~Chapter Twenty-Six~

   Katrina was lost in the woods. She didn't know where she was. "How do I get home?" Katrina thought to herself. She sat down on the ground. Feeling upset. "I feel so stupid!" Katrina cries. "I miss my family but... they don't like me! They like the real Katrina! I am no one! I have no one! I don't want that pathetic man Harold as my father! He's crazy!"

   "Why did I follow him here? Why did I ever go to stay with him? Why did I run away?" Katrina felt upset.

   She didn't know how to return home and she felt scared being alone outside in the woods. Panic began to set in as she stood alone in the silence. Every shadow looked like a threat, and every snap of a twig made her heart jump. She began to regret ever running away from home.

   It was around dinner time. Dean had made dinner and had it all set out. Paul was going to be returning home soon. Vikki sat at the table and was already eating his dinner. "Can't you wait for dad?" Dean asked.

   "No. I am hungry." Vikki responds.

   "Do you think that Katrina will ever be found? You don't think she is hurt?" Dean asks.

   "I think she's fine. She's probably living it up with her new life." Vikki answered.

   "New life? What do you mean?" Dean asked.

   "That woman! Next time I see her I outta... I outta..." Vikki looks down. Dean was confused with Vikki.

   "Is everything okay? Are you worried about Katrina too?"

   "Hell no! Why should I worry about a useless girl that wears cute panties and doesn't pay attention to me?" Vikki blushed and went back to eating.

   "I think you are worried." Dean smiled a little. "You worried about her too, aren't you?" Dean asked with a big smile on his face.

   "If you don't shut up, I will flick these mashed potatoes at you." Vikki glares.

   "Vikki, I don't understand why you're in a bad mood today. Are you okay?" Dean asked and sat down at the table.

   "I am fine. I have to deal with a cheating little ass. Dammit! I forgot I wasn't dating her!"

   "Again, with those magazine girls. When will he learn that just because he sees a woman in a magazine doesn't mean he can claim her as his?" Dean thought to himself. He was actually wrong about Vikki.

   Vikki was upset and mad because of Katrina. Paul came into the house. Dean and Vikki heard the front door open. "Daddy is home!" Dean got out of his seat and ran to the front door. He seen his dad. "Welcome home!"

   "Is dinner ready?" Paul asked.

   "Yes! It's all set out." Dean replies. They both go into the kitchen and sat down. Paul glanced at Vikki and noticed he already started eating his dinner.

   "You couldn't wait?" Paul asked.

   "Why does it matter? Katrina isn't here."

   "Dad, is Katrina alright? Will she be?" Dean looked at his dad. Paul took a deep breath.

   "The police never found her yet. I am very worried. I am hoping she's okay." Paul answered.

   "She's fine. That little pissy prissy woman." Vikki mumbles.

   "And how would you know?" Paul asks. Vikki got up. He puts his empty plate in the sink.

   "She's probably spending the best of her life with her older boyfriend!" Vikki sounded like he was going to cry and ran out of the kitchen.

   "Dean, I am gonna have to ask you again. What the hell is your friend talking about and what does he mean?"

   "I am not sure." Dean answered honestly.

   Katrina was still outside in the woods. She was freezing. "I am stupid..." Katrina mumbles to herself. She had tried to walk in what she thought was the right direction, but every path looked the same in the dark. The trees seemed to shift and close in around her. Lost and shivering, she felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She sat there, staring into the shadows, completely confused and wishing for a way back to the warmth of her home.

   Katrina started to hear footsteps. "Is that Lancer?!" She got up. "Lancer!" Katrina called out. There was no answer. "Lancer?" Katrina heard footsteps again. The sound of someone walking on the fallen leaves that were on the ground. Katrina wasn't sure where the sound was coming from. It made her start to feel uneasy.

   A monster appeared in front of Katrina's eyes. She was so scared. She never seen it before. She didn't know what it was. She couldn't believe what she saw. She thought it was an illusion.

   "W-What are you?!" She asks.

   "You look good enough to die! I will feed your soul to my master!" The monster said and charged at Katrina. She started to run as fast as she could. She was screaming in fear.

   "HELP! HELP ME!" She yelled.

   Moa could sense a monster nearby. He appears and seen Katrina running from a monster. "I need to get the others!" Moa disappeared and appears to Dean and Vikki who were in their bedroom now after dinner. "There's a monster."

   "Don't care. Tell it to go home and leave me alone." Vikki didn't feel like slaying any monsters.

   "This is important. The monster... It's after Katrina." Moa said. Dean was surprised.

   "What?! Katrina! Take me there!" Dean said to Moa grabbing onto his earrings.

   "Let go of my earrings! You can rip them out of my ears! Let go!" Moa says getting mad.

   "Take me there too." Vikki said staring at Moa.

   Leeann was sitting on her bed and was painting her nails. Jill was also painting her nails. "I sense a monster."

   "Do you think we should get it?" Jill asks.

   "Nah, my nails are more important. I am sure that stupid Moa guy will get someone else do it for us."

   Leeann said admiring her nails. She was painting them a light purple color. Jill was painting her nails green.

   "I hope no monster attacks anyone." Jill said and took a look at her nails. "Does this look okay on me?"

   "Yes, it looks fine. You know what Brandonlee did before?"

   "What?" Jill was curious what Brandonlee did.

   "In the middle of the night, I was coming back from fighting some monsters and I heard Brandonlee and Bradrick in their bedroom. Talking sexual to what I thought to a female. Come to find out it was a hamburger or cheeseburger. Whatever it was."

   "Ha ha! You told me that already." Jill chuckled.

   "I'm sorry I guess because it was so funny." Leeann answered.

   Jill and Leeann heard screaming. "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO BED! MAKE ME!" Carlson yelled.

   "NO! I DON'T WANT TO BRUSH MY TEETH!" Peyton shouts.

   "YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS TO BED OR YOU WILL BE GROUNDED! SAME WITH YOU, PEYTON! BRUSH

   YOUR TEETH AND GET TO BED!" Leeann's father yelled.

   "Why is your dad in an angry mood?" Jill asked Leeann.

   "Oh, he doesn't play with those two when they act up. He's more stricter than my mom. My mom lets them get away with anything like she lets Brandonlee and Bradrick get whatever too."

   "Oh, you mean like how she doesn't really do anything strict to you either?" Jill thought to herself.

   In the other room, Carlson was crying and soon as his mother came out of her bathroom in her bedroom, Carlson ran to her. "What's the matter?" She asks her son.

   "He wants to stay up! That's what!" Carlson's dad, Lee said. He was furious.

   "But mommy! I had the same bed time for as long as I remember! Why do I have to go to bed the sametime as Peyton! He's younger than me!" Carlson cried. Peyton came into the bedroom and hugs his mom's leg as well.

   "Tell daddy I don't have to brush my teeth tonight! Tell him! He's being mean!" Peyton said.

   "Lee, why is Carlson going to sleep around 8 PM? He should be allowed to stay up at least an extra 30 minutes if he's older than Peyton." Carlson's mother, Kaye said.

   "You need to stop giving in to them! You did this crap with Brandonlee and Bradrick! They wanted to stay up how long they wanted! You decided to let them when they became 12! You need to discipline the kids more! They're out of control!" Lee snaps at his wife.

   "You think I feel like doing that? I am freaking 46. I am too old to care anymore."

   "Wow. Mommy's old." Carlson whispers to Peyton.

   "Daddy must be ancient then." Peyton whispers back.

   "Well, because of you not setting rules look what happened to our oldest daughter! She's gone! You decided to let her do whatever she wanted! Lexie wouldn't of ran off if you discipline her!" Lee yelled.

   "Screw you for that! I was a freaking teenager when I had her! Did you forget?! How was I supposed to know what to do with a kid?! God, I was like 15 when I had her! You were older than me! You were 19! You should've watched her more!"

   "You know damn well that Lexie was 15 when she took off! It's been about 16 years since then! You were 30 when she left and you found out you were pregnant with Brandonlee and Bradrick! Why didn't you raise her right all through your 20s?! No! Instead, you kept running off to your mom's and dumping Lexie off on me at the apartment!"

   "Let's leave them alone to fight." Carlson tells Peyton and they both left their parents' bedroom.

   Leeann could hear her parents yelling in her bedroom. Jill heard them too. "Do they do that all the time?" Jill asked. "I never usually hear them but most of the time I come over your dad is usually at work."

   "No. They don't fight all the time. But mom told me there was a time when they just had Lexie, they fought a lot. My grandma told me more about it once. She was guessing that Lexie was upset that her parents fought a lot and started doing silly things until she ran off. I am not sure. I never got to meet Lexie. She is much older than me and since she ran away, she never contacted my parents." Leeann responds.

   "Oh. Your parents stayed together and had the rest of you even when they couldn't get along before?"

   Jill just asked curiously.

   "Mom and dad really loves each other. They weren't even sure why they kept fighting before. When Lexie left, they were upset but decided to expand the family. Mom and dad are still searching for Lexie though. They do mess her." Leeann explains to her friend.