11:10 PM
North Valley, Crescent Hills

North Valley wasn't your typical cherry-sweet neighborhood with roads leading to freshly painted wide mansions. Most of the houses in the street were old-fashioned two stories, their walls peeling and ready to wither away for good.

Crushed spray can bottles were thrown off the scrub and onto the depths of the forest, Lane only saw a couple of them on her way back 'home' but the damage had already been done. Mossy surface was sprayed with red and purple, evidently drawn by high schoolers.

Lane sunk into her rocky bed, which she appreciated. Forgotten memories traveled back to her, bringing distraught but at the same time gratefulness.

She quivered as if she could again feel the cold bare tiled floor on her back—like an icy liquid crawling up her spine, slowly entering her body.

The room, her room, was enveloped in a cool blue, greenish tone. No doubt it came from the mist outside.

Beside her bed was a medium-sized window, which gave her a glimpse of the decaying world surrounding her, and a small bedside table and a night lamp.

Silence captivated the room, only the swishing stream water could reach up here.

But it broke when the bed screeched sharply, equivalent to nails dragging across a chalkboard. Making her way over to the window, some parts of it were frozen creating a foreign sensation as her finger grazed it.

Her hands trailed down to the bottom of the window, cracking it open effortlessly.

A thin steady breeze swept through her room leading the worn-out window to rattle against its frame. Lane sharply inhaled, she wanted to savor this moment; its quiet sounds like Heaven.

"Lane!" The voice pierced the stillness of the air. Lane hurriedly looked down.

She caught sight of a familiar black-haired boy and instantly knew who it was. Easton.
Easton appeared relieved when Lane noticed his existence. "C'mon!" He yelled out.

This time Lane rushed to get her jacket from the coat hanger—stationed next to her room's door—and bolted out.

Lane rushed downstairs. Each step shifted the boards underneath her. The night air only allowed sound to travel further, giving her almost no chance of leaving without her aunt waking up.

When she finally reached the bottom, Lane's eyes widened in surprise before turning into an awkward gaze. There in the small kitchen sat her aunt. She tapped her foot lightly against the frail wooden floor with an expression that gave Lane a clear view of what exactly her aunt was thinking.

On her hand was a cup of coffee, brewed freshly and recently. Aunt Kia set the cup down on the marble counter, sighing faintly. She leaned backward, both hands resting on the edge. "Going somewhere?" A half smile appeared.

Lane shuffled in her position, unsure how to respond. "Just out..."

"With who?" She asked, picking up her cup.

"Some friends." Subtly moving to the front door.

Aunt Kia hummed, nodding. Checking her watch, she said, "Well, it's already late...so get home quick, alright? Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't. Don't worry." Lane grinned.

Outside, the air was freezing. Birds were still actively singing alongside the owl's hoots.

Easton was waiting on the sidewalk, hands in his pocket, shooting his iconic grin.
Lane took her place alongside him, starting their journey into the woods.

She kept her head down, staring at the small cracks on the natural but unmarked pathway. In the distance, you can spot the sparkling, moonlit waterfall, the pattern of flowing water ringed in their ears.

"Where's Evie by the way ?" Lane asked.

Evie was Lane's first-ever friend. They met when she was four at RedWood Academy, a boarding school like they were destined for each other.

But that changed when Lane got dropped from the boarding school and moved back to Crescent Hills. She didn't have much of a choice. She was only ten after all. It was pure luck that fate reconnected them for the final time.

Easton's face cast a puzzled look before it cleared up, "Ooh, her...yeah." He shrugged. "I dunno, haven't gotten around to seeing her after heading back."

It was a bleak answer, odd, considering it came from Easton. A person who inevitably loved making jokes—that is, if he wasn't muttering words irritatedly under his breath or pissed off, whether it'd be from a person or not.

Then again Lane couldn't blame him for his sullen actions regarding the mention of Evie, a girl he believed had a whole act going on.
Lane carefully placed a hand on his shoulders, treating him like a priceless fragile artifact.

"She's changed, you know?" She reassuringly told him.

"Yeah, right." A derisive snort escaped his lips, crossing his arms. "She's still annoying." And manipulative as hell, he wanted to add but knew it'd be best to keep it to himself.

"Isn't that her house?" Lane uttered, motioning towards the house on the horizon. Smiling, she shuffled closer to the house. Her smile dropped as quickly as it came.

"The lights are off." She said, a tingle of confusion concealed her speech.

Easton tugged her back on the path, "Maybe she's already back in the forest." Moving his vision away from the dark and empty house.
Lifeless. If there was a word to describe Evie's house it would be that, lifeless.

Lane nodded subconsciously, not fully believing what Easton had said. "I guess," Silence overcomes the hushed air of their conversation.

Upon going back on the path—leading back into the forest—Lane kicked aside some rocks in her way, it rolled down the hill with a thud as it hit the wet ground.

Terrifying thoughts, about the empty house, start to make their way into her mind.

Those "what if" questions roaming free—she anxiously fidgets with the hem of her jacket—what if something bad happened to Evie? What if she got lost maybe she got taken by something.

Something...the word latched onto her brain, like an itch you couldn't scratch. Why had her mind thought it was a thing and not a one?
Did someone take her?

No, that didn't sound right. Not to her. Not to anyone here. No one could've possibly wanted to take Evie—it was a small town everyone knew everyone, and everyone knew that no matter how many petty crimes people had committed here in Crescent Hills, no one, absolutely no one, would have the thought of even kidnapping a child.

"C'mon Lane! Don't go back now."

Lane snapped out of her mind, bringing her back into the real world, looking to her side but seeing no one there. In front of her, Easton gestured for her to come faster.

Lane hurried to his spot, "What is it?"

Easton crouched on the dirty path, one of his legs propped up as the other lay flat on the ground, "Look. Do you see that?" His voice was low but steady.

In the heart of the forest, a pool of crimson blood dripped onto the swaying grass, alongside a shotgun and a few scraps of clothing. It was messy.

"What the hell." Three words blurt out of her agape mouth.