Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

Emma hissed, "It’s taken you."

"Taken?" Layla laughed softly. "No, love. It’s awakened us. Don’t you feel it, Jude? The pulse? The heat under your skin? It’s been calling all along."

Zoey added, "You were just afraid to listen."

Jude looked at each of them, at Lucy, at Grace, at Scarlet, now even Stella and Natalie. There was still beauty in them, but it had become strange, distant. Like they were puppets wearing familiar faces.

"I saw you smile," Jude said quietly, addressing Rose. "After you came back from the river. You weren’t you."

Rose tilted her head. "And yet, I’ve never felt more myself."

Sophie whispered, "What are you trying to do?"

"We’re not doing anything," Grace said softly. "We’re becoming."

Natalie’s lips parted. "You will too. All of you. When it’s time."

They stepped back together, the circle remaining unbroken. Then, as one, they dropped their hands and walked away from the firelight, back into the woods, disappearing like mist.

For a long time, no one moved.