The One

Part 1: Choices

Lana

The wind whistled through the trees as I walked the hidden path through the woods. Other than that, the only sound to be heard was the crunch of my feet hitting the ground and the occasional snap of my camera. I had gotten the camera as a gift on my birthday and it's been by my side ever since. Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of negativity and photography was an outlet. It helped me see the beauty in the world and I want to share that with other people. Standing still I looked around and took in my surroundings, breathing in the fresh summer air. I closed my eyes and took in the calm of everything, but then a buzzing noise interrupted it. I let out a sigh of annoyance as I opened my eyes and pulled out my phone. A message from mom. "You need to come back. NOW." I rolled my eyes and put my phone back in my jacket pocket. "I haven't even been out for that long." I say letting out another sigh of frustration. As I turned to go home I heard a twig snap from behind me. A chill went up my back, making me shiver. That better be nothing. I shook off the fear I felt and made my way through the woods. As I continued to walk I could hear what sounded like footsteps following me. Feeling a little scared, I picked up my pace. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, or maybe I should just take off and run as fast as I can. Just as I thought that the footsteps stopped, which in turn made me stop in my tracks. My heart started beating fast, and my breathing became frantic. Despite how I was feeling I mustered up the courage to turn around. Even though I knew what I would see, I still got sick to my stomach seeing that there was no one behind me. Come on Lana, just leave before something happens. I quickly turned around, and as I did someone jumped out at me from behind a tree. "AHH!" I held out my hands and turned my head, closing my eyes. Instead of getting attacked, I heard laughter. I looked to see who it was and immediately became infuriated."What the hell Liam! That wasn't funny!" "You..should've...seen...your..face."he says in between laughter. I scoff and push past him. "Come on, I was just messing with you."he says slightly jogging to catch up to me, still catching his breath from laughing so hard. Liam is my childhood friend. Every summer since I was little my family has come down to stay in a cabin that once belonged to my grandparents. Liam would stay in the cabin across the lake from us. We've known each other ever since. Even though he was a year older then me ,and a boy, we always got along. I guess it was because I wasn't like your typical girl that would want to play with dolls and dress up, that was more my sister. I was more of the adventurous type and considering that he and I were the only kids around, besides my sister, we were kind of stuck with each other. Everyone else vacationed in town which was an hour away. Over time we kept in contact by texting. "What are you even doing here anyways?"I ask. "I went to your place to see if you were home and your mom asked if I could go get you."he says snapping a twig from a tree and breaking it into pieces. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go into town with me." "I would but I don't think my mom would after recent events." "What? The kidnappings? Those were months ago. Besides who would want to take you?"he says poking me with a piece of the broken twig. "I don't know whether or not I should be offended." I say swatting his hand away. He just chuckles as we approach my cabin. "There you are."my mom says, getting up from the porch swing and approaching us. "Sorry, it took me a while, Miss. Winters, she went pretty far." "Liam!" I whisper. "What?" "Lana I told you not to go too far."my mom says putting her hands on her hips. "Oh."Liam says, understanding. " Just come inside, we'll finish this conversation later. Liam, I'm sorry but she won't be going anywhere for a while." She puts her hand on my shoulder and ushers me towards the cabin. When I turn to look at Liam the smirk on his face grows and I glare at him until my mom starts pushing me. "I'm going." I say turning my head and moving my shoulder out of her grip. I pull open the screen door and start to walk towards my room but my mom pulls me back. "We're not done."she says. " I told you to stay close. With all these kidnappings you need to be more careful. You may not care but I do." I want to be mad at her but the sincerity in her voice just makes me feel guilty. "Okay. I'll be more careful." She lets out a heavy sigh and lets go of my arm. She shakes her head and walks towards the kitchen. I turn the other way and continue to walk to my room. When I open the door my sister is lying in my bed and watching something on her phone. "Get off." I say loud enough for to hear but she just responds with a bored glance my way. "Gracie I'm really not in the mood so get off and get out." She lets out a sigh and sits up, pulling her headphones off. "Moms doing?"she asks. "What do you think?" I close my door and walk over to my bed, setting my camera down. " Did she bring up the kidnappings again? She's, like, obsessed with them." I roll my eyes at her use of the word "like" and nod my head. Sadly my little sister has fallen into the trends of today which means she looks like everyone else. Over the top makeup and skin tight clothing. She'd actually look some what decent if she just dialed it down a little, but that's not what everyone else is doing. Her efforts don't go unnoticed though. She has what pretty much every girl wants, no acne and an hourglass figure. I also got the hourglass figure(thanks mom), but the no acne part I have to work for and so far it's going okay. "So, Liam came by earlier looking for you." Gracie says with a smirk. "Your point?" "You know if you weren't so grouchy and dressed better, then he might actually make a move on you." "I don't need dating advice from my little sister, and I dress fine." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's your 'own style' or whatever you say. You know if you don't make a move on him sooner or later I will." "What happened to Tony? I thought you guys were 'in love' or some stupid crap like that and Liam would never go out with you." "Tony was a jerk and how do you know that?" "I told you that guy was bad news. And Liam wouldn't go out with you because he thinks of you as his little sister. His words." " Aww boo." "Girls! Get out here!" our mom yells, interrupting our banter. We exchanged curious glances then hurriedly left the room. Our mom is sitting on the edge of the couch with the tv remote in her hands. She briefly looks our way and then points towards the tv. "Look at this. Another girl went missing." she says shaking her head. "This is why I want you to be careful Lana. You too Gracie."she says. "Okay, I'm sorry. I get it." "I'll be careful too mom. Promise." Deciding that she's seen enough my mom quickly gets up from the couch and walks into the kitchen. I take her place on the couch and Gracie follows mom. "Fourteen year old Judy Greenland went missing late last night, around 12:00 am."Her picture pops up then. She has blonde hair and green eyes. She has a sweet smile. They probably got the picture from her school. "She apparently went out with some friends into the woods. It was reported that there was alcohol found with the other teens but it is unclear whether that is a factor in Judy's disappearance. It is suggested that this disappearance is linked to the previous two that occurred earlier this summer. This is Jewl Roberts reporting from PineOak Park reminding you to stay safe." Poor girls. There's no way that they just went missing. There's definitely more going on here. I've seen what the other girls look like and they look nothing alike, so there's obviously no pattern. One girl had darker skin and brown eyes. I think she was my age. The other was 15. She almost looked like Snow White. She had pretty blue eyes and black hair that was in a pixie cut. I guess the only thing they have in common is that they're pretty teenage girls. I just hope nothing happens to us.