Mine.

The ferocity of those words echoed in my head as I forced my mind to block that voice. But as usual, I failed.

Mine.

I had no idea where that voice had come from and I had no idea how to stop it. It just came and went as it pleased. Its words haunted me every moment of my life ever since I turned eighteen.

And right then, it seemed louder and more demanding than it had ever been.

You're mine, Phoebe.

The husky voice just wouldn't stop.

Mine. You're mine. And I will have you.

No! I would always scream back at it after it said those words. Please, leave me alone.

It had always worked before. The voice would leave each time I would stand up against it. But this time, it was as if it had developed a sudden fierce authority over me, over my own mind. It didn't listen and back off like it usually did, but rather it sounded more determined that this time I would give in.

And frankly, with the way the voice was getting thicker and harsher by the minute, I feared that it wouldn't be long before I would finally let it take over me.

You are mine, it growled out. And I will have you.

Please, no.

You are mine.

No! Please, just stop! The voice was getting worse, and I was getting desperate.

Yes. Mine. The voice then started to fade, which only meant that I was waking up. I'll make you mine, on the third full moon.

I jolted awake. But that was a bad idea because my head suddenly hit the roof of a hard ceiling.

"Ow," I groaned and rubbed the sore spot.

Strangely, the cove was deadly quiet and I thought I was the only one left there until my eyes came into contact with a pair of bright, familiar steel-blue ones.

I shrieked and quickly backed away on instinct. I hadn't known that John was awake and catching him staring at me like that was enough to make me react the way I did at first glance. His eyes seemed to bore through my own as he continued to gaze intently and I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable under his scrutiny. I fumbled awkwardly with my fingers until I had the courage to speak.

I cleared my throat in an attempt to kill the silence. "John?"

His head had been positioned on his palm as he lay propped up on his elbow. He didn't move. Not a single sound came from him and that started to make me uneasy.

"John? John?" I tried again, fear lacing through my voice. I scrambled from my position and crawled towards him. "John?" I shook his shoulder.

But he just kept staring at me.

"John?" Now I was getting terrified. He hadn't moved. He hadn't even blinked. He just stayed there, staring.

I shook him harder then yelled, "John!"

"Huh? What?" He blinked instantly and quickly sat up. When his gaze met mine again, I saw concern evident in his eyes.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, bemused.

"Y-Your eyes," I stuttered, unable to control the slight quiver in my voice.

"My eyes?" he repeated, puzzled for a second before a certain sort of realisation dawned on him and he smiled knowingly. "Were they opened?"

I nodded slowly, still freaked out.

He shook his head and chuckled. "I figured. I kind of sleep with my eyes open."

"What?" Perplexed at the answer he gave, I asked, "Someone can do that?" Was there even such a thing? Or was he just making it up?

"Well, it seems natural to a few people. When I start to sleep I close my eyes, then later on or in the middle of the night or some time close they just pop open. Just like that, without me noticing it. My parents told me I've been that way since a little boy."

"Oh," I responded then sighed in relief since the answer sounded plausible enough. I had thought that he was some psycho who watched girls sleep or that he had even died. But I thanked God that that was not the case.

I lifted my hand and ran it through my messy dark brown hair. Then for the first time since I had woken up, I shifted my gaze to eye around the stony structure.

It was like any other normal cave. Rocky-like structure with tiny insects and fungi in its corners and an exception for bats. Sunlight streamed into the cove through the wide opening and made the inside clearer and more stunning though simple.

I also noticed that we were the only ones in the cave. No Maddison. No Miguel. No tourists.

"Hey, where are the others?" I asked curiously as I glanced around.

"They're outside taking a healthy fresh morning breather," he replied with a shrug.

"But what if the beast got them? Why did you leave them alone outside?"

"Relax. The beast only comes out at night. I woke up the same time they did and showed them where the stream was so they could go wash their faces or freshen up. But I was still tired so I came back to sleep again," John explained.

"With your eyes open?" I said, calming down and feeling small smile appear at the side of my lips.

"With my eyes open," he repeated with a grin then stretched forward to take my hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

We crawled out of the rocky structure and I took a deep breath of the fresh morning breeze as the dew shimmered around me. The woods seemed cheerful this morning. The different hues it projected made it appear beautiful and almost too bright, nearly blinding me.

The trees had the same shape. All were thin, tall and spaced out in a pattern that made it easier to zigzag through.

John led me to where the others were at and instinctively, my eyes searched for the one person that I had vowed to take care of.

Eventually, I found her sitting by the small stream and playing with the water flowing from the rocks with her fingertips.

I carefully made my way towards her and sat down on the ground beside her.

"Hey," I greeted, giving her a small smile.

"Hey," Maddison returned the gesture and waved.

"You're looking okay this morning." I cupped some of the water in my hands and began to wash my mouth, face and hands. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "A little better. Though there was enough fright last night to break me down last night."

I nodded. "I know how you feel."

She shrugged again. "I knew I was overreacting. It's just that I get absurdly scared sometimes."

I arched an eyebrow. "Overreacting? Are you serious? You saw Joseph get killed by a beast and we were chased by that same animal that has now seemed to vanish into thin air. That should have you running amok by now."

Giggling, Maddison replied. "Well, I'm not. But that doesn't mean that I'm not scared anymore. Only the tiniest bit." She sighed.

"Maddison, how old are you?" I had a sudden urge to ask.

"Nineteen." She stared at her reflexion. "I've had enough fear in my life to last me forever."

I looked at the tiny British girl sitting beside me. Her blond hair was tied carelessly at her back and her clothes were stained with dirt.

I averted my gaze from her appearance and nudged her shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

She looked at me with sad eyes and I almost felt bad for asking. "There's not really much to say but-"

"Ah!" A scream startled us and we both jumped to our feet.

Everyone else froze for about a millisecond before they started moving quickly towards the noise. I caught sight of Miguel cursing loudly before he saw me drew closer.

"What's it this time?" He asked as he jogged beside me.

"I have no idea."

I saw the tourists gather around a familiar redhead whose eyes were as wide as saucers.

Miguel instantly pushed through the small crowd and pulled her to him in an attempt to soothe her. "It's okay, Brittany. Just tell us what happened."

I gave him a questioning look.

He responded by smiling slyly and mouthing 'later', wiggling his eyebrows. I just shook my head.

"Look!" Brittany shoved at Miguel's chest and cried out, pointing towards the forest floor just a few metres away from where we stood. "Are you blind?!"

Confused at her outburst, we all followed the direction of her finger and gasped when we came face-to-face with the horrific scene displayed before us.