+ 1 +

"Kristina, this isn't funny anymore! Caroline! You're both starting to make me mad."

Kristina and Caroline snickered as their friend tried to find them. Currently, they were hidden in the tree-house, peering slightly over the edge. Destiny was searching everywhere but the treehouse. Her face purely read that she was sick of this game.

Kristina looked towards Caroline. "On the count of three?"

Caroline smiled devilishly and nodded. "1... 2... 3, jump!"

The girls quickly rose to their feet and jumped from the treehouse, landing on their knees on the soft, warm ground. When they looked up to see Destiny's reaction, they were surprised to see she wasn't there.

They scanned their surroundings, but still she was nowhere to be seen.

"Dessy?" Kristina cried, becoming worried. She looked towards Caroline, who's eyes were vacant and no trace of a smile was evident. "Caroline, something's wrong?" Kristina stood up and pulled her friend up with her. She was obviously too scared and too weak to get up on her own. "Come on, let's look around." Kristina linked her arm with Caroline's and they started searching the yard.

"We're going to have to split up if we want to find her quicker. Her yard is too big." Caroline finally spoke, but her voice quivered, relaying her fear.

"Alright, you go check by the porch, I'll check by the garage. Meet back here in three minutes."

Each took off in their assigned direction. Kristina carefully stepped over the large, cement-set stones. When she got to the other side, she stopped dead in her tracks. She tried to scream but her voice was nowhere to be found. She turned towards the house, just in time to see Caroline walking off the porch. She turned back and whether it was the sight of seeing one of her best friends lying lifelessly on the ground or a pure miracle, she found her voice and used it to it's greatest extent. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
 

+ 2 +

Caroline’s head shot up at her friend’s sudden outburst. “Kristina?”

“Get help, Caroline! Quick!”

She didn’t know what happened but Kris’s voice clearly stated the seriousness of the situation. She took off running towards Destiny’s neighboring house, who luckily was also friends of hers. She ran up the steps and pounded mercilessly on the front door. A few seconds later, calm blue eyes met her frantic brown ones.

“Taylor!... Thank... God!... Get... Ike... Now!... Hurry!”

“Caroline, calm down. What’s wrong?”

She took a few deep breaths then tried again. "Destiny’s hurt. Get Ike and come on!”

Taylor looked into her eyes and realized she was being serious. *The Crew*, which consisted of Destiny, Kristina, Caroline, Isaac, Taylor and Zac, had been known to constantly pull pranks on each other.

“Alright, I’ll go get Ike. Hold on.”

A few seconds later, Isaac and Taylor emerged from the house and joined Caroline. Without hesitation, they ran back to Destiny’s house and made their way back to the garage.

“Where did they go?” Caroline looked around, but no one was to be found.

“God, Caroline, I thought you were serious!” Taylor’s eyebrows knitted together in frustration.

“They were! I swear! Something was wrong with Destiny so Kristina told me to get help... Ike, you believe me don’t you?”

He concentrated on her face, which was genuine. He sighed. “Yeah, I do... but either they’re playing a joke on all of us or something else happened...” His voice trailed off as his eyes focused on an object in the middle of the driveway, which they failed to see earlier. He walked over and slowly bent down.

“Ike, what is it?” Taylor asked, coming over with Caroline following.

“Something’s wrong, guys. I can feel it.” Caroline whispered.

Isaac turned his head towards them, his eyes filled with un-shed tears. He held up the object in his hands. Taylor and Caroline both looked at the blood-soaked article of clothing. “It’s Destiny’s.”
 

+ 3 +

“Taylor, you come with me. Care, you stay here in case someone shows up, okay?”

Caroline nodded, and watched at the two ran towards Destiny’s house. She stood there, staring at the blood spot on the cold gravel. She rubbed her bare arms, trying to produce warmth. She wasn’t even cold, but all the fear that was building up in her, caused her skin to rise.

“God! Where are they?” She asked herself, quietly.

After another ten minutes of waiting, she decided to walk towards the house. She slowly climbed the porch steps and made her way inside. “Hello?” No one answered her. “Hello? Is anyone here?”

Just when she was about to leave, she heard a loud thud come from the basement. She ran to the closet and grabbed a bat. Tip-toeing towards the door, she made sure not to make the slightest sound. She gripped the door handle, then flung it open. Nothing was there. She made her way down the steps, gripping the bat tightly in her hands. She looked around the room and when she was satisfied that no one was there, she headed back up the steps.

“I swear to God, I’m going insane.” She looked at the door that she thought she left open, but now if closed tight. She reached for the handle and soon realized that it was locked.

She cursed under her breath and headed down the steps again. She walked to the back door, that led to the backyard. But when she got there, something held her back. Something was wrong. She could feel it. Then she heard it. Moaning. It was soft, but haunting. It seemed to be coming from the storage closet. She put the bat down and stepped in front of the door. Her hands were claming up and her heart began to race. Her shaky hand grasped the doorknob for what seemed like the millionth time. She slowly pulled the door open and screamed as she got knocked over.
 

+ 4 +

“Taylor! Get off me!”

Taylor was laughing too hard to even hear her demand. Caroline, mad beyond words, shoved him off of her. “I can’t believe you guys! That was the most horrible, meanest... most horrible thing...”

“Oh, Care, admit it. That was THE prank of the year.” Ike interjected, grabbing Destiny’s hands and pulling her off the ground.

“Yeah,” Destiny chimed in, wrapping her arms around him. “That one will never be beat.”

“But one thing I don’t understand...”

“What?” Kris asked, who was sitting beside Taylor on the old, beat-up couch.

“If you were all in here, who shut the door?”

“’ello!” Zac said, bounding down the steps.

“Zac too!?! Zac was in on it?”

Destiny smiled at Caroline. “Of course he was! And you did an awesome job, Zac, if I do say.”

Zac ran over and slapped her hand. “Thanks Des.” He turned to Caroline. “Dang girl, you scream loud! I could hear you way up there!” He pointed to the ceiling.

Caroline placed her hands on her hips. “You’re so funny! Haha! You would have screamed too if Taylor would have jumped on ya!”

“Yeah, well, that’s true.”

Destiny started to cough wildly. Caroline looked over at her. “You okay?”

She waved her hands to show that everything was fine. Ike looked at her. Just one look and he knew that something was wrong. “Des, what’s wrong?”

Without warning, she ran up the steps but she didn’t make it too far. Half way up, she passed out cold.

The guys ran over to her, all with worry etched in their faces. Ike climbed over her so he could see her face. He placed his head next to her mouth. “Guys, she’s not breathing.”
 

+ 5 +

"Is she going to be okay?” Kris asked, leaning against the back wall.

Dr. Hunter flipped through his charts and medical papers. Before he could answer her, he began to lecture them. “You guys know as well as I do, Destiny can not be over-active. Her lungs are too sensitive, and the slightest inflammation can set her asthma off. You know this! I don’t know why you insist on playing those stupid games...”

“Just answer Kris, Doc. We don’t need another lecture, okay.”

Dr. Hunter turned towards Ike, who was sitting on the hard, wooden chair beside Destiny’s bed, lightly stroking her arm and staring intently at her. His voice, which was usually playful and light, now seemed dark and angry.

“Yes, she should be alright. As soon as she wakes up, we’ll run some more tests. We’ll keep her here over-night, and if I think she’s stable enough, she’ll go home tomorrow... where are Chris and Sam?”

“They’re in Europe, remember? For their second honeymoon, or whatever. They won’t be home for another week.” Zac supplied.

“Well shouldn’t they be informed that their only daughter is in the hospital?”

Ike turned and looked at the doctor. “They wouldn’t care...” He turned back to Destiny. His voice became too soft to hear. “They never care.”

Dr. Hunter rubbed his chin, in thought. “If her parents aren’t here, then who signed her in?”

“That would be me.”

Everyone turned around and smiled at the glowing face of Mrs. Hanson She came over and shook the doctor’s out-stretched hand. “It’s so nice to see you again, Diana.”

“Likewise, I just wish it was on better circumstances... how’s she doing?” Diana walked over and placed her hands on her oldest son’s shoulders.

“Well, we won’t know for sure till she wakes up, but there’s nothing to be worried about. She’ll be fine. We’ve been through this before.”

When Isaac looked up at him, it made his stomach turn. Just the way the doctor was smiling, made him sick. “And that makes it okay?”

The doctor sighed and turned to Diana. “I’ll leave you alone now. If you have any questions, page me.” With that, he turned around and went out the door.

Kris decided to break the tension in the room. “Um, thanks Diana. For everything... you saved us again.”

Diana smiled. “Hey, what are mothers for? Besides, Destiny’s like a daughter to me...”

Ike smiled at that, then wrinkled his nose and laughed. Everyone looked at him weird, which made him laugh harder.

“What is so funny?” Caroline asked, trying to keep a straight face. But seeing Ike laugh, made her laugh and soon everyone was in hysterics but they didn’t know why.

Soon, there laughter died down, and everyone was wiping tears from their eyes.

“Man, Ike, what was so funny?” Taylor asked.

“I don’t know. I guess when Mom said about Destiny being her daughter... that would mean that me and Des would be brother and sister... and brothers and sisters do not do what we do...”

Kris spit out the soda she was drinking. Everyone turned towards her, and just seeing soda sprayed all over her face, got them started again. Taylor handed her a napkin and she wiped her face off.

“Guys, this has definitely been one of the weirdest days of my life.” Caroline said, looking around at everyone’s red faces.

Everyone was quiet, but she knew they silently agreed.