Hard Knock Life ~ Hayden Romero

5.3.2

Brett, Liam, Mason and I walk through the woods, Liam and I leading the way considering we were the ones that stumbled upon it before. "Sure you know where you're going?" Brett wonders. "I know where I am." Liam nods. "So do I. Middle of nowhere." Liam glares back at Brett as we hear a scream and a thump. "Guys?" Mason was nowhere to be seen.

I walk back, the other two following and we find a hole. Mason was staring up at us, rubbing his head in pain. "I think I found it." "See the necklace?" Mason turns on his phone flashlight, looking around. "No, I don't see it." Brett reaches down and pulls him out. He dusts himself off while I stare down into the hole confused.

"Liam, I...I thought you said this was a sinkhole." Mason crouches down to look down into it as Liam shrugs. "It's a hole. What's the difference?" Liam and Brett crouch down to get a better look as well. "I mean, look at all these handprints and look at all this dirt." Mason motions around the hole. "She didn't fall in here." "She was buried" Liam and I say at the same time in realization. "Intense" Mason nods.

Liam jumps down into the hole, digging around while we watch. Eventually, he shakes his head with a frown. "Why isn't it here?" "She probably came back for it." Brett sighs. "That doesn't make sense. When she was in class earlier, she didn't seem like she was actually there. It was more like she was dreaming or something. In a different world. Which would also mean she wouldn't have known where the necklace was or probably even thought about it" I explain while Liam jumps out of the hole.

"You think Tracy was in a dream?" Brett asks and I nod. "When Scott came in, it was like she was seeing someone else approaching her. That's why she had tight holds on Hayden and I. She was scared" I bring up. "I don't think this is the one." Liam suddenly says. "What do you mean?" Mason asks.

"It was closer to the bridge. Much closer. This is a different hole." Liam explains. "Then who crawled out of this one?" Mason wonders. We all look around the forest before I shrug. "If you don't think this is the one, it won't hurt to keep looking, right?" I start to walk again and they follow me. This was gonna be a while.

~~~

Apparently, while we were out in the forest, Tracy had attacked the sheriff's station, going after Lydia's mom. She managed to stab Lydia with her tail, who was now in the hospital. Liam and I walk into the hospital with Scott after we explain everything we found out in the woods.

"Tracy was buried?" Scott asks confused and we both nod. "In a hole. Buried alive. Crawled out. Then we found another hole." Liam explains. "Who was buried in that one?" Scott asks. "We haven't figured that out yet but we might want to" I chime in.

After a ride in the elevator, we walk down the hall where the rest of the pack was. "So, that gross stuff on your shirt came from Tracy?" I ask curiously as I point around Scott's collar. "Yeah, it's where her tail was" Scott nods. "Sick" I nod. "Theo, nice going on that tourniquet. You probably saved her life." Melissa tells Theo as we stand around Scott's mom.

Melissa looks around at all of us. "All right. She's about to go into surgery. So it's going to be a while. Any other supernatural details that I need to know about or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?" Melissa asks. "It was the tail." Kira pipes up. "Yeah, Tracy cut her with the tail, if that makes a difference." Scott adds. "Okay" Melissa leaves us.

"But it wasn't just Tracy. There were the others. The guys in the masks" Liam and I share a look. Guys in masks? Something was definitely going on around here. Not gonna lie, this town has had more problems than I've ever had to face in my entire life. And I've hardly even been here! Not that I didn't have problems during my lifetime, supernatural or otherwise. I shudder at the thought. No, it's time to make newer, better memories. No looking into the past, only into the future from now on.