Zach sighed. He couldn't spot anyone he'd be able to deem as suspicious. No matter his attempts to be useful. I guess it's good that no one seems to be going after them. I could've let someone slip by, though. Just like some stupid faulty piece of wiring that short-circuits the entire device, Zach sighed again, agitated. His brown eyes tried to pick out someone from the groups of laughing people enjoying the fair. "You'd think waiting in a safe area would be less stressful. But, honestly, I wish I was running with Misty about right now," Zach grumbled. His fingers anxiously rubbed against each other.
"Zach! There you are!" Miss Beron shouted, running over to him. Zach whipped around to see Miss Beron. "My goodness, I was worried."
"What's wrong?" Zach asked. He knew something happened with the amount of worry plaguing her face. Although, he had to admit his face didn't look any less worried.
"So you haven't heard? The entrance to the funhouse forest that Misty and her friend went into is blocked off! A thorny wall, made of wood, is blocking it!" Miss Beron explained, distressed. Zach gritted his teeth as he searched his brain for what could've happened. "Wait, where's Euca?"
Zach looked around, then he facepalmed. "I was too busy looking for someone suspicious and didn't notice they ran off, sorry," he apologized. He suddenly remembered that Misty and Rian were both trapped by magic last week.
"Nothing we can do about it now. Do you know where she went off to?" Miss Beron questioned. Zach shook his head, no.
"I do remember that they said they were trapped before, with Rian. This could be the same thing that happened last week," Zach purposed.
"That makes sense. Do you think Euca could've followed them?" Miss Beron asked.
"It's possible. Euca could've gone with them, tailed a suspicious person, or went with Rian and Terrisa. Though, the concerning thing is that Euca could've also been the one to put it up. If I recall correctly, she said the kid trapped them," Zach listed out his thoughts.
"No, Euca wouldn't do that to them," Miss Beron shook her head.
"How do you know?" Zach tilted his head, his eyes still partially scanning the crowd.
"I know they're not that type of kid. Just like how I know that Rian and Terrisa will protect each other. And how I know Misty won't let anything happen to her friend," Miss Beron answered.
"Speaking of, how are you doing? I know you really get sad when she, uh, what's the word for it?" Zach said, scratching his head, trying to remember.
"Yeah, I'll be fine when we know they're safe. We should go check it out," Miss Beron hurriedly replied. Zach nodded in agreement. Just as they were starting to walk off, both of their phones received a text from Terrisa. Zach checked his, 1:30 PM - Zach, we're coming back. Euca MIGHT have been taken. We need to get Misty rn!!!
"Well, that sure complicated thing," Zach twirled his phone in his hand. Miss Beron's hand was covering her mouth.
"Oh no, the poor thing," Miss Beron's compassion-filled voice uttered. Zach could hear her breathing speeding up.
"Calm down, it's fine. Euca will be fine. After all, if you know Misty, you know that there's no way she would give up that easily in a game of tug o' war!" Zach pulled the best grin he could manage. He rubbed his wrist.
Miss Beron held her chest and started calming down. "You're right. How silly of me to forget," she smiled, "She really did kick your butt in tug of war, didn't she?"
"Hey now, we don't talk about that," Zach chuckled.
"Thank you, Zach," Miss Beron let out a small laugh.
"No problem. Though we need to focus up as soon as-" Zach was interrupted before he could finish it.
"Hey! We're back!" Terrisa shouted. Zach could see her dragging Rian towards them.
"Come to help us out of this pickle jar?" Zach waved. Terrisa continued past them without stopping.
"You both look worried. Is it because of Euca? No worries, we just need to get Misty. Then, we can rescue her," Terrisa announced.
"Er, well, about that," Zach started, following behind with Miss Beron.
"About what? Cough it up," Terrisa demanded.
"Well, aha. You see, there's this thing. It's called wood," Zach continued.
"Yeah, I know! What about woo-" Terrisa stopped midsentence, seeing the newly formed wall. Several thick branches covered in thorns were tangled together. The wall was abnormally sturdy to the point it was able to be climbed. "Oh, that wood."
"Yep, wall," Zach replied.
"Why can't this all just be some bad dream?" Rian let out a heavy sigh, walking up to the wall. He took his jacket off, and wrapped it around his hands, then grabbed the wall.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Miss Beron fumbled with her words.
"Getting over it. What does it look like?" Rian bluntly answered.
"You," Miss Beron hesitated, "You shouldn't do that, you could get hurt." She walked up to the wall and cupped her hands.
"What is she doing?" Zach asked, confused. Rian curiously looked across to Miss Beron.
"You're going to do it no matter what. So, let me give you a boost. This way, you'll get fewer cuts," Miss Beron explained.
"Oh! Then, let me," Terrisa took off her jacket and wadded it up a little. She placed it behind Miss Beron's neck. "To protect it from thorns, kinda."
"Oh, thank you, Terrisa. Now, hurry along," Miss Beron smiled. She cupped her hands and bent down so she could boost them up. Rian unwrapped his jacket from his hand and went first. He stepped onto their cupped hand. As Rian got boosted up, he tossed his jacket on top of the thorn wall. He then pulled himself over the jacket-covered thorn wall and landed on the other side.
"Make sure and use the jacket. Still hurts, though. I'm pretty sure I got a good amount of cuts," Rian instructed from the other side.
Zach looked at Miss Beron and sighed. "Thank you," He copied what Rian did, getting scraped on his way over the wall. He landed with a thud and stepped back to make sure Terrisa could land safely. Terrisa did just that, jumped over, and almost tumbled over upon landing. After regaining her balance with a sigh of relief, she flicked her wrists and inspected her hands for wounds.
"That stings," Terrisa grimaced. Even though the jacket kept them from getting major cuts, it didn't completely block the thorns. Terrisa pulled out her phone for a quick check, then started moving. Zach and Rian followed Terrisa through the funhouse forest. However, doubt was filling Zach's heart with each step. Did he want to know what happened? Zach was sure he wanted to know, yet he feared that they wouldn't know where to go with the information they find. They quickly arrived at the punching bag section of the funhouse. Zach kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Yet, even with his eyes peeled, the bags blocked his view for the most part.
Just as he was calming down, thinking that they may have over-reacted, he heard Rian, "Ow! My world, what was ... that?"
"What was what?" Zach asked, his body snapping towards Rian's approximate location. He couldn't see anything, so he tried walking closer and, ***THUD*** "OW!"
"Tree branch. And a punctured punching bag," Rian answered, a little too late. Zach's eyes had already fixated on the sand spilled on the ground. Zach's heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest, trying to escape. He staggered back, covering his mouth for a moment. Taking in some deep breathes, he started to speed up his movement through the forest. His steps were quick but heavy with emotion. Zach shoved the last bag out of his way, snapping the branch it was attached to and making it fall to the ground.
Zach suddenly felt his momentum shift as he felt himself get pulled backward. He caught himself with his foot then pivoted on it to face whatever pulled him, with a deadly glare on his face. "Who ar-" Zach's hostile confrontation stopped short when he realized it was Rian.
"You need to calm down, Zach. I know you and Misty are close, but this isn't you," Rian cautioned.
"What? I'm trying to save my friend as quickly as possible. Do you think I'm a heartless person or something," Zach argued. Zach was worried that Rian's stalling would lead to them losing Misty too. So, he tried to pull away, but Rian just pulled him closer and stared into his eyes. "Let me go."
"We need to move slowly," Rian started. Zach couldn't believe what he was hearing. Zach thought Rian would be at least somewhat concerned, yet he seemed only interesting in being careful.
"Why should we do that?! She could be in danger or hurt," Zach objected, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.
"Because we don't know what's out there. If we get ki-" Rian started.
"What was that?" Zach growled. The air around them was suffocating with tension.
"... If we get captured-" Rian tried to continue.
"That's not what you said. Tell me what you said, Rian," Zach demanded. Rian's eyes drifted towards the ground, his grip loosened. Zach jerked his arm away from Rian and started walking away. "You can be a selfish coward all you like. I'm going to go help my friend."
"You're not listening, Zach. I'm scared, alright! But not just for myself, I'm scared about the future! I don't want my friends to get hurt, and I don't want to get hurt! I'm scared of losing people I care about, and I'm scared of the future! Why do you think I'm always so lazy? I am and have been mortified of what's to come every single damn day! I've tried to ignore it, act like the future isn't scary. But I can't bring myself to believe the lies, so I gave up! I decided why would I try when it could simply be taken away in an instance!" Rian shouted with a sigh at the end. His speech was enough to make Zach freeze in his footsteps. It was a side of Rian that Zach didn't have a clue even existed. "However, I *need* to try for this. Because I'm tired of having to deal with this, and I've gotten pretty used to sleeping at our table at lunch. That includes the part where you *all* mess with me. So please, just trust me. I want to avoid all the jumpscares of life, and I want a happy ending. I might even try to do some work. Think of it like electronics if that helps, you can't just mess with the wires if you have no idea what they do, right?"
Zach breathed for a moment, absorbing everything Rian said. He let out a low somber chuckle, then turned to Rian. "You're right. I'm sorry. For a second there, I only saw red. Thanks for grounding me. I'll proceed with caution to avoid potential capture attempts," Zach reassured Rian. The tension slowly faded away.
Rian nodded, with a relieved laugh, "Cool. Thanks for listening. Well, after a couple of attempts."
"Let's agree we don't tell Misty and her friend about this?" Zach joked to help the tension.
"My lips are sealed. If you buy me a weighted blanket, of course," Rian added, picking up on Zach's attempt to lighten the mood. They both smiled, slightly worried but more confident now.
"So, you boys coming?" Terrisa called back to them. She had already gone a considerable distance while they were arguing. Zach facepalmed, and Rian rolled his eyes before they cautiously ran to catch up with Terrisa. The group cautiously moved through the eerily quiet maze of mirrors, letting out a sigh of relief when they made it out. This relief was brief as Terrisa pointed out a scrap of Misty's jacket at the base of a tree. "This is definitely Misty's."
"On the bright side, you'll be able to shop for a new one with her when this is over," Rian pointed. Zach sighed, a little too worried to join in on the conversation. Though, he was thankful that it wasn't bloody.
They slowly but surely approached the now deflated remains of the bouncy ball pit. Zach's dread made the colorful balls that surrounded the deflated castle feel almost like an insult. The unnatural branches held up the top part of the pit while the bottom had melted to the ground. The bouncy balls all scattered around the scene like they were desperate to escape. "This isn't a good sign." Terrisa pulled out her phone, quickly typing into it.
Rian approached the breached ball pit, kicking the small, plastic balls out of his way. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here," Rian started.
"Magic?" Zach questioned, looking at the middle, where a branch skewered the poor pit. It's not like it could've been much else. He slowly moved, wading through the balls on the ground.
"I'd assume so. Unless mother nature decided she hated ball pits. Which, I wouldn't blame her for, given how much plastic hurts her," Rian pointed out.
"You're about to get hurt by plastic if you keep joking at a time like this," Terrisa remarked.
"You're right. If I keep trying to distract myself, I might miss something important," Rian nodded, then closed his eyes. It looked like he was trying to recall something, a rare sight.
"Okay, so we're working off the assumption they probably took Misty and Eric, right?" Terrisa clarified.
"That seems like what must've happened. Otherwise, I just," Zach sighed, "I just don't know."
"Right. So, how would the kidnappers have dragged both of them away without leaving any tracks or sign of resistance other than this pit," Terrisa proposed as she finished a perimeter sweep of the ballpit. Zach looked at Terrisa with a look like a baby deer in headlights. He rushed over to each side of the ball pit, trying to find tracks leading away, but he didn't find any. "Already tried that, dude."
His brain took a second to process. Zach swiped through his memory until he found a piece that clicked in place. His brain formulated the hypothesis that the spell he and Misty saw earlier could've been created here. Zach immediately went to test this by firmly pressing his foot outside of the pit. He then picked his foot up, seeing no footprint. "Eureka! I figured it out!" Zach triumphantly stated before the realization kicked in. His fist slammed into the tree branch, making a loud thud. Despite how hard he hit the tree branch, though he could barely feel it because his burning fury was drowning it out. "I can't believe them! This stupid magic isn't even fair! Screw them! Screw them! Urgh!" He kicked the dirt furiously, "Change! Leave a mark already! Break you stupid spell!" He took a step back. Despite all his efforts, there was no trace of his kicks in the dirt. Zach felt like he was about to collapse to the ground. The despair he felt at that moment was overwhelming.
"Are you done? You gonna tell us what you found?" Terrisa questioned.
"That's cold," Rian pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just that time and information are two things we don't have much of right now," Terrisa countered.
"It's fine. I understand. I think they used a spell that well it hides any tracks within a certain radius," Zach explained. "Misty and I thought that it might also be hiding their base of operations."
"So, we can't find anything else here?" Terrisa checked. Zach didn't want to say no, so he just shook his head.
"Do you need a minute to compose yourself?" Rian asked.
Zach let out a sigh, "No, I'll be fine. But, if we could avoid talking as we walk back, it would be appreciated."
"I understand, but how are we gonna get back?" Rian softly inquired.
"Same way they got in, I'd assume. Rian, can you help me up to those magical branches?" Terrisa asked, standing on her tippy toes, trying to get on it. Rian looked over, and it looked like his brain stuttered for a second as he was trying to understand. Though, once it caught up, he helped boost Terrisa onto the branch and then climbing up onto it. Zach followed behind. They carefully balanced, with their arms spread out, as they carefully moved across the tree branch.
As they passed the thorn wall and jumped down, a wave of relief washed over them. They were still anxious, but at least no one fell victim to the thorns. They then all trudged through the forest to get back to Miss Beron. It seemed that she spotted them before they did her. She was already near the shrubs they were exiting.
"How are you all doing?" Miss Beron asked, not hiding her worried face.
Terrisa looked over at Rian and Zach, then turned back to Miss Beron. "We're not doing so hot. Misty and Eric might've met the same fate as Euca. I think it'd be beneficial if we get in the car, no radio, just silent driving," Terrisa purposed.
"Understandable. You can fill me in whenever you all feel up to it," Miss Beron compassionately agreed. Then she started walking to the car.
"That was uncharacteristically sympathetic of you," Rian pointed out.
"I'm trying, okay," Terrisa sighed. Rian nodded with a faint smile. The group slowly followed behind Miss Beron. A lot was still on Zach's mind, but he felt like he had to do something. While the car started to drive, Zach broke the silence that he requested.
"I... have... hm. I think I have a framework of a plan. But, I need you all to help me. It's definitely grasping at straws, but it's better than nothing," Zach said.
"Well, got nothing to lose," Terrisa said.
"Lay it on us," Rian agreed.
"Alright. So, here's the plan,"