My sister and I were playing by the large willow tree on the edge of our farm property when our father called us back to the house. We had never known any other home, but this place was perfect. Our own little farm land where no one could bother us and we were free to live as we pleased. It was very peaceful; just the three of us and our three dogs, Tango, Victor and Echo. One big happy family. I don't remember my mother; Father said she was killed by a bear when we were very young, too young to remember her. He says Melody is a lot like her, and I can tell he feels sad when he looks at my sister, the constant reminder of my mother.

"Come on, Andy," Melody, my twin sister smiles, holding her hands out to help me sit up. My back hurts from being pressed against the trunk of the tree for so long. I take her hands and launch myself to my feet, dusting off the back of my pants. The dogs were prancing around our feet as we stretched out our stiff limbs. This was our favourite spot to come hang out when we were bored, we could sit here for hours just watching the clouds and listening to the breeze. "I'll race you," she shoots me a challenging look and before I can even react, she darted off in the direction of the house.

Sprinting after her, with our beloved companions not far behind, it's not hard for me to catch up to her. Sticking my tongue out as I pass, kicking up dirt as I run towards the house, I can almost smell the lunch that our father has prepared for us. It smelled like our favourite.

"I win!" Boasting happily, I wait for Melody to arrive at our doorstep. As soon as she gets to me, gasping for her breath and grinning wildly, I can see just how tangled her hair is, leaves and twigs stuck in it from when we had been wrestling on the ground. We were about to head inside, but the door swung open and our father stepped outside.

"Look at you guys," Shaking his head while chuckling, his scraggly brown beard shook in the breeze. "You're all dirty! You'll have to both wash up before we have lunch," The wind seemed to pick up, getting faster with every moment. "I made your favourite, Mac and Cheese." He grinned proudly, but that smile faded as fast as it came. He was now gazing around cautiously, and froze when he looked towards the forest line. Curious to see what was troubling him, I tried to look at the forest but he forcibly turned my head with his hand so I was facing him.

"What's wrong?" Melody asked, and I couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right.

"Andy, Melody, you need to listen very carefully, okay?" His tone was calm, and chilling, but it was the alarming look in his eyes that scared me. "There is a tornado coming," He says quickly, but there is something about the way he said it that didn't feel right. "I need you both to run as fast as you can and hide out in the secret cellar hidden in the cornfield. Tell me you remember how to get there,"

"We remember." I mumble. "Aren't you are coming with us?"

"I need to grab something very important from inside," He explains. "But then I'll be right behind you."

"What's so important that you need it now?" Melody whimpered. "Come with us."

"I'll be right behind you, I promise," He doesn't say it, but his tone says end of discussion so we don't press him any further. The look in his eyes made my spine shiver; something wasn't right. "Go now, run!" he hisses urgently and without another thought, with the forest behind us, we race towards the corn field.

Breaking into the fastest sprint of my life, I leave Melody in the dust. In the distance, I can hear our dogs barking and snarling frantically, never before had I heard them act so aggressively. Something definitely wasn't right. Bursting into the cornfield, I don't stop running. I can hear Melody's feet slamming on the ground so I knew that she couldn't be much further behind me, but I don't look back to check. I stop to catch my breath for a moment while I try to figure out where the hidden cellar is. After realising that I had entered from the wrong spot, I try to get there by pushing past the tall corn stalks but when I reach the road, I know I've gone the wrong way.

"Mel?" I call but there is no answer. I hear the sound of a vehicle approaching and soon headlights come into view. Turning my back to them, I strain to hear my family but there is nothing. No Melody, no Father, no Tango, no Victor, and no Echo. Coming to a stop beside me, the black vehicle rolls its windows down to reveal a woman with curly red hair in the back seat. Her toothy smile sends a shiver down my spine.

"What's wrong?" She asks me, and for a moment I don't say anything. My father had always warned me to be wary around strangers, but there was a tornado nearby and I lost my family and we needed help.

"There's a tornado," I tell her after a few moments of silence. "My father told me to run into the field, but I got lost and I don't know where he is."

"You're safe now," she tells me, "Come with me."

"I'm not supposed to go with strangers," I shook my head, remembering the countless times that my father told Melody and me just that.

"I can help you find your family," She offers. "You'll be safe from the tornado in here."

"Okay," I nodded, walking towards the vehicle. A little voice at the back of my head screamed at me to run, but I ignored it. Hopping in the back, I half expected to see Melody and my father already sitting inside. I sank deeper into the seat in disappointment when they weren't there. The car started moving as soon as I closed the door behind me.

"What's your name?" The curly haired woman asks me.

"Andy." I tell her. "Where are we going?"

"It's nice to meet you, Andy. My name is Agent Walker. How old are you?" She smiles at me again. There wasn't anything pleasant about it and once again, a little voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to run.

"I'm ten," I answer. "Where are we going?" I repeat, narrowing my eyes at her. I can't see out the tinted windows, which made another alarm go off in my head.

"We are driving around, it's a big field and they can come out from anywhere." She replies, trying to reassure me. "We're trying to find your family. In the meantime, you don't mind trying a little test for me, do you?" she asks.

"What kind of test?" I asked slowly.

"Nothing hard," She promised. "I just need you to put this necklace on, alright?" She held out a circle dark blue pendant with a weird marking on it. I recognised it immediately.

"I have one like that," I tell her, taking my matching pendant out from underneath my shirt. "Mine has a different marking though, and it's a brighter blue." She grinned like I had just passed.

"We'll try our best to locate your father and sister." She promises again. "Are you thirsty, Andy? You must be parched after running so hard." She offers me a bottle of what appears to be juice that I accept. I wasn't sure what flavour it was, but it was a dark blue and smelled like berries when I took the cap off. I let the delicious liquid slide down my throat and when I'm finished, she takes the bottle from me.

"We'll find them soon, right?" I ask. I wanted to find them as soon as possible. Something about everything didn't feel right, and I wanted to hear my father's voice telling me and Melody that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to eat that Mac and Cheese that he made for lunch.

"Of course," She smiles creepily. "Why don't you get some rest? You must have had a long day." I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to find my father and sister, but for some reason I felt myself getting drowsy. Soon, my eyelids closed and I drifted off to sleep.


Hey! What did you think? I had started this story on here before, but there was a lot of things I wanted to fix and change so I decided to start again before I got really far into it. So here we are, the better version. I hope you enjoy it :) Leave a review to tell me what you think or any suggestions that you may have.