Monday, September 26th, 2016

It was exhausting to be stressed every second of the day. By now, Sid learned that Edward and Davy had to practically carry him back to the fence, and once they passed through, Davy called his father. They needed help, even if it meant that they would get in trouble. But with Sid himself knocked out, and everything that had happened, getting grounded was the least of their issues, and Sid was glad Davy and Edward had been mature enough to admit they needed their parents.

Sid had expected them to be angrier than they actually were. They were indeed grounded, but for some reason, all parents had agreed on one thing; the cops shouldn't be involved.

Even though on Sunday morning, it became clear that the breach in the fence had been discovered and was broadcasted all over the news. Someone had trespassed into the Miller Woods, and they wanted to know who.

But even when Sid suggested turning themselves in, his parents had told him a harsh 'no', and a warning that they would get in a lot more trouble than the usual punishments for trespassing; look at what happened to that Dunn kid.

It was best left undiscovered.

Strangely, by dinner time, Sid's headache had lessened to a bearable nagging pain. He wasn't constantly dizzy or nauseous any longer, and he didn't feel the need to remain in complete darkness either.

The mood around the house had been weird all day. Sid's three sisters, Liza, Ellie and Lynn were all sending him looks—as if they knew—while his parents kept sending each other looks. It made Sid nervous, which wasn't helping him once evening came around again and he was supposed to go to bed.

After hours of tossing and turning, he gave up on sleeping, playing games on his phone in the hopes falling asleep before his alarm would go off. He needed to sleep at least a few hours.

He caught no sleep, whatsoever. Thank God, he slept a few hours during the day, or he'd be a zombie and he'd fit right in those scary Miller woods.

And when he met Davy and Edward the next morning, they looked as if they had seen a ghost. They probably hadn't caught much sleep either. The only reason Sid was in school, was because he wanted to talk to them in person about the pictures. He had been staring at it for a while during the day, and ever since, he felt like he was constantly being watched.

There wasn't anyone there; but the feeling remained now that he knew he had been completely unaware of those eyes when they were in the woods, seemingly following him around while they were at the lake.

Right before school, Sid, Davy, Edward and Annika had told Amber—Amara indeed already knew because Edward had told her—that they had in fact been the people who had trespassed, asking her not to tell anyone else. They had come in early to talk as a group without people eavesdropping in, knowing it was talk of the town and gossip would start the second school started.

Sid had simply wanted to inform Amber, talk about it, and go to class. He hadn't expected Cory to show up early too. Or for him to walk in their direction with an award-winning smile—probably because he was happy they considered him a friend now—and greet them cheerfully. Well, until his eyes fell on Sid.

The colour instantly seemed to drain from his face, and his shoulders sunk far enough for his backpack to slide off, falling to the ground.

Suddenly, Cory rushed in his direction, pulling the hood from his head. Sid couldn't help but feeling impressed by the fact Cory knew exactly where the marks would be.

But then he remained silent, and when Sid awkwardly rubbed his neck, staring at him, he found Cory staring at him confused, his mouth slightly agape. He went through his hair with a hand, trying to make sense of something.

"You aren't marked," Cory stated, sounding slightly relieved. "Are you?" he asked Davy, pointing him out. "Did something scratch you?"

Cory shook his head in disbelief before Davy could reply, because he simply needed a moment to stare at Sid, just as confused as Sid felt; he was scratched too. What was Cory talking about?

"Please tell me I'm wrong, and you guys aren't the ones who went in there," he said, his voice faltering at the end of the sentence. He was practically begging them to tell him his suspicion was wrong. If Sid didn't know any better, he'd say Cory could start crying the second they would admit.

"We... were," Davy hesitantly said.

"And Sid was scratched, as was Davy. If that's what you mean by marked." Edward chimed in. "What does that mean?"

Cory pulled down Sid's hood yet again, right after Sid had put it back on. "You're not marked. I don't understand... It doesn't even matter! Why? Why would you go in there after I specifically told you not to?"

"We were curious," Davy said, rubbing the marks on his neck awkwardly. "You wouldn't tell us anything."

"As if you would've believed me," Cory snapped back, now taking a look at Davy's scratch marks. "I was in a ward for a fucking reason, idiot. Nobody believes me, nobody ever does. My own fucking parents think I made it up."

"What happened to you?" Sid asked, since it was out in the open that they, well, would believe him.

"You go first," Cory muttered in defeat, slumping down on the seat next to Sid. "The mark. Why is yours gone, while Davy still has them? And what else happened?"

"I don't know why it's gone." Sid replied, slightly confused. Yesterday, the scratches had still been there. Annika commented on it, telling him it looked like someone scratched them with fingernails. But how could they be gone if Davy's were still there? He decided it wasn't important. He had cuts and scrapes in the past that healed just as quickly. It wasn't weird. "I'm a fast healer, always have been. And I was pushed, I guess?" Sid told Cory eventually. "Twice or so."

"Edward and I were knocked off our feet, when Sid was pushed into the air. But we just fell, no flying."

"Edward?" Cory frowned. "You were there too? But you weren't scratched."

"How exactly do you know who got scratched and who didn't?" Annika asked, seemingly impressed.

"They're cold. Edward isn't."

They all took a few seconds to let that sink in, when it hit Sid; "Was that why I was always cold around you?"

Cory nodded, but gestured for them to continue their story. "Pushed, flying? More?" It seemed as if he was fishing for something, though Sid was unsure what he wanted to hear.

"We heard things. We saw things that aren't normal," Sid replied, puzzled at Cory's weird attitude.

"It's her," Cory whispered, barely audible to the rest. He seemed deep in thought for a while. He swallowed hard before he looked up at Sid. "What happened after you got home? This was Saturday, did anything happen?"

"Should anything have happened?" Davy squeaked nervously.

"Nothing happened. I had a huge headache, but it's practically gone now. Dad said it was a concussion but those don't heal overnight."

"We have the creepy pictures to remind ourselves to never cross lines anymore," Edward shrugged. "Though I hate looking at them."

"Can... can I see them?" Cory asked, holding out a hand, asking one of them to hand him a phone with the pictures on it.

Sid handed him his phone after opening the pictures, and not just Cory, but all three girls took a look at them as well, before the phone ended up in Cory's hands again.

"I don't see anything off about that picture," Amara pointed at the photo by the lake, with the eyes behind Sid. "What should we see?"

"You haven't been in the woods. You can't see it," Cory held the phone up shortly. "Which is why nobody believes me. These photos will only tell you who has been in the woods, and who hasn't. Which is why we shouldn't talk about this to anyone else. They'll send you straight to a ward if you ever tell anyone about this."

Sid, Davy and Edward nodded in agreement. They didn't want to be sent to a ward, even though they knew what they saw; and they had all seen it.

"And what did you mean by 'it's her', just now?" Sid asked, taking his phone back without looking at the pictures again. He really got an eery feeling of watching them the day before. The eyes that were staring at them, looked like they were staring straight into his soul. As if they could see him through the picture.

"I meant her," Cory pointed at his phone while he sighed, "she's the whole reason I went crazy. I wasn't sent to a ward until a few days after I got out of the woods. I was sent there because I said I saw her. And the two of you are marked by her. You'll see her soon enough."

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