Chapter 5 - The Return I

   "I said, bring who back?", the voice asked once more. Silence filled the camp for a moment. They were shocked and too stunned to speak. Some of their mouths fell agape, while some others were in the midst of processing the whole the whole thing.

   "Sir Silas!", Marcus shouted suddenly. "Yes, Marcus? Did you all hear me? Tell me who are you searching for?", Silas repeated, rather strenly. The group kept quiet. They were scared of him. "Do you want extra assignments added to your current ones? Or are you willing to tell me the whole truth?", he said in annoyed tone. Silas A. Lark, a.k.a, the torturer, is the class teacher of 11-D. "Sir, the thing is that, um... Well.. ", Marcus spoke. "Well?" Silas asked, slightly raising his left eyebrow. "The thing is that Lyra has gone off to the abandoned house", Jake broke in between them. Silas frowned. He turned to look at Jake, "The abandoned house?", he questioned. "Yes", answered Jake honestly, he didn't want to get into trouble with the teachers for lying. He would rather be punished than lose time in dealing with unnecessary lies. Mr. Silas frowned once more. It was evident that he was not at all happy with this. "Why did she go there? Is she not aware of the dangers? Why didn't anyone of you stop her?", he asked a bunch of questions. Silence fell, the air semmed stiff, even the insects of the night quieted down as if in understanding of the situation. "Well, Sir, the thing is that," Marcus broke the silence "we tried to stop her, but she insisted that it would be best for her to go, 'As someone wants to see me cry-" he tried to explain but was met with a jabbing blow from Jake, cutting him off. "What was that? Who wanted to see her cry?", Silas asked with a questioning look. "Well, it was.. Um...", Jake sounded, slightly looking at Victoria, who trembled in her place. He was unwilling to disclose further information. "Well, someone better provide me answers befor-

   "Before what?", a faint voice said, startling everyone there. There was the rustling of leaves nearby. A twig broke under the person's footsteps. "Silas, I asked you a question!", cried the voice. "Oh it's only you." answered an unbothered Silas. The campers eyes grew wide. Their mouths fell agape. "Miss Seraphina!!?", Marcus screamed once more. Silas put his hand on his head in great distress of the situation. (In short, Silas did a facepalm. Or is it palmface??🤔) "Miss Seraphina, if you have nothing else to do here, please leave." Silas said, rather annoyed. "Oh my! Silas! How could you be so cruel! I just got here! You won't even ask me how I got here? Besides, I might be able to help, you know?" Seraphina voiced her displeasure at Silas. "Unless you know about abandoned houses and ways to find a lost child in a forest as big as this, you'd better leave!", was Silas' answer. You big meanie! How could you treat your sister this way! For a fact, I'm older than you." "That doesn't matter now. I have more urgent business to deal with!" "You ungrateful chil-" And so, these two siblings began to bicker, while the campers looked on, seemingly helpless.

   "What's going on here?", a voice came from the trees once more. They all turned to look at it and lo, and behold. "Lyra!!", Jane screamed in excitement. She ran to Lyra forgetting her tiredness and anxiousness, and gave her a big hug. "Where were you? I was so worried!",said Jane almost sobbing. Lyra gave her a gentle smile and a small pat on her head. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I'm back now" "About time!" Jane said rather angrily, to which Lyra gave a worried smile. "Lyra! You're back!", Jake sighed a heave of relief upon her arrival, but he felt guilty for not being able to find her sooner. "It's good to have you back", chimed in Marcus, unaware of how Jake felt at that moment. "Um.. Yeah, nice to see you all too", said a flabbergasted Lyra, with Jane still stuck to her. "Well, if it isn't the troublemaker, herself." "Oh, Silas, don't be rude. You should be glad she's back! Say, child, how are you? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?", exclaimed Seraphina. "Oh, Miss, I'm alright. Nothing happened that much! I'm sorry for having you all worried." Silas opened his mouth to speak, "You-" "Oh, no dear, not at all", Seraphina cut him off. "But what are you and Sir Silas doing here?", Lyra asked curiously. "Oh that, we were just-" Seraphina began but Silas cut her off. "We live nearby, we were here to stay at our grandparents house for a while. There has also been reports about people going missing around these parts, so I came to check. And knowing you kids, you were bound to cause unnecessary trouble, which has been proven to be true." "He's taking revenge for cutting him off before", muttered Seraphina, which did not go unheard by Silas. "And what if I am?", Silas mouthed to her. "Oh, bummer." Seraphina whispered. "However, what he said is true. There has been rumours around these parts, some talk of having seen an old couple, a timeless couple at that. And while some claim to have barely made it out alive, others claim to have seen people go in only to never come back out again. Though these are baseless rumours and much of it doesn't make sense or have much detail, there has been some reports of people going missing. Say, child, are you nothing happened to you?", Seraphina asked in concern. "Well, I can't say that nothing unusual happened, because something *did* happen..." Lyra's voice trailed off. Jane poked her head,seemingly worried. Lyra patted her head in assurance. "Tell us, you might be able to help with this investigation." Seraphina encouraged her. Lyra looked about and saw that others were anticipating her story. There was excitement with a tiny hint of fear in their eyes. Even Silas seemed to be curious about it, though he tried to hide it. Someone stirred the fire and it grew bright. The night breeze blew past her, the stars twinkled in the clear night sky, there was the soft faint smell of marshmallows along with the scent of pinecones that were burning in the campfire. The crickets once again chirped, the night owl hooted, and some few fireflies flickered in sight. It became quiet for a moment, with only the sounds of nature that could be heard. She sighed, "Well, okay. So...

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