I actually kind of forgot about this…only in Social Studies today we talked about Shamans, and I instantly thought of Liz. Then I remembered this story! So, here's the next chapter!

A short slightly plump woman with blonde hair opened the door. She looked at me, looking relieved.

"Are you Mrs. Thomas?" I asked.

"Yes. Um…there is a list of phone numbers on the fridge…Their bedtime is eight, and if anything goes wrong, just call our neighbor, Betty. She has experience. There is also a note on everything you seed to know on the kitchen table…" Mrs. Thomas seemed both relieved that I was there, and also not wanting to go. "I won't be home until at least eleven." She looked at me, studying me. I tried to look like I could do this. "Are you sure you can do this Chloe?"

"Everything will be fine," I reassured her. She looked relieved…if only I could get Derek to believe me for once…he was probably sitting next to the phone right now, waiting for me to call.

I almost laughed, but caught myself just in time. Still I couldn't help but smile.

"Well, in that case…" Mrs. Thomas turned from me and hugged three children that I just now noticed. Man, they were short! "Be good for Chloe now," she told her children.

"Ok mommy," said all three kids in unison. A car pulled up on the side of the street and honked it's horn loudly.

"Alright, see you in a few hours!" Mrs. Thomas told me, and then hurried into the car. The car drove off, and also disappearing with my chance to back out of this. What?! No, no way. I could totally do this.

I walked in the house (it looked even more cute on the inside) and closed the door behind me. Then I turned my attention to the children in front of me. The girl had blond hair like her mother, tied back in two pigtails. She had a white shirt and a purple skirt on that matched her eyes. She was smiling at me; see, even she thought I could do this! Her left hand was out in mid-air, like holding someone's hand that wasn't there. What the…?

I moved my eyes to the boy--the four year old, I should say--and over took him. He had a yellow shirt on, with the most littlest jeans on I have ever seen. I didn't know they made jeans for kids…huh…his eyes were blue, his hair was messy and black, and he had a few freckles. He was clutching a light blue blanket in his right hand.

Next was the little two year old. He had on a set of green footie pajamas and a chunk of blonde hair in the middle of his little head. He had one tooth that stuck out…it looked really cute actually. His eyes were blue as well.

"Hi," I said cheerfully, trying not to scare them. "My name is Chloe. What are your names?" I tried to speak slowly, only it didn't sound too good.

"I'm Heidi," said the little girl. "And that's Alex"--she pointed to her four year old brother-- "and that's Haden."

"Well aren't you the happy one," I told her. Heidi smiled. "Ok, so you mom said there was a note on the kitchen table…?" I got up and looked around. I walked into the living room, Heidi following me, Alex and Haden on her heels. There was a door that lad into the kitchen, and I walked in. There, like Mrs. Thomas had said, was a note. I read it quickly.

Chloe:

There is a list of emergency numbers on the fridge. I don't think that the children will be a problem for you. Heidi will help you out. If you feel like your drowning, our neighbor Betty has had experience with them, so feel free to ask her anything. Make sure you lock all the doors and what ever you do DO NOT LET ALEX OUTSIDE. He tends to run off sometimes, and Haden sometimes follows him. I'll be back around eleven, see you then.

I looked down at Heidi. She looked up at me. What did Mrs. Thomas mean by, "don't let Alex outside"? Where on earth did he run off to? And something told me in my gut, that I didn't want to know.