Chapter 75: The Fog Island [15].

“Aldrus, over there. There’s more blood…”

“Let’s keep going.”

Having decided to follow the left path, Aldrus and Aiden barely spoke along the way. There were many questions they wanted to ask and things they needed to say. The ever-present worry about whether they would succeed in their plan to escape the island grew stronger with every horror they faced. Yet, there was one thought in particular eclipsing the others, for if it were true, it would mean the most dire challenges still lay ahead.

Ugh… huff…

In the thick mud, the path soon became steep and slippery under the roaring gray sky. The wind blew fiercely; it knocked them over once or twice, and each time Aldrus seemed to struggle a bit more to stand back up. Aiden, who had been quiet for a long time, noticed his friend acting strangely, even considering their current circumstances.

“Ah—! Hold on!”

Once again and without warning, a third gale struck and slammed them both to the ground. They rolled onto their backs and, for a brief moment, their arms came unlinked. The silver-haired boy pushed himself to his feet and turned back to check on his friend.

“Aldrus, are you okay?!”

“Y-Yes. We need to hurry. Please…” Aldrus said, his head drooping. A crushing sense of weakness assaulted his body and his mind. His headache worsened with each step.

W-What’s happening to me? I’m awake now, aren’t I?

“Aldrus, stand up, we’re going to miss the tracks!”

Ugh… I’m coming.

“…drus?”

I hear him calling. It’s muffled; what’s happening? It hurts, damn it! It hurts so much! No… I need to keep going. Th-They might die… I need to go!

In a desperate attempt, Aldrus mustered all his strength to stand up once more, but as soon as he did, a piercing pain shot through his skull and nearly caused him to pass out. Aiden caught him as he fell, just in time.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?!”

“Aiden… I’m so tired…”

“Aldrus!”

“I’m falling… I-I’m falling asleep, Aiden… I’m dizzy, I… I’ll need you to hit me.”

“What?! B-But—”

“Now, Aiden! Listen to me… ugh! D-Do it… please!”

Seeing the state Aldrus was in, the silver-haired boy had no choice but to comply. He would ask about it later.

“Damn it… Clench your teeth,” Aiden said, making a fist. Aldrus did as he was told. “Here goes.”

*SMASH*

“C-Cough! Uahhgh…”

“A-Are you okay?! I’m sorry, your nose is bleeding!”

“No, I-I’m fine, thanks… I feel better now… Ugh.”

“What happened to you?”

“I don’t know,” Aldrus said, wiping his face. “I felt this… desperate urge to sleep.”

Aiden made a face and glanced warily at his surroundings. He had never heard of such a phenomenon, on the island or anywhere else. If anything, the silver-haired boy believed it had been a specter. Perhaps the same one from before? Had it followed Aldrus all this time? Had he not broken free from it? Nothing made any sense, and dwelling on it any further was a waste of their time.

“If you’re good now, we should go. The longer we stay in one place, the more I feel like something nasty is coming our way.”

Aldrus nodded and took a deep breath. He linked arms with Aiden once again and resumed the search.

“You’re freezing, Den,” he said, feeling the boy shiver by his side.

“We’re both freezing,” Aiden said before lowering his head and mumbling in a voice so low that Aldrus wondered if he was hearing things, “…We might actually die at this rate.”

The black-haired boy remained silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. That brief silence felt to Aiden like a spear piercing his heart, a death sentence pronounced solely through the lack of words. It was not until Aldrus found his voice again that such a feeling was carried off by the wind.

“We will not. Don’t give up yet.”

Aiden’s eyes widened. A strange nostalgic feeling washed over him. Nothing had truly changed, just a friend his age speaking his mind. Empty words, spoken as if he knew with the utmost certainty that they were right. Yet they were enough to make anyone believe in them, and follow whoever had claimed them to be true. Aiden had forgotten: he had felt that before, the very day he met Aldrus in class.

“…You’re right, Aldrus. I’m sorry.”

Aldrus smiled softly at him. “Worry not.”

***

“Agh… See anything?!”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing! Damn it, how could the storm possibly get even worse?! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Don’t let go, Aldrus! You’re pulling too hard, stop!”

Hahhh… No. No! This is the right path, I’m sure it is, it has to be! Please, damn it, let there be something! Anything!

“Aldrus!”

“Just how fucking long is this going to take?! Whatever was dragged off couldn’t have gone so damn far!”

“Calm down, Aldrus! The tracks are getting fresher! We must be close!”

Aiden and Aldrus had lost count of how many times they had lost their way since beginning their search. The swampy area did not help either.

As the rainwater accumulated, the mud on the nearby slopes began to give way, sliding over the tracks they had been following and making the terrain treacherous. The boys fell and rolled and struggled desperately through the debris. They both looked like husks of their former selves, with their clothes in so sorry a state that they could not be described as anything but filthy, soaked rags.

The situation was not good in the slightest; most of their strength had been drained, the cold gripping their bodies hindered their movements, and worst of all, they were not even sure whether they were following their comrades at all. They had chosen not to think of the only other possibility, even if it drove them mad. They would die chasing an uncertain future rather than give up and assume Alice and Cedric dead.

In their hearts, they prayed for strength. To whoever might be listening, so they could carry on hoping.

The island had already struck Aldrus as a place with a life of its own. Back when they arrived, he believed he had heard wails, maybe the drowned testament of a past long lost to time. A million questions surged within him then. What could have been the beginning and the end of such a place? He had the feeling finding the answer was not impossible, but until that day came he had sworn to survive. A pact made with himself, so personal and selfish. It was worth nothing at all. Still, for some reason, he knew the island wished him luck.

And now, it did so once again.

“Aldrus, I hear something!”

“What?! Hey, be careful, I won’t be able to hold you if you fall here!” he shouted through the rain.

“You hear that?! Aldrus! You hear that?!”

Aldrus clung to a rock jutting up from the flood with his free arm. “Agh! I don’t know! Let’s move now, let go, I’ll follow!”

“B-But—”

“Trust me, Aiden! I’ll go behind you, hurry!”

The silver-haired boy did as he was told, pushing himself off the same rock Aldrus clung to. Seconds later, he was gone. Aldrus swallowed hard, mustered the last of his might and leapt after him.

They had reached high ground where they seemed safe for the time being, but that hardly mattered. What mattered most was the scene unfolding right before their eyes.

Aiden had been right; he had heard something indeed.

“Blondie, hey! Wake up, damn it! We need to leave! Hey!”

Aldrus fell to his knees, exhausted. His whole body ached terribly, and he felt like a feverish child. Yet, his heart was at peace; an unimaginable wave of relief swept through him as he yielded the last of his strength to the wind. Both Cedric and Alice, though visibly hurt, were alive. The four were together once again.

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