"Are you sure about this?"

I glanced over at Jackson who was scanning the tree line wearily. He didn't look the least bit happy about being here and neither did Keith, but Mani looked pretty excited.

I slapped his shoulder and he jumped in surprise, wide eyes snapping to me. "Will you calm down? Nothing's gonna happen."

Keith glanced at me with a frown. "Isn't that what they always say in movies right before everything goes to shit?"

"We're not in a movie," I rolled my eyes at him before approaching the trees. "This is real life. Stuff like that rarely happens in real life. Now, come on!"

"Let's do this!" Mani cheered, rushing past me so he could be the first one inside.

The four of us had decided to do some urban exploration after Mani's great great grandfather told us this story about a man named Old Ox Jones. According to this tale, Ox was a notorious jewel thief that went uncaptured for more than thirty years. 

He made his last stand in this very forest and the jewels that he stole have never been recovered to this day. The old man is positive that Ox hid them here but the forest is so large that, despite nearly thirty years of searching, he hasn't found any sign of them.

Not to mention the thousands of other treasure hunters that have tried their hand at it, as well.

The farther in we got, the darker it became, the trees blocking what little bit of light that the moon offered. Each of us had a high powered flashlight but we could still only see a few feet in front of us.

"We don't even know where to look," Jackson complained, lifting up his flashlight. "And it's starting to rain!"

I held my hand out, feeling tiny drops of water hit my skin. "We're mostly covered by trees so it shouldn't be a big problem as long as it doesn't start to pour."

He scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. "You're only saying that because you love the rain!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Unlike you, I'm a normal person that does not enjoy running around in soaking wet clothes because I was standing in the rain for an hour."

"Normal is overrated."

"Okay, but we still don't know where to look."

"But we know where not to look," Mani grinned, waving an old map in front of him. There were dozens of red X's marked on it, some of the ink faded over time.

"Do you even know how to read that thing?"

Mani's grin faltered. "Uh..."

Keith heaved a heavy sigh and pulled his phone from his pocket. "I took the liberty of overlaying the print map with a digital one thanks to Google Maps."

The reaction to this information was mixed.

Jackson was not a happy camper. "You traitor..."

I was pretty impressed. "And this is why you're the brains of this group. Good job, man."

Mani's excitement was renewed. "What are we waiting for, then? Let's move, losers!"

"The feck are you calling a loser?" I muttered, making a move toward him but Keith grabbed my arm, keeping me in place. Mani was none the wiser that I nearly clocked him in the head with my flashlight.

"Here," Keith held his phone out to me. "I'd really rather not lead."

"Fine by me!" Mani snatched the phone from him before I could.

I sent Keith a blank look. "Would you consider me a close friend?"

Keith smiled softly. "You're one of my best friends, but I'm not helping you hide Mani's body if you kill him."

"Damn it."

"Let's try over here first!" Mani declared, pointing in a random direction.

"Wait a minute," Jackson held his hands up, almost as if in surrender. "Wouldn't it be better to start in the area where Ox was killed?"

"What for?"

I snapped my fingers, realizing what he was getting at. "The old man said that the cops weren't too far behind him. He estimated about five or ten minutes. If that's true, then he wouldn't have gotten too far from wherever he hid the jewels when they caught up to him."

"Oh... guess you got a point." Mani rubbed his chubby cheek thoughtfully before scowling at me. "Hey, wait a minute! Grampy James isn't an old man, you jerk! He's just... aged! You know, like cheese."

"How is comparing him to moldy cheese any better than just calling him old?"

"I never said moldy!"

Keith quirked a brow at Jackson, surprised that he had offered a helpful solution but the brunette scowled in return, shaking his head. "Don't you give me that look. If we're going to do something utterly stupid and possibly die, we might as well do it right!"

Keith nodded, a soft smile on his lips.

Mani huffed, sending me a glare before turning his back to me. "Let's see here..." He used his thumb to swipe across the screen. "The spot he died... its right in the center of the forest. It'll take us a while to get there... we better get going, then!"

Jackson groaned as the shorter male started to speed walk deeper into the woods. He sent me a pained look when I patted him on the shoulder.

━━━━━━༻*༺━━━━━━

"Are we there yet?" Mani whined before wiping the sweat from his brow with the collar of his shirt. As the night wore on, the humidity increased, leaving us all damp with sweat and feeling exhausted.

"You have the map, dumbass," I replied, fanning myself with a large leaf I had picked up a few miles back. It barely provided me with a breeze but it was still better than nothing.

"Oh, right..." He lifted the phone, paused for a moment, and then glared at me over his shoulder. "Who're you calling a dumbass, pendejo?!"

"You. Was that not obvious?"

"You're not as smart as you think you are!"

"Never said I was. The first step to being a dumbass is accepting the fact that you are, in fact, a dumbass."

"Why you -!"

"Enough!" Keith put himself between us before a physical fight could break out, sending us both his sternest mom look. "Can't the two of you ever just say something nice to one another? You've been classmates for three years yet you still fight like an old married couple!"

Mani and I exchanged a look before turning to him and chorusing, "No."

"How could I ever get along with her?" Mani huffed, the action making his curly black hair sway across his forehead. "She's my sworn enemy!"

"You watch too much anime," I scoffed.

He either wasn't listening or just chose to ignore me. "We've been feuding since the moment we met. Generations will pass by and our grandchildren's grandchildren will still be feuding! And they will continue to feud until she finally gives up and admits that my family is better than hers!"

"Yeah, that ain't happening in any lifetime, mate."

"Are you saying my family is terrible?!"

"Your family is literally just you. No one has joined you, bro. This also isn't a mafia anime so you will never have a family."

"No mames!"

"I don't speak Spanish, remember? I have no idea what you're saying."

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly exasperated. "You guys are -"

"Shh! Be quiet!" Jackson hissed suddenly, bringing his finger to his lips. We all looked at him with a mixture of confusion and surprise. "Do you guys hear that?"

Silence settled over us as we strained our ears to hear whatever it was that had spooked him.

The annoying chirping of cicadas.

The croaking of frogs.

A strange demonic chanting.

The crunch of leaves.

Twigs snapping.

The wind rustling the treeto – wait a damn minute... Strange demonic chanting?!

"It's getting closer!" Jackson hissed, his head snapping back and forth as he tried to determine which direction it was coming from, but it sounded like it was all around us.

"What do we do?" Mani whimpered, clutching onto Keith's shirt.

"Stay calm," Keith breathed out shakily. "Let's just turn around and exit the forest quickly but calmly. Panicking will get us nowhere."

"The map isn't working!" Mani cried, tapping furiously on the screen. "There's no signal!"

"Stop screaming," I snapped in annoyance, tugging my own phone from my pocket. "I don't have any signal, either."

"Me neither," added Jackson, his voice trembling. Without warning, he dropped down to the ground and started to do pushups.

I sent him a blank look. "I hardly think now is the time to worry about fitness."

"You know I work out when I'm scared or stressed!" he hissed back, increasing the speed of his pushups.

"You're so weird, man."

Keith took a deep breath, slowly panning the flashlight across the trees before coming to a stop. "I think we came from this way."

Not only the smartest of the group, but he's also the one with the best instincts. His gut has never once been wrong in the eight years I've known him.

"Turn your lights off," he ordered. "I'll lower the brightness on mine but keep it turned on. The more light we have, the more attention we draw."

Jackson was reluctant but did as he was told, slipping the flashlight into his back pocket. Mani, on the other hand, clutched onto it so tightly that one might think it was the sole thing keeping him alive. Rolling my eyes, I snatched it from him, clicking it off before doing the same with my own.

We started on our way, careful of our steps as we followed Keith. Several uneventful moments passed us by.

Keith stopped dead only to quickly backpedal, knocking into Mani who squeaked in surprise.

"W-What is it?" Mani clutched onto the back of Keith's shirt.

"I... I thought I saw..." his brow furrowed in confusion as he panned the flashlight across the trees.

"Saw what?" I wondered, squinting at the darkness as I tried to make out... well, anything.

Keith seemed to think about it for a moment as if deciding whether or not he should tell us, mostly because he knew Mani would freak. I stepped forward, tugging Mani away from him and shoving him toward Jackson.

"Hey! Keith is my buddy!" Mani protested, starting toward us again but I sent Jackson a look.

He understood immediately and nodded, throwing his arms around the smaller male before crying out dramatically. "I'm so scared! Mani, protect me!"

"W-What? I can't even protect myself! And you're way stronger than me!" He tried to wiggle free but Jackson's grip was like iron. I knew that first hand.

I stepped closer to Keith, lowing my voice. "What did you see?"

He frowned at me, looking unsure. "I think... I saw a bear through the trees."

"A bear?" I repeated in surprise. "There shouldn't be any bears in this area."

"I know," he ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I was just seeing things. The darkness likes to play tricks on our eyes."

"Yeah, maybe." I studied him for a moment as best I could given the darkness surrounding us. "Is there something else?"

He bit his lip unsurely for a moment. "Well... I could have sworn he was... walking upright on two legs."

My brow furrowed. "I've seen videos of bears standing on two legs, but not walking. Is that normal?"

"I have no idea." Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned to the other two. "Let's continue on, we shouldn't be too far now."

Jackson finally released him and Mani came running up to us. "What was it?!"

"It was a stickbug," I replied seriously, fighting back my smile when a shiver went through his body. Mani hated insects.

"Why would you tell me that?!"

"Because you wouldn't stop asking." I rolled my eyes,

"I only asked once!"

"That's one time too many." I smacked Keith's shoulder. 

He took the hint and continued forward, the rest of us following. Another round of silence fell over us.

Snap.

The sound of a twig snapping in half seemed to echo so loudly that it made all of us pause, the air around us growing even more tense. Jackson, assuming it was Mani, squinted at him through the darkness. "Will you be quiet?"

"T-That wasn't me," he squeaked in reply, sounding so terrified that I wondered if he was about to cry or if he was already.

Snap.

I moved closer to Keith, squinting at the darkness to our left. It was faint, but I swear I just saw a flash of white. Maybe its just the darkness playing tricks on me, too. I tapped his shoulder to get his attention before pointing and whispering, "Point the light over there."

We held our breath as he slowly moved the light in the direction I had indicated. In that moment, it felt like time slowed dramatically as the light fell on a white face. It was just floating there between two trees, its eyes black pits of nothingness and a gaping hole where the mouth should be.

My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears that I almost didn't hear the snapping of branches behind us. The hair at the nape of my neck stood on end, goosebumps rising across my skin.

"Run!" Keith cried out, breaking the silence.

So many things happened in a short span of time that it was hard for my small brain to keep up with them all. The chanting started up again, louder and harsher, like a hive of angry bees chasing us.

We bolted away from them, Keith grabbing onto Mani when he slipped on the leaves. Jackson let out a war cry, tossing his flashlight over his shoulder without looking in the hopes that dumb luck would find him. Sure enough, there was a loud thud and a cry of pain that sounded more human than monster.

We exchanged a look, surprised that it had worked.

"Yeet!" I tossed my own over my shoulder, listening with anticipation. A grin split my face when I heard another thunk and a cry of pain. "Mani, gimme your flashlight!"

He fumbled to pull it out of his pocket and it slipped between his fingers, falling to the ground below. "I dropped it!"

I tsked, sliding to a stop and quickly squatting down, my hands sliding across the leaves in search of it.

Jackson slid to a stop beside me, grabbing my shoulder tightly. "What are you doing?! They're getting... closer..." His words died in his throat.

I slowly turned my head, expecting to see a hoard of those white masks staring us down as if we were Sunday's dinner, but there was nothing there. I squinted into the darkness, trying to catch a glimpse of them.

"Guys!" Keith spun around when he realized we weren't behind him, aiming his light over our shoulders.

The forest was silent and still.

All of us just stood there in silence for a few minutes, staring at the darkness and unsure about how to feel. There wasn't a single sign of our pursuers and... well, I had to wonder if they were even there to begin with.

"Was that... a mass hallucination?" wondered Jackson, sending me a confused look.

I shrugged a shoulder, looking equally as confused. "No idea, man."

Keith's breathing was slowly returning to normal. "Come on, let's not stay here in case they return. We need to get out of here while we have the chance."

"I agree!" cried Mani.

"We don't even know where we're going," Jackson replied, checking his phone again. "Still no signal."

"We can't just stay here," I commented, rubbing the back of my neck. "The best thing to do is to keep moving forward."

"Like hell we can't!" snapped Mani, hand on his hip. "Grampy James always says that when you're lost, you should stay put so someone can find you!"

"That damned old man is why we're in this mess, to begin with. Those jewels probably don't even exist."

"Don't you talk about Grampy James like that!" He yelled angrily, hands clenched at his sides. "There's no way he could have known this would happen!"

"Guys," Keith stressed, sending us a stern look. "Now is not the time for this."

"Do what you want. I'm going." I shrugged, sending Mani an annoyed look before brushing past him, continuing on the way we had been running.

Jackson didn't hesitate to rush after me, slipping his arm around my shoulder. "Ride or die," he muttered. It was a promise that, no matter what happened, we would tackle it together. "But I'm warning you now - if it's something paranormal, I'm not above tripping you so I have a chance to survive."

I snorted, the corner of my lips twitching upward. "You're shameless, bro."

"Death by serial killer is one thing, but death by ghosts? Not happening."

"I'm gonna make sure they engrave a ghost on your tombstone when you die."

"You better not!"

I just laughed, making him scowl and smack my arm.

"That's not funny."

"Are they following us?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Yup. Mani likes to talk big but he's a total coward. No way would he stay alone and you know Keith will always follow us."

I hummed in agreement, glancing around for anything that looked familiar, but I saw only trees and darkness. How in the hell are we gonna find our way out of here?

I checked my phone for the time. It's only 2:30 in the morning so it'll be a while before the sun rises. I'm confident that we can survive until then, bit it's so damn hot and I'm tired as hell. I can practically hear my bed calling me and I regret leaving it for this stupid, childish treasure hunt. "I'm never letting that bastard talk me into anything ever again."

"I can get behind that," agreed Jackson. "Every time he's involved, something bad happens."

"He's definitely cursed."

"Don't say that! Curses can be transferred, you know. If he's cursed, we're all at risk!"

"What, are curses like colds now? I've never heard of a contagious curse, bro."

"Well... it sounds stupid when you say it like that..."

"Because it is stupid." I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, kicking a pinecone on the ground. Where in the hell is the entrance to this damn forest?

"You won't be saying that when the curse switches to you. Our ride or die contract is null and void if that happens, Jen!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Guys, look," Keith called out from behind us, angling his flashlight upward. 

Our eyes followed the beam of light until we saw what had caught his attention. It was an insanely large oak tree, the largest one I've ever seen. We had seen this exact same tree earlier and, if I remember correctly, it couldn't have been more than a fifteen minute walk from the entrance.

"Grampy James!!" sobbed Mani suddenly, rushing past us faster than I had ever seen him run before.

Shaking his head, Keith rushed after him to make sure he didn't get lost or run into those white-faced freaks again.

Jackson sent me a look as the forest entrance came into view. "We are never doing this again."

"Agreed."

Exhausted, nervous, and sweaty, the four of us slinked our way out of the woods and back toward Keith's car. I sent the forest one last look as he pulled away, a frown tugging at my lips. 

Was it the spirit of Ox trying to keep us from his treasure? Was it some kind of forest creature protecting its home? Or maybe it was just a group of cultists who didn't want their ritual site to be disturbed.

Shaking my head, I slid down in my seat, thankful for the icy cold AC blasting through the car.

Meanwhile, Back in the Forest...

Three men wearing white masks and dressed in black robes were huddled together under a large tree, one of them holding a lantern to cast light across them. The youngest of the three, Larry, groaned in pain as he leaned back against a tree, holding his head with his gloved hand. "What the hell was that?"

"A flashlight," answered Kasey with a sigh. "That was a complete failure!"

"Come on, brother, it wasn't that ba -"

"Not that bad?" he retorted with a scoff. "We were supposed to wait until they found the treasure but you spooked them, Larry!"

"I'm sorry..."

"What happened?"

"Well..." Larry shifted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "There was a stickbug on the tree I was leaning against... it scared me so I jumped back and stepped on a branch."

"You have got to be kidding me..."

"It was huge, brother!"

Ezequiel patted the youngest of the three on the shoulder. "Don't worry, stickbugs are harmless."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. As long as you leave them be, they won't mess with you. Even if you were to mess with them, their attacks are relatively harmless. They can ooze a foul-smelling hemolymph from joints in their bodies and they can also use their leg spines for defense, but it doesn't hurt too much. Some of them can even -"

"Are you serious right now?!" cried Kasey in annoyance. "We're no closer to the treasure and you're talking about a damn bug!"

"Calm down, brother," Larry frowned from behind his mask, resting his hand on the older man's shoulder. "We'll find it."

"We're running out of time," he sighed. "We're old and our bodies are becoming frail. If we don't find those jewels, we'll never reclaim the youth that Ox stole from us! He's dead but he's going to beat us again."

Ezequiel pulled out his phone and opened up Google Maps. "Then we better get back to work. We'll find that treasure, if it's the last thing we do!"

"The whole point of finding the treasure is so that it's not the last thing we do..."

The bushes to their left shifted as someone entered the small clearing, their flashlight landing on the three. The silver haired man slowly hobbled over to them, unable to contain the goofy grin on his lips. His back was bent, bony fingers clutching his walking stick.

"Are you boys alright?" he questioned, dark eyes filled with amusement.

"There you are, boss," scowled Kasey, hands on his hips. "You didn't tell us those brats would be violent!"

"Yeah," frowned Larry, gently rubbing the side of his head. "How can they throw so hard from such a distance?"

"I'm not surprised," chuckled the old man. "Those kids have always been trouble."

"That would have been good information to know," commented Ezequiel, arms folded over his chest. "We're getting too old for this."

Larry's eyes suddenly widened. "W-What if I have a concussion? Oh good lord, I think I have a concussion, brother!"

"Your head is too hard for that," laughed James, gently smacking the younger male on the hip with his flashlight.

This action activated the speaker in his pocket and a demonic chanting started to echo through the trees, making the youngest of the four jump in surprise. "W-What is that?!"

"It's your phone, you dolt!" Kasey snapped. "Turn it off, it's giving me a headache."

Larry obliged, fumbling for the speaker.

"Well, did you learn anything?" questioned James as he scanned the three. "Did they find the jewels?"

"No. Larry scared them off before they could." Kasey sent the younger male a glare which he shrunk away from. "But we'll find it, boss. We just need more time."

James hummed thoughtfully. "I'm afraid we're almost out of that, boy. Go on, then, get searching!"

"Yes, boss!" The three chorused before scrambling off as fast as their old legs could carry them.