No rest for trouble

Chapter 16

Marxes and Grace both woke up. They were shaking a little from waking up from their nightmares. They felt that the agile monster might attack them in the house. Grace looked at the time on Marxes' alarm clock. The time was ten minutes after four AM. Suddenly, somebody was knocking on the front door. "Police!" A man shouted from outside. Marxes and Grace were startled by the shouting. Grace picked up the blanket and pillow that she had and threw them into Marxes' room. Marxes felt a little bit better after his hour-long nap. Marxes had his phone plugged into the outlet in his bedroom. Grace and Marxes hid in the bedroom. Marxes' parents were also startled by the knocking. Grace quickly but quietly shut the door behind her. Marxes' dad went to talk with the officer. He was no longer shocked. Marxes' dad approached the door. He felt concerned about why would the police would want to show up at the house.

"What's going on?" Marxes wondered. "They can't have found us already. Unless they have read the note that you've left behind Marxes!" Grace whispered to him. "Hello officer, how may I help you?" Marxes' dad said in a polite tone of voice. "May we talk to your son please?" The officer asked him. The dad turned and shouted for Marxes to come downstairs. "I'm going back home. I'm going to tell the officer that I had nothing to do with it." Grace said. Marxes remembered the food that he and Grace stole. He went to his wallet and pulled out some money bills. He also took some paper from his binder and started to write a message. "Mark! Come downstairs now!" His dad shouted again with a loud and serious tone of voice. Grace opened the window. She had her scooter with her. Marxes finished writing the note and left the money bills with the note. He also took out his wallet and stuffed it in his backpack. Grace and Marxes went out of Marxes' bedroom window. "Excuse me for minute sir. I'll be right back." Marxes' dad said as he went into Marxes' bedroom. Marxes was just about to climb out of his window when his dad was only two steps away from his bedroom door. Grace managed to easily get herself on the ground outside of the house. She didn't hurt herself while letting go of the house roof edge. She landed on the backyard grass. Marxes' dad only opened the doorknob. Marxes started to climb out of the window. "Mark! Downst..." His loud voice trailed off when he discovered that Marxes' bedroom is empty. He saw that the bedroom window was open. He peered down into the backyard. Marxes was not there. Grace and Marxes leaned up against the outside wall of the house. They kept still. Grace looked up and saw that Marxes' dad searched the whole backyard from Marxes's bedroom. The father was getting more frustrated by the minute. He then saw Marxes' note folded up on his bed.

Marxes' dad opened the letter. "Dear dad, I'm sorry that I am not in my room. If the police asked you anything. Tell them that me and Grace have broken into a convenience store tonight. We only took two sandwiches, two drinks, two desserts, and two bags of chips. Make sure that the convenience store owner gets the money from this note. Tell him or her that I'm really sorry. I do love the sandwiches from the convenience store. Just tell the officers I am sorry for breaking into the store. I'll be back home soon. Your son, Marxes." The note said. Marxes' dad felt furious. He was a bit relieved to have him apologize but was still angry for not apologizing to the owner and the police officers in person. Grace looked up again and listened as the sound of footprints fade away. Marxes' dad closed the door behind him. Marxes and Grace walked across the lawn to the fence. The two friends climbed over the fence. Though they both carried their scooters with them. The two friends landed in the next backyard on the left side of Marxes' house. Marxes' dad went downstairs and delivered the note to the cops. The two friends hoped that nobody was watching. Afterwards, the two friends continued to jump from backyard to backyard until they were at Grace's backyard. They both hid there for a few minutes. When Marxes saw the flashing police car light, he hid next to the house with Grace. The police officers that were in the car approached the front door. The two friends waited until Grace's parents answered the door. "Hello officers how can I help you?" The parents asked with a cheerful sounding voice. Although they were nervous on the inside. "We are looking for your daughter Grace. Is she here?" The officers pumped as they talked to the homeowners. "No sir, she hasn't been here during midnight. We're getting scared by the minute." Grace's mother said, expressing her concern. "Could we come into you house?" The second officer questioned. Marxes and Grace both ran for the next backyard. They climbed over two different fences. Marxes and Grace went across the three nearby backyards to the left of her house. Grace's parents let the officers in her house. Meanwhile Marxes and Grace climbed into another person's backyard.

Then there was the sound of a barking pit bull. It stared at Marxes and Grace angrily. The canine was attached with a chain to the ground. It snapped its jaws at the intruders. The two friends ran across the backyard. They both climbed over the fence. The barking woke the owner up. He was about to look what the dog was barking at, when suddenly the Marxes and Grace got into the backyard of a nearby house. The owner looked outside to find an empty backyard. Marxes and Grace ran past the play equipment area. The two friends climbed over the next fence. They continued to climb over fences until they managed to get to the street. They both looked on both sides of the road. The undead creature was only twenty houses away from the friends. They both climbed over the last fence before landing on the sidewalk. "What are we going to do now?" Grace asked as she was scared that somebody would catch her and Marxes. The two friends were desperate to find a hiding place. "Should we go back to the skatepark? We could at least do some more tricks with our scooters." Marxes suggested. Grace shook her head. "The police would be looking everywhere for us. One of the places they would go to look for us would be the skatepark. Our parents might have told the cops about how we like to go and do some tricks with our scooters." She spoke. "We can't go back to the store. The owner might have been waken up by the police and is probably there. She or he would be expecting more thieves to come and break into the store. Unless you want to go and apologize to her." Marxes said. "Of course, we are not going back to the store. The owner might think that we were just sleeping away at home." Grace whispered to him. "No way, the owner might think we might get ourselves into some more trouble. Like not showing up at school." Marxes whispered back to her. Grace looked from behind the house to the police cruiser at Grace's house. The police were just leaving to get their car. The vehicle was pointed in the direction in which Marxes and Grace were hiding. "Come on, let's get out of here." Grace said as she put her scooter on the ground and rode down the street. Marxes followed behind.

The two friends were pounding their feet against the pavement as fast as they could. The two friends went to the next street and turned right on it. The two friends looked from behind the fence. They waited until the police car passed the intersection. They could smell a foul stench twenty seconds later. It was the smell of rotting food. They both covered their noses with their T- shirts. The two friends shook their heads in disbelief and in horror. The undead monster was standing on a house nearby. It snarled at the two friends. Marxes and Grace were frozen in fear. They watched as the undead creature was about to pounce off the roof. The monster jumped off the edge of the roof and was trying to land next to Marxes and Grace. The two friends screamed and ran further down the street they were on. The scream could be heard from the officers that visited both of their houses. They turned their cars on the street that went left. The smelly creature landed on the pavement and slid a bit. Marxes and Grace looked around for another road they could take. The undead creature started to chase after the two friends on the sidewalk. It let out a snarl as it tried to catch up with them. Marxes and Grace went to dangerously cross the street. They were trying to avoid the smelly creature. The undead monster watched as the two friends crossed the road. It leaped towards Grace who was behind Marxes. The monster nearly knocked Grace to the ground. But it knocked Marxes. Leaving him to fall on the nearby grass. The officers cruiser stopped towards the street Marxes and Grace were stranded on. They heard the sound of a snarl and a cry for help. Marxes scrambled to get back onto his feet. There was another street nearby. The two friends rode down it on their scooters. Grace looked back. She could smell the reeking odor the most. The undead monster was only two feet behind her. Then the undead creature heard the noise of the police siren. And jumped to a nearby house roof. It then jumped towards another few house roofs. The creature turned around to see what the two friends would do next. Grace looked around for a hiding place. The only thing that was on the street was a few parked cars. The police cruiser sped up as it arrived at the street. There was nobody on the road or sidewalk. The officer driving the cruiser, pulled to the side of the street.