This was my sixth (and probably the last) attempt to push open the car door, which at that moment was all I could've opted for even if the car was moving. I was so sure I'd get out this time. So sure.

But to my utter dismay, the door didn't budge at all.

"Unlock the fucking door, Caden!" I shouted out loud in frustration.

Caden glanced at me from the driver's seat and just that one glance told me how much he actually regretted bringing me along. Which brought me back to the fact that he had dragged me out of school without asking me, against my free will, and during my only free period. He had forced me to get inside his car as he drove to God knows where.

"I'm not doing that, Anderson." He muttered, looking into the rearview mirror.

I tried opening the door once again. Of course, I knew it wouldn't open. Caden must've operated the child lock. But if I panicked enough, maybe he would realize how wrong this really was, and maybe he'd finally tell me what was going on.

Which wasn't what happened at all.

"Why not?"

"I can't." He gritted out.

That's when I let go of the door handle and gazed outside the car window. There was true horror creeping inside me once I saw the unfamiliar surroundings. We were nowhere near our school, or my home even. The road was leading to nowhere in particular.

Where were the people?

"Caden, you're really scaring me now," I whispered. Where was he planning to take me? I thought we were past that whole hostile stage after he'd dropped me back home last night. After our conversation on the school grounds. Everything had seemed so fine until it wasn't.

Had he finally realized that telling me about the gang secret was a wrong move? Had I said something to him last night when he'd dropped me back home, that made him realize he needed to shut me up for good?

"Stop--" He frowned. "--over exaggerating this, Skylar."

I looked at him unbelievably. "I'm not over exaggerating this! You just dragged me along without even telling me where you're taking me. You just made me skip school." I blinked and wrapped my arms around myself in horror. "I don't even know what's going on."

He didn't even bother looking at me this time, speeding down the oddly isolated highway. He was driving too fast; the tall trees outside were passing by in a blur.

"There's someone behind us."

"What do you mean someone's behind us?"

"Someone's been following us. Following you. Stalking you. Better?"

I regarded him with a glare. When he made no move to elaborate it any further, I turned my head around and looked outside. Along the empty road behind us, there was a black motorcycle. Following us.

"Who is he?" I asked him in a quiet whisper.

I couldn't make out the guy from this far except for his huge motorcycle, but I could see he had a black hood over his face, shadowing it. Either Caden was driving way too fast, or the guy on the motorcycle was driving way too slow. Definitely the former.

"He's following us because of you," Caden added. "He's been told to stalk you."

I looked back at him in bewilderment. "Don't talk crazy."

"Do you think I have the time to talk crazy?" He asked in disbelief as he gripped the steering wheel.

I found myself looking back at the black motorcycle that was still following us. He was getting closer and I could almost make out the grim expression on his face now.

Following us. Following me. Maybe Caden was right.

I slumped back in my seat, all hopes of escaping from this car vanishing into thin air. My heart started racing anxiously. This was bad. Really bad. I didn't even want to imagine the situation if that guy caught up to us.

"Why has he been told to stalk me?" I asked after a moment of silence. I knew the answer to that of course, at least partially.

"I don't know." He replied.

A small shiver ran down my spine and I clasped my hands on my lap. "Is it the...locker thing?"

Caden passed me a small glance, his brows furrowed in concentration. "Maybe."

Maybe.

Of course, it was about that stupid fucking locker. What was so special about it that guys in black hoods were stalking me now? What was in it that my own parents were shutting me out? Maybe I should've done something this morning, pressed more onto this whole locker thing so that Mom and Dad would've told me something about it.

I was about to look over my shoulder once again, at the motorcycle following us, when Caden brought the car to an abrupt halt. My eyes widened in response as I clutched onto my seat. "What happened?"

"Get out." Was all he said before getting out himself, slamming the door shut behind him.

I eyed him in shock. Why had he stopped the car? What was he doing?

"I don't want to die, Caden!" I yelled in frustration.

He looked back at me from the rolled-up window and soon enough, his face fell into another look of disbelief. I might've looked out of the window to catch a sight of that motorcycle guy, but that didn't happen when Caden rounded to my door and yanked it open.

I jumped a little in surprise.

"What the fuck do you not understand when I say get out?" He glowered and grabbed my wrist, before pulling me out.

I stumbled and barely managed not to fall face-first on the ground only because of Caden's grip on my wrist. I might've even started cussing out some not so nice profanities if I hadn't noticed that we were indeed in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

Caden's car was the only car I could make out miles around here. There were no signs of a single human being except for us. And the trees were everywhere. Tall and spooky and certainly home to all kinds of dangerous animals.

I was spooked out and I still needed to nurse my hungover headache. I could've easily passed out right here.

"Come on." Caden broke me out of my thoughts with a gentle tug on my wrist before heading straight for the trees. The fucking woods. And I didn't even get to react when I was dragged along. I only managed to take a quick peek over my shoulder, trying my best not to trip, and saw the familiar black motorcycle speeding towards Caden's car. That's all I saw before the tall bushy trees swarmed all around us.

"Caden." I tried catching up with his long strides but it was really, really hard. "Why can't we confront him?"

Either he didn't hear me, or he chose not to answer.

"I believe..." I breathed out heavily, pushing past hundreds of thorny twigs. "...we can talk it out."

"And I believe you need to shut the hell up before I leave you here all alone."

I panicked and tugged onto his hold around my wrist. I wasn't expecting him to let go. But he did, and I stumbled back and got a handful of more tiny scratches past my skirt and against my legs.

"Skylar--"

"No, Caden." I winced. "How would we...this is...we'd get lost in here. It'll be dark in a few hours and we won't be able to get out. How will we get out? What if we do and that guy is just waiting for me at my house?"

Caden stared at me with a furrow in between his brows.

"I'm just freaking out." I breathed out, looking at him in panic, my heart racing so wildly inside my chest. Something was crawling up my leg and I think I might've just screamed right then.

Only if Caden hadn't taken my hand once again, in a much gentler grip this time, his green eyes staring right into my own.

"I'll make sure you're safe." He said, slowly and carefully, and with a hint of impatience. "I promise, okay?"

A beat of silence passed by.

My eyes widened and I nodded. "But what if he catches up to us?"

"I'll still make sure you get out safe."

My heart was still racing, but not so much with fear now.

"Why?" My voice fell to a confused whisper. Because I didn't understand. And I hated when I couldn't understand. "You can just leave me here." And not care. Did he have something in it? Something that he wanted with that guy? Something that he wanted from me?

Caden kept staring and for a small alarming moment, I thought I'd been here before. Not in this forest, but in front of him. His eyes. Looking into them so close.

There was a rustle behind me and I jumped a little.

He let out a huff of breath that sounded more like a laugh out of pure frustration. "I just fucking might, Anderson," He told me, "if you don't start moving. Less talking, more walking, okay?"

I could only nod in response.

We swerved past hundreds of more trees and the deeper we dwelled, the more I panicked.

Caden, however, made sure to drag me right behind him. I tried to keep our conversation going throughout, hoping he'd answer some of my questions, but each time my face almost got smashed into one of those tree barks. So I didn't bother asking him anything after that, mostly because I preferred my head intact.

Few minutes later, which felt like a whole painful eternity to me, we finally saw a clearing in between the tall trees which were surrounding every side of us. I was breathing quite heavily when Caden stopped walking, and it took me by surprise just as much as him when I slammed right into his back and fell down on my butt.

The landing was on a bed of fallen leaves which should've been uncomfortable, but really wasn't.

I didn't make a move to get up.

"I'm exhausted." I moaned and slumped down, my legs aching in protest.

Caden turned around and looked down at me in surprise. "We can't stay here."

I sighed in response. "I've never walked this long in my entire life."

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, towering over me.

"I wonder why they're even looking for a lazy-ass person like you." He spoke out loud.

I gave him a wounded look, which was mostly a glare. "For your information, this lazy-ass person knows how to throw a punch too."

I was lying. It was still fresh in my memory how badly I'd sprained my wrist when I tried punching someone in middle school. Don't know how that happened, but it had hurt like a bitch. I had vowed to avoid punching people after that.

But Caden didn't know that.

"Of course, you do." He murmured and I didn't fail to notice one corner of his lips tugging upwards in a smirk.

I stared at him, and when it became evident that I was staring, I slumped down and looked up at the cloudy sky. The sun was going down. There were just trees around. And Caden.

How did we end up here?

I wish I had my phone so I could call Alex. My free period must've ended by now. Alex must've been looking for me already. He'd be worried. I didn't even know what time it was right now.

"Are we planning to stay here till it gets dark, Anderson?" Caden directed the sarcastic remark at me, pulling out his hand from his jacket pocket and holding it out towards me.

My eyes slowly trailed down from his face to his outstretched hand. And then my eyes widened a little in surprise.

Caden was giving me his hand.

Caden Miller--the boy with a really mean attitude who had never helped me up whenever I fell down in the school hallways. The same Caden who never helped anyone. It felt like a...fucking honour at this point.

Caden was being civil. Which, I guess, must mean something did happen at the party last night. Why else would he be helping me right now when he'd asked me to stay out of his business?

Sliding my hand into his, which was surprisingly warmer than my own, I let him pull me up. He let go of my hand then and I don't know why my cheeks burned. I dusted myself off and inhaled a deep breath.

"So...what now?" I asked, looking around. "What do we do now? I don't actually know this place."

I had absolutely no idea where we were even. The road didn't look to be leading to our small little town, and we were probably already past Crestmont Hill. All I could see was another road leading to an equally deserted land--or at least that's what it looked to me.

I faced Caden once again as he took out his phone. The moment he switched it on, it died down and the screen went black.

"We look for a place to stay." He looked down at his phone with a small frown. "And a phone charger."

No car. No phone. Nothing familiar.

We were so lost.

_______

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,

Crystal 🌿