||What Lies Under|| - Salvis

Chapter XIII

    The next morning, Sal stays behind Travis with Phillip as they are led through the forest, looking around all the trees and patches of grass for an area. Phillip stumbles against a tree root, and Sal looks down to the root and follows it to the tree. He waves over Phillip, gesturing for him to hide the key there. Phillip scrambles to grab out the key from his pocket, placing it against the roots of the tree and running with Sal to catch up to Travis. "What took you both so long?" Travis mumbles, still annoyed from yesterday.
    "We saw a frog, and Phillip kinda ran to go get it. We lost it though." Sal lies, a hint of fake embarrassment in his tone for Travis to hear.
    Travis nods in response, not up for anymore conversation. Phillip plays with the necklace around his neck, fidgeting nervously and looking away. Something feels off about this situation. Why did Travis freak out so much over the necklace? Why does it look so much like Travis's? Why did he say it was dangerous to have it on him? So many thoughts run through his mind, making his head spin. "You alright?" Sal whispers to Phillip, nudging him out of his thoughts.
    "Mhm!" Phillip says quickly, shaking his head quickly and smiling even though his anxiety spikes with each step closer to the cabin.
    He doesn't want to return it. He wants answers. So he decides to speak up on it. "I have so many questions, Sal. All left unanswered." he mutters, and Sal lightly smiles through his eyes. "I understand. Maybe at one point you'll get those answers, but right now, it's too risky." he says, trying to be reassuring, though it only makes Phillip question even more.
    "But why is it risky? What are we in danger from?"
    Sal and Travis both stop in their tracks, stunned from the question as they both stare at Phillip, then glancing at each other. Obviously they were caught off guard. "I... we can't tell you that." Travis chimes in, being the first to speak after the long silence.
    Sal nods in agreement to his words, immediately finding a distraction. "Oh! We are here." he hums, pausing in his steps.
    Phillip looks ahead of him, dreading when he sees the cabin. "I guess we should go inside." he mutters, and he feels a light pressure from behind him pushing him to the cabin. He checks behind him, seeing Travis with his arms crossed. "Go on, you took the necklace, so you lead the way to return it Pip."
    Phillip stares at him in shock, Sal carrying a similar reaction to Travis's behavior. "O-okay." Phillip stammers, turning back around and walking into the cabin.
    He barely hears the other part of the group behind him as he walks past the kitchen. He doesn't look around, having seen it all the day before, just walking. Keeping one step in front of the other. He hears two pairs of faint footsteps all the way behind him, and he swallows thickly. Quiet and hushed whispers fill the air, but he ignores them. Keep walking. Eventually he sighs, going past the bedroom and to the hidden door he had found before. He looks back, seeing Sal seeming to try to convince Travis of something, though it is unclear as to what. He grips the door handle, opening the door and realizing he had forgotten to lock it last time he had been there. He walks into the room, noticing how the energy of it has changed. Something is different, but what? He turns on his heel, seeing Travis waiting in the doorway but not daring to take another step. He is waiting for Phillip to do this himself. Phillip sighs, walking back to the chair. The sheet is stapled back to the chair. He freezes, his face twisted into a confused expression. It wasn't like this before. He quickly scans the room, also patting the chair's sheet. The book is gone. He stops moving completely, watching the chair. Someone was here. He walks back to the doorway, where Travis is standing. "Well?'' Travis asks, tilting his head to the side.
    "Someone was here." Phillip answers, seeing Sal behind Travis as he was waiting.
    Both Travis and Sal don't respond, not expecting the answer and peering into the room. Phillip moves out of the way for Travis to see, and he shifts from one foot to the other. What the fuck is going on? Travis walks into the room, rushing out not even five minutes later and not stopping to speak. Sal and Phillip follow behind, unsure why he is running. They get out of the cabin, sprinting through the woods, Sal and Phillip just trying to catch up to Travis. Travis finally stops in his tracks, trying to breathe and not panic as much. "Trav! What's wrong?" Sal shouts, being the first to catch up.
    "We need to go. Someone is back, a member came back to the area. They know the necklace and such is gone and they took the book." Travis says, coughing and feeling the chilling wind against his ears.
    Sal pauses, hearing Phillip finally get to them, inhaling slowly. In for 5, out of 5. He tells himself, refusing to get worked up. They need to plan for what next. "What is going on, you two?! You can't keep me in the dark about this, something has been happening. And obviously it's not good. I don't ever see you guys nowadays and now you refuse to let me go exploring by myself either! Ever since I found that abandoned church." Phillip says, refusing to get his breathing back to normal, filled with emotions.
    Nothing has been right since then, since Kenneth went to jail and he found that area. They have been hiding it all. Travis looks at him, hands on his knees as he breathes, staring up at him in shock. Sal wears a matching look in his eyes, half leaned against a tree and his hair frizzy. Travis is the first to stand all the way up, sighing and starting to speak. "Pip, it's too dangerous–"
    "I don't care! Sal knows as well as you do. You guys are "hiding stuff" even in plain sight, yet still expect me to understand when you restrict me from my own personal things that make me me!" Phillip shouts, angry tears welling up in his ocean blue eyes.
    The two people he trusts the most, hiding everything. Sal walks over to Phillip, carefully trying not to set him off, as if he was a bomb just waiting to be set off. He slowly puts his hand on his shoulder, Phillip flicking his hand off however. He watches the smaller boy intently, waiting for him to say something next. "We will slowly have more things make sense. But you have to trust us in this. We can take you exploring to a different abandoned place tomorrow if you really want. Hiding things is far from just dangerous. It's just keeping things hidden that never should have been uncovered in the first place. Does that make sense? We didn't mean to offend you, I promise." Sal says, trying to bargain with him, ignoring the look of disapproval from Travis from behind him.
    They need Phillip's trust, and for him to believe, at the very least he has to think they're telling him things. Phillip relaxes, dipping his head and wiping his eyes, nodding slowly. "Fine. okay."
    Sal smiles, glancing behind him to Travis. They did it.

Word count: 1272 words