Trails of Secrets

5. The Stranger

It was quiet. Complete silence. Annalise scanned the room before her. She figured it had been a living room at some point. A dusty coffee table stood in the corner and a rocking chair rested against the wall. Nothing in the room seemed to have caused the loud crash. 

She called out again to see of anyone was home, but she decided it was deserted. She had done her neighborly duty. Now she could leave. But she continued her search. 

Pure nosiness is what motivated her now. 

Each room she entered held only a few objects and furniture. Dust covered everything. Obviously no one had been here in a long time. 

Wait. Footprints. Someone had been here recently. Annalise peered down at the footprints. They looked just like hers. She turned around to look at her own footprints. They were a perfect match. 

Annalise swung her leg and tried to kick the dust up off the floor. So much for that. Then she realized that they led to the kitchen. She hadn't been to the kitchen yet. 

Annalise was about to investigate, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She twirled around and punched her attacker in the stomach. 

The paper boy doubled over and gasped for breath. 

"Whaddya do that for?!"

Annalise widened her eyes. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were going to kill me!"

"Next time, *gasp* look first."

She wasn't quite sure what else to do, so she awkwardly patted his back. 

The kitchen. 

Annalise slipped away from the paper boy and walked into the kitchen. The paper boy followed and said, "We really shouldn't be in here. We should leave."

Annalise turned around and gave him an excited look. "But someone else is here!" She continued to follow the footprints. 

"All the more reason to leave." 

" I would listen to the boy."

The paper boy yelped and jumped around to see a girl his age standing behind him. 

Annalise quickly observed the stranger. The girl was wearing an outfit that matched the craziness of Annalise's, except it was a little dirtier. She wore ripped jeans and a stained blue shirt with one sleeve rolled up and the other sleeve down. Her hair was cut short at the chin and the ends stuck out at every angle. The girl's eyes were a dazzling blue, a color Annalise envied. Normally, Annalise would have marveled longer at the girl's beautiful eyes. But at the moment, the girl's eyes looked like they wanted to kill her. 

The girl took a step forward. "What are you doing here?"

Annalise held out her hand and gave a winning smile. "I'm Annalise Guthrie. What is your name?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"I know. I was avoiding it. Now you are avoiding mine."

"I asked first."

"I asked second."

"That's not a thing."

"I just made it a thing."

For a moment, the paper boy and the girl made eye contact and shared the same look of bewilderedness. 

The paper boy interrupted the strange conversation. "My name is Liam Smith. I deliver newspapers around here and we both came to ask if you would like the paper delivered to your house." 

The girl frowned. "No. I don't want any paper. Who is she?"

"I work for the paper," Annalise blurted out. That was somewhat true. She submitted stories and articles every once in a while. 

 The girl opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Liam saw something outside. "Someone's running."

The girl stranger spun around and looked out the window.

A man wearing a black hoodie was running away from the house and into a gathering of trees. Her eyes narrowed. 

"Both of you need to leave. Now."

Annalise protested and started spilling questions out of her mouth like rocket-fire. 

Somehow, Liam managed to drag Annalise out of the house anyway. 

"Did you see that?" She sputtered excitedly. 

Liam brushed the dust off of his pant legs. "Yes. You were right. There was a person inside the house. Good job, Sherlock." He hurriedly walked to his bike with Annalise chasing after him. 

"Not just that! The crash I heard this morning, the dust everywhere, the man running into the trees, her wanting us to leave right away- there is a mystery here. I can feel it."

Liam hopped on his bike. "Terrific. A mystery. I don't like mysteries. So why don't you continue poking your nose into places it doesn't belong and play around with this 'mystery'?" He said sarcastically. 

"I think I will."

Liam sped off on his bike and didn't look back. 

Only later did he regret what he said. She was going to get into trouble.