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"Annabel, congratulations on becoming cheer captain!" My fellow cheerleaders gathered around me and gave me their best cheer. "Two, Four, Six, Eight, Who do we appreciate? Bel, Bel, Gooo Bel!" They all started clapping. I looked to my right, and the football players were clapping too. This was a great start to my sophomore year of high school. Cheer captain, girlfriend of the quarterback -also the hottest guy in school, and straight A student. Nothing could go wrong. The cheer squad separated into their own little groups, but my three best friends stayed with me.

"Bel, you got it all," Emmalyn Chance, my best friend, looked at me with admiration. Her eyes scanned me, but stopped on my white cheer skirt. "Including your lovely gift from mother nature. Well, at least we know Dalton isn't going to be a father."

I looked down at my skirt and saw a little blood stain. "It's not what you think. My mother probably cut her finger pulling it out of the dryer this morning. Speaking of Dalton, have you seen him today?" I looked at all the football players on the field and couldn't see him. Dalton Anderson was my boyfriend. Every girl wanted him, but I was lucky enough to grab his attention. Seven months, four days, nine hours, and fifty six minutes was how long we had been together. And no, I was not the typical cheerleader who would accidentally end up pregnant before senior year. My friends just loved to tease me.

"Of course I have seen Dalton. I never take my eyes off him." I followed her gaze to the bleachers where Dalton was putting a bandage on his ankle. He had sprained it the day before at practice and had to stay off it until it healed. Usually he would break the rules and run on it anyway, but for some reason, he didn't this time. "Sorry Bel, but he is just too hot. You're lucky Chad and I are so happy, or I would steal him away from you."

"You know you wouldn't do that to me. You love me too much!" My tone was playful, but it had a hint of worry. Emmalyn was a pretty girl. She could have any guy she wanted. If she wanted Dalton enough, it would be only a matter of time.

"How do you think I got Chad away from Sarah? The secret is in the perfume. Guys love a girl that smells good. If Dalton got close enough to sniff me, he would be mine. But you are right; I could never do that to you. We are too much like sisters." Not once did she take her eyes off him. I cleared my throat, and she looked away. My two other best friends, Grace Miller and Kaylee Ray moved into her line of vision, blocking her view. I loved my friends. I loved Emmalyn, but I didn't fully trust her. Especially not with Dalton. She has a history of stealing her friends' boyfriends.

The school bell rang, and we all headed to our first class. I walked over to the bleachers to help Dalton to his class. He had Trig first, and I had Choir. They were in different buildings, but I didn't mind being late. Besides, the choir teacher was always late. She never noticed. We hobbled down the hallways and to the elevator. His arm was around me and he was leaning on me. I had never noticed just how good he smelled. His scent was like something I had never smelled before. I could smell it for hours. The elevator made its ding sound, pulling me out of my mini trance. I gave him a light kiss on the cheek and sent him off to class.

My classes were boring, as usual. Nothing that happened really stood out as new or exciting. In Choir, we sang our rehearsed songs. In Geometry, we compared triangles. In English, we read short stories. In Study Hall, I did my math homework. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a normal Friday.

The bus ride home seemed longer than usual. For some odd reason, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. It was like I had butterflies, but they were trying to warn me of something. Something bad was going to happen, I knew it.

The bus dropped me off at my house. I walked up the steps to my front door. I was about to grab the handle and walk in, but my cell phone rang. It was Dalton. I answered. "Hey baby. What's up?"

"I can't make it to our date tomorrow. My mom wants me to stay home and do chores. Boring right? Sorry Bel. Maybe I'll take you out next weekend. I got to go, my mom's calling me. Bye baby, I love you."

"Love you too." I hung up. We had planned to go to dinner and a movie, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Oh well, I thought. He shouldn't be doing chores with his ankle the way it was, but he was probably going to do chores that don't involve much stress on his legs.

I opened the front door and walked in. The house smelled horrible. The stench was so bad, my eyes started watering and my fingers instantly flew up to my face to cover my nose. It was a stench I had never smelled before. Something really bad had happened, and the mess was somewhere in the house, still waiting to be cleaned up.

On the floor right in front of me in the walkway was a crumpled up piece of paper. It was a letter to me from my mom.

Annabel Lane Bronson,

** I do not appreciate the way you spoke to me last night. As your mother, I demand respect. Is this the way you treat your friends? I am surprised they all stand by you the way that they do. I find your lack of respect an insult to my parenting, and I will not have it. You are sixteen now; you should know better. I am grounding you from cheerleading until you learn how to treat me.**

** -Mom**

I had no idea what she was talking about. I hadn't ever talked badly to my mother, and I had never seen this letter before. I moved my hand a little to the left, and under it was a bloody thumb-print. It looked almost exactly like the blood stain on my cheer skirt. There had to be an explanation for this. I had earlier thought that the blood came from a cut on my mom's finger when she grabbed my skirt from the dryer machine. I decided to check.

I put my backpack down on the floor and made my way down a hallway to my laundry room, but something caught my eye as I passed the kitchen. A tall ladder was propped against the wall. My parents always told me that the ladder was to never leave the garage. It was too dirty to be in the house. I wondered why it was inside. Well I thought Mom and dad will be home in a few minutes, so I had better get it out of here before they see it. I walked into the kitchen, but something hit the top of my head. I reached my hand into my hair, and it was wet. I looked at my hand, and I didn't like what I saw. Gooey red liquid was smeared across my fingers. It was blood.

I was scared to look up, and I was right to be. Resting on the wooden rails that stretched along my tall kitchen ceiling was the bloody bodies of my mother and father. I couldn't believe my eyes, which were now overflowing with tears. They both had two identical knife wounds, one in the upper stomach and one on the left leg. The blood seeped through their clothes, making the visuals worse. The smell was absolutely dreadful in this room. Words cannot describe the excruciating pain my nose was in, but it was nothing in comparison to the pain I felt in my heart.

I couldn't imagine anybody who would want to kill them. My mother and father were good, kind people who had no enemies. They never fought with anybody. And I could tell that the letter had something to do with this. I just wondered what it meant.