"It's been four hours!" Sarah exclaimed, unimpressed. "Like, come on—what are they even doing?"
Jacob rolled his eyes at her voice. Quite frankly, he was getting annoyed. Could someone please explain why her voice was so high-pitched?
He turned to look for Ava, a small smile forming on his lips on seeing her. He couldn't explain it well—the feeling growing in his chest. It was just that he felt really safe next to her. The same feeling he experienced whenever he was with Alex and Sebastian when they where on either sides of him. Safety in numbers? No, that wasn't the word he would give it. It was more like you'd brought a gun to a sword fight and had it within arm's reach, that feeling felt the same so not love after all, he had better things to do than simping over Alex's girl.
Ava smiled back at him. He walked over, speaking once within earshot. "Where's Alex?" His smile warped into a small frown.
"Not sure," she replied, her voice tinged with guilt. "He went to look for security. I suppose he plans to search for them. It's just that… the police usually say twenty-four hours before they declare someone missing."
"Huh?" He turned to look at her. "Who told you that?" he snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're allowed to report the minute you feel their life is in danger. And anyway, if that stupid rule did exist, it wouldn't apply to Seb—his, um… let's just say, a high-profile person to the police."
"High-profile," Sarah said, walking in while fiddling with her phone, voice dripping with mock seriousness her heel grinding his shoe.
Jacob turned to her, face pained. He sighed in irritation. "Do you, like, intentionally step on my shoes, or are you blind or something?"
"Oh—how terribly sorry," she said, covering her mouth. Her eyes widened in exaggerated concern, the gesture so practiced it bordered on parody. Her feet lingered on his shoe for a moment longer than necessary before finally lifting.
A slap would be befitting he thought. Fuck, I wish I was Seb—always ready to hit irrespective of gender, face red with anger he began reconsidering… god knows she deserved it.
Thankfully, at that moment, Alex returned. His face was a bit pale—a combined effect of the environment and their current situation. He turned to Ava, giving her a quick kiss before facing Jacob.
"Bros first, have you forgotten?" Jacob teased.
"Oh, sorry, man," Alex said, slapping his head in mock embarrassment. He then grabbed Jacob aiming to kiss him on the lips.
"Get away, you fiend! Dare to steal my property!" Jacob dashed away, flailing.
"Eww… boys are just disgusting," Sarah rolled her eyes at their antics. Ava smiled.
"I've informed the stationed officers and on-site security," Alex said, voice brisk. "It took some time—only because the place is filled with lazy pigs. Can you believe it? They told me to wait a bit longer, that loads of people get lost in the forest."
"Wait a bit longer? Three hours wasn't long enough! Fuck them—I hope they get sacked. Like do your job!" Jacob interjected.
"So… what now?" Ava asked.
"We wait, I suppose. They've got dogs," Jacob said, holding up two fingers as a counting device. "Drones, thermal imaging cameras, high-powered torches, and other equipment to get the search going. It's just that…" He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "None of the electronic devices work past a certain boundary in the forest."
"What?!" Jacob exclaimed.
"I thought they said there were cameras in there," Sarah said, voice dripping with sarcastic curiosity. Alex looked at Ava, who nodded in response to Sarah's question.
sigh
"They do—but not past the core, before the excluded zone. When I say 'core,' I mean the cluster of red zones. That's why they're highlighted in red. Apparently, no one should go there. They are signs and barriers to warn people off," Alex explained.
Ava sighed while shaking her head
Alex glanced her way before continuing
"And the terms and agreement we signed before entry also make it clear: any entry past that point and subsequent consequences are on the individual. That's why certain ages aren't allowed,".
Jacob scoffed. "Cameras don't work, or they can't be bothered to get high-grade ones."
"They don't work, irrespective of the price. I asked my uncle," Alex replied. Jacob sighed in defeat.
"You don't need to worry," Ava remarked. "Knowing Chloe, nothing would happen to them. Even if there were people with guns in there, she'd beat the name of the Lord out of them." Sarah smiled, nodding in agreement.
"Oh yeah," Jacob scoffed. "…Seb's probably holding them off like a warrior, taking every hit and still standing protecting princess Chloe."
"Yeah, probably. He's handling it like a pro—calm, relentless, untouchable," Jacob added in agreement, both of them beaming with pride.
Sarah snorted
*****************
Seb was currently squealing—his screams piercing the air at intervals, shrill and panicked. His eyes were puffed from barely held‑back tears as branches and thick roots coiled around his body, leaves whipping past him while he was dragged back toward the clearing. His head struck sharp stones at odd intervals.
Supreme fuckery, he thought.
It had started after his two-hour restless shift. He'd gently tapped Andrew awake, which caused the idiot to scream and wake everyone else. At the time, Seb hadn't noticed anything wrong. It was only after touching Andrew again—gently—that he realised something was off.
He was a ghost.
Or… a spirit. Well, that's what he inferred from Andrew—girl-like screaming—like, come on! I only tapped you!
Whatever. The point was, he couldn't be seen. The Lord God alone knew how that had happened.
Naturally, he'd decided to test it—see if this was real or if they were all committing to some next-level prank. Unfortunately, the conclusion was grim: either he truly was dead, or the four of them deserved awards far above Oscar-worthy.
First, he rummaged through their backpacks. Including Isabella's.
He really shouldn't have tried Isabella's. That girl was a psycho.
Well—after seeing what was in her bag, he couldn't exactly say it was an invasion of privacy. Obviously, now he had to go make sure Chloe was safe.
On arrival, he saw Chloe standing next to Isabella, looking around like she was expecting an intruder. God knew why.
The answer became clear very quickly.
He averted his eyes immediately. He wasn't a pervert—despite being blessed—no, cursed—with invisibility.
So after multiple rounds of inhaling and exhaling which for some reason caused Chloe to shiver he decided to test his theory properly.
He slapped Chloe not out of anger purely an experiment.
The result hmm
Let's just say… he couldn't stand up for a few minutes afterward.
Chloe, on the other hand, just stood there—confused. Her eyes glazed over, literally turning white before snapping back to normal when Isabella called out to her. Like come on a fucking kick to the gut and not even a side glance.
Fuck that girl. She wasn't human. Who kicks an invisible person? If it were him and any other guy out there, They would have run .
He stood up slowly groaning.
That was when he saw it—next to Isabella, who was crouched low.
A fucking slithering root.
He was enraptured. Not by Isabella's position obviously— but by the root sliding past her.
He remembered turning to look at Chloe, then Isabella. who seem to be clueless. So he had walked closer.
An Oscar worthy idea that had been.
What he'd seen was only the surface—the curved top—making it look small. The next moment, he was wrapped in it, dragged away like a disobedient dog.
Yep.
He was probably about to be someone's pre-prepared meal.