Arabella stepped over the vines and sticks that laid on the ground, feeling the crackle of them through her sneakers. Most of it was dead, she noticed. While the trees were full of life, as soon as something fell to the ground, it would loose all of their beauty and strength. They were just so... worthless.

Destroyed.

"Are you alright?" Somebody behind her asked. Arabella flipped her head around to see a boy that she recognized a little, however she couldn't recall his name. Beside him was a freckled boy who was helping support him on the side, the other boy leaning with each step.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," She lied, shaking it off and loosing eye contact with the boy.

"I'm feeling better, Quinn, you can take a break," She heard the boy say, the freckled boy letting go of him as he started to walk by himself and caught up with Arabella.

"You're Bella, right?" He asked, and she nodded awkwardly, not wanting to give away that she didn't recognize him. "I thought I've seen you before. In math?" She nodded her head a little, keeping her head down. She tried hard to remember his name. Jonathan? Jules? She knew it staryed with a "j".

"Isn't Eira you're friend?" He asked, and once again, she nodded. Jason, maybe? Jacob?

"Jayed!" The boy named Quinn called, who was surprisingly far ahead of them, and the boy next to Arabella shot his head up, quickening his pace as fast as he could but she could tell how painful it was for him. After a short pause, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on," She said, motioning to her shoulder.

"No, no, I'm fine," Jayed said, shaking his head.

"No, you're not." Finally, he gave in. Arabella started walking, helping Jayed as much as she could. She never considered herself strong, but Jayed was actually quite light so it wasn't a huge struggle. He also was about the same height as her so he didn't rely on her too much.

When she saw what all of the others were looking at, she almost dropped him on the ground and he would have fallen if he hadn't stood up himself. In front of them were footprints, two sets to be exact. However, they weren't complete. They ended, right there in front of them.

"They just... Vanished," A dark-haired girl said. She stood next to Sparna,

"I bet something got them," Dylan said bluntly.

"Not my Neeks," Sparna said, glaring at him. "He's strong, he really is."

"But we don't know what lies in these woods. For all we know, we could be standing on his bones right now." Sparna gasped at his words and the dark-haired girl grabbed her from the side, whispering comforting things to her. Tears started to fill up in her eyes.

"Will you just shut your damn mouth?" William snapped, clearly annoyed and angry with Dylan.

"The footprints don't mean that they're dead, it just means that maybe the rest of their footprints are covered up," A girl who stood next to the brown haired girl said, and Arabella noticed how she seemed to be analysing the whole scene, testing all of the possible solutions and seeing if they work.

"We should split up," Marisa suggested. "If they are in danger, we need to get to them as soon as possible, and that's not going to happen in one big group."

Not everyone seemed very fond of the idea, including Arabella. Splitting up? No one in their right mind splits up in the face of danger! They tried to talk sense into the rest of the group, but Marisa insisted that it was just as safe with six people instead of twelve. Eventually, when no one would listen, they gave in.

Marisa and William paired up immedietly, including Jayed and Quinn and Sparna and the brown haired girl. Arabella looked around and thought of who to join, but the groups formed so soon that she almost didn't have any impact. In her group was Marisa, Dylan, the girl who spoke earlier and William. She had much rather joined Jayed and Sparna in their group, for it was a much better fit for her than the group who she was sure would never stop bickering but she held her tongue, afraid she would upset anybody. Plus, everybody already seemed comfortable in their groups, so no one would trade with her, anyways.

"Alright, then," Marisa continued, looking around at the two groups. "When one of us finds them, we'll let out a special call, just so we know and we won't keep looking." And with that, she cleared her throat, sending out a loud, screeching cry that made Arabella cringe. Dylan laughed at Marisa and she glared in response.

A few other people tried it and she noticed Quinn snickering a little when Sparna failed to replicate it, Jayed shoving him in the side a little to make him stop.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Marisa asked, and most of the others nodded, Arabella, another boy that she didn't recognise and Dylan being hesitate to do so.

"And what if something happens to the one of the groups?" Dylan asked, even though he was obviously just trying to get on Marisa's nerves.

She paused before answering. "Then we just hope for mercy."

***

"Ty, where are you?!"

Nico screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that his friend would answer, but they didn't. He rotated around, but there was no sign of them.

Why did he have to fall asleep? He was so stupid. He didn't even know if his friend was alive, not when they wouldn't answer him.

Then, he heard it, something he hoped he wouldn't. Ty's scream.

"Ty!" He yelled as loud as he could, running towards the source. He needed to find them, or he would never forgive himself.

There weren't any more screams, which terrified him even more. He continued to run and search, when finally he knocked into a small boy who almost fell down from the impact.

"Oh my god, Ty!" Nico exclaimed. He pulled them into his arms, and when he released he realized how shaky and scared they were. "What happened?"

They panted heavily and Nico grabbed their shoulders, trying to calm them down but it didn't work. As Nico looked into their eyes, all they could see was pure fear.

"We have to go," They said, breathing heavily. Nico grabbed their hand with one of his to comfort them but nothing changed in their eyes. He tried to keep them still, but Ty refused to let him do that. They struggled against him to get out of his grip, but they couldn't.

"Now, Nico!" Ty gripped his hand even harder, dragging it with them as they finally escaped Nico's grip and started to run away in the other direction. Nico staggered to keep up, still confused.

"Slow down!" Nico called, but they didn't listen. He took sharp breaths as he fell behind, their hands barely able to stay together.

"Come on!" They ordered, pulling Nico further up beside them. He yelped from surprise, his feet starting to go in directions of their own. Ty tried to help him keep up, but they didn't go any slower. If anything, they went even faster.

"Ty, what's going on?" Nico felt himself running slower and getting more and more exhausted, and eventually, he let go of Ty's hand. Nico fell to the ground, coughing and panting. Ty looked back, running over to help him. They grabbed his hand, trying to help him up but Nico stayed on the ground, unable to move.

"You have to get up! It's gonna get us!" It? What was it?

"I can't," Nico said weakly. "I can't move."

"You have to try!" Ty was basically crying, dragging Nico in attempt to get him to keep running. Their voice started to crack and shake, a terrified and sad expression growing on their face. "Come on, Nico! Please!"

Nico coughed one final time, grabbing their hand as hard as he could and stood up, using Ty to help him. "Okay," He said, and right after that Ty took off running, still holding Nico's hand to keep them together.

It felt like they both had run miles, and Nico expected Ty to be more tired than they were but as he looked at them, they didn't look the least bit tired. Just determined and focused.

All of a sudden, they stopped. Nico didn't know why but he followed Ty's lead and looked at what they were staring at. In the distance were six blobs, all of them different sizes and heights. Nico looked at Ty and noticed how sweaty they were and just looking at the blobs made their eyes wide. It was like they were frozen and couldn't move, even if they wanted to.

"What are they?" Nico whispered, but Ty stayed silent. The blobs were coming closer to them, and finally, he could make out what they were.

"It's my sister!" He exclaimed, smiling as he rushed over to them. He was already exhausted but tried his best to run, jumping into Sparna's arms.

"Oh, Neeks, I was so worried!" She said, squeezing him with all of her might. He dug his face into her shoulder, relieved that she came when she did. He finally let go and looked at everyone else. The only other person he recognized was Karimah Leya, the other people there being a tall brown haired boy, a boy with freckles all over his face standing next to a boy with an obvious limp, for he was using the freckled boy for support.

"What. Were. You. Thinking?" Sparna scoulded. When he didn't answer she pulled him in for another hug, stroking his hair with her hand.

"Kid, I don't know what you were doing out here, but everybody is looking for you," A voice from behind her said. Nico turned his head to the source and found himself facing the tall, brown haired boy. "You could have been killed."

"Seriously, what were you thinking?" Karimah Leya asked, seemingly annoyed with them.

"Well, Ty left looking for something to help out the group and I wanted to help them out, to make sure they stayed safe." Every head turned to the kid who stood away from everyone else, constantly looking behind themself to make sure the coast was clear. They didn't say anything, as they were still frozen in fear. "I didn't do a good job, though."

"Why?" The boy with freckles asked curiously. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Nico responded, hoping to get some sort of explanation from Ty but they remained silent. "They won't tell me."

Ty finally broke out of their frozen position but didn't look any less scared. The boy with the limp stared at them as if he was trying to solve a puzzle that was almost impossible.

"Well, we better get back or the others will worry. Liam, do the call," Sparna said, and the brown haired boy nodded. He cupped his hands to his mouth, letting out a loud call, one that Nico didn't recognize. When he was done, the six students turned back around and started walking out of the forest. Sparna grabbed Nico's shoulders, constantly asking if he was okay. He confirmed, even though he was still worried. What had Ty seen that made them run?

Nico looked ahead of the group, trying to see if they were close to the edge but it was obvious that they weren't. Him and Ty walked a while back and only just then started to run back, and they didn't get very far anyways. He looked back and saw the boy with the limp and the freckled boy helping each other, but they were still traveling very slow. While they were still moving slowly, there was still someone behind. Nico waited till Sparna was preoccupied with Karimah Leya to walk to the back of the ground and stand right beside Ty.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. Ty hesitated, then shook their head.

"No," They said, keeping their head down. Nico expecting them to continue, but when they didn't he asked them another question.

"W-what happened? Like, why did you leave?" Nervous that he asked too much, he felt bad when they didn't answer at first. They just stared at the ground, and after a few moments they finally opened their mouth to speak.

"You won't believe me," They whispered, voice hoarse. They were obviously upset, but looked more shook than anything.

"Yes, I will," He said, putting his hand on their shoulder in attempt to comfort them. Ty sighed as Nico lowered his hand, and got ready to speak.

"I-it was, um... I don't know how to explain it." They paused. "There was a-a creature, and it took me from w-where you were sleeping. I-I don't know what it was, b-but it didn't look like a normal animal."

Nico held his breath. It was hard to believe, but he let them continue.

"It's kind of a blur to me, b-but I think it looked like a m-mutant dog or something, with sharp claws a-and maybe it was my imagination, but I t-think it had two heads."

Ty hung their head. "I know it's stupid, but I feel like it's watching me."

Nico patted their back. "It's not stupid, you're just nervous after what happened."

"I'm glad you said that," They started, not looking up. "I can still hear it, in my head. I won't leave."

Nico paused, not sure exactly how to answer. "Well, we should get out of the woods first. You'll be safe on the beach."

Ty didn't even try to form a fake smile. Instead, they walked with their head down, and Nico occasionally checked their surroundings to make sure that nothing was watching them. He didn't know if he could believe Ty, about the two-headed beast, but he did know there was something wrong about the forest they were walking in. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was there.