The Awaken on Bunce Island/The Cursed Return

Part three: The Haunting Begins

Title: The Cursed Return

Part 3: The Haunting Begins

As dawn broke over Bunce Island, the group gathered around the remains of their campfire, the eerie silence of the night lingering in the air. Justin, Rebecca, Quavo, Kiddo, and Samuel all felt the weight of something unseen, pressing down on them. The strange experience from the night before seemed like a foggy nightmare, but the unease clung to them like morning mist.

"Last night was... weird," Rebecca whispered, rubbing her arms against the morning chill. She looked up at Justin, her eyes searching for reassurance.

"Don’t worry, babe," Justin said, trying to sound confident. "It’s just an old island with a history. Let’s finish up the filming and head back to Freetown by evening."

Samuel, however, was still haunted by what he saw—those shadows, moving as if chained together, the silent cries he’d heard echoing in his mind. He barely touched his breakfast and kept glancing toward the ruins as if expecting to see something watching them.

“Are we really safe here?” Samuel finally asked, his voice trembling.

Quavo shrugged it off, laughing nervously. “Come on, man. It’s just an island. Maybe it’s messing with us because it’s so old and abandoned.”

But even Quavo couldn’t deny the feeling that something was off. He glanced at Kiddo, who was unusually quiet, staring at the ground as if deep in thought.

After packing up their camp, they decided to explore the old fort once more to get the remaining shots Justin wanted for the documentary. As they made their way through the ruins, the air grew heavy, thick with the scent of damp earth and decay. Every sound felt amplified—the crunch of gravel beneath their feet, the creak of vines in the wind, the occasional eerie whistle of wind through broken walls.

The fort’s inner courtyard was surrounded by towering stone walls, covered in moss and vines. At the center lay a strange, circular stone that looked worn by centuries of weather and footsteps. Justin, leading the group, stepped forward to examine it.

“What do you think this was?” he asked, looking down at the circle, which had strange, faded markings that seemed almost ritualistic.

Samuel raised his camera, zooming in on the markings. “Probably something used during the slave trade. Maybe where they… held ceremonies or something.”

Rebecca shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t like this place. It feels… wrong.”

Just then, Kiddo gasped. “Look!”

He pointed toward a nearby wall, where they saw something chilling—a row of handprints, small and faded, as if made by children. The handprints trailed down the wall and disappeared into the shadows.

The group fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances. Quavo tried to laugh it off. “Okay, that’s creepy, but it’s just an old marking, right? Could be anything.”

Rebecca turned to Justin, her face pale. “Justin, maybe we should go. I don’t think we should be here.”

Justin hesitated, but his curiosity pushed him forward. “This is what we’re here for, Rebecca. We’re showing the real story of this place.”

Just as he said this, a sudden gust of wind swept through the fort, almost knocking them off balance. The air grew colder, and the once-soft whispers from the night before returned, only now they were louder, clearer, almost as if voices were speaking just out of reach.

Samuel, his face pale, whispered, “Do you… hear that?”

They all stood frozen, listening as the whispers seemed to form words. “Leave… leave… this place…”

Kiddo took a step back, glancing at Justin with fear in his eyes. “Man, I don’t like this. This isn’t just history anymore. This place… it’s haunted.”

But Justin shook his head, trying to stay calm. “We’re just psyching ourselves out. It’s an old island. Sounds echo weirdly in places like this.”

Despite his words, even Justin felt the weight of dread closing in. The whispers, the handprints, and the chilling feeling in the air all pointed to one thing: they were not alone.

“Maybe… maybe we should head back to camp and call it a day,” Justin finally conceded.

But as they turned to leave, a dark shadow appeared at the edge of the courtyard, a figure barely visible but unmistakably human. It was tall and motionless, watching them from a distance, shrouded in darkness.

Everyone froze, staring at the figure. It didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, but its presence radiated pure malice.

“Run!” Samuel screamed, finally breaking the silence.

They all bolted, racing back through the ruins, barely daring to look back as the shadow seemed to follow, its faint footsteps echoing against the stone walls. Reaching the beach, they scrambled into the boat, hearts racing, and set off, watching the island shrink in the distance.

As they drifted further from Bunce Island, they finally felt a sense of relief. But each of them knew the truth: they had encountered something beyond explanation, something angry, lingering on that cursed land.

Justin gripped the edge of the boat, staring back at the fading silhouette of the island, silently vowing that he would uncover the mystery. Little did he know that this was only the beginning, and that the island’s curse was far from finished with them.