The Strange House Pt. 02

Quickly, I skipped up the small steps onto the porch, ripped open the door, and bolted inside, slamming the old door behind me. And just then did I realize where I was.

Dusty furniture and mold filled my vision and my nostrils. Fuck. I had been in such panic mode I hadn't paid attention to where I had gone, and what house I had decided to hide in. The old strange house. Nobody ever went inside here. But I had no time to contemplate the pros and cons of hiding in here. The boys would find me immediately if they opened the door, and they no doubt saw me go inside.

I hunched down and hurried towards the living room, keeping out of sight as I made my way behind an old leather sofa, under a window behind. From the sofa, I peered toward the back door where at any moment I would see Zach and Jeremy enter. I heard the steps on the deck outside and saw shadowy silhouettes in the window to my immediate left.

"I'm not going in there," I heard Zach's muffled voice mutter.

"Yeah, me neither," Jeremy said in a low voice. I quickly shot down as Jeremy peeked inside inches above my head. "Zach, see if you can get up front. I'll check some of the windows. I just have to beat his ass for making me run all over the woods."

Over the span of a few minutes of snow crackling, I could see Jeremy move from window to window. From the window to my left to the window on the other side of the door, and in the opposite room, quite literally across from where I hid. But he never saw me. Perhaps it was the amount of disrepair coinciding with the lack of light, but it seemed like my hiding spot served its purpose well. And none of the two bullies came inside. I knew they were there, though. I heard them mutter and walk around, the snow still giving them away as well as their taunts and threats.

They were never known for their patience, but fucking me up was something they'd wait for forever to do. There had been so many times when I had come late for classes because they simply waited outside my hiding spot, eventually to my physical demise. The longer they waited, the worse the beatings got. Now would probably be no different. I had to go home eventually, while those two more or less did what they wanted.

I then looked to my right to see if Zach had indeed gotten around the old house, but what caught my attention instead was a silhouette hiding in the darkness here with me.

*

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