April

Chapter Seven: When the Laughter Sounds

The sky, which was usually bright and sunny most hours of the day, was covered in a thin blanket of pale gray clouds.

"Dylan," Hazel said, looking up from the papers she had spread on the floor. Dylan was standing by the window, looking out into the yard. Without an answer, he turned around.

"Do you think she was kidnapped?" Hazel asked timidly, lifting a picture of her and April from months before. Dylan sighed and sat down next to his friend. "I don't know what to think, Haze. Everything about this is weird," he replied, looking unnerved. "Me neither, to be honest. I just can't let myself think she's...dead," Hazel gulped, looking away as she said the last word.

Dylan reached over and took the photo out of his friend's hand. "Come on, Haze. I think you need to stop thinking about April for a little while. Let's just take a walk." Reluctantly, Hazel rose to her feet and smoothed her shirt out before nodding and heading outside without a word.

On their walk, Hazel was mostly not paying attention to any of Dylan's talking. She was too busy looking around, hoping to see April appear around a corner or tap her on the shoulder.

"Hazel?" She called, walking down a seemingly endless trail. Though she didn't know where she was, she could tell it was a forest. And a large one at that.
"Hazel?!" She shouted again, louder this time.

Suddenly, the wind changed direction and a high-pitched sound of laughter jolted the girl. Changing pace, April ran down the trail, unsure of where the laughter came from but knowing she wanted no part of it.

"Come out, come out whenever you are," a little girl giggled as she stepped soundlessly through the forest. She repeated the words, but she didn't bother looking around. No, she already knew exactly where her victim was. She, however, enjoyed a game of hunter and prey.

April ran faster, but eventually she grew tired. With a swift look around, the girl deemed her current location safe and stopped running to catch her breath.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated the little girl. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed, grabbing April and beginning to drag her with surprising strength towards a grey minivan, one that April recognized all too well.

"Hazel?" She whispered, not even struggling. The little girl quickly opened the trunk of the minivan and pushed April into it, jumping up a few feet in attempt to close the door.

"No!" April exclaimed, finally realizing what was happening. But alas, she was too late. The van trunk was closed now, and the little girl had disappeared.

"Hazel?!"

No response.

As she looked out the van window, April saw a small brown structure, one that looked shockingly similar to the cabin she and Hazel liked to visit....

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Hello readers! Not gonna lie, I was going to write more for this but really wanted to watch The Office... Okay, so the italics in this were actually an episode of the "show" and will be posted online tomorrow, when the actress who plays April stops being saltier than a saltine cracker. The episode we shot for this is actually continued on from just the italics here, which will be the start of the next chapter. Enjoy!
I also wanted to say how amazing it is that April has made it to Stage 3 in the contest I've entered it in! That is truly amazing :)

-Cheddar