1:35 AM
Campsite, Easton

That night there was only one who couldn't close his eyes and engulfed himself in the endless abyss.

Twist and turns in his sleep only ended up in him drenched in his own sticky sweat, the hot weather certainly did not help his situation. He didn't understand what was keeping him up this late at night.

Was it because he knew somewhere below the sorring skies and everlasting moonlit forest lived a creature. A creature who needs more than just a couple of coins to feed its greedy desires.

Everyone makes mistakes, that's the thing about humans, the one thing they can't change about themself. And when you do, you have a choice either to come clean or lie, most people choose to lie.

It's quite obvious why, right? But a story built on lies is much easier to break down than the ones based on the truth.

Luckily, for the cryptid creature, it fed off mistakes and even if you decide to come clean, the consequences of your actions will come undone no matter what.

No matter how hard you plead and beg, it will always find a way to haunt yours and everyone else's nightmare-ish worlds.

Eventually, he got up and let himself out of the tent, afraid he'll accidently wake them up. Things are always louder at night for some scientific reason I can't explain.

His thoughts speak louder than words right now.

Outside, the breaths of fresh air helped him relax a bit. He took deep breaths just like how the teachers at school would tell students to do if they ever got stressed or scared.

Teachers at Crescent Hills didn't actually care about how their students were doing. That was the last thing on their out of storage mind. Everything moves in slow motion when you're alone, at least for him it does.

It was only when he reached into his pockets that panic started to overwhelm him. His fingers taped over the fabric of his pocket, not able to feel the bump of a coin.

"No, no, no." Frustrated groans erupted, hair messy from his fingers brushing through it several times. "Where did it go? I swear I," All of his pockets were left unturned now and still not a single sign that his precious coin had been there.

Time passed quickly while he rummaged the entire campsite, even resorting to digging shallow holes around the tent.

His bag was tossed aside and the remnants of his belongings on the slumpy dirt, there was nothing, only a few candy wrappers and a pen and paper.

Easton was turning frantic, running across the campsite in search for his only way out here. Then there it was, not his coin, but Evie's. Although most of the silver surface was covered with paper, a tiny gap glistened in the glow.

He had to do it. No. He needed to do it; there was no other way.

So he did.

The crumbled paper with Evie's name written on it was thrown into the burning flames, leaving it to nothing but ashes to be whisked away by the cruel wind.

It felt right in his hands, he flicked the coin between his fingers before wrapping it in his own paper.

Easton looked back at Evie's sleeping figure. "I'm sorry." He muttered only being picked up by his own ear.

Walking towards the well was a treacherous walk. Half of the time he was debating whether to go back and apologise for his mistakes but swiftly drowned the thought away.

His hand hovered over the water, he didn't dare to look down; afraid of seeing his own guilty reflection. Water sent a ripple as the coin fell beneath the well.

Evie was going to die and it was because of him. He caused it.

Easton Blackwell was the reason why Evie Mayfeild would die today.

Easton wanted to cry. He wanted to curl up into a ball and cry in the corner of a room. But he can't.

It's not my fault, he thought. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

We are all forced to do things we don't want to. Not only humans can feel the pain that comes with it after, monsters can too even ones without a beating heart.

They might not bleed the same blood as you but in a way they are just like you. Forced to survive on this planet in inhumane ways, the same ways we treat animals.

We eat them to survive so why can't they do the same for their own sake. So really, is it selfish or just survival?