──────── Chapter three, beaches
𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"(beaches -beabadoobee)"

METAL CREAKED AS VAN STUFFED INTO THE GROUND, "DEVON AMBROSE" ETCHED ACROSS IT, PER AKILAH'S REQUEST. Devon wasn't dead until they found his body, that's what Seraphina told, but Akilah's tears were enough for her solemnly agree. Devon was usually back after two days.

"Right before we took off, I heard Rachel say that she was going to see Oasis at the Meadowlands next month. Now she's never gonna hear Wonderwall again." Van cleared her throat.

"Let's join hands. We'll pray for them." Laura Lee nodded. Lottie and Jackie's hands interlocked in front of Seraphina's, supplying no comfort. "Rachel, you just moved up from JV, so we didn't really know you...."

Laura Lee faded out slowly. Seraphina's thoughts were much louder, overbearing. Though less complex than God, they always made her stomach twist and tie itself into a knot.What color was Dev wearing? She couldn't remember. How could she forget about him so easily?

"I'm going for a walk." Seraphina told, trudging off into the trees. Her chest hurt, like how she fell at a game and the wind blew out of her. She should've socked that girl right on her nose, she should've knocked her down and kicked her spine until it snapped. That's not nice. Since when was that not nice?

SERAPHINA DIDN'T KNOW HOW FAR SHE HAD TRAVELED, ALL SHE KNEW WAS THAT IT HAD BEEN HOURS. Maybe his shirt was purple, with the picture of Selena on it. He would've worn it to impress Mari. It would've made her cry.

She peered around the trees, still calling for her brother. A light reflected, big and blue with clashing waves against rocks. A lake. She was sure of it.

Seraphina spun back around, running the exact same way she came. That tree, she passed the tree with the symbol.

Heads turned quickly toward her as she got closer. "I saw a lake" Seraphina coughed slightly. "It's, like, four or five miles away."

"Could we hike it?" Taissa asked, fixing the unbuttoned-button down that was draped over her WHS t shirt.

"It was pretty downhill and rocky, but yeah." Seraphina told, cracking her knuckles. Jackie looked inbetween the two, her expression disapproving.

"We can't just.. leave?" Jackie shrugged.

"We've got two days of water, tops. And then what? We just sit around and die?" Taissa rose an eyebrow, standing up.

"Nobody is dying. I mean, what about the rescue team?" Jackie's hand went to her hip, the other hanging loosely by her side.

"Do you think they're taking their time on purpose?" Taissa asked. The group fell into a silence, looking around at each other aimlessly.

"What about Devon? He could still be out here." Mari asked, eyebrows furrowed. Taissa sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Mari— We buried him." Taissa told. "And I sympathize with that fact, but we can't wait here."

"What do you think, Coach?" Jackie turned around, dismissing the silence.

"I don't— I don't know. Uh, I mean, you'd have to leave me behind, I guess, but whatever." Coach leaned away from Misty who waiting expectantly.

"We could make you a stretcher." Taissa declared. Jackie snickered in disbelief. "I'm serious. If we take turns carrying it..."

"No.  This-this is bullshit. I say no. Okay? No way." Jackie frantically shook her head, arms crossing defensively.

"Let's put it to a vote. All in favor for the lake?" Taissa insisted. Majority raised their hands. Seraphina didn't move, both choices were bad. Staying meant keep looking for Dev but slowly dying, the other meant leaving Dev and finding water.

"It's settled. Grab your shit." Taissa smirked.

THE TRAIL WAS FILLED OF SMALL CONVERSATIONS AND THE CRUNCH OF LEAVES. Akilah jogged up beside Seraphina, a frown on her face.

"Sera." Akilah mumbled, hands holding her backpack. Seraphina didn't turn her head, humming in response.

Akilah didn't try to talk after, just stared ahead, copying her sister.

Seraphina wasn't the oldest. Jessie was older by almost ten years, she had a son who was only four months old. Jessie was nicer than Seraphina, sweeter to the twins. She always had a more maternal instinct.

She had never liked Seraphina. Never felt the need to care for her like any other children.

"What's that smell?" Lottie asked from the very front of the line, plugging her nose with her hand. As the group passed the corner, they were met with a mauled bear, intestines and organs spilled across the dirt surrounding it. Each person let out their own sound of disgust.

"What could've done that?" Akilah asked, voice barely a whisper.

"A wolf, probably. They can kill anything if the pack is big enough." Coach Scott mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"That's so creepy." Akilah shivered, picking up her pace and catching up to Mari, leaving Seraphina, which she took no offense to.

"This shit is way longer than four miles. What if we missed it?" Natalie scoffed, trudging up beside Taissa.

"From the angle of the sun it looked just left of due north." Seraphina told, Van looked down at the planes compass briefly, a worried sigh escaping.

""Left." That's a precise way of doing it." Jackie poked, dragging her suitcase behind her.

"I'm not a cartographer." Seraphina rolled her eyes. Jackie spun around quickly, face sour.

"Or maybe you saw a mirage." Jackie scoffed.

"Oh, hell yeah, bitches!" Van shouted, dropping everything and springing ahead. Seraphina faced forward again. She did remember.

She ran ahead, girls stripping down to bras and underwear, shivering as they ran into the water.

Seraphina sat on the shore, the water lapping at her ankles as she watched the various games that were being played in the water. Taissa lowered herself next to Seraphina.

"We're lucky you found this place." She whispered, eyeing Van who had Shauna above her shoulders. Seraphina looked off at the tree line across the lake, looking for that purple shirt.

Misty giggled, making Taissa and Seraphina look behind them. "If that girl poured water on my head, coach wouldn't be the only one missing a limb." Seraphina scoffed.

"Guys! Look." Lottie pointed up at a mountain. "It's a reflection." People hurried out of the water, snatching their stuff off of the ground and running up the hill.

"ITS HERE!" Shauna yelled, running up to the cabins window and banging on it, though nobody responded from inside.

Taissa pushed the door open, a terrible stench flying out of the door. Seraphina walked in behind her, nose scrunched as a deer head stared at her.

The cabin was gloomy, gray and dusty with rotten food left on the table. Jackie ran out of the pantry with a can of food in her hands.

"That's not your personal buffet." Taissa yelled as Jackie dropped the can, green sludge dumping onto the floor.

"See! This is why we should have stayed in the plane." Jackie stomped her foot, voice cracking ever so slightly.

"Well, we didn't. So this is helping how exactly?" Seraphina crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised. Jackie scoffed, hurrying out of the cabin.

Van appeared from the back of the cabin, a smile on her face while she slammed a pile of magazines onto a table. "Well, hello. Don't worry, guys. We may be stuck in the middle of nowhere, but atleast theres porn."

Seraphina made a grossed out sound, walking out of the cabin as the girls murmured while turning the pages. She stood on the porch, searching the brush for Devon.

There was thud in the clearing, Javi was was on the dirt, hair ruffled. Travis stood over him, eyes narrowed and fists balled.

Is that how she looked to others when she would be angry at her siblings?

THE SUN WAS DOWN, THE ONLY LIGHT SOURCE OF LIGHT IN THE CABIN COMING FROM A POORLY MADE FIRE. Seraphina sat contently in the corner, back stiffly rested against the stone of the fireplace facing the window so she could watch for Devon.

She glanced down at Akilah who was sleeping a few inches away, muttering something before flipping away to face Mari.

"Looking out of a window all night isn't gonna make him appear." Travis told across the cabin, arms crossed as Javi looked up at him. "We buried him. He's dead."

"We don't know that." Seraphina rolled her eyes, still peering out of the window. There was a movement in the bushes, subtle. Not enough to be Devon.

"We do. You just don't want to accept it." Travis told, voice blunt and uninterested in the reason, just looking for the chance to annoy someone further.

"Does it bother you?" Seraphina shrugged, scrunching her face. He didn't answer, scoffing and lying back down.

— you'll know soon enough if devon is dead or not... and if this book it's getting an adult timeline (i know the answer 😼)

DTS — wehugnow gracibia