Nothing happened for a few days which I guess I saw as a good thing, but it wasn't. It was terrifying. Every good thing had to come to an end, but why was it taking so long? I was waiting for the forest people or some new distraction to show up, but it never did. I spent time with my boys, getting to know them to pass the time. That was it.

But it was still worrying. There was a little part in the back of my head whispering that something was bound to happen.

And then it did.

I had gotten home after another night out. Really, I had spent the whole night in the cave between David and Paul on one of the beds, but I couldn't complain about that.

It was around midnight, but my mother had already given up on having me home around a certain time. I had to be there when she woke up, a rule I had broken as well, and she wouldn't rip my head off, though I owed it to my aunt.

I keep rambling. It was around midnight, and I had just gotten back. Music was playing through my headphones – the electronics being a gift from Dwayne – so I didn't notice them at first. After all, their sound is what ordinarily gives them away.

However, when someone ran through the woods in the corner of my vision, I paused my song. Footsteps. There were so many of them. People running. I could barely make out the sight of one of them through the dark trees, but I could hear so many more. Tens of them, running and running fast.

And then one approached the tree line before stopping, staring at me through their bird mask. And then another. And another. And another. Until there were too many to count. Standing. Staring.

I gripped the handlebars to my bike, my arms shaking more than I wanted them to. There were so many of them, and so many different kinds of animals. They were all different heights, different weights. Every single one of them was different in some sort of way.

And then the fox stepped into my line of sight. Their hands were in their pockets, and their head tilted to the side. They stopped in line with the others and pulled one of their hands from their pockets, lifting it to show a match.

It seemed that I had lost control my body until that moment as I whispered out a firm "no."

Their head tilted back up. "Do you ever wonder what we are, Ivy? Do you ever wonder what you could become if you joined us." Their fingers twitched and suddenly the match was lit. "Do you ever wonder what being lost would entail?"

Their voice was smooth yet still as deep as I remember it, and it sent a chill down my spine. I wanted to get away. I wanted to get far, far away. The feeling I used to get of comfort was long gone. Now, I was terrified.

Unquestionably terrified.

"You can join us, Ivy. You can join us and be brand new. A place to find a home." They tilted the match and dropped it. They then stepped on it, their boot taking out any flame that had ignited. "You're one of us."

My voice was firm as I spoke, though I couldn't meet their face. "I am not one of you, and I don't need a home."

"Do you really," they leered at me, leaning forward . "Do you honestly not need a home? Have you seen where you live? I have."

"Leave me alone."

"But do you actually want that?"

"Yes. Leave me alone. I don't want you! I don't need you! I will never join you!" After each statement, I got louder and louder until I was screaming.

The silence after I yelled was practically deafening. None of us moved. They stared at me. I stared at them. I pushed my bike back a bit, making it clear that I wanted to leave. The fox didn't move, so I took another step.

"Leave me alone," I muttered before tearing off, back into the direction of the cave. I didn't care if I would get in trouble. I'd explain to my aunt later, but I didn't feel safe being there. At least I knew the boys could protect me in some sort of way.

The speed of my bike calmed me in some weird way. I was moving away from them, and I was moving fast. They couldn't catch me if I was going eighty down the road. I knew I had to slow down at some point. After all, if I crashed, I would most likely die, but that wasn't on my mind right now. Right now, I was thinking of getting to the cave.

So, when I finally slowed to a good fifty miles-per-hour, you could imagine my surprise as something hit my tire and I was thrown from my bike. I had made it into the wooded path to the cliff when I felt myself flying. My back hit the ground, my head made a sick kind of cracking noise, and my bike landed on top of me.

I screamed.

Somewhere deep in my mind, I figured if the boys heard me scream, they could find me. Another bleaker part of my mind told me they would never think twice about a scream in Santa Carla, even if it did sound like mine.

My head was spinning, my vision a mess of twirling tree lines and blurry vision. Something was wet at the back of my head, and I had a sickening feeling that it was blood and not the moist dirt beneath me. I bit my lip before letting out another scream even though it made my vision go dark for a moment.

When I finally regained my sight, I was met with the mask of the fox above me. A deer-masked person was by his side, and someone with a horse mask was on the other. The fox crouched down and grabbed my chin. They were humming, that sickening tune they loved to hum.

"Why must you fight us," the fox questioned. They pressed their hand against my chest and pushed hard until I couldn't breathe. I fought out a few gasping breaths, trying to say something, anything, but nothing came out. "This would be so much easier if you just cooperated. Much less violence."

I tried to lift one of my arms, but one was trapped under my bike and the other was twisted at an odd angle, rendering it useless. "Why," I wheezed out. The question they wouldn't answer. Why?

"I can't answer that, yet, you see. It's nothing bad, I promise. Just, predatory." Those two sentences did not belong together in any sense. "And now that someone else is trying to take our little toy," they trailed off. "Well, that's no good, is it?"

I coughed, spitting up something as I did. They pushed their hand harder. "Wha-" I was cut off by a cough that wracked through my whole body. My vision was becoming spotty, and I wasn't sure how long I would last like this. This was it. I was going to die here.

"I can hear them coming for you. I guess they heard your pathetic little screams, huh?" A small amount of hope filled me at the knowledge of my boys coming. They took their hand off of my chest and grabbed my face with it, making me look at them. "What if instead of you, they found your body?" My heart skipped a beat. "Oh, no, I couldn't do that. We still need you, after all. Damn. They have to get in the way of everything, though." They let out a loud sigh and tapped my cheek before rising. "Well, Ivy, this has been a fun time. Until the next." The three of them sent me waves before turning and taking off into the woods.

I could hear my boys' bikes in the distance. I let out a stuttering breath and tried to push my bike off of me, but it was too heavy, and I was too weak. So instead, I tried to focus on staying awake on blinking away that growing darkness in my vision. I focused on breathing and the stars and the sounds of those bikes growing nearer and nearer.

It felt like I had to wait an eternity before I heard one of the bikes come to a flying stop. That was followed by someone yelling my name. Dwayne, I think. The other bikes followed the first, and soon, I was surrounded by my boys.

Dwayne had immediately lifted the bike off of me and threw it somewhere a bit farther away. I was thankful as I could finally breathe a bit better. David was talking to Dwayne quietly but quickly, and I figured Dwayne knew some medical business because they were discussing if it would be safe to pick me up and take me back to the cave.

Paul and Marko were on either side of me. Marko was on his knees as he tried to assess all the damage the best he could, and Paul was holding my face in his hands.

I coughed out a kind of laugh and shook my head. "I'm sorry, Paul," I mumbled out, my vision dancing again. "I told you they wouldn't hurt me again. I guess I'm really bad at keeping promises, huh."

Paul nodded his head, his voice cracking as he spoke. "You're absolutely terrible at keeping them. I've noticed, don't worry."

I coughed a hacking cough again and felt something that felt a lot warmer than spit slide down my cheek from my mouth. "I'm not going to die."

"I know you won't. We're going to help you."

"No, I mean, I'm not going to die because they wouldn't let that happen. They need me for something. I don't know what, but they do. It sucks."

Paul nodded. "Yeah," he whispered. "It does. Are you going to be able to tell us about them now."

I gave him a dumb kind of smile. "Yeah, when I can talk without almost passing out, I'll tell you."

"Don't fall asleep," Marko said. "You have to stay awake."

I let out a whine and turned to look at him. "But I'm so tired, baby. I just want to take a quick nap. I'll wake up soon."

Marko shook his head. "You don't know that, Ivy. We need you to stay awake."

I groaned before coughing again. "I need to stop talking," I mumbled.

"Then stop," Paul replied. "You don't have to hurt yourself more than you already are."

I sniffled and looked at the sky. It sucked being in this situation, if I was going to be honest. Especially for the second time. They're going to get sick of me if I keep getting caught in these situations. Damn.

I was brought out of my daydreaming by Dwayne who had taken Paul's position. Paul had latched onto David from what I could tell, and Dwayne was talking to me.

I turned my head toward Dwayne, humming out a questioning sound to let him know I hadn't heard.

"I'm going to pick you up, and we're going to fly back to the cave. It's going to hurt." His voice was calm, but his face was anything but. He could usually keep his emotions covered. What was so different now?

I hummed an affirmation, too tired to talk, so he placed one arm under my back and one under my knees and lifted me cautiously. I whined as pain shot through me, and Dwayne mumbled an apology.

I lifted my head to place on his shoulder before dropping it back down. "I'm gonna get blood on your jacket," I slurred. "'m sorry."

Dwayne chuckled. "It's fine. Nothing I can't clean up. Get as comfortable as you can. It won't take long."

So I lifted my head again and rested it on his shoulder, aware that it was only a small bit away from the crack in my head. Dwayne jumped, and then we were floating. I could scarcely recognize whatever was happening, but it was an odd sensation being the sky, and I was terrified at the idea that he may drop me.

He had to lean forward when he flew, but he barely jostled me as I moved. The wind was annoying, but that was my only complaint. Soon, we were back in the cave, and he was telling me about how the boys were near but still a bit away.

I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer, and a nap sounded like a tempting option. "I think I'm gonna rest for a bit," I mumbled out as Dwayne laid be down on a couch, conscious of how he did it so he didn't hurt me. "'m tired, Dwayne."

"No, princess, you need to keep your eyes open. I need you to stay awake."

I hummed as black took over my vision. "Dwayne, I can't see a whole lot." I coughed. "I just really, really want to sleep. Please let me sleep."

"I need you to stay awake," his voice was rising, worry evident. I could hear the boys coming down the stairs.

"I love you guys." That was the last words I remembered saying before my eyes completely closed and I let the sleep overcome my body.