5 welcome to Lowey.

Mount Omai, was a mysterious landmark stretching over 2,300 meters to the sky. It is placed on the edge of Saijang, the country Lowey is situated in. This mountain is coined mysterious by were ancestors and some say at a certain point in history, the mountain was worshiped, till this day it is still considered sacred. And like most sacred places, it was the hotspot for teenagers to do stupid things on a dare.

"I am scared." A whisper came the voice of Sarah, a quiet girl from the neighbouring Lowey. Though she was among the popular kids at the school, she mostly kept quiet and followed everyone. Her sister Symphony mostly did all the talking, snarky, sarcastic and rude- unlike her name- but talking nonetheless, refuses to be a part of the 'cliché' Sarah calls friends. Right now, she wishes she listened to her sister, it was not night yet, but once they entered the lower caves of Mount Omai, it would be dark and Sarah is afraid of the light the darkness would shed on her and the secretes it would reveal.

You see, Sarah isn't your average girl next door and the word bitch suits her much more. Hence the thought of traversing these caves at this time, left her terrified.

"I don't want to go." She said shaking her head, not caring what her 'friends would say anymore, she stepped back snapping twigs beneath her feet. "I won't go."

"Aww is our Sa afraid of the dark?" Came the voice of Bethany a member of her clique as Jude, Festus, Zain, Mason and Aria stood behind her with mocking gazes. "Just go in and come back out is all." Bethany said shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. "It's no bd. I am not asking you to lift the mountain now, am I?"

"Nope, I don't think you did, Beth." Chimed in Aria, ever so supportive.

"Guys just drop it."

Came Festus with a sadistic smile. "She doesn't want to do it. We can't force her, can we?" This little line had sparked an idea within the minds of these 'friends', or BJZ FAMS as they like to call themselves.

"No… we can't." Drawled Bethany. But this exchange made Sarah even more terrified, her eyes widened in horror. What may seem like a little joke to these humans was life sentence to her. Her eyes quickly darted around, looking for escape? Something to attack? But when the approaching predators began to draw closer, Sarah dashed for the trees, opposite direction from the mountains, she was fast, but they were faster as they quickly caught up and dragged her. All that could be heard was her scream.

Tied up, dragged up to the entrance of a pit dug into the mountain. That was the last time Sarah hung out with the group till now.

***

Two years later behind Lowey's Fresh foods, a small grocery store of sorts owned by Jude's family, Sarah stood there with her eyes cast down as she fidgets with, he left foot rubbing the right one. Her oversized jumper fitting like a mini dress on her as she swept her brunette hair behind her ear.

"Why do you think things are so easy." Came Bethany's soothing voice.

"Why are we even wasting our time?" Came Mason as he typed something into his phone, miles away from this conversation.

"First off, you ghosted on us, like WTF who TF do you think you are?" Aria yelled in a shrill voice. "You were lucky to be our friend. How the fuck do you expect us to let you back into our circle again? We use to be BJZ FAMS, now we are just BJZ FAM, does that sound cool to you?

No, the fuck not." In Sarah's head she thought of how the name never sounded cool in the first place.

When Sarah was a child, mum, dad and symphony was all she needed. At a time, her twin, Symphony, was her best friend, but the older she got the more she wanted. If it was just her family and no one else in the world, perhaps she could have managed. There could have been happy times. But her life is a constant whisper. A secrete that had to be hidden, invisible, barely audible, not there, with the constant fear of being found out by the people around her. She could not make any real connections. She had to become creative, in the name of survival, she had to die. As a child it was a game, a game of pretend, but the older she got the more real it got. Till she realised she was empty, survival had left her with nothing but fear and an endless hunger for fresh air, that she is not permitted to taste.

Losing interest in everything she loved to do, no hope for the future, constantly sleeping, being too tired or lazy to eat, binge watching every show she could find, avoiding the real world… Sarah was depressed and she did not want to be depressed. Her thoughts circled around a big topic that she has avoided till now, now standing in front of the group she wanted them to hold her hand keep her from the edge, she wanted assurance. She needed help.

"Please." Came her meek voice. "We were just thirteen at the time. I got spooked."

"What we did was pretty shitty." Said Zain. This surprised Sarah, she was not expecting them to ever own up to what they did.

"But… still…" Sarah said trying to absorb them of guilt, so they accept her. It was hard to say but she said it. "I shouldn't have been a baby about it." She raised her head to see and one could see the tears gathering at her eyes this tugged at whatever was placed where their hearts was supposed to be. "I shouldn't have ghosted you."

"Well," said Bethany softly. "Two years is a long time, but… You… you know…" Bethany was not sure what to say but wanted this to be over, Frankly, she did not care for them, the more people she had around her the better, and if this quiet mouse wanted back in, she could get back in, she quite missed the back-pack carrier two thousand. She snickered to herself. Things were about to get interesting.

"Guys. I must go. My dad needs me to get some groceries to Drews place apparently Brayleigh is back." Jude calls.

"Yeah… my phone has been blowing up. Apparently, the freak is back."

"Why the fuck does she always come back. After what she did to Fortitude." Bethany says with a harsh tone.

"Don't let it rile you up, She would be gone in a few days." Zain interjected.

Festus, sat on a garden chair with his hands behind his head, relaxed as he says teasingly, "look at you Mr. peace maker. Jude thinks he is an angel."

"Guys, I really have to go." He said motioning for them to get out.

"Nah, man. You go, I am comfortable right now," Festus says as he leans back. Mason continues to press the keys on his phone harshly, Zain is having a hushed conversation with Sarah and Bethany and Aria seemed enthralled by their conversation about Brayleigh. "… right? Right? Skinny with no boobs, plus her face is scary… She looks half dead."

"Okay bye." Jude say to no one after seeing no one made a move to leave. He would just have to leave them there.