The Deadly Four

Chapter 1

 Chapter 1

“Can we please take a break?  We’ve been shopping for over 4 hours now!”  I said trying to catch my breath.  My best friend Laura Stewart shot me an exasperated look.

“Of course not, we haven’t even found our prom dresses yet.”  She said rolling her bright brown eyes.

“But my legs hurt!”  I whined as I trudged behind her.  Laura didn’t even bother to turn around.  She just continued walking looking for another dress shop. 

Laura and I had been best friends since first grade when Laura hit me with a red crayon and I threw the coloring book at her.  Laura was a redhead and easily angered, while I was a brunette and more calm.  I was the rational thinker and Laura was the crazy one.  But we were best friends.

The reason we were out shopping was because we were looking for Prom dresses.  Prom wasn’t even for another month, but according to Laura, we had to find the perfect dress first so they wouldn’t run out.   No one could argue with Laura logic, it was like trying to win a losing battle.

Two more shops later, we still hadn’t found a dress.  I looked up at the sky and noticed it was starting to get dark.  “Laura we have to start heading home now, it’s getting dark and if I don’t get home by nine, my mom will send out a search party.” 

She nodded glumly, “I still wish we could’ve found a dress by now.”

“It’s going to be fine.  We’ll just come back next weekend and continue looking.”  I said as I rummaged inside my purse trying to find my car keys. 

“I really wish these stupid kidnappings would stop,” Laura muttered.  “It’s not even nine yet and the shops and streets are all empty!”  I looked around and sure enough people were starting to head back home.  The truth was after the kidnappings started, no one was willing to be out at night.  I don’t blame them; it was scary knowing that there were people that kidnapped for fun out there. 

“It’ll be okay, Laura,” I said as I found my keys and started the car.  “They’ll end soon and then we could stay out as late as you want.”  She just glumly looked out the window at the scenery flashing by.  It was two minutes later when I realized that Laura was anxiously fidgeting with the ends of her auburn hair.  She only fidgeted with her hair when she was deathly nervous about something.

“What is it?”  

She stopped fidgeting and turned to look at me.  “It’s just that the news was saying that the kidnappings are starting to get closer to our town.”  Now I was the one fidgeting. 

“You know the media likes to blow things out of proportions,” I said.  “For all we know they could be kidnapping in New York and not anywhere near Texas.”  Laura smiled and finally started to relax. 

 “You think?”  

I smiled back at her.  “I know.” 

But honestly, I didn’t know.  I only said that to Laura to make her feel better.  The truth was that I was scared too.  I had seen the same news this morning and realized that the kidnapping was starting to make its way to our small town in Texas, not at all New York.  I shook the thought out of my head.  We were safe here.  Kidnappings were something we saw on TV and believed it would never happen to us.  If only I realized then how wrong I was.

I dropped Laura off at her house before quickly driving to my house.  I had three minutes to make it before nine, or else my mom would freak out.   I barged in to my house as the clock struck nine.

“Lena Winters!  Do you know what time it is?”  My mom shrieked as she walked out of the kitchen and towards me. 

I sighed.  “Mom, it just turned nine.  Technically I was already in the house.”  

“You know you shouldn’t be out when it gets dark,” She said walking towards me and hugging me.  “I worry when you’re out.” 

“It won’t happen again.”   I promised as I walked upstairs to my room. 

I showered and got ready for bed.  Turning the TV on in my room to watch the nightly news, I grabbed a brush and started brushing my long naturally straight layered golden brown hair.  I was thinking about getting it cut but hadn’t had the time.  My eyes were probably my best feature.  They were hazel, but looked more bluish in the light because of the numerous specks of blue. 

“Another kidnapping has just been reported.”  My head whizzed around to look at the TV where the news lady sat.  “Abby Smith was reported missing by her parents eight hours ago when she didn’t return from a night out with her friends.  The kidnapping is getting closer to Texas, and I encourage for girls to try staying inside more often.”  She went on to show a picture of a pretty girl with long brown hair.  My hands started shaking.  They were getting closer. 

I took a deep breath trying to calm down my racing heart.  Laura had been right.  They were heading straight for our small town.  Maybe they would just pass by.  I didn’t even know who ‘they’ were.  Everyone knew the kidnappers as The Deadly Four because of the red four that was on the hand of every kidnapped girl.  The police had tried coming up with a possible conclusion as to why they would mark the victim’s hand, but they still had not reached a conclusion.  What was even weirder was that the girls had no memory of the kidnapping.  It was like the kidnappers wiped their memory clean.

The only reason I even knew about the Police’s investigation was because my dad was the Sheriff.  He usually told me what was happening with the investigation so I was aware of the danger around me.

Tired of hearing about the kidnappings, I turned the TV off, and climbed into bed.  Pulling the covers around me, I tried to go to sleep.  But I couldn’t sleep.  It was hard to sleep knowing that there was danger coming.  I tossed and turned for hours, before I finally drifted off to Dream Land.

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 Hey Everyone! If your reading this then I really appreciate it! This is my first story ever so please excuse any mistakes or let me know so i can fix them.  It would be awesome if you could vote and let me know if you life the story or not!  The story will pick up soon so sorry if it sounds a bit boring in the beggining. Thank You!