The storm began during their store visit but escalated with the night, as Taylor, Sage, Dorian, and Jersey were on their way back home. Their decision to return was prompted by the intensifying rain, which illuminated the sky with relentless lightning. Inside the car, the thunder drowned their attempts at conversation, emphasizing their eagerness to reach the safety of home.
The rest of their siblings, Blake, Cassie, and Grey, awaited their return impatiently. Taylor had informed Blake, their older sister, of their journey, revealing they still had 10 minutes left.
Sage and Dorian were engaged in a lighthearted dispute over the passenger seat. Taylor knew that it would typically be him who would have the seat in the presence of Blake or Jersey. He observed that Jersey was about to settle the conversation when a car rapidly approached them at full speed in the rearview mirror. The collision sent them off the road before Jersey could react.
“What the hell?!” Sage yelled, coughing.
“Is everyone okay?!” Jersey shouted, frantically assessing his siblings' well-being.
The airbags deployed, leaving them dizzy but unharmed. However, their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming. Despite the rain, Jersey could clearly see their pursuer – Quinn. Time seemed to stand still as the realization sunk in; Quinn had tracked them down. He had found them. He had forced them off the road. He was there to make them pay for running away…
“Everyone out!”
“Jersey!” Taylor yelled, swiftly detaching himself.
“Get out and run into the forest! Don't stop, go!”
Taylor, Sage, and Dorian hesitated for a moment before leaving the car and running. In one last look back, they saw Jersey and Quinn face to face.
Sage firmly grabbed Dorian's hand, running as fast as the rain and mud allowed. Taylor, somewhere behind them, followed. Quinn had found them – why was she surprised? after all, it was Quinn; nothing was surprising about it.
A lightning bolt struck a nearby tree, but she didn't have time to worry about it. Still, hand in hand with Dorian, she suddenly stopped when he tugged her arm forcefully.
“Stop!” he yelled to be heard over the rain's noise. “Where is Taylor?!”
“What do you mean?!”
But when she looked behind them, all she saw was trees as far as the eye could see.
“No, no, no…” she murmured. “He was supposed to be behind us!”
“We need to find him!”
“No!”
“What — why?!”
Dorian was offended and angry that Sage refused to go back and find Taylor.
“He can take care of himself for now! My priority is you! We have to put as much distance as we can between us and Quinn!”
But Dorian held his ground; they had already left Jersey, and they couldn't do the same with Taylor. Sage grabbed Dorian's hand and knelt in front of him, ignoring the mud staining her pants.
“Look at me, I need to get you somewhere safe. I need to know you're safe. I'll come back for Taylor once I'm sure that you're…”
“Safe.”
“Yes. He can take care of himself in the meantime.”
“Not against Quinn.”
“He won't go after him; he'll do the same thing as us: run. Come on.”
Sage stood up, still holding Dorian's hand. Her little brother, drenched from head to toe, nodded reluctantly, and they resumed their run through the forest in the rain. She knew she should have called for help or Blake the moment they started running. But for now, all she had in mind was Dorian's safety.
Taylor had followed Sage and Dorian through the rain and mud as best as he could. It wasn't the first time he had run through a forest to escape someone or something. It was becoming repetitive. Right now, he would have preferred to run from anything rather than Quinn. In front of him, Sage and Dorian, hand in hand, were running as fast as the storm allowed them. Then suddenly, a lightning bolt struck a tree that collapsed in front of Taylor, separating him from his brother and sister.
Taylor fell to the ground, attempting to protect his face from the debris. He watched the fire from the lightning mix with the rain as he sat on the ground. The others hadn't noticed they had been separated, and knowing Sage, she would continue her path when she realized it. Protecting Dorian was her priority. He got up and resumed his run to the west, probably in the opposite direction of Sage and Dorian…
As Taylor continued his desperate run through the rainy forest, he tried to call Blake, but the pounding rain and the chaos of the storm made it almost impossible to hear her voice on the other end of the line. In between gasping breaths, he tried to convey their dire situation, but the connection was unstable at best.
“Blake, it's Taylor! We've been hit by… Quinn… and we're… in the forest… Please, help us!”
Blake's voice crackled through the phone.
“I can barely hear you. You're breaking up. Are you okay? What’s going on?”
Taylor was drenched, disoriented, and terrified for his siblings. He struggled to find words that could convey the urgency of their situation.
“Quinn, Blake! no, we're not okay! in the forest… need help… fast. Sage and Dorian… They're with… we got separated… from Jersey… And… and Quinn… Oh God, Blake, he stayed behind. Please help!”
“Taylor, keep running! I’ll call the police, and I’m coming for all of you, you heard me?!”
The call abruptly ended, leaving Taylor unable to respond. He pushed forward, relying on his sense of direction. The storm continued to rage as fear consumed him, but he pressed on through the dark, rain-soaked forest with the hope of imminent help.
Taylor pressed on through the relentless storm, determined to reunite with his siblings. Despite the rain soaking him and the treacherous mud underfoot, Taylor's love for his siblings never wavered. He kept repeating their names in his mind – Sage, Dorian, Jersey – the ones he needed to protect.
He was separated from his family, but he couldn't forget the urgency of their situation. Though he knew that running through the forest was not the safest option, he couldn't think of a better alternative in the chaos of the moment. His mind raced as he tried to navigate through the darkness, relying only on sporadic flashes of lightning to briefly illuminate his surroundings.
Taylor couldn't help but wonder how his family was faring. Were Sage and Dorian safe? was Blake sending help? and what about Jersey, who had stayed behind to confront Quinn? the image of his older brother, facing… him, filled him with dread.
Sage and Dorian ran through the forest, holding each other's hands tightly. The rain showed no signs of easing up, but they knew they had to keep moving. As they pushed forward, their hearts raced with uncertainty and fear for Taylor, who was now separated from them, and Jersey.
Sage's decision to prioritize Dorian's safety was born out of love and necessity. In her mind, she rationalized that Taylor, who was 16, five years older than Dorian, and had faced danger before, could take care of himself for the time being. What mattered was getting Dorian to safety.
But Dorian, driven by his stubbornness and loyalty to his older brother, couldn't shake the worry about leaving Taylor behind. At this moment of fear and distress, he felt that they couldn't abandon anyone else from their family.
The emotions running high in the forest grew even more intense as the storm raged on. Lightning continued to strike, and the thunder seemed to echo the turmoil within the group. They had strayed far from their intended route home and were now deep in the wilderness. The rain kept pouring, the thunder kept roaring, and the lightning kept lighting up the forest unpredictably. The storm showed no signs of stopping, and Taylor, Sage, Dorian, and Jersey, who remained in the car, continued their race through the harsh weather.
Will they be able to escape from Quinn, or will their past catch up with them?
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