"Stan was really upset, too," I said. "The last time, I mean, he was there with us on the Island, but when we all went to Regan's home, he was the only one left behind. It really frightened him."

Even knowing what this place could do, knowing how it could treat us, if I woke up one morning and all my friends didn't, I knew I would be terribly worried about them. Worried what sort of things they were seeing or experiencing, wanting to know if they were okay.

"I think maybe it's just a different sort of hard," I decided after another mouthful of eggs. "A more helpless sort."