Part 16.

Johnny followed one of the streams that ran to paradise coming from the direction of the mountain. Jaehyun and he had crossed it to the other side of the island and it was the stream that separated their territory with the panthers. So he kept on their side as he followed it, eyeing the world around him with caution. There were no steps, no sign of Ten having been there, yet Johnny couldn’t help but keep hoping. Some part of him wanted to give up and cry, just cry it all out, yet he found himself fleeing to insanity instead. Joking about it, trying to keep that heavy feeling guilt and despair away from him. He’d break. He knew that. He could only take as much as this. 

He had only loved so few people, and there were some people he’d simply liked or just dealt with. He remembered Oscar and wondered how the little chubby boy would look like now. The little clumsy boy with his round blue eyes and dark blonde hair. That stupid grin he always carried and the dumb things he managed to say. Johnny remembered Brooke and the way she always put down whatever she was holding in order to talk with him. He never quite managed to outshine her with knowledge and he never managed to intimidate her either. She was always strong and somehow put him in his place when she needed to. Aunt Brooke as they called her. Now that Johnny really thought about it, he realized that he missed her. Missed the way she would always know just what to say, and always know when to say something. 

It couldn’t compare to Mark though, he missed that kid too much and now that loss was so near, what had been easier to cope with now became even harder. Mark should’ve been adopted by now, he should’ve been with a family and he would’ve started college this year. He was a smart kid, good at what he wanted and liked to do, but not as good with math. Johnny stopped and wiped his eyes. 

Taeil.

Johnny found a sob leaving his lips, tearing through chest and throat and he cried out. Taeil was family too. He really became family even though Johnny tried not to let the other too close, he just couldn’t help but let Taeil in. He hadn’t treated Taeil that well, and now the guy was gone. He had a whole life ahead of him and he couldn’t live that. Yuta still needed to finish another year together with Taeyong and Ten while Jaehyun was two years below Johnny and Taeil. Yuta was smart-witted and he was righteous. He didn’t deserve to die like that. 

None of them deserved to die like that. Mark. Taeil. Yuta.

Ten…

Johnny couldn’t breathe. He lifted his gaze from the ground, staring at the water that ran through the stream. He was breaking, he could feel his lungs constrict and his chest tightening. He inhaled deeply, but it was as if his throat was closing and he was gasping for air. He blinked to clear his sight and that was when he noticed it.

Johnny stared ahead and then he saw that the stream was leading him to some sort of clearing. He pushed himself off the tree he had been leaning on and he started walking slowly towards the small opening amongst the trees. When he looked up he could see the mountain rise up before him. He pushed a branch aside and saw the mouth of the cave and the waterfall just beside it. He looked to the sides to see signs of living, signs of people having been there and for a moment he thought of Ten. Had the other created a whole new camp just for him? 

There was  rag for fish to dry, he was sure it had been used to try meat because there was traces of a fire having been beneath it. Maybe it had been used to smoke fish? Johnny looked closer, the wood it was built of looked rickety. This couldn’t be a new camp. The things looked worn and Johnny stepped into the middle of the clearing before he noticed the cross that was placed between the waterfall and the cave. He frowned but then something blew slightly in the wind and the movement sent chills down his arms and his breath got caught in his throat. His eyes moved to look at the movement automatically and the sight dragged a scream out of his throat. He saw the skull first, the hollow sockets where eyes had been and the slacked jaw still full of teeth. He felt as if something had reached into his chest and pulled at his insides and he ran backwards only to stumble and fall. 

A thought hit him and then it immediately left. It couldn’t be Ten, his body wouldn’t have been that far in its process of decomposing. This was a body of someone else. This only seemed to strike deeper horror within him and he got up to inspect the body further. The sight haunted him but he knew he had to get to the bottom of this mystery. 

So he looked at the jacket and realized the person probably wasn’t from a faraway time. The clothes looked like it could come from this decade or maybe the last. Johnny’s mouth had gone dry as he walked over to the cross. He looked at the crooked writing of ‘Olivia’ and he held his breath. He couldn’t believe this. Someone had been there too and they had died. Johnny looked up and eyed the sky, he should go back soon, yet now everything felt like it had no meaning. Why should he hurry back to safety? If these people had died, what were the odds of them surviving this island? Johnny looked around and even found the journal. He didn’t read it but instead brought it with him in a bag that he borrowed from the cave. He stepped out of the cave to see the sky was turning pink and he inhaled the fresh air that the waterfall’s constant running water turned crisp. There was a bite to it, different from the air at their beach. He closed his eyes as he wondered what he should do with all this new information. How he should feel about seeing this tragedy. Johnny sighed again, feeling numb and he turned to the right only to freeze.

How did they arrive here?

Johnny looked up and around him, if their boat sank like Johnny and his friends’ boat did. They should have some trace of them having sailed there. Johnny took out the journal and then eyed the clothes of the guy again. He was dressed with boots and pants and a heavy leather jacket. The look of an explorer. Johnny doubted they’d come here by boat like that. Maybe they had though, still Johnny would have to figure it out from the journal. 

Johnny felt a surge of determination go through him and then a thought hit him again and this one left a bitter taste on his tongue. Was he the first one to find this place? Or had someone in their group already been here?

Why did Johnny have this nagging feeling at the back of his head that the reason for Ten’s mood changing had definitely been the fact that he had stumbled upon this place? 

Johnny started walking with the mountain to his right, thinking that following its path he’d be led to the beach. That was until he suddenly felt his feet slowing down and this strange sensation come over him. His eyes found themselves eyeing his surroundings and that was when he saw a newly broken branch upon the ground. His breath slowed and he held it as he let his eyes run further ahead and that was when his breath left him completely. His eyes landed on a pair of legs and they followed these legs up to a torso and a face that he knew all too well. He dropped the bag to the ground and ran over to the body, collapsing beside it on his knees, hands grabbing the shoulders as he shook the body. 

  “Ten!” He cried.
 

Taeyong and Jaehyun were sitting side by side, staring out upon the ocean. Jaehyun was holding Taeyong’s hand in his, but he noticed that the other had long scratches going down his arm and he wondered what that could be. Then he realized Taeyong always climbed in trees and Jaehyun could only imagine what he himself would look like trying to move around amongst all the branches. Taeyong’s other hand was trailing them absentmindedly as he looked out on the water. Jaehyun remembered the first day they spent on the island. He remembered sitting in the same spot and looking out, thinking Taeyong was out there, gone. 

But he was right there beside him. It wasn’t the Taeyong he fell in love with, but he didn’t love him any less. 

  “How do you feel?” He asked and for some reason the look in Taeyong’s eyes when he turned his head, pulled him back to the time on the boat, as a wave crashed into the side and made the boat lean to the left and Taeyong fell onto the railing, calling out for Jaehyun. That moment when Jaehyun let himself slide down but the boat had already tipped over and they were swallowed by waves before they could get a good grip on each other. Those eyes were begging him to be saved. There was so much vulnerability and fear and Jaehyun gripped Taeyong’s hand tighter. 

Taeyong blinked and chewed on his bottom lip. It was already swollen and bruised by how much he had abused it. Jaehyun watched the other’s teary eyes focus on the sand. Taeyong shrugged. “I’m not sure.” He said honestly and then shook Jaehyun’s hand. “Are you okay?” 

Jaehyun sighed and he reached out to caress Taeyong’s cheek. “I hope,” he replied. “I really want to find Ten but on the same time I’m trying to deal with the fact that he’s probably gone. I’m worried about what happened to him, what it is we should be fearing on this island…” (It’s me, Taeyong thought, but he stayed quiet.) “If it’s coming for us too or if he really… he really did it himself.” 

Taeyong closed his eyes and then he turned to face the water again. He pulled his hand to himself and stretched out his hands, playing with his own fingers. “Yeah, I wonder too.” He lied. 

 

 Johnny’s hands were trembling when he let them reach out and grab onto Ten. The other’s eyes were closed and his clothes were torn and bruises were blossoming all over his body. One big cut on his chin made Johnny wonder what had happened to him. He glanced up and saw the branches of the tree above him look broken. Leaves decorated Ten’s hair and his arms were torn up. Johnny cupped the other’s cheeks and leaned in over him, letting his ear hover above the other’s lips. He felt a tickle and it ran down his spine.

Ten was still breathing. 

Johnny called again. “Ten! Hey, Ten!” He cried and then took a moment to collect himself and stop sobbing. His hand ran over Ten’s shirt and he rested his forehead on Ten’s chest as he didn’t dare to pull Ten into his arms. If Ten had fallen, he could’ve broken his spine or neck. 

  “Ten, please.” He cried and he pressed kisses to Ten’s bruised cheek. “I love you, please.” He said, which he didn’t even register. He just couldn’t help but say it. Those words… those words slipped past his lips as easy as breathing. “I love you, did you hear that?” He asked and wiped his eyes quickly to make sure he could see. His blurry sight cleared and his eyes widened when he saw the corner of Ten’s lips curl upwards. Ten blinked but he was barely conscious. 

  “Hear ye, hear ye.” He croaked and Johnny chuckled. 

  “I love you.” He quickly said to make sure Ten heard it and Ten closed his eyes. 

  “Love you too, Giant.” 

Johnny brushed Ten’s hair out of his face. Feeling so warm inside and happy. “Can you feel your toes?” He asked and Ten started moving but Johnny held him down. 

  “Be careful.” He told the other. “Would it be safe to lift you up?” He sniffled and then cleared his throat. He had to be strong for Ten. He had to focus. 
Ten slowly turned his head, wincing in pain as he started trying to move each limp. One of his legs though, now that Johnny realized it, was oddly bent. “Can’t move my left leg.”

  “That’s okay!” Johnny reassured the other. Tears ran down the sides of Ten’s face and Johnny pressed a kiss to the other’s forehead. “It’s okay, let me carry you.” 

 

Taeyong and Jaehyun watched the sun set and both of them eyed the jungle and the endless beach.

  “Where is he?” Jaehyun wondered and he was squeezing one hand with the other in a nervous gesture. Taeyong sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was greasy he realized, he needed a shower. The thought of shampoo sounded like heaven to him. He rested his face on his arm that was propped on his knee. His head was aching, a slow dull headache taking over from his neck and up. He was thinking too much, but he his mind was racing. Should he have checked what had happened to Ten? Hidden his body? Taeyong felt his stomach turn and he tried hard not to gag. He was disgusted with himself, but no matter how much his conscience tried to fight its way through he held it down. He had made his choice. 

Jaehyun moved up and Taeyong felt sand upon his legs because of the hurry the other was in. He didn’t dare to look up but he raised his gaze only to meet Ten’s wild eyes. “Thought I was dead, didn’t you?” 

Taeyong stumbled back but when his eyes went up again he saw nothing but the scenery of the beach in front of him. He grabbed onto the fabric covering his chest and tried to catch his breath. Jaehyun was immediately by his side and Taeyong got up on his feet, clinging to Jaehyun. He noticed the other kept looking in one direction and he turned around in Jaehyun’s arms, looking at a nearing figure. 

Something was different about Johnny’s tall build. As he came closer Taeyong’s stomach dropped. Johnny was carrying someone. 

He was carrying Ten.

 

Taeyong knew he should be running away, as far away from Ten and especially Johnny at that point. Yet he stood there frozen watching Johnny settle Ten down and safely tug him in. He was whispering to Ten and for a moment Jaehyun and Taeyong thought Ten was dead. For a moment their hearts sunk at the thought of Johnny talking to Ten who was already dead. 

Yet then Ten lifted up his hand and he weakly cupped Johnny’s cheek. The hand fell as soon as it had come up as if the boy didn’t have the energy to do anything more than that. Taeyong heard Jaehyun gasp and when he looked up he saw Jaehyun smile as if a boat was coming their way. Hope. 

Taeyong closed his own eyes, because that hope would be shattered as soon as they knew that it was Taeyong. It was Taeyong who had tried to kill Ten. Taeyong who had gone insane. Taeyong who was acting like Benjamin.

So he thought of running, running to his part of the island and hide from them. Still some part of him had been crying out for Ten to have survived the fall and seeing him still breathing, he felt kind of relieved but also ice cold, because he couldn’t run from what he had done. The other two would soon know.

Ten whispered something, it was weak and Taeyong stepped back, out of Jaehyun’s embrace, he waited for Johnny to look at him. He waited for the hatred in the other’s eyes but the look on Johnny’s face wasn’t anything near hate. 

  “Plane.” Johnny repeated and looked at the other two. “He says something about a plane and a cliff?” 

Taeyong’s stomach dropped. 

The cliff. The object on the cliff. 

That was what Ten had been trying to get to. 

 

He hadn’t tried to kill himself; he had been looking for a solution. 
 

And Taeyong killed him for that. 

A/N: I think we're slowly reaching the end. Still have some things to go through though. Thanks for commenting guys, it really inspires me and I hope you enjoy the story! (Also it's Haechan's birthday today! If I remember right! So happy birthday to my little bundle of joy)