. Quietly I took a few steps outside. Cal was outside standing by some bushes and trees, staring up at the night sky with her hands on her hips. As I got closer, she noticed the black t-shirt that I had thrown onto a branch. Picking it up, she inspected it close to her face. With only moonlight illuminating our surroundings, it was a little difficult to see.

"Which one of you was dumb enough to leave your shirt out here?" she wondered aloud, still holding the shirt up. "You’d better come back for me."

"Cal," I interrupted.

She jumped and spun around. "Ryleigh! Oh, hey. You startled me."

I took a small step closer. "What are you doing out here?"

She shrugged and casually dropped the shirt onto the ground. "Not much. Just thinking, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah. We’ll be rescued soon, all five of us."

"All five," she said quietly. "Where’s Aaron?"

I looked away. "A lot happened when we got separated, Cal. Too much. It turned out that Will was right. Aaron was the mole. He’d been spying on us the whole time."

"W-what?" she stuttered. "That’s ridiculous! I’m telling you, Will is probably the mole."

I shook my head. "No, Cal. It was Aaron. He admitted it. He...he tried to kill me."

"Why are you saying Aaron was the mole?" she asked. "Where is he?"

"Did you hear what I said? He tried to kill me!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you. That’s horrible!" she told me. "But where is he, Ryleigh? Where’s Aaron?"

"Cal, he’s dead. Aaron’s gone," I said flatly.

She flinched slightly and gasped. "You killed him?"

I shook my head. "It was self defense. He tried to-"

"Kill you," she finished. "Yeah, I heard you."

Her voice cracked and I could swear she was crying, but it was too dark to tell for sure.

"Look," I sighed. "It’s been really hard for all of us. We’ve all been through a lot. We’re hungry, dehydrated, injured, or sick...We all just want to go home to our families. And we will! Soon, okay? I know you’re upset and want to go back to your family, right? See your mom and your sister."

She smiled nervously and nodded.

"It’s just weird, you know?" I said. "I could swear that you told me you had a brother, not a sister."

Her expression changed and her eyes narrowed. She took a few steps closer to me and folded her arms across her chest.

"You know, Ryleigh," she sighed loudly. "To be honest, I didn’t think you’d last this long. I would’ve bet you’d have died first out of everyone. And actually, you probably would have if Grant hadn’t instantly liked you and took it upon himself to protect you the most. Do you know how many times he got in the way?"

I stared at her silently.

"Aaron was supposed to take care of Grant and then Will. I could’ve gotten rid of Beth, but I needed her as bait to lure you guys back. And then, it all just got so messed up," she laughed.

"And after Beth?" I asked. "What about me?"

"After I got rid of Beth? I was going to kill you."

I gulped and stepped away from her.

"You’re the other mole," I said.

"I wouldn’t call myself a ’mole’ really. I’m just playing the game," she replied.

I shook my head in disbelief. "But...the other team took you. We saved you! I found you in that hole in the ground."

"Ryleigh! Help! Help!" she mimicked herself and then laughed. "You totally bought it. It was so easy!"

"You’re insane, Cal. You and Aaron both," I spat. "Will and Beth went for help and-"

She shook her head. "Oh, Ryleigh. You’re so gullible. There won’t be any help coming."

"Yeah, there will be!"

"No, sweetie, there won’t be." She smiled a toothy grin. "Will and Beth won’t get help because they never made it. I killed them."

My eyes widened. "What?!"

She laughed. "I killed them. And now I’m going to kill you and then after torturing your boyfriend, Grant, I’m going to kill him, too."

Next Chapter: Forty Seven