"Not sure if I should show you want I found." -Arctic Monkeys, Fireside

AT THE SOUND OF MOLLY'S SCREAM, JAS AND I ARE out of our seats an instant. We almost bump into Molly as we run out of the kitchen. She's pacing the living room, face pale and one hand slapped over her mouth. The other hand is holding her phone to her ear. Judging by the expression of horror painted across her face, she's not getting good news.

Molly suddenly drops her phone, scooping up the car keys laying on the coffee table. She turns to us, an unexplainable wild look in her eyes. "Get in the car," she says. "They found Ford's jacket in the forest."

Jas and I don't have to be told twice. We follow Molly out of the clutter-filled home, practically shaking in anticipation. If it weren't for my subconscious making my legs move, I would have been frozen. I'm not exactly sure how to take the news, not even sure if it's good or bad, so I just take it silently, with a fear threading in my bones.

Molly takes her place in the front, Jas and I climbing into the back. The car whirrs to life, Molly sparing no time to pull out of the driveway and start driving. I'm not familiar with the direction we're heading, so I clear my throat, "Molly? Where did they find his jacket?"

"Barton's Forest."

Oh. Oh shit.

Barton's Forest is what surrounds our town. It's a huge span of trees that coats tons and tons of high and rocky hills. People love going hiking there, given that they actually know their way around, since there's no trails. It's as natural as breathing to get lost in there, which is pretty much why no one is allowed to go in there. If they found Ford's jacket in there... it could mean anything. A wild animal could have gotten to him, he could have gotten lost, or he could have... he could have hiked the cliff, which just a five minute walk from the top is the highway out of here.

Did he really just leave? I know that he isn't all that fond of this town, but to think that he just randomly got up and left- it didn't add up. None of this adds up.

The car ride is agonizing, and by the time we make it to the part of Barton's Forest Molly had been told to go, I'm practically leaping out of the car before its even parked. There's several police cars outside, who immediately make their way to the car once we pull in. Officer Jones from school earlier today approaches Jas and I, while the rest make their way to Molly.

"Evening, ladies," Officer Jones says.

"What did they find?" I demand, getting right to it. "Anything else besides his jacket?"

"Just that," he shakes his head. "We're having a search party out right now to look for anything else. Want to go?"

Jas looks taken aback. "Are you... serious?"

"We need all the help we can get," Officer Jones admits. "Keep your cellphone on you at all times, and if you find something don't touch it, or else it'll have your fingerprints on it, and that could turn problematic." He reaches back into his bag. "Here's two flashlights and extra batteries. Be back before nine-thirty, or else we're going out to look for you. Don't go too far."

Officer Jones then turns around to talk to someone us, leaving Jas alone to just stare at each other in surprise. We don't question it, though; after shooting our parents a quick text, Jas and I are clicking on our flashlights and heading in.

Barton's Forest is creepy. The trees are tall, most of them looking ready to fall over, the floor is rocky and uneven, and the wind adds an uncomforting, almost scary element. If not for the flashlights, I wouldn't have agreed to gone (not that I really agreed, either way) because it would have been almost impossible to take a step without falling on my face.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Jas mutters. Thankfully, she had switched out of her heels before going to Molly's, but her Vans still aren't the greatest for hiking. "Where to?"

"Up the hill?" I suggest.

Jas grumbles something underneath her breath, but lets me take the lead. Even in my combat boots, I have trouble getting up the rocky hill, using tree branches to help pull me up. I have to stop and wait a couple of times for Jas to keep up. The grip on my flashlight stays tight as I make my way up, illuminating the way in front of me.

"Ava, this is really scary," Jas says behind me, sounding out of breath. "What if- oh, I don't know- Ford went out for a stroll in the forest, and some dude came and killed him. Don't you think the killer will still be here? And don't two, young, innocent, beautiful girls seem like great next victims?"

I snap. Stopping in my advances up, I put my weight on one foot to look down on her. "Stop doing that. You, James, Luke- you all talk about Ford like he's already dead. He's not, okay? We have no proof he's dead. So just stop."

Jas' brown eyes study me in a calculating fashion. She holds my gaze for a good fifteen seconds, before finally dropping it, heaving a deep breath and exasperatingly putting one foot in front of the other, climbing her way up.

"Fine," she says. "That doesn't change the fact I'm nervous. Let's talk about something. Anything."

"How's things with James?" I ask, gripping a branch to help pull myself forward.

"Good. He's off at Carl's tonight, though, I think."

"Carl Princeton?"

"Carl Yu."

"Oh," I say. I let the flashlight shine in front of me, as the hill finally begins to get a little less steep and allows my calves some rest. "Carl Princeton annoys me."

"Carl Princeton annoys everyone," Jas says, joining me at the top. We begin to make our way through the maze of trees, Jas swearing every now and then when a branch hits her in the face. "Hey, have you been keeping track of which way we're going?"

"Um," I say.

"Yeah, me neither."

My eye suddenly catches a beam of light peering through the bushes. Jas' hand is instantly clenched around my forearm, holding on for dear life. I have to admit- it's kind of freaky. I think it's just the moonlight illuminating off something before it begins to move forward, closer to us, growing bigger and bigger. Then the sound of voices appear.

The sound of laughter.

Mr. and Mrs. Harrison appear out of the bushes, laughing and chatting to each other. As soon as they see us, the explode in choruses of exclamations, causing for Jas to sigh in relief and drop her grip from my arm. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison are the friendliest couple this town has to offer- constantly helping out with community work and handing out cookies just for fun.

"Should you girls really be outside at this time?" Mrs. Harrison asks, a smile in her voice as she points down her flashlight to keep from blinding us.

"We're helping with the search part," I explain.

Mr. Harrison is the next to smile, but his smile is more grim. "Ah, yes. Us too. I hope we find the poor boy before something happens to him."

"Do you happen to know where they found his jacket?" Jas asks.

Mrs. Harrison nods. "Right by the entrance, where the police cars were parked. It wasn't quite on the road, but you could see it from the road."

I bite down on my lip, nodding. Maybe there's no point in looking here, and we'll have better luck closer to where they found the jacket. "Have you found anything?" I ask.

They shake their heads. I sigh heavily, nodding my head, almost in defeat. We exchange goodbyes (not before a couple of hugs) and Mr. and Mr. Harrison go their separate ways. Jas sighs, waving her flashlights around a little to trace drawings on the floor with it.

"What do you want to do?" she asks. "Head back?"

"Let's check around here a little more, and if we don't find anything after ten minutes, we'll try looking close to the area they found his jacket."

"If we can even find our way back," Jas mutters, but doesn't protest. We continue to search. I almost want to give up and say to head back, but I don't. A feeling is constantly nagging on my mind; like if I stay here for ten minutes, and then give up, I miss the opportunity of finding something if I had searched just a minute longer. Or maybe it's a lost cause, and I'm wasting time up here.

Luckily for me, Jas doesn't nag me. She just trusts me, and lets me do what's right, even when we continue searching for much more than ten minutes. And maybe my gut feeling was right, because only five minutes later, Jas ends up whispering, "Oh, shit. Oh shit. Ava, get over here."

I almost drop my flashlight spinning around and running to Jas. Once I reach her and see what she's shining her flashlight on, though, I almost regret it. I slap a hand over my mouth. "Oh my God."

The jewellery box Ford and I made. Covered in blood.

Sorry for the short chapter! I haaaaad to end it though. If any of you have read the Mystery of Edwin Drood, you know why I added this in, but otherwise, keep reading to find out c:

If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a COMMENT AND VOTE to let me know what you think! It's two am rn but that's ok bc syd and i are staying up until three am wish us luck

Love you alll (: xoxo