Sam's POV: Third person
"COLBY!!" Sam's voice straining from the number of times he's yelled for his best friend. Colby is somewhere in this forest. Lost, alone, and scared. No light, no phone, no other person, nothing. He's vulnerable. Who knows what is currently happening. He could be hurt, possessed, or even dead. But Sam doesn't want that to be the case. He wants it to be anything but that. The sight of his best friend who he adores lying lifeless in a pool of his blood or violently convulsing on the floor eyes rolling to the back of his head and mouth wide open in such a disturbing way it sends chill down the blonde boy's spine. 'Where is he?' Sam worryingly thought. He never needed Colby more than in this current moment. "COLBY!! COME BACK TO THE FIRE!!" Sam yells once again with plead in his tone. His two other friends, Jake and Corey, look at him with guilt for the blonde in their eyes and tried their best to reassure distressed Sam. "Hey man, it's gonna be okay. We'll find him soon." The younger male, Jake, says, resting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. It was comforting but not enough to be fully convinced that he was going to find his best friend. "Sooner than later." The oldest, Corey, added on to what Jake said. So then they set off deeper into the woods. Flashlights in hand and with the remaining of their voices shouting out and calling for the final one to come back to them. "Colby! Where are you!?" Jake echoes, cupping his hands around his mouth so his voice can project itself deeper into the dark mass, hoping that Colby could hear his begs and cries. But still nothing. Sam was getting increasingly more worried for his friend's well-being. He couldn't contain his emotions any longer. So he let all his built-up tears cascade down his rosy cheeks. If Colby was here, he would instantly pull the blonde into his arms and wipe the tears away with one of his hoodies he would always wear. On top of that, he would whisper comforting things in the smaller boy's ear, to which he found helping in any situation like this. Colby, however, wasn't there to do that. Not this time. And it pained Sam in the heart. It really did. Knowing that his mentor, his support, wasn't here to tell him that everything was going to be okay as long as he was there with him. Sam could feel his heart ache and his head spin from how lost he became. He needed a minute. Luckily, there was a nearby tree stump to sit on and have a second to compose himself. "Take a minute, Sam. We'll find him, don't you worry." Corey told him, which sounded convincing, but the little voice told him in his head something else. 'He's dead, and you know that. You just don't want to think about it.' There's always got to be one negative voice in his head to tell him the opposite. It's the problem with being an overthinker. Every time you're in a life or death situation, your brain always has to say the bad option to mess with your head and question everything and everyone around you. That's what Sam had. He hated it most of the time. But sometimes, it led to good things. Like that one time, he had to listen to the demon in his brain and lie to his mom that she didn't look bad in that dress when he was thirteen. That was a moment he got saved for once by the thing in his consciousness. But never again. "How long has it been since he went missing?" Sam asked the other two, standing in front of him. His brain was racked up so much by the fact Colby was missing he didn't realise how long it's been since he last saw his ray of sunshine, who was laughing with him. "I think it's been three hours or something like that." Corey answers, watching Sam's face drain pale from worry. Three whole hours since Colby went missing. Three hours is too long. He needed to find Colby as soon as possible. Before it's too late. Sam shakily stood up from the stump and picked up the pace into an almost running one and checked every inch of the forest. Bushes, campsites, behind trees, everywhere. He was starting to lose hope. All the hard work he's done with his best friend for over ten years was starting to look like a blur. What was Colby's last name? That was something he wished he'd never forget. But he did. "Maybe he's back at camp. This whole time, we've been out here, and he might have wandered back to the tents." Jake suggests trying to help Sam feel better about it all. "No. There's no way he could've. We only left camp about half an hour ago. There's physically no way, Jake. I get your point. But it's impossible." Sam argues, feeling his eyes turn glossy from his explanation. He wanted Jake's statement to be true, but that wasn't going to happen. So they ventured deeper into this hell. "COLBY!! PLEASE COME BACK TO US!!" Sam tried calling out, seeing if he was any closer to Colby. The littlest of sounds set Sam off wondering if Colby was going to walk out with a few scratches on his face and his hair in a disarray. Bushes would rustle in front of them, but much to his disappointment, a deer would run out there, leaving them saddened by the scene. "If we can't find Colby, then that means..." Jake extends the sentence suggesting the worst possible case. "No! Absolutely not! I don't want to find Colby dead in a bush or a stream. You don't understand how much he means to me. I need him. Without him, I'm nothing." Sam retailates not wanting to hear any more from Jake or Corey. "We'll find him. I can feel it." The blonde prays like he hasn't been doing that for the past few hours. All hope was nearly lost before he could see a shadow in the distance staring back at the three. Sam didn't feel threatened or scared. He felt.. comforted in an odd way. Like he knew this person. Someone who was extremely close with him. Like he's been creating videos with this person for over ten years. Sam quickly pulls out his flashlight and shines the light towards the mysterious figure. It was Colby. Sam felt so relieved he couldn't contain it anymore. He ran up to the blue haired male and hugged him so tight he could break his ribs. Sobs were slowly starting to escape the blonde boy's mouth and were forming into pained screams from the thought of Colby being missing forever. Sam couldn't stop. He was a mess. Colby knew what to do and held the smaller male so tight in his arms that he could almost break his ribs as well. "Shh, it's okay. Calm down, baby. I'm fine, see." Colby calmly says, letting the nickname for Sam slip out in front of the other two. Both of them knew it wasn't something romantic. It was a coping mechanism that helped the blonde even more. The blue haired male started rubbing the blonde's back up and down, causing the friction from his fingers, hands, and rings to heat up Sam's back. "I hate seeing you like this." Colby whispers, laying his cheek on top of his head, digging a kiss into Sam's hair. The blonde boy gripped harder onto his best friend, sighing contently in his arms as he did that. He could feel the tears drying up, which was a good sign. The smell of Colby's faint sprays of colonge were enough to calm him completely down. It smelt like home to Sam. Colby was his home. All he ever needed was him. In any situation ever, Sam would go to Colby for guidance. Colby knew what to do during any time Sam was feeling upset or hurt. A few kisses on the head and whispering comforting things in the blonde's ear, and he felt better. "Look at me, Sam." Colby commanded to which he listened as he indeed looked up to meet his blue eyes with Colby's. Sam loves Colby's eyes. The way his eyes would reflect in the light and make them seem brighter than they actually were. And the the way they would soften when he would call him by his nickname or even when they would stare at each other. The colour of them would amaze Sam most of the time. "I will promise to never EVER leave your side ever again. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You were clearly the most affected, and I could tell. You know I love you so much. I don't know why I did that. It was such a stupid idea. I'm so sorry. I'll never do it again. Promise." Colby reassured Sam, making direct eye contact the whole time he said that. This made Sam smile and give Colby a peck on the cheek. Colby returned the favour and kissed Sam on his cold nose. The warmness radiating off Colby's lips made Sam feel tingly on the inside. "It's okay, Colbs. I accept your apology. You just scared me really bad. I thought something bad happened to you." Colby immediately interrupted Sam's dreaded thought about him being dead. "No, Sam. Don't think about it. I'm okay now. I'm here. There's no need to worry." Colby stops him, pulling Sam back into his embrace. Sam hugged Colby back and held on tight, worrying that if he would let go, he'd lose him again. "I'm never leaving your side, and you're not leaving mine, okay?" The blue haired male asks the blonde boy. Sam only nodded as his response because he didn't want to let go of Colby. He knew that if he did, something bad was going to happen again. Sam didn't want that. Neither did Colby. Jake and Corey finally had the chance to say their 'welcome backs' to him because Sam refused to let go. While they did that, Sam held Colby's hand just to make sure. "Right, let's head back to the camp. I think we've all had enough for tonight." Corey suggests as all the others agree and start to head back to the tents they left behind. Colby was, of course, holding Sam's hand or his arm was snaked around his small waist so the blonde knew his friend was still safe with him. After only a few miles of walking, they finally made it back to the campsite, their tents and belongings still left how they were before. "Let's go to bed. I'm too tired to stay up." Sam asks the other three who were adamant about going to sleep in this haunted forest full of spirits and potential demons. "I'll go with you." Colby accepts already climbing into his shared tent with Sam. "Yeah, me and Corey aren't gonna go to sleep yet, but we'll do our best to stay quiet for you two." Jake offered, making the two smile at his kindness before zipping up the tent, leaving the two alone together to reflect on what happened tonight. "I'm glad you're okay." Sam starts the conversation, making it less awkward than it needed it to be. "I'm glad I could find my back to you guys. I didn't know where I was at all, and the worst part was that I didn't have a flashlight at all, so that made things more difficult for me. My phone died hours ago, and I couldn't find my power bank, so I just left it, not knowing I was going to need it hours later." Colby explains, watching Sam's smile fade away instantly. The blonde could almost feel how Colby felt these past few hours he was gone. Afraid, confused, paranoid, anxious, terrified, worried. All these emotions were probably ones Colby felt the whole time he was gone. And Sam wasn't there with him. To provide the comfort back that his best friend would always give him. But at least now there were back together safe and sound in their tent. Colby laid down onto his sleeping bag followed by Sam, and he pulled the blonde into his chest, which he would often do to comfort him in moments like this. "Night, Sam. I love you." The blue haired male said before letting his body relax and letting sleep overcome him. "I love you too, Colbs." The blonde replies, digging his face further into his friend's chest and snuggling his face into the sleeping bag. Let's just say that Sam and Colby would never step foot into this forest for the rest of their paranormal career ever again.
