You're Finally Home…

Cynthia had her eyes closed, her chin tilted up slightly as she stood silently on the boulder like she had been for the past hour. It was around midnight now and Cynthia had been at the boulder for a full hour and a half, silently hoping for something to happen. Ever since the conversation she had had with Leon a week ago she tried being at the boulder more often, sometimes falling asleep on the large rock while she waited for something she inwardly knew would never happen again. With a heavy sigh, Cynthia sat down, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning backward on her arms, opening her eyes to gaze hopelessly at the dark trees. 'Where are you Leon? Holly? Jay? Where are you three?' She mentally wondered, looking for any traces of movement in the maple and spruce trees.

After a few minutes she moved again, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, resting her chin on them in the process. Sometimes she could almost make herself believe that they were out there, locked away in the woods and unable to escape, a prisoner to someone. She wondered if she was going insane, was the interaction she had with Leon even real? Or had her beaten brain come up with it to pacify some of her distress? Shifting her weight she didn't notice the faint rustle in the trees, too lost in her confusion. For the past week she had been finding random objects that didn't make any sense but were each linked to her friends that vanished, a green bandana with a piece of paper with the letter 't' scribbled on it, a small blue jay feather with a scrap of paper with the word 'on' written in loopy handwriting, and a slightly battered forest green hoodie with a fuzzy cream colored inside with a neatly folded paper flower with the letter 's' written in painfully familiar handwriting. Each object belonged or described her friends, the green bandana was the one Holly usually used as a hair tie or had tucked in her pocket, the jay feather described her friend Jay, the object he was named after, and the hoodie was the same one she used to sneak from Leon or he'd drape it over her shoulders and get mercilessly teased by his siblings about being a gentleman.

'Starclan, I have to be going insane.' Cynthia pressed the heels of her palms to her now closed eyes, feeling tears pricking at her blue eyes. 'It's been years, why suddenly now? I have to be going crazy… but if I was crazy I wouldn't be able to feel the pain… would I?' For the past two years she had been able to push away the grief of losing her friends and instead wallow in the guilt she felt and did everything possible to make the guilt go away, but it never did. There was the occasional moment when she was caught off guard and someone mentioned their names and would run off feeling the reality crash down on top of her again and again, but it had never been this bad. With these reminders of her friends now around her she couldn't hide the emotions and memories resurfaced with or without her permission. She was miserable, even more than before. 'I want it to stop.' She mumbled mentally, 'I just want it to stop.'

Something hit the boulder beside her and her head jerked up, only to lock on a small silver locket lying precariously on the boulder's edge. "No…" She breathed, and with trembling fingers she scooped up the small locket, trembling, blue eyes filling with tears. Pressing the top and the bottom of the locket, it swung open, revealing a picture of five young teenagers, two of them asleep, the two were giggling at the sleeping duo, the third one had his arms crossed over his chest, smirking. Holly, and Bree were the two giggling, sitting up behind Cynthia and Leon who were asleep, Holly's black hair in a neat braid, green eyes twinkling with humor, while Bree's dark brown hair was also braided but her braid was sloppy and her amber eyes glittered with amusement. Cynthia was asleep lying partially on top of Leon, her head resting on his shoulder, fingers loosely gripping his shirt while Leon was lying on his back, fingers curled around Cynthia's upper arm. Jay was the one who had his arms crossed and was smirking smugly. Cynthia clutched the jewelry in one hand, folded her arms over the top of her knees and burst into tears once again. 'It's not fair!'

'Cyn… don't cry,' Leon pleaded mentally from his perch in a tree, he had been the one to throw the locket, trying to give her clues on their position with what they had on them. He had had the locket since they were fourteen, the picture was from Cynthia's birthday party, a few months before they were kidnapped, and he had offered her the locket but she had turned it down, worried about what everyone else would think when she had a silver locket with a picture of the five of them inside. 'Cyn, please…' He hated seeing her cry, and he felt horrible for making her cry right now, but he couldn't go and comfort her, not until he escaped Ashton or she needed it enough that he would risk his life for it. Rummaging through his pockets he searched for something and found another piece of paper before he scribbled something down, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it, causing it to hit the boulder and bounce against her legs. But he didn't get to see her reaction, by the time she had noticed it he had turned and ran back to the cabin, not wanting to get caught.

Cynthia smoothed out the crumpled ball of paper and smiled through her tears, 'Don't cry Sunshine, I'm still here.' It said. Wiping the tears from her eyes with a few fingers she looked at the dark forest, feeling grief stricken but full of affection at the same time. 'I should get going back to the house… thank you Leon… I miss you.'

"No! Leon!" Cynthia shrieked as she was dragged away by the wolf like dog with it's jaws locked around her ankle. "No! Get off me you dumb animal!" She tried to kick the creature but missed and only made it mad,

Haliah caught the subtle twitching of her sister's sleeping body almost right away and froze, pausing the braiding of her little sister Lily's hair to stare at Cynthia, making sure she wasn't seeing things. Cynthia trembled and Haliah jumped to her feet, shaking her sister's shoulder, "Cindy! Wake up!" Cynthia made a whimpering noise and didn't show any sign of waking up, trembling.

"Leon!" Cynthia shrieked, struggling to escape the dog and ran back to where they had been taken. She then screamed in pain as the dog let go of her ankle to latch onto her leg, sinking it's teeth into her leg with a wild snarl.
"Hey!" A another voice yelled, getting the dog's attention by throwing a rock at it. It was Bree, pinned beneath a fallen tree and whiter than a sheet.

"Come on, wake up!" Haliah shook her harder while Lily darted off to find her brother and probably get a glass of water to throw at her sister, Cynthia whimpered, trembling a little more.

"Leave her alone you stupid dog!" Bree shouted, amber eyes gleaming with anger directed at the four legged creature still shaking her friend with it's teeth in her flesh. "I'm the one you want!"

"Bree no!" Cynthia shouted as the dog released her to rush over to the pinned girl.

"I got it!" Bree shouted back, as the dog got closer and lunged she headbutted it in the muzzle, causing it to yelp and scramble back as pain flared in it's nose.

"Normally I wouldn't say this, but hit it!" Cynthia yelled to her, unable to get up from the ground with her broken leg and ankle.

Haliah shook her younger sister hard, "Cindy it's not happening right now! You're dreaming!"

Bree managed to grab a branch off the ground and whacked the dog across the side of the head, hard enough to make it wary of her, "Go back to your master!" Bree growled at the dog, blood trickling down her face from her bloody nose, "Get out of here!" With a yelp the dog did as she said, running off with it's tail tucked between it's legs. The two girls stared at each other before they both dropped to the ground as they heard voices calling their names, Bree putting her head on the ground on top of her free arm, breathing heavily while Cynthia stayed sprawled on her back, partially leaning back against a tree, blue eyes glazed over with both pain and guilt.

Lily came back and splashed the water all over her older sister's face, making Cynthia jolt awake with a yell.

"I'm awake!" She yelled jerking upright before blinking in confusion and staring at the three people in front of her, Lily looked happy she got to throw water on her sister's face, Miles was a few feet behind her, his blue eyes worried about his sister, and Haliah was kneeling next to her, her hands on her shoulders from trying to shake her. "I'm awake, I'm awake," She said in a relatively steady voice, startled by both the memory turned dream and everyone's concern, "I'm okay, sorry."

"Cyndy," Miles spoke quietly, the preteen looking at his sister empathetically, "You go to the boulder, I'll get all the assignments you have to do. You don't have to go to school." the reason he said that was because he knew how much just going to school reminded her of her friends, the bullies shoving scrawny kids into lockers, the sports games, and the one person per class whose hand would shoot up the moment a teacher asked a question he wanted answered.

"I can handle going to school Miles, it's manageable-"

"Maybe so," Haliah interrupted her younger sister, "But we don't want you to feel trapped and tortured throughout the entire day Cindy. Nobody expects you to go." That was true, at this point nobody expected her to show up at the school, she didn't have any other friends and the teachers all knew about the woods incident and went easy on her.

"Well I have to show up every once in awhile, and it's been a while." Cynthia sighed, she only had to show up once a week to not fail the classes she was taking and the classes weren't that hard, it was the people that bothered her.

"If you're sure," Miles said, "I'll go with you if you'd like." Miles was a lot smarter than his sisters, skipping grades since he started school and testing out of all of his junior high years so he was in Cynthia's grade, he could've skipped that one too, but he decided not to, preferring to keep an eye on his isolated sister.

"If you want." Cynthia replied dully, 'I wish they were here, Leon always came over to walk me to his house where we were joined by Holly while Jay went to Bree's house to find her and make sure her mother wasn't trying to homeschool her. Bree's too much of a social butterfly to be homeschooled, she'd probably die from the quietness and Isolation.'

Daisy watched as her classroom slowly started filling up with the students she was teaching, The first three being the ones she was hoping would show up. Miles and Cynthia Lawson, accompanied by Breanna Grayas. Miles was always in class, with perfect attendance and marks he was a bright kid despite being nearly five years younger than the other students. Bree was usually in class, occasionally coming in late with the explanation she had been trying to convince Cynthia to come with her, quite the chatterbox, when she was present the class was buzzing with soft chatter and something close to cheer. Cynthia Lawson, nicknamed by the students the crazy girl, when in reality she wasn't at all crazy, she was quiet, rarely speaking at all and quite intelligent, everyone said she was crazy because of the strange fogginess of her blue eyes, almost like she was blind but different, her gaze was sharp and focused through the fog, giving her the appearance of someone gone mad.

Before she started class Daisy got up and quietly placed a decently thick packet on Cynthia's desk, all the work she needed to complete this week and have returned next monday. "It's good to see you again Cynthia," She smiled at the student who kept looking down at her notebook before Bree smiled at Daisy and gently poked her friend in the side.

Cynthia looked up, the student looked tired, worn out, and trapped with panic underlying the other emotions in her eyes and body language. "Hello Daisy," She called most of the teachers by their first names, "It's… nice to be back." Her attention strayed to the empty seat a few desks to her right before she dropped her attention to the packet and started getting to work on it.

Daisy smiled a sad smile at her before going back to the front of the classroom, "Hello everyone, today we're going to continue working on reviewing for your end of the year test coming up, starting with commas, semicolons and colons…"

By lunchtime Cynthia was starting to panic, feeling trapped and overwhelmed by the many people and the closed walls, being jostled around in the hallways with no one besides Bree and Miles to calm her down made her feel like she was being squished in the loud big hallways of the high school. She had always been claustrophobic, but Leon used walk directly next to her, giving her the space she needed so she wouldn't panic while joking around with her to distract her from the close quarters. Someone else bumped into Cynthia's shoulder and her panic threatened to choke her. Bree and Miles had been in different classes before lunch, leaving her on her own in the crowded, loud, and noisy hallways, not a good combination for a girl who didn't have more than four people around her at once most days.

Her blue gaze flickered between doors and windows, the escape routes she could potentially use, her breathing loud and uneven, blue eyes a little wide, body language stiff and tensed. The last straw came when someone crashed into her head long, knocking her to the ground and running past. "Stop touching me!" She blurted, getting to her feet and starting to run, squeezing her eyes shut and sprinting through the maze of hallways that the school consisted of, sliding around corners and avoiding most of the other students.

"Bree!" Haliah came tearing down a hallway into the cafeteria where Bree and Miles were looking around for Cynthia. "Cindy's bolted!"

Bree and Miles' expressions changed to worry and Bree spoke, "Bolted? As in worse than panicked?"

Haliah nodded, her green eyes a little wide, "She ran into Paige and kept running, even though she knocked Paige down a flight of stairs!"

Bree's amber eyes harden, "Go check on Paige, get J-bring her to Leah and get her checked over, Miles and I will try and stop her." She and Miles bolted out of the cafeteria, taking the elevator and waiting impatiently for it to reach the first level.

"She hasn't bolted since the first few weeks after they disappeared," Miles said, his tone concerned and worried about his older sister. "What happened to make her bolt now?" He looked over at the wheelchair bound teenager next to him.

"I don't know," Bree admitted, "but she's been more zoned-out lately, I've asked her before on what she was daydreaming about and she told me she wasn't daydreaming, she was just lost in her memories."
"Do you believe it?"
"One-hundred percent yes." Bree stated confidently, "Something happened last week that's made her more on edge and made the many memories for her resurface. Have you noticed how she ventures out to the boulder late at night and stands there, looking at the forest?"

"No," Miles looked surprised, "I just assumed she stayed out there too long and fell asleep."

"Well she's been at the boulder more often, sometimes she would pace around the boulder like she was expecting something," Bree said as the elevator doors opened, just in time for them to see Cynthia sprint out of the school. "We have to catch her before she runs into the forest!" She jerked into action, pushing herself as fast as possible.

She and Miles chased Cynthia, running or rolling as fast as possible to try and catch her from running into the woods. After a few minutes it became clear they weren't going to catch her.

"She's running too fast…" Bree panted, before something clicked in her brain, 'Cynthia doesn't pace like that unless Leon's involved…' Something came to mind and she acted, "I sure hope my hunch is correct!" She said, then put two fingers to her mouth and let out the a loud, high pitched, piercing whistle.

Leon looked up sharply from where he was repairing the cabin's roof, hearing the whistle, a whistle he hadn't heard in years. 'Cyn in trouble.' Dropping the nails he had between his teeth, the hammer he was holding, and undoing the tool belt that was around his waist, Leon jumped from the roof to the ground.

"What're you doing Leon?" Holly asked as she looked up from where she was making a list of things Ashton wanted.

"I have to go out there!" Leon exclaimed, looking at his sister, amber eyes worried and panicked.

"What?!" His siblings yelled.

"Hear that whistle?! Cyn in trouble!" Leon took off, not allowing his siblings to dissuade him. Soon enough he heard someone crashing through the branches of a low maple tree and hurried in that direction, moments later Cynthia emerged from the tree, her blue eyes wide and panicked. She crashed directly into him and nearly knocked him to the ground. "Woah! Cyn, calm down! You're okay," He stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders amber eyes worried. "Hey, it's okay," He said as she reached to move his hands from her shoulders, "It's just me, it's Leon, Cynthia."

Cynthia froze, blinking a few times and narrowing her eyes, looking at his face, trying to figure out if it was really him. "Leon?" She breathed, reaching to touch his face.

"Don't do that, Cyn," Leon urged, carefully moving her arm away from his face, aware that if she did so he would have a real issue explaining.

Hurt flashed across Cynthia's face before she frowned, obviously confused, under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind her doing so, but he had to make her believe it wasn't really him if they weren't going to get into trouble. 'Why don't I think before I act?' He mentally groaned, pushing her arms down to her sides before speaking quickly, "You're okay, you ran into the woods, I'm going to take you out of here, unscramble the letters, Cyn." He heard the sound of tires rolling across gravel and had to hurry, "Don't cry, everything's going to be okay, you'll figure it out eventually, don't grieve."

"I don't understand," Cynthia said, trying her hardest to grasp what he was saying.

"Just… unscramble the letters Cyn," Leon said before briefly kissing her forehead, "Don't cry Sunshine, everything will turn out okay."

"Leon, what? I don't get it!" Cynthia stressed, struggling to grasp what he was saying. The tires grew louder and Leon winced at the thought of what he was going to do, but did it anyway, hitting Cynthia in the temple with a well placed punch, knocking her out right away. Causing her to slump forward and he caught her, carrying her bridal style, her head resting against his chest, out cold.

Leon ran to the edge of the woods, "be careful" He whispered in her ear as he carefully put her down at the edge of the woods, making it look like she tripped over something and crashed to the ground. "Unscramble the letters, Cyn." He whispered as she started to stir, "I love you, be careful, and don't forget I'm still with you Sunshine. I'm always with you." He quickly kissed her crown before sprinting back to the cabin and quickly returning to the roof, getting back to work on the roof, wishing he had had time to actually look her over when he wasn't thirty feet away in a tree.

"...tripped on something."

"Sounds like Cindy."

Cynthia heard as she came to, disoriented and confused. 'What happened?...' She wondered. With a jolt she remembered. "Leon!" She jerked upright with a gasp, opening her eyes and slightly flailing her arms.

"Woah!" Haliah sat down on the edge of the bed, "Leon's not here, you're okay Cindy."

"No! You don't understand," Cynthia said, blue eyes wide and startled, "I saw Leon! He was there!"

Haliah looked a bit concerned and she spoke a little slowly to her mother, "Mom… I think Cindy hit her head too hard."

"I'm not imagining it!" Cynthia retorted, blue eyes begging them to believe her, "I know what I saw! I saw Leon!" She lifted one arm to touch where Leon had kissed her forehead before dropping it a few moments later, looking slightly desperate, "He told me to unscramble something! I'm not crazy!" Bree was the only one who wasn't looking at her like she's crazy. "Bree, you have to believe me! I'm not crazy!"

"I want to talk to Cindy," Bree said to the others, keeping eye contact with the stressed girl. "Alone."

Reluctantly, everyone left and Bree rolled closer to Cynthia as the teenager swung her legs over the side of the bunk. Bree watched as Cynthia got up and started pacing back and forth, running her fingers through her black hair, mumbling under her breath. The pacing strengthened her belief. "I don't think you're crazy," She said with a smile, "I believe you."

"Thank Starclan!" Cynthia exclaimed, pausing the pacing to look at her friend, "I saw Leon, he told me a few things before knocking me out, but I swear to Starclan that I saw him!"

"I know you did," Bree smiled, "If you didn't see him, you wouldn't be pacing like that."

Cynthia paused the pacing and grinned sheepishly before sobering up, "I have something to tell you, something I've been neglecting to tell you…"

Bree fingered the blue jay feather, her expression oddly pensive with no traces of hyperness apparent. "Wow. So that's why you've been zoned out a lot more this past week." She stated, looking up from the small feather she was absently twirling between her index finger and thumb, "These objects remind you of them, they remind me of them too." She admitted, her amber gaze sweeping over the hoodie, feather, and bandana. Suddenly she smiled, humor lighting up her amber eyes, "Remember that etiquette dinner we were all forced to go to and the boy had to choose their partners?"

Cynthia lips twitched in a small smiled, "Of course, probably the most awkward activity in the world."

"Are you kidding?" Bree chortled, "You and Leon were perfectly fine with it while the rest of us were awkward and nervous, Holly and Finli were dead silent for most of it!"

"We were just as awkward as you two," Cynthia laughed, "We're just better at hiding it."

"Oh really?" Bree teased, "Then what was going on before Holly startled you so badly you fell out of your chair?"

Cynthia blushed and shrugged, tucking her bangs behind her right ear, "Awkward teenager junk." She replied, the corners of her lips turning up into a smile. She knew exactly what had been going on, at that particular moment she had been waiting for something. At the time, Leon had had the expression he used to have when he was about to kiss her and he almost did before Holly startled them both.

Bree rolled her eyes, leaning back in her wheelchair still playing with the jay's feather in her hand and looking at the small feather, amber eyes soft. Cynthia relaxed as well, laying back down with her arms behind her head, feet propped up on the bottom rail of the day bed she was laying on, gazing up at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. It was quiet for a few minutes, the two friends lost in their own thoughts as they both contemplated the idea of their friends coming back. Bree almost broke the silence, but she decided against it seeing her friend's blue eyes already closed, her breathing evening out. 'We'll come find you Jay,' She mused, gazing out of the window, amber eyes flashing as she focused on the distant woods, 'You gave me clues too, hopefully I can figure it out.' Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small but sturdy stick with the riddle, 'I am strong and I am sturdy, man created me, but fire will kill me, what am I?' She brushed her fingers over the skilled carved letters, 'I know this is your doing, you always had an affinity for sticks and branches… and you're probably the best wood carver I've ever seen.' She looked back up at the window, gaze focused and alert. 'We're coming Jay. I'm coming to find you.'

"Do you think they'll figure it out?" Holly asked her brothers in a quiet voice, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of them, wrapping her arms snugly around them in the process. Holly looked tired with a decently thick cut along her cheek, one that was sure to scar.

"Of course they will," Leon replied, walking over to his sister and dropping his other jacket around her shoulders before sitting next to her, "They're smart enough to figure it out."

"Bree's no idiot." Jay grunted as he used a tiny pocket knife to whittle something out of a stick, his thin fingers perfect for the job. "She's almost as smart as you Holly."

"And Cyn may be a bit impulsive but she's smart too," Leon added, using his friend's nickname, finding permission in how Jay shortened his friend's name as well.

"Finli's intelligent as well," Holly admitted, leaning closer to her brother for warmth.

Leon pulled his siblings closer by the shoulders, having them all huddle while two of them watched their brother transform a boring old stick into an object of sorts. "They'll come, it's just sad it's taken us so long to be able to do anything to help them."

"Does it bother you?" Holly asked Jay, "That Cindy's the only one who seems affected by us missing?"

Jay snorted brushing away the wood shavings on his creation with his thumb, "She's just as affected as Cynthia is. Bree visits the woods all the time, calling our names and looking for clues."
"Seriously?" Holly asked in shock, "and Cindy lets her?"
"Holly," Jay closed his put down his knife and turned his head towards his sister, blind eyes gleaming with something close to mirth hidden beneath the grumpiness he had. "Nobody can stop Bree from doing what she wants if she puts her mind to it. Not even Cynthia." He then picked up his knife again and the mirth in his eyes vanished, leaving them blank and a bit frightening as he turned his head back towards his carving despite how he couldn't see it. "Cynthia just shows it more. Cynthia saw us be kidnapped, Bree was injured before she could follow us. She pushed Cynthia out of the way of a falling tree, I heard it creaking when we ran past."

"Speaking of Cindy," Holly looked over at her brother, "how did the confrontation between you two go?"
Leon shrugged, hiding his annoyance and unease at the mention of the topic. "I snapped her out of the panic, gave her a clue and knocked her out." He shrugged, looking away from his siblings and out at the setting sun over the treetops, "Nothing else really."

"Did you notice anything strange about her?" Holly asked, wanting to know a little more about how her friend was doing.

"No," Leon mumbled, shifting a little away from his sister and keeping his gaze focused on the outside world.

"But-"

"Holly," Jay grunted, "drop it, you're making him uncomfortable." He could tell his younger brother was distancing himself from the conversation.

"I just want to know what's going on with my friend-" Holly complained in a mumble.

"I gave her the locket clue yesterday night." Leon said, his voice dull, "She was sitting on the boulder like she always does but she was restless, pacing before sitting down then shifting her position again a few minutes later. I gave the locket and she started crying." He explained, tone dull, "She's been spending more time sitting restlessly at the boulder like she's hoping I'd show myself and leaves looking miserable. That's all I know." He mumbled.

Holly was quiet, quietly hugging her brother while Jay continued to work on his carving, the sounds methodic and close to comforting.

'I'm going to break the rules again, I want to talk to her, face to face.' Leon decided, getting up and taking his jacket from his sister, replacing it with a blanket, "I'm going for a walk." He mumbled, pulling on the hoodie.

Cynthia put her head on her arms, looking out the window and silently watching the sky change colors and change the colors of the trees outside. 'Where are you guys… in the woods somewhere?' Her blue gazed slid over to the locket she had propped up against the window glass, the crafted silver gleaming in the fading light. 'I miss you three… I miss you guys. I love my siblings but they can't replace any of you. I remember that etiquette dinner, it was hilarious, shoving two twelve-year-olds, six fourteen-year-olds, three fifteen-year-olds, and five six-teen-year-olds into a formal dinner. Holly and Finli didn't know what to do with each other, and pretty much avoided contact with each other throughout the entire activity; Haliah and Paige got along with each other, and didn't argue at all during it over Brendon; Bree and Jay playfully bickered and argued throughout the whole thing, acting like their normal selves; and Miles was paired with Amber, being a gentleman and trying his best.' Her blue eyes slid closed, lost in her thoughts.

'I was paired with Leon, it was amusing when he just about ran over to me and away from the other girls before straightening himself and offering his arm like he was told to do. The expression on his face when he was told he had to choose while Isa and Hannah both started giggling was the funniest expression I've seen on his face. He was completely horrified at the idea of going with Isa or Hanah. The actual activity was fun, just getting along and laughing with each other in pairs while four pairs were grouped together at a table, got rid of some of the awkwardness. But I think my favorite is when we all split up to go home, Holly dragged Bree and Jay with her, too awkward to stay while Leon and I slipped away from our siblings, laughing about the tension erupting between my sisters…'

"I found something!" Finli burst in, startling Cynthia and Bree, the latter had been studying her riddle, working to figure it out. Cynthia fell backward off her chair and crashed to the ground, looking dazedly up at the ginger and white haired boy.

"Cool… Tell me in a minute." She managed, the words slurring before her vision went black.

"Cindy?" Cynthia opened her eyes to Bree looking down at her, "Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm okay," Cynthia reassured her with a groan, sitting up as Bree moved back, "I have a killer migraine, though."

"Sorry," Finli apologized sheepishly, "but I think I figured out the clue I got."

"Well don't keep it to yourself, tell us," Cynthia snorted, getting to her feet and staggering a little as she fetched the letter scramble that she had turned into blocks because she had issues remembering where the papers were.

"It's forest, the answer is a forest."

"Oh! And I figured out mine too! It's cabin!"

Cynthia suddenly froze, the entire thing clicking in her mind and she dropped the blocks, locking eyes with Bree, "Ashton… Oh, my Starclan!" She turned on her heel and started racing down the stairs.

"What?!"

"Ashton! The guy who tried kidnapping me to convince Leon to kill himself!" Cynthia yelled up the stairs, the other two following her, Bree bouncing merrily down the stairs.

"That maniac?" Finli yelped, right behind Bree.

"That maniac has a secluded cabin in the woods?!... Wait, that actually makes sense, nevermind. Where are we going?!" Bree shouted to Cynthia as they left her house and started running across the street.

"To Skylar's! Ashton has a grudge against her!" Cynthia yelled back, running to the house and pulling out a key she had since she was ten and unlocking the door.

"How's this going to help?!"

"Because Leon would have a record of that cabin! He wanted to take me there!" Cynthia replied, running up the stairs and disappearing out of sight while the two older teens yelped, "What?!" and Bree started the hard process of getting up the stairs while Finli rushed past her.

Cynthia ran into Leon's room and pushed the door open, running into the room and searching through his closet for something, forcing herself to stay focused on the task at hand and not bolt back out of the room with all of the memories this place held. "Where did you put the box you prat," She mumbled before looking up at a shelf above her head. "Huh, that's a good place."

"What?!" Bree came into the room, her face a little flushed from the hard climb.

Cynthia ignored her and pulled down the box, putting it on the desk and taking out another key before sliding it into the padlock on the plastic box and pushing the top off and rummaging through it.

Bree's amber eyes widened, "Starclan, Cindy! This is a lot of stuff!"

"Yeah," Cynthia's blue eyes softened, "It is a bunch of stuff. I have the same box." She pushed through the many different objects, playing cards, toys, water guns, many different kinds of papers and a leather bracelet she had made for him when they were little. "Here it is." She pulled out a leather bound notebook and flipped through it, keeping the other two from looking through it.

"What's that?"

"It's a notebook." Cynthia replied before her blue eyes light up and she puts the book down flat on the desk, and unfolded a page, unfolding several other folded pages to reveal a detailed hand drawn map of the woods and the lake in the center.

"Did Leon draw this?" Bree asked in a hushed whisper, "it's so detailed."

"He didn't do it alone. Brad used to take us in his patrolling helicopter and we'd sketch a vague sketch of what we saw before adding detail while we walked around and through the woods." Cynthia pointed at a small cabin like structure near a bridge that crossed the lake, "Ashton's cabin. Or should I say, Skylar's cabin."

"What?" Finli asked in surprise, "I've never heard of it."

A smile tugged at the corners of Cynthia's lips, "I know you haven't, because I'm the only non Bramble person who knows about it, and I haven't seen it. Anyway," she sobered up, "I know where the cabin is, but we can't just barge in there, we're going to need a plan and Skylar and Brad are in charge of it, it's their kids."

"Our friends!" Bree shot back.

"But we're just teenagers, we can't stop this maniac, we tried that before and it led to Leon nearly drowning in the lake remember?"
"Right… so we tell them?"
"You two tell them, I'll leave a clue for Leon." Cynthia replied, the mistiness in her blue eyes temporarily clearing up at the possibility of getting them back.

Leon yelped as something hit him in the back of the head and he turned around to find a familiar looking locket lying at his feet. Picking up the locket he suspiciously opened it and grinned. The picture was different, the picture was now of when Brad had taken a picture of him and Cynthia asleep in his helicopter, the map books open on their laps, Cynthia's head on his shoulder. And scribbled in tiny loopy writing he could see the words, 'Still holding you to the cabin promise.' his amber eyes widened and he jumped down from the roof and rushed over to his siblings, "They figured it out!" He hissed in a low voice, running over and showing the locket to Holly.

"I've never seen this picture before," Holly said, studying it.

"Yeah whatever, see the writing on the bottom? Cyn knows we're in the cabin!"
Holly jerked her head up, "which means Bree and Finli know-"

"And they'll get the adults involved!" Leon grinned.

"So we'll be able to go home," Jay said, looking excited for once in his grumpy life.

"Yes," Leon nodded, smiling, 'I can see Cyn again!'

"Skylar, I know where your kids are," Cynthia told the ginger haired woman, blue eyes bright and sincere, the map book tucked under one arm.

"Come with me." Skylar said, quickly getting over her shock and yelling up the stairs, "Brad! Someone has got a lead on the kids!"

Leon, Jay, and Holly all pretended to be asleep, waiting tensely for any sign of their freedom. A moment later all three heard the front door get flung open an heard Brad's thundering voice, "Put your hands up!"

"Cindy! Bree!" Haliah shook both teenagers awake, "Brad just went to fetch Leon, Jay, and Holly!"

Bree shot up like a rocket while Cynthia looked groggily at her sister, having had a good sleep for once in two years. "Huh?" She asked sleepily, "I'm sleeping Haliah, go away." She complained, rolling over.

"Cindy!" Haliah heaved her sister out of the bed and dropped her onto the floor, something she hadn't done in a long time. "Get up Cindy! Leon's coming!"

"What?!" Cynthia jolted awake from both the impact and the news, "Let's go!" Hauling herself to her feet she grabbed Leon's hoodie, pushed on her tennis shoes and sprinted down the stairs.

"Wait for me!" Bree complained heaving herself into her wheelchair and bouncing down the stairs behind Cynthia.

"Dad, can we go?" Leon asked, fidgeting while his father bound up Ashton and wrote the record of the incident.

Brad opened his mouth to say be patient but he paused, seeing the pleading look on his son's face, "I'll write this later, let's get you home."
"Yes!" Leon grinned, throwing a fist into the air, "We're going home!"

Cynthia caught sight of them first. Her vision focused on the golden blonde haired teenager her age with excited amber eyes and slightly dirty clothing. "Leon!" She exclaimed as she dodged the adults who tried to stop her and ran over to her best friend, blue eyes bright and hopeful, "it's really you?!"

Leon's amber eyes twinkled as he caught her, breaking her momentum by spinning her once around before smiling at her, neither of them paying attention to everyone else. "It's really me Sunshine, it's me."

Cynthia wasted no time, smiling as well before pressing her lips to his, resting her hands on his shoulders, Leon threading his fingers through her black hair.

Bree rushed over as well with a happy squeal, "Jay! Holly! Leon!" Her amber eyes twinkled as she pulled both Jay and Holly down for a hug.

"Bree! What happened?!" Holly asked, returning the embrace but staring at her now wheelchair bound friend. "You're in a wheelchair!"

"I got squashed beneath a tree!" Bree grinned with a shrug, "but I don't mind!"

Jay got down to her level and showed an unusual and rare gesture of affection, he pressed his lips to her forehead, "that's my girl," He mumbled soft enough for only her to hear before moving back and settling on crouching in front of her, at her eye level, blind eyes gazing directly at her, "of course you wouldn't mind being stuck in a wheelchair, nothing fazes you does it?"

"Somethings do!" Bree smiled, ruffling his hair, amber eyes gleaming with returned cheer and enthusiasm. "Like my best friend's being kidnapped!"

Jay, Holly, and Finli laughed, Bree joining in as did Cynthia and Leon. Everything was back to normal and everyone was glad.

"Leon, why are you taking me out here right now? I have a test tomorrow you prat," Cynthia sighed but didn't speed up their pace, instead, keeping the slow and steady pace they had going as she walked alongside Leon at the sandy shore of the lake, her arm linked with his, looking at him, blue eyes mildly annoyed.

"You'll see." Leon said again for the tenth time, acting all mysterious and riling her up with her hatred for surprises. He loved the lake, that water was always clear and uninterrupted, even while he had been captured by Ashton he had loved this place, and a few months later he was finally introducing Cynthia to both the cabin and a sunset even better than watching it from her house where you could see nearly the entire thing from start to finish.

"You know I hate surprises!" She groaned, getting closer to him suffering through the anticipation.

"Look," He said, stopping in front of the cabin that they, Him, Holly, and Jay, had fixed up. "This is the cabin." Cynthia looked at the cabin with wide blue eyes and Leon smiled, "There's nothing in it at the moment, but I promise I'll take you after my mom finishes putting the stuff back in it." He leant closer to her and whispered something in her ear, "Maybe it can be our secret hideout."

Cynthia smiled at him, "I'd like that."

"Hold on, I have to check something." Leon said and Cynthia moved away from him, looking at the cabin while Leon jogged closer to the lake and looked at the water whose color had shifted from clear blue to shimmering pink, yellow, red, and orange. Going back over to Cynthia he put his hands over her eyes, "Ready?" He asked, turning her around and leading her back to the sandy shore. "Don't you trust me?" He snorted, noticing how she had her arms extended in front of her.

"To keep your balance and not send us both to the ground? No, I don't." She deadpanned but put her arms down at her sides.

"Surprise," He smiled, taking his hands away from her eyes and watching her reaction.

"Wow," She breathed before grinning and taking off, running into the lake and jumping in with a splash. "Come on Leon!" She laughed at his startled expression, "It's not that bad!"
"It's wet!"
"Be all alone then!" Cynthia chortled, diving back under the surface.

"I'm coming!" Leon braced himself and ran into the water, stopping when it got to his waist and scowling at the wet and cold sensation. Suddenly Cynthia grabbed hold of his ankle and pulled him under. When he broke the surface spluttering he found Cynthia giggling, blue eyes twinkling with amused mirth. "I'm going to get you for that!" He warned, seizing her around the waist and falling backward into the water, cutting off her laughter as they both went under water and so a water fight began, the air ringing with the teenager's laughter.

"What are you two doing?" Holly asked as she stepped into her younger brother's room to find Jay and Bree, Jay sanding his whittling carving while Bree watched him, idly sketching something on the notepad beside her as she did so.

"Whittling."
"Sketching!"

"You two are strange." Holly sighed and left, leaving her sibling to do whatever he was doing while she started walking to Finli's house, looking forward to spending some time with him playing her favorite game, chess.

Jay finished the sanding and seemed to check over the whittled carving before blowing off the sawdust and handing it to Bree, "Try it, it's a picilo." He grunted curtly

Bree's amber eyes lit up at the name of her favorite instrument and she took it from him, putting it to her lips and experimenting, playing a few notes to test out the tuning of the instrument before starting to play a tune Jay himself had created when they were younger. Jay grinned and hummed along with her playing, blind blue eyes triumphant and happy.

Character Emails (all are gmail accounts)

Caylee and any other side character – youngcrazyteenageauthor

Cynthia – athleticsapphiresinger

Leon – athleticgoldenboy

Bree – cheerfulcuriosity

Jay – perfectgrumpytone

Holly – emeraldintelligencequeen

Fini – gingerandwhiteteenager

WHSS Art

Deviantart: tigercryrocks | Instagram: tigercry

WHSS Audiobooks

*Coming Soon*