No rest for trouble

Chapter 11

Grace crawled into the abandoned garage. Marxes pulled her inside. They both use their flashlight apps to help guide them in the dark building. There was hardly anything inside the garage. There was a gas can with a big crack in it. A tire rim lay on the ground next to the door. It was rusted near where the wheel nuts should go. Marxes and Grace can't exit the garage without slipping under the garage door again. A police officer stepped up to the front door of the convenience store. He looked inside the building. He noticed a part of the wall was gone. A hidden door was opened. The police officer shined his flashlight into the window. Marxes and Grace had the flashlights from their cellphones turned off. They both sat on the wall opposite to where the garage door was. They kept quiet. Another car pulled up to the store. Two officers were in the car. The officer told them about how he heard some footsteps from the alleyway. The second cruiser drove into the alleyway.

Grace and Marxes shut their eyes. They feared for the worse. The flashing lights of the police cruiser were flashing around at the bottom of the garage door. The friends held their breath. The cruiser slowly rolled into the alleyway. The driver of the cruiser was careful not to accidentally crash into the fences. The police from the cruiser carefully look through the alleyway. The officers tried to determine where the culprits might be hiding. The officers looked at the buildings left and right. The people who were up late at eleven twenty watched the police cruiser drive down the dirt alleyway. The police in the car were trying to find the villains. Marxes and Grace watched as the shadow of a police car pass by the old garage. The friends waited until the police car was a distance away from the garage before they began to whisper to each other. "Maybe we should take a run for it." Grace said. "We should go out through the abandoned house nearby. At least we could get to the next street." Marxes suggested. "I think that's a horrible idea. The old house might have mold growing on it, and the abandoned house could fall down on us at any minute. I think it's more healthier climbing in and running through people's backyards. That's a lot of exercise." Grace claimed. "Yes, that's true. That's a lot of exercise for us. Even when we were in gym class. That would be genius, and the police will also catch us." Marxes commented. "Oh, come on, do you think that somebody would yell at us! We would be out of the backyards even after the second we get in them." Grace whispered back, defending her argument. "I still think it's a risky move. If we go into the old house, we wouldn't get caught easily. We would only be in there for a few minutes." Marxes said. Grace didn't trust his idea but felt that it was the only way to get past the patrolling police car. Marxes was the closest next to the door from the garage to the backyard. Marxes stood up and shined his flashlight on the doorknob. It had a lock that was old and rusty.

Marxes tried to turn the old doorknob, it creaked and would only move one bit. "Rats! I wish that this door lock was not so rusty." Marxes said to himself. "This is an old garage. It has a few rusty doorknobs." Grace whispered to him. she looked around. There was nothing that could help her or Marxes get out of this mess. Marxes thought for a second. The officer got inside the convenience store with the owner. The owner herself was distraught about how her store was broken into. The officer looked at the counter. The owner picked up the scribbled-up note and read it. Marxes and Grace didn't know how to get out of the old garage. Marxes shook the door handle in frustration. It came apart with ease. The garage door opened and leaned against the tall grass. Meanwhile, Grace could see the flashing car lights. "Marxes! Get down!" Grace whispered seriously to him. They both sat down on the garage floor. With their backs leaning on the garage wall that's farthest away from the garage door. They stared at the garage door with fear. The sound of a tire rolling down the dirt alleyway slowed down to a halt. A car door opened. A police officer stepped out of the car. Marxes slowly crawled towards the outside. An old hinge has lost all its screws on the door. The door was now leaning. It was only connected to the garage door with the help of the lower hinge. "If the criminals who broke into the convenience store would be hiding here. They sure have some nerve. There is the danger of having part of the old ceiling falling on top of them." A female officer commented as she inspected the condemned garage. Marxes was scared that he or Grace might get caught. He slowly moved towards the door to the backyard. The door prevented anyone from seeing somebody who might be leaving the garage. He bravely moved towards the door that was leaning. Marxes quickly peeped outside towards the police car. He then hopped out. The flashlight swept to where Grace was nearly sitting at. She quickly got on her feet and went to avoid the flashlight that swept back and forth across the room. Grace gently pitter pattered to a corner. The footsteps that she left behind were vey quiet. Marxes slowly crawled away from the door. He quickly hid behind the garage. There some tall grass that he pushed aside so that he could get behind the garage. It made a sound.

The police officer in the car shouted "Hey, come back here!" Her partner who was examining the garage went to investigate the rustling tall grass. She went over the fence to investigate. Grace crawled towards the wall closest to the door of the garage. She tried to stay out of sight from the officer. The officer walked past the garage door. Grace didn't make any sound. Neither did Marxes. He hid in the deep grass. He didn't make any sound. The police officer was getting closer and closer to his hiding spot. "This is it. We are going to be expelled from school." He said to himself. "I'm so going to be in big trouble if my parents find out if we were breaking into the convenience store." Grace said to herself. The officer was now in the backyard. She was nearly next to Marxes' hiding spot. Marxes was about to cry. There was the sound of a tire squealing on the street nearby. Five seconds later, there was the sound of a car crash. The officers looked behind them. There was a car that slammed into somebody's backyard. Some of the wooden boards that held the fence together were leaning towards the house. The officer that was looking in the backyard joined her colleague in the police cruiser. They quickly but carefully backed away until they were next to the car that crashed. The driver was the only person in the car, but he wasn't hurt. Marxes slowly moved away from his hiding place until he was next to the backdoor of the old house. Grace quickly got out of the garage. She was also careful not to make any sound. The old backdoor had its lock nearly falling out of it. Marxes opened the door, and the part of the lock from the outside fell to the ground. Grace caught the part of the door lock. She left it on the dirt of the backyard. Marxes and Grace quickly went to open the door. It opened with ease. It hinges were creaking. Suddenly there some footsteps that could be heard. Marxes and Grace had left their scooters in the old garage. They only had one choice: To hide in the old, condemned house.

There was a lot of dust left all over the floors of the abandoned house. Marxes and Grace found it hard to breathe in the old living room dust littered the furniture. There was a sheet covering the furniture left behind. Grace and Marxes pulled off the sheets from the different pieces of furniture. Grace used the sheet covering the chair to hide under it while sitting on the chair. Marxes hid under a sheet while lying down on a couch. The officer that searched the old garage walked over to the condemned house. Marxes and Grace only coughed once when they were hiding. The officer dared not to venture into the house. Shined the light from her flashlight into the house. The room that was next to the backdoor was a small one. It only led to some steps to the basement. The was a step on the right. It led to the dining room nearby. Marxes and Grace held their breath for quite some time. "Is anyone home?" The officer asked. Her flashlight shined downstairs, then towards the dining room. "You can't hide in there forever. You might get sick from breathing in all of that dust and mold." She added. Marxes and Grace didn't move an inch from their hiding place. The officer shined her light back and forth from where she was standing in the doorway. After a short while, the officer returned to the dirt alleyway. Marxes and Grace slowly crept out of their hiding places. Grace slowly crawled on the old wooden floors. She shined her flashlight app on the floor. The old floors creaked as Grace struggled on. Marxes looked up and saw that there were some bats hanging from the hallway to the dining room. The kitchen was connected to the dining room through one doorway. That is the only doorway that the kitchen has. "Grace, don't shine the light from your flashlight towards the ceiling." Marxes advised. Grace listened to him. She only wanted to get out of the old house. Suddenly, there was a squeaking sound coming from the backdoor.