Twelve.

Chapter 6.

I opened my eyes and stared straight up at my friend, Jordan.

"You scared me!" I growled while sushi chopping her between the legs with my foot. She stumbled backwards in pain.

"Ow! I didn't mean to!" She said, scrunching up her face. She put her hand out and helped me up.

"What did you want?" I questioned.

"I was coming over to see how the whole Tanner situation was going. Did you tell your parents? Did they call the cops?" She asked in a single breath. I sighed and felt tears burning my eyes again.

"Mom and Charles left for a 'vacation'," I put air quotes around the word, "They didn't even warn me. All they did was leave a note on the table," I explained.

"We'll did you at least call the cops?" Wondered Jordan.

"The phones have been disconnected, even my cell phone. Then when I came down this morning to check to see if they were still out, all the phones in the house were gone. Something isn't right here, and I'm terrified," I continued, then bursted out into tears. Jordan hugged me tightly. She pulled her cell phone out and handed it to me, "Here, call on my phone," she suggested. I grabbed it out of her hands and dialed 911, I didn't care about calling my mom anymore. The line rang three times then I heard a click, like someone answered.

"Hello," I squeaked, "is this the police?"

The other end of the line was silent, until I heard light breathing. "Is someone there?" I implored.

The line immediately hung up.

Tears streamed down my face once again. Jordan looked puzzled, "what happened?'

"Nothing, that's just it. Something is seriously wrong. I'm trying Mom again.

I slowly dialed the number with shaky hands. Bringing the phone to my ear, I whimpered. The line picked up, then hung up shortly after.

Jordan watched me with wide eyes, "nothing?" She guessed.

"Yes," I whimpered, "this is ridiculous."

"Come over to my place," Jordan suggested, "Lexi, Avery, and Camryn are there. We'll help you try to make sense out of this whole mess."

I put on a fake smile, "okay, thanks."

She walked out the door and I followed, locking it on the way.

--

We arrived after about five minutes of walking. She opened up the door and I slid in past her. I knew exactly where her bedroom was, so I walked straight down the long hallway and came to her door. Her house was like a second home for me.

I grabbed the door knob and let myself in. On the floor sat my best friends. They all stood up from the floor and greeted me with warm smiles. "Hi, guys," I said quietly. Jordan walked in the room behind me.

"We were gonna watch a movie. Is that okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said, putting on another fake smile.

--

The movie was halfway through when I felt the urge to pee. I got up quietly and tiptoed to down the hallway. I walked in and shut the door behind me. Just as I was getting ready to.. You know.. Use it, I heard scratching coming from behind the shower curtain.

My heart started beating just as fast as it did last night, maybe even faster. Adrenaline pumped through me as I pulled back the curtain.

A word was scratched into the wall.

The word read: Twelve.