Chapter 11

I have over 7,000 words, and I added my randomness into my novel. It'll be weird, but that's okay. It raises my word count!

Chapter 11

“Well, we’re out!” Nikki rejoiced. “Yes!” she raised her hands up into the air. The rain felt so good. They made it out, but with a few really close calls. “Thank God! You know, we should be very thatnkful. I thought that I’d never see the light of day again!”
“Me either! But let’s go! They might be on our trail. Race ya!” Kylie said as she ran off into the woods.
“You’re on!” Riley and Nikki cheered as they raced away. Kylie waited for them, and when they reached her Nikki sped up ahead.
“Hey! Where you going?” laughed Riley.
“Anywhere but back there!” Nikki yelled back. She heard Kylie and Riley laughing and running after her. Nikki laughed with them. She was free as a bird. She felt like she could soar! She jumped over rocks and logs, smelling the pine trees as she ran along. A few times she saw deer and rabbits on the path, happy as could be. Nikki turned, and scrambled up into a tree. Riley and Kylie ran past.
“Yaah!!” she yelled, jumping down from her perch.
“Aah! You scared us!” panted Riley, her heart still beating double-time after jumping five feet in the air.
“Sorry. I had to,” apologized Nikki. “Let’s keep going! It feels so, so, so, natural out here. I love it!!” she cried, falling back into the fallen leaves.
“But we have to go! Ms. Arachne will be here any minute!” Kylie yelled, having no wish to meet that weirdo again.
“You’re right. Let’s go!” Nikki said, as she jumped up.
Thirty minutes later they were out of the woods and following a highway. Soon they saw a taco stand. The man was standing there, reading a magazine. His apron, his hat, and the sign all matched. They were periwinkle and had a hippopotamus with a giganticly bushy mustache eating a marshmallow on it. His mustache was really bushy matched the hippo's. Nikki, Riley and Kylie looked at each other, thinking the same thing. Weird! And, does this guy's company have any sense at all?
When they finally left the highway, and found a sidewalk, they followed it.
Ring! Ring! Kylie looked over at a nearby payphone. It was ringing off the hook.
“Hmmm, I wonder who it is?” Kylie said, as she picked it up. “Hello? Oh, Nikki, it’s for you.”
“Who is it?” Nikki asked. She was a little suspicious of mysterious payphone callers knowing she was there.
“I don’t know, but they asked for you. Their voice sounded familiar...” she trailed off, lost in thought.
“Hello?” Nikki said.
“Nikki, you should come back right now. This is Mrs. Pinebaum. You are in danger. Come back. I know that you want your parents, but I know that they would want me to keep you safe at all costs. Come back. Meet me at the hotel across the street in ten minutes. Please?” pleaded Mrs. Pinebaum.
Nikki was shocked. Oh my gosh! She thought. That was Mrs. Pinebaum! She knows my parents? What is going on?
“What’s wrong, Nikki? Who was it?” asked Riley.
“Nikki? Nikki? Talk to me right now. Will you meet me at the hotel, or do I need to get you myself. I can see you, you know.” Mrs. Pinebaum said.
“How do you know my parents? Why do you care about me? Yes I’ll meet you there, only if Riley and Kylie can come and if you answer all my questions!!” Nikki yelled at the phone. Click! She hung up.
“Nikki, who was that?” asked Riley. “What’s with the hotel?” she wondered after Nikki had marched over to the hotel without a word to either Riley or Kylie.
“Just hang on. I’ll be right back.” Nikki said, and then strolled over to the counter. “Hey.”
“What?” snapped the man at the counter as he turned around. “I’m not paid to cater to little kids, so if you aren’t a guest here, then go away!!!”
“Excuse me, Mr. Bart. She’s with me. Now, if you’ll excuse me?” said a lady coming down the stairs. “Nikki, welcome back,” said Mrs. Pinebaum, for obviously it was her. “Riley, Kylie, you can come over here now, unless Nikki wants to talk about her parents alone.”
“You guys can come. It’s fine if they here what happened. But can we go to your room, or somewhere private?” Nikki asked.
“Yeah. I’ve been here since Katy told me you were gone three days ago. Why did you leave? You could have asked me about them.”
Nikki looked sheepish, and hung her head, so Kylie answered for her. “We heard you on the phone saying that she was too curious for her own good. Then you said that you would take care of her right after that, so all three of us assumed the worst. We were kind of stupid, weren’t we?” she said.
“No offense, but yes. I meant that if you got too curious and left, you would get hurt, or worse. Which almost happened,” Mrs. Pinebaum said, giving Nikki a look.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I just wanted to find them!” Nikki yelled, making everyone in the lobby look at her. Nikki smiled weakly and waved. “Hehe, sorry everybody. Go back to what you were doing.”
“Anyway, we should talk, in my room. Follow me girls,” Mrs. Pinebaum said, sounding again like the person they knew at the orphanage.
They left the elevator, and Nikki looked around. This place looks really nice! She thought. I wonder how Mrs. Pinebaum knows my parents. This is a very weird day. First we see the taco stand guy, and now Mrs. Pinebaum. What is going on? I bet the taco stand guy was just any old random person though. I’ll forget about him.