Nothing could be seen through the thick whiteness. It rolled on patches of charred ground and grass that still reeked somewhat of burnt human flesh, now renewed with fresh flames. The creature went down before the trio, leaving them to contemplate and try to make sense of what they had just witnessed, or even worse, participated in.

"Was that ... " Leah spoke first.

"Ivan ... IVAN!" Smythe got out of the lighthouse and kneeled in front of whatever remained in the pile of ashes. The creature didn’t come into the lighthouse after getting caught on fire.

"He ... he spared us. He understood that he must stay outside once he started burning," Annabella covered her face and started weeping softly.

"That’s ... that’s not possible. That’s madness," said Leah.

"This whole ordeal is madness ... We never should have come here," Smythe grabbed the ashes with his white-red glove, adding black to the palette.

"We have to go get Pickman. Maybe he’s in trouble," the doctor proposed.

"He’s probably dead," said Smythe in low voice.

"That’s what we thought of Ivan and it turned out he was—"

"What? Alive? You’d call that being alive?!" the professor protested.

"It would explain what happened to all the missing inhabitants of this island. Maybe all of them suffered a similar fate ... " Annabella was thinking.

"Ridiculous," Smythe hand-waved the notion.

"Is it really though? Look around you. None of this is quite normal. It all leans more into absolutely insane," she stayed firm with her theory, "Why would turning into plants suddenly be off the charts?"

"I suppose ... " Smythe sighed and stood up, he dusted his knees.

"So? We’re going? There’s no use staying here anyway. We’ve no way of keeping the flame atop the lighthouse burning any longer and who knows if the icebreaker crew didn’t suffer a similar fate to us and got pulled into a chaotic madhouse ... " Leah gesticulated strongly.

"Or simply sank," shrugged Annabella.

"I can’t blame you for being so optimistic about our ride out of here, I suppose," Smythe admitted, "But it’s not over yet. Let’s go to the mansion once more and if we can’t find Pickman—"

"We will find him ... " Leah Eris insisted.

* * *

Nothing could be seen through the thick fog, except three silhouettes making their way through, step by step. No sounds came from any direction and everything around them looked the same.
Smythe was looking at the cane Leah still had in his hands. Annabella was looking over her shoulder at the lighthouse that was slowly disappearing in the mist behind them.

"W-what was that?!" said Smythe suddenly.

"What? Where?" asked the confused doctor.

"There! Just in front of us. Didn’t you see it??"

"No! If I did, I wouldn’t be so surprised, now would I?"

"Calm down you two!" Annabella shouted and then continued.

"I saw something too, but am not sure what it was ...  it looked like a human but it moved on all four."

"Yes, precisely!" Smythe nodded.

Leah looked at them both like they were crazy and then turned back to watch their path as they kept going. He held the cane with both hands, ready to pull out the blade if necessary.

They kept walking for a long time, not daring to steer from the charred path and into the forest or near the ocean.

"We’ve been going around in circles," Smythe complained.

He had a problem limping without a cane for a long time.

"No. I know what I’m doing," insisted the doctor, "We’re almost there."

"It’s true that we’ve taken way more time than necessary. We should have reached the mansion by now," Annabella agreed with Smythe.

"Shut up!" the doctor turned toward them and drew the blade, "You two lovebirds are plotting against me! You want to get rid of me, don’t you?!" his hand shook as he held the blade pointed toward them.

The duo put their hands up and stepped back.

"No ... what? Where is this coming from?" Annabella was dumbstruck.

"I know, I’ve seen you! Who does that in this kind of situation?" said Leah, making a grimace.

"Calm down ... it’s true, miss Annabella and I love each other. It happened unexpectedly, but it has nothing to do with our current situation. Think! What would we gain from getting rid of our only doctor? We’re in this together and  ... there have been enough casualties, don’t you think?" Smythe tried to calm him down.

"You ... I’ll cut out that silver tongue of yours!" Leah shouted.

"Behind you!" Annabella pointed over the doctor’s shoulder.

"As if! I’m not as naïve as you think!" he said, and yet couldn’t help but glance quickly back and forward, while stepping away from the duo.

At that moment, something crawled behind him and grabbed one of his legs.

"Leeeeahhhh ... rgrgrgrg ... " his name was spoken through a gurgle and the doctor screamed as he heard it.

Turning around he immediately impaled the hunched-over figure into the back from above, leaving the blade inside. He took a few steps back toward Annabella, who screamed a name all too familiar.

"Caaaarter! Nooooo!"

The doctor had a better look and realized he had stabbed an already injured young man, who now couldn’t even stand up.

"What ... what did I do?" Leah whispered.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Smythe shook him, "That thing is NOT Carter! Can’t you see? Look behind him, in the fog!"

Leah and Annabella looked into the mist and indeed behind Carter was a fish-like creature, standing on legs almost like a human. They couldn’t make out the details but what little they saw froze the blood in their veins.

"I’ve seen it before," said Smythe, "On the ship... It controlled Pickman’s son like a marionette. Carter is dead and that thing is using his body to trick us like we would trick a fish with bait!" he explained in a hurry.

Leah was trying to gather his thoughts, "Carter ... not ... not Carter. Okay ... okay!" he yelled and charged forward. Grabbing the handle and pulling out the blade from Carter’s body, he cut off the head of the creature in the fog.

He fell next to its body from the sheer momentum and met its large empty eyes. They looked sideways but also nowhere at all and were covered with a layer of slime. The body was grey and scaly and it smelled worse than anyone would think was possible. Its almost purple entrails were spilled on the grass next to Leah.

"Come on!" said Smythe and helped Annabella lift the man up.

"I’m ... I’m okay ... I killed it," Leah stuttered.

"Yes, you did well, but there may be more. Let us hurry and be on our way. Also, give me that," Smythe offered the remainder of the cane and after a moment or two, Leah slid the blade into it and locked it. He nodded, confirming that the professor can take it back and their trust is now re-established.

After some time, they finally stumbled upon the mansion.

"I see it!" exclaimed Annabella.

"Let’s hope Pickman didn’t suffer the same fate ... We have to be careful if we find him. It could not be him at all," Smythe warned them.

"Y-yes ... you’re right. How will we check?" asked the doctor.

"I’ll ask him something only he should know, I guess? Everyone agrees?" Smythe offered a solution.

The duo looked at each other and then nodded. They searched the mansion but couldn’t find Pickman or anyone else. They did find some of the seawater they cooked before and a working petroleum lamp they took with them.

"What now?" asked Annabella.

"I ... have an idea," said Smythe.

The other two looked at him.

"Follow me."

He started walking through the main hallway and toward the burned room that now led outside. On the ground was a door that lead to the cellar. They were now open.

"Look at this!" the doctor came closer to the wooden doors, "They look like they were forced open!" he observed the markings around the lock.

"Indeed," Smythe touched his chin, thinking about what it implied.

"Shall we ... go down?" asked Annabella reluctantly, "Maybe there are supplies down there. We could hold out until someone arrives."

"Or maybe we could start thinking about making a boat ourselves!" said the doctor, "We can’t just sit on our asses and wait for a miracle."

"You know how to build a boat?" Smythe intercepted that train of thought.

"No, but—"

"You know how to sail? All the way to the mainland?"

"Anything is better than staying here!" shouted the doctor.

"Perhaps. Let’s go down," Smythe took the front. With a cane in one hand and the lamp in the other, he led them forward.