"I can see something here!" Anther finally yelled after minutes of fighting through the thick fog.

"Where are you?!" Yelled back Ryan who was a black and white blur on Anther's left.

"Just come right," Anther pulled out his phone in the hope of the screen lighting up but ended up cursing it's dead battery and stuffing it back into his pocket. He raised his head and squinted to see Ryan's figure fading away. "Turn back you idiot!" He yelled cupping his around the corners of his mouth.

"Oh I though you meant my right." He heard Ryan yell back.

"We have the same right," muttered Anther slumping his shoulders at his friend's stupidity but smiling all the same.

"Where's Kylie?" Asked Ryan as he walked up to Anther, wiping away the drops of sweat off his brow.

"Er, right in front of us?"

"Where?" Ryan raised his shirt, wipped his eyes and then squinted at the figure which was directly in front of him.

"Oh hey Kylie," said Ryan going as far to wave. "Didn't see you there, what's up?"

Anther face palmed himself.

"Anyways..." He drawled out bringing the situation back to reality. "I saw something-" Anther raised his finger to point when a muffled scream came not quite far from them.

"Ry!-"

"It's Alexa," the three of them said in unison before splitting up towards the direction of where they heard the noise.

Kylie going East, Ryan going West while Anther started walking towards North.

"What are you guys doing? It's this way."

"No it came from here."

"What no, it was ahead of us, not on the side." Anther ended.

Rubbing his face with his eyes while he tried to calm his breathing, Ryan sighed before suggesting, "so we split up?"

"No way!"

"Kylie we've got no choice." Ryan replied calmly to which Kylie gulped, Ryan saw Anther wince out of the corner of his eye.

"Guys we can do this," he said,  reassuring himself along with the others. "It's gonna be okay."

Inhaling deeply, Anther walked closer to the twins. "So we split up," he said as he put his arms around the two and bowed his head. "I love you guys."

"I love you guys too," the siblings said in unison before the three of them broke from their embrace. Splitting up into their different directions.

*  *  *

"Alexa!" Anther called, his throat trembling as his tongue dried up. "Alexa I'm here!"

Coughing as he marched forward, Anther felt the stabbing pain in his chest increase. It had first started the moment he'd passed through the fog, but he'd dismissed it thinking that it was simply because of his lack of oxygen after running after Ryan.

Stopping as the pain increased to the point he was sure he was having a heart attack, Anther hunched over, his hand over his chest as his black hair fall over his forehead. Anther cursed out loud as he shut his eyes. The pain was unbearable.

Feeling a burst of air suddenly blast through him, Anther gasped as he saw a blinding white light hit his face before he felt his body make contact with the earthy soil.

"Anther, come look at your baby sister."

"She's adorable!"

Anther gasped as he watched the scene in front of him unfold. He saw a pre pubescent version of himself tip toe against the hospital bed as his eyes shone with admiration for the wrapped up bundle in his mother's arms.

Breathing deeply as his white dress shirt felt too suffocating for him, Anther's eyes flitted up as he heard a laugh of a man. "Dad..." he whispered as he walked across the tiled floor of the hospital room.

His father smiled loving at his wife and kids, planting a kiss on his son's forehead while the 11 year old Anther playfully swatted him away.

Reaching his arm out, Anther's eyes brimmed with tears as he was about to place his hands on his father's shoulder, the major height difference they had 5 years, now barely existent.

Anther stationed his hand on his father's shoulder only for it to fall tight through him, making an empty, cold feeling wash over Anther completely. He felt the gravity below him drop as he sunk further and further below.

"Dad!" He screamed as he saw his father turn away from him, the hospital fading away as his father smiled while walking up to his new family. Leaving him and his mother behind.

Hitting ground once more. Anther gasped as his vision changed to one of his mother crying her eyes out from inside her room as his two year old sister watched silently from the crack of the door before the newly turned teen boy carried her off to tell her some bedtime stories.

Again the scene changed, but this time, it wasn't a scene from the past.

"Annalise!" Anther screamed as he watched his now five year old sister being snatched out of the window by a pair of scaly white fingers, her tiny body squirming as she screamed in pain before suddenly going silent. Her head of curly black locks flopping down as blood spilled out of the dozen spikes piercing through her.

Anther watched as his petite mother burst into the pink bedroom, her hand going over her mouth as she looked down at her dead child before the door the door slammed behind her. The last thing she saw being 3 flaming red eyes, the eyes that showed her hell before her neck was snapped and she fell lifeless to the ground.

*  *  *

Ryan screamed as he saw Alexa being torn to pieces before him. Her body being torn slowly as shred by shred fell off, her screams making Ryan's ears bleed.

Ryan felt his throat dry up as he reached out for Alexa's body only for his hand to pass right through, making him feel even worse as the feeling of being trapped in his worse nightmare, increased at a steady pace.

And he hated it.

*  * *

"Alexa!" Called Kylie as she walked on, her feet sinking into the mud as she listened on for any sound of movement. Trying to dismiss her worry for Anther and Ryan, given that she hadn't heard their voices in a while, Kylie shook her blonde head and walked on.

"Ale-" began Kylie before she stopped short after hearing the shuffling noises coming from behind the tree opposite her. Gulping her fears down, Kylie made his way around it she saw Alexa tied to the tree.

"Hey..." Kylie whispered softly as she knelt down beside the brunette and stared at the item binding her. What she expected to be a rope was instead thin roots coming out of oak tree itself. She raised her head back up to see Alexa's eyes wide in with fear and you could tell they were clearly trying to hold back tears. A root went around the bottom half of her face with a fat knot in the middle which was shoved inside her mouth, shutting out her screams.

"It's going to be okay..." Kylie said soothingly while she felt her entire body shake with nerves. She'd never seen Alexa this weak before.

Kyli tugged at the roots and felt them barely even loosen. Turning her head around she opened her mouth as wide as she could before screaming out loud, "ANTHER! RYAN! I FOUND HER!"

Coughing as she choked on her own spit, Kylie tugged again as she screamed in vain. The thick roots moving the slightest. "Ryan!" Kylie screamed once more, now getting agitated.

She heard a rush of footsteps behind her and turned to see the two teenage boys burst through the trees, their eyes glistening with moisture and the backs of their white shirts completely covered with dirt, as if they'd fallen down a steep cliff.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Kylie questioned but was ignored as Ryan ran past her and threw his arms around Alexa while Anther continuously rubbed his face.

He turned to see Kylie staring at them with a mixture of confusion and worry. "Are you okay?" Anther asked as he walked up to Kylie and hugged her.

"I should be asking you that?" Kylie whispered into his shoulder as she patted his back.

Pulling back while his mind twisted, Anther frowned, wondering why Kylie hadn't gone through anything he and by the looks of it, Ryan did. "We'll explain later," he said instead.

"Here let me help." Anther said as he crouched down beside Ryan, sharing a knowing glance with his bestfriend before placing his fingering through the roots.

"Hold on a bit, this might hurt." He said, looking at Alexa's grey eyes before saying out loud. "On the count of three," he gripped the roots with both his palms. "Three...two..
..one," both boys pulled fiercely and felt the roots loosen as the skin on their palms tingled . "Again," muttered Anther before tugging hard once more.

And this time the the roots loosened enough for Alexa to breath. She gasped deeply as she wriggled out of them and spat the ball of dirt from her mouth with a look of fear and disgust. Bottom lip trembling, she then turned and paused for a second to look at Ryan and Anther before throwing her arms around their necks.

"Uh..." Muttered Anther and Ryan exchanging an awkward glance behind Alexa's neck. Alexa giving hugs was about as rare as seeing a person getting shot on the street. Not impossible but quite rare. "He's not like he seems to be," she muttered choking on a sob.

Alexa pulled away and continued to take frantic glances between Ryan and Anther as.

"He's gonna come," she said between deep breaths while her eyes bulged out her eye sockets. "He isn't going to leave us alone." She bent her head and held shielded her hands as if the sky was fall over her.

"No he is isn't," said Ryan hopelessly trying to bring Alexa to her feet.

"No he is! He's always there! He-"

"Move aside," said Kylie interrupting Alexa's maniacal speech.

"Why..." said Ryan looking up at Kylie unsurely.

"Move," Repeated Kylie.

Ryan hesitated, but obeyed. At this point, the last thing he wanted was to have more images of Alexa suffering, tattooed inside his head.

Kylie knelt beside Alexa and stared at her dead in the eye. "Alexa," she said slowly. Trying to get the girl's attention.

"He's always watching!" Screamed Alexa pulling at her hair like a madman while tears streamed down her cheeks, making her minimal makeup look blotchy.

"Alexa,"

"In the shadows! He's there in the shadows!"

"Alexa!" Snapped Kylie before pulling her hand backwards. She paused to take in a breath of air, and before anyone could protest, Kylie swung her hand forward and slapped Alexa across the face.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Asked Ryan in shock.

"Oh I don't know," replied Kylie sarcastically. "Maybe... let's see, does mental trauma count?," she said, adding the last part with fake enthusiasm.

Alexa began to stir on the floor and as Anther crouched beside her. "Hey," he said shaking her slightly. "Alexa, can you hear me?"

"What happened?" Asked Alexa a rubbing her temple.

Anther looked up worridly at Ryan for help but just got a pair of raised hands and a shrug.

"You were kidnapped...kinda," he said slowly. "By Malthul and when we found you you started acting all crazy and started screaming until Kylie slapped you." Anther ryshed out in one breath, hoping to reduce the blow of his words.

As if that would work.

Alexa jumped to her feet and gaped at Anther. When he didn't start laughing and say it was a joke, she turned to Ryan and Kylie, an almost pleading look in her eyes. Begging them to say this was all part of a pathetic joke.

But then all of a sudden, images flew past her eyes- she getting pulled out of the window, being dragged on the ground and then being knocked out- and she knew that whatever the others were saying was true.

Alexa placed her hands on her thighs and tried to reach for her pocket, but when she felt lace she looked down to see she was still wearing her homecoming dress. Alexa cursed under her breath before looking up at the others.

Act calm. It's okay, it's gonna be okay. You're Alexa Taylor, and you were not born to be weak.

" So...what are we gonna do?" She asked causually as she took in the dark trees around her.

Ryan, Anther and Kylie stared at her weirdly-as if she might start going bat-shit crazy all over again- for a moment. A very long moment.

Ryan finally broke the awkward silence by giving a fake cough.

"What!?" Asked Alexa accusingly crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nothing!" Said Ryan quickly. Too quickly in fact so he cleared his throat before continuing. "We're just um...gonna take you home."

"Right." Alexa said disbelievingly. She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear before taking the lead, while Ryan and Anther gave a silent nod to each other. They wouldn't tell her about Cathy. At least not yet.

* * *

Ryan, Anther, Kylie and Alexa stood at the edge of the woods while listening to the music blasting from the school in front of them when a figure came running towards them.

Correction. Two figures. Or at least only one of them was running.

Cathy to a halt besides Anther with a body in her arms.

Anther stared at her arms. "How on earth are you carrying her?!"

"Are you kidding me? She's just skin and bones," gasped Cathy dumping Bethany's lifeless form into Anther's arms while sucking in deep breaths.

"We need to-" she stopped when she saw Alexa staring at her.

Cathy's face light up with a smile as she ran upto Alexa and flung her arms around her. "Thank God you're okay."

Alexa awkwardly returned the hug.

Cathy pulled away and shook her head before turning back to Anther. "We need to get her to a hospital."

Anther took a minute to process what Cathy had said. "But I'm not an adult, and I don't know what to say, what if they arrest me?"

"Say you found her somewhere in the streets while walking home," Cathy pleaded. "She's got a pulse, I'm sure she can still make it. Please Anther."

"Okay I'll try something." Anther said before adjusting Bethany's unconscious form in his arms and walking up to Ryan before whispering to him hurriedly. The only bits the others heard being, "could you please check on my mom and sis as well?

"He said to take you home," said Ryan once they saw Anther cross the road and head towards the school, where he'd parked his car.

"No way!" Came out a synced reply from the three girls.

Ryan glared at Kylie and Cathy

"I'm not blind you know," snapped Alexa crossing her hands over her chest.

"And incase you didn't know-" she turned towards Kylie and Cathy "-we didn't see Malthus at all in the woods, which means that I'm not his target. But one of y'all are."

No sooner had the words sunk into Cathy's brain before she felt the trees behind her ruslte and an in humanly tall shadow fall over her. And it all happened in a flash that no one was able to react. Well at least no one except for Alexa.

She turned towards the blue car towards their right and raised her hand up before bringing it down on the bonnet of the car, causing the alarm to go off.

And then there's that moment where you're not sure if what you thought was going to work, actually does work. And this was exactly that type of moment for Alexa.

But by the time she raised her head, Malthus was gone. In less than a split second. And everyone was safe.

"You knew he was coming?" Asked Ryan staring at Alexa while she looked around and urged them to walk faster.

"Obviously," muttered Alexa still not looking at Ryan.

"How is that obvious?" Cathy practically screamed.

"We didn't see him at all tonight," said Alexa trying to bring sense to her friends. "And anyways I'm feeling extremely tired so I'm going home." She said as the walked faster.

"But we're on the other side of the school," Ryan said, "It'll take at least 10 extra minutes to walk home. And on top of that it's getting really late and my parents are still at the police station."

"Crap we're gonna get so killed." Kylie said as she fidgeted with the tiny blue ring in her finger.

"Now I don't want to go home."  Cathy added with worry.

Ryan sighed out loud. "So I guess i should call my mom?"

"Drive us home!" Cathy interjected, the last thing she wanted to see was another judgemental adult.

"I don't have a license Cathy. Anther's the only one that does. And even if I did, I don't have a car."

"Hey it's gonna be okay," Kylie said softly, "I mean we've definitely gone through worse so what could some harsh words from our parents be?"

*  *  *

Sorry for not updating last week! I was kinda lazy and ngl I'm losing motivation again lol.

Though dw, I made a promise to myself to complete this book before the end of 2021 so I definitely won't stop halfway again.

And to make up for last week's absence, I'll be updating tomorrow as well! (Or at least I'll try my best to :p)

So leave ur comments, votes and lmk if you've got any feedback or anything.