One Way Out

ONE WAY OUT

A Short Story By

R.L.Weeks

For

Kayla, Kara, Kevin Angel, Natalie,

Beth, Denette, Shelley, Maureen

and Liz

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

© Text Copyright 2015

Cover Artist: R.L.Weeks

Edited by

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious and are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events, or locales or persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.

THE INTRUDER

The fire crackled, echoing Laura’s anger. “Put down my dog, I’ll move out,” she bellowed at her dad. Her affectionate, chocolate-coloured labby lay on the floor, his head on his paws. He let out a sigh and eyed Laura.

“He bit the neighbour, we have no choice,” her dad lets out an exasperated sigh, dismissing Laura.

“They must have deserved it, Teddy wouldn’t have done that unless he thought they were a threat, look at him dad, he’s a big goofball, he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Laura protested, her dad glanced over at a cross-eyed Teddy who was eyeing up an ant that hurried across the floorboards.

He stood up, placing his glass of scotch on the mantelpiece.  “My word is final, I’m sorry to see him go as much as –

“No, you’re not!” She interrupts, taking a step towards her dad, she looked at his bulging waistcoat and gold cufflinks. “You’ve never cared about him.”

“I’ll get you a new puppy, please, let it go.”

“No!” she knew this was his way, not to cause any bother with her, to pay her off. “I don’t want another dog, I want teddy.” She had taken Teddy in exactly a year ago to the day when they found him abandoned.

Her dad looked at Laura, his mouth curling into a sad smile, he could feel himself giving in like he always did. “I have to go to the club, we can talk about this when I get back, that’s not a yes, but it’s a ‘we will talk about it.’”

Laura jumped over to him, wrapping her arms around his rounding belly, resting her head on his chest. “Thanks, Dad.” He smiled down at his little Laura, sixteen, how did she grow up so fast? He wondered.

With age, she had begun to look more and more like her mother, who had sadly died a few years back, leaving them both with a hole in their hearts that couldn’t be filled. He knew that Teddy had been Laura’s rock and eyed the half-obedient goofball, sighing. How could he make this work? They would come for him, he could offer more to the neighbours than he had originally offered he supposed.

“Enjoy your night at the club,” Laura said, her bright blue doe eyes mirroring her mothers, with thick black lashes and blossom pink lips.

He patted her on the back, “stay safe, trick-or-treaters are out tonight.”

“That’s nothing to worry about, Teddy will protect me. I’ve got a bowl of sweets to hand out anyway,” she said. The smile on her dad's face curved into a frown. Laura had always been too trusting, the neighbourhood is a good one, yes, but also a target for burglars. However, there hadn’t been any reports of a break-in for years, plus the CCTV would capture anything, she’d be fine, and she’s right, Teddy may be a lovable huggable ball of fur, but when it comes to Laura he has the ferocity of a lion.

“Take care of my Laura, Teddy and we’ll see what we can do.” Teddy’s ears perked up when he said Laura’s name and responded with a little howl, getting up, his claws scratching on the wooden floor as he shook his body and ran over to sit next to Laura.

“Good boy,” Laura cooed.

Her dad walked over to the door, popping his black button-up coat on. “Call me if you need anything,” he shouted and shut the door.

Laura kneeled down, stroking Teddy’s head, scratching behind his ears. “See, he won’t put you down, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you,” she cooed and planted a kiss on top of his head. He responded by licking the side of her cheek.

“Let’s get you some dinner,” she said, he ran into the kitchen, wagging his tail behind him. She stepped into the old-fashioned kitchen, catching her reflection in the patio door, which was the only thing in the house that was slightly modern. Her light brown hair fell down below her chest, puberty had been kind to her, for which she was grateful. Acne had not left their awful scars upon her soft, clear skin. She had recently started developing curves in all the right places, but still maintained her small waist and slim appearance. Her pearly white teeth were perfect, thanks to braces which had been taken off last year.

Opening the cupboard, she grabbed a bag of dog biscuits, then a loud bark behind her took her by surprise. She dropped the bag, biscuits dropping everywhere. She turned to Teddy, who had taken no notice of the spilled biscuits, which was out of character. Instead, he was poised in a protective stance, watching the back door, growling.

“What is it boy?” she whispered, her heart pounding loudly. Teddy growled louder and barked, putting Laura’s nerves on edge. Getting to her feet, she approached the door but Teddy ran out in front of her, putting a barrier between her and the door. What is out there? She wondered. She remembered back to Teddy running through the door after escaping, the neighbour’s blood dripping from his mouth. She had almost fainted. He had become a little more ferocious those past few weeks, especially since they had moved in next door. By they, she meant the thirty-something-year-old couple, the woman with ebony black hair that fell dead straight, her lips a pale pink, they could almost be white. The man had slicked back platinum-blond hair, greedy looking dark brown eyes, always wearing a long leather jacket that fell to his knees, showing off his leather studded boots.

They had ignored her every time she had said hello, so she gave up in the end. In fact they hadn’t said a word to Laura or her dad since moving in, until Teddy came running in through the door followed by the woman, who Laura had learned was called Lillith, and her husband, Marcus. She was limping, blood covering her leg, Marcus looked near murderous as he approached, demanding that they hand over that ‘mutt’ as they called him.

They tried saying Teddy had attacked unprovoked, whilst they were doing the garden.

“What really happened that day?” Laura hushed as she peered outside, seeing no outlines. She reached into the draw, flicking on the torch. She shone the light through the glass, the torch enveloped in darkness as the light caught a quick glimpse of a pair of dark brown eyes in their garden. Laura gasped, falling backward.

Teddy barked loudly, she ran into the living room to call her dad, but before she could reach for the phone, the lights in the house flickered twice, then pinged off, leaving her in blackness, with only the thin beam of light from the torch.

“Teddy,” she shouted, as she listened to his barking. “Oh my God,” her heart was pounding loudly, her hands shaking. The barking was hushed by a tapping on the patio door. Her heart almost stopped, her breath hitched in her throat. “Teddy,” she whispered, pleading. She could hear Teddy running in and shone the torch over to the door. His big bright eyes came into view. “Come on Teddy, upstairs,” she whispered. She couldn’t use the house phone if the electrics were off. She cursed her dad under her breath for refusing to buy her a mobile phone.

She threw open the bathroom door, as it was the only door with a lock on. She slammed the door behind her, Teddy, wasn’t with her.

“Teddy,” she whispered, cracking the door open, showing a dark hallway. She couldn’t see him. “Crap,” she cursed.

She locked the door, curling up underneath the sink. Her breaths quickening, she bit down on her cheek to prevent her from crying, but fresh tears stung at her lids regardless, they proceeded to drop down her cheeks one by one.

She tried to think logically, the eyes in the garden, well that could have been someone playing a prank on her, maybe one of the boys from school as they did know where she lived. The lights, well a power cut obviously. She hadn’t had thought to look out of the window to check out the neighbours houses, to see if their lights had gone out. Either way, everything was locked anyway.

“No, it’s not,” she said aloud, remembering back to before she had gotten into the argument with her father. She had let Teddy out for a wee and had forgotten to lock the door after. The sound of the door sliding open downstairs caught her attention. Unlocking the door, careful not to make a sound, she cracked the door open, shushing it when the hinges creaked.

“Teddy,” she croaked, her voice barely a whisper. Instead of a howl or heavy panting that she longed to hear, the sound of creaking floorboards as someone walked up the stairs were all that could be heard. “Oh no,” she said under breath, tears falling into her hair. Pushing back the bathroom door, she crawled in, letting the lock click shut. Heavy footsteps pounded through the house as whoever it was reached the landing.

She heard the unmistakable creak of her bedroom door and then the sound of rustling papers. She peered out of the bathroom window, all of the other houses had their lights on. Someone had cut the electricity in the house then. The thought was too much, this couldn’t be happening, not to her. Moving off of the edge of the bath and back down to the floor, careful not to make a sound, she tried to think of a plan.

She had to get Teddy and make a run for it. Looking around for a weapon of some kind to use, she spotted the toilet roll holder. It was metal, probably wouldn’t be much use, but it was better than nothing.

She eyed the holder, using her fingernail to unscrew the fittings, breaking two in the process. She finally removed it from the wall, and took the toilet roll off, breaking off the bit in the middle leaving her with a round metal semicircle.

She froze as someone tapped three times on the bathroom door. She put her hand over her mouth and tried to steady her breathing. They pushed down the handle, trying to push the door open.

After a few minutes, they gave up and walked away. Laura pulled her hand away, breathing a sigh of relief.

The person stomped off down the stairs. She heard the back door slide shut and her thoughts flickered to Teddy.

She clicked open the bathroom door, knowing it could be a trap, but she
had
to find Teddy. Tiptoeing down the stairs, she stopped when a floorboard let out a loud creak that was escalated by the protruding silence. She let out a deep breath before continuing, her clammy hand gripped around the holder, her other hand firmly grasped around the torch.

“Teddy,” she whispered, her voice so low that she could barely hear it herself. She choked back a sob as she entered the living room, pushing the door back slowly. Her heart drummed at a hundred miles an hour as she prepared herself for the worse.

Pointing the beam of light around the door, then scanning the rest of the room, she couldn’t see anyone or Teddy. She could hear barking in the garden as she approached the kitchen, “Teddy,” she gasped. Running out into the kitchen, catching her foot on one of his toys, she fell forward, her arm smashing into the tiled floor. The torch rolled away from her, the toilet roll holder sliding out of sight. She got to her feet, grabbed the torch and decided to give up on the toilet roll holder. Instead, she slid open the drawer and grabbed a butcher's knife.

She tested the kitchen light, but with no luck, raised a trembling hand out to the patio door, placing it on the handle. The back garden led out onto a creepy woods, littered with ghost stories, so the garden was not where she wanted to be. Especially considering the house was detached, and the closest house to them was the horrible couple who lived next door. She shone the light to the bottom of the garden, clothes had been left out to dry, her dad had forgotten to take them in yet again. The white sheets blew gently in the cold breeze. The barking started again, she pointed the torch at the spot and saw Teddy’s eyes shining out, barking ferociously at something behind her. She quickly turned, and on seeing nothing went over to grab Teddy, why wasn’t he running towards her?

Then she saw why, her hand shot up to her mouth to muffle the scream that had been waiting to come out. Teddy was tied up, with a chain, to the fence. Who had tied him up? Bile rose in her throat, she turned slowly, the eerie feeling of being watched crept over her, each hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Chills slithered down her spine as she heard heavy breathing coming from her left. Too scared to look, she clamped her eyelids closed, throatily sobbing.

A fear entrenched scream flew out from her core, escaping her mouth. A slimy hand had grabbed at her ankle, but let go upon hearing the blood-curdling scream. She launched forward, not wanting to know what it was. Feeling the colour drain from her face, she ripped off Teddy’s chain with some new-found strength. He ran past her, she turned to see a girl lying on the ground, gaunt skin stretched out over where her lips should be. Her eyes pleading. She extended out her hand, but before Laura or Teddy could do anything, the girl was dragged by some figure that couldn’t be seen, surrounded by the black night, towards the woods.

“Teddy, no,” she cried as she chased after him, he had run after the girl being dragged. What the hell was wrong with that girl? The girl’s screams were muffled, of course, she couldn’t scream properly, she had no mouth. She was dragged so fast, that she could have been attached to a car. It was a speed that neither Laura, nor Teddy could keep up with, but still Teddy raced on ahead of Laura, disappearing within the thin trees, getting consumed by the dark woods. Hesitantly, Laura continued running, breathless, she couldn’t lose Teddy, she couldn’t leave him in that woods.

The trees stand closely, their bare branches like arms, swaying in the howling wind. Laura’s chest tightened as claustrophobia took over, the gaps between the trees seemed to have narrowed as she followed the sound of Teddy’s barking.