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No sign of the thing that tried to take me.
“We made it,” Anthony says. “It’s okay. We made it out.”
I nod. We’re safe. We’re on the other side. It’s gone. We broke a rule, but we escaped the consequences. It’s fine.
I almost believe it.
“Where’s everyone else?” I ask.
“Right behind us,” Anthony says. “Just give them a minute.”
And so we wait.
VIDEO EVIDENCE
Retrieved from the cell phone of Kyle Jeffries
Recorded April 19, 2017, 12:51 a.m.
The phone records only flat black. The sound of footsteps and breathing can be heard.
KYLE: I can’t see anything. I can’t even see the screen.
TRINA: Just hold on. That’s—that’s—
KYLE: Twelve. One more. You can do it.
TRINA: I can do it? Isn’t this hard for you?
KYLE: I’ve kind of got a lot of practice lately ignoring my brain’s bad ideas.
Trina laughs, a strangled sound, and then light floods into the camera. Everything is a blur as it adjusts; the forest is dimly lit when it settles, Anthony and Sara barely shadows ahead.
ANTHONY: Are you guys okay? Did you let go?
KYLE: Trina kept trying. Nice to finally be better at something than my sister.
TRINA: Shut up. Crap. I feel like I’m going to puke.
SARA: Me too. The others—
As if on cue, Jeremy, Mel, and Miranda stumble out of the wall of darkness. Jeremy pulls free of Mel with a string of curses, and vomits, bending over the side of the stone road. Melsinks into a crouch, hands over her eyes, and Miranda steps away, pulls into herself.
Silence falls. Waiting gains a sharp edge. Mel is breathing through her teeth, gaze tipped up toward the stars. Sara wraps her arms around her middle, her hair hanging in front of her face, staring at the wall of dark. Ten seconds pass. Twenty. Thirty.
ANTHONY: Maybe we should go back in. They might have—you almost got lost, Sara.
TRINA: What?
ANTHONY: She let go.
SARA: I didn’t let go. I don’t think I let go.
ANTHONY: One of us did. The point is you went out ahead without me.
Sara swallows, nervous. But Trina’s expression betrays only concern.
TRINA: Are you okay? What happened?
