If Rachel was to be asked right now who it was that kidnapped her exactly, she would say that she couldn't remember. She didn't remember who it was, only that she was struggling against them when they were taking her away while she heard Noah banging on the door. There was nothing after that. Rachel felt awake, but she kept her eyes close in fear of what would await her if she were to open them. True, whenever something like this happens she and Noah usually awoke a little bit in the future, a week at most. But what if it was different this time?

Well, Rachel would have to depend on her senses to figure out where she was.

The first thing Rachel noticed was that the air felt as warm as it could be in the southern states when in was autumn and nearly winter, so she guessed that it was daytime at least. That also ruled out that she was in another dimension or world or wherever the hell the Collective lived. Moving her fingers just enough, the ground felt slightly damp, and she felt what seemed to be leaves and grass.

Rachel swallowed nervously and opened her eyes, flinching slightly from the sudden light. Once her eyes adjusted however, she could see a blue sky and clouds. She moved her eyes around and hesitantly sat up and taking a brief look behind her. She was in a forest clearing, though not one she recalled.

"Where the hell...?", Rachel mumbled to herself before she quickly searched her pockets for he phone, which to her joy was there.

However, after looking at the screen, she felt let down once she saw that there was no signal. Not even one bar.

"Damn it", she muttered as she put her phone away. But at least she knew she wasn't out for long. It was the twentieth of October, so she was only out for less than a day. Now she just had to find a way out.

Rachel looked around once more and stopped once she spotted something sticking out from the browns and dying leaves. A white note pinned to a tree. Rachel stood up slowly and walked over to the tree, pausing every now and then to look around. When she came to the tree she took the note and began to read it.

'WE HOPE YOU HAD A PLEASANT REST RACHEL, JUST ENOUGH FOR OUR GAME TO BEGIN'.

Rachel instantly felt a sense of regret, but quickly looking back it was best to know this now then later.

'THE GOAL OF THE GAME IS TO GET OUT OF THE FOREST BEFORE MIDNIGHT. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN YOU BEING PULLED BACK TO THE BEGINNING.

'WE'RE SURE IT IS SOMETHING EVERYONE WILL ENJOY, AND WE'LL KEEP THIS FROM GETTING BORING.

'READY, SET, GO!'

At the bottom was the Observer's symbol, which was soon gone as Rachel crumbled the piece of paper in her hand before checking her watch. It was about noon. That gave her twelve hours.

"Better get started", Rachel mumbled to herself as she started walking. True, she had no idea where she was exactly, but surely it couldn't honestly take more than twelve hours to find her way out?

"Okay, so judging from the videos, I think it's safe to say that Alex is definitely dangerous, and Hoodie and Masky, i.e Tim, are on our side... I think", Jay said as he, Vince and Rebecca sat in the hotel room and discussed the videos.

"Right, but what we need to know is where exactly we go from here", Rebecca sighed. "I mean, unless it's absolutely necessary, I don't want to go to Rosswood again".

"You sure?", Vince asked. "I mean, I kinda want to check the place out myself".

"After what happened?!", Jay asked with a look of disbelief.

"I know it seems crazy, but you two have seen it more than I have and I think I need to at least see a bit more of it".

"Well, I can see where your coming from sort of, but we're not letting you".

"It's fucking suicide!", Rebecca added in after Jay.

"But obviously there might be something important in there if it's dangerous!"

"You think that did'nt already occur to us?", Rebecca questioned Vince with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I did'nt really mean it like that, but there's something there we need to see it".

"Well, what if I got someone else to go with me?", Vince asked.

"No. We're not not dragging more people into this. This is our problem", Jay said seriously. Vince frowned but an idea came to him when he remembered a couple friends.

"What if it was someone in a similar situation?"

Rebecca and Jay both paused to think this over, though they were hesitant to answer. Vince sighed as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Look, I know these two in Florida. They're having it pretty rough. And, well I also need to get some tapes I found at Claire's house so maybe I could make a quick trip back to Jersey, pick the tapes up and check if Noah and Rachel want in?"

"...if you think it'll help", Jay mumbled. "But, I still don't think this is a good idea".

"I'll just ask them and if they don't agree that's that", Vince promised.

"...Well, okay then. Why not". Rebecca hesitantly nodded. "If they want to, sure".

"Fuck!" Rachel was'nt sure how this was happening, but she was sure she passed the same tree five times now, either coming from one direction or another. Those Collective bastards must be doing this on purpose! Typical! Though deep down Rachel had to admit it would be silly to think they would'nt pull some sort of trick. That was like asking Noah not to swear for a few minutes.

With that in mind, Rachel was wondering what Noah was doing. Rachel doubted Noah would'nt look for her, but in all fairness she did'nt know where she was even so that would be problematic. Then there was also the possibility that Noah was letting his frustration out on something, and possibly a bit angtsy. After he got over that, he would probably try to figure out where she was... At least that's what Rachel hoped.

Rachel looked at her watch and bit her lip when she saw it was nearly four. Sure she still had about eight hours, but since her path seemed to be changing now and then, it was worrying. Looking at the trees, an idea occured to her and Rachel went to the nearest tree with branches and slowly started to climb up it. She figured if she got up as high as possible, she could have an idea of where she should go. It was reasonable enough in her mind.

However, just as she was halfway up, her grip slipped which forced Rachel to succumb to gravity and fall, much to her honest luck, a bush which did cushion her fall.

"God... damn it", Rachel groaned in frustration. She briefly considered trying again, but decided it was possible not a good idea for now. Instead, all she could do is keep walking.

"Well, this is... an unexpected turn of events", muttered a man with burns covering him as he stood in the burned remains of a hospital room. He was looking out of a window space where glass once stood but was nothing more but shambles on the ground.

"Do you think it happened because of your plan? Are they on to you?", questioned his dirty blonde companion, clutching the ragged make-shift cloak around her body tighter as she looked back, feeling a sense of paranoia that they would be ambushed at any minute.

"I don't know. But we're going to have to be more careful. I don't know what will happen if we're caught, but I don't think we want to know".

"But, couldn't they already know?"

"... It's hard to say. Time always changes. We'll just... have to see how things will play out". They were silent for a while, listening out for anything and hearing a bird chirping in the distance, and a faint sound of wind.

"... This isn't what's suppose to happen", the woman mumbled, looking behind again. "This isn't what happened. I was never-"

"Calm down", the man ordered calmly. "I know, we both know, but they're pissed at Noah and Rachel, and they could be on to our plan, so all we can do is just see what Noah's choice will be".

"So, do you think he'll accept Vince's offer?"

"It would probably be for the best he did".

"And if not?"

"The both of us will have to persuade him". The woman didn't miss the small smirk that briefly appeared on the man's lips.

"And after that, assuming Noah does go with them, it'll be Jay, Rebecca, Vince and Noah", the girl counted up. "Okay, and what should we do about Habit? Or Witch?"

"Habit's a childish bastard, but he can be smart at times. He probably already knows where Vince is. As for Witch, I've heard the Administrator is having her go there".

"...There's a new person though they'll need to look out for, right? Some sort of crazed killer?"

"From what I know he and Habit met and our getting along as well as two murderers can", he answered back.

"Hmp".

"... How long do you think Rachel will last in her game?" The man turned to look back at the woman. She should know best out of everyone after all.

"Well, you were the only one keeping my sanity together. When they took you I was a wreck and when they did their mind games on me in that forest it took a couple days", she murmured. "But, Rachel knows Noah is alive and well... ish. That should keep her mind together a lot better then I ever could".

"I see". The man looked towards the sky and saw how quickly it was becoming dark. "We may as well leave now. It's getting dark".

"Alright", the woman agreed, nodding her head before she turned around.

"Wait". She turned back as her companion walked up to her. "I'm have to go check on something. You go on ahead. I'll be with you shortly, Pierrot", he said before kissing her forehead.

"Okay. Just don't do anything rash, Firebrand".

What little light Rachel could get from the moon didn't help her read her watch too well, but it was definitely getting late, and it made her anxious that she would not be out before midnight. What exactly would happen to her then? It was something Rachel did not like to think about. If her phone had a signal she probably would have used it to get on the internet and figure out where she was.

Rachel took a sharp intake of breath as she stumbled a bit and barely kept herself from falling down. She looked behind her and could make out a branch on the ground being the possible culprit.

Walking again, Rachel rubbed her arms to warm herself up. Had she known this was going to happen, she would not have worn a light fabric shirt.

Rachel walked past a familiar puddle, possibly for the third time and spat into it. She felt one or two insects accidently fly into her mouth and the taste was terrible. When she looked away from the puddle she felt her jaw drop a little.

While still in the woods, she could see a carpark some distance away. Rachel didn't bother to check her watch and quickly ran, unaware her time was nearly up.

Five...

She was so close.

Four...

She could make it.

Three...

She would go out there, and find help.

Two...

She would call Noah and tell him she was alright.

One...

And then-

Suddenly, something grabbed her ankles and Rachel fell flat on her face. Her eyes widened as she reached out for the tarmac of the carpark. Just half an inch away! But the distance became longer when Rachel felt herself being slowly pulled away.

"NO! NO, NO, NO!", she shrieked, trying to cling to the ground. She had an idea of what was pulling her back, but she didn't dare to look. As she was pulled back, she felt herself become a little light headed, and before passing out, she thought she heard the words,

"Better luck tomorrow".

Sorry I took so long to update. I hope this makes up for the wait.