Casper Cape's Pack

Chapter 3 - Ryan

I hoped the next day would be easier. Obviously, it wasn't.

Dad dropped me off with a sad face. He was still worried, I guessed. Couldn't really blame him. Yesterday, I'd barely spoken to him, or Benji, after I came home from school. Benji'd tried to get me to play computer games with him and I'd screamed at him.

At the entrance, again, there were swarms of reporters, but before they could smother me, someone came at me from behind, grabbing me by my hurt arm.

"Argh!" I called, pain erupting from where the fingers gripped me tightly. I turned and pulled away, ready to call out whoever was dumb enough to grab me by the arm currently on a sling, when I noticed it was Misra standing there. She'd disposed of her own sling and stood in front of me with her hands pulled tightly into fists. Her eyes were drawn and intense, drilling holes into my own. Her lips were pursed, and she was frowning. The words died on my throat as it turned dry and my stomach did a small somersault and then dropped low. I felt my palms start to sweat. My mind screamed, run.

"Come with me." She commanded. The 'or else...' was implied, of course. It was always implied with her. After so many years, I could only nod and follow. I chanced a glance back towards the school's entrance and watched as the group of reporters, who hadn't realized we were there yet, approached a group of three boys and started asking them questions. The pair of cops run after them, trying to protect the kids.

I almost wished I was them.

We went all the way round the back of the school, towards the football fields. I thought maybe we were going in through the back, but we passed by them too and instead headed towards the same group of trees Misra'd escaped into yesterday. She walked ahead of me with long, energetic strides that I struggled to keep up with. I buried my hands on my jacket's pockets, wondering what Misra wanted. Something told me it wasn't my lunch money this time. I wondered if she'd finally snapped and was taking me into the woods so no one would hear me scream. I really hoped it wasn't that.

The group of trees thinned out after a few steps before turning into a full-blown forest, which was normal since the whole town was surrounded by forest and the school was actually located in the outskirts to the east. But it still didn't settle my racing heart.

We made it into a clearing about five minutes later. I was already covered in twigs and leaves, and my hair had gotten caught on a branch so now the braid I had pulled it into this morning was half undone.

Five people waited there. The sound of our footsteps made them all turn.

Rumer was the first I saw, with her shiny white hair glistering against the dark green foliage behind her. She was sitting on a small rock, drawing on the ground with a stick. She dropped her stick as soon as she saw me and stood, dusting herself off.

"So, we're finally all here." She said, her sardonic smile in full blow, eyes moving from me towards the rest of the girls like a hungry lion's, "The Casper Twelve, right? Or at least what's left of them."

I watched them too and realized... they were indeed the rest of the kidnapped girls.

Paige stood closest to me, hands buried deep into the pockets of her jacket, leaning against the trunk of a tree almost as if she was hoping to blend in with it. As soon as our eyes met, she looked away. She'd always reminded me of a scared antelope or something. She was small, pale and all limbs. Girls at school, mainly Misra and her friends, called her a wig-wearing twelve-year-old boy because of her unfortunately plain anatomy. Her hair was long and an awkward shade of blonde. She wore rectangle glasses and all the teachers loved her. She was that girl.