Denwood

"We can't just abandon her, okay!?" Denise shouted at their faces.

Diego was silent, as usual. He kept looking to the deep woods with a dubious look on his face. In truth, the bald-headed teen with the blunt face and the ragged white t-shirt and jeans didn't look too keen on the idea of heading in there. Denwood forest had its rumors. Not even the most ambitious of hikers went in there.

Ken was distracted thinking about other things and just simply wanted to be in another place. The long brown-haired teen with the casual expression and the gray hoodie with the black cargo pants wasn't at all interested in helping Denise. To him, she was never there when he needed her help, so he felt he didn't need to be there either. There was no chance he was helping her for free this time.

Meanwhile, Sonya, the sympathetic one, was tossing the idea around. To the long, black-haired girl with the flawless skin and the tank top with denim shorts, it was a tough call, but she could tell Diego and Ken both felt it was a lost cause. She didn't want to head into Denwood forest either. There were no trails in there and it spanned for quite a few miles.

"Denise, it's a bad idea to go into that forest," Sonya told her, avoiding the decision to say yes or no, hoping she could talk Denise out of it on her own. "I know you love Cookie, but it could take months to find her in that place. Plus, Denwood forest is-"

"They're just stupid rumors, okay!?" Denise tried to persuade the others, wanting no reminder of it. "Please, we've got to find her now, and she could be getting even more lost in there as we speak!"

Ken found it hard to sympathize with the blonde-haired girl. To him, Denise was always like that, telling others what to do. He was only here because he thought this was something simple he could make a quick buck for. He thought it could just be a matter of changing a flat tire or jumping her car, but this was totally different. It all started with an innocent "I need your help" and when he finally got here, it was this. This was something that could take months and he had no interest in it whatsoever.

"Denise... I'm not going in there," Ken told her, lightly shaking his head at the thought. "Your dog's an idiot."

"You're such a jerk, Ken!" Denise shouted at him. "You'd want us to go after Rowdy if he got lost in there!"

"I always have Rowdy on a leash when I'm outside, ever consider that?" Ken snapped back at her. "Exactly how did Cookie get loose anyway? You still haven't told us how it even happened!"

"Guys, just stop," Sonya tried to quell the fighting, using an open hand motion to ease the tension down. "Relax. She couldn't have gotten far, maybe we could just search for an hour or so and if we still don't find her, we'll head out before it gets too dark, okay?"

Diego gave a slight nod, and all Ken could do was shrug. In the meantime, Denise was looking at Sonya, really questioning how she could just "head out" if they didn't find her dog.

"Lay down a hundred," Ken told Denise. "One hundred for heading in there, and another two hundred if we actually find that mutt."

"No way!" Denise shouted, totally aghast he would even ask for money at a time like this.

"Well, geez, I could have sworn you liked Cookie more than that," Ken shrugged. "Well, if you don't need me, I'll be heading back."

Denise, despite being in a fit over Ken's audacity to charge her money, knew she needed as many people as she could to help find Cookie. She knew she could worry about paying him later. Or better yet, never pay him at all. She figured she didn't ever want his help with anything ever again anyway.

"I don't have a hundred on me now, I'll get it to you after all this," Denise told him, just wanting to hurry up already. "Could we please just go? I'll give you four hundred if you ignore the fact I don't have a hundred on me at the moment to pay up front."

"Fine, let's go," Ken shrugged. "That's more than I make in a week at Comet Coffee, so yeah, I can't complain."

Diego, despite not even being offered a dime for his services, decided to follow the group inside, although he was a bit skeptical about the fact it was already past four in the afternoon, which meant they didn't have too many hours worth of time to search before it started to get dark. He really didn't want to be there either, but to him, backing out and turning around just seemed like a heartless thing to do. Meanwhile, Sonya, wanting to keep her friendship with Denise, followed along, although this was definitely something she really didn't want to do.

As the group of teens headed into the deep foliage, they were vigilant and aware, checking for anything that might be rustling the bushes or would be scurrying about. Diego was having his doubts the whole time, however, quickly realizing the thick foliage would hide any trace of the Yorkie very easily. Even if all the underbrush was suddenly cleared away, Cookie could be miles off and totally out of sight. They'd never even know. He was beginning to think Ken's first intuition was right, as heartless and as hopeless as it seemed.

"Cookie!" Denise cried out. "Cookie, where are you!? Come here, girl, I'm here for you!"

I hope she doesn't plan on shouting that the whole time we're here Ken thought to himself.

"Cookie, please come home!" Denise shouted again. "Please! I have a tasty dog biscuit just waiting for you!"

But there was no answer. In the meantime, Diego kept trying to look in the opposite directions, checking to the left while the rest of the group focused on what was straight ahead or off to the right. Meanwhile, looking behind him left an unnerving feeling. There were only woods all around him now, and no indication of what direction they were facing. He really didn't think they'd go this deep, but he was hoping someone else might know of a way to get back. In the back of his mind, he figured maybe just doing a full 180 was all that was needed. They'd likely end up somewhere along the road they had parked on.

A half hour passed, and Ken was already on the verge of just giving up. In truth, he figured he could just post "Lost Dog" signs around town once he got back, but doing this was insane. True, he thought the rumors were stupid. The one case where people swore they saw ghost animals coming in and out of the forest during the night was especially dumb, or the incident where a raccoon was found with a ribbon from the dress from a local girl that had been missing for months and was never found. But again, it was only a rumor and was never confirmed by the authorities. It was stupid nonsense he quickly put out of his mind.

Meanwhile, Denise and Sonya were still calling out Cookie's name and trying all kinds of attempts to lure the dog out of hiding. Ken just kept rolling his eyes, knowing it would be a miracle if the dog was even within earshot of them, never-mind being receptive to it. In any case, Ken could totally understand why Cookie ran away from Denise in the first place.

"Cookie!"

"Come here Cookie!"

"Just shut up..." Ken muttered to himself under his breath.

In the meantime, Diego kept watching the time. It was already 5:52 PM, and the sun was already well into its descent. Only twice did they managed to find a rustling bush, but the first time was only a squirrel and the second time was only was a small flock of birds. Cookie could have been sleeping in any of the thousands of bushes around them and they'd never know. But, suggesting to turn around would invoke Denise's anger. He could just see in her eyes that she really loved that dog and wanted to find him whatever the cost.

"Hey, Denise," Ken addressed her.

"What is it!?" Denise shouted back at him, becoming irritable and frustrated at the failure of their search.

"Almost 6 PM," Ken reminded her. "Tick tock. For an extra fifty bucks, I'll give this search an extra fifteen minutes, or I'm heading back."

Diego almost felt guilty for supporting Ken's greed in hopes she would abandon the search, but he saw the situation as hopeless. The forest was too large, too thick, and there was no trace, sign, or sound of the Yorkie anywhere. He hated to admit it, but there was a very strong chance Denise would never see that dog again, and he was hoping the sooner she realized that, the sooner she could just get on with life. He just wanted to turn around for his own sake, as once dusk had fallen, finding their way out would be nearly impossible.

"Whatever, Ken, just find Cookie already," Denise snapped at him.

Sonya was starting to have her doubts now as well, and found herself less driven to call out Cookie's name. Her legs and arms were getting scratched by the branches and twigs that were around. Meanwhile, it was starting to get dark and she knew her parents were probably wondering what she was doing right now.

"Cookie!" Denise shouted out again. "Come on, please, let's go home! Cookie, where are you!?"

Diego had been looking at his watch, just hoping 6:15 would come and they would just head back, which he estimated would take another thirty minutes for them to reach Ken's SUV so they could just go home. He would gladly help Denise put up lost dog signs around town, but this situation was getting hopeless and dangerous.

He looked down again, and looked at the time on his watch. He was hoping to see something very close to 6:15 PM, but he got something else.

88:88

He tried pressing the button on the side of the watch to light it up, thinking it might just be the result of a dying battery. The watch lit up, but the result was the same.

88:88

"Come on..." Diego muttered to himself.

00:00

He thought he was beginning to make progress. Maybe it was just resetting. He was a bit worried he would need to set the clock's time, however, which couldn't be done until he either got home or asked Ken for the time, which he was obviously tracking as well. He looked down again and looked at the digital readout.

L0:ΠE

He figured it was probably a dead battery. The digital readout was probably scrambled because the last traces of battery life were being used up. He looked down again and saw a different readout.

60:ΠE

He then realized these weren't scrambled readouts, they were words. They were spelling "lone" and "gone." In a bit of shock, Diego looked up.

And he realized the others weren't there.

Immediately, he looked left and right. There was no trace of Ken, Denise, or Sonya anywhere. He knew there was no way they could have left him behind so quickly. Something about this wasn't right at all.

"Guys!?" He shouted, hoping the others would hear him. "Can someone hear me!?"

Silence. Only the sounds of the forest were around him.

"Hello!?" He shouted one last time.

Nothing.

Instinctively, he did a full turn around and began to break into a jog out of the forest, trying not to trip over the fallen branches, roots, and bushes. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. If he made it to the road, he would be fine. Maybe he could call them in an hour and tell them he was fine. But that didn't matter for now. He just wanted to get to the road.

And then, he heard a digital beeping from his wrist. He looked at it again.

0Π:00
H0:PE
0Π:00
H0:PE
0Π:00
H0:PE

There it was, flashing, flashing back and forward, beeping incessantly. While running, he undid the strap of the watch and just tossed it violently into a nearby bush, leaving it behind. His heart was racing and he had trouble breathing. It was like a nightmare, but he knew the road couldn't be too far off. They had only been walking for...

over an hour...

He could be miles away from the road by now. And that was if he was heading in the right direction, but he knew he had to reach the road at some point. But he couldn't chance it and change direction. That would only get him lost and he would lose any semblance of bearing he had left.

And it was getting dark.

Rapidly.

Unnaturally.

He then dashed into a sprint. Something... something had gone horribly wrong. He ran another mile through the forest, not sure what was going on. Nothing seemed right at all. Maybe he was just imagining the whole thing with the watch. He was beginning to really wonder how this had all happened to begin with.

As he ran closer and closer to the road, he got a call on his smartphone. He was relieved, he had to be within reception now. That could also be a good sign he was closer to the road now. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, and looked at the digital readout.

DAD CALLING

For Diego, this was worrisome.

His father died two years ago.

The phone shook in his hands, pecking at his mind if he should answer or just throw it to the ground and keep running away, just like what he did with the watch. But... what if...?

He decided to answer the call.

All he heard was loud, angry, violent static. Again, Diego just tossed the phone onto the ground and tried to run, but something held him down. He tried to break his legs free, but they were tangled by roots and vines, and they were quickly pulling him into the ground. In a panic, he tried to break free, but instead, he was pulled further and further into the ground, all while the heavy static from the phone just got louder and louder.

"Someone help me!" He shouted.

No answer. No sign of the road, or of Ken, Denise, or Sonya. He struggled, trying to break free, but it was hopeless. They pulled him further and further into the ground, and now the dirt was up to his chin. The forest was going to bury him alive, and there was nothing he could do about it. Just at that moment, he turned to his left, and by some unbelievable chance, standing before him was the caramel-colored Yorkie otherwise known as Cookie. His eyes went wide as the dirt rapidly covered up his face.

Cookie just sat there happily, panting with her tongue hanging out as the forest devoured Diego whole.

Now she just needed to find the others.