season 1, chapter 6

Chapter: Suspicion

Morning arrived quietly, the storm having finally died down to a steady drizzle outside the cabin. The air was still thick with moisture, the ground soaked from the relentless rain, but the eerie calm after the storm brought little comfort to the group. Everyone except Jason and Lilly was awake, gathered in the center of the cabin, exchanging quiet, tense whispers.

Angel, Damion, Silver, Comet, and Emma sat in a loose circle, each looking as though they hadn't slept at all. Their eyes were wide, their faces pale, and the unease that hung in the air was palpable. The memory of what had happened outside—standing in the storm, staring into the sky, that strange trance—was still fresh in their minds.

"I don't remember anything," Angel said quietly, her voice shaking slightly. "One minute, we were outside, and then…nothing. It was like my body wasn't mine."

Silver nodded, her hand clenched tightly around a small stone she had been nervously fidgeting with. "Same here. I couldn't move, couldn't think. It was like I was…frozen."

Damion rubbed his temples, trying to push through the fog in his mind. "I remember looking up. There was something in the sky, right? A shadow or…something." He glanced around, looking for confirmation.

Comet, ever the skeptic, scoffed softly, though his usual arrogance was absent. "A shadow? Are you serious? What, like some kind of monster?"

"Call it whatever you want," Emma cut in, her tone sharp. "But something was out there, and it wasn't just the storm. We all saw it."

They fell into an uneasy silence, the weight of the unspoken question pressing down on them. What had put them in that trance? Why had they been standing there, helpless in the middle of a violent storm? And more importantly—why had Jason and Lilly been unaffected?

Their eyes drifted toward the bunk where Jason and Lilly still slept, curled up together under a blanket, oblivious to the tension in the room. Jason's face, as always, was calm, his expression unreadable even in sleep. Lilly was nestled against him, her breathing slow and steady, a stark contrast to the anxiety coursing through the others.

Damion was the first to voice what they were all thinking. "Do you think…they know something?"

Silver narrowed her eyes, casting a suspicious glance toward Jason. "He's always quiet. Maybe too quiet. And Lilly…she's been acting strange lately. What if they're hiding something from us?"

Angel shook her head, her brow furrowing in confusion. "I don't know. Jason doesn't seem like the type to… I mean, he's always kept to himself, but I don't think he'd—"

Comet cut her off, his voice low. "We don't know what he'd do. Or what either of them would do. For all we know, they could be part of this whole thing. They were the only ones who weren't affected."

The others exchanged uneasy glances, their suspicions growing with each passing second. It didn't make sense—why had Jason and Lilly been able to pull them out of the trance when they hadn't been trapped in it themselves? Why had they been so calm while everyone else had been helpless?

Damion crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall. "I don't want to jump to conclusions, but…we need to talk to them. We need to find out if they know something we don't."

Emma nodded, her expression grim. "Yeah. We can't just ignore this."

As if on cue, Jason stirred, his orange eyes slowly opening as he blinked at the dim light filtering through the cabin windows. Lilly shifted beside him, still asleep, her head resting on his chest. He glanced around the room, immediately sensing the tension that hung in the air. His gaze locked with Damion's, and for a moment, there was silence.

Jason sat up slowly, careful not to wake Lilly, his expression as unreadable as ever. "What's going on?"

Angel, usually the calmest of the group, spoke up, her voice wavering slightly. "We were talking about what happened last night. None of us remember how we ended up standing outside like that…in the storm. And we were wondering if…if you and Lilly know anything."

Jason's eyes flicked toward Lilly, still asleep, before turning back to the others. His face remained neutral, but there was a hint of something in his eyes—something guarded. "Why would we know more than you?"

Silver crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "Because you two were the only ones who weren't affected. While we were stuck out there, you were inside. And then you pulled us back. How do we know you weren't involved?"

Jason's expression didn't change, but there was a subtle tension in his posture now. "We weren't involved. We were asleep. When we heard the noise, we came outside and found you like that."

Comet snorted, clearly unconvinced. "Yeah, right. You just happened to sleep through the entire storm and wake up when things got weird? That's convenient."

Lilly stirred at that, blinking awake as she sensed the growing tension in the room. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes as she looked around, confusion flashing across her face. "What's going on?"

Angel shot her a sympathetic look. "We're just trying to figure out what happened last night. We were all in some kind of trance, and we don't know why. But you and Jason…you weren't."

Lilly frowned, the weight of the question sinking in. "We weren't? I…I don't know. We woke up and saw you outside, but we didn't know what was happening."

Damion studied their faces carefully, his voice softer now. "We're not accusing you of anything. We're just trying to understand. If either of you noticed something, anything different…we need to know."

Jason's gaze flickered briefly, but he remained silent. Lilly glanced at him, sensing that he was holding back, but she didn't press him. Instead, she shook her head. "We didn't see anything. It was just the storm."

There was a tense pause, the suspicion in the room lingering like a thick cloud. The others weren't entirely convinced, but they had no proof—just uneasy feelings and too many unanswered questions.

Finally, Emma sighed, running a hand through her damp hair. "We need to figure this out. Together. If something's out there, something that can do…that to us, we need to know how to stop it."

Jason nodded, his face still unreadable. "Agreed. But right now, all we have is the storm. And until we know more, we can't assume anything."

The others exchanged reluctant glances, but they knew he was right. For now, all they had were suspicions and fear. But whatever had happened last night, one thing was clear—it wasn't over.

And Jason, though stoic as ever, seemed to know more than he was letting on.