Ensnare

Chapter 15

I woke up to the sound of a hammer. I rolled over and groaned. What was going on?

                I pulled on a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. My hair was sticking up, forming a halo around my head. I grabbed a brush and tried to calm the unruly waves. The hammer was still striking something, creating a constant dull thudding.

                I opened the door and followed the noise. The door to the loft was shut, but there was no denying I had found the source of the noise. I raised my hand and knocked on the door. The hammering stopped for a moment. The door swung open faster than I would have predicted.

                Matthew stood had opened the door, hammer in hand. Merlin was digging through a box of nails and Buck was moving a sheet of drywall.

                “What are you doing?” I asked, peering inside.

                “Renovating,” Matt answered as if it was self-explanatory. I raised an eyebrow.

                “This early in the morning?”

                “Well we won’t be patrolling, we have to get supplies. I figured it would be a good time to finish the project.”

                “You have a strange idea of good timing,” I replied turning to leave. Matthew smirked and shut the door again. I rolled my eyes. Who did construction work at eight in the morning?

                I followed my nose downstairs where Eve was clearing off the table. She noticed me and handed a stack of pancakes my way. I sat down and began to eat.

                “Why is everyone up so early?” I asked.

                “They wanted to finish the renovations in the loft before we left for town,” Eve smiled.

                I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence. When I finished, I headed up stairs to grab my wallet. Who knew if I would need it? The hammering had stopped, so I assumed we would be leaving soon. I assumed right as the group of boys flooded into the dining room.

                “Merlin, can you stay? I’m assuming Katie already took off?” Matthew asked.

                Merlin nodded and headed out the front door.

                “Matthew picked up a set of keys and tossed them to Wilbur. Zeph, you ride with Laura and Wilbur. Everybody else with me,” Matthew instructed the crowd. Eve grabbed her own set of keys and the groups divided. I followed Wilbur around to the loft where the same car was still parked.

                I was there first, so I slid into the passenger’s seat. Zeph stick his tongue out at me as he slid into the back. Wilbur slid the keys into the ignition and we took off. In the mirrors I saw Eve driving another truck and Matthew behind the wheel of an old pickup.

                Zeph leaned forward to turn up the radio. Wilbur shot his an annoyed glance in the mirror.

                “What exactly are we supposed to be getting?” I asked.

                “Eve has a ton of groceries to get; we’ll be taking some with us. Matthew wants to get paint for the loft. I’m not sure what else, we might stop somewhere else but probably not,” Wilbur talked over the loud music.

                Half an hour later we pulled into the same old parking lot I had been pulling into for my entire life. We parked between the hardware and grocery store, waiting for the others to park as well. The group in the pickup truck headed into the hardware store. The four of us left in the parking lot were going to get groceries. It was evident Eve was going to need help getting everything. Her list was a mile long.