While Betsy was trying to figure out a way to escape the Repeating Forest, the others were trying to escape the forsaken part of the village without her. Royse was planning to betray her from the very beginning. The moment they ran away from the short-tempered old lady, Bailey. He was the last one to run away from Bailey because Betsy had accidentally dropped something. Royse, barely noticing the piece of paper on the snow, tumbled down discreetly to pick it up when Bailey launched her cane on the back of his head. The bits of blood sploshed onto the paper made it stand out in the white snow.

Royse read the small piece of paper and concluded that Mira’s kidnapper wanted to trade her life for Betsy’s. This made Royse come up with a plan to betray Betsy by giving her location away with the whistle. Once Royse blows the whistle Betsy would do the same. His plan would be foolproof if the monster was willing to come to a standstill and halt to negotiate. 

Either way, his plan or the original plan would be inoperative if Betsy goes into the Repeating Forest. The forest would play tricks with sounds and eventually with your mind if you stay long enough.

Betsy remembered the man from the marketplace. He had Repeating Forest Merchandise and mentioned a man who’s a bit slow with his deliveries and barely said a word. The first person that came to mind was Milles. He was the first and only person she knew who could walk around the Repeating forest like it was a grocery store. The problem with her theory is that Milles would never help anyone, especially a lowly farmer like Ryan. As she was in deep thought a wendigo appeared in her face out of the blue. 

Her heart jumped and sank to the floor. She didn’t smell or hear Milles from where she was at. Milles being twice her size picked her up with ease and threw her like a baseball without hesitation. Not having a single clue what was going on she was bouncing off the snow like a helpless rag doll. The confusion fell as she was rolling on top of the snow, Milles threw her so far that she could no longer see him. Fear circling her mind she turned into a wendigo and ran. She turned around and saw the tall monster that had thrown her seconds ago right in front of her. Milles was never this fast unless he was using the forest to his advantage. She tried to predict his next move, but not a single thought was in Mille's head he was simply fighting without thinking. 

Milles grabbed Betsy by her antler horns and cracked them. She winced in pain and tried to get free, she then grabbed his right arm with both of her hands and cracked them. One of her antlers was free so now she had to get rid of his other arm. Just when she had a slimmer of hope in her eyes, she was suddenly slammed into the thick snow along with all of her self-assurance. Thinking the snow would at least break her fall that was not the case. She was slammed head first feeling like she was just hit by a house, her head and spine screamed in pain. 

After she heard her own body being slammed into the ground she felt Milles still holding onto her antler. Before she could even react, Milles had broken her left antler. It took her a second to realize it because of everything that was going on. Betsy's head was still buried deep in the snow she was slowly losing consciousness from the beating. She promised herself she would win this fight no matter what. 

She was trying to motivate herself to save some people she didn't even know. She wanted to have friends and have a normal life. A life that wasn’t built out of lies and misconceptions. She wanted to be helpful, her wish made her optimistic and eager to beat Milles to a pulp she used all her strength to get out of the snow she was plunged into. Her confidence soon turned into anger as soon as she got out of the six-foot hole. Her hopes of being a helpful person motivated her to fight with all she had for the people she was trying to protect. 

All her hopes and wishes went down the drain, only to be returned as a fantasy by Milles. Turning her goals into a pipe dream. He was again through her this time upwards into the sky. The toss made Betsy snap back to reality.

The power and strength between Milles and her was insurmountable.

Milles had grabbed by her arms and hurled her over to the clouds. Her confidence gleaming in her eyes soon turned into fright as she fell from the sky. A new fear was unlocked for her, a fear she never had thought of and it was heights. As she fell her mind went blank and fainted she woke up with a sharp pain in her abdomen as Milles punched her as she fell. Her insides felt like it was going to burst out of her mouth. 

Everything goes dark as Betsy loses consciousness and flutters her eyes closed. None of the plans can work if Betsy doesn’t give her location away.

Royse was now with Kaleb and Mira to negotiate terms about Betsy. They were facing the monster that had been chasing them and kidnapped Mira. Royse and Mira felt like they were way over their heads except for Kaleb. He felt like he was on top of the world with his gun back. Even though he had no idea what Royse was planning. 

Finch was still in his wendigo form willing to hear them out and if the terms didn't meet his standards or expectations he would get rid of them and catch Betsy himself. Finch had already ordered Milles to catch Betsy, but Milles wasn't that reliable, to begin with. He knew that Milles could beat the Repeating Forest's misleading environment, he somehow knew the routes without even thinking about it. He didn't go after Betsy in case she decided to run into the forbidden part of the forest. 

Expecting Milles to catch Betsy is a stretch knowing how easily he can get distracted. He might be miles away from Betsy, daydreaming in his world unless she runs into the Repeating Forest which is a different world. Hesitant, Royse nervously cleared his dry throat before speaking. He had to remember how to breathe when looking at the monster standing before him. Mira moves behind Royse just in case he makes a bad move.

"We would like to make a trade for Betsy's life for our lives," Royse says with a confident smile while fidgeting his finger in fear. He stops to look at Finch's reaction, but he doesn't bat an eye. He then takes a glance at Kaleb who stood there with a brave look on his face, like he knew what was going on. "We will give her location away if you let us go now. It's a fair trade since we have nothing to do with you."

Finch suddenly turns human in front of their eyes. 

"Why would you let her go if I already caught her," Finch asks, refuting his deal while crossing his arms. 

"Pfft, no you didn't, I already know that." Royse chuckles at Finch's claims. Copying his mannerism Royse also crosses his arms. "Do think Betsy would run around without a secret weapon in store."

Finch pauses for a second confused about Royse’s claims. He takes a look around with his eyebrows crossed in confusion. Finch's mouth twitches before speaking again. "Do you want to know what I know then?" Finch takes a few steps forward looking at Royse straight in the eyes to intimidate him. "She's been caught and is currently on her way here."

"How are you even sure she lost the fight? Can you smell that by any chance?" Royse says without batting an eye. "I can tell, you don't trust the person that went after Betsy and if you did you wouldn't be here negotiating."

Finch drops his hands to his sides in disappointment. He was surprised Royse could read him like an open book. Royse puts his hands on his hips showing his confidence with a slight smile in the corner of his mouth. Royse felt good about himself he was in his rightful arena which was bluffing and negotiating. Lying was Royse's strong suit and he was proud of it. Royse then takes a sneak peek at his friend and sister. 

Royse makes eye contact with them as they show a face of approval and Royse shows an overbearing face of victory. Kaleb still had no idea what was going on, but trusted Royse to choose the best for them. Mira was just wondering how Royse was going to pull this off.

"So what is it going to be? You don't seem to be confident in your ally and someone is on their way here. You don't know who caught who. We'll help you catch her if you let us go." Royse says with a confident tone seeping through his every word. Finch pinches his nose trying to think.

Finch pinching his nose is an old habit he has had since a kid. This habit was taught by his older brother, Jaques who brought out the best of others for his advantage. Jaques trained Finch to hold his breath until he dies so he could make a quick-thinking decision on the same spot. Once Finch is on the brink of death his mannerism and thought process switches to Jaques. This was exactly what was currently happening. Finch in total could hold his breath for 45 minutes and it had already been 4 minutes since he was holding his breath which concerned the trio.

"Uh," Kaleb said before he was interrupted by Mira's hushing.

Finch finally stops doing his little trick with a changing expression on his face. He places his hands behind his back before saying something. 

"This is my negotiation term. You find Betsy and bring her alive once you do I kill all of you." The group goes silent not even looking at each other. They make sure Finch isn't joking by staring at him. "Nothing is stopping me from attacking you right now and go get Betsy myself." Finch lied like Jaques would do. Something was stopping him and that was the Repeating Forest.

Royse was surprised by how his mindset changed to a ruthless person. Royse now knew he had to switch tactics to get what he wanted. The roles switched so quickly that he had a stutter every time he spoke which showed his confidence deteriorating like an hourglass losing its sand bit by bit. Royse cleared his throat pretending that it was dry to buy time for himself to think.

"I'm guessing you went after us instead is b- because you were afraid." Everything and everyone went silent and all Royse could hear was his own heart pounding against his chest. He was thinking how easily Finch could crush his small ribcage in his chest with a flick of a finger.  "You sent someone else who you don’t even trust to do the job because you're confident that Betsy would k-kill you easily just like she did to Ada."

Royse was right on the money once again. Reading between the lines to make a summary, but this didn't change Finch's mind. “My terms still stand,” He remained in silence not saying anything until they agreed to his terms. Kaleb could now read between the lines and decided to make his outcome. 

"I'm tired of this, we agree, but first we need to locate her." Kaleb groaned in frustration, he walked over to Royse who seemed completely defeated, and patted his back. He knew he was right but lost the battle. It was his fear seeping into his words giving Finch the confidence he needed "We have this whistle once we blow on it it'll make a loud sound. She'll try to do the same until we fi-"

Kaleb dropped the gun he had taken out of his pocket. He was pretending to grab a whistle and grabbed the gun instead. Rose-red blood suddenly stained the innocently white snow. The sight was eerie, but not as much as Kaleb looked. His eyes were wide, shocked to see blood tainting the snow spreading like it had roots and growing. His wide eyes finally fell upon his stomach. His jacket acted like snow soaking all the blood spreading and growing inch by inch. The blood wasn't the only alarming thing that caught Kaleb, Royse, and Mira's attention.