and rolled onto her side, pushing up on her elbow. “Blake, don’t even… this, the card, tonight, it’s more than I ever dreamed of. Thank you for making this the best birthday ever.”
It was after two when we started to make our way back to the house. Darkness cloaked our two-story prison, and my eyes strained hard to make out the small bathroom window on the ground floor. My senses immediately went on high alert—something wasn’t right. I always made sure to leave the light on to guide our way back.
“Shit,” I grumbled to myself squeezing Penny’s hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“The light’s out. Either it blew or someone switched it off.”
“Crap, what should we do?”
“There’s a chance whoever it was has gone back to bed.” I pulled Penny close and whispered into her hair. “Come on, as quietly as you can.”
I felt her smile against my neck. Stealth wasn’t her strong point, and although she could jimmy open the window with ease and climb out the gap undetected, she’d had more than a couple of close calls over the last year.
As we crept closer to the house, my gut was yelling something wasn’t right. I’d come to trust my instincts since living in foster care. Forced into this life from a young age, all I had was myself to rely on. I had to grow up and get wise, and right now, the adrenaline pumping through my veins was telling me something was very wrong. But we had no choice but to go back inside. If we stayed out all night, someone would discover us gone anyway.
We ducked out of the cover of the tree line and crossed the yard to the side of the house. The window was on this wall somewhere, and I was pretty certain I could retrace our escape route in the black hole surrounding us. My clammy hand traced the wall looking for the frame. Just as my fingers hooked onto the sill, the kitchen light came on and the door creaked open. I froze, my heart in my mouth.
“So it is true?” a faceless voice said gruffly. “You two have been sneaking out right under our noses. Tut tut, you should know better. Especially you, boy.” Derek’s voice was eerily calm causing shivers to jolt up my spine.
Penny gasped and pressed herself into my side letting go of my hand. I wanted to reach back and take her hand in mine—it belonged there, but I knew it would only make our situation worse. So I squared my shoulders and took a step toward the half open door. Derek sneered at me. He looked like he’d just won the lotto, an evil smirk on his scruffy half-awake face.
“Inside.” He stepped back to let us past.
Penny moved with me, still pressed into my back as we entered the kitchen.
“Go to your rooms. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
We didn’t argue.
We didn’t say anything.
We walked the short distance upstairs to our rooms in silence. Derek didn’t follow, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was still off.
Penny’s room was the second door along the hallway. I stopped and turned to her. “Barricade yourself in. Find something, anything to wedge the door shut, okay?”
I don’t know why I said the words, but I couldn’t shake Derek’s reaction to discovering us returning from No Man’s Land. Together. There had been something in his voice. He didn’t sound so much angry as he did pleased to have found us sneaking back in.
Penny opened her mouth to argue. I could tell by the way her nose scrunched up that she wanted to tell me I was being stupid, but something changed her mind because she nodded and went inside. When her door closed in my face, I went to my room, the last room on the right. I shared with Mason. Jessica, Amy, and Mia shared, and Peter shared with the new kid. Penny had the smallest room. It was more like a closet, only just big enough for a single cot and dresser.
Mase was snoring like usual. Once he was asleep, nothing could wake him. He slept through storms, breakfast, and he even slept through the one time Derek caught Bennett sneaking out. I
It was after two when we started to make our way back to the house. Darkness cloaked our two-story prison, and my eyes strained hard to make out the small bathroom window on the ground floor. My senses immediately went on high alert—something wasn’t right. I always made sure to leave the light on to guide our way back.
“Shit,” I grumbled to myself squeezing Penny’s hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“The light’s out. Either it blew or someone switched it off.”
“Crap, what should we do?”
“There’s a chance whoever it was has gone back to bed.” I pulled Penny close and whispered into her hair. “Come on, as quietly as you can.”
I felt her smile against my neck. Stealth wasn’t her strong point, and although she could jimmy open the window with ease and climb out the gap undetected, she’d had more than a couple of close calls over the last year.
As we crept closer to the house, my gut was yelling something wasn’t right. I’d come to trust my instincts since living in foster care. Forced into this life from a young age, all I had was myself to rely on. I had to grow up and get wise, and right now, the adrenaline pumping through my veins was telling me something was very wrong. But we had no choice but to go back inside. If we stayed out all night, someone would discover us gone anyway.
We ducked out of the cover of the tree line and crossed the yard to the side of the house. The window was on this wall somewhere, and I was pretty certain I could retrace our escape route in the black hole surrounding us. My clammy hand traced the wall looking for the frame. Just as my fingers hooked onto the sill, the kitchen light came on and the door creaked open. I froze, my heart in my mouth.
“So it is true?” a faceless voice said gruffly. “You two have been sneaking out right under our noses. Tut tut, you should know better. Especially you, boy.” Derek’s voice was eerily calm causing shivers to jolt up my spine.
Penny gasped and pressed herself into my side letting go of my hand. I wanted to reach back and take her hand in mine—it belonged there, but I knew it would only make our situation worse. So I squared my shoulders and took a step toward the half open door. Derek sneered at me. He looked like he’d just won the lotto, an evil smirk on his scruffy half-awake face.
“Inside.” He stepped back to let us past.
Penny moved with me, still pressed into my back as we entered the kitchen.
“Go to your rooms. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
We didn’t argue.
We didn’t say anything.
We walked the short distance upstairs to our rooms in silence. Derek didn’t follow, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was still off.
Penny’s room was the second door along the hallway. I stopped and turned to her. “Barricade yourself in. Find something, anything to wedge the door shut, okay?”
I don’t know why I said the words, but I couldn’t shake Derek’s reaction to discovering us returning from No Man’s Land. Together. There had been something in his voice. He didn’t sound so much angry as he did pleased to have found us sneaking back in.
Penny opened her mouth to argue. I could tell by the way her nose scrunched up that she wanted to tell me I was being stupid, but something changed her mind because she nodded and went inside. When her door closed in my face, I went to my room, the last room on the right. I shared with Mason. Jessica, Amy, and Mia shared, and Peter shared with the new kid. Penny had the smallest room. It was more like a closet, only just big enough for a single cot and dresser.
Mase was snoring like usual. Once he was asleep, nothing could wake him. He slept through storms, breakfast, and he even slept through the one time Derek caught Bennett sneaking out. I
Similar Books
