We followed Crexus as he stomped ahead, not giving any indication that he knew where he was going. Yet, he was walking with such an air of confidence, I was convinced he knew where he was leading us so I stayed quiet.

"What are you thinking about?" Zion asked, his eyes gaging me carefully. I had almost forgotten he was beside me and could only imagine what he was thinking.

"The same thing you are," I replied, noticing the worry in his eyes. If the horrors of the forest were as Edward said, yes I was scared shitless. But everyone I loved tagging along and the idea of being trapped there forever? That was even worse.

"It'll be alright."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not," he said, winking at me causing my cheeks to flush with heat.

"I see something," Star called out, waving us over to her and Joel.

We rushed over to see what she had found, seeing a tiny green plant sprouting out of the dust. To call it a plant was being generous, it was little more than a tiny leaf sprouting from a skinny little stem.

We turned our attention towards Crexus, waiting for his approval that this was indeed what we were looking for.

After bending slightly that his gigantic shadow covered the plant completely, he rose up nodding.

Star reached out to touch the plant before he yelled, "STOP!"

She jumped back, crashing into Joel in fright.

Tell your friends you must all join hands before touching the flower. If not, you'll all land in different parts of the forest, separated from one another.

And you can't tell them this because?

They're not my friends. They're yours.

Sighing I looked up, before saying, "We have to hold hands."

"What?" Jeremy asked, barely stifling a giggle.

"Wait, why?" Tom asked, curiously.

"Because Crexus told her to. Everyone join hands," Edward ordered.

I looked to him in surprise, not knowing he was aware that Crexus had been telepathically speaking to me. Then again, he had been a part of the supernatural world much longer than I had so it shouldn't surprise me.

"I didn't hear him say anything," Joel said, scratching his head in confusion.

"He didn't say it out loud, he told me in my mind," I said casually before grabbing Zion's hand, ignoring his and everyone but Edward's looks of confusion.

"Tom, grab my hand," I ordered, seeing everyone else linked to someone but him.

I heard Zion mutter something indecipherable under his breath, which I didn't have time to ask about before Star touched the plant. Immediately, we found ourselves in the forest, as Crexus had said we would. We all let go of one another as we took in our surroundings.

It was covered in trees, that rose up endlessly, blocking the sky with its thick branches that were covered in heaves. Autumn leaves were on the ground, wet from what I assumed was rain. I could see all sorts of bugs climbing in and out of rocks, up trees, out of plants, etc. I felt my skin crawl as I noticed a few snake holes, hoping we wouldn't come in contact with any. I could see a small pond up ahead, more grey than blue. Not caring, I made my way towards it as I felt my throat crying out for moisture.

"Wait," Edward said, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"What?"

"We should tread carefully. We don't know what to expect. And we should walk close to each other."

Nodding, I waited for the others to get close to me before walking forward slowly, tapping into my vampire vision so I'd see anything coming before it attacked.

We reached the pond quickly, dropping down to our knees to get a drink. After we were all satisfied, we stood up preparing to continue on our path when the pond began to change color, darkening until it was pure black.

"That can't be good," Tom said, nervously.

That's when I noticed it, tall giants walking out of the pond. By giants I mean they must've been at least 8 feet tall. They looked to be made of moss, which was falling off of them with each step they made. They eyed us hungrily with their teeth bared, their sharp long teeth visible.

"Zion," I said nervously, eying him as I began backing away.

Within an instant, he transformed, turning into his werewolf form before looking to me with his eyes. I nodded in understanding before turning to my friends.

Crexus stepped towards the giants, rising up in the air until he was staring at them head on before punching one in the face, hard. This sent the giant careening back, falling flat on his back. The other giants, infuriated, immediately started to attack. Crexus, however was dodging their attacks by swiveling through the air, easily.

"Everyone, get on Zion's back NOW!" Edward ordered.

Tom and Joel scrambled on his back quickly while Joel was struggling to pull Star up.

Crexus's overconfidence finally caught up to him as one of the giant's landed a hit, sending him flying as he crashed straight through a couple of trees before lying on the ground, terrifyingly still. I sent a quick message to Crexus, hesitating to leave him.

Are you okay?

Get out of here NOW

Edward darted up to the giants, picking up a nearby branch and chucking it at them to buy us time. That only seemed to aggravate them, but it was enough to get Star safely on their back and for Zion to go off running, faster than I had ever seen in the opposite direction.

"EDWARD," I yelled, watching one of the giants pluck a tree out of the ground and prepare to chuck it at us.

Taking the hint, he ditched the fight and started racing through the forest. I followed him, tapping into my magic to propel me forward faster. Soon, we caught up to Zion who was easily darting forward in his werewolf form as my friends clutched onto him for dear life. After a few minutes, when we could no longer hear the giants and were satisfied we were far enough away, we slowed down.

I collapsed on the ground, wheezing for air as Edward barely broke a sweat.

"What was that thing?" Jeremy asked, sliding off Zion's back.

"No idea but I never want to see it again," Star said, shivering in disgust.

"What happened to Crexus?" Tom asked.

"I don't know."

Are you alive?

No response. I know I wasn't his biggest fan, but I really hope he isn't dead. I couldn't handle another person dying on my behalf, not so soon after Saira.

"Have you tried speaking to him?"

"No response," I said, shaking my head at Edward.

"He'll be alright," Zion said, confidently.

"How do you know?"

"Just a feeling."

"Riding on a werewolf's back is fucking awesome," Joel said, slapping Zion on the back.

"Yeah, we're definitely doing that again," Jer agreed.

"It's getting dark. We should find someplace to settle until the night. We don't want to be caught out here in the open at dark."

"Why? What happens after dark?" Star asked.

"You don't want to know," Edward replied vaguely.

For once, I decided not to push for an explanation. He was right. I did not want to know.

"What about there?"

I turned to follow Tom's pointed finger to a cave, dark and likely filled with crawling creatures.

"That'll do," Edward approved.

"Don't snakes live in caves?" Star asked, speaking my own fearful thoughts.

"We will all have turns taking watch so if there are any snakes or other signs of danger, we'll see it coming," Edward explained further.

We climbed up the rocks, making our way to the entrance. We walked in to the spacious cave which was silent with an occasional chirping of insects, and dripping of water. We went deep enough that we weren't right by the entrance but not deep enough to find out what creature was making that scraping noise that seemed to get louder the further we walked into the cave. Having already had our daily dose of danger, we decided against exploring it.

Once we got settled, Edward reached into the bag on his back before tossing out three blood bags and 4 sandwiches. The sight of food set all of our bodies off as the cave filled with the sounds of our growling stomachs. Edward. Zion, and I tore through our blood bags as Star, Tom, Joel, and Jer finished their sandwiches in barely two bites.

"I didn't pack for three days so we're going to have to ration," he explained, noticing our expectant eyes on him.

"Alright, it's 7:30 right now. We need to be up by 5 AM. That's when the darkness will fade and the light will come out. We need to use our time to get through the forest in three days time. That'll give us around 9 hours. There are 7 of us. Each watch should be around 80 minutes. Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go," I volunteered, not able to rest knowing Crexus could be out there laid in the middle of the forest with his body parts missing.

"You sure?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, you guys go to sleep."

Are you alive?

Still, there was no response. I closed my eyes, tapping into my vampire vision to imagine the layout of the forest. I searched, for any signs of life. An armed guard shouldn't be hard to miss. After a few minutes of pointless searching, I gave up. If I couldn't find his body, maybe he was alright. But that didn't explain why he was ignoring me.

A loud sound startled me, causing me to jump up. I turned around to place it, relaxing once I realized it was Jeremy's snoring. He was going to wake up the entire forest snoring like that.

I relaxed, laying my head back against the stone enjoying the silence for a couple of minutes. That's when I heard it, the ear piercing scream. I jumped up, poised and ready to attack when I heard it again. Was that Crexus?

I winced as I heard the bone rattling scream once again, unable to ignore it any longer. I looked back, seeing my friends sleeping peacefully. But, I couldn't leave them.

Please protect my friends. I pleaded with the Earth, touching the dirt on the ground and feeling the tingle of magic. I released a surge of my own magic into the ground, the Earth gladly accepting it as it fueled me with power. I pointed my hands at my friends, watching as a boundary began to form around my friends. I watched it rise up and surround them, covering them completely. Satisfied, I stepped back, whispering an apology and a promise to return before running out of the cave. As soon as I got to the opening, I jumped off the rocks extending my wings as I soared through the treestowards the voice. My heartbeat was pounding, hoping, praying it wasn't Crexus.

I finally arrived, diving down as I let myself plummet quickly towards the sound. As soon as I got close enough that the branches were no longer blocking my view, I jumped down. I looked around, confused. There was no one here. The screaming had halted as well, leaving me in complete silence in the center of the forest. The only thing I could hear was my own breathing and the brushing of the leaves beneath my feet.

I heard a tree branch crack from behind me as I turned towards the sound. Nothing.

"Show yourself," I demanded, my wings wrapped around me like a shield, protectively. I gulped, realizing I probably walked right into a trap. I probably imagined that voice or maybe it was the forest manipulating me. I couldn't even tell.

Crexus, where are you?

This time, I got an answer. But it wasn't from Crexus.

Give me control and I'll get us out of here

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

I screamed internally, banishing the dark magic as I felt it slink away. Wait, was this Liam's doing? Was this his way of sneaking me away from the others to kill me? I pulled out my phone, checking the time. 8:30. I had 20 more minutes to get back before my watch ended and everyone realized I was gone.