Selling My Soul to His Royal Nerdiness.

Selling My Soul to His Royal Nerdiness. (12)

Annabel Taylor

I woke up with a grin on my face. My stomach flipped and flopped as I recalled yesterday’s events, stretching and walking to the bathroom to fulfill my morning duties.

But something felt...off.

It took me a few moments to figure out what. I rinsed my mouth and headed to Noah’s room, knocking loudly. I waited.

Nothing.

A bad feeling in my stomach, I opened the door and peeked in.

It was almost ridiculous, how clean Noah’s room was. There were no clothes draped over the dressers, no wet spots where he’d spilled a drink. His books were all lined up neatly on his desk in, I shuddered, alphabetical order. His bed was made to perfection.

I sighed, took a few steps back, and made a flying leap. It bounced under my weight and I hit the floor. Hard.

Ow...

But oh well. It had to be done.

I stood, wincing at a little pain in my leg, and went to the next room.

Kolbie’s room was, predictably, decorated in pink. My mom says that she got her girly side from my dad. I choked on my orange juice.

I pushed it open, expecting Kolbie to be sleeping primly in the bed. Unlike me, she was a very gentle sleeper. If she wasn’t breathing, you’d think that she was dead.

Her room was empty.

When West, Chance’s, and my mom’s rooms were all empty, I decided to head for the stables.

We had shifts in taking care of the horses. Right now it was Chance and West’s turn, and on Monday it would be mine and Kolbie’s.

Though he’d get all of the teeth in his head pulled out before he’d admit it, West loved horses, especially Yin and Yang. The only time he ever really smiled was after a long ride, or after helping clean out their stables. He had his own horse, Estelle, back at home.

Yin and Yang were actually Chance and my horses. They were twins. Kolbie’s goat died last year and my mom’s dog, Max, had to be put down because of old age when we about ten. Ironically enough, it was just after my dad moved to LA.

Shaking off sad thoughts, I walked downstairs. I checked the living room, then the kitchen, then the dining room and...nothing.

That nervous feeling in my stomach increased.

I pocketed some sugar cubes, slid on a pair of my mom’s slippers, then headed out.

The heat of the afternoon pressed in on my bare skin. A slow, lazy breeze blew, brushing my neck.

I trudged up the hill to the stables, opening the huge, metal fence that kept Yang from getting out. She was the mischievous one, like me. Yin was more laid back. They were paint horses, a gift from a fan of my dad’s.

As I entered the cool, dusky stables, a white and black head thrust its head out of the stall. A small smile came to my lips as I walked up to Yang’s stall, reaching into my pocket and digging out a cube.

She whickered softly, snuffling into my hand as she lipped up the treat. I rubbed her soft cheek and walked over to check on Yin. They had been fed, which meant that someone hadn’t kidnapped all of my family. My mom was probably at the auto shop.

I led the two horses out into the pasture and let them graze, then walked to my mom’s home

garage to continue my search.