Lisa, John, and Louis were walking toward the house and finally reached the front gate. Lisa still wasn't happy with this idea, but she didn't want to end up alone.
Once they reached, Louis asked,
"So… who's going to knock?"
"I'm not doing that. I'm not sure about this at all," Lisa said quickly.
"Fine, I'll do it," John said and started knocking on the door.
He knocked once and waited for someone to open it. But there was no reply. He knocked again, but again—silence.
He turned to them and said,
"Strange… the door is locked from the inside but it feels like no one's in there."
"It is strange. If someone was inside, they should've come out by now," Louis agreed.
"I think we should leave. If no one's coming out, then there's no point," Lisa said.
"Yeah, it's a shame. We could've asked for help, but looks like no one is opening it, so let's go," John said.
Louis nodded, and the three of them turned around to leave. Suddenly, they heard the lock click and the door slowly creaked open. The three of them looked back and saw the front door now slightly open.
"Look, the door is unlocked. Let's check inside," John said.
"Are you crazy, John? We cannot go inside! We don't even know who opened it. And if someone did open it, then why didn't they talk to us and just leave it open like this?" Lisa scolded.
"But Lisa, this might be our chance to find help," Louis said.
"You too, Louis? Can't you see something is wrong here?"
"Yeah, but we might find a clue about our situation if we go in," Louis said.
"And if you don't want to come, you're welcome to stay alone in this jungle," John added with a smirk.
Lisa became quiet. She knew something was wrong with the house, but she didn't want to end up alone. She gritted her teeth and said,
"Fine. We'll look."
The boys nodded, and the three of them entered the house.
____________________________________
Louis and Luka were still searching for their friends after encountering the van twice. Luka said angrily,
"I feel like I've been walking forever. Where the hell are they?!"
"Calm down, Luka," Louis said.
"Don't tell me what to do."
"Shouting won't help the situation."
"So tell me, mister, what do we do now? We can't find them, and we don't even know where we are!"
"Luka, listen—" Louis was cut off by a strange voice behind them.
"Excuse me…"
They turned around and saw a woman behind them, looking like she was in her early thirties. Luka suddenly freaked out and whispered to Louis,
"Hey Louis… let's run."
"What?" Louis said, confused.
"Don't you see? This woman is obviously suspicious."
"How can you tell?" Louis whispered back.
"Idiot! Why would a woman be alone in a jungle like this?" Luka grumbled.
"Maybe she's lost like us," Louis said.
Seeing them whispering, the woman spoke again,
"Can you two help me? I'm lost…"
Before Louis could reply, Luka whispered harshly,
"Don't help her! Let's just run!"
"Come on, Luka. Maybe she really needs help," Louis said and walked toward her.
Luka face-palmed, sighed, and muttered, "Idiot…"
Louis walked up to her and asked,
"Do you need help, ma'am?"
"Yes… I'm lost. I came with my husband this evening, but we got separated. Would you mind helping me?"
"Of course. We're also searching for our lost friends, so you can come with us. Maybe we'll find your husband too."
"Oh thank you… I was so scared alone in this jungle. But it seems like I found company."
"Right, let's go. Come on, Luka."
Luka sighed heavily, annoyance clearly on his face. But he began walking with them anyway, hoping they'd find their friends and finally leave this place.
___________________________________
Max, Lisa, and Stephanie were still waiting for someone to appear because they had heard footsteps earlier. Max gripped the stick in his hand, ready to protect them. The footsteps grew closer and closer until finally the person appeared. Max and the person both swung at each other but stopped midway when Max recognized her.
"Luna?!"
It was Luna.
She looked horrible—messy hair, dirty clothes, and absolutely terrified.
"Luna, what happened to you?" Lisa asked.
"Max and—" Luna stopped when she looked at Lisa and stepped back.
"Are you okay, Luna?" Max asked.
"What is Lisa doing here? She should be with Louis and John. This isn't real. She's fake," Luna said in fear.
"What are you talking about, Luna? What fake? Yes, I was with John earlier, but I never met Louis," Lisa said. "I was with John the whole time, and then we both met you guys afterward."
"Yeah. She is right and the two of us met up again after we got separated we all have been searching for Louis together. We never actually met Louis, and we're still looking for him. Besides, you were with John when you went searching for him," Max said.
"What are you talking about? I never met you after we separated. I'm seeing you now for the first time. I only met Louis when we split up, and I wasn't with john " Luna said.
"Huh? What's going on? Are you pranking us?" Lisa asked.
"Of course not," Luna said.
"What do you mean by fake when you saw Lisa?" Max asked.
Then Luna told them everything—how she met Louis, John, and Lisa earlier, how they were searching for Max, and how suddenly a bright light flashed and all three of them had no shadows. Terrified, she secretly ran away.
Max and Lisa listened, their faces turning pale.
"So you're saying those guys were fake the whole time?" Lisa whispered.
John suddenly freaked out.
"I was with fake Luna this whole time?!"
Lisa gasped.
"Wait… that means John is with the fake Luna right now!"
Hearing that, they all panicked.
"We have to find him and tell him!" Max said.
They both nodded and immediately started searching for John and Louis.
____________________________________
John and Luna were sitting on the ground, resting for ten minutes. After that, Luna said,
"We have to go. We can't rest here forever."
"Yeah, let's go," John said, standing up. They both began walking again.
After a while Luna asked,
"Hey John… can I ask you something?"
"Yeah. What is it?"
"Do you think we can find everyone? And that nothing bad happened to them?"
"I just hope we can find them and that they're all safe," John said.
"Hm…"
She asked again,
"Do you think Luka and Anna are okay in the van? They didn't come looking for us, right?"
"I don't know. If it's Luka, he probably won't bother. But if it's Anna, she's definitely forcing him to come look for us. So I'm not sure," John said.
"So let's say they are looking for us. Do you think they'll find us?"
"Look, Luna… I don't know. Maybe they will. Eventually, they should. So don't keep asking. And I don't think they're stupid enough to leave the van and wander around—especially Luka," John said, slightly irritated.
"Jeez, I was just asking," Luna said.
"Sorry, Luna. I'm just… worried. What if we can't find Louis? Or the others?"
"Don't worry, John. I'm sure we'll find them."
"I hope you're right…"
They continued walking quietly, still searching.
____________________________________
After a while, Anna finally calmed down. Max asked,
"Are you ready to start searching again?"
Anna sighed. She knew they had no choice—they needed to get out of this forest and find their friends.
"Sure," she said.
She stood up and walked beside Max. After a while, Max said,
"Don't worry, Anna. Everything is going to be okay."
Anna didn't reply and continued walking. Max understood she wasn't in the mood to talk. They walked silently through the jungle.
After some time, Anna asked Max,
"Hey Max… do you think we can get out of here?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Max said.
"But I don't think so… After what we saw and heard… I don't know what will happen next," Anna said, her voice trembling.
"Hey… let's not think about that. Let's just focus on getting out of here, okay?"
"…Okay," Anna sighed.
They continued walking quietly again through the forest.