Chapter 13: The Invisible Eyes

Elias ran, the forest a labyrinth of shadows swallowing him whole. The roar of the creature—claws shredding the savage, blood splattering the trees—still echoed in his head, mixed with the whispers that wouldn't let him go. "Ours… stay… we see you…" The words were poison, gnawing at his sanity, making him doubt every step. The rusty knife trembled in his hand, the dried blood of the traitor and the savages clinging like a second skin. The skull impaled on the symbol—a circle with crossed lines, empty eyes staring at him—burned in his memory. He couldn't stop. Stopping was letting the island win.

His boots slipped on the wet earth, vines whipping his legs. The savages' howls had faded, but the silence was worse. The creature, with its claws and glowing eyes in the dark, was close. Elias felt its weight, its smell of blood and rot. The whispers laughed, louder. "Eaaat… there's no way out…" Elias clenched his teeth, hitting his temple with the knife's handle. They weren't real. It was the hunger, the island, his own mind betraying him. But doubt gnawed at him, and the curved tooth in his shirt, alongside the drone's metal fragment, reminded him the island hid more than monsters.

He dove behind a fallen log, crouching to catch his breath. The forest was still, but the whispers didn't stop, now a rapid murmur. "Look at us… we see you…" Elias closed his eyes, forcing himself to focus. María had told him his stubbornness was his strength. "Don't let them break you," she'd say. But here, with the island whispering and the creature stalking, he wasn't sure how much he could take.

A crunch made him tense. Claws scraped a nearby tree, slow, deliberate. Elias felt the ground, searching for something useful. His fingers brushed a sharp stone, not as big as the one he'd used before, but enough to crack a skull if he aimed right. He tucked it in his shirt, next to the tooth and the metal, and scanned the terrain. A moss-covered path led to a hollow, dark, surrounded by rocks. It could be a trap, but also a hiding place. He had no other choice.

He crawled toward the hollow, staying low, knife ready. The whispers grew stronger, now a broken chorus. "You're ours… don't run…" Elias tripped, the stone falling from his shirt. He grabbed it, heart racing. He was losing his mind, or the island was stealing it. But as he moved, something glinted at the base of a rock, half-hidden by vines. He approached, knife raised, and carefully pulled the vines away.

It was a camera, or what was left of one. Small, no bigger than his fist, with a broken lens and wires hanging like guts. It was camouflaged, painted to blend with the rock, but rust and moss had betrayed it. Elias yanked it free, his fingers trembling. It wasn't like the walkie-talkie or the drone's metal piece. This was deliberate, hidden, designed to watch. The whispers laughed, louder. "We see you… we always see you…"

Elias spun, searching for eyes in the darkness, but there were only shadows. The camera was dead, no lights, no hum. But its presence hit him like a punch. The walkie-talkie, the voice that had said "we see you… the flesh always pays," the drone Diego saw in the past—it all fit. Someone was watching them. It wasn't just the island, not just the hunger. There were eyes, maybe human, maybe not, observing every step, every death, every bite. Elias felt a chill, not of fear, but of rage. Was it an experiment? A game? Who had put them here?

The whispers returned, softer, mocking. "Eaaat… stay… you're ours…" Elias smashed the camera against the rock, the pieces falling to the ground. He wasn't going to be their prey, their show. But the doubt lingered, gnawing. What if he was already broken? What if the whispers were his own mind, or something worse, something watching from the outside? María had told him to trust himself, but here, with the island whispering, he didn't know what to believe.

A roar snapped him out of his thoughts, so close he felt the air vibrate. Claws tore at the earth a few meters away, and eyes glowed in the hollow, not human, not savage, something in between. Elias backed away, knife ready, the stone in his other hand. He couldn't fight it, not without knowing what it was. He ran to the path, the vines cushioning his steps, but the creature followed, its hot breath in the air.

Then he saw it, carved on a tree at the edge of the path: the symbol again, the circle with crossed lines. But this time, it was covered in fresh blood, and on the ground, a pile of human teeth, ripped out, scattered like offerings. The whispers erupted, a scream in his head. "We see you! Ours!" Elias tripped, falling to his knees, the knife slipping. The creature roared, closer, its claws crunching in the dirt. And in the darkness, a new hum, faint but clear, like a drone, hovering just out of sight.

Elias stood, the knife trembling, the whispers laughing. Someone was watching. And they weren't going to let him escape.