Larisa and Amber immediately ran to the back. Thankfully their kitchen had a sliding glass door that led to the back. Larisa darted out first and looked over the porch to something Amber couldn't see.

"Are you kidding me?" Exasperated Larisa as her fear turned into frustration. Amber ran to her side to see what was going on. She looked out into the yard to see Evan, holding the garden hose, it was currently turned on, misting Jeff. Jeff stood beside him, shielding himself with his arms and dripping wet. Evan turned to see Amber and waved.

"I leave you guys for two minutes and start a water war?" Amber questioned with a smirk. At least he wasn't sad anymore. Evan shrugged and pointed at Jeff, letting his grip loosen on the hose.

"In my defense, Jeff started it." Evan defended, as Jeff noticed that Evans's grip on the hose was loose. Jeff seized the opportunity and snatched the still-running hose, redirecting it toward Evan's face. For a brief moment, Evan stood frozen, before lunging at Jeff, wielding the hose like a weapon.

Jeff froze, realizing what he just did "Oops," Jeff nervously chuckled before taking off. Evan huffed and quickly got to his feet

"Get her back so I can beat your ass!" Evan demanded as the two turned to chase each other. Neither could get very far due to the hose being connected to the house. Amber watched as the two ran around the yard for a few minutes, laughing and slipping on the now wet lawn. Larisa eventually groaned. Evan looked to the porch before returning to fighting for their hose.

"Come on, you guys are better than this." Larisa gestured to the boys. Evan mouthed what seemed to be the words "no I am not" with a smirk. Jeff just shrugged. "Jeff is in college and Evan graduated. I expected you to act like adults. I get Evan but Jeff comes on. I should have known that-'' Larisa was cut off from speaking by a stream of water aimed right at her face. She gaped and blocked the water with her hands. Larisa was left speechless and she attempted to shake the water off her body. Amber looked at the boys with Jeff aiming the hose directly at her with Evan muffling his laughter with his free hand. Larisa shook her hands off and sighed, looking at Amber. She then pointed to the house. "There are water guns under my bed. Get them now! This means war." Larisa demanded unusually calm. Amber was afraid of what she would do if she didn't go to her room to get the water guns.

—-

"Come on, we have been fighting for at least an hour. Can't we call it quits? I'm sorry," Jeff exasperated as he aimed the hose loosely at Amber and Larisa who had water guns drawn on Jeff. Amber looked at Larisa who looked at her and nodded.

"Never!" They shouted in sync, aiming their water guns at Jeff and drenching them. Jeff growled and looked around for something before shaking his fists at the girls.

"You will never get away with this!" Jeff screamed and dived back through the basement door back inside. The girls used this opportunity to refill their water guns. Amber brought the port of the gun to the hose and was beginning to refill while Larisa was contemplating something.

"You good?" Amber questioned as she twisted the nub back on and cocked her gun

"Yeah, but I should get back to work-" Larisa whispered but was cut off by Amber putting a finger to her lips. Larisa immediately pushed it away. "First of all don't shush me, second-"

"Hey, Evan still isn't drenched," Amber said. Other than Jeff's shot, Evan had yet to get drenched by the girls. It was the rules-Well, Ambers rule- that the war ends when everyone is drenched. "So until he is, this game goes on." Then, there was a branch snap behind them. Amber turned to see Eve darting into the woods. Behind their property was a large portion of woods that went on for miles. It was rare she traveled out into it since she got lost in there when she was little

Why was he going back there?

"Amber you should-" Larisa started but Amber had already beelined after him, dropping her water gun in the process

He didn't seem to notice as Amber continued to run after him through the stress, the shadows making it hard to see him. Amber continued, ducking under branches.

"Evan, wait!" Amber shouted but tripped on a log. She gasped, her chest hurting but stood on her feet. She was about to start running but had already lost him. Amber slowly continued to walk through the trees until she saw a log and decided to sit down.

She looked into the tree line. She could see the outline of birds flying by, their silhouettes on the ground. Amber wished she had brought her journal out here. She loved to sketch the animals she saw scurrying around in her backyard. She decided to close her eyes for a brief moment to just take in the sun before she resumed her search for Evan. She opened her eyes only to be blocked by hands. Amber was about to start fighting when she heard a familiar voice laugh.

"Guess who?" Evan said. Amber laughed and moved her hands away from her eyes and turned back to see a smiling Evan. Thought something seemed off about it, like he was hiding something. But Amber's mind didn't dwell on that for too long.

She was just happy he was there.

"Nice to see you again, nerd." Amber jeered as Evan sat beside her, fanning himself with his hat.

"Same here," Evan leaned closer, looping his arm around her. The pair sat in silence enjoying the forest. Also allowing them to naturally dry. Amber had no idea how long they sat there before Amber had decided to get up. She had noticed something odd about the forest.

There was no longer any noise. None. Like all the birds had gone quite as well as any insects. Amber turned around to ask Evan about the weird occurrence but found he was staring into space.

Amber walked closer to him, Evan not even responding. He looked awake but also didn't. It was hard to explain, but it was giving her the creeps the longer she looked at him. Amber leaned forward and began to snap her fingers, each time getting closer until she almost flicked him in the nose.

No response.

Amber turned to go get the guys but then heard Evan cough. She smiled, turning around to see Evan getting up from his seat, him now facing away from her.

"Thank god," Amber sighed. "I thought you were going through a medical episode." Evan didn't turn around still. He stood still looking at something out of view. He was also muttering something under his breath. "Evan, are you okay?" Amber began to walk closer when Evan whipped around to look at her, smiling. But the smile was wide and reminded Amber of the jokers. His eyes were full of…something. She wasn't sure what, but it sent shivers down her spine. This wasn't normal. "Evan?" Amber asked and Evan now looked at her, like a predator tracking its prey.

Something wasn't right.

Ambe turned, about to go get the guys when she felt something hard hit her in the back. Amber tried to get up but her hands were held. A loud, hyena-like laughter was heard from behind her

"Help!" Amber screamed, trying to wiggle free. Her heart was now thundering, trying to escape from Amber's chest. Her breath began to quicken as she took in the severity of the situation. She was turned over now to face Evan who was still wearing a smile on his face.

"Hold still rabbit," Evan muttered, now going through his pockets. His voice was now distorted and almost distant. Amber kept trying to wiggle free, only for Evan to grab her hands and slam them to the ground. He cursed under his breath before pulling out his lucky pocket knife from his pocket. He flicked it open and began to move it towards Amber's throat. "Hold still and I'll make it quick. Or maybe I won't." Evan laughed again, beginning to press the pocket knife lightly against Amber's throat.

"Please no," Amber said, leaning away from the knife as far as she could. Then there was a snap. Evan turned to see something out of view and he growled.

"She's mine fucker," He growled, gesturing to Amber and used a free hand to shooing motion to whatever it was to leave. However, the hand had been holding Amber down and she used the opportunity to punch Even in the face. Hard.

Hard enough for blood to begin to drip from Evans's nose. Usually a punch like that would have knocked him out. But Evan only recoiled and he lifted his knife about to stab down when he froze. Like he was loading. Amber tensed, ready to fight if Evan should decide to fight again. But instead, the malice and smile drained from his eyes. He looked around trying to get what had happened, feeling the blood on his face.

It looked like he had woken up from a dream. Evan seemed to realize something and quickly got off of Amber. This is when all the stress of the situation manifested as tears streaming down her face. Evan saw this and tried to lean out a hand in comfort.

Oh my god," Evan muttered, looking at the knife then to Amber. What did I do? He did it again!" Evan growled, causing Amber to flinch. He noticed then shook his head and reached out his hand."I am sorry. I can explain. Lets-" Evan cooed, but Amber slapped his hand away and began to run. Evan called for her to stop but Abmer didn't listen. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts trying to comprehend what she just witnessed. She ignored Vinny and darted into the house and her room. Where she continued to cry, leaving the group outside stunned and confused.