my book so far

it long Chapter 1 : what’s in the forest? In North America, there’s a town called Cryptid’s Crossing—the place I was born and raised. But I don’t think escaping from multiple orphanages since you were three years old with your best friends really counts as being “raised.” Still, I’ve lived here my whole life. Oh, and by the way, my name is Emma. I’m the one running in the front with the brown hair. Kate has blonde hair, and we both have medium-length hair. Jay has short brown hair, and William has shoulder-length black hair. Jay and William are wearing grey shirts with cryptids on them—mine has Bigfoot, Jay’s has a Wendigo, and William’s has a Mothman. Kate’s wearing a beige cropped tank top with brown pants, and I’ve got grey pants on. Both Jay and William have baggy black jeans. Jay and I both have brown eyes (but he wears glasses), William has green eyes, and Kate has blue ones. You might be wondering why we’re running like our lives depend on it. Well, maybe they do. You see, the only billionaire—the only famous person—in Cryptid’s Crossing, Alex Wellmen, is announcing something big. As we reach the stage in the middle of town, people are already gathered around. We push through the crowd, and there he is: Alex Wellmen, the man who got me into cryptids in the first place. “People, people, calm down,” he says, smiling in his black suit. “I’m here to tell you all that I’m going to give one million dollars to the first person—or group of people—who can bring me proof of the cryptids that supposedly haunt this town.” I raise my hand, smirking. “What cryptids are we talking about?” Alex looks right at me. “Anything—Bigfoot, Skinwalkers, Wendigos, aliens, whatever you can find.” He’s still looking at me. “Why don’t you come up here?” he says, not breaking eye contact. “Only if my friends can come up here with me,” I say, a devilish grin on my face. Well, the more, the merrier.” Alex reaches out his hand for me to grab. I take it, and he pulls me up. I grab both Jay’s and Kate’s hands and pull them up with me, while William doesn’t need help and just hauls himself up. “So, what are your names?” Alex asks, passing the microphone to me. “My name’s Emma, and I was born and self-raised here my whole life,” I say, then pass it to the next person. “Hi, I’m Jay, and I’m one of Emma’s friends,” Jay says, and then passes it to the next person. “Hey, I’m Kate, and I’m Emma’s best friend,” she says, but as she does, I mutter under my breath, “Don’t call yourself that ever again.” William grabs the microphone from Kate’s hand. “Okay, all of you listen up!" My name is William, and if you think you can beat us at this, you’re insane,” he says like he thinks he’s better than everyone. He once tried to make us eat food out of a dumpster, but I yanked the microphone out of his hand. “You just lost your speaking privileges,” I said, turning to Alex. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Wellmen I add, and everyone bursts into laughter. “It’s not a big deal,” Alex says with a smile. “So—do you want to do the hunt?” “Hell yeah!” I say. “Ever since I was young, I’ve loved cryptids,” I said, a grin spreading across my face. Well, that's great, but what do you have that will help you find the cryptids that live hear Alex Wellmen said, like I was going to say, we have 1 million dollars' worth of stuff. Well, you see, we don't have a lot of money, but we have an old camera, a Walkman, and a journal, and stuff to protect us, like fire for a wendigo and a knife. Alex looked like he was going to laugh, but he didn't. I don't know what he thought I was going to say because the four of us looked poor, but maybe he thought we bought our clothes ripped and dirty. But then again, it's 2025, and that's how some teens are dressing now, but I don't know. alex looked at the crowd. Each person will be dropped off in different parts of the forest, so if you have a specific spot in the Whispering Oak Forest, just tell me. I looked at Alex with a grin spreading across my face we would like to be dropped off at the far back of the forest i say okay Alex says any one else everyone stays silent