I am...officially...a loser.

I am...oh my God. I am so sorry. I am such a loser. I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this thing.

I give you permission to pelt me with cyber paint balls. Because I'm a loser and I deserve that.

I felt so bad that I decided to make this chapter EXTRA long. Complete with an absolutely EVIL cliffy at the end. Mwahahaha.

Does that make it better?

Probably not...I'M SORRY D':

I still love you like nobody's business though. No joke.

Relatives

Chapter Seven: The Problems

August 31, 2011

Sam hesitated before she sat down at the lunch table. Her plate had been made for her, yet again. The food looked appetizing enough; entirely vegan-oriented, which spared her from having to pick out edible food that wasn't drowned in meat. But it was still strange. Tucker and Danny were well-adjusted to her eating habits, so they pushed the meat out of her way seemingly out of habit so that she wouldn't have to touch the vile animal carcass. Why did her aunt and uncle seem so determined to make her food for her?

"I can make my own plate, you know," She said indignantly as she sat down. "It's not like I'm incapable -"

"We are well aware of the fact that you possess the ability to make your plate." Zane said sharply. "But...since you're here celebrating your birthday, I wanted to have the honor of making your meals for you." He glanced at her plate before looking back up at her and smiling.

"Okay..." She said slowly, picking her fork up. Danny and Tucker traipsed out of the kitchen with their plates, glancing warily between Sam and her uncle.

Everything alright? Danny's voice rang in her mind.

Fine. Just a little...disagreement. Not a big deal. She responded, still glowering at her uncle.

You sure? You look like you're about ready to kill him.

Positive.

Danny glanced at her, his eyes searching hers for a moment, before he turned his attention back to his food. Tucker huffed on Sam's other side, aware that they were communicating without him.

After dinner, the trio returned to the boys' room, where another powerful but brief stomach ache wracked through Sam's body. This twisting pain was slightly more intense than the last, and lasted slightly longer. And this cycle continued daily, after every meal. Each stomach ache lasting longer and being much more painful than the last. But she did not see the mysterious girl who visited her bedroom that first night; after a while, Sam forgot about her. The stomach aches were becoming too painful for her to think about anything else.

By the end of their fourth day, Sam was literally curled into the fetal position, lying on her side on Tucker's bed. Her arms were around her legs, her face buried in her knees. He moaned quietly in pain while willing the tears that were building behind her eyelids to stay in place. Danny sat beside her, anxiously running his fingers through her hair in an effort to sooth her. Tucker sat on the floor in front of Sam, his forest green eyes trained on the top of her head. He was thankful that he could not see her face. He shifted about uncomfortably. He never knew what to do when this sort of thing happened. Whenever he was in pain, he could cope with it. He could push it aside, play it off. But when others were in pain, it was too much. Especially if those others were his best friends.

"I-it's passing," gasped Sam. She remained still for a few more moments, before sitting up slowly and massaging her abdomine. "This is getting bad,"

"Do you think you're sick?" Danny asked, forgetting about their telepathic connection. He often did when Sam had her stomach aches; the anxiety he felt upon seeing her in pain pushed everything else out of his mind.

"I don't know of any other possibility," said Sam uneasily.

"I do..." Tucker murmured. The other two looked down at him. "Have you noticed that before every meal, they make your plate for you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you think that's a little odd? And they force you to eat every bit of food on your plate, but they don't care if Danny or I finish our plates."

"What's your point, Tucker?"

"I think they may be poisoning your food."

There was a stunned silence in the room.

"No...my aunt and uncle wouldn't p-poison me..."

"Are you sure?"

Sam faltered. She wasn't sure. Her own parents had said that Zane was insane...but how insane were they talking, exactly?

"We need to get out of here, before they kill you." Tucker said quietly.

"I'll call a cab," Danny said, pushing off the bed. He jumped at the opportunity to hide his face from the other two. He had felt the blood drain from his face when Tucker uttered the word. He was absolutely infuriated at even this slight possibility that someone was attempting to hurt Sam. To kill Sam. His Sam.

"Oh...oh my God," Sam murmured. Danny whirled around, half-fearing, half-expecting her to drop dead at any moment. "The limo never came. With our stuff. It...never came."

There was another stunned silence. Sam's stomach aches had been taking up most of their thoughts in the last few days; it had never even occured to them that the limo driver had never showed up with their luggage.

Sam pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the limo driver's number. He picked up after the first ring.

"Thank God!" He shouted. "I was starting to get worried!"

"What do you mean? Where are you?"

"I'm back in Amity Park. I tried calling you at least a thousand times. Your phone was disconnected. I tried finding the house, but the street in the directions doesn't exist."

"What? What do you mean, it doesn't exist? I'm sitting in a house on the street right now!"

"I went down the highway in the direction you kids went. I found a side street, a dirt road, and I went down it. I thought it was the street with the house. But I made it all the way to the end of the street, and there was no house there."

Sam felt her heart stop. The boys were staring at her, silently screaming to know what was happening. But she was in shock. How could there be no house?

"You must have gone the wrong direction. Taken the wrong street. There's a house on this street. I'm s-sitting in it right now."

"There was no house. I went further along the highway, and the next thing after that was a gas station. The directions said that if I hit that gas station, I had gone too far."

Fear began bubbling up in her chest, clawing its' way up her throat and cutting off her speech. She was absolutely stunned.

"What the hell is happening?" She screamed shrilly. Danny and Tucker lunged toward her, each asking questions so quickly she could not understand a word they said. She heard the buzzing of a dial tone in her ear, letting her know that the limo driver had hung up. Her eyes were wide, her heart racing, her head ringing with the boys' voices, when suddenly, the bedroom door banged open.

"It is time for bed." Zane said. The trio had gone completely silent, the boys turned facing Zane. Sam stood up shakily and followed Zane out of the room, refusing to look back to meet Danny and Tucker's gazes. Zane led her down the hall and opened her bedroom door for her. A short, silk nightgown was drapped over her bed.

"Where are my other clothes?" Sam asked. She had been sleeping in a pair of Kyler's basketball shorts and one of his t-shirts. But those had been replaced with the very skimpy - and very girly - nightgown on her bed.

"We felt that you were probably uncomfortable in Kyler's old things," Zane said. Sam snorted mentally; the clothes had felt like they had never been worn. "so we dug this up from the basement."

"Oh." Sam stared at the nightgown. It looked innocent enough. Well, not dangerous. She cringed at the light pink color of the silk. She would have to be sure the boys did not catch her in this in the morning.

Zane left, allowing her to slowly strip out of her clothes and slide into the nightgown. It fits perfectly, she thought ruefully.

What does? Danny's voice was so loud in her mind she jumped.

Nothing. Don't worry about it.

What happened on the phone? You looked like you were about to pass out...

Well...I talked to the limo driver. She thought as she sank down in the folds of her bed. He said that...he tried to find the house after we went on. He said he went down the street and there was nothing there. No house.

Danny was silent for a moment. That's...not good. He said finally.

I'm getting really worried.

You have no idea how worried I am. Not just about that, but about you too.

Sam couldn't help but smile at the earnestness of his thought. Why are you worried about me? I'm a big girl.

I know that, that's one of the many things about you that I love. But I can see those stomach aches are really taking a lot out of you. I hate seeing you in so much pain, especially since I know I can't do anything to help you. Believe me, if I could take that pain from you, I would. It kills me to see you hurting so much.

That's...extremely sweet of you. Really, I genuinely appreciate that. But you're right, there's not much you can do...although I do like it when you're messing with my hair. It's comforting.

That's good to know! I'll make sure to keep doing that. Is there anything else I can do? Anything at all? You don't have to even hesitate to ask me, I'll do anything you want in a heartbeat.

Sam was silent. She could not form a thought. Her eyes were wide, trained on a shadowy figure that had just materialized in front of the closed doorway.

Sam?

Silence. Danny sat up on the couch, his eyes flickering toward Tucker. He had repeated everything Sam had said about the limo driver to Tucker, who had a similar reaction as Danny. Tucker had been watching Danny's facial expressions as he talked to Sam. Now, Danny's brow was furrowed. He chewed his lip. Something was wrong.

Before Tucker could open his mouth to ask what was wrong, a horrifying feminine scream tore down the hall from Sam's room.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

What happens next?

YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.

Hopefully you won't have to wait long.

Crossing my fingers here.

Guys, I just thought that I'd let you know that I am absolutely in love with my English professor. She played guitar for us today while we described our dream jobs. COLLEGE ROCKS.

XD

I feel HORRIBLY guilty about taking so long to update this story, though. So you don't have to review. I'm letting you off the hook here (:

Next chapter, though, I'm expecting a crap ton of reviews. Broski, I am being legit.

I love love love love love love love you. SO MUCH.

- Tori