C H A P T E R   E L E V E N

Will's POV

Abi and I talked for awhile, before it was time to meet up at Bluebonnet park.

I crept back into the house, carful not to make any noise. Once I got into my room, I made sure Sky was okay. After I was sure he'd be fine, I changed into a pair of black Horta and a blue t-shirt. And some black sneakers. I held a black hoodie under my arm before heading out.

I made it to the park in a few minutes, since I lived pretty close to it.
Just like last time, I was the first one here. I looked around to make sure nobody else was around, before plopping down beside a tree.

I sighed as the cool night air brushed against my skin. My hair danced in the wind, as I looked up at the starry sky. The midnight blue color of it reminded me of Jackson.

Suddenly, I heard rustling in the bushes behind me. I snapped my head towards the sound, and fought against my instinct to tackle whatever was moving.

Then breathed out in relief when I spotted the part pink eyes beside me.

It's just Liam.

"Hey" I greeted.

He nodded a hello and took a seat beside me.

Okay, we were like, five feet apart but whatever.

Truth is, Liam and I are polar opposites.

He's book smart.
I'm life smart.
He's sweet.
I'm dangerous.
He's a musician.
I'm an athlete.

I may not seem like the bad boy type, but when I'm not around Sky I'm a completely different person.

It's just how life's molded me.
What my crappy life turned me into.

"So...you have any idea what this mission is about?" Liam unexpectedly asked.

"Nope." I answered, popping the p. "I asked Abi about it earlier but she never got to it."

We didn't face each other while talking, like we were talking to ourselves.

...awkward.

Liam's POV

This is... awkward.

We both made an effort to start a conversation, but gave up eventually.

I touched my mark of the wild and closed my eyes, once it glowed the same pink as my eyes.

I waited to be enveloped by the black space known as the spirit world.

And there in front of me, was the pink outline of a saltwater crocodile

"Liam? Do you require assistance?" Iniko asked.

"Yes. Well, I just have a question." I replied. "Do you have any idea what this mission is about?"

"I do not." He confirmed. "Only the leader knows the details."

"Kawan" We said together.

"Well, thank you anyway."

"I am happy to be of assistance," he nodded.

I was about to leave when he gave me a final piece of advice.
"Oh, and Liam,"

"Yes?"

"Practice your twenty five percent shifting. Particularly the hand."

And with that, I was back.

"Hello? Liam? Hellooooo? LIAM!"

I snapped my eyes open, to find everybody but Drew looking down at me.

"Huh? Oh, hey" I waved.

"What happened to you? You just zoned out!" Chris exclaimed.

"You were talking to Iniko, weren't you?" Abi guessed.

I nodded. "Yup."

"Wait how'd you know that?" Dallas asked.

"Kawan has contacted me multiple times, kinda used to it" she shrugged. "So we're waiting on Drew?"

Dallas nodded, looking off into the distance.

"Ughhh where is he?" Abi groaned.

As if right on cue, Drew arrived.

He wore a fancy looking golden-orange button down shirt, paired with ripper skinny black jeans and a chain hanging from the belt loops. He also wore black high soled sneakers.

"Hey," he casually greeted, raising a hand.

We glared are him for a few seconds, before turning to Abi for directions.

"...What?" Abi asked when everybody's eyes were on her.

"Mission?" I reminded her.

"Oh, right!" She exclaimed. "Okay, so you guys remember the Onix Clan? You know, evil ppl, Kansas brother, all that?"

We nodded, as she continued.

"And you remember the thing about the marks? How depending on the direction it points it determines what side you're on?"

"Right is Wild Souls, left is Onix Clan right?" Will asked.

She nodded. "Basically, you can scratch a person that isn't one of the chosen ones, and make them on either side depending on the direction of the scratch you make."

"Oh yeah!" Dallas and I exclaimed simultaneously. "We learned how to do that before you guys. We were Wild Souls for a whole year before."

"Iniko told me to practice my twenty five percent shifting when I was out," I added.

"Shifting?" Drew and Will questioned.

"Wait, we have to scratch people?" Chris asked.

"There are four modes of shifting: twenty five percent, fifty percent, seventy five percent, and one hundred percent." Abi exclaimed. "Think of the mark of the wild as a pathway to the spirit world. The higher percentage you shift, the more you and your spirit animal are in sync."

"Twenty five percent is when you can turn any one body part into your spirit animals, for example, I could trim one of my hands into a grizzly bear claw." Dallas took over.

"Fifty percent is when you turn half animal half human. I could have a crocodile face, and tail, but my limbs could remain that same" I noted.

"Seventy five percent is when you turn into your animal. I would turn into a Siberian tiger. And lastly, one hundred percent is turning into the spirit yourself."

"Whoa," Chris, Drew and will whispered.

"So, I'm guessing we turn our hands into our spirit animals hands and scratch people into our side?" Drew assumed.

"Actually, thats only a side mission." Abi explained. "There is this huge event at an escape room tonight. Tons of people will be there, including the Onix Clan of this city. They're gonna try to get people on their side, and it's our job to stop them. Kawan said to only get people on our side if we have absolutely nothing else to do."

We nodded.

"Let's go then!" Chris announced, and we started our way over there.

After a lot of walking, sneaking around, and Abi yelling at Will to be quieter, we FINALLY made it.

"So this is the place, huh?" Dallas asked.

Abi nodded, studying the building. "Just walk in like everyone else, don't act suspicious. And cover your shoulders."

We nodded back, and followed her towards the building.

"So, how's not being leader anymore feel?" I asked Dallas, who seemed worried.

"Haha, big y'all for the lowest ranker," he rebutted.

"Touché"

After awhile of walking, I noticed Dallas still seemed worried somehow. He's usually really good at hiding his feelings. Seriously, he's like a brick wall. This time though, something rlly seemed to be disturbing him.

"You, are you okay? You seem worried sr something" I asked.

"Argh, am I that easy to read?!" He growled, clearly frustrated.

...he can be quite defensive or aggressive sometimes.

"Usually no, but recently yes" I responded.

God, let's hope I don't piss him off.

"It's..." he started, averting his gaze to the ground as we shuffled in the huge line. "It's nothing," He finally said, looking away.

I sighed, looking straight ahead at the people's heads in front of me. "Whatever you say." I shrugged.

It's definitely something.
I'd just like to live.
Like I said...aggressive.

"Ugh, this line is so long!" Will complained.

"I know, right? It's like we're walking amongst a bunch of turtles." Abi agreed. She turned around to face Drew, who was trailing along next to Abi on his phone.

"Hey, why are you so quiet? What are you doing?" She questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

"Hmm? He answered, oh I got model stuff," He waved dismissively.

"You're boring," she grumbled.
He glared at her, but turned back to the screen. He tried to hide it, but I saw him smile.
Huh, weird.

"Chris? You've been quiet. Talk to meeee I'm bored," she begged.

She's right, he has been quiet.

"Eh, I'm bored." He admitted. "I got nothing."

"Liam, Dallas, what are you two doing?" Abi turned to us.

"Nothing," Dallas huffed.

"Trying to get this one to open up," I answered. "Not working out too well."

"Ah, well good luck with that" she laughed, turning back to Will.

~AFTER FINALLY MAKING IT OUT OF THAT LINE~

"Ugh, we're finally in!" Abi exclaimed.

"Yeah! That line was terrible. Slowest people on the planet," Will sneered.

"So, what do we do now?" Dallas asked, leaning against a wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Uhhh... well, first we need a plan. Th Onix Clan probably has a plan too, and may be ready for us. First of all, how would we know who they are? They're probably covering up they're marks too. Ideas?" She asked.

Wow, she's smart.

Dallas looked just as surprised as the rest of us, not expecting her to be such a good leader. Well, Chris actually seemed to expect it.

"We could accidentally trip them of knowing people with jackets over to where they fall and their shoulders show? I don't know," Will shrugged.

"People will probably get suspicious if we do that. Plus, it's freezing in here. Almost everyone will have a jacket," Drew explained.

I nodded, and that's when it hit me.

We're in an escape room.

"Wait. I just realized something," I said, grasping everyones attention. "We're in an escape room. There are three rooms with the special offer here," I pointed to a sign nearby with the information for the event offer in it. "We need to split up. There are six of us, so we go in pairs?"

"Hmm, you're right," Abi nodded.

"Chris, you go with Dallas. Drew, you're with Will, and I'll go with Liam," Abi ordered.

"What!?" Everyone but Liam objected.

"Hey hey, chill! That wasn't random you know! I put Chris and Dallas together because Dallas is pretty chill and Chris is really energetic. Dallas can sneak around well and Chris could talk to people without it being suspicious. Chris is really sociable."

Chris looked nervous, and Dallas just grunted.

"...Okay then," she shrugged.
"Drew and Will. Will thinks mostly with his heart, and Drew with his brain. With you two together, you could see both sides of a situation. Plus, you both have pretty similar personalities."

"Similar personalities!? DID YOU NOT READ THE TEXTS WE SENT?" Drew exclaimed, clearly angry.

"Whoa, clam down pretty boy" Abi said. "Well, yeah you do. You're just both too stubborn to see it. Especially you, Drew."

"I, for one, am offended to be paired up with him." Will added.

Ab glared at him, forcing him to shut up.

I don't care how tough you are, you don't want to face an angry Abi.

"Wait, look! there are coat people at that one room!" chris pointed out.

Abi's POV

The other five of us turned to where Chris motioned to, and he was right. There were three rooms, and the one in the middle had people taking customers coats.

Perfect.

"Okay, so you two need to somehow knock those two out, or get rid of them. Take their place and if you see any marks or people hesitant to give you their coats, you know what to do," I ordered. "Chris, you should be the greeter. Dallas, work from the inside."

"Uh, how exactly do we do that?" Dallas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're the experienced one! Figure it out!" I said, exasperated. "Anyway, thats all I got. Ideas?"

We stood in silence.
Well that went well.
Fantastic.

I sighed. "Well, we're gonna be here awhile."

"Why don't we just go inside and make sure nobody scratches anybody? It can't be that hard to notice." Will suggested.

I thought about it, and decided to give the kid a shot. Better then nothing.
"I guess that'll work. Take the room on the right?"

He nodded.  "So that leaves you and Liam?"

"That leaves us." Liam confirmed, shooting a glance my way.

Suddenly, a voice crackled through the speaker above us.

[Hello everybody! If you are here for our special rooms tonight- for a great deal might I add- I would like to let you know that we will begin shortly!  You will be put randomly into one of three rooms: The inferno, Murder in James's Hotel, and the valley. You probably won't know anybody in these groups, so work together the best you can! Have fun and get ready!]

My eyes widened at what he said.

We will begin shortly.

Gosh, why did I have to be leader? Don't get me wrong, leading is fun. I'm pretty good at it, but this is a different story.

...This is kinda scary.

"Ugh, we don't have time. We'll think of a plan on our feet, everyone get into position." I said, my voice dripping with anxiousness.

"Wait!" Dallas exclaimed suddenly.

Huh, wow. He usually so chill.

To be fair, I don't think anyone is themselves tonight.

"So, I may have stolen these from Vanna." He admitted. "But each group take one."

Dallas's POV

I handed each group one of the three walkie-talkies I found in Havana's room while playing with her the other day. I spotted them out of the corner of my eye and kept the find in the back of my mind.

"Oooo this'll come in handy. Nice job Grizzle," Abi chuckled.

I couldn't help but shoot her a small smile back. I can tell she's holding back from calling me Brown bear in front of everyone.

"Okay, so I would give us a motivational speech, but we don't have the time for that" Abi started, clapping her hands to emphasize certain words. "Dallas and Chris, you need to take those guys down," She pointed at the two men near the middle room, "Murder in James's hotel".  One was standing by the outside, the coat collecter, and the other was on the outside as well, though he's gonna go inside once we start.

I nodded at Abi, then Chris. "Be carful everyone. These people may not seem like a threat, but they can kill you if you're not alert 24/7."

Everyone nodded, wishing us good luck silently. Chris started making his way over to the guys, and I followed.

But not before I did one thing.

First, I walked over to Liam and whispered in his ear. "Keep her safe. Please."

He nodded, and gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't die."

I smiled back, and quickly made my way over to Chris.

We're coming for you, Onix Clan.

A/N

Hey guys! Thanks for reading :)

Be ready for part two.

-Tigersx1 👻

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