After a few minutes of walking, Kat and Mr. Mallard came to a stop on the gravel path we had been trekking between the gravestones, which caused the rest of us to stop as well. Mr. Mallard turned and pointed back at a small hill that lay ahead--just off the path. It had a series of gravestones running up alongside it with a few taking residence at the top.

"What do you think, everyone? Does that spot look alright?" he asked.

"Perfect!" Mutt exclaimed. Without waiting for anyone else, he took off towards the hill. He put distance behind him consistently easy. I had to wonder if it was from years of running from tormentors.

"Looks good to me," Stallion said. Kat shrugged. Did I look even a fraction as cool as her when I did it?

"Well, young lad, how about you?" Mr. Mallard asked me. I blinked. He, Stallion, Kat, and even Mutt--who stopped halfway up the hill--turned their attention to me.

This was it--Mutt was just a test run. Now was my moment, my time to show them. I struggled for the right words--the perfect words. This was my chance to show them how cool, level-headed, and totally not annoying I was. They waited patiently for my answer.

"Sure, sounds good."

"Yes! Tea time!" Mutt turned back and ran the rest of the way up the hill at break neck speed.

"No, no, Mutt, first we do the rubbings, then the tea," Mr. Mallard called, making his way up, although at a much slower pace. Kat helped support him as they followed after Mutt.

I had to be at least twenty pounds lighter. No voice cracks, no stuttering. Perfect.

I followed up after Stallion, resisting the urge to let out a happy hum. I tried to peek around him. Was Kat starting to see me?

When we were all at the top of the hill, Stallion and Mutt set down their burdens. Kat set her backpack down and was unzipping it when Mr. Mallard placed a hand on her shoulder. It looked gentle enough, but Kat froze up. The plump old man turned to the rest of us with a pleasant smile. "You all know what to do. Grab paper and charcoal and find some good gravestones; I want at least five done before you return. And don't just look around this hill, there's at least an entire acre of good material to sift through--so get to it."

Mutt and Stallion were already gathering their supplies and had practically left by the time Mr. Mallard had finished speaking. I met his bright blue eyes and he was prepared to say something when Kat spoke up. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help?" she asked, not getting up from the ground.

"I'm not too old to make tea, my dear," Mr. Mallard said with a gentle smile. "Please, join the others. In fact..." he gave me a sideways glance, "...why don't you show our new initiate here how it's done? I'm sure he would be grateful for the instruction."

I tried to smile in a grateful sort of way as Kat eyed me as well. She stood up from the ground and walked over to the stack of paper and the now opened pencil case, grabbing paper and a single piece of charcoal before stalking off back down the hill. For a moment I stood there, watching after her, until she called out: "Hurry up or I'll do all of them by myself."

I wasted no time grabbing my own paper and charcoal. I whispered a quick thank you to Mr. Mallard before descending the hill after Kat.

"It's simple," she said as I caught up. She was kneeling down before a tombstone. I watched as she placed a sheet of paper against the words carved into the stone. With quick, smooth motions of her hand, she rubbed the charcoal against the paper. "You probably did something like this in grade school."

She kept her shoulders squared as she worked. She looked incredibly uncomfortable while her hand was almost a blur as she scored the page. I tried to say something - anything, but my mouth was dry.

I cleared my throat. A sound tore through the silence as Kat's charcoal tore through the paper.

"Fucking shit."

A loving father, a diligent brother, a faithful husband. May you be rewarded for your many virtues and forgiven for your few sins.

I read the gravestone as she crumbled the paper in her hands. She stood up and pulled her arm back as though she would throw it clear across the graveyard. I stared at the dying grass when her arm fell.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Just make sure not to rub it too hard," she said.

The crumpled paper fell in the grass by her feet. She walked past me. Our shoulders nearly touched and I flinched.

"Other than that, it's simple."

I listened to the crackling of the frosted grass as she walked away, growing quieter and quieter. When I couldn't hear her any longer, I looked back but saw nothing but lonely gravestones and Mutt and Stallion working far off in the distance.

I turned around and picked up the crumpled paper. It was nothing but a big black smear with a tear through it. It made me feel sick looking at it, so I crumpled it again and shoved it in my pocket.

I knelt down in front of another gravestone. Following Kat's instructions, I managed to get the inscription rubbed out on the paper.

We will never let you go.

I stared down at the paper then back up at the gravestone. There was nothing there. It had to be ancient, its words having been weathered away by time. I tried scoring the paper over the entire stone, but no other words were revealed.

We will never let you go. That was all it said.

I thought of the dog, watching me now, smiling as I read these words. I looked all around me, expecting to see it in a shroud of mist. But there was nothing. Just me. Alone.

I moved on, hopping from gravestone to gravestone, until I was close enough to Mutt and Stallion to hear them talking and laughing. I considered trying to join them, but being able to hear them was enough. Besides, they might ask about Kat, and I wouldn't know what to say about that.

When Mutt and Stallion started to head back, I followed them. Mutt was practically running back, but Stallion wasn't trying to keep up with him. He had his head angled up towards the sun. It was lower now, less intense, and bathed the graveyard in oranges and yellows. He was still walking, but I could swear his eyes were closed.

When Stallion came to a sudden stop, I stopped as well. Not stopped--I stiffened. He was looking up at the sky, then off in the distance--beyond the gravestones, the trees, and the mountains. I tried to follow his gaze, but I did not see anything of note that he could be staring at. He took in a deep breath and I held mine--suddenly afraid he might hear me behind him.

"Tryin' to be sneaky?" he asked.

I just about jumped from my spot. "I...just..." I tried, but words, again, failed me.

"Next time, try less cologne," he said, a grin in his words, before nudging with his head. "Come on, the others are probably waiting for us."

I smelled under my arm before following him. It wasn't that strong...was it?

Mr. Mallard, Kat, Mutt, and Stallion were all sitting when I reached the top of the hill. Beneath them lay a red checkerboard picnic blanket with the most intricate tea set I had ever seen stretched out over it. The cups and the plates were all painted a deep orange with red trimming and a bright yellow center. It was as if I was seeing the sunset again.

"Welcome, glad you could join us," Mr. Mallard greeted me.

Mutt turned quicker than the others. He waved and patted an empty space beside him. I made to head over, until I saw it was also beside Kat. She never turned. Her back was rigid; her hands closed into fists against her jean torn knees.

"It's okay, you can sit here," Mutt encouraged. Kat jumped when he spoke. She turned her head in my direction and I stared down at my dirty shoes--gripping the papers tight in my hands.

Mr. Mallard chuckled. "It is quite alright. I assure you, Kat does not bite."

"Much," Stallion added with a wink.

Kat glared at him while Stallion pretended not to notice. I still did not know what to do--not until Kat scooted over and pulled up her knees to her chest.

"Sorry about earlier," she said. She tilted her head to the empty space.

"Not your fault," I managed to get out before I took my spot between her and Mutt.

The latter looked around me once I was situated. "Sorry about what?" he asked. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Kat said.

"But-"

"Everyone is going through a difficult time right now, Mutt," Mr. Mallard explained, speaking soft and slow. "What with so many students going missing..."

Our little spot on the hilltop grew quieter, and colder. It was the first time in a few weeks I had heard anyone mention the lost students. It was as though everyone had already given up on the idea of them ever being found again.

At least there was one teacher who still cared.

Mr. Mallard glanced over to where Kat sat. "Perhaps a discussion for a later date?" Mutt followed his look. I tried my best not to. Instead, I watched Stallion, who was studying the setting sun again.

Mutt eventually let out a defeated sigh. "Okay," he mumbled.

"Wonderful." Smiling, Mr. Mallard turned his focus on me. He held out a thick hand--pale white and full of veins. "Now, may we see what you have done?"

I handed my small stack of papers over to Mr. Mallard and at once he began to go over them with the others--noting specific words, specific phrases, and what they could mean.

Mutt kept nudging me by accident; his voice loud in my ear. Kat couldn't have felt further away. Quiet, motionless, and cold as a glacier. Even looking at her would probably spell the end of any sort of closeness between us. Stallion wouldn't stop staring at the sun.

The crumbled paper felt extra pointy in my pocket--stabbing into the soft skin of my thigh. If I looked at Mr. Mallard, he might try and ask me to talk about my inscriptions. And I didn't have anything to say about them.

My eyes found the warm colors of the tea set. The rims around the cups had this wavy edge to them. Up close, I realized, it was not so much a sunset, but living fire. A black tea pot in the center of the arrangement took my notice for the first time when it whistled and blew steam out from its spout.

"It appears it is time for the tea," Mr. Mallard noted as he set down my rubbings behind him. I saw only two other piles, each one tied together by string.

"Aw yeah!" Mutt whooped, accidentally hitting my shoulder when he pumped a fist in the air. It stung terribly. Was he practicing his punches for the next time his bullies tried something? Though, if he was as close of friends with Stallion as it appeared, I had to wonder why he would have problems with bullies in the first place. If he ever had them at all.

"Now, whose turn was it to bring the tea today?" Mr. Mallard asked. He, Mutt, and Stallion immediately looked to Kat. More of his teasing, I guessed.

"I brought the tea," she insisted. She reached back and grabbed her backpack and dug inside it until she pulled out a box of tea packets. I read the flavor as 'hazelnut' as she passed it over to Mr. Mallard.

"Again?" Mr. Mallard said, studying the box with a smile and looking back at Kat, who shrugged.

"Is it hazelnut? I love hazelnut!" Mutt said, holding his cup out in his hands.

"Its way better than that spicy stuff Mr. Mallard brought last time," Stallion noted, Mutt nodding in agreement, cup still held out.

"Spice is good for the soul," Mr. Mallard said opening the box and pulling out five small packets of the tea. "That said, too much spice is bad for the digestion."

Mutt and Stallion chuckled as Mr. Mallard placed a packet in their cups. I cracked a smile. The pain in my shoulder was already numbing and the air was much less oppressive. We needed more corny jokes.

"Kat, do you mind passing our new friend his tea?" Mr. Mallard asked before handing it to her. I held out my hand, but Kat hesitated.

"Are we sure?" she asked.

It was back already. The heavy air. I was not sure why, but I held my breath as Kat moved her eyes between Mr. Mallard, Mutt, and Stallion.

"That all depends." Mr. Mallard's gaze behind those large glasses moved to me, the eyes of the others following. "Do you wish to be one of us? To join in our club activities from this moment forward?"

I swallowed. The tea set really was charming. I wondered where Mr. Mallard had gotten it from. I should ask him.

I looked back up. They were all waiting. Waiting for me to answer.

"I..."

Kat was staring at me, right at me. I was drowning in her pools of green. The water was cold -- frigid. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't say anything.

When someone's hand grabbed my shoulder, I almost dropped my teacup.

"It's okay," the boy with the floppy hat said. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

A release of air, smooth and even. The girl with the emerald eyes no longer looked at me. She lowered the tea packet, made to move away from me.

"No."

She stopped. I tried to hold her eyes. "I want to."

I looked back to Mutt, held his warm brown eyes instead. I smiled, confident, more like my old self. "I do want to. Really."

For once, Mutt did not smile--he titled his head to the side. It made me think of a confused animal. Did I surprise him?

"I guess that settles it then?" Stallion asked, back with us again. He smiled when our eyes met and nodded his head in my direction. I tried copying it back at him. It felt right.

"Indeed it does," Mr. Mallard said in his quiet voice and motioned to Kat. "If you would, my dear."

She was staring at me again. I found if I stared at the tree behind her I could appear to be holding her gaze.

"Are you sure?"

At least, to everyone but her.

I moved my eyes ever so slightly and I was lost again. In an overgrown jungle. In a seaweed sea. No hope of escape. I held out my cup to her; I couldn't even be sure I was still holding it.

"I am."

She dropped her gaze and gave me the tea bag. Mr. Mallard filled our cups with the hot liquid and we drank our tea.

I don't remember how it tasted. Bitter, maybe. But it was hot--so hot my insides were aflame. Mr. Mallard asked us to finish it and everyone was more than eager. Even though it burned, I did not want to be the only one who didn't finish--so I drank it all.

I don't remember the rest of the evening.

As soon as I finished the tea, my insides numbed. I thought I heard the others talking, but it was like they were trying to speak underwater.

I fell back, my body suddenly weighing a ton. My world spun together. All I saw were colors.

Oranges. Reds. Yellow. Black.

...

*Author's Note*

Jeez, talk about a light weight. Guy can't even drink one cup of tea without blacking out!

So, what do you guys think is going to happen to our hapless protagonist? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, if you've made this far and still having a good time, why don't you click that little star up there? Just look at it, it's begging to be pressed!

This chapter's dedication goes to GrisangelyRivera for his/her amazingly detailed reviews of some of my chapters. It really helped me out in so many ways! You rock!