Exploration

Jake sighed and shook his head, before turning to Leo.

"We should go with her, it would be better, seeing as I know my way around." Jake said.

"Oh hell no! We should go home! Or call the athourities!" Chase cried out, clearly still the same old scaredy cat they always knew. 

"You sound scared of this?" Christine said.

"I am, she just ran in before I could finish. And this place is creepy as hell!" Chase replied.

"Yea, you were talking about research, what did you find out about this place?" Leo asked hesitantly.

"Shadow Hill has been overrun by monsters and it's said to be haunted. Not to mention the trappers that are here, they hunt the monsters and ghosts and trap them." Chase said, his voice holding a grim undertone. 

Jake frowned, "Wait monsters took over this place? Like the kind that almost killed us, monsters?" he asked.

"Yes those kinds of monsters." Chase replied.

"And where did you research this, shorty?" Jake asked, adding a small tease to Chase's height at the end.

"I talked to Roger. He's been here before." Chase said.

"The creepy old man? The one that caused Marrissa to die!?" Christine yelled.

Chase looked away mumbling his words.

"Speak up, we can't hear you!" Jake yelled at the smaller boy.

"Y-yes that Roger!" Chase stuttered out.

Leo frowned and looked at Chase, before crossing his arms and sighing. "Chase how do you know we can trust that guy?" 

"I don't but what reason does he have to lie to me?" Chase replied.

"While, yes, that is a fair point, Chase, what if he's lying to keep us away?" Leo said.

Chase frowned and grew silent, the group falling into an uncomfortable silence. After a few minutes Jake looked at Leo and bit his lip.

"We should go find Stacey and her friend before they get hurt, if Roger was telling the truth when Chase talked to him. Then she shouldn't be running around alone, she's bound to get hurt." Jake spoke, clearly worried for the younger kid's safety. 

"I agree with Jake." Leo said.

Chase seemed frightened but nodded his head, Max, Leo's Pit-bull, jumped out of the SUV. Leo looked down as the bulky dog walked over to Chase, and smiled.

"Awe look at that, Max is saying he's going to protect you." Leo teased Chase.

Chase looked down at the black dog, "Oh boy, it'll be scary seeing you in the dark." he muttered.

Leo chuckled and nodded, while Jake punched the smaller boys arm. "Nah don't worry shorty, I got you, I'll stay by your side the whole time. And I'll make sure to tell Dreya how brave you were when we get back." he smirked.

At the mention of Dreya (Andrea), Jake's sister, Chase perked up and nodded his head. 

"Yea, yea. Yea! I'm brave, I can do this!" Chase said before standing straighter and puffing up his chest.

Chase and Andrea had started dating recently, while Andrea loved Chase for who he was, Chase wanted to get stronger, he wanted to protect Andrea and never wanted to see her hurt again. Not after the camping trip, he hated seeing how scared she was. 

"Alright lover boy, let's go." Leo chuckled clapping Chase on the back.

Chase nodded, the group followed Leo inside as he went to search for his sister, Jake soon took the lead. As they all followed closely behind Jake, Max trotted beside Chase while Leo slowed and walked next to Gwen.

"So uh, Gwen, was it?" Leo asked the girl.

"Yuh, that's me!" Gwen said, flashing Leo a lopsided smile.

"How long have you and my sister, been friends?" He asked.

"Mm, about a year I think, I knew Marrissa too, never found out what happened to her tho?" Gwen asked hoping Leo would give her an answer. "No one else even remembers her, I ask and they all go 'uh who?' and I'm like 'bruh my bestie?' it's crazy."

"Wait you knew Marrissa?!" Leo asked.

Everyone else that knew the girl had forgotten her, after the camping trip. Even her own parents, only her sister and the rest of the group from the camping trip remembered her.

"Yea of course I did, I grew up with the girl, hell I even knew Megan." Gwen said.

Leo frowned, why did everyone else forget her, but this girl?

"Were you on a camping trip, when she was?" Chase asked, jumping into the conversation.

Gwen gave him a sidelong glance and sighed, "Yea me and my dad were camping on the outskirts."

"Did anything weird happen?" Chase inquired.

"What kind of weird?" Gwen said clearly avoiding the topic.

"The paranormal monsters, kind of weird." Leo said softly.

Gwen bit her lip and looked away before nodding, "I saw you guys getting chased, but my dad dragged me away, we hid out in the cabins away from everything. Til we heard you guys again on the way back..." 

"Damn..." Leo muttered under his breath, "Well I'm glad you're okay."

"Not really I heard everyone, all the screams, the bloodshed. I heard it all. But what REALLY happened to Marrissa?" Gwen asked hoping to get a real answer this time.

"She was murdered." Jake said bluntly.

Everyone grew silent, while Jake wasn't exactly right. It was how the group saw things, they felt like Marrissa was murdered, and she wasn't supposed to die. She was so young, it should have been someone else, someone older. Not her. But the past is the past, there's no changing that. They continued walking in silence, the only sound coming from their footsteps. Jake leading the way, when he stopped in front of Stacey, her dog Artemis, and her friend Ralph.

"Bubba?" Stacey asked looked at her brother.

"Stacey...." Leo said softly, his voice stern.

Stacey frowned, oh boy was she in trouble, her brother only used her first name when he was upset or she was in trouble.

"Next time we go explore abandoned buildings don't just run off! You could have gotten hurt! You didn't even listen to what Chase was saying! It's not safe here! Grab your gear, we're leaving." Leo said, his voice commanding authority. 

"But Bubba, nothing has happened and it's completely safe! There's no danger! Can we please just explore for a little longer?!" She pleaded, giving her brother those dreaded puppy eyes again.

Leo grit his teeth, "Really, you just had to use the puppy eyes!?" he yelled, before turning to look at Chase. "Would it hurt if we stayed a few more minutes?" he asked.

"I don't know Leo." Chase said softly.

"I think it'll be fine, the chicks right, there hasn't been any sign of danger yet, I don't got the chills like I did on the camping trip before we got attacked. And I know my way around." Jake said flashing the group a smile, winking at Stacey mouthing "I got you." to her, he was clearly on her side.

Leo then looked over to Chase, was this really a good idea? Staying here any longer could definitely put the group in danger.

"I guess a few more minutes won't hurt. But the first sign of danger we leave." Chase said, putting his fear to the side.

This only made Leo grow anxious, what if it all went wrong and they got stuck here? What if they got attacked again like on the camping trip? What if-

"Leo?" Christine called out, pulling Leo from his thoughts.

He shook his head and looked over at the blonde girl. "Yea sorry love, what's up?" He asked, his voice calm and collected, when in reality, he was anything but calm.

"You just seemed off for a moment, seemed zoned out. Are you alright?" She asked.

He nodded, "Yea I'm alright, just zoned out taking in the building, for an asylum this place is really pretty." he said changing the subject.

"Yea, I never thought I'd ever explore one." She giggled.

The group walked around, Jake leading the way, giving the group a little "tour" of the asylum. Giving the history and fun facts of each of the rooms. The friend the group once thought was dumb unable to pass a math test, clearly remembered a lot about this place. He seemed to have a passion for history.