Chapter One

Annie

I don't care what anyone says, Friday the 13th is a weird day. I mean, I don't think that demons are unleashed, or werewolves howl in the full moons, or black cats run around breaking mirrors, or any of that crap. All I'm saying is that weird stuff happens to me on that day. Ever since I can remember, weird stuff has happened to me on that particular day, and every time, it just gets weirder.

And it probably has something to do with the fact that my birthday is on October 13th, which has fallen on a Friday at least twice in my life.

Like today, for example, which is where my story begins.

I woke up that morning with excited butterflies in my stomach that seemed to be having a dance-off or something. I immediately hopped out of bed, peering out the window to make sure the world was still in balance. Why, you ask?

Because today was Friday the 13th.

And it was my birthday.

What could possibly go wrong?

Anyway, I grinned at the sight of our dog, Crash, bounding through the grass chasing after a grasshopper. I looked down, and noticing that I was nowhere close to being fully dressed (aka, I was looking like I'd just walked out of Whore 101), I threw some clothes on and bolted downstairs.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen, my parents burst out of nowhere and gave me HUGE hugs.

"Happy 14th birthday, sweetie!" Mom said, beaming. I grinned.

"Thanks, Mom!" I sat down in my usual chair at the table. My dad came behind me and kissed the top of my head.

"How's my beautiful girl on her special day?" he asked me. I opened my mouth to reply, when suddenly something in the oven exploded.

Okay, hang on. Just to prove to you that crazy stuff happens to me on Friday the 13th, let's start a list of things that happen to me today:

***Weird Things on the 13th***

Exploding breakfast.

*I'm sure we'll be able to add to this*

Anyway, none of us did much more than jump, since my house is an unusual one, and stuff like this is normal (especially when your mom is a HORRIBLE cook). Mom rushed to the oven, and threw open the door, flames and all, and used the nearby fire extinguisher on the mystery fireball.

She threw the crispy remains in the trash. "Well… there go the waffles. Don't ask why they were in the oven, either," Mom said before either me or my dad could speak.

"It's cool," I replied instead. "Cereal is perfectly fine!" Even though it really wasn't.

I was opening the box of cereal with fake glee on my face, and upon slightly shaking the box, cereal poured out into my bowl, along with a little bonus.

And by "little bonus", I don't mean a cheap old toy car. I mean a freaking $100 bill!

As you can probably guess, I just about fell off the barstool. I would have blamed my parents for it, under the circumstances that it was my birthday, and said that they'd merely staged the event of the exploding waffles so I'd find my birthday money.

Except for the fact that, one, my family isn't that creative, and two, it was a brand new, unopened box of cereal!

Anyway, I stared open-mouthed at the smooth green face of Ben Franklin, unable to speak. When I did speak, it came out as a squeaky, "What the heck?" But I acted natural, and stuffed the bill into my skirt pocket when my parents turned around, and acted like I had no idea what my dad was talking about when he asked if I'd said something. I didn't want to say anything to my parents because I knew that they would make me turn the money into someone, and not let me keep it. Plus, I was in need of a new bike.

So this is another thing to add to my list:

***Weird Things on the 13th***

Exploding breakfast.

$100 in Sugar Crunchies.

***(More to come!)***

Anyway, I crammed my cereal down my throat, hoping that any substance that was on this on this money hadn't poisoned it or anything. I mean gosh, I just turned 14; I don't want to die yet! Anyway, as soon as I was finished, I grabbed my backpack. Ugh. The best birthday present would be to skip school and hang at the mall all day, but good luck with that, I thought to myself.

I gave Mom and Dad kisses and hugs, and walked out the front door. Crash's ears perked up at the sound of the door clicking. He did that cute little thing that dogs do where they look like they smile, and he bounded towards me.

Crash is our adorable black and white Pit Bull. He is about two years old, and we've had him since he was about 8 weeks old, ever since we adopted him from death row at the pound. He's the craziest, most hyper dog I've ever seen, and we have to keep him outside most of the time. Mostly because my dad is allergic to dogs, and due to the fact that every time we bring him inside, he breaks something. He's an awesome dog, and with his cropped ears and his short and stocky, muscular appearance, he looks totally menacing. No one ever bothers us while we're walking (even though in reality, Crash wouldn't hurt a fly…. Shhhhh!).

Anyway, I stooped down to give him a pet on the head and a belly rub, and I threw his tennis ball into the backyard to give me some time to escape out of our front yard before he could weasel out of the front gate and get loose again. As soon as he took off running, I slipped out of the gate in our front yard, closed it and locked it, and walked down the driveway to wait for the bus.

I decided to check the mail, since I had some time to kill before the bus arrived, and, well, I was dying to know if any of my relatives had sent me money. Thankfully, I was right. Most of the envelopes were birthday cards that were too thick to not contain cash, along with normal things like bills, spam letters, and my dad's monthly golf magazine.

But, as I was putting the mail back inside the mailbox, I stopped short. In the very back of the mailbox, there was another envelope. It was cream-colored, and in the darkness inside, it almost blended in with the mailbox's interior. Curiosity got the best of me, and I pulled it out.

I turned it over on my hands carefully, seeing as how it was very crisp and official looking, with a red seal closing it, that had a fancy D inside the circle. It was addressed to:

Mrs. Annie Rockwell

I was extremely puzzled. I had no idea what this thing could be. I racked my brain for answers. Scholarship? Nah, I'm too young. Invitation to some prestigious private school? I sure hope not. A really good prank? Maybe; I had made the school jokester mad the other day when he'd saucily asked me out, and I'd dumped my Diet Coke in his head.

I decided to take is to school with me, thinking I could use the help of my best friend, and since the bus was pulling onto my street, and I didn't have time to run it back inside the house. So I left the rest of the mail in the mailbox and carefully placed the envelope in my folder and climbed aboard the bus as soon as it pulled up.