One By One (editing)

Chapter Six

edited by: EDIT0RR

******************************************************

"Okay, see you later! Have fun!" I shut and locked the front door behind Sean's retreating back. He was leaving to go to a sleepover for the computer club at his school, which sounded more boring than anything to me but I'm not one to judge.

I walked back into the kitchen to finish the dishes when my mom came in. She grabbed a dry dish towel and began to put away the clean plates.

"Thanks for babysitting Carter. You don't really have a choice but your father and I appreciate it anyway." My mom smiled. Natalie was off tonight, Luke was at a football event, and my parents were heading out for the night. Even though they didn't say where, I knew from breakfast with Gabe that it was to the police station for the interview.

I rolled my eyes. "That's what I'm here for."

"Do you know where we're going tonight?" Mom studied my facial expression.

"No." I played dumb.

"We're going to the police station. They're going to interview us about Sam and where she might possibly be," Mom paused, thinking about something. I handed her a dish and she turned around, her back facing me as she absentmindedly dried it. Then she turned back around.

"Carter, I have to tell you something," she said sternly. She looked like she was hesitating but her voice didn't waver. "It's going to sound strange but I need you to help me."

"Ok...." I trailed off.

She opened her mouth and shut it again, deciding what to say and how to say it. "I want you to clean your closet. Either tonight or tomorrow."

I almost laughed. "Sorry Mom," I apologized because of her annoyed look. "You sounded so serious I thought it was something more important than that."

"It is," she snapped. "Do as you're told and clean out your closet."

"Ok," I backed off. We finished the rest of the dinner dishes in silence. For Mom it was an irritated silence but for me it was a confused one. Why would she want me to clean out my closet now? Why would she care?

Dad came down as Mom put away the last dish. "Hey honey." He pecked her on the cheek. "You ready to go?" His eyes flicked over to me.

"Yeah I'm ready, and yes Carter knows." Mom tucked a loose strand of black hair behind her ear.

"Ok, so then Carter you know the drill. Call us if you need us, we'll just be on the other side of town. Jack is in our room sleeping and Teddy should also be asleep in his, but I would check on him just in case. Liv and Vic are settling down in their room. Em and Katie should go to bed within the hour for school tomorrow. Ok?"

"Sounds good."

"Ok, let's go." He nodded to Mom. She looked wary as she nodded back but he didn't seem to notice it.

They left, locking the door before they said good night. I found Katie and Em in the living room and flopped down on the couch with them. Em crawled over to lean against me, her little body warming me up. My eyelids grew heavy from the lack of sleep I had had over the past two days and soon I drifted off.

****

"Carter," Emily whispered, nudging me.

I felt my eyelids flutter open drowsily. "Yeah?"

"Carter." Katie's voice came hushed and urgent from the other side of Emily. I checked my phone. Shoot, it was 9:00, they needed to go to bed.

Suddenly, there was a thump from upstairs. I froze. The thumps continued. But it wasn't like a thump. they sounded more like...footsteps. But the footsteps were too loud and sounded too big, for even Vic or Liv. My stomach dropped, that meant there was an intruder in the house. Not just in the house, but upstairs where four of my sleeping siblings were.

I jerked up, fully awake now. "Here." I tossed my phone to Katie. "Call 911." Searching the room fast for a good enough weapon, I unplugged a lamp.

"Katie, I'm scared," Emily mumbled as I left the room.

"So am I," I murmured. I began to climb the stairs slowly, double fisting the lamp. The thumps stopped abruptly and I cursed myself for going so slow. So I took the rest of the stairs two at a time, the cord jumping behind me violently. My mind whirled. Besides the stairs, the only other possible exit was the balcony in my mom and dad's room. Who could it be? Why were they here?

I checked the room that Vic and Liv shared. But there was no disturbance. Both of them were sleeping soundly in their twin beds. I silently exhaled a breath I didn't know I was even holding.

There was a crash coming from the direction of my parents' room and I spun on my heel to face their closed bedroom door. My mom and dad's room- that was where Jack and Teddy slept. Fear turned me into a statue. I was stuck. My feet couldn't move. It was like they'd been glued to the floor.

Then, somebody cried out from behind the door. They were quickly silenced. But it woke me up and I ignored how scared I was. Instead I focused on the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I tightened my grip on the lamp and burst through my parents' bedroom door. I ran to the adjoined room where Jack's crib and Teddy's bed were. Both were empty. The sheets were ruffled and Jack's favorite stuffed animal was gone. A family photo lay underneath a pile of shattered glass.

No, they can't be gone. Did somebody steal them? How does someone steal a baby and a toddler? Why would someone want to?

I couldn't breathe as I stumbled to the balcony. My breath hitched as I saw a figure slam a car door out in the street. I stopped in my tracks at the way the figure moved and how their silhouette moved in the night. There was something oddly familiar about it. It made its way around the other side and opened the door, bending over and fumbling with something that I couldn't make out on the inside. I looked down to find a train lying in the grass, Teddy's train. That was the only confirmation I needed to know that Jack and Teddy had been kidnapped. I was watching the kidnapper steal them.

I burst out into the hallway, flew down the stairs, and out the front door. Somewhere along the way I dropped the lamp. My palms were shaking and sweaty.

"Hey!" I called out, running across the lawn. The person started the engine and their tail lights turned on.

"HEY!" I panicked, screaming at the top of my lungs. I couldn't make out the license plate number, I was too far away and it was too dark.

They sped off, their tires screeching. I sprinted some more, believing and hoping that I could catch up to them. But they were long gone and the stitch in my side hurt so bad I was wheezing. I walked over to Teddy's train, listening to the cry of a siren grow louder. Hot, angry tears spilled onto his train and I cursed, shouting in the night and to anyone who would hear me, not caring who heard me.

Teddy and Jack had been kidnapped.

They were gone.

And it was all my fault.

********************************************************************************************

hey! hope you enjoyed this chapter! thanks so so much for reading/voting/fanning!

- _ginger333_