Attached [Rewritten Version]

8. Marked

Monday, September 26th, 2016

It was exhausting to be stressed every second of the day. By now, Sid learned that Edward and Davy had to practically carry him back to the fence, and once they passed through, Davy called his father. They needed help, even if it meant that they would get in trouble. But with Sid himself knocked out, and everything that had happened, getting grounded was the least of their issues, and Sid was glad Davy and Edward had been mature enough to admit they needed their parents.

Sid had expected them to be angrier than they actually were. They were indeed grounded, but for some reason, all parents had agreed on one thing; the cops shouldn't be involved.

Even though on Sunday morning, it became clear that the breach in the fence had been discovered and was broadcasted all over the news. Someone had trespassed into the Miller Woods, and they wanted to know who.

But even when Sid suggested turning themselves in, his parents had told him a harsh 'no', and a warning that they would get in a lot more trouble than the usual punishments for trespassing; look at what happened to that Dunn kid.

It was best left undiscovered.

Strangely, by dinner time, Sid's headache had lessened to a bearable nagging pain. He wasn't constantly dizzy or nauseous any longer, and he didn't feel the need to remain in complete darkness either.

The mood around the house had been weird all day. Sid's three sisters, Liza, Ellie and Lynn were all sending him looks—as if they knew—while his parents kept sending each other looks. It made Sid nervous, which wasn't helping him once evening came around again and he was supposed to go to bed.

After hours of tossing and turning, he gave up on sleeping, playing games on his phone in the hopes falling asleep before his alarm would go off. He needed to sleep at least a few hours.

He caught no sleep, whatsoever. Thank God, he slept a few hours during the day, or he'd be a zombie and he'd fit right in those scary Miller woods.

And when he met Davy and Edward the next morning, they looked as if they had seen a ghost. They probably hadn't caught much sleep either. The only reason Sid was in school, was because he wanted to talk to them in person about the pictures. He had been staring at it for a while during the day, and ever since, he felt like he was constantly being watched.

There wasn't anyone there; but the feeling remained now that he knew he had been completely unaware of those eyes when they were in the woods, seemingly following him around while they were at the lake.

Right before school, Sid, Davy, Edward and Annika had told Amber—Amara indeed already knew because Edward had told her—that they had in fact been the people who had trespassed, asking her not to tell anyone else. They had come in early to talk as a group without people eavesdropping in, knowing it was talk of the town and gossip would start the second school started.

Sid had simply wanted to inform Amber, talk about it, and go to class. He hadn't expected Cory to show up early too. Or for him to walk in their direction with an award-winning smile—probably because he was happy they considered him a friend now—and greet them cheerfully. Well, until his eyes fell on Sid.

The colour instantly seemed to drain from his face, and his shoulders sunk far enough for his backpack to slide off, falling to the ground.

Suddenly, Cory rushed in his direction, pulling the hood from his head. Sid couldn't help but feeling impressed by the fact Cory knew exactly where the marks would be.

But then he remained silent, and when Sid awkwardly rubbed his neck, staring at him, he found Cory staring at him confused, his mouth slightly agape. He went through his hair with a hand, trying to make sense of something.