𝘽𝙇𝙐𝙀, colby brock.

006.

day 2.

valerie was supposed to leave 20 minutes ago but of course, she was late. sleeping in late was the girl's specialty and considering the group search started at 7 am there was almost no doubt that valerie would be late.

she had been woken up by her dad leaving, to meet up at the forest with the others. he tried to wake the girl up but she wouldn't budge.

now, valerie was trying to brush her teeth while putting her shoes on. still dressed in her dark blue pajama pants and a black tank top she'd had since eighth grade.

the brunette somehow managed to get to the cave in under 10 minutes, walking in as her dad was going through all the rules and who would be with who.

"and this is valerie, my fashionably late daughter," he said pointing her out of the crowd as the girl pulled the jacket, she threw on, over her shoulder. she gave a small wave.

her father handed her a walky-talky with a friendly smile. the girl clipped it to the waistband of her pants before making her way into the crowd.

"there will be two groups, me and then colby and kat," he said, val had only just now noticed the two beside her dad. lat looked tired while colby had a determined expression across his face.

officer garcia then went around the group of people and sectioned them off the people into their respective groups. valerie had gotten with colby and kat.

"you were late." colby whispered as a smile flashed across his face before the same determined look created its way across.

"i know," valerie whispered, making her way new to the boy, "don't judge."

"judge," he said poking her side causing the girl to smile.

the crowds got quiet as officer garcia cleared his throat. ready to talk. ready to dismiss the groups into the forest, and he did. the group's made their way into separate parts of the forest, searching for sam.

the three walk together as the others spread out into different groups. it was calming in a way. the wind blowing around as the sun shined through the trees. the silence was the best, but the girl wouldn't mind if someone were to disturb it.

"did you just wake up?" colby asked after a while.

"what makes you think that?" val asked pulling up her jacket over her shoulder once again.

"nothing."

"what? no, tell me,"

"you never got out of your pajamas." he said pointing to her pants. she hadn't noticed that the boy next to her was fully dressed, like fully dressed. dude had chains on and everything.

"who said i wasn't the type of person to wear my pajamas out in public?" she asked, tilting her head towards the boys, smiling at him.

"me," he said smiling at the girl.

the two continued to walk, their conversation coming to an end. kat hadn't said a single thing in the hour they had been walking. maybe she was worried? valerie shifted slightly, deciding to walk slower so she could stand by kat instead.

no sign of sam. just trees and people, valerie had recognized a few, having gone to school with them. the brunette couldn't understand how her father could gather so many people in such a sort amount of time. her father was a mysterious man.

"hey, ms. garcia!" someone called out, valerie looking in direction of the voice.

"yeah?" she called back, catching a person waving at her out of the corner of her eye. she walked over towards them. an old lady she had recognized from a family owned restaurant.

"you might wanna come see this,"

the girl sucked her breath in as she walked over towards the woman. she was crouched over by a tree, something grey catching her eye.

once the brunette got a closer look at it she knew immediately who's it was. she snapped her head up, looking at the small group of people silently standing around the piece of fabric. sam's hoodie.

"have any of you touched this, like at all?" valerie asked sternly, her expression hard. she didn't even bother to correct the girl calling for her.

"no, ma'am,"

she had to tell her dad first, then she could tell the others. this was a sign, it had to be. why else would they find a piece of sam out of nowhere? valerie was getting close.

"hey, dad?" it came out quieter than the girl expected it to be. but he had heard her, paging back almost immediately.

"someone found something of sam's, you need to come see this." she said, shock still in her features.

it didn't take long for the man to find them, almost the whole group was circling around the tiny piece of fabric, valerie trying not to let anyone touch it. he stepped through the group as they spread out.

the bag was already in his hand, ready to grab it. they would have to test it later, identify it as sam's. if it wasn't, they'd continue the search, if it was then they would stop with the group and stick with the four of them.

hopefully it was the boy's. it would give them a lead as to where he was. it gave an insight on what could have attacked him, if he was ok and even if he was already dead. they needed this piece of fabric more than they thought they did.

officer garcia picked up the fabric with the bag, telling everyone to go back home and that the search had ended for today. everyone listened, leaving the four by themselves in the forest.

"is it actually his?" kat asked, looking over at the bag in the police officer's hands. this was the first she'd spoken all day, since last night when she told colby to leave.

both valerie and colby stared at the girl in silence. neither of them knew what to say. 'wow, you finally said something!' it wasn't the right thing to say. so they stayed silent, val nodding at the girl, answering the question she almost forgot.

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word count - 1027