"Did you guys hear that?" Xavier asked.

"Hear what?" I asked, even though I did hear it. But the thing was that if Peregrine hadn't picked up her phone, and her phone was out in the forest, then she wasn't with her phone. Her phone being in the forest meant that she was either in the forest, or is in the forest. But why would she be there? For a human, it would be spooky, dark, and deadly, with all the Unconsecrated prowling around. Unless, of course, she wasn't human. "I didn't hear anything at all. Eve did you hear anything?" I didn't wait for her to answer. "No? Well, that settles it. We'd better go." I grabbed for the door handle, but stopped.

"Wait," Xavier said. "Here, see?" He began dialing his moms phone number again, then waited. A faint buzz sounded from the woods, followed by a moan. I tensed. "See, Lacuna. Didn't you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard the moan. Now we should get out of here. That might be headed our way." I reached for the handle again. Xavier's hand clamped down on my arm, stopping me.

"No, Lacuna. You don't understand.."

"I do understand. There's an Unconsecrated out there. Probably more than one. And we need to leave, or else we suffer the consequences. Now give me the keys already."

"No! You heard that! We all did!" His face was inches from mine, making it hard to breathe. "That was my mother! And you know it! She's out there. She's alive. I can feel it. We can't go! We can't." He backed away from me. I stayed still. "Sorry, I… I didn't know what… I'm sorry. Can you just think about this for a second? This is my mom we're talking about here. Please?"

"Xavier, I am thinking about it, and I just don't think hiking off into that forest is a good idea. It's a horrible idea actually. That moan. It might've been your mothers."

Xaviers face hardened. Uh oh. "God damn it, Lacuna! What's your problem? Can't you ever be optimistic? And why are you being so callous?" He began pacing, with his hands pulling at his hair. "My mom… She means everything to me. She's the only thing I have left. You don't know anything about love, Lacuna. You don't." He sighed. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I had nothing to say to that. Maybe he was right. "Okay, so if you guys want to leave. Then go. I'll search for her by myself." He began stalking off, but then turned around; facing me. "And Lacuna?"

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"What's the difference between you and the Unconsecrated?" He tossed the keys at me; I catched.

Um, a lot of things. I'm don't have my limbs hanging everywhere, I don't crave human flesh, I don't moan all the time, the list goes on and on. But I kept my mouth shut. I knew he meant something else. He thought I had no soul. And I was just beginning to fall for him. He began stalking off. I was as still as a statue. Should I go after him? No. Not after-

"Hey, guys, where are you going?" I asked as Eve and Cope began treading after him.

Eve turned, her eyes cold, and said, "You know what? He's right, Lacuna. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Hmm, reminds me of your mother. No wonder Cope, here, holds a grudge. Should've killed you when he had the chance." She snorted. "Goodbye Lac." Lac? "Or should I say, good riddance."

I gawked at them as they vanished into the trees. What? I was so confused. At first, she was the one who didn't want to find my mother, but now? What did she want to do? Leave and run off with Xavier to find his mom? Women. Oh, oh. I got it now. Of course. She had a crush on Xavier. Duh, why didn't I think of it before? Oh god, and now I was all alone. With no ammo, arrows, which weren't effective in the dark, and a dagger. I really needed them.

"Hey, wait up!" I called after them. I burst into the forest and looked around; nothing. They were already gone. "Eve! Xavier! Cope!" Nothing. The wind began to blow, the cold settling in. I shivered, but not from the cold, from the creeps. Decision making time. I looked back at the hidden car, longing to run to it, then back at the ominous forest, disappearing into the darkness as far as I could see.

My brain told me to get into the car and drive away, but my heart told me to go after my friends. The last time I'd listened to my brain I got a C on a test. Heart it was. After stuffing Xaviers keys into my pocket, I walked deeper into the woods. And walked. Five minutes. And walked. Ten minutes. And walked. Fifteen minutes. No sign of them. I sighed; shivered. Where were they? I walked on.

Then stopped, pulling out the dagger. A twig crunched in the distance. I tensed. Another crunch, this time closer. I found cover behind a tree, and knelt down. My eyes scanned my surroundings, at least, the only part I could see- which wasn't much. Then they came into view.

There were five of them total. All dressed in uniforms. Soldiers? Why were they there? It didn't look like they were Unconsecrated, but I couldn't tell for certain in the dim light. So far, though, there were no moans, but no talking either. But then one spoke, confirming their humanity. The dagger went back into my pocket.

"Men, move forward." A man waved his hand forward, and they began creeping away from me. No, they couldn't leave me behind. I jumped out from behind the tree and yelled, "Hey!" at them. They immediately swiveled around, guns pointed at me. Light rained down on me.

"Woah, woah, woah. Human here. Don't shoot," I said, holding my hands up, mostly to cover up my eyes from the sudden light. It would take a little while for my pupils to dilate.

A man, the leader most likely, came forward and signaled their weapons down. I sighed and dropped my hands to my side.

"Who are you?" The man asked. I squinted at him through the darkness, but couldn't see him.

"Um, I'm.. I mean my name's Lacuna and-" I began.

"I don't care what your name is. Why are you out here? Do you have any clue how dangerous it is out here?"

"Well yeah, actually, I do. You see, my friends left me alone cause they went searching for... a friend. And, let's just say we got in a fight. But that's beside the point. So what are you guys doing here?"

He ignored my question. "Young lady, your on unauthorized territory. We'll have to escort you off." He turned back to his men. "Jose, you and your men, escort this girl off the premises. Be carefully." A look passed between them. "My men, you stay with me." He began walking off in the other direction, his men tagging behind him, and Jose strode toward me. Up close, I could see he was in his 30s, handsome, and, of course, Mexican.

"Young lady.." he began.

"Call me Lacuna," I said.

"Lacuna. Please come with us." He held out his hand to the other men. I stood rooted to the spot.

"No," I said. "My friends are out there. My unexperienced friends are out there. They just started using guns an hour ago, and now they're in a forest filled with those zombie things. No, I think I'll stay here. You guys can go on ahead. Wait, I need ammonition. Please tell me you have some. And a flashlight, maybe? And I'm pretty hungry. Gotta pizza on ya? I could also use-"

"Stop. Stop right there." Jose grabbed me by the shoulders and began pushing me in the direction of civilization. I tried to wriggle free, but his grip was too strong.

"Let. Me. Go!" I screamed. His grip only tightened, making it difficult to move my arms. I wouldn't go down so easily. My hands reached for the dagger in the belt. You would think they'd thought of ridding me of it, but they didn't. They hadn't really been paying attention to me, anyway. My fingers slid over the handle and I caught hold of it. Instantly I thrusted the dagger back into Jose. It connected with a sickening squelch near his ribs and Joses hands disappeared from my shoulders. He screamed. I ran.

My legs pounded below me as I dashed through the thick brush. I had no idea where I was going as I sprinted through the darkness. Shouts errupted behind me, angry, and lights shined. They were right on my tail. This made me run even faster, but then something lodged into my shoulder. I slowed down and gazed down at it; tranquilizer dart. My legs stopped, I stumbled. No, no, no! The shouts got closer. No. I fell. No...

The lights went out.

So, didn't see that coming, did you? No, you didn't. So Xavier, Eve, and Cope are still in the forest, looking for Peregrine. Will they find her? No. Kidding. I mean, you'll have to read on to find out. So, tell me how you liked it, or didn't like it, by reviewing. Thankyou.

(^._.^)