Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Cara spent the day with her mom, she had a fresh set of nails just in time for Heather, Bishop, and Natalie to finally understand the clue they had got at the parade. Heather had told Cara that these kids came up to her and Bishop and one of them had a temporary tattoo of the panic symbol on his hand. They were directed to the locksmiths, where behind it they found about of newspapers and the tattoos scattered over a car.
The newspapers clippings were on an article about John Davis Hale, some kid who died during panic for his individual challenge at Spurlock's Farm. The words Spurlock farm, breaking and entering, tomorrow, and 10 pm were underlined. That told them all they needed to know.
Knowing this Cara went home anticipation building in her though, she tried her best to seem normal through the rest of the day. Cara had remembered that Dodge had no clue about the next challenge. So, right before Dot's diner closed she snuck out with a map of Spurlock's farm.
She knocked on the door of the diner, Dodge let her in confused on why she was here. "Hey?" He said his confusion evident in his voice. "Hi we figured out what the next challenge is." Cara said hearing his confusion. "Oh." Dodge said with a nod.
She sat down at one of the tables and Dodge followed behind her. "You hungry? Want another lemonade?" He asked before he could stop himself, though this hospitality felt somewhat strange as he wasn't used to letting people in, at least not this easily. Looking back at him she said "Please and thank you" grabbing the map from her back pocket laying it out on a table.
Dodge walked over with the lemonade setting it on the table next to the map.
"So what's this" Dodge asked calmly, wondering how the map was related to the original topic. "We found out that the next challenge is tomorrow night and involves breaking and entering at" Cara gestured down to the map. "Spurlock's farm."
"But, the catch is Spurlock is a super paranoid psycho and he set up these traps all over his property and we gotta figure out how to evade them" Cara continued looking between Dodge and the map.
They sat at the small round table, coming up with different ideas on how to get into the man's house, coming up with a basic plan.
Once they had devised this plan, seeing it was almost 10. The two knew they should get home, Dodge offered to walk Cara home which she appreciated. They walked through the calm streets, an easy conversations flowing.
When the two arrived at her home she said "thank you" placing a quick kiss to his cheek to show her gratitude as he replied "n-no problem." Then, with a soft smile she turned to walk into her house.
"Where were you?" She heard the second she got in the house and she turned to see her twin. "With a friend" Cara mumbled her cheeks turning a shade of pink upon getting caught.
Her brother looked skeptical. "A friend?" Caleb asked, an eyebrow raised. She nodded, "hm then why are you blushing" he asked incredulously. "Uh j-just mind your business" She said rolling her eyes walking past him up to her room.
꧁꧂
The next night, Cara was sat in the passenger side of Dodge's car with Heather and Natalie in the backseats.
Silence overwhelmed the atmosphere, as they drove through the darkness to the next challenge. Cara kept her gaze out the windshield, breathing steady as she went over the plan in her head. They continued to drive through the steep woods, the panic symbol ever few hundred feet leading their way. Dodge found a mostly hidden spot to park his car.
The four got out and saw some of the other players, walking over to them. Quiet chatter filled the area when Diggins rounded the teens up to explain the rules and objective. "Time flies, so fly like the crow. To reap future treasures from wars long ago. Take one of these tokens along when you leave and send proof in pictures by midnight to me" He spoke, Ray flashing his flashlight over at him 'causing Diggins say angrily "Ray can you please stop that."
Ray complied. "Uh translation please" Troy asked and Cara spoke up as well with "Yeah what the hell are you talking about Diggins" earning a chuckle from a few. "Troy" Diggins started "firecracker" turning toward each as he said their names "I wish that i could help you both but the puzzle is part of-" He was cut off by Summer "You're supposed to steal something"
Her words brought clarification, making Cara nod lightly. "Uh, so we have to go in-inside the house?" Drew asked "Illegal entry. It happens every year" Heather spoke up. "Hm, student becomes the master?" Cara heard Natalie say quietly, causing some laughter to come from the girls.
"You can choose the cornfields or the woods to get to Spurlock's. And 'cause we didn't complete the last challenge, the judges decided it was unfair to award or deduct any points based-" Diggins was cutoff once again by Heather asking "Wait how is that fair? Some of us actually had to cross." "yeah you're telling me I just crossed a tiny ass plank that was like 50 feet off the ground to get no points?" Cara added
Their words caused some other to protest as well. "Rankings are the same as they were after the first challenge." Diggins said "also 'cause the cops busted us, no more spectators." He continued. "We're still missing Tyler" Summer pointed out looking over at Diggins.
"He'll be here" Ray confirmed though the way he said it made Cara skin crawl, (though that happened with everything Ray said.) "Okay well just sneak in, steal something, get out, and then take a picture, and send proof to Diggins by midnight" Summer stated simply. "This challenge is worth 50 points, all or nothing. You need 150 in order to make it to the next challenge, so give it all you got. Good luck."
"And Spurlock's a nutcase. Like, supposedly the whole place is booby-trapped so just try not to die" Summer said in her usual cheerful voice and a smile despite her words. As the two walked off, the teens dispersed, "ok just sneak in and steal from a lunatic, simple." Cara mumbled to herself.
