None of us tried to sleep that night, despite the guards urging us to. They tried to convince us that we were safe from Tidas, wherever he was, but the fact that the search of the clearing had come up empty did not support that. I didn't expect them to find anything, really. We didn't, at first. The crow was the only thing that helped us discover that he needed an energy source to get around, at least at one time he did.

The group agreed that we felt like we were being stalked, our every move watched by both the guards and Tidas. All the lights in the house had to be turned off at night so as not to give anyone hints that we were there. I almost tricked myself into thinking that the thing in the woods was a person, some trapped or tormented soul who needed help. What he needed was eternal damnation to a place other than Earth.

I couldn't imagine the pain that Maverick must've been feeling. I had barely known Rena when she went missing, while Thomas and him were practically brothers. I didn't understand how he kept it together. When I had left the hospital the night before, I heard Maverick's muffled sobbing through the door once I closed it. It took all of my willpower not to go back in there. Now he looked tired, with huge bags under his eyes and a sad air about him. I wished I could help him, but I didn't know how.

The food at the cabin had minimal flavor. It usually contained about as much water as the human body and as much nutrients as a potato chip. Not to mention there were only two bathrooms—one for the girls and one for the boys.

Everyone was nervous, even the guards, though they did their best not to show it. I had slept for one out of the four total nights that we spent in the cabin, some could even say less for themselves. Conditions were bad.

Every night I would convince myself that the coyote in the backyard was Tidas and that the dogs brought by the police would somehow become possessed and drag me away into the wilderness. When anxiety kicked in, I seemed to have a very strong and vivid imagination. Every tree branch was a hand, every shadow was the black mass that chased me, and every noise was the howling of a hungry pack of animals. Everyone was paranoid.

The guards knew better than to think that Tidas was human. After everything we had told them, they too believed that it was something more powerful than us, something that dogs nor guns could stop.

There were days that I considered sacrificing myself for the good of my friends. And then there were days when I wondered if it would be happy if I gave it a sandwich and flew out of the country. My mood would change from noble to cowardly in a matter of minutes.

Every clearing looked like the one in Ember Heights. It was overwhelming when you were seeing the same thing in a different place everyday.

The cabin consisted of five rooms—two bathrooms, two bedrooms and a kitchen. There was one bedroom for us and one for the guards. Ours had a set of triple bunk beds on the left and right walls and a boarded up window in the back. It looked like a small military barracks.

We could call our parents twice a week if the signal was good, but most of the time we read books or stared at the ceiling, a blank look on our faces. Even schoolwork was a better alternative, though we couldn't do it. Nothing could be brought in or out of the property in case it aroused suspicion. If this wasn't over by the end of the year, we would have to do summer school.

"Do you think Tidas will find us here?" Asked Victoria, rubbing her arms to warm them against the blasting AC in the middle of winter.

"Do you want the honest answer or the comforting one?" I questioned her. The truth was good to know, but when you lived in isolation it was the one 0f the many things that could trigger insanity.

"Honest," she replied boldly.

"I think Tidas can find us anywhere, unfortunately. He left the forest and went onto my property, which means he no longer needs the crow as an energy source."

"He needs something else?"

"Or he's an independent, tangible spirit now," blurted Asher. Once he saw Victoria's eyes drop, his expression filled itself with regret.

"Who wants to play Go Fish?" Asked Maverick, somehow mildly entertained with his fingers as they moved back and forth against his sheets.

"Again?"

"What else can we do? We've read through the supply of books that they've given us. I never thought Moby Dick would interest me so much, but when you live here . . ." He trailed off.

"I'll go get it," Knox left the room and came back with a small box. "Set up on the floor?"

"Sure," we all sat, legs crossed, on the hard linoleum. The room was silent save for the fan that looked as though it would fly off the ceiling any second because of how fast it was spinning. The group collectively moved away from it and toward the dresser.

"Why do we have a cooling system on in the middle of winter?" Asked Victoria. "I'm freezing."

"Because heating is more expensive."

"That makes literally no sense. I'd rather it be the temperature it is outside than what it is right now."

"I'll go ask the guards." I volunteered. I left the room and walked to the front door. They weren't there. They weren't in their bedroom either. Or the girl's bathroom. Or the men's.

"Guys, the guards aren't here," panic filled my voice.

"Maybe they're outside."

"We aren't supposed to go out there. I'll go use the rotary phone" I dialed the number to the Ember Heights police station and held the cold, grimy phone to my ear. "Excuse me, is Detective Samson there?"

The man on the other end gave a shocked snort. "Haven't you heard? Detective Samson is missing."