Dyldoe adjusted his glasses, his fingers hovering above the keyboard like he was about to launch a rocket.
"I'll hack Anne's phone," he said, voice nasal but smug. "But only if Brittany gives me a kiss on the cheek."
The room went silent.
Brittany blinked. "Excuse me?"
Mira looked up from her phone. "You're joking, right?"
Dyldoe shook his head. "Nope. That's the deal."
Brittany scoffed. "I'd rather kiss a cactus."
Dyldoe shrugged. "Then I guess Anne stays missing."
Mira frowned. "Brittany…"
Brittany groaned, dramatically flipping her hair. "Fine. But if I get cheek acne, I'm suing."
She leaned in, eyes narrowed, and gave Dyldoe the quickest, most reluctant peck in history.
"There," she said. "Now hack, you little goblin."
Dyldoe blushed so hard his glasses fogged up. "Initiating protocol…"
Mira's phone buzzed.
She glanced down and her face paled.
"Guys," she said. "The curfew's changed. We have to be indoors by 4:30 p.m. now."
Brittany raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did the mayor finally realize this town is cursed?"
Mira showed them the alert: Due to increased disappearances, all residents must remain indoors after 4:30 p.m. until further notice.
Brittany turned to Dyldoe. "Hack faster. I don't want to be eaten by fog."
Dyldoe typed furiously, muttering things like "bypass encryption" and "locate beacon."
Then—ping.
"I got it," he said. "Tracker activated."
A glowing dot appeared on the screen.
Mira leaned in. "That's… the woods."
Brittany sighed. "Of course it is. Because nothing ever happens in a mall."
They stared at the map, the dot pulsing slowly.
"She's out there," Mira whispered.
Brittany grabbed her coat. "Then so are we."
The woods loomed ahead, darker than usual, the trees swaying like they were whispering secrets.
Inside the cabin—silent, abandoned, forgotten—a shift occurred.
Where the basement door had once been, a portal now shimmered. The floor pulsed with unnatural light.
And then—
A hand.
Pale. Twisted. Crawling out.
Fingers gripped the edge.
The portal hummed.
And the forest listened.
TO BE CONTINUED...