"Great going Jeff." Doug angrily said to his brother.

"She had what was coming to her." Jeff said while laughing.

"She's fine." Said Tom, Lucy's oldest.

"Yeah, she's always a brat." Arnold, Lucy's middle child, added.

"I say we go after her." Anna looked worried.

"Let's go." Doug spotted Brian standing alone. "Come along Brian."

"What? Why me?" Brian complained.

"Because I said so." Doug said, finally feeling like he had power. The three took off running after Sam, who had made it very far.

It wasn't long before they heard light sobbing. They spotted Sam, sitting in a tree.

"Hi Sammy." Anna said, hoping her cousin wouldn't be upset by her coming after her.

"Go away." Sam turned away from the three cousins. "I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

"Sam, please don't hold me responsible for what my brother said." Doug came over to Sam.

"I don't, really. I just want to be alone." Sam continued to sob.

"You can be alone with us." Brian hopped up into the tree with Sam. "Because we're your cousins. And we love you."

Sam must have appreciated what Brian said, because she smiled. "I just wish Jeff didn't treat me like a baby. And what's wrong with being a girl? I happen to like it." She said.

"He's jealous because you are such an amazing person." Doug smiled at Sam, who immediately smiled back.

"Do you think we can go back to the party now and face mean old Jeff?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Sam, with the help of Doug, jumped down from the tree. She began to walk, but stopped. "Look at that peculiar tree."

In front of Sam was a tree that appeared to have naturally split into two in the middle of the trunk. At the top it was completely normal, but looked like it had unwrapped to make a doorway of sorts in the middle of the trunk.

"How strange." Doug examined the tree. "I've never seen this before, and I've lived here my whole life."

"Let's go through it!" Sam suggested.

"Alright, you first." Anna smiled, happy to see her cousins whimsical side coming back. Sam skipped up to the tree, and ducked through the trunk. She went in one side, but never came out the other.

"What's going on?" Brian asked worriedly.

"What just happened?" Anna looked terrified.

"I have no idea." Doug searched for an answer, but none could be found.

"What do we do?" Anna asked.

"Do we go in after her?" Brian looked just as terrified as Anna.

"Brilliant idea Brian. We go after her." Before Anna or Brian could protest, Doug had squeezed his body through the tree, and disappeared as Sam had.

"Now what do we do?" Anna was at the point of tears.

"We go after them." Brian and Anna reluctantly followed in Sam and Doug's footsteps through the tree, praying nothing awful was going to happen to them.

===========================

a/n

Sorry this chapter is so short. I wanted to leave it at a semi cliff-hanger, and this was the best spot to do it at. Next chapter will be longer.

I hope y'all are enjoying the story, I'm having a blast writing it! As always, feel free to give suggestions, or ideas on what you want to happen!

Please vote and tell anyone who would like this story!

Thanks!
theactinglife