“See you tomorrow,” Sebastian said, giving me a wave.

“Hopefully this gets resolved,” I said, hopeful.

I turned around and started walking towards my house. Maybe Mason was waiting at the halfway point. If he was, I could apologize to him. Sadly I did not see him there. It was cold, I could feel the wind through my sweater. I sat down at the bench facing the woods. I stared without blinking into the forest, waiting to see the men in cloaks. I didn’t see anything. 

I opened my mouth and closed it. I could see my breath. It was cold at night. I sighed and looked at the sky. The beautiful stars glistened. I started counting. I wanted to see how many I could count. I stopped counting at 100. I got up and walked home.

I can fix this with Mason tomorrow. I’ll apologize to him and make everyone friends again! I smiled at the thought. I opened the door to my house and walked in. It was dark inside. Everyone was asleep. I looked at the table and saw my mother sleeping. She sat in the chair, her head leaning on the table. Her phone lay on the table. It had my number on it, ready to call. I sighed.

I’m sorry I made you worried, Mom. I thought. I walked upstairs to my room and opened my closet. I pulled out a blanket. I walked back downstairs and put it on my mom.

“Goodnight,” I said, softly.

I headed back upstairs and got into my bed. It was time to sleep.

…………………………………

I walked to school, alone. I expected Mason to be at the halfway point. The school wasn’t far from Giampi’s house. No one was there. Guess he’s still really upset, I thought to myself. I walked until I found myself next to Fernando.

“Good morning bro,” he said cheerfully.

“Good morning,” I replied.

“Is Mason doing okay?” I asked.

“Uhh...yeah,” he said quietly, I could barely hear him.

I wondered why his mood changed so suddenly and why he seemed reluctant to answer me. I looked at his face and noticed a couple bruises. It looked like he might have tried to cover it up with his mom’s makeup or something. I decided not to ask about it and ask something else.

“I’m just a little curious, whose side are you on?” I asked.

“I’m taking a neutral standpoint. They’re both my friends and I really would rather no one fight. I just want to end this,” he replied.

“I see,” I murmured.

We walked in silence until we got to school. I headed to my locker and into my classroom. He must’ve gone to school early. I guess I’ll see him at lunch I thought.

I went through my day and lunch rolled around. I walked through the cafeteria doors and sat at our table. Sebastian and Giampi sat there. I took a seat. I watched as Jett entered the lunch room and started towards a table in the corner. Fernando entered as well and walked toward a different table.

“Look guys, can we call a truce? I don’t know why someone wanted to frame Jett but we can’t just all stop being friends because of this! We’re all friends right? Whenever the culprit is ready to apologize he can do so. But for now let’s all be together!” I called at them.

“I guess we could call a truce,” Jett said, changing course as he did. 

“I was going to sit alone because I’m neutral but if Jett is okay with that and everyone else is, then that’s fine,” Fernando said.

“You’re right about us being friends. I enjoy spending time with you guys. I won’t let something like this ruin our friendship,” Jett added.

We sat in silence for a moment, waiting for Mason to arrive, but he never did. I finally asked the question..

“Did Mason come to school at all?”

“Nope,” Giampi said, in between bites.

“I’m a bit worried,” I said.

“Don’t be worried, he’s probably sick or something,” Sebastian pointed out.

“Even if he were sick he’d still come. He hates getting absences,” I replied, picking at my food as I did.

“He really is your best friend wasn’t he?” Giampi said.

“Everyone here is my best friend,” I replied, nervously.

“We all heard it. Don’t worry, we’re not hurt,” Sebastian chimed in, giving a smile as he did.

“Then let me ask something. I can, can’t I?” Giampi said, interrupting the silence that had started.

“Yeah, sure.” I said, speaking for everyone.

“Why did you take Jett’s side instead of your best friend’s?”

“Didn’t I already say? I just felt that it was a set up.”

“How did you know?” Sebastian asked.

I didn’t know what to say. How did I know? I had no idea, I felt this weird feeling...yeah that’s it.

“I had this weird feeling,” I uttered.

“Like what?” Jett asked.

“I felt butterflies in my stomach and a sense of danger like something was going to happen. I don't know what. It felt like that point was a pivotal point and everything was going to change after that.”

I looked up to see Giampi watching me. He had a weirdly fascinated expression in his eyes like he was hanging on my every word.

“What is it, Giampi?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he replied.

We finished our lunch and got up to leave.

“See you guys after school, no?” I asked before leaving.

“I’m down,” Jett said.

“So am I,” Fernando added.

“Me too,” Sebastian stated.

“Again! You can’t just decide to come to my house!” Giampi complained.

We all let out a little laugh.

“Is it okay, Giampi?” I asked.

“I guess it is,” he muttered.

“What was that?” Jett said, leaning in closer to hear.

“I said it’s okay!” Giampi said.

“Then it’s settled,” I said, clapping my hands.

I headed back to class. The end of the day came and it was time for English class. I wanted Mason to show up, so when I entered the classroom I closed my eyes and waited until Mr. WIllis said, “Ok, let’s get started!”
I opened them and nothing. He wasn’t there. I sighed and went through the whole class not being able to concentrate. 

School finished and I got up from my desk. I started walking towards the door when Mr. Willis stopped me.

“Hey, do you know where Mason is?” he asked.

“No… he hasn’t come to school today.” I replied.

“Oh, I see,” he said, turning around as he did.

“Well, see you tomorrow, Mr. Willis,” I called over my shoulder as I walked out the door.

I made it outside before I remembered to ask him about some edits on my story I was working on. I walked back to the classroom but stopped outside the door as I heard his voice.

“I don’t think he’s sick, he would come to school anyway, knowing Mason. That means that…” I heard Mr. Willis muttering out loud. I couldn’t see him, but his voice sounded like he was smiling. “That means that HE took care of it!” He started chuckling softly. I heard a bang, as though he closed the door in his side closest. Then I heard footsteps as he walked toward the door of the classroom.

It felt like there was ice water in my veins and I started to back away, hoping I wasn’t making any sounds. What did that mean? I hid behind around the corner as his footsteps disappeared in the opposite direction.

On a hunch, I crept back into the room and opened his closet as quietly as I could. Inside, was a purple cloak. It had a pentagon on the back. I closed the closet and ran out of the classroom. I ran and ran.

“Hey bro we still on for-”

I ran past Fernando, I didn’t have time to meet up with everyone. I ran towards Mason’s house. I ran as hard as I could. I got to the halfway point and stood there, panting.

You have to keep running, Christopher. I told myself, in my head. I got up and ran. I had never been inside his house before but I knew that he lived on a specific street. I opened my phone to check for clues on where he lived. I found an old message from Mason. It read: 

“Hey, if you ever want to come over then here’s my address!”

It was house 210. I ran down the street and got to it. A cop car was parked outside. A police officer was talking to a woman who I assumed was his mom. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a purple dress. I got closer and hid behind the cop car to hear what they were saying.

“About your son’s disappearance… we’re working on it, but right now we need to talk to anyone who might have seen him. Does he have any friends we can talk to?”

Tears rolled down Mason’s mom’s cheeks. “I think he had a couple of friends. They made him upset. I have a text from him. Listen to this: I’m coming home Mom, my friends are jerks and they have abandoned me. I really thought I had some great friends but turns out I don’t,” his mom read aloud.

“Okay, okay.” he wrote something down in his notebook. “And he was with them all day yesterday?”

“That’s right.”

“Who are his friends?”

“There’s five main ones he spends time with. Their names are Giampaolo, Fernando, Jett, Sebastian and Christopher.”

“Do you have a last name for any of them?”

“I only have the last name for one. He talked about him a lot. Maybe he knows where he is. His name is Christopher Luna.”

“Alright ma’am. We’ll continue the search. Thank you for telling us about this.”

The police officer started walking towards the car. I got up and ran full speed down the street towards Giampi’s house. I couldn’t believe it. Mason was missing. It almost didn’t seem real. This was all because of me. The tears came quickly.

“Mason! I should have been there for you!”

I ran and tripped on the uneven pavement. I fell onto the ground. I got back up and kept running. Mason was dead! Calm down Christopher, he’s missing. That doesn’t mean he’s dead! I said to myself. I got to the half point. My legs were ready to give out. The sun had started setting. I forced myself to keep going. I ran to Giampi’s house and burst through the library door.

“Where have you been, bro?” Fernando asked.

I stood there, breathing heavily.

“Is something wrong?” Giampi asked, frowning.

“Mason is gone! He’s gone!”

“Calm down, explain it to us!” Sebastian urged.

I sat down and regained my breath. “He’s gone missing!” I said.

“How do you know?” Fernando asked.

“I went to his house and heard his mom and a police officer talking!”

“So he’s...gone?” Jett said.

We all sat there in silence. We were in shock. We couldn’t stop thinking about how because of us, our friend was gone.

“Do we know what might have happened? Did he get kidnapped?” Giampi asked.

“Listen guys, there’s something I have to tell you but you have to promise to not take it lightly or tell me I’m lying,” I said.

“Say it,” Giampi said.

“Mason and I have been stalked recently by a cult. They were wearing purple cloaks and had a pentagon on the back. We saw them everywhere. At my house, at Lion’s Trail, everywhere. Mason informed me that these people are dangerous. They’re called “The Path”. They probably kidnapped him! Get this, I just overheard the English teacher, Mr. WIllis talking to himself about it. He said “‘If Mason didn’t show up today then HE has taken care of it.’”

Everyone stared at me. They said nothing.

“Do you guys believe me?” I asked.

“Bro, you’ve never lied in all the time I’ve known you. I believe you,” Fernando said, quietly.

“So do I,” Sebastian said.

“It sounds crazy but it’s a possibility,” Jett said.

“I believe it, crazy things happen in this town,” Giampi added.

“I have an idea,” I said.

“Are we going to save Mason?” Jett asked.

“Yes! That’s the idea! We’re going to find evidence these people did it and bring them to justice WHILE saving Mason!”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Sebastian said.

“We’re going to fix  this situation and make it right with him!” Giampi said.

“He didn’t deserve this!” I yelled. “Let’s do this!”

We spent the rest of the evening thinking about leads and different ways to find our friend. The first major lead we had was Mr. Willis. We knew he was in the cult, we just needed to gather some information from him somehow.

I didn’t tell anyone the most important thing though. The truth was, I planned to investigate each one of them because who else could be the kidnapper? I would have to find out. I had someone in mind to investigate first; the one who walked Mason home. Fernando was my first target.