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It came as a surprise, albeit the most unwelcome one in the history of surprises.
No, scratch that. Calling it a surprise was a gross understatement and Jonas was never one to sugarcoat things. It was more of a shock, worthy of rewriting your entire five-year plan so that it consisted solely of therapy sessions. Not that Jonas had such a plan, of course, but if he did, he’d ball it up right this moment and toss it into the sea, because fuck.
When it happened, he froze, feeling his stomach twist and sink. Numbness enveloped his fingertips and started clawing its way up towards his forearms and shoulders. His legs were tingling with jittery anticipation, ready to take him away from there, away from whatever this was, and as far as possible from this goddamn excuse for an island.
Jonas inhaled sharply, but his lungs felt dangerously and uncomfortably empty, like deflated balloons pierced with darts and cut into even halves with surgical precision. He hated–no, he despised just how stupidly it all started.
A few minutes ago, they managed to restore the power around the island and left the transfer station. When their feet hit the old wooden bridge, it responded with a miserable creak, clearly more than ready to become termite food and ascend into civil engineering structures heaven.
Everything around them was bathed in the dim light of the ancient lamps that somehow still worked, despite the odds. Apart from their quiet, mismatched footsteps, the only thing they could hear was the wind, whistling an eerie tune and raking through the grass. It was a bit unsettling not to hear any birds or critters; they were surrounded by trees, after all. Jonas tried not to think about it too much.
He grimaced slightly, feeling a shiver run down his spine. It wasn’t cold or anything, but, as it turned out, spending the night on a haunted island and being thrown around the spacetime like a rubber ball left you feeling utterly shitty.
“Hey,” Alex turned towards him and looked into his eyes, rubbing her hands together. “How are you holding up?”
“I'm, uh, alright? More or less,” he said with a soft shrug. Then, he noticed how she bit the inside of her cheek and the way her brows furrowed, and he forced the corners of his mouth to quirk upwards slightly. “Not gonna lie though, this isn't how I imagined this island retreat would go,” he snorted. “I think I'm gonna have to ask for a refund.”
“You did sign up for a discount offer and your tour guide is a literal high-schooler, you know?” Alex tilted her head to the side. “No refunds, buddy.”
“And how are you?”
“I'm okay,” she gave him a smile that didn't really reach her eyes. “I'll be fine, don't worry.”
“Alright,” he said with way more hesitation than conviction. “Wanna take a breather or something?”
“Nah, it's alright. Let's just go.”
A few steps later, Alex stopped suddenly and Jonas almost bumped into her, his gaze focused on his dusty sneakers.
In front of them, right in the middle of the path, stood an old chair.
“Uh,” Jonas frowned. “Was that here before?”
“I don't think so?” Alex said quietly, taking another step forward.
She traced the back of the chair with her hand gently, letting out a muffled “huh”, and sat down.
Jonas held his breath for a second, but nothing happened.
“Alex? Are you... alright?” He asked.
“I think s–”
Suddenly, the sentence died in her throat and her head lolled forward onto her chest as her entire body went limp.
“Alex?!” Jonas shot forward, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Before he managed to do anything else, her head bopped up suddenly. Her shoulders and back tensed like a guitar string, not touching the chair anymore. Jonas jumped back with a shriek.
Then, his eyes met Alex's, and there he was, frozen in place and overcome with terror.
Alex was surrounded with thick black smoke coming from God-knows-where, her mouth a thin line and her gaze unfocused. Her expression, even if a bit blank, wouldn't have been so unsettling if not for the bright red glow spilling out of her eyes. Her fingers twitched a few times and she rested her palms on top of her thighs, placing them uncharacteristically neatly for her.
She looked completely unlike herself, her body placed on the chair like a puppet waiting for someone to pull on its strings. Jonas felt a pang of pain, remembering that she'd already seen him, Ren and Clarissa go through the same thing.
“A-Alex?” He managed to mutter, exhaling shakily and reaching towards her slowly.
Suddenly, her piercing, unblinking eyes looked right into his, and he shivered, taking a step back.
“Just. Stop. Trying.”
Her voice was... Hers, but also not hers at all, devoid of any emotion, lifeless, mechanical. On top of that, it was strangely layered with static and other voices, some high, others low, all unfamiliar.
“Nothing. Changes. In this. World,” he heard, the cacophony making his ears ring and his skin crawl.
Then, the smoke was blown away by the wind and Alex’s eyes closed. Her body went limp again and tipped forward, hanging in the air for a split second, before it hit the ground with a thud.
“Alex?!” Jonas crouched right next to her, turned her onto her back carefully and shook her by the shoulder. Her eyes were still closed, face relaxed and mouth slightly open. “Jesus Christ, Alex, wake up!”
As a newly christened stepbrother, he fucked up royally. And he didn't even catch her, didn't even freaking catch her in time, and–
“Ugh,” Alex groaned, her face scrunching up in a grimace as her eyes fluttered half-open. “What in the…”
She sat up slowly, holding onto Jonas's arm for support.
“D-don't get up just yet. Take it easy, you–” he squeezed her shoulder gently, unable to finish.
“Ah,” she exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose, her eyes squeezed shut. “Shit.”
“You okay?”
“My head feels like an overripe watermelon,” she snorted. “And I’m pretty sure those bastards messed with my vagus nerve or something, but… I'll be fine.”
She took a big breath in and exhaled heavily, drawing her thighs close to her chest.
“God, I think I'm gonna puke,” she sighed, resting her cheek against her knee and glancing at Jonas. Her eyes were slightly glossed over, with dark shadows underneath them. “I feel like I've just lost a battle with a tofu press.”
“Then you’re ready to be put into a marinade or something,” he bumped his arm against hers lightly. “Let's stay here for a few minutes, alright?”
Alex nodded slowly. He watched as she closed her eyes for a moment, hugging her knees even tighter, before relaxing her muscles again.
“Is this how you felt after this happened to you?” She asked, her eyelids drooping. “Like, ‘last night of studying for finals mixed with energy-drinks-induced nausea, sense of impending doom and existential dread’ type of fatigue?”
“That's so... Specific,” Jonas raised an eyebrow.
“It's a specific situation.”
“And I'm pretty sure that sense of impending doom goes hand in hand with nausea, especially if you like your carpets.”
“Gross,” she snorted, her nose scrunched up in a grimace.
“But yeah, you actually nailed it,” Jonas said with a small nod. “We'll stay here until you feel better, take all the time you need. Do you, uh, remember anything?”
“From the possession?” Alex asked and he winced upon hearing the last word, but nodded. She puckered her lips and bit the inside of her cheek. “I remember I said something? But I have no idea what it was exactly. It all felt weird though, like being pushed out of your body, and,” she hesitated. “Erased.”
Jonas nodded, not really knowing what to say. After a while, Alex stretched her legs out and leaned back, propping herself up on her hands.
“I'm sorry about this,” she said, sinking into her shoulders.
“C’mon, ghosts aren't anyone's fault, you said it yourself,” Jonas gave her a small smile, sitting criss-cross right next to her. “Besides, the same thing happened to me, Ren and Clarissa, and–”
“No, I mean, uh… All of this.”
“I'm not sure I follow,” he tilted his head slightly.
“None of this would've happened if not for that goddamn radio,” she sighed, brows furrowed. “It's just so frustrating, if only I weren't so–”
“We're not doing this, Alex,” Jonas said, cutting in firmly.
“But that's the truth, whether you like it or not. I screwed up,” she clenched her jaw and grabbed two handfuls of grass absentmindedly.
“I'm serious,” Jonas looked into her eyes. They seemed darker than usually, filled with exhaustion, anger and something else he couldn't quite pinpoint. “Besides, I was the one who wanted to keep exploring the caves after Ren went AWOL from the sobriety land, remember?”
“Okay, but–”
“No,” he said, expression stern. “It's not your fault, okay? And we're not gonna blame each other or anyone for this. Well, apart from the ghosts, maybe.”
Alex huffed out and leaned forward with slouched shoulders. She started picking at a cuticle, her gaze fixed on her fingers and her brows knitted closely together.
“Hey,” Jonas said, looking at her. “Didn't Ren say that kids come here often to party, drink and look for those sound anomalies?”
“Yeah, but it was supposed to be fun,” her hands balled into fists. “It was supposed to be a chill night because, hey, you just moved here and our day-to-day lives did a fucking somersault. I'm pretty sure that getting stranded on a time-loop island with a bunch of poltergeists isn't exactly a part of any guide on how to welcome your new step-brother.”
“Aw, you really prepared for this, I'm flattered,” he chuckled with a small smile, earning a glare from her. “Look, I'm just saying, we're a bunch of stupid teens who wanted to do some stupid shit on a stupid island. And so many stupid teens have been here before us. It could've been anyone, really, we just failed our luck checks.”
“We what?” Alex raised her eyebrows.
“Damn, we gotta play D&D when we get back,” he sighed, shaking his head, unable to hide the smirk appearing on his mouth. “This whole thing would actually make a pretty decent campaign.”
“You play D&D,” Alex said, her intonation indicative of both a statement and a question.
“Yeah. The only good thing I got out of my juvie era,” he said with a crooked smile.
“Shit, and here I was thinking that cool Jonas from cool North Valley was a badass criminal,” she shook her head in disbelief, laughing. “You're a freaking dork!”
“D&D is cool and badass, you little jerk,” he said with a snicker, giving her a light shove. “At this point, I don't think I regret that I didn't manage to catch you when you fell from that stupid chair.”
“You cruel, cruel man,” Alex laughed as they slowly got up.
She looked at the chair with a grimace, but then, her mouth stretched into a grin slowly.
“Fuck you,” Alex said and kicked the thing as hard as she could, sending it down the hill.
They watched it bounce once, then twice, and then roll down, until it stopped with a sad bump.
“Ten out of ten, great show,” Jonas said with a smile.
“Thank you, I do my best to entertain," Alex snorted and bowed. "For the record, I will play D&D with you, but I'm gonna suck at it, and you're gonna have to repeat things over and over again until you get bored and frustrated.”
“You got yourself a deal.”
“Awesome. So,” she shoved her hand into her jacket pocket and took the radio out. “Ready to kick some asses?”