Whispers of the Forgotten

Chapter 3

The chaos of the gym faded as Alice and the others stumbled into the cool night air. They regrouped outside, breathless and wide-eyed, the adrenaline coursing through their veins.

"Is everyone okay?" Jesse asked, his voice shaky but urgent.

"I'm fine," Alice managed, her heart racing. "But where's Tyler?"

Benji looked around, his expression stricken with worry. "He was right behind us! Tyler!" he called, desperation creeping into his voice.

"Let's go back," Jesse insisted, starting to move toward the gym. "We can't leave him!"

"No! Are you crazy?" Alice shouted, grabbing his arm. "We don't even know what we just summoned in there! We need to regroup and figure this out first."

The group fell silent, fear etching itself onto their faces. Finally, Thomas spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper. "Alice is right. We need to stay together. We can't split up again."

As they stood in the dark, a sense of foreboding hung in the air. The shadows danced around them, and Alice shivered, glancing back at the gym's entrance. A part of her felt the pull to go back and search for Tyler, but the thought of what they had unleashed held her in place.

"Let's go to my house," Benji suggested, his voice steady despite his anxiety. "We can figure things out there. It's safe, and we can call for help."

The others nodded in agreement, and they made their way to Benji's house, each step weighed down by the looming dread of what they had just experienced.

Inside Benji's cozy home, they huddled in the living room, the familiar warmth of the place a small comfort. Benji's parents were out for the night, leaving the space filled with an unsettling silence.

"Okay, let's talk," Jesse began, his bravado dimmed by fear. "What just happened back there?"

"I don't know," Alice admitted, her mind racing. "But I felt like that thing was warning us. The betrayer... it could be one of us."

"No way!" Benji protested, his brow furrowing. "We're all friends here. We can't turn on each other!"

"But we need to be cautious," Alice replied, her voice firm. "We can't ignore the signs."

Just then, Thomas's phone buzzed on the coffee table. He grabbed it, glancing at the screen. "It's Tyler! He's texting!"

Everyone leaned in, hope surging through them as Thomas opened the message. But the smile on his face faded as he read aloud, "I saw something in the gym. I don't know how to explain it. I'm scared. I need help."

"Where are you?" Jesse texted back quickly, his fingers moving rapidly across the screen.

After a tense moment, Tyler's reply came through: "I'm hiding in the storage closet. The thing is still here. I can hear it moving. Please hurry!"

Panic surged through the group, and they exchanged frantic glances. "We have to go back!" Jesse declared.

"No! We can't!" Benji argued, his voice rising. "What if it's a trap? What if the cult is already after us?"

"We can't leave Tyler," Alice said, determination hardening her resolve. "He's our friend. We need to help him."

"Okay, but we have to be smart about this," Thomas said, his voice steadying. "Let's split up and search for him. We can cover more ground that way."

Alice felt a wave of dread wash over her. Splitting up didn't feel right, but she couldn't ignore the fear in Tyler's message. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "But we stick to the buddy system. No one goes anywhere alone."