Sebastian was confused—and that was expected.
The tree he and Chloe had taken shelter beneath on countless occasions throughout there entrapment.
The same tree he had tried to burn to the ground, well urged to burn to the ground, A distinction to be kept in mind.
The same tree they had all watched resist the flames, the bark knitting itself back together as if the fire were nothing more than an inconvenience.
And yet now—
they had all forgotten it.
As if it were a distant cousin no one bothered to remember.
Yeah. That didn't bode well. Not at all.
Now that he was actually in this situation, questions began clawing their way into his mind.
Why did he remember when they didn't?
That alone suggested far too much about what was coming.
And why was the tree only playing tricks now? Why not earlier—when they had first entered the clearing? Or had it been dormant, asleep, like Isabella had suggested?
Sebastian huffed and pushed himself to his feet, eyes never leaving their faces. He scanned them carefully, watching for the smallest twitch, the faintest crack in their expressions. This was one of the few skills he'd been trained in—reading people for his own survival, A requirement for to survive as the supposed son of a terrorist.
Right now, he was using it to hunt for lies.
But the fear curling in his chest had nothing to do with disbelief.
He didn't doubt that a tree could erase itself from memory while remaining unseen—even when directly pointed out.
No.
This was something worse.
This was the fear that came from knowing too much and not enough at the same time.
Wouldn't it be easier—better—to be as ignorant as they were? or was it . He wasn't sure.
Once fully upright, he walked toward the tree. All of them tracked his movement, their faces clouded with confusion… and pity.
The moment he reached it, he turned and sat down on the trunk.
He continued watching them from the corner of his eye. Peripheral vision wasn't ideal, but staring outright would give him away. Best to be careful least he exposed his method for lie detection.
Once settled, he spoke again.
"Yes. The tree. The one—and this is important—that I, yours truly, am sitting on."
He tapped the bark for emphasis.
"You're not—"
"Wait," Sebastian cut in. "I'm speaking, Chloe. If you're about to say I'm not sitting on anything, then I'd really like to know how I'm floating. Hmm?"
He felt smug. Proud, even.
That feeling shattered instantly.
"Sitting?" they all asked in unison.
"You're standing," Chloe finished. The others nodded in a united front against the delusional fellow.
(≖_≖)
"I'm standing? Are you daft? My feet aren't even touching the ground!"
"You know what—fuck you. No. I don't care anymore. I knew this tree was suspicious."
He jumped off—or rather, thought he did—and kicked the trunk hard. Then he froze, as if struck by sudden divine enlightenment.
And then he ran.
"Fuck," he thought.
Did I just sit on the invisible, mind-warping tree?
Fuck. I'm truly an idiot.
He slowed near the others, glancing back at them. Were they joking?
(≖_≖)
Chloe had finally had enough.
From her perspective, all she saw was this idiot waking her from sleep—the only thing keeping the gnawing hunger at bay—only to rant about some imaginary tree they'd burned.
And now he was doing… whatever that was.
She sighed and stood with effort. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her.
"We'll take turns sleeping," she said. She glanced at Sebastian. "You'll start. Since you thought it was a good idea to wake me up."
"No reconsidering. No arguments."
She yawned, deeply and unapologetically.
"Keep an eye on"
she yawned again turning to look at the tree there is no tree at the plant
"Keep an eye on the dead body plant and the crooked…"Chloe blinked, confused. "What was I saying? Honestly, I'm exhausted."
She looked to Isabella beside her.
"You said to watch the plant and the…" Isabella also stopped her eyes glazing over. "Um. I'm not sure. I think that's where you stopped."
She glanced up at Chloe, then buried her face into her knees.
Sebastian felt something cold twist in his gut.
They were about to say tree. He was sure of it. Or maybe they weren't saying it because doing so would give away the joke. Either way, it wasn't funny. Not even close. He couldn't tell anymore whether they genuinely didn't remember—or whether they were deliberately pretending.
"Seb," Chloe called, already half-asleep. "It's your shift."
She lay down beside Isabella and was out almost instantly. The others followed just as quickly.
Sebastian muttered under his breath. "You didn't even say how long I'm supposed to stay awake." he felt depressed and fearful, mainly fearful.
He moved closer to the guys and sat down, eyes fixed on the tree. Screw the corpse-plant. he thought, The tree was far more dangerous.
An hour—or maybe two—passed.
Sebastian's eyelids felt like they had weights tied to them. His vision blurred, his thoughts drifting in and out. The only thing keeping him awake was the dull ache in his stomach. The adrenaline from earlier had long since drained away, leaving him hollow and bone-tired.
He yawned, eyes unfocused, then glanced at Andrew.
Seb decided to slap him awake.
Nothing.
He slapped him again—harder.
Andrew jolted awake immediately. "Who hit me?" he asked looking around confused his eyes roaming past Seb pausing for a moment before continuing on his to be fruitless search.
Sebastian snorted, not bothering to answer. He scraped a shallow hollow in the dirt and folded his hoodie into a makeshift pillow.
Andrew stood up looking confused he turned to look at the others sleeping while rubbing his cheeks deciding to move towards Mike, On arrival he began shaking his shoulder gently. "Boss," he whispered, trying not to wake the girls.
Mike stirred on the third attempt, sitting up abruptly. Either the sudden movement or the dust beneath him did its job—he sneezed violently.
That did it.
"Again?" Chloe muttered, rubbing her eyes. Sebastian gave them both a nod.
Isabella looked between Mike and Andrew, confusion flickering across her face before fading. She leaned in and whispered something to Chloe, who nodded neither had glanced Seb's way.
Sebastian watched the exchange, frowning. Why were they giving him the cold shoulder? He'd stayed awake. He'd kept watch. No thanks. No acknowledgment. Not even a glance.
Chloe and Isabella stood and walked toward the entrance of the clearing, leaving the three of them behind.
Mike rounded on Andrew, irritation sharp in his voice. "What is it, huh? Did you have to wake me like that? I inhaled half the ground." he held his collar tightly shaking him roughly "a simple tap is sufficient use your fucking brain"
"Sorry, boss," Andrew said quickly, rubbing his head. "I just—uh—I was wondering if you woke me up. Next time I'll—"
"Next time," Mike cut in still holding him, "try that again and I'll make sure you eat dust"
He snorted, drooped him and stalked off toward the opposite edge of the clearing.
Sebastian turned to Andrew speaking lazily. "I woke you up, doofus. It's your turn to watch."
He adjusted his hoodie and looked back at him. Andrew was rubbing his cheek still, eyes unfocused.
"Bro, you okay?" Seb asked. "I said it's your watch. I'm going to sleep, alright?"
No response.
Seb huffed in anger
"A 'yes' would be nice," He then added. "Sorry about the slap earlier. It was a joke."
Andrew ignored him, walked towards the bags and began rummaging through it.
Sebastian stood walked over and patted his back. "Hey, man. You can slap me back if you want."
This caused Andrew immediately screamed scaring Seb shitless
"Fuck—ghost! Ghost!"
"where" Seb asked
Mike came running. "What? What is it, you fucker?"
There were dark, wet patches spreading across Mike's trousers, like he'd been hit with a cheap water gun—except it definitely wasn't water.
"There's a ghost!" Andrew shrieked, backing away from Sebastian's position.
"Where?" Mike asked, his face draining of colour, the hint of anger fading.
"It touched me," Andrew said, still retreating.
Mike stared at the empty space Andrew was pointing at. "Where is it?"
"It's a ghost," Andrew snapped. "How are you supposed to see it?"
Mike swallowed. "Fuck. That's true."