Chapter 105 – The Midnight Break in – Silver Brooks

We made it to the concert outside of town, but not without some hiccups. Jin taught us to ‘duck and roll’ off the train and into the grass in a bit of a chaotic moment. Perri and Jin handled the maneuver fine, but Brianna rolled at a bad angle and hurt her arm trying to stop herself. I, having seen Brianna’s poor landing, became increasingly scared to make the jump. To make matters worse, the train was coming up to a bridge so I didn’t have much time to act.

The others ran after the train, shouting at me to jump off. Looking between them and the upcoming bridge, I made my choice. I jumped off with zero form or grace in my technique. It was basically an arm-extended leap from the train car as if I were about to dive into a pool. Surprisingly I landed on my feet after a horrifying and unplanned flip through the air. For a moment I felt proud of myself for recovering from that. That moment didn’t last long. I landed on an incline and sprained my ankle just before falling forward and rolling into a bush.

The result of all that was that Perri had to give me a piggyback ride all the way to the concert so that my bruised ankle could heal. Jin laughed and made fun of me practically the entire walk there. The walk there was made even more humiliating by the fact that we couldn’t ride our skateboards because of my condition. We made it to the concert pretty late and Brianna was upset about that. She didn’t say anything about it, but I could sense it in her sudden silence. She organized all of this because she was a fan of one of the bands that would be performing and we missed half their set.

The concert went about as could be expected. Jin went off to fight in the mosh pit and ended up with an ugly bruise that felt like karma for laughing about my ankle. Brianna eventually got over missing the start of the concert and lost herself in cheering for the other bands that played. Perri and I weren’t huge fans of this type of loud music but tried to enjoy it anyways. We cheered alongside Brianna even though I didn’t know any of the bands that were playing. Eventually Perri spirited me away to somewhere more private. We watched the concert alone atop a nearby hill where things weren’t as loud.

Perri lied back into the grass and stared up at the stars. I lied in the grass right beside her.

“I don’t want Thanksgiving break to end.” She said. “It feels like it just started.”

“You can say that again. I’ve been stuck with tutoring lessons since Saturday!”

Perri let out a sharp laugh.

“Oh god, maybe I shouldn’t complain then. You apparently have it worse.” She said while smiling. “Your parents have a cruel sense of humor to immediately begin additional tutoring lessons the moment that the vacation started.”

“I wouldn’t mind it if I was flunking out of class, but I’m not. My grades have come up and I did well on our last set of tests. The only reason I was making bad grades to begin with was because I got behind on homework! We don’t even have any tests coming up now that we’re on vacation! It’s madness!”

Perri put her hands up in a placating gesture and blinked rapidly.

“Hey, you don’t have to convince me. I didn’t mean to strike a nerve.”

I sighed and moved closer to her. She pulled me onto her chest and I rested there.

“I’m sorry for whining about it. I’m just irked that I’ve been stuck inside all week long. It hardly even feels like a vacation for me. Meanwhile, my sister Addie gets to do whatever she wants the entire time.”

She caressed my face.

“Then let’s try to focus on having a good time tonight.” She said.

I caressed her face in return.

“I already am.” I said. “Being here with you is far better than being stuck at home.”

She snickered.

“Even though you almost broke your ankle getting here…?”

“Now that part I’d like to forget!” I said.

We both laughed together until Perri’s phone rang. She pulled away from me to answer it.

“Yeah…?” She asked.

She stared down hill at where the concert was taking place and nodded.

“Alright, we’ll meet you there.” She said before hanging up.

“They’re ready to go?” I asked.

“Yep, they want us to meet them over near the medical tent. Apparently Jin started drinking something and threw up.”

“Typical,” I said. “Where did she even get alcohol from? Wasn’t the whole point of jumping the train because we didn’t have much money?”

She stood up out of the grass and reached down to help me up.

“Your guess is as good as mine. Come on. Let’s go meet up with them.”

Once we met up with Jin and Brianna we started walking away from the concert area. Now that we were finished with the concert I’d be the leader from here on out. The main reason Brianna wanted me to come along was because I used to live in this area. She assumed that I’d know a good place to stay for the night. We wouldn’t be able to hop another train until sunrise now that it was just past midnight. Fortunately I knew of an unused place we could crash at. The only downside was that there were no furnishings there and we’d be sleeping on the floor. None of us brought any sleeping bags with us either.

We were skating down the road now that my ankle was well enough to rest on my skateboard. It still hurt to put weight on it so that meant I couldn’t push my skateboard alone. Perri helped me by keeping behind me and pushing me along herself. It was a bit of an awkward arrangement since she had to constantly readjust our heading position, but it was faster than walking. Jin was so out of it that she was skateboarding on autopilot, lagging behind me and Perri. Brianna was the only one having fun. She was skating ahead of us and showing off her flashy skills as she swerved left and right down the road.

“How far did you say this place was?” Jin asked as she caught up to me and Perri.

I pointed over at a lone house in the distance. From where we were right now it was just a speck across a field of wild growing grass.

“You see that house over there?”

“That farmhouse…?” Jin asked.

“That’s the one.” I said. “A friend of mine used to live there.”

“A friend…?” Perri asked curiously.

“Yeah… She was an old lady that I knew when I was a kid. She was like an unrelated grandma to me. She passed away sometime when I was in middle school.” I said with a bit of sadness in my voice. “She didn’t have any relatives that claimed the house. As far as I know, the building is just sitting there.”

Brianna slowed down to join the conversation.

“Wow… Someone hasn’t tried to claim it?” Brianna asked.

“I don’t think so.” I said. “She had distant relatives but they all lived out of state somewhere. A couple of them appeared for the funeral then I never heard from them again.”

“What a waste of a decent looking house.” Perri said.

“Maybe you could claim it, Silver! You knew her!” Jin said. “You could have your own place, just like Sam! We could come over and party every day!”

“Even if I were able to I’d never risk inviting you over.” I said.

Jin laughed in response because she probably didn’t suspect that I was completely serious.

Perri let me perform the final roll up to the house at my request. My ankle was still in pain but I was feeling well enough to handle my own skateboarding now. The girls gave me time to catch up once I fell behind. The farmhouse looked just like I remembered it. The years had been kind to it. The grass around the house was overgrown, but there were some areas that look like they had been whacked down or crushed. It may have been from some wandering cows coming through since this was in a rural area.

“The door’s locked.” Brianna said after trying the handle.

“I can deal with that. I’ve got my tools with me.” Perri said.

“Hey, Silver, is there a store around here?” Jin asked. “I’m starving.”

I pointed down the road.

“There’s a convenience store down this road a couple of miles. I don’t know if it will be open this late at night. It’s a big chain store so it may be.”

“Good, I’m going to check it out.” Jin said, preparing to skateboard off in that direction.

“Wait, I’m coming with you.” Brianna said. “I’ve got a few bucks left. I want to get something too.”

Perri took out her wallet and pulled out ten dollars.

“Get something for me and Silver also. We’ll have the door open by the time you get back.”

I pulled my last two dollars out of my pocket along with all the loose change I had.

“Get some drinks too.” I said as I handed the money over. “I don’t think this place has running water. We’ll need enough to last us until we can hop onto another train.”

“You got it,” Brianna said as she took the money from me and Perri.

Brianna turned to Jin and the two of them mounted their skateboards together. Jin looked back before riding off.

“You two better not start playing naked twister the moment we leave!” She shouted.

“I hope you fall on your skateboard!” Perri shouted.

Jin flipped her middle finger our direction as she skated off into the distance. Perri shook her head and turned to me.

“That girl…” Perri said.

Perri rubbed her arms as the wind blew.

“Maybe once we get inside we can find some blankets to use for the night.” I said. “The last time I was here it was mostly empty, but I remember some stuff still lying around in the closets.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Let’s do it.”

We went up to the door so that Perri could do her thing. I was going to sit down on the steps while waiting for her to pick the lock. She picked the lock so fast that I didn’t even get the chance to walk back over to the steps and sit down. She grinned at me when she saw the surprised look on my face. I knew she was good, but I didn’t know she was that good.

“This lock is an old, simplistic locking mechanism. On top of that there is only a single lock. I’m amazed this house doesn’t have squatters already.” She said.

“Maybe this house is too remote for someone who would do that?” I asked. “This town is pretty small, even compared to the town we live in.”

“Maybe, but I’ve never known squatters to have any sense of borders or limitations.” She said.

She pushed open the door and we walked inside. The doorway opened up right into the living room. Just like the last time I was here, the place was empty. There were curtains on the wall but not much else to note. The wood flooring was still in good condition, free from any rot or parasites. The place actually looked clean and devoid of a dust layer. That seemed strange. I at least expected some dirt and cobwebs. It almost gave me the feeling that…

“Someone’s been in here.” I said.

Perri turned to look at me.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Just what I said… I think someone has been in here fairly recently.”

Perri gave me a cautious look. She turned to reach for the light switch not far from her. She gave it a few casual flips. Nothing happened. The only light coming into the household was from the street light across the road. She opened up the curtains so that we could get a better look at the place. I closed the door now that we had more light coming in.

“If someone’s been in here then they haven’t had the electricity turned back on.” Perri said.

“Maybe there really was a squatter here at some point.” I said.

“I don’t know. The floors have been swept clean but there’s no furniture or anything… Maybe one of the old lady’s relatives came over at some time and did some basic upkeep?”

“Maybe…” I said. “I think if that were true though they would’ve done something about the overgrown grass. Legally, the grass is supposed to be cut beneath a certain height. While the authorities might not care enough to enforce it, it would be a problem if they planned to sell the house. If her relatives wanted to put the place on the market then cutting the grass would be amongst the first things they needed to do.”

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“I really hate the fact that you’re right because now we’re left wondering who came through here.”

“Let’s check out the other rooms.” I said. “We’re planning to look for some blankets we can use anyways.”

“Sure. It’ll probably be a while before Jin and Bri get back.”

We put our skateboards in the closet closest to the front door and split up to search the house. The house had two stories, with all the bed rooms being on the second floor. I went into the kitchen and dining room to see if there was anything suspicious in there. There weren’t any signs of food, dishes, or recent occupation. We were probably being overly cautious because it was dark outside and the house was eerily quiet. I could perfectly hear Perri as she moved around upstairs. I turned to go meet her as I heard her run down the staircase.

“I found blankets in one of the bedroom closets upstairs!” Perri said excitedly.

“Good, I guess that means we won’t be cold tonight.” I said.

Perri came over to pull me into an embrace.

“I was planning to keep you warm no matter what.” She said. “I hope you don’t mind sharing a blanket.”

I grinned.

“Actually, I was going to be the one to ask you that.” I said.

We leaned into each other to kiss. My eyes closed as our faces got closer, but we both froze in place at the same time as we heard rumbling. It was distinctly the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway. We both looked at each other with a shocked expression. Someone was pulling up to an empty house at a time like this…? Was there really a squatter driving up, or maybe the house had just recently found an owner and was stopping by?

Perri and I both rushed over towards the front window, actively staying out of the beaming headlights of the car pulling up. We got down low and crept up against the wall beside the window. I leaned my head to peak through the edges of the curtains carefully to avoid revealing myself to this stranger pulling up. Perri did the same. It wasn’t just any car pulling up. It was a police car.

“Shit!” Perri hissed. “How did someone…”

“They can’t be here for us!” I said. “There’s no way someone saw us come in here! There’s no way that…”

A shadowy figure emerged from the car. They popped open the trunk of the car and went to go fetch something. It was impossible to make out any details or features of this person because of how bright the lights coming from the car were. They were blinding, compared to the relatively modest street light across the road. From our angle the person was just a dark outline of a human form.

“We need to hide!” I said.

“Right… Where, though…?” Perri asked.

“Follow me, I know a good spot.” I said.

We crept away, trying to avoid coming into direct sight of the window as we left the living room. There was a room beside the kitchen, near the back door, that was once a laundry area. There weren’t any washing machines or dryers in this room, but there were a few closets. One of these was a built-in closet large enough for us to hide in. This was a walk in closet that served as an area to temporarily hang up clothes after they had been laundered. The other closets were stand-alone closets meant to store tools, equipment, and cleaning supplies.

We heard the stranger walk into the house, each of their loud foot falls echoing through the entire place. They were clearly wearing heavy boots. The person was walking painfully slow in the living room, like they were being cautious. The fact that the door was unlocked when they came here must’ve been suspicious to them. Now they were operating much like we were when we were searching the house. The sound of the car’s engine rumbling was still ongoing, meaning they probably didn’t expect to stay here long. The person wondered slowly from the living room, and into the kitchen, not far from where we were.

Since this closet we were in was totally empty we had enough space to move around. The closet had a louvered door with large enough shutters to see into the room. It was hard to see anything since only moonlight was coming in through the nearby window. The window had no curtain and it was a full moon out, but it was still weak lighting for the inside of a house. Perri and I took turns trying to see anything outside the closet we were in. The shutters clearly weren’t meant to be seen through because the wooden slats were too tall. The resulting peek holes were too narrow to form a complete image of the outside.

“Can you see anything?” Perri whispered.

“Shh…!” I whispered back, “They’re coming closer to…”

I couldn’t even afford to finish my sentence as the person walked into the room. I couldn’t see them, because their head was turned away from us, but I did make out some details. This stranger had short dark hair and was clearly a female, going by the body outline. From what I could tell she wasn’t wearing standard police attire. She was wearing a thick black jacket over her clothes. She was wearing black pants and black leather boots. She looked around the room curiously, perhaps sensing that something was amiss. When her face was illuminated by the moonlight I instantly recognized this person’s identity.

It was Officer Angelica Morelli, the police officer that regularly volunteered at our school.