-Chapter Seven-

It's weird how everything is connected, isn't it?

Chloe stood silently in front of the bears' door, wondering if she should knock or not. She came as fast as she could after the bears called her, knowing that it was an emergency. She thought that it would be just like the other times the bears called her. " Chloe! Chloe! Get here as fast as you can! A new episode of Kiss Kiss Kittens came out," Panda would yell, or," Chloe! Ultimate. Wrestling. Championship. Extreme. Challenge. It's gonna be epic! Come on!"

Usually, she would then chuckle at the bears' antics and come over. Today, however, was a different case. And not in a good way.

-Flashback-

It was a nice day outside, a perfect day to sit back, relax... and finally, finally finish this dreary project. When Chloe wanted to study or finish an important assignment for one of her classes, she loved to go to one of three places. First would be her house. Second would be the bear cave. And third would be the garden near the university. Well, if you could call it a garden.

It was a well known part of the university. There were many willows surrounding the area, making it nice and shady, and there were many different flowers. However, there was one thing about the garden that Chloe found interesting. It was actually created to replicate a certain Korean legend that her parents would tell her when she was about to go to sleep. A bedtime story. And like all stories, it began with "once upon a time".

Many years ago, there were two beings: a human, and a creature. The human was quiet and shy, but she was very beautiful. With hair and skin as white as snow, and with bright beautiful eyes, many people would say she was the very image of perfection. She was well known through the village, and she was kind to everyone, so it would only make sense that she would have many suitors.

Men came from all over just to see her and maybe, have a chance at her heart. As a beauty, she was most definitely the bluest rose there. Beautiful, elegant, and rare to find. Sadly, though as rare a beauty that she was, all roses had thorns. She was shy for a reason, and very mysterious. She didn't keep anyone close to her, not even her brothers and sister were kept close to her. She loved them very much, but she kept herself in a tight ball.

A person like her drew the attention of a creature. A dark creature it was... Well, doesn't help to ramble on and on about legends these days. Chloe, though she found the legend cute, didn't really believe them. Sure she loved to tell them, but she never thought magical creatures like those in stories ever existed. Call her a realist, but she didn't want to bring her hopes up like most girls her age do.

Anyways, to wrap things up, things happened and the creature made a garden for her. In the middle of the garden, there was a large plethora of flowers that took up the majority of the garden. Most were white and red. The white resembled the maiden's hair and soul. Chloe knew that the red resembled the man's part in the tale, but her mother never finished the story.

There were white Carnations, red Chrysanthemums, Daisies, Freesia, Forget-Me-Nots, Jasmines, Larkspurs, Orchids, Peonies, and red Tulips. Each were good things, most representing love and trust. Others representing purity and graciousness. Yes, the tale did end in "happily ever after". However, this isn't what Chloe believes. There were only two flowers in the ring that made her think otherwise. There were just two small, insignificant flowers, but they held a strong meaning.

In the middle of the ring of flowers, there was a Lavender and a Rhododendron. Lavender represented distrust, while Rhododendron told people to beware. Chloe wanted to ask the headmaster why the garden was created like that, but she was always too busy. After all, everyone has distrust in their lives. Maybe the flowers in the ring didn't have any meaning? Who knows?

The vibrations from her phone shook Chloe awake from her musings. She smiled and put the phone near her ear and said," Hey Grizz! What's up?" "... Chloe, we need you to come to the cave later today. It's an emergency." Chloe was surprised when she heard Grizz's melancholy tone. Usually, he would be excited to tell her something. But this sounded serious.

" Grizz, what's wrong?" " I can't tell you now. It would be better if I told you when you get to the cave." Chloe nodded her head. " Okay, do you want me to come over now?" " No, finish your work first, then come over. I'll call you again to, uh, check up on you." " O-okay... Grizz, are you sure you don't want to tell me anything?" " Don't worry Chloe. We'll tell you everything, but just not now. It's not safe."

Chloe was shocked at Grizz's choice of wording, but didn't get the chance to say anything about it. " See ya Chloe." " Gri-" He hung up.

-Few Hours Later-

Chloe hesitated for a few seconds, but finally, she knocked on the door softly. Right away, Grizz opened the door and said," Chloe! Just in time! Come in!" Before she could get a word in, Grizz was already dragging her inside of the cave. Once they were inside, Chloe immediately began asking questions. " Guys, what's up? Did something happen?" She noticed something was missing. " Where's your brother?"

Both brothers stiffened slightly. "... You might need to sit down for this Chloe," Panda said softly. Chloe's eyes widened as she exclaimed," What happened you guys? Is he hurt? Please tell me that he's okay-" " Chloe, chill out! We need you to have a level head about this, 'kay?" Grizz asked, giving her a small, nervous smile.

Taking a deep breath, Chloe said," Okay. I'm listening."

-10 Minutes Later-

" What! Why would that thing want your little bro!" Chloe said, nearly screeching in anger. " Calm it, Chloe," Panda said. Chloe sighed in exasperation. " I'm sorry guys. I just can't believe- You guys are the nicest bears I know! I can't believe some-some... dingle would try to murder Panda to kidnap him! I mean, what freak would do something like that!"

" Apparently supernatural creatures who have a lot of spare time on their hands," Panda said. Grizz nodded in agreement. " Are you sure this is a mystical being that we're dealing with here? It could be an illusion or something," Chloe reasoned. Both Grizz and Panda shook their heads. " No way was that an illusion," Panda said. " A hologram maybe." " It looked too real. The way it shape-shifted was too clean."

" I... I just can't believe this," Chloe said sadly. Ice bear was her friend... the bears were the only friends that she felt really comfortable with. It was just... It was... unfair.

" Chloe, we need you in order to find our little bro," Panda said urgently. " Of course I'll help Panda, you don't need to ask twice. What do you want me to do?"

" Why is this happening?" Ranger Tabes quietly said to herself. It wasn't in her jurisdiction to get involved in murder cases. She was a park ranger, not a police officer. However, when something happens in her park, well... There's going to be a problem. She looked at the pictures of the case files, a feeling of sadness and guilt filling her soul. Women, men, children ripped to shreds in an angry rampage of some sorts.

Ranger Tabes may only be a park ranger, but there was one thing she already knew: No animal would do this. And that was a fact. No animal would be twisted enough to do this. She would never suspect her good friends, the bears. Thank god they called today. At least she knew they were safe. However, something was up with them. They requested her to come over, said that they needed her help. Very suspicious.

She promised that she'd might come over tomorrow, after all, this case was more important. Because of the sudden attacks, the park had to be closed down. A day has already passed, yet no sounds came from the woods. Also very suspicious... Maybe, it would be a good idea to pay the bears a visit. The bears might know about the vicious attacks on the human population. They do live in the same area as the attacks.

Feeling determination fill her soul, replacing the sadness and guilt, she walked outside, got in her car, and drove off towards the bears' cave.

Ice bear glared at the chain angrily. It seems that, no matter what he did, the chain wasn't about to break from the wall. " This is why I should keep my ax with me at all times," Ice bear thought. To no surprise of Ice bear, he began to get bored after just sitting down for 10 minutes doing nothing but jostle his chain. At first, Ice bear thought logically and started to walk around, trying to see if he could get farther than the chain allowed him, trying to see what each room looked like, trying to not feel helpless. However, the chain was extremely sturdy and it wouldn't allow Ice bear even a centimeter more of walking.

Soon, logic turned into frustration, and frustration turned into anger. That anger then making Ice bear attack his chain. " And now, because of my utter stupidity, I'm sore, tired, angry, and bored... Way to go me!" he thought sarcastically. He looked down at his paws. They were already dirty due to being dragged all over the place, but now they were sore and covered in rust. His neck also hurts since Theo...the creature...that abomination bit into it. Luckily, it had already stopped bleeding, but his neck now felt sticky and uncomfortable. Then again, this whole situation was, at a minimum, uncomfortable.

Sighing, Ice bear sat back down and leaned against the cave walls, trying to distract himself. He wondered how Panda and Grizz were doing, if Panda was okay... if they even missed him. Frowning at the thought, Ice decided to stop focusing on that. He knew his brothers loved him but... sometimes their actions made Ice bear think otherwise. Like that time when they chose Nom Nom... Nom Nom over him... calling him a monster... the word that hurt. Even when he saved them, they still didn't apologize for their words.. for their actions... that honestly hurt Ice bear more than the word " monster" did.

Once Ice bear started, he couldn't stop thinking about all the bad things that happened. Slimy, dark, thoughts that would break through his barriers, make him believe things that he didn't want to believe. Those dark feelings that made Ice bear feel weak.

It made him hate himself more than he already did.

Why should he be surprised if his brothers don't save him? It's not like they ever cared in the first place- " Stop... Stop... saying things about your brothers," Ice bear scolded. " They love you very much and they will never leave you. That incident with Nom Nom, you should have told them that their words hurt you. How would they know? It's not their fault... It's never their fault. Just calm down. You're going to get through this. This is just another crazy, stupid mess that you got yourself into. Like always, everything is going to be fine in the end. It always is." Somehow, that didn't really reassure Ice bear that much.

With his head feeling heavy from all his thinking, Ice bear closed his weary eyes and started to drift asleep. After all, in his predicament, that's all he can do.

Now, with a job like Darrell's, you don't really expect something weird to happen every single day. Heck, probably not even in a month. He lived a pretty boring life with a pretty boring job. Yet, he couldn't really complain. His mundane life wasn't without some perks. He had a lot of free time to himself, he wasn't too stressed, and he was very happy. And now, he had the bears as his friends. They actually bailed him out of jail after explaining their situation... and with a thinly veiled threat from Ice bear. Yep, everything was going great... so where did that optimistic feeling that he always prided himself with disappear to.

" Okay, so you can custom make mouse pads right?" the young man asked. He was a young man in his late 20's. He had blond hair with purple and red dye on his bangs. He was pretty tall for a person, being about 6'4. He was pretty normal looking, only wearing a brown hoodie, a pair of faded jeans, and green sneakers. Right now, he had an excited look on his face. " Yeah, hey, not to be rude but, how old are you?" Darrell asked nervously. " I'm 29." " Oh, so he's around Grizz's age," Darrel thought. The young man seemed nice enough yet, there was an air of an intimidating aura that surrounded him.

Clearing his throat, Darrell responded," Yes, you can custom make as many mouse pads as you want." " How much for each mouse pad?" " $1.59. Since it's custom, I add an extra 20ยข." " I'll take one." " What do you want it to say?" " I'm sorry that I hurt you." Darrell paused at that, but continued. It would be rude if he asked. Giving his costumer a small smile, he politely said," Okay, just wait here for a second." " Alright."

-One Second Later-

" Okay, that will be $1.79." The young man handed him the money and took the mouse pad. Before he left, the man asked," Oh, I was wondering if there were any electronic stores around here." " Yeah, there's actually one just a couple blocks from here. To the left." " Thanks!" Darrell waved goodbye and shouted," Have a nice day Mr... um." Seeing Darrell's discomfort, the man chuckled a little. " It's Theo." " Nice name. See ya, Theo." And with that, Theo left his store. Just a few minutes after, a young child came through the door.

Darrell's smile widened as he greeted the ten-year-old. " Hey, you must be Chloe!" She smiled back and replied," And you're Darrell. Grizz told me about you. Thanks for helping them out. The bears can be such a handful sometimes." Chloe sighed at the thought. Darrell shrugged. " I don't know. I'd do anything for a friend. Speaking of which-" Darrell went to the back room and came back with three stacks of mouse pads. " Why do you guys need so many mouse pads?" " Well, the way Panda stated it-" Chloe cleared her voice and did her best Panda impersonation. " In order to get through a dingle like Nom Nom, we're going to have to literally beat some sense into him."

Darrell chuckled a bit at Chloe's impersonation. " And they're planning to do that with custom made mouse pads." " Yep." " To an internet famous koala." " You got it." Darrell scratched his head sheepishly. " Well, tell them that if they're worried about the price, it's on the house. After all, we're all family here." " Thanks Darrell." Chloe ran outside and came back in with a wagon. Seeing how the stack of mouse pads were about Chloe's height, Darrell helped her put them in the wagon. Once the mouse pads were secured, Darrell asked," It's a lot of mouse pads. Do you need me to wheel it to the bears' cave?" Chloe shook her head. " Naw, it's not that heavy." " Okay, have a nice day!"

Darrell turned around and started walking towards the back room to see if he could fix the copy machine, but he was then interrupted by Chloe. " Um, I was wondering if there were any electronic stores around here. I'm not really familiar with this part of the city and I need to pick some stuff up for ' The Plan' phase two." " There's one just a couple blocks from here. To the left." " Okay, thanks." Chloe started her way to the door with a wagon of mouse pads. Darrell laughed silently to himself. " You weren't the only person to ask me that. There was this guy name Theo who asked me the very same question." Chloe paused in her tracks. Darrell, oblivious to this, continued. " If you run into him, tell him I said hi, okay?" Silence. Darrell's smile slowly slid from his face. " Hey, are you okay." Chloe turned towards Darrell with a strained smile and nervously laughed. " Yeah, just blanked out for a sec, ha, tend to do that sometimes."

Darrell may not be the sharpest bow in the quiver, but that was the clearest lie he ever heard. " You sure you're okay?" Chloe nodded her head. " Yep. Um, see ya later Darrell." Chloe quickly walked out the door and literally ran towards the direction of the electronic store that Theo was going to. Darrell stared at the door, thinking about what just happened. The bears didn't really tell him what happened, only that they needed his help.

Darrell began walking to the backroom once again, still wondering if he could help his friends with their current troubles.

Chloe, if it was possible, literally flew towards the electronic store. The wagon wasn't a burden to her, since the mouse pads weren't that heavy to begin with, but it was still a pain to drag around. " What am I doing?" Chloe thought. She knew that the bears didn't want her to get involved. She was surprised that they even let her help to begin with. What could she possibly gain by seeing Theo? It's not like she could follow him home. It's not like she could actually do anything productive if she met Theo. What was the point?

" There's no logical way that I could help the bears by meeting Theo. Heck, I might be risking my own life doing this. But... I want to know what Theo looks like. What kind of person... monster would separate a family just for its own selfish purpose. " As Chloe got closer and closer to the electronic store, another thought came to her mind. " Funny thing is, curiosity killed the cat, right." She inwardly gulped at the thought. " I hope my curiosity won't kill me."

*Happy Halloween*