season 1, chapter 7

Chapter: Eyes in the Dark

The day had grown quieter, though the tension in the Star Cabin was palpable. After the uneasy conversations earlier that morning, the group had settled into a strange routine of nervous small talk and silence. Despite their suspicions, they couldn't afford to break apart—not when something far more dangerous seemed to be lurking just outside.

Jason, as always, remained calm. He had dropped to the floor in the middle of the room, doing pushups in a slow, methodical rhythm. Lilly, perched comfortably on his back, casually listened to the others as they continued to talk, her mind only half in the conversation.

"I just don't get it," Silver muttered from the edge of her bed. "How can we not remember anything? It's like our minds were wiped."

Damion leaned against the wall, frowning. "It wasn't just that. We weren't just…forgetting. It felt like something else was controlling us. Like we were being pulled into that trance."

Angel nodded, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "And that thing in the sky…it wasn't just a shadow. It felt like it was looking through us."

Jason's steady rhythm didn't falter as he pushed himself up, with Lilly barely shifting her weight. She glanced over at the others, offering her thoughts sporadically. "Maybe it wasn't after us. Maybe it was just…passing through?"

Comet raised an eyebrow, his skepticism still apparent. "Passing through? What, like a friendly neighborhood storm demon?"

"Not everything has to be evil," Lilly shot back, though her voice lacked conviction. She was trying to push the thought of the dark shadow from her mind. It was still too unsettling.

As the conversation droned on, Jason kept his focus on his pushups, his breathing slow and even. But as he neared his next repetition, something prickled at the back of his neck—a sensation he couldn't shake. Eyes. Watching.

It started as a subtle itch, the kind you feel when someone's staring at you for too long. He didn't react immediately, maintaining his stoic expression, but the feeling grew stronger with each second. And it wasn't just one set of eyes. It felt like a hundred.

Lilly shifted slightly on his back, not sensing the change in Jason's demeanor. But Jason's muscles tensed beneath her. He could feel it now—there were eyes on them from every corner of the cabin, though no one else seemed to notice.

His gaze flicked upward, scanning the room before landing on the window directly across from him. There, in the foggy reflection of the glass, a figure stood outside, staring into the cabin. Tall, shadowed, with features obscured by the mist of the fading storm, but its eyes—those eyes were locked onto Jason.

They didn't blink. They didn't move. Just stared with an intensity that sent a cold shiver down his spine.

Jason's expression remained unchanged. His heart rate didn't spike, and his movements didn't falter. He simply kept his eyes on the figure for a beat longer, locking onto its gaze, before calmly lowering his head back down to the floor for the next pushup.

He said nothing.

Lilly, unaware of the figure outside, absently chimed in to the conversation. "We should probably try talking to the camp leaders, right? Maybe they can explain why it's so weird here."

Jason tuned out her words, his mind focused on the figure outside. He didn't want to alarm anyone—there was no point in causing more panic when they didn't even know what they were dealing with yet. But something about that gaze made his skin crawl. The figure wasn't just watching them. It was waiting.

Silver noticed Jason's silence and glanced over. "Jason? You good?"

Jason nodded once, not looking up from the floor. "Yeah. Just…focused."

Lilly glanced down at him, noticing the slight tension in his back. "You sure? You've been awfully quiet, even for you."

He gave a small shrug, pushing through another rep. "Just thinking."

Before anyone could press him further, a loud creak echoed from the floorboards near the window, as if something had shifted outside. The others didn't notice, still deep in their conversation, but Jason heard it clearly. His eyes darted briefly toward the window again.

The figure was gone.

Without a word, Jason slowly pushed himself off the floor, letting Lilly slide off his back. He moved with purpose but not urgency, crossing the room to glance out the window.

There was nothing there. Just the dripping remnants of the storm, the trees swaying slightly in the breeze, and the damp earth outside the cabin. But Jason knew what he had seen. That figure—it had been there, and now it was gone.

Lilly frowned as she watched him. "What's up?"

Jason turned to face her, his expression unreadable. "Nothing. Just making sure the storm didn't mess with anything outside."

The others glanced over, the tension in the room shifting slightly as Jason returned to his quiet demeanor. But the unease lingered. They were all on edge, even if no one wanted to admit it.

As they continued talking, Jason sat back down on the floor, his back to the window now, his gaze focused on the others. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. And the worst part? Whoever—or whatever—had been watching them wasn't done yet.

Jason didn't know what was coming next. But he knew one thing for certain: whatever had locked eyes with him was not going to leave them alone. Not now.