Chapter 5

"Let's go," said Erica.

"Okay," said Ashley. "But first I need to feed my dogs.

"Let's feed quickly," said Erica. "We don't want it to get dark while we are out walking."

After they fed the dogs, they followed the footprints into the trees.

"It's getting creepy out here," said Ashley.

"It's going to be alright," said Erica, hoping it was true.

"I hope so," said Ashley.

"At least it's not so bad here, we can still see the road," said Erica.

"I know," said Ashley.

Erica kept looking at the numbers that she had written down and the alphabet chart that Ashley printed.

"Are you trying to figure out what the second message says?" asked Ashley.

"Yes," replied Erica.

Ashley was walking in front of Erica because the path was narrow.

"Where are these footprints leading us?" asked Ashley.

"I don't know," said Erica,

"Are you sure that the footprints are from the person who sent us the note?" asked Ashley.

"I'm 80 percent sure that it could be," said Erica.

"It's quite a long walk," said Ashley.

"I think I know what the second message is!" exclaimed Erica.

"What is it?" asked Ashley.

"It's kind of a weird one," said Erica.

"Tell me," said Ashley.

"It says 'fear us now', "said Erica.

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Ashley.

"I'm not sure," said Erica handing over the papers to Ashley.

"Is it supposed to mean that we should go find them?" asked Ashley.

"What makes you think that?" asked Erica.

"It says 'fear us now', so that person wants us to scare them?" said Ashley.

"It could mean for us to go find them or for us to be afraid of them," said Erica.

"It's not so creepy walking in the woods, but it makes it creepy when we talk about this," said Ashley.

"I know," said Erica.

"Should we go back home?" asked Ashley.

Ashley was sweating from fear.

"Do you think we should go home when we've already walked this far?" asked Erica.

"It is getting creepy, like very scary," said Ashley.

"At least it's two of us together, not one of us alone," said Erica.

"Fine," said Ashley in a worried tone.

Ashley tried not to think about it, but she couldn't stop worrying about what could happen.

"You walk in front of me," said Ashley.

"Why?" asked Erica.

"I'm scared," said Ashley.

"Fine," said Erica, stepping to the front.

Ashley looked at the paper, trying to find if there was another note or clue hidden in there. She looked very carefully.

Then suddenly, Ashley said, "Erica, did you notice these black things on the note?"

"What black things?" asked Erica.

"There are black things you can see, and when you look closely it seems like it forms a set of numbers," said Ashley.

"Can I see?" asked Erica.

"Here," said Ashley, handing over the note.

"By the way, do you think we are getting closer to anything?" asked Ashley.

"I can see a large space about a mile away," said Erica.

"So, we're not close to any buildings," said Ashley.

"Why do you want to be close to a building?" asked Erica.

"I feel like it would be safer," said Ashley.

"Nothing bad is going to happen," said Erica.

"If you say so. It seems like we have a third message," said Ashley.

"It sure does," agreed Erica.

"Let's figure that one out as well," said Ashley.

Erica nodded.