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THREE YOUR FUNERAL
Coming home that night, the pit in Wes's stomach was ever present. Shoving his key in the door and turning it, he realized as he opened the door that all of the lights were off. Their parents were night owls so there's no way at least one of them wouldn't be up at this hour, right?
"Mom? Dad?" Winona called out in confusion as her brother flicked on the light in the front entryway. "Hey, Wes, can you check if their car's in the driveway?"
Wes nodded and left through the still-open doorway. Sure enough, his mother's SUV was still parked right where it always was. He came back in and nodded, "It's there. Maybe they went to bed? That could be why they weren't answering their phones.
"We're back home!" Wes shouted up the stairs, his hand gripping the railing to keep himself from shaking. "Is anyone home?"
He headed up the stairs with Winona close behind him as they went to check their parents room. The lights were off just like everywhere else in the house, but when Wes flicked the light switch, it was revealed that their parents' bed was empty.
"I'm officially freaked out," Winona exclaimed, pulling out her phone, "I'm calling Sahar. You call Daniel."
Wes nodded, pulling his phone out as well as he dialed his best friend's number, "Hey, Daniel? Um, weird question, are your parents home?"
"No, are yours?" Daniel asked through the phone, sounding just as worried as Wes felt. Something was very wrong here, he just knew it. Rain pounded against the windows of his parent's bedroom, imitating his erratic heartbeat.
"No, but their car is here. Can you call them at all?" Wes spoke anxiously, trying to keep his voice from shaking too much. "I mean... maybe they left town because of the smell? Winnie, is dad's truck in the garage?"
The girl raised her eyebrow as she was pulled away from her equally nerve-wracking conversation with Sahar as she looked at her younger brother and said, "I'll check, stay here. Sahar's parents are gone, too."
"Yeah, so are Daniel's," Wes nodded as he moved to sit on his parents' bed, foot tapping anxiously against the hardwood floors, "Dude, something about this doesn't sit right. I mean, my parents leave a note anytime they go anywhere, even if it's just to the store two minutes away. So why leave town without any notice for us?"
"Maybe because they didn't expect us to be back?" Daniel offered, but the uneasiness in his voice was indistinguishable. He was feverish, frantic and it was clear in his voice. Something was deeply wrong here and they all knew it.
