RJ could barely keep himself from being quiet as he rushed downstairs, letting out short, panicked breaths. Not helping the matter was the fact that in his panic, he ended up running over the carpet that unnerved him so much. It was to the extent that by the time he got outside, he could barely hear the voices of the others calling to him. The noises of the others calling out and his heart beating in his ears, as well as his overall fear, carried him out the door, through the hedge, and deep into the woods.

It was a part of the woods that RJ didn't really go to that often. In fact, he didn't even recognize it in the slightest. It was a dark area of the forest where very little light shone through, and honestly, that made it even worse, especially since it was still dark outside.

Adding onto that was when RJ looked up, he was immediately met with a drop of water smacking him on the head. Looks like it was going to be a rainy night, and it didn't help that RJ was so terrified that he lost track of where he was. He was completely lost in the woods, and no one likely knew where he was.

That was not even to mention what just happened.

He was here. That one human whose house he entered all those years ago was living in Camelot Estates. He recognized everything. The rough feeling carpet that immediately made him realize something was off, the basement door that housed the one memory that RJ had buried deep down, that song that told him that he was back. Heck, even the raccoon he saw get obliterated must've been some sick type of foreshadowing for the hell he was going through right now.

He felt the rain pick up, forcing him to seek shelter under the shade of a tree, and while he wanted to see if he could find his way back, he knew he couldn't explain everything to the others without worrying them. Verne was already worried about him enough after the raccoon incident, having the others worry about him would be detrimental to everyone. At least he knew Verne had the capacity to keep things under wraps, RJ was just an open book.

"Put your hand on my shoulder…"

Almost like a parasite, that song started playing in RJ's head, but he was so disoriented from these new feelings and the harsh coldness of the rain that he started looking around wildly, as if he were trying to find the source of where it was coming from. Ever so slowly, as if his mind was a cruel joke, the song began to be drowned out by the familiar sound of his heartbeat ringing in his ears like drums. His vision started to narrow, and he realized he was breathing faster and faster as he backed up against the tree, gripping his ears so tightly he could've ripped them off.

The song eventually just kept repeating the same chorus over and over again in his mind, so much so that he could count the amount of times he heard the drum-like sound of his heart as the chorus kept going on and on. It was six beats per repeat, and even then it felt like it was getting faster and faster. RJ found himself leaning against the tree, his bushy tail curling close to him as images began to flash before his eyes. The window, the carpet, the rug, the basement door, the raccoon from earlier, the remains…

RJ wasn't sure if it was the rain, but he felt something wet around his eyes.

"Have you found him?"

"No, the raccoon just disappeared!"

Verne couldn't help but let out a worried sight upon hearing Stella's news, and he looked down at the ground in a mixture of sadness and anger. He should've pushed for RJ to cancel that heist, why didn't he put his foot down? RJ may be cocky and aloof to an extent, but he was capable of reason. Not only that, he was certain that everyone would understand what was going on.

In the end however, Verne guessed that maybe RJ could actually bounce back from it, and it turned out that something in that house spooked him enough to make a runner, and now Stella and Hammy were out looking for him after being forced to leave the food they tried to steal.

"Does anyone even know what the heck happened with him?" Lou asked. "I was just getting stuff in the wagon and the next thing I know, RJ's making a break for it and we're being forced to ditch everything."

"Do you think RJ ditched us again?" Ozzie asked, which caused Verne to snap out of his anger and gloom, and turned to face Ozzie. "No, there's no way he ditched us!" He spoke. "Something in that house scared him enough for him to run away."

"But RJ's all…cool, and awesome, and you know." Heather spoke up. "What exactly would scare RJ?"

Verne knew what would.

The turtle was unfortunate enough to audibly gulp in nervousness, and Stella immediately picked up on it. "Verne?" Stella asked. "Verne, is there something you're not telling us?" The skunk would approach him, putting her hands on her sides as if she were expecting him to admit the truth right there.

As much as Verne made a promise, he knew he couldn't hide it for long.

"Yesterday, RJ and I found another raccoon." Verne said, and immediately all eyes were on him. "Another one?" Penny asked. "Like RJ?"

"Yeah, another one, like RJ.' Verne replied. "Does she have a name?" Heather piped up, although Verne could tell there was an odd amount of venom in her voice. It was unnecessary and ill-timed to say the least.

"We never got the chance to find out." Verne replied. "Why, where was this raccoon even found?" Stella asked.

"The road."

The moment Verne said that, Stella's initially quizzical attitude fell, and Verne noticed Heather's did as well. It was clear that just Verne saying where they found the raccoon told them exactly what happened. Stella and Heather clearly remembered during the Spuddies heist the dangers the open road held, and now they were being reminded that they could've easily wound up like that poor raccoon that day. As for the others around, they weren't entirely aware of what happened, and thus, Verne had to fill in the blanks.

"It got hit by a truck." Verne spoke, and immediately the others recoiled in horror, especially Ozzie. Heather immediately stepped behind him on the off chance he was going to faint, but thankfully, he didn't. The others were silent for a while, before Penny was the one who broke the silence.

"Jeepers…" Penny spoke. "So, you two saw it…die?"

"I was on my way down the tree to see if I could help them, but RJ…he saw it all."

The others would once more go back into an uncomfortable silence. They were all trying to process what happened. Whether it be because of sheer luck or RJ's incredible leadership skills, all of them were very lucky that none of them had died before or after they started their heisting. This knowledge that just outside of their home, where they were their safest, a raccoon was killed because they made one wrong move pretty much made them realize the reality of what they were.

Yet that didn't solve exactly what happened with RJ, something that a certain feline realized, among something else.

"I know this is a very…sad occasion, but this doesn't exactly solve what RJ saw, nor does it solve our food problem." Tiger spoke, which immediately caused the others to look at him in what appeared to be disgust. "It's a terrible thing, but that doesn't change the fact we still need food."

"So, what do you suggest?" Heather asked, crossing her arms. "Well, I have been paying attention to some of the schedules of some of the other residents, and it just so happens that the next-door neighbor also goes out around the same time." Tiger replied. "Not only that, but they have a bit of a habit of leaving their back door unlocked."

"How do you know this?" Verne asked. "She's an animal groomer, a very good one I must say." Tiger replied. "Anyways, she has this other job, I think it's as a substitute teacher, which explains why she has two jobs, and last week when I went there, she mentioned to the owner that she was working Tuesday, so she'll be out for the majority of the day."

"Is the pay gap for teachers in America really that bad?" Verne asked. "Oh, trust me, it is." Tiger replied. "I'd almost feel bad raiding her house, but she's a terrible groomer who nearly clipped my ear a few times, so for all intents and purposes, she deserves it."

As the group tried to process the contradiction that Tiger had made for his reasoning, Hammy emerged from the woods soaking wet, and following not long after was the familiar feeling of rain.

"Hammy, did you find him?" Verne asked, and Hammy replied with a solemn shake of his head. Verne let out a soft sigh, resigning himself to the idea that RJ wasn't going to be back tonight possibly. He just hoped he was going to be okay. Tiger on the other hand…

"We can probably work through this easy, come on, let's go."

It was when the rain cleared up and the sky was nowhere near as gloomy that RJ was finally able to make his way back to the clearing after what was likely one of the worst experiences he had in his life. He was cold, he was damp, and he wanted to just get warm.

Most importantly however, he wanted to come clean.

While he was under that tree, he realized that he was essentially going through another version of his early days with the group. He would have a secret, start acting shifty, something big would happen, and then the group suffered for it. He didn't even check to see if everyone was out of the house, which certainly could've been horrible if the human was awake and saw them.

He had to come clean, no matter what.

Upon arriving at the log, he was taken off-guard by the lack of critters nearby. In fact, the only one there was Penny, who seemed oblivious to his presence as she casually moved around the clearing. Regardless, RJ took a deep breath, and spoke up.

"Hey."

Immediately, Penny turned around to see the downtrodden looking and downright depressing looking raccoon standing by the log. "RJ, are you okay?" Penny asked, heading over to him. "Yeah, I'm alright Penny." RJ replied. "I'm sorry about last night, there's a lot I need to explain to you and the others."

"RJ, whatever reason you have, I'm sure the others will understand." Penny replied, and RJ ended up letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. He was happy at least Penny wasn't mad at him, even though she had every reason in his mind.

"Also, Verne told us about what happened with the raccoon."

RJ noticeably froze up when Penny said that, and the female porcupine noticed it. "Sorry RJ." She spoke. "I can't even imagine what that was like…"

"Honestly Penny, it's better not imagining it at all." RJ replied. "Just consider it something to forget about, like how we all forgot about that sorry excuse for a chair that we brought back from the junkyard?"

There went RJ again, trying to retain some sort of casualness about him, even though he had stated to himself that he had to come clean no matter what. He just couldn't help it. Penny on the other hand didn't seem to find his quip that convincing.

"RJ, what did you find in that house?" Penny asked. "I uh…" RJ stammered for a bit, because he didn't expect Penny to be the one asking him this in such a blunt way. "Look, I'll explain when everyone is here…speaking of which, where is everyone?"

"They went back out to get food." Penny replied.

What.

RJ's breath hitched in his throat, and Penny once more took notice of this.

"RJ, what's wrong?" She asked. RJ didn't respond. They went back out, and for all he knew, they were going back to the house that was home to that human.

No, a human was stupid, they could be maneuvered around, tricked. This wasn't a human, this was something else.

And he knew that exact word.

The moment RJ realized what that word was, a bunch of memories came flooding back to him. Him opening that basement door, the dim light bulb that swung back and forth, briefly illuminating the horrifying sights downstairs, and one memory that he suddenly thought that he had repressed until now.

Two flattened raccoons laying in the street, being picked up by a man wearing a fur coat.

"Taxidermist." RJ uttered.

"What?" Penny asked.

RJ didn't even answer her before he took off running in the direction of the home of the Taxidermist.

Not gonna lie, this chapter took me a bit more time to write, but I think it's one of my favorite chapter's I've written ever. There's just a lot of intensity going on, and man, just that top bit was brutal.

So yeah, RJ pretty much has a panic attack alone in the woods, Verne reveals what happened, Tiger has to bring up the lack of food and comes up with a different solution, and now due to poor communication, RJ now thinks they're going back.

Needless to say, this story is getting more intense as things go on.