Your best friend, Lacey had gone missing after going to the movies along with your brother, Marco.

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I woke up next to the windows, the sun stinging my eyes. Mike was cooking up breakfast sausages and pop tarts in the kitchen. Breakfast of champions, I suppose.

As we continued walking, we passed the time by contemplating what Mr. Blank might be. A serial killer? Perhaps we needed to look at it from a supernatural angle. Some kind of monster… or demon maybe? But what was its connection to the theater? The whole situation was maddening to think about. Nothing made any sense.

After about 20 minutes of inspecting each and every tree near the creek, we finally found it. The carvings that my brother was talking about.

“Do you guys…” she began asking. “Don’t panic, but I’m pretty sure somebody’s following us.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I realized something. We’d been careless. Even though we were being tailed last night, we didn’t bother carrying that caution over to the morning. Hell, I didn’t even look over my shoulder when I’d first walked into the forest.

Mike clicked his tongue loudly, looking agitated.

“Okay asshole, come out!” He shouted.

“Jesus Mike!” Rose and Seth said in unison.

“Suppose there’s no point in keeping this up. I see you have a gun, kid. I’m coming out, so don’t shoot.”

I could see movement within the maze of trees. Mike clicked the safety off and aimed the weapon right toward the general area it was coming from.

“Are you stupid?” he said. “Also, I’m 24. Don’t fucking call me a kid.”

“It’s not like your age makes you less of a kid. I’ve known 13 year-olds that I would already consider men, given what they’ve been through.”

The voice eventually revealed himself. He looked to be in his early 30s, dressed in a windbreaker and well-tailored dress pants. He was about a head shorter than Mike, with wavy hair, a clean-shaven face and a world-weary look in his eyes. There was an also substantial scar running down his left cheek. He looked at me.