The sound of heavy footsteps came from the hall, walking slowly toward the living room where everyone sat together, gripping each other's hands and their pitiful weapons. Ginger was screaming, an inconsolable mess, and Caden was laughing like a madman. Nolan was trying to get them to be quiet and Trinity had moved to the front of the group, brandishing the fire poker like a sword. With the orange glow of the flames highlighting her smooth, strong face, Jay thought she looked like some kind of warrior goddess. But then he remembered she was just a teenager with a fire poker, and he reached for Mickie's hand.

As the footsteps drew closer, they could hear a low, growling sound that sent chills up and down Jay's spine. He clutched a kitchen knife in his left hand, but wondered how desperate or crazy he'd have to be to try and fight that thing with a knife. He glanced at Mickie and decided that, if it came down to it, he would try to fight.

Just as Jay was gathering what little courage he had, someone stood up and moved past Trinity, heading toward the hall. In the dancing light of the fire, Jay realized it was Kyrie.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he said, trying to keep his voice low.

Kyrie turned around to look at them, but her face was shadowed and impossible to see clearly. "It's not fair, for someone like me to keep living while the rest of you get taken before me."

Trinity lowered the poker slightly, her eyes wide with surprise. "What are you talking about? Get behind me!"

Kyrie shook her head. "I told you already. This is punishment. I deserve this. I... killed my little sister... when I was nine. We were playing by a stream and she pulled my hair, so I pushed her and..." The words trailed off, too horrible for her to speak them. She lowered her head for a moment then looked up again. "That's why my parents sent me here. They couldn't see me as their child anymore. They only saw me as the person who killed their daughter. And I can't remember... I can't remember if I did it on purpose or not. So it should be me this time."

Jay stood up then. "That's ridiculous! No one deserves to die like this! Who cares what happened when you were nine? You were just a little kid!"

Ginger stood up too, her whole body shaking as she cried, "Please don't go, Kyrie!"

Kyrie shook her head again. "I'm sorry, but please don't try to stop me. Like I said, it's not fair if it's one of you instead of me."

Jay turned to see the others' reactions, and while most of them were crying or telling Kyrie not to go, Jay noticed that Kat's perpetually dull expression had changed to shock. Before he could even wonder about it, Kyrie broke into a run and disappeared into the hall, leaving the rest of them stunned.

They heard more growling, louder and more aggressive, and then a thumping sound. Finally, they heard the heavy footsteps dragging something quickly away. All Jay could think was, "She didn't even scream."

Everyone sat on the couches in silence, no one wanting to talk. They remained that way until sunrise, when Trinity suggested that they all try to get some sleep while it was safe to do so. They were all so exhausted, physically and emotionally, that they fell sleep easily despite the fear and despair that had gripped them all the more strongly since last night.

A little before noon, they began waking up, it was like they'd all had a delayed reaction to Kyrie's sacrifice. Ginger began sobbing loudly, Trinity hugging her while tears streamed down her own face. Nolan sat with his face in his hands, while Diego was nothing but stony silence. Kat seemed more withdrawn than usual, and Caden stood looking out the window, smiling to himself as if he'd just remembered a funny joke.

Mickie sat beside Jay, looking numb until he patted her arm gently and said, "Are you alright?"

She blinked and looked at him. "Oh... yeah. I'm okay."

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked, trying to disguise the fact that he needed to talk about it.

"I was just thinking," she said, looking away from him, "maybe Kyrie was right. Maybe this is punishment. Maybe we all did something horrible and we just don't remember it, or it was something we didn't think was that bad, but it hurt someone else really bad."

Jay suddenly remembered something from several months before, when he was feeling sorry for his mother because she'd been fired from yet another job. She was in the living room, sulking on the sofa, when he came in and said, "I can get a part-time job to help with the bills until you find another job." He'd thought hard about what he could do to help their situation, and this was all he could come up with.

She'd looked up at him then with venom in her bleary eyes. "Oh yeah, your minimum wage paycheck would save the day," she said bitterly. "Don't be an idiot, Jay. I'd spend more money driving your ass to work and back than you could make flipping burgers."

He'd felt embarrassed and stupid, not because he hadn't considered the cost of travel to and from work, but because he'd actually thought for a minute that she would appreciate his attempt to help. Of course he knew any money he made wouldn't be enough, but it would be better than nothing. But she had swatted down his offer and made him feel like a moron.

"Well?" she asked, as he stood in the doorway. "Any more genius ideas? Wanna make a lemonade stand in the yard? Wanna collect cans? Since you're so full of wisdom right now, you might as well get all your brilliant ideas out at once."

"No, I just... I thought I could help and..."

"I don't need your help, you useless child!" she screamed, standing up. Jay took a reflexive step back. She'd never hit him before, but she'd always seemed like she was on the verge of just snapping and attacking him, so her angry outbursts left him on edge.

"This is all your fault!" she yelled, over and over like a mantra. Jay had backed away and then went up to his room, closing the door and trying to drown out her voice.

He remembered clearly that he had tried, on several occasions, to be good to his mother. He'd tried to show kindness to a woman who had shown him only anger and hate. He wasn't perfect, he wasn't a saint, but he'd tried to be a decent person, in spite of how she'd raised him.

Jay put his hand on Mickie's shoulder to draw her gaze back to his face. "I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that. We're not bad kids. Well, except for Caden, maybe. But I don't deserve this, and you don't deserve this. And Nolan and Trinity and Ginger definitely don't deserve this. And Kat and probably even Diego. Someone is doing this to us for a reason, and we need to figure out why before we all get wiped out."

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Trinity looked up. "You're right. We can't lose anyone else. Tomorrow, let's find that woman and make her talk, no matter what."

"Yeah," Mickie said, putting her hand over Jay's. "We can do this. We can make her open the gate."

Several of the others agreed, and Jay's pep talk seemed to have lifted their spirits slightly. He grinned, happy that, for once, an attempt to help actually worked out. As everyone began discussing a plan of action, Mickie leaned in close and whispered, "Thank you, Jay."

His face reddened and he stammered out, "No problem."

"Okay," Trinity said, gently pulling herself away from Ginger and standing up, "That woman obviously didn't want us to go inside the cave, so I think we can draw her out by going back to it."

"That's a good idea," Nolan said. "I also think we should check the cave out. If she didn't want us in there, maybe there are clues about what's going on inside."

"Maybe some of us could chase after her while the rest look in the cave," Jay suggested.

"So who are the fastest runners here?" Mickie asked.

Diego stood up. "I'm on my school track team. I'm probably the fastest person here."

Trinity put one hand on her hip. "Oh really? I'm on the track team too. So I guess we'll be pairing up for this little mission."

"Think you can catch her?" Jay asked.

Trinity nodded. "Last time we were so shocked and confused by her appearance that she got away before we really started chasing her. This time we'll be ready to go."

"And while you two chase her," Mickie said, "Jay and I will check out the cave."

Jay blinked. "We will?"

She squeezed his hand. "You're the one who got us all pumped up to find a way out of here. You might as well lead the charge."

Jay smiled uneasily. "Uh, sure. That makes sense. We'll take the flashlight."

"If that thing actually lives in the cave," Nolan said, looking at Jay and Mickie, "don't try to confront it. Just check things out and come back, as quickly as you can."

"You don't have to worry about that, trust me," Jay said.

"I think the rest of us should stay here," Nolan told them. "The more people go, the more likely we'll wake that thing up if it is sleeping in the cave."

Everyone agreed on the plan, and after eating some light breakfast to give them energy, Jay, Mickie, Diego, and Trinity headed outside. As they trekked through the woods, Trinity handed Jay the flashlight. "You'll need this in the cave."

He thanked her and shoved it into his coat pocket, then rubbed his hands together and blew his own hot breath on them. Beside him, Mickie was calm and determined, looking forward with a serious expression. He was happy that his words had affected her, but now he was starting to worry that she might do something reckless.

"Hey, Mickie," he started, "If we find that thing sleeping in the cave, you're not gonna... you know... try to kill it or something, are you?"

She looked at him with the expression worn by people who'd been caught doing something they shouldn't. She hesitated too long, then said, "Oh, no... I'm not planning to."

"You're being really obvious," Jay said, "Please don't get us both killed. I know it would be nice to save everyone, but it's more likely we'd just piss it off and end up dead."

She sighed. "Alright. I won't do anything stupid, I promise."

"Great. I appreciate it," Jay replied.

"God, just get a room or something," Diego said from in front of them.

Trinity grinned. "I think somebody's jealous."

Diego rolled his eyes. "Yeah, starting a relationship with someone when we're all getting killed off one by one is the best idea I've ever heard. Maybe I'll make a move on Kat when we get back."

Jay frowned. "What is with you, dude? Is asshole your default setting or something?"

Diego didn't look back. "I just want out of this place. I never liked being cooped up."

"Are you sure you have somewhere to go back to?" Mickie asked.

"What, you want me to start crying to you guys about why my parents sent me to this God forsaken place?" Diego asked, still trudging through the snow. "Here's an easy answer for you: I'm a trouble-maker. I make trouble. For everyone, apparently. No drama, no tragic history, no traumatic event. I live in the suburbs for God's sake. My mom is president of the PTA. I guess they just got tired of having a screw-up for a son."

"Wow," Jay said, "That's... actually pretty sad. I mean, you're an asshole but you don't seem like that bad of a person."

"I'm not," Diego said. "I pissed off a lot of people and I guess that included my parents, so here I am. End of story."

Trinity interrupted them. "Okay, guys, we're here."

The cave was as dark and menacing as Jay remembered. He and Mickie stepped closer, while Jay and Trinity waited several steps back and kept a lookout for the mystery woman. The closer they got to the entrance, the more Jay's palms were sweating inside his pockets. His hand was on the flashlight. Mickie was by his side. He was as ready as he ever would be. As he set one foot inside the mouth of the cave, he heard a woman's voice yell, "No! Don't go in there!"

Before Jay could turn around, Trinity and Diego were already running. He mentally wished them luck as they disappeared into the woods, glanced at Mickie to be sure she was ready, and together they walked on in.

He pulled out the flashlight and turned it on. In the narrow beam of light, he could at least be sure there were no holes they could potentially step in and that they weren't walking into any walls. Above them, icicles glistened along the cave ceiling and Jay felt nervous. "Those things don't usually fall, do they?" he asked, shining the light on the sharp peaks of ice pointing toward their heads.

"I don't think so," Mickie said, taking his free hand and leading him further in as he turned the light back to the path before them.

The cave was cold, but not as cold as it was outside, where the wind continuously blew snow at their faces. The further in they went, the more quiet it was, as the sound of the wind grew fainter and fainter. After walking carefully for several minutes, Mickie said, "Shine the light over here."

She was pointing at the wall to her left, so Jay aimed the flashlight and, surprisingly, illuminated some crude drawings. There were dozens of them, all depicting people with long hair and wolf-like heads. In several of the drawings, they were dragging or eating what appeared to be children.

"Oh God," Jay whispered.

"How long has this been going on?" Mickie asked under her breath.

"I'm not sure I wanna know. Should we keep going?"

She nodded, and together they pressed on. After rounding a corner, they ended up in a large, open area. As soon as they stepped in, they were assaulted by a foul odor that had them rushing to cover their noses with the collars of their zipped-up coats. And in the dark, they heard a sound that caused them both to freeze where they stood. It was a cross between a snore and a growl, and they instantly knew that something else was in the cave with them.

Jay hesitantly moved the beam of the flashlight around, trying to find the source of the noise. When it fell on a large, human-shaped figure lying on piles of straw, Jay panicked and almost dropped the flashlight. It fumbled from his hand but he caught it in the crook of his elbow. He pointed the light at the figure again, and realized that what he'd thought was black clothing was actually dark-colored animal furs hanging all over the figure's body. Jay immediately thought of a caveman, but he never imagined one would be this big.

The figure made another growling sound and rolled over in its sleep. Terrified of waking it, Jay took Mickie's hand and hurried back through the path they had taken. They moved quietly but quickly, and Jay shined the light behind them every few seconds, paranoid that they were being followed.

Once they were outside the cave, Jay turned off the flashlight and dropped to his knees. "Oh my God. Oh my God. What was that?"

Mickie was still standing, but she was clearly shaken. Her normally rich-colored skin looked oddly pale and her voice trembled as she said, "I have no idea. But that's definitely the same thing that attacked us."

Jay stood up. "Let's go see if Diego and Trinity had any luck."

They headed back through the forest, walking at a brisk speed because they were both excited to find out if the woman had been found. As they neared the camp, they broke into a run, then came to a sudden stop when they saw Trinity and Diego standing beside each other in the yard, their backs to the woods.

"Hey, what happened?" Jay called, approaching them. The two of them turned around, and when they moved, he saw a woman sitting in the snow, looking down and avoiding their eyes.

"We caught her," Diego said breathlessly, and for the first time since he'd woken up there, Jay felt like they had finally made some progress.