runaway [dteam thriller]

hours: -5

Clay
Wednesday, November 24
[tw: cursing]

I have exactly 15 minutes to change when I close the front door and throw my bag and jacket in the corner.

"Drista?" I shout. "I'm home." No answer. I only hear soft squeaks and clatters from behind the closed kitchen door.

Champ... "Yeah, take it easy." I mumble as I walk to the stairs. I'm trying to catch any sound in the house.

Drista gaming with her friends, maybe a cough, but it's dead silent. Is she at a friends house?

Why wouldn't she tell me? Maybe she doesn't care.

I run up the stairs, to steps at a time. It sounds like an earthquake in the house, it makes me giggle. Soon the whole house will collapse...

I push open my bedroom door and grab my football clothes from a dirty pile of clothes. The shirt smells like a bit of deodorant and sweat but I have nothing else.

With a sigh I put everything on. Shirt with my name, some classic white Addidas shoes. Because everyone wears them.

I fix my hair and look in the mirror. It's bizarre how different I look: confident, sporty, athletic.

Downstairs I hear Champ hitting something. Damn, what now? Did he see a cat through the window or something?

"Champ! Don't!" I shout. But he keeps barking and squeaking louder and louder, as if the cat came inside.

Shit, soon he'll break something and my dad will blame me. I quickly grab my football bag from under my bed.

I run down the stairs and almost crash into Champ. Who stands wagging his tail at the bottom of the stairs.

I freeze. What is he doing in the hallway? Wasn't he locked in the kitchen? For a minute I think I'm wrong. But then I remembered I closed the kitchen.

I'm sure I closed that door...

"How did you get here Champ?" I ask. My voice is strangely high. "Did Drista come home?"

Champ wags his tail happily, which can mean no and yes. "Drista?" I call. She doesn't answer.

In the living room I hear something creaking, but that could also be a plank that expands due to the heat in this house.

I take Champ by his collar. "Come on, I'll take you back to the kitchen." I mumble. He scrambles back, nearly making me fall.

"Shit, Champ, why don't you ever listen?" With all my strength I pull on his collar. Very slowly he starts to move.

His nails scratch the tiles and he squeaks very loudly. When I finally get to the kitchen I fasten him to a table leg with his leash, he is really sobbing.

"Oh please, Champ, I'll go on a walk with you when I get home okay? But first I've got to go to training."

My gaze falls on the window next to the stove. The curtains are moving because of the wind. Did Drista open the window when she left?

At the same time I hear a loud thump upstairs. "Drista?" I call again. "You can stop now, it's not funny!"

Then silence falls, something creaks. My heart almost jumps out of my chest. I turn around, run out of the kitchen and grab my coat, and I yank the door open.

I'm about to fall out. I shut the door behind me with a loud thud. Panting, I look at the house. Nothing moves anywhere, there is no sign of life.

With clammy hands I walk to my bike. High above me, an airplane draws a white line. The neighbor's cat is walking along the hedge.

Everything is so normal. But... it doesn't feel normal.

Come on, Clay, you don't think there is seriously someone in the house right?

But I can't convince myself. Something keeps nagging in my head as I cycle away.

I feel like I'm not seeing something, something important.