Call it brother intuition or whatever, but when I push through the back doors that open back onto the same area I was just talking with Ruby, it’s as though I see the party in a different light. The groups of people who are here seem older. Not the age group I would expect for Ruby to be around. The alcohol isn’t sprawled out, and no one is being messy and stupid. Aside from the small group near Betty, who is the same that Ruby always hangs with, the other people are almost out of place.

I jog down the steps, stopping right beside Ruby and Betty, and the other boys they have around. I notice one of them from the party earlier. “Who the fuck are all these people?” I gesture out to the people behind us. The energy in the air shifts when Ruby turns to follow my sight.

I watch her face as her mouth twists into a confused line. “I—I don’t actually know.”

“Jesus fuck!” I whack the bottle of vodka out of her hand. “How fucking much have you had to drink to not notice any of these people until just now?”

“I know—I’m—” I ignore her, turning back to face the side of the house where the freshly cut lawn merges into the forest.

“What’s behind these trees?”

Ruby dials someone on her phone, bringing it to her ear before hanging up. “I don’t know. I’ve never been back there. I’m guessing trees?”

I glare at her. “You’re not funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.” Her eyes fall to the ground, but I don’t have time to coax her bruised and drunk ego.

I point to the people who are here. “Call your daddy and tell him there has been a compromise, and if I don’t find my sister? When I get back, people are dying.”

“Wait!” Ruby jogs after me. “I’m coming with you.” I ignore her as she continues to dial Victor. It’s not until we hit the entrance to the forest that I turn and see they all fucking followed. Boys in tow. Climbing over the fence, I land on the ground in a thud and turn on the flashlight on my phone. The light beams, and I scan across the fence line, looking for any movement of ground. It’s obvious that people haven’t been on this side. Not a single footprint or shoeprint.

“Yo!” one of the boys calls out. “There’s a boot print…”

I turn back around, colliding with Ruby. Moving her out of my way with the back of my hand, I stop where Jackson is, narrowing my eyes on a clear print of a boot. Lifting my light up, I start following that same trail. The prints are clear as fucking day, but there’s only one set.