The Disappearance of Taylor

Chapter 8

Cole's growl phone started ringing when his small group had reached the edge of the next forest. He picked it up and answered it. "Yes."

"Cole!" He recognized the beautiful, silky voice. It was Princess Shayla!

"What is it, Princess?"

"I have something that might help you find Taylor. I'm about to call Max and Danny and tell them the same thing."

"Spill it, Princess."

Princess Shayla paused for a moment, then continued, "The way you and the others are heading is filled with dangerous perils that only you guys will recognize."

Cole was confused. "How does that help us find Taylor?"

"Let me finish. See, the org knew she should have been sent to some dangerous place, and so, she could possibly be around. Stay alert and look for clues."

"Got it, Princess." Cole shut off the growl phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

"What did she say?" Alyssa asked, grimacing as she kicked out one of her legs and hit a tree with it.

"We're about to enter a dangerous place, so it is possible that Taylor could be around. Stay alert." Alyssa and Merrick nodded.

"I can't bear it!" Alyssa cried, suddenly gazing off into the dark forest. Merrick and Cole exchanged glances again, knowing that she was falling under the grief spell once more.

"Alyssa, relax," Cole cooed in a soothing voice.

Alyssa put both her hands on her chest and almost collapsed; Cole caught her before she could fall.

"Alyssa, did you not hear what Cole said?" Merrick asked her. "We might be close to finding Taylor."

At that, Alyssa's cries quieted, but didn't completely stop as they continued through the leafy forest. Merrick leaned over and whispered in Cole's ear.

"Can you please make her stop? I need a bit of peace and quiet for once."

As if Alyssa had heard him at that moment, she stopped crying.

Merrick rolled his eyes once again. "Thanks, Alyssa."

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Taylor kept walking through the forest, jumping at every sound. Her heart started to beat faster when she spotted shadows moving somewhere away from her.

"Is someone following me?" she wondered.

Slowly, she inched her way toward the shadows, flinching when she heard a thumping noise.

"Probably just rabbits," she muttered to herself. She reached the shadows and looked around, but saw nothing.

But suddenly, she saw another shadow move behind her and she spun around in time to see a dark figure rushing toward her. However, she had no time to react before she saw the figure leap into the air and then felt her head hit the hard ground. Looking up, she heard the figure growl, "Calling me a rabbit?"

Taylor tried to speak, but the figure rose up in front of her again and saw something else flying toward her. Then a pain hit her side and she felt her body hit against a tree. She fell to the ground and thought she heard a deep laugh cut through the air.

"You're finished now, Yellow Ranger!"

Taylor got to her feet slowly, but then felt an immense and sharp force hit her on her side and she screamed in pain. She fell onto the hard ground again, clutching her side tightly as she felt something liquidlike and wet leak onto her body. She moaned as she saw the dark red substance flow onto her fingers.

Is this the end for me? she thought.

She felt herself go limp and heard voices slowly drifting away from her. She listened until she finally saw spots in her vision and her eyes closed.

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Max and Danny continued their trek through the forest until Max heard his growl phone ring. It was Cole.

"What's up, Cole?" he asked casually.

"Did you get the message from Princess Shayla?" his friend asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because we should meet up somewhere and try to find Taylor all together."

"Gotcha. Yeah, well, we're probably close to each other, so let's get together soon. How's Alyssa?"

"Still going through stages of grief. Man, she truly believes we might never find Taylor."

"That's sad. Anyway, we'll meet up with you soon. Bye!" Max hung up and explained the plan to Danny. Danny nodded and the two took off into the woods.