What Now I Desire Chapter Two ― Visitations

Shortly after, the lifeboat scraped against the shore, and Candace leapt out, pulling it further onto the sand as the others climbed out behind her. Amanda stood tall despite her exhaustion, scanning the area for her still-missing daughter. A few minutes passed before Amanda heard Bethany gasp, seemingly recovered from her ordeal, as she leaned over and picked something up from the wreckage on the beach. She turned and Amanda saw that Bethany was clutching her Bible tightly to her chest, her knuckles white.

“A small blessing from the Lord, my darling,” Amanda said, faintly smiling at her.

Meanwhile Rina remained unusually quiet, sticking close to Candace as the pair looked around for useful items. The girls seemed listless. Amanda knew she needed to take charge of their situation swiftly.

“Everyone, grab what you can carry, only the essentials,” Amanda said briskly, gesturing to the scattered remains of their belongings, which had washed up along the beach. “We’re not coming back here anytime soon.”

They worked quickly, sorting through the debris. Candace stuffed a water bottle, a flashlight, and a roll of duct tape into her very wet and sandy backpack. Bethany found a small pot and a bundle of matches in a waterproof case. Amanda slung a first aid kit over her shoulder and tied a bundle of rope around her waist. Rina picked up a torn tarp and some canned food, muttering under her breath about needing to find her missing phone.

“Focus, Rina,” Amanda snapped. “This isn’t the time for your gadgets. I doubt any of our phones survived anyway.”

Rina flinched but didn’t argue, trudging behind Candace as Amanda led them toward the dense interior of the island.

The jungle was oppressive, the air humid and heavy with the scent of earth and vegetation. Thick trees towered overhead, their canopies blotting out the sky. Vines draped across their path like tripwires, and every step was accompanied by the crunch of fallen leaves and the distant hum of insects.

“Stay within sight of each other,” Amanda instructed as they moved deeper into the jungle. “We’re fanning out just enough to cover more ground, but no wandering off. I’ve been part of search parties before, and the last thing we need is more people getting lost.”

Bethany swallowed hard, clutching her Bible even tighter, remembering the time her family helped to search for one of the girls who attended their church but had gone missing. That hadn’t ended well. “Do you think we’ll find them?”

“We will,” Amanda said firmly, though the lines on her face betrayed her worry. “Julie and Trinity are strong. They’ll find a way to survive until we get to them.”

Hours passed, and the forest seemed to grow darker and more ominous with every step. The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows that stretched like clawed fingers through the undergrowth. Candace wiped sweat from her brow, her muscles aching from the unrelenting terrain.

“Mrs. Walker, I think we need to turn back,” Rina said, her voice trembling. “It’s going to be night soon, and we don’t even know where we are.”

“We keep going,” Amanda said, her tone brooking no argument. “They’re out here somewhere, and we’re not stopping until we find them or find shelter.”

Bethany, who had been scanning the trees intently, suddenly gasped. “Wait! I see something!” She pointed to the right, her voice rising with excitement. “Over there―through the trees!”

The others hurried to her side and followed her gaze. Through the dense foliage, a small cabin came into view. It was their first sign of human habitation. Its walls were cobbled together from scraps of metal and driftwood, bound with vines and covered in patches of moss. The roof was made of palm leaves, haphazardly layered, and a faint plume of smoke rose from a makeshift chimney. Though rusted and faded, the characters “U-703” were etched into one of the metal plates embedded in the chimney.

“What is that?” Candace whispered.

“It looks like someone built it,” Amanda said, narrowing her eyes. “From wreckage and whatever they could find. Could be survivors like us… or something else.”

The girls exchanged uneasy glances. “Should we go closer?” Bethany asked.

“We don’t know if they’re friendly,” Candace warned.

“But we need to get home, or at least get help,” Rina said.

Before anyone could discuss it further, the door of the cabin creaked open. A lone figure stepped out, a woman with long, raven hair wearing a dress that seemed like it had been stolen from the wardrobe of a Mad Max film set, a mix of leather straps and sheer fabrics that left little to the imagination. Her skin was naturally tan, and though the lines on her face marked her as middle-aged like Amanda and Julie, she possessed the kind of alluring beauty that would make the two women nervous if she were to ever meet their husbands.

Chillingly, the woman began to call out to them. “Amanda! Candace! Bethany! Rina! Where are you?”

The girls froze, their breath caught in their throats. The woman’s voice echoed eerily through the jungle as she turned her head from side to side, her eyes scanning the area around the cabin. Amanda thought she recognized a European accent as the woman continued calling for them. “If you can hear me, come out! I mean no harm!”

Candace’s heart thudded against her ribcage. “How does she know our names?” she whispered.

Amanda held up a hand, signaling for silence. Her face was pale but resolute as she stepped slightly in front of the girls, shielding them instinctively. “Stay quiet. We don’t know who she is or what she wants.”

The woman stepped further away from the cabin, still calling their names as she circled the clearing, her movements slow and deliberate. “Please don’t be shy,” she crooned. To Candace’s ears, the woman’s voice carried an unnatural sweetness that made her skin crawl. “I just want to help you.”

The girls crouched behind a cluster of bushes, their whispered debate punctuated by nervous glances at the strange woman steadily drawing nearer to them.

“I don’t like it, but we can’t just sit here,” Candace said, her voice low but urgent. “The only way she could know our names is if she found Mom and Trinity.”

“But she might be dangerous,” Amanda countered, her eyes narrowing. “Like I said, we don’t know anything about her.”

“But she must know where Julie and Trinity are?” Bethany asked, still clutching her Bible tightly. “What if she’s already helped them? She seems like a Good Samaritan.”

Rina fidgeted, her gaze darting between Amanda and the cabin. “She said she wants to help us. Maybe we should give her a chance, Mrs. Walker?”

Amanda exhaled sharply, clearly torn. Finally, she nodded. “Fine. But stay behind me, and let me do the talking. If anything feels off, we leave immediately.”

The group stepped out from their hiding place, their footsteps crunching softly on the forest floor. The woman turned at the sound, her face lighting up with an unsettlingly warm smile.

“There you are, miei cari!” she said, spreading her arms as though greeting old friends. “I was beginning to think I’d have to come find you myself.”

Amanda stepped forward, her posture stiff. “Who are you, and how do you know our names?”

The woman tilted her head, her smile never wavering. “Call me Lily,” she said, Amanda now certain that her accent was Italian. “Lilith, if you prefer, but I think Lily has a nicer ring to it. And as for your names… well, let’s just say this island has a way of revealing things that are lost.”

The girls exchanged uneasy glances, but Lilith gestured toward the cabin, her tone brisk. “Come inside. It’s not safe to linger out here after dark. The island has… dangers.”

“What kind of dangers?” Candace asked, her voice wary.

Lilith’s expression darkened slightly. “The kind you don’t want to meet unprepared.” She turned and guided the girls to the cabin. Lilith held the door open for them, the creaking hinges sounding unnervingly loud in the quiet jungle. “Come. You’ll be safe in here.”

Amanda hesitated, glancing back at the girls. This woman had a flair for theatrics that Amanda didn’t appreciate, but she was offering shelter. Finally, she nodded. “Stay where I can see you,” she murmured to the girls, stepping forward.

Inside the cabin, the air was cooler and thick with the scent of damp wood and herbs. The space was small but meticulously organized, with shelves lined with jars of dried plants and trinkets made from bones and shells. A fire crackled in a stone hearth, casting flickering shadows on the walls.

And there, sitting on makeshift chairs near the fire, were Julie and Trinity.

“Mrs. Robinson! Trinity!” Bethany cried, rushing forward.

“Bethany!” Trinity jumped up, running to her sister. The two hugged tightly, tears streaming down their faces. Amanda quickly embraced both her girls, uttering a prayer of thanks up toward heaven.

Candace froze, her breath catching as she saw Julie rise from her seat. She had never seen her mother looking this badly shaken, with clear cuts on her face and a patch of dried blood on her left side. “Mom,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

Julie’s face softened, and she opened her arms. “Candace.”

Candace ran to her mother, throwing her arms around her. Julie held her tightly, her usually cold demeanor melting for a rare moment of warmth. Bethany jumped to embrace them, as the three women shared a joyous laugh together at their reunion.

Amanda, though clearly relieved, maintained her composure. “What happened to you two? Are you all right?”

“We’re mostly fine,” Julie said, releasing Candace and stepping back. “A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious. Lily found us after the storm. The yacht ended up stuck in the trees, and we couldn’t get down. Something… something huge came through the area, but it left not long before Lily got to us.”

Trinity nodded, her face pale just from thinking about that hulking beast. How it had seemed to call to her soul. “It was a dog. The biggest dog I’ve ever seen. I thought if it found us we would have been dead meat, but it just killed a pig and left.”

“His name is Kuri,” Lilith interjected. “You are fortunate that he did not find you, at least as you are now.”

Bethany shuddered despite her love of animals, while Rina clung to Candace’s arm. Lilith seemed aware that she had frightened her guests. “Well, enough of that for now, you’ve all been through enough for one day. Rest, eat something. We’ll talk about what to do next when the time is right.”

The girls and their mothers huddled together, exchanging stories of their ordeals. Julie and Trinity listened intently while Bethany shared her own experience with the eels, though Rina remained entirely mute on the subject.

The fire crackled softly in the hearth, casting flickering light over the cramped but cozy interior of the cabin. Lilith moved around the space with practiced ease, stirring a pot of something aromatic over the flames.

For the first time since the shipwreck, they all felt a flicker of hope. Yet, as the firelight danced on Lilith’s serene face, Candace couldn’t shake the feeling that their mysterious host knew far more about the island―and them―than she was letting on. She watched as Lilith passed out ceramic bowls of hot soup, which tasted amazing after a day of barely eating, though none of the girls could think of how to describe the unique flavor. The girls’ faces began to droop from exhaustion as the tension of the day finally seemed to ease.

Eventually, Candace broke the silence, her voice tentative but steady. “Lily… thank you for helping us. But we need to know… where are we?”

Lilith paused, her back to them, before turning with a small, enigmatic smile. “You’re on Makaria,” she said, her voice lilting. “A beautiful island―despite its dangers―don’t you think?”

Bethany frowned, mentally searching through her knowledge of geography. “Makaria? I’ve never heard of it. Is it part of a chain? Like the Samoan archipelago? We were only a few days away from Pago Pago Harbor last night.”

Lilith shook her head slowly, sitting down on a low stool near the fire. Her dress parted to reveal nearly all of her inner thighs, except for a leather strap that circled both thighs not far from the woman’s crotch. Trinity blushed and looked away. Being the most worldly of the group, she had thought Lilith might be some kind of BDSM fetishist when they first met her, and she still worried abut this woman being a secret pervert.

Crossing her thighs provocatively, Lilith explained. “Makaria isn’t on any map, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s… a place that finds you, not the other way around.”

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

Julie narrowed her eyes. Lilith might seem friendly, but her ominous words continued to scare the girls. She needed some straight answers. “And who are you, exactly? How long have you been on Makaria?”

Lilith’s smile faltered for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable passing over her face. “I was like you once―a traveler, shipwrecked by the whims of the sea. That was many years ago. Since then, I’ve learned to survive, to live in communion with the island rather than fight against it.”

“What about Kuri?” Trinity asked, her voice sharper than intended. “That… that thing. It was huge.”

Lilith’s gaze softened, but her tone was solemn. “Kuri is the island’s greatest predator―and its greatest protector. He’s not a threat if you respect the rules of Makaria. Stay out of his way, and he’ll leave you be.”

“Protector?” Amanda asked, crossing her arms. “What could something like that possibly protect?”

Lilith’s smile returned, faint and cryptic. “The balance of the island.”

Candace leaned forward, her brow furrowed. She was done with this mystical nonsense. “How do we get in touch with the outside world? Is there a way to call for help? A radio? A flare gun? Anything?”

Lilith sighed, shaking her head. “There’s no signal here. No way to call out. Makaria is… isolated, in every sense of the word. But you’re not alone. There are others―women who’ve found themselves here, just as you have. I’ll take you to them in the morning.”

Bethany’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Why not now?”

“Because the night holds many dangers aside from Kuri, and I could not protect you all from them,” Lilith said, her voice dropping. “The jungle changes after dark. It’s safer to wait until morning.”

A heavy silence settled over the room. The firelight danced in the girls’ eyes as they processed Lilith’s words, yawning as the fatigue grew more insistent that they sleep. Candace caught Bethany’s gaze, her friend’s furrowed brow mirroring her own unease. Lilith’s answers, though helpful on the surface, felt like pieces of a larger puzzle she wasn’t sharing. But even Amanda and Julie seemed to have accepted her words.

Gratitude had to outweigh their suspicions. At least for now.

Lilith laid out makeshift bedding on the floor, and one by one, the girls and their mothers settled in for the night.

As Candace lay on her back, staring at the wooden ceiling, the distant sounds of the jungle filled her ears: the rustle of leaves, the call of unseen birds, and a faint, echoing howl. Her thoughts continued swirling with questions and unease before sleep finally claimed her.

In the corner of the room, Lilith watched the group with an inscrutable expression, the firelight glinting in her dark eyes. The whole evening as she comforted the girls, her cunt had been wet and dripping freely onto the floor. She had secured this new batch of Innocents, and soon the Aroused would arrive to claim them. With the soup she had fed them generously laced with Veivakama from the jungle, the girls would be too weak and docile to put up any real struggle, their minds preoccupied by visions sent from The Mistress.

A wide smile broke Lilith’s countenance as she envisioned the reward The Mistress would soon grant her, but even further, she looked forward to the day when these girls would accept a place as one of Lilith’s sisters. Beneath her dress, her cunt gushed with increased arousal, the liquid now trickling down her inner thighs profusely, soaking into the leather straps and sheer fabric she wore. Biting her lip, Lilith waited impatiently, excited to offer up a night of masturbatory devotion to The Mistress once the girls had been taken away.

Candace woke abruptly to the sensation of rough rope cutting into her wrists. Her heart slammed against her rib cage as she tried to move, but her arms and legs were bound tightly, her ankles shackled with cold, heavy chains. Around her, muffled sounds of stirring and protests filled the dimly lit cabin.

“What the―” Trinity’s voice cut through the haze. “What the hell is going on? Let me go!”

Candace struggled to sit up without the use of her limbs, her eyelids heavy and muscles protesting as she caught sight of Trinity, Julie, and the others bound just like her, their expressions a mix of fury and terror. Like Candace, all of them seemed in a stupor, pulling weakly against their restrains despite what was happening. Around them stood a group of women, their faces obscured by shadows but their forms unmistakably strange. They wore flowing sheer garments that were even more revealing than what Lilith had worn, with nipples and breast contours easily visible even in the dim light. The rest of their clothing seemed almost tribal, pieced together from leather, metal and bones, all placed to accentuate their sexual features, with beads and shells jingling softly from necks, wrists, and nipples as they moved. Their faces were marked with red ink beneath both eyes, which glinted at the group in cold amusement.

“Release us!” Julie commanded, her voice as sharp as the edge of a blade.

“Whatever this is, it’s a mistake!” Trinity yelled, shoving futilely against the woman who held her rope.

“This was Lily’s plan all along, wasn’t it?” Candace solemnly observed. The women parted to reveal Lilith smiling in the shadows.

“Ah, mia dolce ragazza. I’m sorry for the deception, but I need the reward.”

“What reward!?” Candace roared.

“You will see soon enough,” Lilith said, stepping forward to cup Candace’s chin as she looked into her eyes. “But I promise you, the day will come when you thank me for this.”

Enraged, Candace spit in Lilith’s face. “How dare you betray us! We never should have trusted you.”

Lilith scooped the spit off her face and licked it. The women surrounding them merely laughed, harsh and grating, the sound echoing ominously within the small space.

“These three are fiery ones,” one of the women remarked, indicating Julie, Trinity and Candace. The woman was clearly South Asian, possessing elegant curves and a gorgeous smile. “This will be fun. Breaking their spirits always is.”

Amanda, her face pale but composed, straightened as much as her bindings would allow. “What do you want from us? Why are you doing this?”

Another woman, taller and more muscular than the rest stepped forward, her beautiful face marred solely by a scar across her right eyebrow. Her piercing gaze looked Amanda up and down like a piece of meat. She wore an intricate headdress of feathers and bones atop her blonde hair, and her presence commanded attention. “You are to be inducted into our sisterhood,” she said in a German accent, her tone cold and matter-of-fact. “You’ll be trained to serve and to honor the ways of Makaria.”

Bethany whimpered, her hands trembling, but somehow found her voice. “What, like a cult? That’s not happening. I’m a faithful Christian girl!”

Bethany reached for her Bible but was roughly yanked back by one of her captors, who kicked the book away from the girl.

“Then prepare for a trial of your faith,” the tall woman replied, her lips curving into a sinister smile.

The women began pulling the group to their feet, their movements practiced and efficient. Rina stumbled as she was yanked upward and torn away from her sister, her frightened gaze darting back to Candace. “Candace!” she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Leave her alone!” Candace yelled, struggling against the hands gripping her arms. “Don’t you dare hurt her!”

The tall woman with the headdress barked a command, and the group began moving, dragging their captives out of the cabin into the cool, moonlit jungle. The humid air clung to their skin, and the distant sounds of the night creatures mingled with the rhythmic jingling of the women’s garments. The ground began slanting upward, becoming more rocky as the group began an upward ascent into thickly forested hills.

At first, the girls focused on their immediate predicament―the restraints, the direction they were being taken, the muffled murmurs of their captors. But then the air around them seemed to shift, heavy and charged, as if the jungle itself were alive and leaning in to listen to their sobs. They all thought it was their imaginations running wild with fear, the strange shapes and forms darting in and out of view simply figments of their minds.

Then, the whispers began.

Amanda’s ears pricked up as a voice, soft and lilting, slid into her mind like a serpent through grass.

“They’ll turn against you, Amanda. Trinity, the rebel, always chasing after boys. She will fall to sin. Bethany, though her faith may seem unshakable, has already felt forbidden pleasure. In time her faith will crumble. If you don’t rein them in, you’ll lose them to the corruption of the world.”

Was she going mad? The voice was not her own, that much was certain. She shook her head, her lips moving soundlessly. “No… no…”

“They need you, Amanda. They must be made to understand that it is you who guide their destinies. You who keeps them safe from this sinful world. Who loves them more than anyone else could.”

Images flashed through her mind: Trinity bowing her head in submission, Bethany clinging to her, weeping for forgiveness. The thought sent a sick thrill through Amanda. Her arms ached to hold them, to touch their beautiful bodies. She would keep them close―so close they could never leave her.

Amanda’s knees wobbled, her pulse racing as she stumbled forward, barely aware of the path ahead. In her trance like state, some part of her knew the voice was right: her girls needed her. She glanced at her youngest daughter with new feelings that were no longer purely maternal.

Julie tried to shake off the strange sensation creeping into her mind, but the voice came anyway, smooth and insidious.

“They’re keeping things from you. Candace, with her perfect facade, you know in your heart she is evil. You’ve seen the way Andrew looks at her, and you know there is something between them. Something perverse. Rina may look innocent, always hiding behind her screens, but she is even more corrupt than her sister. They will destroy you if you do not show them their place. They’re laughing at you, Julie. Lying to you. Take back your power.”

“No,” she whispered under her breath, her voice cracking. She couldn’t believe the words, they were too dreadful to be true.

“They don’t deserve happiness while you suffer in a loveless marriage. Candace has stolen his love from you. She’s trying to replace you as the mother of the home. Rina locks away her true self so you’ll never see it. You’ll find out the truth. They’ll both turn into whores. You must punish them for every smile they’ve dared to hide from you. They’re yours, Julie. You own them.”

Images invaded her thoughts: Rina being ravaged by thugs in an alleyway. Candace crying as Julie walks in on her and Andrew coupling in her marital bed, Candace’s own father spilling his seed inside their daughter.

A dark rage bubbled up inside Julie even as she tried to deny it to herself, making her breath hitch. Try as she might to look away, she found herself glaring daggers into the back of her daughter’s skull.

Trinity’s steps faltered as the voice filled her mind, deep and commanding.

“Kuri,” it growled, the name rolling through her mind like thunder. “You saw him, didn’t you? You felt his power. His magnificence.”

Her breath quickened, and her cheeks burned as images flooded her mind. She saw herself naked and on her knees before the massive dog, its black fur rippling as it sniffed her neck. The weight of its presence pressed down on her like gravity.

“He is the island’s protector. A god. You know it is right to prostrate yourself before him. Submit to his strength. Let him possess you, claim you as his own, and you will know eternal bliss.”

She shuddered, trying to shake the heinous thought, but it clung to her like a second skin, making her knees weak. Suddenly those boys she’d fooled around with back home seemed so silly to her.

Bethany whimpered as the voice reached her, sweet and taunting.

“The eels, Bethany. You can’t forget their touch, can you? Their smooth bodies gliding against your skin? It felt so good…”

“No,” she whispered, trembling. “It didn’t…”

“But it did. You liked it. The sensation. The intimacy. It’s the best thing you’ve ever felt. Wouldn’t you like to feel it again? Something primal, touching you―mating with you―as nature intended.”

Images assaulted her: the eels coiling around her legs, ripping away her clothing, nipping at her flesh, and penetrating her special place―the one she had planned to save for marriage. Realization hit her: that must have been what the eels had done to Rina.

“It could have been me.” She whispered. Jealousy and lust like she had never known suddenly blossomed within her heart.

Her face burned as intense pleasure shot through her, her breath hitching as the thoughts grew more vivid, more alluring. So consumed was she, that the thought of a prayer for help never even occurred to her.

Rina’s eyes darted frantically, her breath shallow as the voice whispered to her like static in her ears.

“Technology, Rina. You crave it, don’t you? Staring at a screen as you look up the most perverted fantasies you can imagine. Gliding your hand between your legs, your fingers teasing your wet snatch. You do it every day. It has come to define you. It’s your only escape. After the eels, you need it more than ever, now that you know the pleasure that comes with filling that sweet cunt of yours.”

Rina’s lips trembled as she swiftly gave into the trance. “I… I need it.”

“You will find it. Obey the women, serve my Handmaiden, and it is yours. As much as you want. Lose yourself in it again. You’ll never have to hide it, so long as you obey.”

Her heart raced, and her fingers twitched, wishing she had access to her now-wet vagina. More than the others, Rina felt intrigued about what would come next.

Candace gritted her teeth, trying to block out the strange voice that wormed its way into her thoughts.

“You failed her, Candace. You’ve kept secrets from your mother. You deserve punishment.”

“No…”

Images of kissing a man flitted through her mind. It as true that she had kissed someone before, and kept it a secret from her mother. Except now as the man became clearer, Candace found to her horror that she was kissing her own father. That wasn’t right, she thought. She would never kiss him, not like this, tongues entwined as they grasped at each other’s bodies, her small hands atop his broad shoulders as he towered over her. No, it had only ever been a quick peck on the cheek. That was all. Hadn’t it?

The harder Candace tried to deny the images before her, the more she could no longer remember kissing anyone else. Despite her efforts to reject it, her mind slowly accepted that she really had kissed her own father, passionately and shamelessly. The voice was right: she deserved to be punished.

“But Rina doesn’t. She’s innocent. You should take her place. Submit yourself for her. Protect her from what’s coming.”

New images flickered through her mind: herself bound and naked on the ground as her mother’s stern face loomed above her, pressing a bare foot into her groin. The heat and spasms of pleasure Candace felt from this treatment filled her with shame and acceptance, knowing this was what she deserved. Tears flowed freely, her voice trembling with apologies as she begged for forgiveness.

“You deserve it, Candace. You’ve dallied with your father and lied to your mother’s face about it. Offer yourself, and maybe you can spare your sister the same fate.”

Her chest tightened, tears burning in Candace’s light brown eyes as she stumbled forward, barely able to focus on her surroundings. There must have been something in the food that Lilith had served them. Some kind of drug…

Each girl was lost in her own torment, the whispers twisting their thoughts and keeping them unfocused. The whole time, their captors smirked, their laughter low and knowing as they dragged their prisoners deeper into the jungle. The first visions from The Mistress were unlike any other.

After some time had passed―how long the girls could not tell―the sound of running water nearby began to fill their ears, the voice falling silent. Topping a crest in the hillside, a river and small waterfall came into view. When the women reached a crude wooden bridge that spanned the river, they suddenly parted into two groups.

“This way,” one of the women growled, as Julie, Trinity, and Candace were tugged across the bridge. Meanwhile, Amanda, Bethany, and Rina were marched in the opposite direction, further up the hillside.

“No!” Candace screamed, digging her heels into the dirt despite her bound feet. “Don’t take her! Please, let me stay with her!”

Her captors laughed, the sound cold and cruel. “Worry about yourself, girl,” one of them sneered. “You should be far more concerned about what lies ahead for you.”

“Candace! Candace!” Rina cried as she was dragged away up the hillside, swiftly disappearing from view.

“We’ll get her back,” Julie muttered to Candace, but the words felt hollow to her.

Candace’s voice broke as she screamed Rina’s name, but it was no use. The jungle swallowed her cries, and her sister’s sobs grew fainter with every step.

Candace’s heart pounded as she was pulled forward, the shadows of the jungle closing in around her like a living thing. The loss of her sister allowed Candace to shake off the stupor she felt with a cold determination. Whatever fate awaited her, she knew one thing for certain: she would never forgive Lilith for what she had done. Somehow, she would make her pay.