Chloe tromped through the forest. They were returning back to town, and she could see the lamplights of the street through the trees. Perryn walked behind her now, glancing over his shoulder every once in a while, as if expecting Julia to come running out of the bushes and to tackle his leg playfully. She never did. When they finally exited the woods, nothing seemed out of place. Chloe suspiciously glanced around the street as they crossed it. They found the general store, still open, and entered it. The same girl was still sitting at the counter, flipping through a magazine and chewing gum. She glanced up at us,

“Whatcha doin’ Chamberlain? Did you run away again and now you’re eloping?” She rolled her eyes at Perryn, “I see you found the Gardener’s house, but wasn’t interested in any of the Gardeners.”

Chloe glared at the girl, “No, Drew. There’s no eloping going on, I just need…” Her voice faded as she realized that what they needed to buy definitely made it seem as if they were running away.

Chloe turned without a word, grabbed some canned food, chip bags, some warm hotdogs from a heating oven and water bottles. Then she grabbed a ninety nine cent backpack from a hook in the wall, and threw all this on the counter.

The girl looked amused as she began scanning all the items, placing them quietly in the backpack. After Chloe paid, she made strict eye contact with the girl, “If anyone comes. Like, let’s say the police, or a tall dude with orange hair, then not a word is to be spilled. Got it?”

The girl nodded, “Sure.”

Perryn ducked away from them as soon as Chloe began speaking to the girl. He inched towards the emergency phone in the wall and began to dial a number that he had had memorized for emergencies.

“Hello?” Came a boy’s voice over the speaker.

“Philip?” Perryn asked, “Where’s Amber?”

“Uh. She’s somewhere, I don’t know.”

“She’s your girlfriend!” Perryn protested.

“That’s true, she is. This brings up the question; Why are you calling my girlfriend? Is there something I should know about?”

Perryn sighed, “Just give the stupid phone to her, I don’t have much time.”

Philip’s voice faded away and a girl’s voice replaced his, “Hey.” Her voice was cold and wary.

“Hey, Amber.”

“Oh, hi Perryn. Do you need something?”

Perryn glanced backwards, Chloe was still talking with the girl, with her back to him.

“Yeah. I found Chamberlain. She’s here with me now. Cedrick took the Gardener kid and some other kid, his friend I guess. But she’s set on finding them. So, just meet us somewhere on the way, okay? Say, the train tracks in an hour or two.”

“An hour or two?” Amber demanded, “You do realize that we’re halfway across the world, right?”

Perryn rolled his eyes, even though he knew she wouldn’t see him, “You’re just in another state Amber. Catch the fastest flight out. Hurry, I don’t know if I can distract her much longer—“

“Distract who?” A voice interrupted.

Perryn sighed into the phone, “Scratch that Amber. I want you here as soon as possible. The general store in downtown. It’s a tiny town and—“

“Shut up!” Chloe interrupted, grabbing the phone from his hand, “Who are you calling?”

“A friend.” Perryn said coolly, trying to take the phone from her hand. “She can help us.”

“It’s true!” He heard Amber’s voice coming from the phone, “I’m a helpful person. Listen, we can help you find those two kids, and get rid of Cedrick. Because that’s what we’re trying to do, get rid of him anyway, but you know, if we find Cedrick we find those boys…”

Perryn could see the wheels in Chloe’s head turning as she thought over this.

“No.” She said simply, and hung up the phone.

She then turned to Perryn angrily, “I’ll find them myself.”

Then she turned, walked out of the general store door and vanished into the darkness.

Slowly Perryn turned to the check-out counter, but the other girl was gone. He was alone.

* * *

Chloe growled angrily. Of course that backstabbing traitor has friends. What was I thinking? I’ve only known him for like four hours and I was already thinking he was my best friend. I should’ve known that he’d try to trick me into helping him destroy Cedrick. All I want is to have Peter and Josh back and to live a normal life with the Gardeners.

She stomped along, now back in the woods. She didn’t know where she would go but she knew she was going somewhere. A little while passed before she stumbled upon the tracks again. She glanced around before exiting from the bushes, crossing the tracks and walking into the long grass on the other side. As she continued walking into the grass, the dirt beneath her feet became mud and soon the field had turned into a small bog. She now grunted she waded along in the watery mud. Her legs were covered from her boots to her knees and she stumbled along, feeling the sticks that occasionally sprung up in the water and steering clear from any sharp objects. The bog began to smell and Chloe wrinkled her nose in disgust, not only was she covered in mud, but the mud was now starting to smell too. I really do look like a homeless girl…and probably smell like one to. Chloe thought grumpily.

Suddenly, behind her, she heard a loud splash. Chloe instinctively dove sideways, then sat down in the murky water, pulling some of the long reeds of grass over her head.

“Good job, Leo. Real sneaky.” A female voice said.

“Sorry. I stepped on something that moved.” Came a male voice.

Chloe started. That female voice sounded like the girl on the phone, the one that Perryn had been talking to.

The girl sighed and through the grass, Chloe could see a few figures coming into view. With the full moon glaring off the water, their faces were illuminated. The girl who had spoken, probably Amber, had long, straight brown hair that fell down her shoulders. She had a thin face and cold, green eyes. Next to her, stood two boys who looked like identical twins. They both had wavy brown hair and laughing, green eyes. Both had permanent grins set on their faces. On the other side of the girl was another boy. He was considerably taller than her but also had brown hair and dark eyes. Beside him stood two girls, both with red hair. Continuing on the line was another boy with bleach blonde hair and bright blue eyes that glowed in the moonlight. And there, standing beside him, was Perryn. Good ol’ traitorous Perryn.

Chloe was frozen in her little hiding spot. She saw another figure, farther behind the first few, crouching and sneaking. It was a man, slightly illuminated in the darkness. He had stringy hair and a straw mustache. He was tall and lanky and his eyes seemed sunken and hollow. He watched the first group quietly, staying in the shadows. He looked past the group slowly and through the reeds, he and Chloe made silent eye contact. No one moved, the air was chill, probably because Chloe was soaked to the bone in mud, but no crickets chirped. No frogs bellowed out their belly sounds and no owls hooted greetings to one another. There was only the quiet swish of the grass reeds as they swayed in the wind. The man, upon seeing Chloe, began to grin slowly. His grin sent shivers down Chloe’s spine and she immediately recognized him; Cedrick.

Her mind began to think quickly, what could she do?

The only thing in her mind that made reasonable sense was to run. Slowly she rose from her hiding spot. Instinctively, the twin closest to her, only about 10 feet, jerked sideways. He let out a curse as he glared at her, “Dang! You know, I thought you were some weird…” His voice faded as he turned to Perryn, “Isn’t she the one we’re looking for?”

But Perryn didn’t answer. He was watching Chloe’s face and he saw something in her eyes he hadn’t seen yet: Pure terror. She was looking past them, at something else. Slowly Perryn turned to see what she was looking at, but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. He turned back to her, “What is it?”

She didn’t answer either. Instead, she turned her back to them and began to run. She scrambled through the thick mud, trying to grab at any foothold she could find. A moment passed as she ran before a sudden splash came from behind them. They all turned sharply as Cedrick scrambled out of the shadows. He plowed through the water with his long legs, dead set on catching Chamberlain.

Chloe ran scrambled through the water. The cold mud that caked her body limited her movements, her boots were now slippery whenever she found a rock or log to run across and her backpack weighed her down into the mud. She could hear Cedrick running up behind her and with a quick glance backwards she saw that the others were scrambling after him.

“Leave her alone!” came a girl’s yell, “She doesn’t have whatever you want!”

Finally after a short while of running through the bog, the ground became more solid and the field narrowed into a thin gravel pathway. Chloe ran faster across the gravel, but she knew that Cedrick would catch her eventually. As she ran, she tilted her head slightly the glare at him, “I’m not helping you with whatever you want!”

“I can give you your step-brother and his friend back,” Cedrick taunted, “They’re annoying me and I may just kill them if they continue. I’ll also give the little girl back.”

“Julia?” Chloe demanded, “You better not have done anything to her!”

He was only a few feet behind her now…She needed a plan…There! A few meters in front was a bridge, probably over a lake. If Chloe could jump into the water, swim to the opposite shore in time…She knew that Cedrick couldn’t swim and didn’t like heights either. It just all depended on if there was a lake underneath the bridge or not. Chloe ran faster now, pulling ahead of Cedrick by a few meters immediately. She scrambled to the bridge, found a rail and pulled herself up. She glanced down, it was very high up, but there was water beneath her. She took a deep breath as Cedrick came closer.

She could hear the others screaming, “No! Don’t jump! Wait!”

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And then, she jumped.

The water was so cold, her breath was instantly knocked out. It felt like she had hit a cement floor and her body went limp. Slowly, her backpack weighed her down and she sunk to the bottom of the lake. Her ears popped and this brought her back into reality. She pulled her backpack off and began to float to the surface. Her lungs burned but her limbs seemed numb, even as she kicked her feet, trying to reach the surface. Finally, she managed to pull her head above the surface and she gasped into the air. Glancing up, she could see Cedrick standing at the bridge, glaring down at her. Lined up beside him, all grinning, was Perryn’s little group of friends. Chloe smugly grinned at Cedrick before turning and swimming towards the shore. She wearily walked onto the shore, and vanished into the woods beyond it.

* * *

Chloe woke up with daylight streaming through the trees. She had walked until she fell and slept right where she had fallen. Sh stretched out lazily. Her arms were still numb from the cold, but she rubbed her hands together to warm herself up. She checked her watch: 3 o’ clock pm the next day. She sighed as she pulled herself to her feet and looked around. She seemed to be in a regular outcropping of trees, but she wasn’t alone. Laying against a tree, a few bottles surrounding him, was a man. He was asleep and snoring gently. Chloe knew he was homeless and she quietly walked in the opposite direction, not wanting to wake him up. She then began jogging. She zig-zagged through the trees, knowing she would get out eventually. After about an hour of running through the woods, she exited into a small field surrounded by an electrical fence. She walked around the fence before she came to a house on the other side. She glanced at the house quietly, but then followed the driveway into the street. She didn’t know where she was, but was determined to find out. She walked through the street until she came to what looked like a diner. She straightened her shirt, ran her fingers through her hair, and stepped inside. It was the regular bustle of a well to do diner and no one gave her a second look as she walked in. She quietly sat at the mini-bar and a waitress took her order. For a while, she just watched people, but then the waitress struck up a conversation with another woman and Chloe listened in.

“Did you hear about the house that was robbed? Just in the next town, horrible really. The parents went out for a little date night and what do they come home to? A broken front door, cold Mac & Cheese and every single one of their children, three teenagers and a little girl at that, had been kidnapped! Couldn’t find a trace of them.”

The other woman nodded at this, “And one of them was a foster girl too. Some rumors going around that she was always a depressed girl, so she killed the two boys and the other little girl, hid their bodies and made a run for it!”

But the waitress shook her head, “These rumors…I don’t believe one word of it! I think some sicko is going around and kidnapping children. This town and the next has always been safe. Why isn’t it anymore?”

The waitress then grabbed Chloe’s food from a cook and placed it in front of her. Chloe quietly began eating as the women continued their conversation,

“But those poor kids. They must be so scared.”

“Unless they’re dead.” A man suddenly interrupted as he sat down beside the other woman, “Can I have my drink now?” He glared at the waitress. She nodded sheepishly and filled up his drink. The conversation had ended.

Chloe then felt a presence behind her and tensed up instantly. Two hands grabbed her shoulders, pushing her down into her seat and pinning her against the counter. She growled as Perryn’s voice reached her ears, “That was a neat little jump you did last night. But he’s still after you.”

She shook him off and continued eating, trying to hear what the first couple were talking about.

“I think I’ve seen the foster girl.” The man was saying in a low voice, “And she’s alone. Those rumors might just be true.” Slowly, the woman next to him, turned and looked straight at Chloe. Chloe froze as the woman pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. It was a picture, a picture of Josh, Peter and Julia all sitting together under a tree. In the tree, grinning at the camera good-naturally, was Chloe. She seemed frozen in shock as both the man and woman looked at her. Then she quietly pulled out a ten dollar bill from her pocket, placed it on the counter, and got up to leave.

The man glared at her as she turned away from them. Behind her stood Perryn and the others. They quietly watched the man as he stood up to follow Chloe outside. As soon as they stepped outside, the man grabbed Chloe by the scruff of her neck, and pushed her into the nearest alley, “Who do you think you are?” He growled into her face. His breath smelled of alcohol and licorice.

Chloe squirmed in his grasp, “I was leaving!” She protested. But the man shook his head, “I ain’t no idiot. I know that you are this here girl in this picture. Now, should I call the cops on ya?”

Chloe slammed her foot into the man’s gut. He doubled over in pain, releasing her shirt. She began to run to the other side of the alley. As she came out of it, two pairs of hands grabbed her and before she could move, her hands were tied to her back and a bag was pulled over her head. The world went black as she struggled in their grip, but slipped and slammed her head into something hard.

* * *

Chloe woke to voices coming around her. She was tied to a chair, the bag still over her head.

“Did you have to hit her in the head, William?” A girl’s voice complained.

“I didn’t hit her, Kate.” Came a male voice, probably William’s, “She slipped and hit her own head on the floor.”

Kate sighed, “Well she probably got a concussion, might be in a coma and won’t remember a thing that has happened.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing.” Came the famous Amber’s voice, “She won’t remember that she doesn’t like us.”

“Scratch that.” Chloe growled, “I still hate you.”

“Oh look, she’s awake.” Amber muttered, “Yay.”

Perryn’s voice came close to her ear, “If we untie you, will you run?”

“Yes.” Chloe replied shortly.

“Well, that’s that.” Amber said simply, “All we can do is keep her tied up or she’s going to run into trouble. If she wasn’t the key to destroying the world, I wouldn’t protect her.”

“The feeling’s mutual.” Chloe growled.

“Well, at least take the bag off her head.” Came another female voice, “I mean, we have to be polite and introduce ourselves.”

“I don’t feel like being polite,” Amber grunted. But hands grabbed at the bag and pulled it off of her head. Chloe squinted in the light. She was in a room, illuminated by multiple lights, but there were no windows. Standing all around her, was Perryn’s group of friends.

The girl who had spoken last stepped forward excitedly, “I’m Rachel!” She pointed at the tall brown haired boy, “That’s Philip, he’s my brother. Then this is Amber, “ She motioned to the girl with straight brown hair, “But you already know that. You also know Perryn. Then this is William,” She nodded at the blonde boy, “Don’t call him Will, though. He doesn’t like that. Then this is Leo and Robin,” She pointed at the two twins, “They’re Amber’s twins. So technically they’re all three triplets.” She pointed at the other red haired girl, “And this is Kate.” Then she stood back, still grinning. Her smile made Chloe want to smile right back at her, but then she remembered she was still tied to the chair.

“Huh.” Was all she said, still watching Rachel steadily.

“Well, anyway.” Amber said, “We don’t like you. So don’t get too attached on any of us.”

“Oh don’t worry.” Chloe replied coldly, “I wasn’t planning on it.”

Amber sniffed, “I mean, show some respect will ya? We’re saved your life, and we’ll probably save it a bunch more times.”

Chloe nodded bitterly, “Oh, so slamming my head into the floor, tying a bag around my head and pinning me into a chair is your idea of life saving? Kind of messed up, if you ask me. I also never asked for your help. I’m fine by myself.”

Amber scowled, “Yeah, no you’re not. You have no survival instincts whatsoever.”

Chloe’s face froze over in a bitter, cold glare as she spoke, her voice dangerously quiet, “I managed to outrun a tall lanky man with a backpack on in a big, jumped off a bridge into ice cold waters, survived, spent the rest of the night sleeping next to a drunk homeless man then fought off a huge man who would’ve called the cops on me because now I’m wanted for the murder of two teenage boys and a little girl. I’m still alive. I’d say that’s survival instincts.”

Rachel squealed happily, “Oh, I like you! You might just put Amber in her place!”

Amber grabbed Rachel’s arm angrily, “She’s not staying.”

My hands began to work at the rope that bound me to the chair. I wasn’t sure that I could overpower them, but there was a possibility…I glanced around the room. In one corner, a pile of books caught my eyes. They were all piled up neatly, right above them, conveniently placed, was an open air vent. If I could just get into that vent…

“And I don’t care if those other two die…” Amber was saying.

Chloe knew she was talking about Peter and Josh, but decided to ignore it. Finally, one of her wrists slipped out of the rope. Her other hand then pulled out, but she waited before they were all looking away before casually putting her hands in her lap. Then, in one swift motion, Chloe stood up, grabbed the chair she had been sitting on, and threw it at Perryn, Philip and William, who all stood together. Get the big guys out of the way and the little ones will be a piece of cake. She thought as she shoved Leo and Robin, who dove at her, sideways, against the other pile of boys who had fallen back at the chair attack. Chloe scrambled to the pile of the books. The last thing she saw before diving into the air vent and crawling away, was Amber’s face. Surprisingly, Amber looked impressed and she made no move to stop Chloe as she vanished. She crawled through the air vent, again lost. Finally, she stopped, sighing. “What am I doing?” She asked out loud. Then she began to crawl backwards, back the way she had come from. Then she came back to the entrance of the air vent, kicked it back open, and jumped down. They stood there, quietly talking. Slowly, they turned to look at her.

“I’ll help you.” Chloe said steadily, “But only if you help me.”

Amber pursed her lips, “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you!”

“Well. It didn’t come out so clear.” Chloe replied coldly. Then she glanced at Leo and Robin, “And uh. I’m sorry I threw you across the room.”

Leo grunted but Robin shrugged good naturally. William stared at her incredulously, “And what about hitting us with a chair?”

“I don’t regret that. You tied me up with that chair.” Chloe replied shortly.

William frowned at this but Chloe ignored it. Then Rachel and Kate scrambled forward, grabbed both of Chloe’s arms and said, “Well. You can’t look like a homeless girl when you’re running around with us!” Then they opened a random door that had been hidden in the shadows and pulled Chloe out into a long hallway. It was dimly lit, and they dragged her along as they ran down it. Then they found another door, opened it, and stepped inside. Inside was a large room. It was grandly furnished much like a palace room. A wardrobe stood against the wall and Kate threw it open, “Let’s see…” She said, “You must like something comfy but something that you can fight and run in, right?”

Chloe didn’t answer as she gazed around the room in amazement.

Nearly an hour passed before the girls came out of the room. Chloe had taken a shower (multiple ones, just to get the bog mud off) and now wore a black blouse, tucked into thin green pants and, despite Kate’s complains that it wouldn’t match, a green flannel over the blouse. Her hair was washed, now a bleach blonde instead of dark brown. Kate had originally thought her hair was brown because of the bog mud in it, and was very surprised when Chloe came out of the shower with white blonde hair.

The others also seemed surprised when she walked in to the original room they had met in. Amber marched up to her, grabbed her shoulders and looked her up and down, “Hey, look at that. You have blonde hair. Didn’t see that coming. I can actually see your face now, and you don’t look homeless anymore.”

“I’m going to take it that’s your way of complimenting.” Chloe replied, “Thank you.”Then she turned to Perryn, who sat in the corner with the other boys, they were playing cards.

“What is this place? It looks like a mental asylum.”

He shrugged, “Probably was at one point. Don’t really know. But it’s close to the Gardeners house so if you want to drop by and visit…” He didn’t finish, but he didn’t need to.

Chloe blinked, “I mean, if I don’t want them to hate me, I guess I have to.”

“We’ll take you!” Kate said happily. The boys began to pack up their cards and the girls once again dragged Chloe through multiple corridors and out a door. The door opened into a gravel path and Chloe could see the sun was setting. After the boys exited from the building, they began walking down the gravel path coolly. They followed the gravel until the sun was completely gone. When they came to the town that Chloe had lived in with the Gardeners, they slowed slightly to a stop. Chloe nudged through the little group until she stood at the front of the group. She stared in quiet horror at the town. Every single building, except the general store, had been burned down. In the black charred remains of the town, the general store looked like a bright lamp shining in darkness. Slowly Chloe stepped towards the remains. No one behind her moved as she approached the general store. She nudged her way through the debris of the other buildings. Boards, ash and random pieces of paper or plastic lay strewn across the street. Chloe stopped in the middle of the street, turned around, and looked at the others. They stood on the other side, just quietly watching her. Amber made a shooing motion but Chloe stared at her incredulously, “You want me to go alone!?” Chloe hissed.

“Yes!” Amber hissed in return, “You said you have amazing survival instincts!”

“Okay, but since we’re considered ‘friends’ right now, if I go down, then you go down with me!” Chloe whispered.

“You’re literally walking through ash. You’re going to be okay!” Perryn snapped.

“I think you’re all just scared.” Chloe replied. She turned to continue on her way but froze when her foot stepped on a certain loose board. The board cracked underneath her weight and she knew that there was nothing underneath the board itself. She scrambled back, but the board completely snapped in half and the ash and dust swallowed her as she fell into the earth.

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the street.

“You’re going to be okay. It’s just ash!” Rachel mocked, turning and glaring at a shocked Perryn.

“Must’ve been the sewer.” Amber said,

“So much for taking a shower.”