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Max
My heart thundered under my breast I was sure my parents could hearclad house on Sunnyvale Court
Rain puddled atthe dirt of a thousand walks into my off-brand tennis shoes I usually enjoyed the rain I liked the feel of walking barefoot in puddles in the grass and the sht, the air was cool and the rain was crisp against ust in South Carolina I would be out all night, though, so this was co
With e of the long driveway A cool wind split through my dark poncho I wanted to shiver, but I steeled nored the cold
This is it, I toldto leave, you need to do it now
A new house sat half-finished around the bend of Sunnyvale I explored it yesterday while on a walk and discovered the back door was unlocked
My hand gripped the straps of ht where I’oing to die like my mother seems to think would happen if I did I knew that normal people, everyone else in the world, they weren’t all murdered and raped the moment they went outside
Thoughts of reen comforter, the mauve pink carpet, the war fro a hand to my brow to flick away the collection of water there No I had already made the decision Besides, it was too late to turn back Sneaking out of the house was hard enough to do at night I wouldn’t want to be caught trying to sneak back in
I forcedup and out to step foot on the dark pavement of the road My parents’ house was the newest on the half-circle street, tucked away behind a forest near a new highway There were only twenty hohborhood In front of my parents’ house was an empty lot, room for one more house but the land was still undeveloped The rest of the street had several hborhood Unfortunately the street light was never installed in front of h I knew the blacktop was flat, it ht trip on a stick -- or an ax murderer
I stompedThe wind swept up around ainst it I fell into the deeper shadows of the road, shielded frohts I shivered as a breeze picked up around me
Even as my heart continued to pound, I moved forward Every second I envisionedout theto spot me Only I knew better They probably wouldn’t notice until well in the afternoon that I was nowhere around The reluctance I felt was only the whispers ofin my head
A slippery thudding sound started racing toward ht it was ined so barefoot toward ht froht be I should et out of the way I willed ust swept into my face My eyes watered
Aslipped away from my body and I crashed onto ainst the street So heavy and wet sat on top of me A warm, salty breath filled my nose
The wild of h every possibility Rapist Murderer The instinct to screaasped I was paralyzed
A slobbering tongue licked my arm and then a soft, cold nose nuzzled it My heart continued to beat but I finally took a breath, relieved
“Hey,” a shout ca “Are you okay?”
My whole body went rigid again The sound of footsteps cale e and instead continued to sit on ain
“I’et off of her” In the shadow of the street, I couldn’t tell who it was I wasn’t that fahbors anyway The voice was sentle, there was a strength hidden behind it Since he wasn’t shouting atme he would kill me, I tried to calm my heart
They’re not as bad as she thinks, I told myself People aren’t all evil
The dog was pulled away frouy knelt by htly “Are you hurt?”
His touch around h esture and I wasn't used to people touchingat h the scrapes on my arm I coddled it to my
chest “I’h my teeth “It’s fine”
“No, you’re not,” he said The strength in his voice shining through more “You scraped your arm” He put another arht?”
My cheeks flushed so hot, I could have been glowing As er’s kind hands on“I think so”
He pulled ether The hipped around us My poncho flew like a flag behind ainst the wind, protecting ht his hands up to cup aroundto take you to my house”
It was the first tiht froe From what I felt of his body, he was easily a head taller than me and there was some definition to his muscles
I blushed at the thought that I had been touching his chest
He bent over and picked up runted at first as he lifted it
“Let me take it,” I said
“No” He heaved it over his shoulder With a free aruided et out of this rain We’ll access the dae inside”
“What about your dog?”
“He’ll follow”
My heart pounded again as I followed him up the street My hands shook, my knees quivered I tried to think cal nice My s swirled through my mind
I could only hope that I wasn’t on my way to die
Kota
His house was the first one on the right after the e it from my bedroomIt was a one story, brick, ranch-style hoe door was open, with one car parked inside Another car was parked in the corner of the wide driveway toward the back A safety light flicked on autoreen poncho he wore The hood coveredtowardI wondered if it ise now to follow him into his house