Miles, Ellis, and Alice huddled on a couch in the Principal's office, feeling like they were on trial. Across the table, Captain Jack and Officer Thomas eyed them with suspicion and impatience.
The kids had been telling their story for the last half an hour, but the cops didn't seem to buy it.
"It was me and him, actually --" Ellis blurted out.
"He said he had a headache and wanted to go home alone," Alice chimed in, her voice trembling.
"I offered to go with him, but he said no. He said I should stay with the boys and have fun."
Captain Jack held up his hand. "Hold on, hold on. Slow down. (pointing sharply at Alice) You. You said he – who?"
"Sebastian," Alice said. "Sebastian Dominic. He's our friend."
"Was," Miles corrected.
Alice shot him a glare.
"Okay, so Sebastian said he had a headache and wanted to go home alone," Captain Jack repeated. "And where did he live?"
"On Independent Street," Alice said.
"And how did he get there?"
"He rode his bike," Ellis said.
"Through the woods," Alice added.
Captain Jack frowned. "The woods? What woods?"
Officer Thomas leaned forward. "You mean that creepy forest on the edge of town? The one that's off-limits after dark? The one that's right next to Sebastian's house? It's only a five-minute walk from there to the trees."
"We call it the Forbidden Forest," Ellis said.
Captain Jack and Officer Thomas exchanged a look.
"Why do you call it that?" Captain Jack asked.
The kids looked at each other nervously.
"Because of what's in there," Miles whispered.
Captain Jack raised his eyebrows. "Because of what's in there?" he asked.
"Because there are a bunch of dead bodies in there," Ellis said.
Captain Jack stared at him. He rubbed his chin, trying to recall the location of the forest.
"Yeah, I think I know where you mean," he said. He grabbed his hat from the table and stood up.
"Come on, Thomas. Let's go check it out."
"We can show you --" Miles said, jumping to his feet.
"I said I know it," Captain Jack snapped, pointing his finger at the kids. "You stay put."
"We could help look --" Alice said, her eyes pleading.
Captain Jack glared at her. He held her gaze for a long time, making her squirm.
"No," he said firmly. "After school, you go straight home. All of you. And don't you dare go near that forest? Do you hear me?"
He looked at the other boys. They nodded, but he could tell they were lying.
"This isn't some adventure story," he said. "This is serious. Your friend could be in danger. Or worse. So don't do anything stupid. Got it?"
The kids nodded again, but they had already made up their minds. They weren't going to sit around and wait for the cops to find Sebastian. They were going to find him themselves.
Meanwhile, at the junkyard near the school, Simon and his mother Margaret were searching for clues. They had been to every place where Sebastian and his friends usually hung out, but they had found nothing.
They shouted his name, hoping he would answer. They looked under piles of scrap metal, behind old cars, inside rusty barrels. But there was no sign of him.
"Where are you, son?" Margaret cried. "Where are you?"
"Sebastian? Sebastian?" Simon shouted, his voice echoing in the junkyard. He hoped his little brother would hear him and answer, but there was only silence.
He and his mother had been looking for Sebastian for hours, but they had found nothing. No trace of his bike, his backpack, or his jacket. Nothing.
"Mom, we should go back," Simon said. He looked at his mother, who was still digging through the trash. She looked exhausted and desperate. "He's not here, Mom. We've searched everywhere. You need to rest."
"No, no, we can't give up," Margaret said. "He has to be here. He has to be."
Simon sighed. He knew his mother was in denial. She couldn't accept that Sebastian was gone. That something terrible had happened to him.
"Mom, please," Simon said. "Let's go home. Maybe he's there. Maybe he came back while we were gone."
Margaret shook her head. "No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't leave us without a word. He wouldn't go into the forest."
Simon felt a chill run down his spine. The forest. The Forbidden Forest. That's where the kids said Sebastian had gone. That's where they said the dead bodies were.
"Mom, what if he did?" Simon asked. "What if he went into the forest?"
Margaret looked at him with horror. "Don't say that," she said. "Don't you dare say that?"
"But what if he did, Mom?" Simon pressed. "What if he's in there? What if he's in trouble?"
Margaret grabbed Simon by the shoulders. "Stop it, stop it!" she screamed. "He's not in there! He's not! He's here! He's here somewhere!"
She pushed Simon away and ran deeper into the junkyard, calling Sebastian's name.
Simon watched her go, feeling helpless and hopeless. He wanted to believe his mother. He wanted to believe that Sebastian was alive and well. But he couldn't.
He had a bad feeling about the forest.
A very bad feeling.