"So, let me get this straight, you nearly got decapitated by some... weird, possessed, psycho bear, but you escaped and now you're trying to help the Stitchwraith, which is also possessed, set itself free by collecting objects haunted by its agony?" The girl asked, attempting to recap what Millie told her.

"Yep. That's pretty much the story." Millie responded.

"I don't get it. I mean, I believe you, but how can you trust it? The Stitchwraith, I mean. How do you know it's not the thing that killed Sarah and all those other people? I mean, it's already killed several people." The girl asked.

"It was only defending itself." Millie said. "That still makes it a suspect! Its victims were found crying black tears, their bodies burned and withered. What if it's lying to you? What if this is all some elaborate trap to lure you into the waiting grasp of the bear thing and kill you for good so that you can't stop it?" The girl argued.

Millie had to admit, the girl was making some good points, but the Stitchwraith couldn't be the murderer of those people. It just seemed... way too obvious. There were other factors at play here, Millie knew that much. But, what she didn't know was what they were exactly. Truth be told, the killer could've been a lot of things, especially Funtime Freddy. In Millie's opinion, he was suspect number one.

Still, something about that conclusion didn't feel right. Honestly, Millie didn't have a real answer to this girl's questions.

"I don't really know myself. I'm still trying to put the pieces together. But, I know this, the Stitchwraith is innocent. It-... they couldn't have done this. There are things out there that are much worse than the Stitchwraith. I promise I will find out what happened to Sarah. When I do, I'm gonna make sure this never happens to anyone else ever again." Millie said.

The girl looked up at her. Millie could see a glimmer of hope in the girl's eyes. "Thank you. I... I hope you find out what's going on here." The girl said. Millie smiled. "Yeah... me too."

Millie started to walk out of the bathroom until the girl caught up to her. "Wait!" Millie turned around, not really expecting the girl to have more to say. Still, Millie listened.

"I... I want to help you." The girl said. Millie eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't expecting this, that's for sure. Millie didn't really want anyone to actually help her. All she wanted was leads, clues, not a partner. This girl could get herself killed. To be fair, Millie could also get herself killed doing this, but she didn't want to put any more lives at stake than she needed to. "Are you sure about this? You could get killed." Millie asked.

"I've spent months without knowing what happened to Sarah. Now that I do know what happened to her, I want to know more. I want to know why it happened. I want to help you find the answers. Besides... the more, the merrier." The girl said. Millie admired the girl's bravery, the girl that she didn't know what her name was. "Okay. First, you need to tell me your name." Millie said.

"I'm Abby. What's yours?" Abby said. "I'm Millie." They both shook hands. "So... we're partners now?" Abby asked, jokingly. "Yeah, I guess." Millie responded.

"So, do we need, like, a cool team name, or something?" Abby asked. Millie cocked an eyebrow. "No. We don't need a team name." Millie said. "I'll think of something." Abby said. Millie smiled, rolling her eyes at Abby's childishness.

***

Oscar threw his hands in the air in victory. He finally caught up to Isaac and Raj on their bikes.

"I told you we should've gone faster!" Raj shouted at Isaac in defeat. Isaac sighed. "Alright, you won fair and square." Isaac then handed Oscar fifteen dollars and lightly pushed him.

"Now, I can finally get those sunglasses I've had my eye on for a while." Oscar said with a smirk. Raj and Isaac groaned.

"What?" Oscar asked. "Do you really have to make puns now?!" Raj asked, frustrated. "Sorry, I don't see your point." Oscar said, barely containing his laughter. Raj and Isaac then tackled him to the ground and started wrestling him.

They all stopped their roughhousing when they heard shrill laughter echoing throughout the woods. They quickly got up and looked around.

"Hello? Who's there?" Raj asked, shakily. They then heard a twig snap from their left. They quickly turned to see nothing. "The hell?!" Isaac shouted, panicked. "This isn't funny, whoever's out there!" Oscar shouted.

"No?" They heard a voice say from an uncertain direction. They stood back to back and looked all around them.
"I think it is very humorous watching you wet yourselves!" The voice continued. Just who was this talking to them? "Look, just leave us alone, okay? We don't want any trouble!" Oscar said in a frightened voice.

"You don't understand, blondie... I love trouble."

They suddenly saw a figure quickly charging at them. Panicked, they stood their bikes up and wasted no time getting on them. They looked back to see a sight that shook them to the core. The figure chasing them was a large, purple and white bear walking on two legs. It looked rusty as though it was made out of metal. Its body was large and bulky. It wore a small top hat on the top of its head and a purple bow tie on its chest. Two black buttons could be seen on its stomach. Its chest had a large speaker on it. Its right hand was missing, poking out of the stump were... were those wires? Is this thing a robot? Oscar asked himself.

With each step it took, its face seemed to shake and move. It looked as though it was separated into sections. The three boys no longer wanted to gaze upon this monstrosity. They needed to escape. They quickly rode down the trail as fast as they could. They could still hear its maniacal laughter close behind.

"Come on! Keep moving!" Raj shouted. "I'm trying!" Isaac yelled. "The fuck is that thing?!" Oscar asked, starting to run out of breath due to his energy already being drained from their race from earlier. "Who the hell cares?! Just don't let it catch you dammit!" Isaac shouted, his voice cracking.

They could see the end of the trail up ahead. "Come on! Just keep going!" Oscar said, trying to encourage his friends.

"What do you think I'm trying to do, you idiot?!" Raj panicked. They could hear the loud footsteps coming closer. "Faster! Faster! Come on, guys! Go fucking faster!" Raj screamed. They quickly exited the trail and rode out onto the sidewalk, crashing into Mandy, who was walking home from school. "Ow! What the-"

"Get on, Mandy!" Raj screamed, practically yanking Mandy onto his bike. "Hey! What's up with you guys?!" Mandy said, confused.

"We're trying not to die! That's what's up!" Isaac yelled. Mandy was certainly spooked by their panic, not knowing what could've possibly scared them this badly. When she turned around to look at what they were so afraid of, she, too, began screaming at the animatronic bear that was chasing them.

"Go faster! Go faster!" Mandy screamed. "What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Raj argued.

"Raj! Faster!" Mandy shrieked so loud, they could've sworn she ripped her vocal chords. Her panic was successful in making them faster, though. Eventually, they were able to lose the bear. "We need to get the others!" Isaac said, out of breath.

Funtime Freddy kicked over a bunch of garbage cans in anger. "Not again! I swear, I feel like I've lost my touch! This is all Millie's fault!" He complained to himself. He'd been watching them for weeks. He knew they were Millie's friends, so if he could just wait a while, find the perfect opportunity to get to them, he could draw Millie out and kill her too. Now, that plan fell apart because the kids were too damn fast for him. He angrily marched back into the woods, unaware of what was watching him.

***

"And then, she just slammed the door in my face!" Brooke's dad said to Brooke's mom. "It's that Dylan boy, he's corrupting her! I'm telling ya!" He continued.

"They're just kids! Weren't we the same when we fell in love?" Brooke's mom said, calmly, rubbing her husband's shoulders. "They are spending too much time together!" He shouted.

"Well, at least they're just kissing... right?" She said. "Yeah, but it's constant! It is constant! That's not-"

Their bickering was interrupted by a rapid, loud knocking on the door. Brooke's mom walked over to answer it, wondering who it could be. She saw Brooke's friends, Mandy, Raj, Oscar, and Isaac standing outside, looking pretty shaken up about something. She opened the door out of concern. As soon as she did, the teens darted past her and up the stairs. "Wha- hey! What's going on?" She called out to them, only to hear the door to Brooke's room open and shut.

"Hey! You guys got me-"

"No time! Where's Dylan?!" Oscar asked, desperately. Brooke was confused. We're they okay? They looked like they had just ran eight miles.

"What's going on? You guys are scaring me." Brooke said, concerned. "We'll explain, just tell us where the fuck Dylan is right now!" Raj asked with the same amount of desperation.

Now, Brooke was starting to get very worried. Was Dylan in danger? She hoped that nothing was wrong.

"He's at home. I- what is this? Is he okay?" Brooke asked.

"Call him! Please!" Mandy begged. Brooke got up and fumbled around, trying to find her phone. "Come on, come on, come on, come on!" Oscar panicked, which only made Brooke panic more. She didn't do well in stressful situations, especially when her friends were scaring the living daylights out of her.

"I'm trying!" Brooke exclaimed. She finally found it and quickly called Dylan. Oscar snatched it out of her hands. "Hey!"

"Dylan! Are you there?! Dear god, please tell me you're alive!" Oscar shouted into the phone before Brooke could say anything else which annoyed her. "Umm... yeah, I would hope I'm alive. Wait, Oscar? What are you doing on Brooke's phone?" Dylan asked. Oscar honestly didn't know why he snatched Brooke's phone when they could've just called him on their phones. He guessed it was from the amount of sheer terror rushing through their bodies. Plus, they thought he would be at Brooke's house since he always seemed to be here except for right now!

"No time! Where are you?!" Oscar asked. "Home. What's going on? You sound terrified. What happened? Is Brooke okay?" Dylan asked, getting more worried with each question.

"She's fine. Do you know where Oswald is?" Oscar asked.

"He's at the library like he usually is. Is everything alright? Tell me what's going on." Dylan said, impatiently.

"Look, just meet us there! We'll tell you what's going on!" Oscar demanded.

"But I have to study for an algebra test!" Dylan protested. "You can do that later!" Oscar said. "Oscar... it's... algebra."

"I don't care! This is life or death, man! Life or death! Get your ass down to the library as soon as you can!" Oscar demanded. He then hung up and let Brooke take her phone back.

"Umm, guys." Mandy said, getting their attention. "What about Millie?" She continued. Their faces fell. They all scrambled once more, trying to call her.

END OF CHAPTER XVI