Excerpt:

The door stood open, snowflakes drifted in, the sky beginning to darken as Fern went to look outside. “Oak?” Fern realized she’d stepped on something and she looked down to see there was an envelope with something bulgy inside. She shivered, sure her bother was playing a game or hoping he was fooling around even though their parents were supposed to show up any moment with pre bought dinner and presents and. “Where the heck did he get to?”

Fern sighed, taking the envelope into the house and then into the kitchen. She fished into her pocket, taking out her cell phone. Opening it up, she pushed in her bothers number, putting it to her ear.

“You took long enough.”

“Oak, where are you.”

“Who said this is oak?” The voice was rougher than her brothers; Fern realized with a jolt there had to be some kind of trouble.

“Who is this?” She took a deep breath, eyes closed as she took a seat at the dining room table. “Where’s Oak?”

“You’re Fern? What happened? Did your parents get into the whole nature vibe?” The voice laughed. “Meet me at the old book store. Yes, before you ask me insipid questions, the one that’s been closed for weeks, the one that is at the end of Main Street, the one you pass every day on the way to work.”

Fern frowned, the voice coming at her like someone trying for dramatic but obtaining a new height of overacting instead. “Okay, I got the point. Is this a trick? Oak’s there, waiting to jump out and scare me, right?

The phone clicked in Fern’s ear and then went to a dial tone. “Why me?” Fern put her phone into her pocket, and grabbing a piece of paper, she jotted out a note to her parents for when they came by. “This better not take all night,” she muttered, grabbing her coat and pulling it on. She glanced at the clock, seeing it was just after 4:30. She hoped her parents would live up to their usual habit and run late. “When I find you,” She said to no one, “Oak, you are so dead.”