Chapter 6 Eli still has feelings for Mara?

Dinner was awkward in ways Mara couldn't quite articulate.

Theo had made spaghetti, it was simple and familiar, the kind of comfort food that should have brought them together. They gathered around the table as the last light drained from the sky, passing bowls and plates, making the normal sounds of people sharing a meal. But nobody was really talking. Not the way they had at breakfast.

The truth-or-dare game had left something sour in the air.

Mara pushed pasta around her plate, managing a few bites that sat heavy in her stomach. Across from her, Sienna wasn't eating at all, just moving her fork in small circles, creating patterns in the sauce. Rhett kept glancing at her with concern, but every time he opened his mouth to ask if she was okay, he seemed to think better of it.

"This is really good, Theo," Aria said, breaking the silence with brightness. "You should open a restaurant."

"Can't. Medical school." Theo's response was automatic, like he'd said it a thousand times. "Four years, then residency. No time for anything else."

"Sounds depressing," Devon said around a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Sounds like a plan." Theo's voice was sharper than usual. "Some of us have goals beyond making people laugh at parties."

Devon raised his hands in surrender. "Whoa. Just saying, man. Life's short. My grandfather used to say…." He stopped abruptly with his jaw tightening. "Never mind."

Mara watched him stare at his plate, suddenly interested in his food. He'd almost mentioned his grandfather again. The one who told stories about Hollow Creek. The one whose existence Devon had downplayed during their game, claiming it was nothing real.

"I think I'm gonna turn in early," Sienna said quietly, standing. Her plate was still full. "I'm not feeling great."

"Want me to come with you?" Rhett asked immediately.

"No, it's okay. Stay, finish eating. I just need to lie down." She managed a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Too much sun today, probably."

She left before anyone could argue, her footsteps were soft on the stairs. They all listened to her ascend, heard the door to her room open and close. The silence after felt heavier.

"She's been weird all day," Juno said, keeping her voice low even though Sienna was gone. "Since the lake. Did something happen?"

"She said she got dizzy," Rhett said, but he didn't sound convinced. "The heat, probably."

"Or the sketch," Mara said before she could stop herself.

Everyone looked at her.

"What sketch?" Eli asked.

"At the lake. She drew something in that notebook and it scared her. I saw her face."

"She said it was just the lake," Rhett said, defensive now. "Why would a drawing scare her?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"Maybe you're seeing things that aren't there," Aria said carefully. "You've been on edge since we got here, Mara. Which is understandable, given.." She stopped, clearly thinking better of finishing that sentence.

"Given what?" Mara's voice came out harder than she intended. "Given that my brother disappeared in these woods and everyone thinks I'm crazy for still caring?"

"That's not what I meant…."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant," Aria said slowly, "that trauma can make us see patterns where there aren't any. Find meaning in coincidence. It's a coping mechanism."

"So I'm coping wrong?"

"So you're looking for ghosts."

The word hung in the air and Mara felt her face flush, anger mixing with embarrassment, maybe, or fear that Aria was right.

"Okay, can we not?" Juno cut in"We're on vacation. Sort of. Let's not turn dinner into a therapy session."

"Agreed," Devon said quickly. "New topic. Literally anything else."

They tried to bring up new topic. Eli brought up a story about their professor who'd accidentally set his notes on fire during a lecture. Devon countered with something about his roommate's terrible cooking. The conversation limped along, until they'd all finished eating and could escape under the pretense of cleaning up.

Mara volunteered to wash dishes, needing something to do with her hands. Eli joined her without asking, taking up position with a dish towel. They worked in silence for a while, falling into an old rhythm. She'd wash, he'd dry, they'd avoid looking at each other.

"I did, you know," Eli said quietly.

"Did what?"

"Still have feelings. For you." He kept his eyes on the plate he was drying. "I lied earlier during the game."

Mara's hands stilled in the soapy water. "Eli…"

"I'm not telling you to do anything about it. I know we're done. I just….I didn't want that lie sitting between us. Not here." He finally looked at her. "This place feels wrong enough without adding more lies to it."

She wanted to say something. Wanted to tell him that she'd known, that his lie had been obvious, that maybe she'd felt relieved because reciprocating would be easier than facing the truth—that she couldn't love anyone properly with Ethan's ghost between them.

Instead, she pulled her hands from the water and dried them on her jeans. "I need some air."

She walked out before he could respond, through the living room where the others were settling in for a movie, out the front door onto the porch. The night air hit her face, clearing some of the fog in her head.

The forest was completely black beyond the porch light's reach. There were no moon yet, just stars scattered across the sky. Mara sat on the steps and let the darkness press against her.

Behind her, through the window, she could hear the movie starting. Someone laughed, it was a normal sounds. Safe sounds.

She stayed outside anyway, breathing the pine-scented air, trying to remember why she'd thought this trip was a good idea.

A branch snapped somewhere in the darkness.

Mara's head jerked up, her eyes straining to see beyond the porch light's glow. Nothing moved. Just trees that were dense and still.

Another snap, it was closer this time. Definitely a footstep.

"Devon?" she called out. "If you're trying to scare me again, it's not funny."

There were no response, but she could hear something now—not footsteps exactly, more like something dragging through the underbrush. It was slow and deliberate.

Mara stood, her every muscle wss tense. "Seriously, this isn't funny."

The dragging sound stopped and for a long moment, there was only silence and the distant murmur of the movie inside.

Then, from the darkness, a voice called her "Mara."

Her blood turned to ice. She knew that voice. She haddn't heard it in five years, but she knew it the way you know your own heartbeat.

"Ethan?" The word came out as a whisper.

"Mara," the voice said again, and now she could place the direction, off to the left, maybe twenty yards into the trees. "Help me."

This wasn't happening. This was her mind playing tricks, stress and exhaustion and too many sleepless nights creating auditory hallucinations. Aria's words echoed in her head: You're looking for ghosts.

"Please," Ethan's voice said, and there was such pain in it, like he was in such desperate need. "I'm still here. I've been waiting. Please."

Mara found herself moving forward, off the porch steps and toward the trees. Her rational mind was screaming at her to stop, to go inside, to get Eli or Theo or anyone. But her legs kept moving, drawn by that voice, by the possibility that maybe….

Before she could continue, a hand grabbed her arm.

She spun with her heart slamming against her ribs. Eli stood there, his face was pale in the porch light.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Did you hear that? Did you hear him?"

"Hear what? Mara, you were about to walk into the forest. In the dark. Alone."

She looked back at the trees. The voice was gone. Just silence and shadow and her own ragged breathing.

"I heard. " She stopped. What had she heard? Her dead brother calling from the woods? How could she say that without sounding insane? "Nothing. I heard nothing."

But Eli was looking at her like he knew she was lying. Like he could see straight through to the desperate hope and terror churning in her chest.

"Come inside," he said gently. "Please."

She let him guide her back to the cabin, back to the warmth and light and the sounds of her friends laughing at whatever was on screen. She sat on the couch next to Aria, who gave her a concerned look but didn't ask questions.

Mara stared at the TV without seeing it. Her mind was still in the forest, still hearing that voice.

I'm still here. I've been waiting.

On the mantle, the photograph watched them with frozen smiles. And if Mara had looked closelyif any of them had looked closely, they might have noticed something new in the background of the image.

A figure that was barely visible among the trees, it was standing at the edge of the forest and watching the cabin with patient, hungry eyes.