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An inky sky with dim stars stares down onto the forest's towering trees. All seems quiet, only the faint calls of ravens or owls in the distance can be heard among green pines. The moon is half full, the foggy clouds blocking the light. No animal or being dares to roam the forests at night. Especially due to its dangers. The air is damp and cold, as rain had just fallen. Leaves lay wet on the floor.

All of a sudden, silence shatters. The sounds of heavy panting and running echo across the forest. A blur goes by in the trees, it's desperate yet relived sobs silenced by speed. The girl cradles another figure; another human. Her arms, though severely scarred, conceal the other person. She seems a lot younger than the woman running for her life, their lives. The woman's dark red hair flows behind her; it clearly hasn't been brushed for days. Tears stream down her face, her eyes dark and mysterious. Her scars spread all across her body, as well as dirt across her face and arms. They clearly haven't had time to heal. The younger girl in her arms has purple hair, and not as many scars as her mother. The young one is 5. The woman is only 18.

A tree's root catches onto her combat boots, and she trips up, dirt in her mouth. She spits it out bitterly, trying her best to shield her child. With desperation, she gets up and takes a breath. She shouldn't have gone towards that house. She should have let Stripes go with her, or anyone around the castle. Its only a few seconds until a loud, male cry a few meters away forced her to run again. The woman doesn't really know how long she has been running for- for all she knows it might have been hours. But she hasn't stopped. Not yet.

"It's okay...Vi...I'm going as fast...as I...can." The woman pants, tears still draining down her face. "We're...gonna get...out of here..." Vi looks up at her mother, a concerned look that she was pushing herself too far.
"Mom...are they still chasing us?" The little girl asks quietly.
"Not to worry you...but yes...they are." She sighs, swerving left. "I'm trying...to lose them..." A spark of hope enters her eyes; it's a house! She can hide herself, but more importantly, her child.

The red haired woman uses whatever strength she has left to run full speed towards the shack. She places her child into her right arm, and uses her left to slam the door. The cries of death itself drown out, but nothing is over yet. She had to keep her safe. Even if it meant that she would end up dead because of it.
"Vi. I need you to do something for me." She pants tiredly. "Please, and I beg you, stay as still and as quiet as you can." The child nods, and she crawls anxiously towards a hiding space. Her mother, on the other hand, hides inside of a cabinet. Before she does, she makes sure that the lock looks locked before she enters, hoping they would leave it alone.

The space is claustrophobic. She can feel her head against her knees, laying stiller than a statue. Her breath had caught up to her easily, so she doesn't have to pant anymore. Her throat screams at her for water, but she ignores its calls. Her ears start to ring violently: she refuses to move her arms to cover them. It's too risky.

A sound of wood breaking makes her flinch- they've found them. A variety of footsteps echo the shack. The girl closes her eyes, praying that neither of them would be found.

"Come on out." A male voice calls into the small space that they have. "We only want to talk." Yeah right.
"I don't think that's gonna work." Another one sighs. "We're gonna have to search."
"Of course we are." The first man groans. "We only need one, so it doesn't matter if we find both."
"And if we do find both of them?"
"We'll off the other one if we find both at the same time." The first man explains grimly. Noises of searching, rummaging, breaking can be heard around the shack. The cold starts to get to the woman's arms.
"Vi, Binx...~" The second man mocks their names confidently. This makes Binx's blood boil. "Come on out."
"That isn't gonna work, is it?" Man 1 rhetorically asks Man 2.
"Yeah, maybe it i-." The two stop their quarrel, and Man 2 laughs. "There you are."

In a sudden realisation, the noises of desperate, muffled screams come from outside. Then, silence. Tears fill Binx's eyes- they have her daughter. It's over. She's....gone.

Stumbling out of the cupboard in desperation and anger, she starts to sob. She slams her fist down onto the ground. She would go after them, but...she hates to admit this...but she couldn't run anymore. Her legs refuse to move. All she can do is sob hysterically. Binx's stomach feels queasy. She needs water. Desperately. With ease she opens her bag and drinks the rest of her water swiftly, more black tears streaming down her face. Opening her eyes, which seem blurred from the tears, she notices something. A piece of lined paper sitting there in front of her. It's crinkled and dirty, but she still picks it up with a scarred hand.

Your "best friend" is next. We know where she lives.

Best friend? Who could that be? Binx wipes her eyes; crying can wait. The closest thing she had to a best friend was Stripes, but-.

Then it hits her.

Binx jolts up, adrenaline rising through her body. She can't be alive, can she? The fire killed her. She hasn't been seen alive since. Yet the paper says otherwise. It could be a trap, but these people wouldn't go that far to mock her supposedly dead friend.

Riley Elton was dead. She died in a fire with her parents 2 weeks ago. It was all over the news.

But there's a small possibility that she could still be alive.

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"Riley!" Alya shouts up the stairs. "Are you busy?"
"I'm doing homework right now." Riley calls back. "What's up?"
"Someone wants to talk to you." Alya responds. "A friend."
"If he's called Max, tell him to fuck off please." Riley groans.
"It's not a dude, it's a girl." Alya says. "Want me to send her up?" That's weird. She only had one female friend that was assumed missing. Unless it's Akira making fun of her. But she wouldn't go that far to enter her own house to do it, would she?
"Please do." Riley says, a little confused.
"Alright!" Alya exclaims. Then, there's muffled voices from downstairs, then the sounds of footsteps walking up. They seem light-ish.

"Akira, please just leave me alo-." Riley stops and stares in shock. A red haired girl stands in her doorway, scars all over her face, her eyes cold.
"You..." Riley can't find her words. "You we're stalking me yesterday..."
"I was looking out for you." The girl responds, leaning on the doorframe. Her voice strikes Riley with nostalgia; her eyes widen in pain, shock and relief.

"Iris..." Riley stands up. "Where the fuck have you been?"

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