Michelle-Note: I'm sorry that I'm painfully slow, and I suck at life, etc. etc. Merry Christmas, here's an update!

Chapter 21: The Search Ends (sort of)
Tawny: Sacramento Park, the woods, Sacramento: 2:36pm: 20 June

"Stop your bellowing, Ruby." I mumbled. Her shrill voice was slowly giving me a very painful headache, or maybe it was from staring up at the camera hanging from the scruffy tree. We had been searching around this silly little bit of woods for what felt like forever. Larry had wandered off again a few minutes before to find the mysterious naked girl of his.

"He's got to be here somewhere and I want him to hear me." She retorted.

"Gordo!" Ren shouted.

"How come you let her bellow, but not me?" Ruby snapped, immediately.

"She doesn't bellow. Only you bellow." I told her then glared and walked away from both of them. I heard Ruby's phone ring, and she answered. She was still talking at a needless intensity.

"Seriously?" She squealed. There was a pause, "Kate found the Wizard!"

"Kate found the Wizard?!" Ren questioned.

"Yes, Kate found the Wizard!" Ruby exclaimed again.

"Call Keely. Maybe we can get more out of Phil since we have the Wizard back." I suggested, though it was common sense. I wanted to find Gordo and get the hell out of the woods. I was becoming less and less of a fan the longer I was here, not mention that I was here with Ren, which made me want to curl up and die.

"Definitely." Ren agreed.

I turned away from them again, and saw Kate, Louis, and Beans quickly approaching. Kate had the blue device in her hand and looked unusually smug, and then I remembered that I'd abandoned her girlfriend a while back, and I winced thinking we might have to search for Lizzie and Matt now. And where were Twitty and Miranda? I got a slew of mental images answering my question, and decided it best to just not wonder where they were, and hope they'd turn up.

"We found the Wizard." Ruby said into her phone. "Yes, we found the Wizard!" She repeated. She hesitated then released an excited squeal when she saw Kate, "We have the Wizard!"

"Ask her to ask Phil-" I tried to say.

"Phil! Omigod! They found the Wizard!" I heard Keely yell through Ruby's phone.

"Ask about Gordo." I tried to say and wished I had called the girl instead of Ruby because she was not making good use of time.

"Keely! What about Gordo?!" Ruby yelled into her phone. Another pause, "She said they were coming to meet us and then she hung up, but she didn't ask where we were or anything…" Ruby stated, looking befuddled.

These woods were pretty big, they'd never find us. Keely realized the same thing a moment later and called back to get a description.

"Why is Gordo's camera in that tree?" Kate asked.

"We don't know…" Ren answered.

"That tree looks sort of like Gordo…" Beans said and laughed maniacally.

We all looked up, "Yeah…it kinda does." I muttered, "I think I've been in the sun too long."

Some leaves above us rustled, and then Kate said to me, "Where's my girlfriend? Wasn't she with you?"

I shrugged, "I left her and Matt a while back. I'm sure they heard Ruby yelling."

She shook the Wizard at me and crossed her arms, "You left my girlfriend and her little brother in this unfamiliar forest?"

I cowered a little, "Well…yeah."

"You lost my girlfriend."

"No. I'm sure I could find them if they don't find us."

"We're going to have to form a search party to find the rest of our search party."

The leaves above us rustled wildly, and we both gazed upward. I figured it was a squirrel or something, but I saw nothing. No sign of anything up there aside from leaves and normal tree parts, and Gordo's camera, of course.

"It sounds big…" Kate whispered.

"But there's nothing there."

"Maybe it's invisible." Beans said, butting into our conversation, "Like a chupacabra."

Everyone grew silent for a split second before noises came from behind us.

"Chupacabra? Where?!" Miranda hit the ground in the bushes like she had post-traumatic stress syndrome. Twitty just looked confused, and plowed up through the undergrowth. I was glad they weren't off having sex in the bushes, as this was no time for sex in the bushes because Gordo was missing and all. They were both dirty, dirty hookers though.

"There's no such thing as chupacabras." Ren tried to reassure her, and spoke calmly.

The entire tree began to sway.

"Chupacabra!" Miranda screamed and curled up in the fetal position.

"What's a chupacabra? Sounds tasty…" Louis mumbled, and rubbed his stomach.

Twitty nodded in agreement with him, and licked his lips, "I want a taco, dude."

"Motherfuckin' chupacabra!" Miranda yelled.

Ren stomped her foot, "Chupacabras are not real and Gordo is still missing, so get up off of the ground and let's find him!"

Ren was painfully cute and pouty and worried about her cousin. I on the other hand had become dead inside and was apathetic toward the entire situation. I kinda thought it was some big silly dream, even.

"Where is Lizzie?" Kate said more to herself than anyone else.

"The chupacabra probably ate her." Beans answered, and then ran off into the bushes.

The tree was whacking into other trees causing branches and limbs to break off around us.

"What the hell is happening?" I said aloud.

"Chupacabra!" Miranda wailed.

"Dammit! Can we focus at all?!" Ren tried to get everyone's attention. She raised her hand and waved it like a frustrated elementary school teacher on a field trip. This was no field trip, as we might very well be eaten by a chupacabra.

"All of this chupacabra talk makes me hungry, seriously." Louis lifted his shirt and looked at his slightly furry completely unattractive stomach, "What's up with this tree? It needs to chill."

Suddenly the tree stopped moving, and everything became silent.

Miranda whispered, "The chupacabra jumped down from the tree, and it's waiting to attack now."

"Chupacabras are not invisible!" Ren looked like she wanted to pull out her hair.

The other girl looked up from her position on the ground, "So you admit that they do exist though?"

"No! There is some other explanation!"

Keely and Phil ran up the hill, both of them out of breath.

"This…is…the spot…" Phil managed to gasp then leaned forward and put his hands on his knees to try to breathe.

"Why is Miranda…on…the ground…is she ok?" Keely asked, "And where…is…Lizzie?"

"Afraid of a chupacabra…" I answered, "And we lost Lizzie and Matt."

"No." Kate corrected, "You lost Lizzie and Matt."

"A chupa-what?" Keely said.

"It's a Mexican goat-blood-sucking monster thing." I told her.

Keely screamed, "Where is it?! Omigod! I knew it was a bad idea to wander out into the woods! But damn…this would make a great-"

"Chupacabras are not real!" Ren screamed again. She sounded like a broken record, and I noticed she was turning sort of red because she was getting that mad.

"And neither are people from the future." Phil mumbled. He was back to his old self now that the Wizard had been located and his heart rate had gotten back to normal. "The Wizard…give it to me, quick."

He took the blue thing from Kate, and pointed it at the Gordo-tree with the invisible chupacabra in it. Some beeps and chirps were emitted from the device, and then in a flash of light and some sparkles the tree shrank down to person size and turned into Gordo, and he held his camera in his hand.

Gordo shook his head and some leaves fell out of his Jew-fro, "You guy's are so…crazy."

"Gordo!" Miranda yelled then leapt up and hugged him.

"I am not a chupacabra."

"Chupacabra!" She let go of him and ducked behind him instead, clutching his legs.

Everyone blinked and looked dumbfounded. I suppose a chupacabra ate her pet goat when she was little? Then killed her baby sister? And her pet dog?

"So what happened?" Ren asked.

"Well…" Phil began, and cleared his throat.

"Lizzie!" Kate yelled and extended her arms for the girl clamoring up the hill in a careful, but rushed manner.

Lizzie's eyes rested on someone behind Kate though, and she dashed past the blonde and hugged Gordo instead. Kate forced a smile and crossed her arms, trying to play off the awkwardness. I think only I noticed, and she noticed me noticing and shrugged then looked on at the two best friends, clearly a little bit disappointed.

Matt walked up the hill a moment later and stood by Kate, "Looks like you might still have some competition…I think you're hotter than Gordo, so you can date me if Lizzie changes her mind." He whispered to her and then said, "Just kidding."

I sighed and said, "Hey…let's all go home."

Several nods of agreement followed.

"I'm hungry for some chupacabras!" Louis exclaimed.