Under the Floorboards

Chapter 2: The House

I sling my bag over my shoulder, I'm out the front door just as my uncle Cole pulls in. Flames are drawn across the side of his overly buffed up car, his bulky and muscular body slides out of the drivers door as music begins flooding from his radio. His head pops up and his eyes meet mine with suspicion. "Where are you headed?" he raises an eyebrow.

"I'm... headed to that old and abandoned house," I rock back and forth on my heels, smiling meekly. Arizona's van pulls over to the curb at the edge of my lawn. "Okay, gotta go. Catch ya later," I laugh nervously, rushing over to the van.

"Stop right there, Kendall," He orders. I groan and turn back toward him.

I wait for him to tell me I can't go, or freak out and tell me it's a bad idea. Instead his face just lights up like a firework. "Not without me, you're not!" he laughs and crossing over to me.

"Fine, but don't give fitness tips or something weird like that to any of my friends. Deal?" I wiggle my finger in front of him, remembering the last time he had hung out with my friends. The entire time he was challenging them to fitness competitions, those of which he always won, trying to show off.

"Deal, I'd never do that anyways," He smirks.

"Sure," I mutter with a grin, Alaska slides the van door open to welcome us in.

My uncle squeezes between Yvoni and Lazaro, I wedge my way between Nina and Damon. On the other side of Nina, Chase is fiddling with her fingers. I wrinkle my nose at them pretending to be disgusted. Cole cracks his knuckles with a smirk. I eye him, reminding him of our deal. He groans and rolls his eyes.

"Okay, so does everyone have a flashlight and anything else they think they'd need when we get to the house?" Arizona asks as she turns a corner. Answers break out, assuring her. "Okay, okay. Sweet, then we are all set," She smiles with satisfaction.

"Can we stop and get something to eat before we go?" Zane whines.

"No, we can't be gone forever," Nina chimes.

"Is anyone focusing on the real issue?" I snap.

"Which is?" Chase leans over Nina, reaching for a water bottle in the center console.

"Are you kidding, you don't notice that someone is missing?" I stare in disbelief.

"Calm down, it's fine," Nina states softly.

"No, it's not fine. Mark is missing and no one seems to care, he never just disappears like this. He would have told me where he was by now," the words flood from my mouth as my head falls in my hands. I feel Nina rub my back, trying to make me feel better.

"He is fine, you know him. He does crazy stuff all the time, he knows what he's doing," Lazaro tries soothing me from the seat behind me.

"I don't know..." I trail off.

"We are almost there, we are going to find him one way or another," Arizona chirps optimistically from the driver's seat.

"Okay." I reply, though I'm full of doubt.

As we near the woods, an eerie feeling creeps up my spine and sends chills through my body. "Does anyone else feel a little weird about this?" Yvoni asks us.

"Yes, definitely," I croak.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Kendall?" Hazel swallows hard as she asks me.

"Well... I don't know. We have to find Mark, and the only place I can think to look is out here," I sigh, not used to the feeling of not knowing where he was.

"Look, we are gonna be fine. See?" Cole grins, flexing his arm to remind us of his muscle.

"We got it," I nudge him lightly. "Seriously, though. All jokes aside, we will be fine," Cole grows serious.