"WHOA! Are you always going to do this? Y'know.. appear out of nowhere?" I asked.

"ꌩꀎꉣ. ꀤ꓄'ꌗ ꀘꀤꈤꀸ ꂦꎇ ꂵꌩ ꅏꃅꂦ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ." Black stated.

"Alright, that's gonna be annoying. Oh, hey! Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"ꀤ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꌗꍟꍟ ꅏꃅꌩ ꈤꂦ꓄. ꁅꂦ ꍏꃅꍟꍏꀸ." Black replied.

"Do you know what that monster is that attacked us at the house? It has purple eyes and dark, crystallized sort of skin." I asked him.

"ꌩꂦꀎ ꈤꍟꍟꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꂵꂦꋪꍟ ꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꎇꀤꉓ. ꌃꍟ꒒ꀤꍟꃴꍟ ꀤ꓄ ꂦꋪ ꈤꂦ꓄, ꅏꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀤ ꅏꍏꌗ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꅏꍟꋪꍟ ꍏ ꅏꃅꂦ꒒ꍟ ꌃꀎꈤꉓꃅ ꂦꎇ ꌗꉣꍟꉓꀤꍟꌗ ꂦꎇ ꍏꈤꀤꂵꍏ꒒ꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꉣꍟꂦꉣ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꃅꂦꌗꍟ ꉓꃅꍏꋪꍏꉓ꓄ꍟꋪꀤꌗ꓄ꀤꉓꌗ." He stated, pulling a grape from his hands and plucking it into his mouth.

"Uh, it pulls you in with its gaze, making sure you keep staring at it while it pulls you in with its slender body and eight arms. I really can't keep thinking about its gaze or else I'm going to get attracted to it again, it was harrowing." I stated.

"ꍏꃅ, ꍟꀤꁅꃅ꓄ ꍏꋪꂵꌗ, ꉣꀎ꒒꒒ꀤꈤꁅ ꀤꈤ ꉣꀎꋪꉣ꒒ꍟ ꍟꌩꍟꌗ, ꀤ'ꂵ ꌃꍟ꓄꓄ꀤꈤꁅ ꀤ꓄ ꃅꍏꌗ ꍏ ꒒ꂦ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꌗꃅꍏꋪꉣ ꓄ꍟꍟ꓄ꃅ ꓄ꂦꂦ?" He asked me, spitting out a seed from one of the grapes. I didn't notice this before but I was staring at the grapes throughout the entire conversation I was having with him. He pulled the grapes away from my gaze and kept eating them.

"Yes, it does have a lot of teeth. A whole lot of them." I said, remembering the teeth that I nearly head-butted back at the garage.

"ꀤ ꀘꈤꂦꅏ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꉓꋪꍟꍏ꓄ꀎꋪꍟ ꃴꍟꋪꌩ ꅏꍟ꒒꒒. ꀤ꓄'ꌗ ꍏ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪ. ꍏ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪ ꀤꌗ ꍏ ꉓꋪꍟꍏ꓄ꀎꋪꍟ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꉓꍏꈤ ꂵꍏꈤꀤꉣꀎ꒒ꍏ꓄ꍟ ꀤ꓄ꌗ ꁅꀎꍟꌗ꓄ꌗ, ꂵꍏꀘꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꃅꍟꂵ ꌃꍟꈤꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꀤ꓄ꌗ ꋪꀎ꒒ꍟꌗ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅ ꀤ꓄ꌗ ꁅ꒒ꂦꅏꀤꈤꁅ ꉣꀎꋪꉣ꒒ꍟ ꍟꌩꍟꌗ. ꍏ꒒ꌗꂦ, ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꍏꋪꍟ ꌗꃅꍏꉣꍟ ꌗꃅꀤꎇ꓄ꍟꋪꌗ, ꂵꍟꍏꈤꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꉓꍏꈤ ꌗꃅꍏꉣꍟ ꀤꈤ꓄ꂦ ꅏꃅꍏ꓄ꍟꃴꍟꋪ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꅏꍏꈤ꓄, ꈤꂦ ꂵꍏ꓄꓄ꍟꋪ ꃅꀎꂵꍏꈤ ꂦꋪ ꍏꈤꀤꂵꍏ꒒. ꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꀸꂦꈤ'꓄ ꍟꊼꍏꉓ꓄꒒ꌩ ꀸꂦ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꀎꈤ꒒ꍟꌗꌗ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ'ꋪꍟ ꉓꍏꉣ꓄ꀎꋪꍟꀸ. ꓄ꋪꀎꌗ꓄ ꂵꍟ, ꀤ'ꃴꍟ ꓄ꋪꀤꍟꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꉓꍏꉣ꓄ꀎꋪꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟꂵ, ꍏ꒒꒒ ꍏ꓄꓄ꍟꂵꉣ꓄ꌗ ꅏꍟꋪꍟ ꀤꈤ ꃴꍏꀤꈤ. ꍏ꒒꓄ꃅꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꌗꍟꍟꂵ ꀘꀤꈤꀸ ꍏꈤꀸ ꒒ꀤꁅꃅ꓄-ꌗꉣꀤꋪꀤ꓄ꍟꀸ ꍏ꓄ ꎇꀤꋪꌗ꓄ ꅏꃅꍟꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟꌩ ꃅꂦ꒒ꀸ ꂦꈤ꓄ꂦ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꁅꍏꁴꍟ, ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪꌗ ꌗꃅꂦꀎ꒒ꀸ ꈤꍟꃴꍟꋪ ꌃꍟ ꀤꈤ꓄ꍟꋪꍏꉓ꓄ꍟꀸ ꅏꀤ꓄ꃅ. ꍏꈤꀸ ꀤꎇ ꍏ꓄ ꍏꈤꌩ ꉣꂦꀤꈤ꓄ ꌩꂦꀎ ꌗꍟꍟꂵ ꓄ꂦ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꌃꍟꍟꈤ ꉓꂦꈤ꓄ꋪꂦ꒒꒒ꍟꀸ ꌃꌩ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪ ꎇꂦꋪ ꍏꈤ ꍟꊼ꓄ꍟꈤꀸꍟꀸ ꉣꍟꋪꀤꂦꀸ. ꅏꍟ꒒꒒, ꀤ'ꂵ ꍏꎇꋪꍏꀤꀸ ꀤ꓄'ꌗ ꍏ꒒ꋪꍟꍏꀸꌩ ꓄ꂦꂦ ꒒ꍏ꓄ꍟ ꎇꂦꋪ ꌩꂦꀎ." Black stated.

I swallowed with perturbation, thinking if I already was being controlled by the Longfeeler. Or if anyone else, including my friends, was being controlled by it as well.

The rest of my friends then abruptly showed up at the front door. Black suddenly vanished right beside me, leaving no grapes for me to feed on. I would've greeted my friends but I was hungry. I opened the fridge and saw only one thing there. A bottle of wine.

Are you fucking kidding me?

"Hello! We're here!" Peo announced as she dragged a suitcase across the smooth ground.

"Hey, uh... why do you have a suitcase?" Jack asked her.

"Pfft, well. Since our families aren't going to come back anytime soon we might as well pack up our stuff and go somewhere else right??!" Peo said, still dragging the suitcase through the ground. I swore if I found out there were literal rocks in that suitcase, I wouldn't be surprised.

"What!? Who even told you that Peo? Of course, our families are coming back! We just have to wait." Jack replied. Again, I knew about the three weeks situation but I declined to say anything. However, I worried I would eventually have to spill that information out of me to my friends' trauma cups.

"Really? I think you should take a look at this then." Emily said as she passed Jack a slip. I closed the fridge silently and glanced at Jack from the kitchen.

Jack read the slip and once he read the entire piece of paper, tears formed in his eyes. His expression reversed from optimistic to wariness, and he sat down on the stairs. He began crying again, just like how we found him before.

As Emily went to comfort him, the rest of our friends stood everywhere, either looking at the ceiling or the immense decor around the house. I sighed and got out of the kitchen.

"Welp. There's no food around here whatsoever other than a bottle of wine so unless we want to get drunk at the ripe age of thirteen and fourteen, I would recommend we stay away from the fridge." I said. Everyone else apart from Angel and Jack looked toward me in surprise.

I forgot that they hadn't seen me since a couple of hours ago when I tumbled down that hill and into the swamp.

"George! You're alive!" Steve exclaimed in excitement.

"Obviously, I'm alive dumbasses. You can't get rid of me that easily." I said. Everyone else smirked and smiled at me, even Jack paused from crying to chuckle a little bit.

"Anyway though, we can't lose hope about our families. Peo's probably right, they might've left us to dry, and though it's tough for me to say that, I can say with confidence that we can and will survive until we find out where our families have gone. Iʼll promise that on my life!" I stated. My words echoed off of the main hallway and through the staircase. Alice helped Fron took a seat on one of the steps.

"So come on! Who's with me on surviving by ourselves, against the Redwoods!" A few of my friends whooped and cheered, others raised their arms in the air. Robert specifically cackled, but I think that was because for one he was bleeding from his head, and two someone barely patched it up. This meant he likely had a concussion. Maurice took a moment to look at Angel's arm wound and grimaced.

"Most of us are injured, how are we gonna stand a fighting chance for ourselves?" Maurice asked us and she was expectedly right. Apart from Angel's arm injury and Robert's head injury, all of us had scratches or cuts on our bodies from the wreckage of Altandor. There were no available bandages just lurking around anywhere and... wait.

One, two, three, four, five, six.....

"Guys. Where's Aquafene?" I asked them all. Everyone finally woke up after I asked that question while Steve was the only one able to answer,

"I don't know." We were all left stunned. I thought we had completely forgotten about her until a sudden burst came through the door.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Aquafene shouted, covered in mud.

"Whoa, what happened to you!?" Steve asked, rushing over to her and she hilariously pushed him away.

"There was a stupid mud pit at the exit of this fuck-all of a town! I nearly drowned in it!" She looked at my clothes and I looked down at her. I forgot that there were still mud patches on my clothes.

"Damn, you too?" I asked her. She softened her expression as she turned to me.

"I entered into the city and found the mud pit there. Sorry, I didn't warn you." I said. She smirked and replied,

"No need to apologize, no one could've expected that mud pit to even be there in the first place." She wiped off the mud from her clothes and picked herself up. I saw that there was a gash on her leg but it looked to be half-bandaged up with an actual bandage this time.

"Did you find your parents at all?" Jack asked her.

"I didn't even go to my house, I knew that they probably left since everyone else in Altandor had left too. I wish I had found my home phone though, there were some good pictures on there." She replied. I suddenly remembered that home phone that Angel had gotten and the group messages from it. I stretched my left arm as it was sore and went to Angel.

"Mind if I?" I pointed toward the phone. She shrugged as I grabbed it. I walked down the stairs and gave her the phone.

"Here, we found this at your home. I didn't notice you lived so close next to me." She got the phone and her expression was filled with surprise as she unlocked it. The code was '2222' so Angel wasn't that far off.

"How did you—"

"Long story, me and Angel just stumbled into your home and found the phone," I stated, Angel nodded.

"I—well thank you, seriously. This is the only remnant I have left of my family." She said.

"For now," Steve stated back, heading toward a direction and then switching back, looking confused.

"Uhhh, where's the bathroom?" He asked Jack.

"Upstairs, take a right then another right, and pass by the theater." He stated. Of course, he had a theater, why wouldn't he?

**————————————————————————————**

Once everyone got settled in, all of us sighed in despair and looked at the ground, keeping ourselves from crying since we had no tears left. Until I had an idea,

"Hey everyone! Can you guys come here?!" I yelled out to my friends. I was heading to the kitchen for no particular reason other than to get everyone closer together.

"Geez, the house isn't that big, you don't have to yell," Robert said. Maurice tried to keep the half-ripped bandage on his head but it kept falling off. Seeing as how the bleeding had stopped, she decided to just let the bandage go. I would've advised her to keep the bandage on but I was way too fatigued to even do that.

"Yeah, yeah. Weren't you deaf just a couple of hours ago Robert? I had to double-check." I said. He scowled at me and sat down at the kitchen island that split off the stove from a back window overlooking the backyard. Why does every kitchen have to have a doorway to the backyard?

"Anyways. Why did you call us George?" Angel asked me, coming into the room after silently weeping. How do I know? She was wiping her bloodshot eyes.

"Look, I have a plan to get us out of Altandor and out of the grasp of Ethan, Veronica, and that Longfeeler," I responded.

"What's a 'Longfeeler'?" Alice asked.

"It's the creature that's been chasing us," I replied, everyone else looked muddled which made sense, they likely never even had the pleasure to meet that beast.

"That's what it's called?! Damn, I had to run away from it after it crossed over my house! Wasn't it the one that had eight long arms and sort of crystallized skin?" Steve asked me.

"That's the one," Angel stated. Emily and Maurice glanced at each other in deep realization, they knew what we were talking about from the first day of the factory explosion. Or well... technically three weeks after but I don't want to get into specifics.

"There's a creature that's chasing us?" Fron asked us, looking at an empty pantry as if it were a person. Alice kindly turned his head to face us.

"Yeah, I wasn't able to tell you guys before since we were struggling to survive. But there's a creature lurking in Altandor called the 'Longfeeler'. Do not, I repeat. DO NOT look at its eyes! It'll take ahold of you until your body is no longer yours." I warned them. Everyone shivered at that.

"It's also extremely fast and has plenty of teeth for your skull, so don't get too close to it, and don't make a lot of noise," Angel said.

"Speaking of noise, from what I've seen from the creature as long as you don't make too much noise, you'll be fine. I encountered that 'Longfeeler' when all of us first split off. I kept silent and it moved along. Obviously, it doesn't have very good eyesight." Maurice said. Steve went over to her and patted her on the shoulder, they both looked as weary as I was.

Steve's eyes then widened in curiosity and looked directly at me,

"Wait a minute. How did you know it's called the Longfeeler?" Steve asked suspiciously.

"Oh uh.. lucky guess? Heh. I guess since it has long arms and feels your brain out through its eyes I sort of pieced it together." I answered. Steve was too tired to argue about it anymore and just nodded. Thank god for that.

"Okay, enough about how I know the creature's name or whatever. We got to get out of here, and I think I know how." I said in confidence that I mustered out of thin air.

"Alright, Mr. Smarty pants. Explain how we're going to get out of here with no idea where our families are and with little food and water." Jack said.

"Okay so first! We rummage around the house and possibly other houses for leftover food and water." I replied. Jack, however, thought I was talking about his fridge and rushed over to it to protect... it.

"Wait what!? Hey! That's my food!" Jack said, protecting the fridge. I really couldn't imagine what a bottle of wine was worth protecting for but I'm betting he also didn't look inside the fridge in the first place.

"Oh my god Jack can you just move away from the fridge. We have to get food for the whole group, and surprisingly enough this is our closest food source so give it!" Robert said, now pulling Jack's arms.

"No! No, I won't give it!" Jack whined as he pulled closer to the fridge.

"Guys... guys!" I tried to shout at them but since my voice was parched from not drinking water for a solid three hours after running for... well three hours. My voice didn't reach out to them.

By this point, everyone else had enough and helped Robert pry Jack off of the fridge. The thing was, Jack was still a jockey even though he didn't have football practice in well over three weeks.

It took all of our effort to be able to get him off the fridge and locked into a chair. He continued to whine like a literal baby and once we pushed him away, Steve opened the fridge fully expecting an abundance of food. He rummaged through the fridge and pulled out the bottle of wine in disappointment.

"Jack, are you mother fucking kidding me?" Steve asked him.

"I tried to warn you guys there was only—" I looked inside the fridge and saw something that made my tired eyes awaken, even for a moment. I slightly pushed past Steve and reached inside the fridge, making Jack stop whatever he was about to say.

I looked inside and saw that there was a small hatch at the back of the fridge. I opened it carefully which spawned out a grand quantity of food. Everyone else was dumbfounded and immediately grabbed the food in a hurry. Peo grabbed the most and ate a full pack of cheese while her brother, Steve, grabbed a bottle of water and a small amount of cereal and ate it all up. We closed the fridge as we split the food evenly between us.

"Okay, step number one.. done," I said, looking angrily at Jack. He looked slightly embarrassed and rubbed his head.

"Step number two. We have to find a vehicle big enough that it will easily fit all of us at once. Any ideas?"

"Oh! Oh!" Aquafene exclaimed, "I saw a school bus when we were exiting the school to look for our families. It's near the C building! If we make it there, we could surely find the keys to the bus!" That didn't sit right with me, for one when I was going to Jack's house I didn't see a school bus anywhere whatsoever. And for two, I'm 99% sure that I would've seen a school bus while walking past the C building.

"And if we don't?" Peo asked. I agreed with her entirely and looked at Aquafene.

"Well if we don't find the keys, we can surely try to hot wire it. Even though none of us know how—"

"No, I meant if we don't find the school bus," Peo stated.

"Then there's enough hoverboards for all of us, and we can double up if there isn't enough," Aquafene said. Peo would've pressed on more but Steve gave her a stare that said, "Leave it". Peo looked down at the ground while she ate another piece of cheese.

"Well, that's our only option as there are eleven of us and no regular car is going to have eleven seats. We could also use plan B for the hoverboards. So that checks off step number two."

"Now finally, we need a distraction that's going to be so bold, so cunning! That anyone in a fifty-mile radius would be able to see it! We need it in order for us to get to the school safely in the first place since traveling like this will get us caught." I exclaimed, outstretching my arms wide to showcase how many of us there were.

Everyone began brainstorming, including myself, notions of what to make for the distraction. Emily thought fireworks might do the trick but that was impossible since there were no fireworks in Altandor. Alice and Peo proposed that we set a fire in the jungle, but that would take too long and prove way too costly if we burned the whole jungle down along with Altandor and the rest of nature for that matter. But Maurice then said,

"Hey, I think I got an idea. What if we make the Longfeeler screech loudly? Every creature, even whatever a Longfeeler is, has to make noise right? So what if someone, or rather maybe something, hurt the Longfeeler, it screeches, and we get out of Altandor?"

"That could work Maurice, but what would do the trick? I mean, we don't even know what it's afraid of. Let alone what could make it screech for a long time." Aquafene said. I could head-butt it again, but I think that would result in me probably being concussed or presumed dead.

"Yeah... be right back, I got to take a piss," I said as I went to the bathroom.

Now this was a lie, and likely a lie to my friends that I would remember for a long time as I came to the bathroom since I felt a presence, or Black, trying to come out of my body. I locked the bathroom door and as Black appeared, I asked... sort of silently,

"Oh my god, why do you keep appearing out of nowhere!? My friends are going to find out sooner enough that I don't need to go to the bathroom every single minute!"

"ꅏꍟ꒒꒒ ꌗꂦꋪꋪꌩ ꎇꂦꋪ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꌃꀎ꓄, ꀤ ꃅꍟꍏꋪꀸ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꎇꋪꀤꍟꈤꀸꌗ ꈤꍟꍟꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꎇꀤꈤꀸ ꍏ ꅏꍟꍏꀘꈤꍟꌗꌗ ꎇꂦꋪ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪ," Black said.

"Uh-huh," I said, with a hint of contempt.

"ꅏꃅꀤ꒒ꍟ ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀤꌗꈤ'꓄ ꍏ ꀸꍟꎇꀤꈤꀤ꓄ꀤꃴꍟ ꉓꍏꌗꍟ ꎇꂦꋪ ꅏꍟꍏꀘꈤꍟꌗꌗꍟꌗ ꂦꈤ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪꌗ, ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟ ꀤꌗ ꌗꂦꂵꍟ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꉓꍏꈤ ꌗ꓄ꂦꉣ ꀤ꓄ ꀤꈤ ꀤ꓄ꌗ ꓄ꋪꍏꉓꀘꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꂵꍏꀘꍟ ꀤ꓄ ꌗꉓꋪꍟꍟꉓꃅ ꒒ꂦꀎꀸ ꍏꈤꀸ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅ ꍟꈤꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꎇꂦꋪ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍏꈤꀸ ꌩꂦꀎꋪ ꎇꋪꀤꍟꈤꀸꌗ ꓄ꂦ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꂦꀎ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꃅꍟꋪꍟ. ꍏ꒒꒒ ꌩꂦꀎ ꈤꍟꍟꀸ ꓄ꂦ ꀸꂦ ꀤꌗ ꓄ꂦ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꌗꂦꂵꍟ꓄ꃅꀤꈤꁅ ꉣꍟꋪꌗꂦꈤꍏ꒒, ꒒ꀤꀘꍟ ꍏ ꈤꍟꉓꀘ꒒ꍏꉓꍟ ꂦꋪ ꌗꂦꂵꍟ ꓄ꌩꉣꍟ ꂦꎇ ꉣꍟꋪꌗꂦꈤꍏ꒒ ꀭꍟꅏꍟ꒒ꋪꌩ, ꍏꈤꀸ ꉣ꒒ꍏꉓꍟ ꀤ꓄ ꀤꈤ꓄ꂦ ꍏ ꉣꂦ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꃅꂦ꓄ ꅏꍏ꓄ꍟꋪ, ꌗ꓄ꀤꋪ ꀤ꓄ ꀎꉣ, ꍏꈤꀸ ꓄ꃅꋪꂦꅏ ꀤ꓄ ꂦꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꒒ꂦꈤꁅꎇꍟꍟ꒒ꍟꋪ. ꓄ꃅꍏ꓄ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꓄ꋪꀤꁅꁅꍟꋪ ꀤ꓄ꌗ ꍟꂵꂦ꓄ꀤꂦꈤꌗ ꅏꃅꀤꉓꃅ ꅏꀤ꒒꒒ ꁅꀤꃴꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ ꍟꈤꂦꀎꁅꃅ ꓄ꀤꂵꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꂦꀎ꓄ ꂦꎇ ꃅꍟꋪꍟ." Black said.

"That could work.. but who would give their jewelry off right now? Everyone wants to keep their jewelry because it reminds them of home." I said.

"ꌩꂦꀎ'꒒꒒ ꃅꍏꃴꍟ ꓄ꂦ ꁅꍟ꓄ ꀭꍟꅏꍟ꒒ꋪꌩ ꎇꋪꂦꂵ ꌗꂦꂵꍟꂦꈤꍟ ꅏꃅꂦ ꀸꂦꍟꌗꈤ'꓄ ꅏꍏꈤ꓄ ꓄ꂦ ꌃꍟ ꋪꍟꂵꀤꈤꀸꍟꀸ ꂦꎇ ꃅꂦꂵꍟ," Black said as he vanished away once again, leaving me with a carpeted toilet. Why did Jack's parents have to have a carpeted toilet?

"Hmm.." I hummed while I flushed the toilet, thinking of who I could get a piece of jewelry from.

When I got out of the bathroom, there was Angel, standing right near the bathroom. I swear it was like fate decided for her to be right there. I thought of what Black said and looked at her bracelet. Someone who doesn't want to be reminded of home huh?

"Hey, I got to go to the bathroom hehe... excuse me!" Angel said as she tried to pass me.

I pulled her arm and with zero hesitation, yanked her bracelet off her arm. Before she could say a word I asked,

"Hey, you won't need this do you?"

"Whoa! Uhh.. no. I won't ever need it." She replied, looking down at the bracelet in revulsion. It was a simple purple and white bead bracelet.

"Perfect!" I responded as I quickly ran to the kitchen. Angel seemed confused, but she closed the door behind her.

"Hey! I have a plan to stop the Longfeeler! All I need is a pot and some hot water!" I exclaimed as I rummaged through the kitchen, knocking over plates and cups as I got the pot, put it over the sink, obtained hot water, then put it over the stove, and dropped the jewelry in the pot. I fetched a large metallic spoon and started stirring.

Everyone else on the other hand was either stunned or confused and they stared at what I was making.

"Uhhh... George? What's the point of this?" Steve asked me. He looked at me like I was crazy, which I might've been about now. I mean, thinking about imaginary spirits and getting advice from them!? HAHAHAHAHAHA...

I hoped Black was imaginary.

"Well, Steve. I thought that maybe the monster was allergic to feelings so I got something personal, put it in hot water for a burning effect, and now we throw it at the monster to distract it!" I lied. I honestly don't know how I lied that fast but I imagined a tired mind could do that to you.

"Hmm.. alright! Seems reasonable I would say!" Fron exclaimed as he stepped out of the chair and started to walk slowly towards me with Alice's help. I was surprised that he was so on board with this already but assuming we didn't have any other options, everyone else soon agreed.

"Yeah! Anyway, this should be our last step towards getting out of here. I'll get the pot and throw it at the monster, while you two get the school bus and meet me at the entrance." I said, picking up the hot pot. I was half expecting someone to volunteer to throw the pot instead of me but no one did. I sighed.

"Yeah, hopefully this works," Aquafene said.

"And hopefully Ethan and Veronica don't see us," Jack added in, shaking in anxiety.

Once Angel got out of the bathroom, we enacted our plan. While I was going to the monster at my home, the rest of my friends were going to the school to get the keys and bus. Jack grabbed another suitcase from upstairs and dumped most of the food inside the suitcase as well as three jugs of water. Aquafene handed me her phone and told me the password to it since we couldn't communicate with each other in any way other than by the home phone. Hopefully, I got next to a WI-FI router that was somehow still working. I had to trust my friends in getting the key for the bus.

We split off and I walked off in the distance back to my house with the pot in my hand, I absolutely did not want to spill this.

While I walked, I expected my friends had already gotten there in time. I didn't see Ethan or Veronica anywhere but I was betting they're around here somewhere. Hopefully, none of the bird drones had spotted me yet.

However, I paused right when I was about to cross the street, I realized,

"OH CRAP! No one knows how to drive a car! Let alone a bus!" I exclaimed to myself, running through the street as quickly as possible with my pot. Running, as I've never run before.