Jack and I had barely begun our frantic search for Layla when we realized that she was missing from the camp. Her parents had mentioned that she’d gone out for a run, but the patrolling guards reported no sightings of her, stirring a sense of dread in my gut.
I decided to check the beach first, hoping the familiar surroundings might yield some clues about her whereabouts. Moving towards the packhouse, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. As I stepped out of the packhouse, a flicker of movement caught my eye in the dense underbrush of the forest that bordered the house.
I glanced back toward Jack, who was still occupied with gathering the rest of the camp’s inhabitants. The area around me felt eerily empty, and I sensed that it was crucial to follow the indication of mov
