Page 47 of WITSEC
THAT NIGHT: PART TWO
When Shayla opened the door, light from the TV in the living room poured into the dark office. Very slowly, she peeked out.
“It’s clear,” she whispered and took my hand.
I followed her out. She squeezed my hand as we passed our dad on the couch. Tears silently rolled down my cheeks and off my chin when we had to step over our mom’s body.
We were headed for the front door. As soon as it was in sight, I noticed that the foyer light was on. If Shayla noticed, she didn’t seem to care. She began to walk faster.
As soon as we stepped into the bright foyer, Mr. X stepped out of our mom’s darkened office directly across the room from us. Seeing him, Shayla stopped in her tracks so suddenly that I ran into her.
A terrifying smile stretched across his face as his eyes landed on me. “There you are.”
With where he was standing, there was no way we’d get to the door without him catching us.
Coming to a decision before I could, Shayla yanked me toward the stairs, which were just to our left. We climbed up as fast as we could and just as we reached the top, I glanced back to see Mr. X taking his time coming up the stairs behind us.
The upstairs hall light was on. It had been off when I’d gotten home.
Shayla didn’t let go of my hand as she ran ahead of me down the hall. We passed her room. Then mine. The lights in ourrooms were off. She led us into our parents’ room and let go of my hand just as we got inside. One of the lamps on our parents’ nightstands was on. Why did I feel like we’d been led here with light?
Shayla slammed the door closed, but it bounced open. “Oh my God,” she gasped when she reached for the doorknob and there wasn’t one. Just an open hole where it should have been.
I looked around for any idea of what to do and ran to our parents’ dresser. “Help me.”
Using all the strength I had, I started pushing the heavy wooden dresser toward the door. Shayla quickly joined me, and we both got the dresser up against the door.
Shayla pointed across the room. “The window.”
We both rushed to it. Shayla got there before me and pushed it open. We eyed the far, straight drop to the ground. “We can make it,” she said and started to put her legs out the window.
I grabbed her arm. “No, we won’t. That drop guarantees broken bones and we won’t get far if we can’t walk.”
“We’ll try to lower ourselves down as far as we can before we drop,” Shayla said frantically.
“Oooh, Shiii…loooh,” Mr. X sang from just outside the bedroom door.
“There’s no time,” I whispered.
Shayla stared out the window, torn, before nodding. “Hide,” she mouthed. She brought her leg back in and pulled me to the bed. “Get under here.”
I dropped to the floor and quickly crawled under the bed. When I was halfway under, Mr. X started shoving against the door. Shayla rushed to our parents’ closet. Just as I was fully hiding under the bed, Mr. X got the door open enough to squeeze sideways into the room.
All I could see were his boots. I held my breath as I watched those boots stand near the door for a moment and then slowly make their way over to the window we’d left open.
I did my best not to make a sound while silently hoping that he’d think we’d taken the risk of escaping through the window. He paused by the window for a few seconds before walking back toward the door. For a painful, pounding heartbeat, I thought he was going to leave the room, and then he rounded the bed and headed for the closet.
Shayla!
Moving as quietly as I could, I started scooting out from the opposite side of the bed, still watching Mr. X stand facing the closet. I was almost completely out from under the bed when he turned on the light in the walk-in closet and moved farther inside. I heard the rustling of hanging clothes being shoved to the side as I slowly sat up and peeked over the top of the bed at the closet.
Shayla let out a scream full of terror, making me jump into action. I leapt onto the bed and crawled across it quickly. Before I reached the other side, I spotted the unlit lamp on my dad’s nightstand. I grabbed it and yanked the cord from the wall as I came up behind Mr. X, who was dragging Shayla out from the corner of the closet where she’d been hiding.
Using all my strength, I swung the vase-shaped lamp at his head. The ceramic body of the lamp shattered against his skull and Mr. X let out a grunt before dropping to his knees. He loosened his grip on Shayla’s pink hair enough for her to get herself free and leap off the ground.
We both rushed out of the closet and toward the door. Mr. X had only scooted the dresser far enough to squeeze past it. Opening the door until it met the dresser, I slipped out of the room first. I only glanced back to make sure Shayla was right behind me. She was in the process of coming out of our parents’room. I didn’t see Mr. X behind her. A little bit of relief flickered inside me, and I ran down the hall with my hand held out behind me for Shayla to take.
She never took it.
