Forlot - Books 1-3 {Completed}

Chapter Eighteen

Hansel pressed his hands against his cheeks. "Our parents?" he repeated. "You are not serious."

"I am serious," I responded. "They are calling us." I held the phone in front of him. "See?"

He squinted, and then his eyes widened. "No! Why are they calling in the middle of the night?!"

"It is not nighttime anymore. It is eight o'clock in the morning. We rode the bus all night long. Remember? We arrived at the town in the morning."

"Excuse me! I am not the one who decided to make the sky purple."

I was hoping that the ringing from my phone would stop. Unfortunately, it did not. Mom and Dad did not want to cancel the call.

I glared back at the screen. My fingers were inches away from the 'Answer' button. My stomach hurt, and sweat streamed down my palms. My brother and I were in a tough situation.

Should we answer the call or hang up? And if we did answer, what would we say? How would we say it?

"I...I think that we should answer," I suggested, making a decision. "I should answer."

"No, sis," Hansel protested. "You cannot. What if they ask where we are? What if Dad traces the call? They will come here and find us."

"It will be a quick call." I took a deep breath and pressed the 'Answer' button. I raised the phone to my ear and waited.

I tapped with my foot, waiting for somebody to talk. All that I heard were noises in the background. The noises sounded like people's voices. But it sounded like that there were a multitude of voices. More than two.

What was going on?

I jumped a little when I finally got an answer.

"Hansel? Gretel?" It was Mom. I could tell by her timid voice. "Please. I need to hear your voices. To know that you are there."

I spoke. "Mom?"

She gasped. "Gretel? Is that you?"

"Yes. Hansel is also with me. We are not hurt in any way. We are alright."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the heavens. Your father and I woke up this morning. We were going to get you guys ready for school, but you were not in your beds. You were not in your rooms. We checked the bathroom....but you were not in there either."

"It is okay, Mom. Hansel and I are safe." I looked around the area and continued. "Yep. Safe and sound."

"I am glad to hear that. That is a blessing." My mom paused, and then continued. "So where are you?"

I gulped. "W-where are we?"

"Do you know where you are? If you do, then your father and I can come and get you guys. We will take you back home."

"Um...could you hold on for a minute?"

"Sure."

I lowered my phone.

"Well?" Hansel said.

"Mom...wants to know where we are. She said that she and Dad will get us and bring us back to the apartment."

He growled. "Heck, no! I do not want to go back to that stupid apartment! We have done so much to get to this point! I do not want it to be for nothing!"

"Shh. Lower your tone. You know that she is on the other end."

He sighed and whispered. "Do not give us away."

"I will not. But what should I say to her?"

"I do not know! Tell her that we were kidnapped by aliens!"

I rolled my eyes. "They will not believe that." I looked at the floor. "It has to be convincing."

"You want convincing?" My twin brother got ahold of my phone and ran to one of the windows. He opened the window and threw my phone out. "There. Problem solved."

I became shocked. I could not believe what he just did. A tear ran down my cheek.

"What the heck was that?!" I exclaimed angrily.

"I had to do something. Dad could have tracked us."

"You could have at least let me turn off the phone!"

"Relax. Your phone probably broke when it landed on the ground."

"What?!" My face turned red.

"Hey! It is not my fault! Blame our writer! She is writing this series!"

Suddenly, I heard a growl. I frowned at my twin.

"Do not growl at me," I said.

"Gretel, that was not me," Hansel replied. "I swear."

The growling sound got louder and louder. Closer and closer.

I screamed when I spotted the creature.