"He has to be. Otherwise they wouldn’t let him out, would they?"

~

Upon hearing the persistent tapping sound Aiden diverts his eyes from the model airplane and looks up towards his bedroom window. In hopes that they’ll take the hint and go away he focus’ his attention back to the unassembled airplane.

Again, there is a hard knock at his window, this time he can’t ignore it.

With a sigh he drops the bottle of glue and makes his way to the window.

Through the glass Ashley shouts, "Welcome back… You wanna get some fresh air?"

"Where’s Glen?"

"It’s cool. He isn’t with us."

~

Somehow after everything that’s happened they still have the balls to walk through those woods. The woods that led them to that mailbox.

"What’s it like in there?" Spencer questions.

"…Horrible, it’s smells real bad, and at night everyone’s screaming so you can’t get any sleep. I’m never going back there."

The three of them pause for a moment. Ashley and Spencer hang their heads low knowing they’re partially to blame for putting Aiden in that situation.

Spencer interrupts the few moments of silence. "Do you guys see that?"

"Yeah." Ashley chimes in. "Where’s all that smoke coming from?"

Stepping over and around a few abandoned cars the threesome runs to the source.

"Crocket!" Ashley shouts. "What the fuck are you doing to my dog?" She screams while Glen shoves the small animal into a woven bag and squeezes liquid from a bottle of lighter fluid onto the bag.

Without waiting for a response Spencer and Ashley run forwards, side by side. Glen doesn’t give either of them a chance to react, he simply picks up the rotted piece of plywood and swings before anyone knows what’s going on. Narrowly, he misses his target, and ends up hitting his sister in the side of the head.

"Look what you made me do!" Glen yells up at Ashley once his sister hits the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He doesn’t answer. Instead he brings the piece of wood across Ashley’s kneecap. The brunette stumbles forward landing on all fours. The now out of control blonde haired boy takes this opportunity to land a few good kicks to Ashley’s face and midsection.

All the while Aiden watches in the background.

"Spencer, wake up!" The girl rolls her friend onto her side. "Please wake up!"

"Why don’t you fucking kiss her?" Glen questions as he pulls a piece of burning wood from the fire.

He moves the wood closer to the now flammable bag and that’s when Ashley charges.

~

Her eyes open and immediately she wishes they hadn’t. She hurts, and she’s not sure why. Slowly, she raises her head from the ground.

"How long was I out?"

Spencer just continues to cry, and then it all comes back to her, everything that had happened with Glen. Knowing Spencer is okay relief shoots through her, and then she remembers. "Crocket?!"

Following Spencer’s eyes she turns her head. There’s nothing she can do, nothing either of them can do.

Smoke rises from the woven bag that once held her living dog. It’s too late, she let Glen win, and Crocket was the one who paid for it.