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~Part 6~

Danie was thinking of classifying last night’s excursion as a hallucination, or a dream. Glowing lights aside, it just didn’t make sense.

She’d woken up at the bottom of a hill wedged under a shelf of rock with no idea how she’d gotten there. Disoriented, she emerged into the sunlight like a zombie awakened from the grave, and waited for the memories to flood back. The first thing she did, after clambering out of the earth’s vice-like grip, was to hurry towards the standing stones, desperate to find any evidence of what had happened the previous night.

Her footfalls struck the ground and sent tremors through her body, slipping and sliding in dew. How had Kes gotten to the stones so quickly? There was no way a person could move that fast; she was already out of breath and the stone circle seemed to have gotten no closer. Maybe it really had been a dream. Nonetheless, she had to check, and besides, she felt like the place held answers.

The monuments towered over Danie, sending chills down her spine. They really were massive: how anyone could move them, let alone heave them into an upright position, was anybody’s guess. They gave off the air of an angry librarian: shhhh, this place deserves respect. The interior of the circle had once been clean and well-kept, but was now overgrown. Despite the test of time, however, the henge still stood intact, and none of the stones had toppled or crumbled.

Danie stood in the center of them all, dwarfed by their height. All right, she thought, if you have something to tell me, say it now. She glanced around in a circle, but the stones remained just as immobile as ever. Danie sighed and threw up her hands, trekking to the edge of the ring.

A crow swooped down and landed on top of the tallest pillar, it’s ruffled black feathers darker than pitch. It opened a beady eye wide and let out a burst of guttural cawing. An answering caw came from the direction of the forest, and the two birds began a rapid-fire conversation that flew directly over Danie’s head. Then, there was a sudden shifting of wings, and the first crow leaped off the boulder and flung itself into the sky.

Danie watched it go, then turned away to head back to the woods when she noticed something glinting from the top of the stone. A flash of black metal or plastic, barely visible unless the viewer stood at just the right angle, was all she could see, but it definitely wasn’t part of the rock. Danie walked hesitantly to the base of a boulder twice as tall as she was and peered up at the top. A long strap of black leather, a circular piece of glass-and then Danie realized what it was. She reeled backwards in shock. This meant human civilization.

This meant there was someone else on the island.

***********************************

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Rohan barged through the trees, her eyes bulging and her hair streaming behind her like a torch. Before Stella could react, Rohan grabbed her arm and flung her off the path into a bush. Seconds later, an explosion thundered in Stella’s ears, shaking the ground with enough noise to make her temporarily forget where she was. Her shut eyes filled with light that just as quickly disappeared, leaving behind ringing in her empty head.

She peeled herself off the ground and found that a hole had opened up in the canopy of leaves, due to the tree that had toppled over directly across the path where Stella had been standing two seconds earlier.

Little fires popped up all over the forest, sending up veils of smoke that made the air shimmer. Shaken, Stella and Rohan picked their way over rubble back to the path. “The plane exploded,” Rohan explained. “I saw something catch inside what used to be the engine. I think it must’ve caught on some fuel or something.”

“What just happened?!” Lindsey rushed out of the trees, clutching a stitch in her side.

“The plane exploded-”

“Are you both ok? Good. We NEED to put out all of the small fires. A forest fire is the last thing we want.”

“But what about salvaging food?” Rohan had been raiding the airplane for supplies.

“Forget it. There’s no way any of us are going back there. In fact, we should move camp somewhere safer- out of the woods.”

Stella opened her mouth to reply when a searing pain nearly split her forehead in two. Nausea hit, and suddenly the only thing she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and stay that way forever. Lindsey’s concerning voice asked her what was wrong, but the words didn’t quite sync up with her lips, plus everything was blurry. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe…

And then she was lying on the ground, with the crackling of fire in close proximity to her face. Directly in front of her was the toppled tree, the one that had landed in the place she had been- no, not two seconds ago. She stumbled to her feet.

“The plane exploded,” Rohan said in her ear. “I saw something catch inside what used to be the engine. I think it must’ve caught on some fuel or something.”

“What just happened?!” Lindsey rushed out of the trees, clutching a stitch in her side.

“The plane-”

“Wha-what? Lindsey? You were just here!” Both Lindsey and Rohan turned to look at Stella, who was shaking her head.

“What do you mean?” Lindsey frowned. “I just heard the crash and came running.”

“No you didn’t! Weren’t you in that exact spot a few seconds ago?”

Lindsey oggled. “What are you trying to say? Are you...feeling alright? Look, as long as we’re fine, we NEED to put out all of the small fires. A forest fire is the last thing we want.”

“But what about salvaging food?”

“We just had this conversation! What is wrong with your memories?” Stella let out a burst of frustration.

“No...we didn’t.” An anxious look crossed Lindsey’s face. “Look, Stella, I think you should head back to camp and...maybe lie down. Rohan and I will put out the fires. And Rohan, forget about going back to the plane. In fact, I think we should move camp somewhere safer- out of the woods.”

On the last word, the same vertigo hit Stella like a punch between the eyes. This time, she tried to watch what was going on, but it was impossible. The entire world had smeared like spilled water on a painting…

And she was lying in the exact same spot as before. Stella jumped to a standing position and nearly fell over again, swaying to try and regain her balance. This time, things were off somehow, and her vision was blurring at the edges.

“Woah- Stella, are you ok?”

Almost giddy with relief, Stella could only manage a nod.

“That’s good. The plane exploded, you see. I saw something catch inside what used to be the engine. I think it must’ve caught on some fuel or something.”

No! “Rohan, you’ve go to listen to me. Something really strange is happening.”

“What just happened?!” Lindsey rushed out of the trees, clutching a stitch in her side. Stella’s head was spinning. Is this...time?

“The plane exploded-” Rohan started to reply. Am I really back in time?

“Are you both ok? Good. We NEED to put out all of the small fires. A forest fire is the last thing we want.” How come they don’t notice and I do?

“But what about salvaging food?”

“Guys. You have to listen to me.” Stella looked Lindsey in the eye. “Something weird is happening with time. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, I only know we have repeated the same conversation twice before now. Like, Lindsey, you’re about to say ‘Forget it.’ and tell Rohan not to go back to the plane.”

“Stella…” started Rohan.

“No. She’s right.” Lindsey was dumbfounded. “I was about to say that.”

There was a shocked silence, broken only by Rohan saying, “What?” in disbelief.

“It’s true! You have to believe me! I’m serious! Oh for pete’s sake, can’t you feel it?” The pressure in Stella’s head had just swelled and contracted like a wave crashing on a beach.

“I believe you, Stella, I do! I don’t think you would lie about that for no reason. I just…” Lindsey suddenly went very, very still. Looking over Stella’s shoulder, she let out a string of words so fast that Stella nearly missed them: “Guyssomeone’swatchingus.”

Stella turned around so fast that the back of her neck cracked. Still, she nearly missed the tall and thin shadow slipping back behind the boughs, safely out of sight. The next instant, the tension in her head broke, and she nearly collapsed with the sudden release of pressure. “Who was that?” she hissed.

“Who was who?” Lindsey peered back at her.

“What do you mean? The person we just saw!! In the trees!!”

Lindsey shrugged. “I saw nobody, but I believe you. Guys, I think we should move camp. Between the explosion and Stella’s time looping-”

“Alleged,” muttered Rohan.

“-I think we should move outside of the woods.” Stella flinched, but nothing happened. The time anomaly had stopped. Whatever the cause of it had been, it was gone now.

“I think you’re right,” she said.

**************************************

It was nearly nightfall by the time Danie returned to the place she and Kes and Lindsey had set up camp. She guessed that she had woken up later in the day, which probably meant a scolding from Lindsey when she got back. Slung over her shoulder was a shiny, black Nikon camera with a tiny bit of camo duct tape stuck to it. Danie paused before entering the line of trees, then hurried inside. Things were brooding at night, and she didn’t want to be caught in the open when they finally awoke.