A Test of Loyalty

Part 4: Ashleigh and Samantha

Ashleigh

I snuck in the house as quietly as possible. Mom was on late shift, she'd left by four. That meant Jeff and I were alone.

I turned the key silently; I kept it rubbed with Vaseline just for this. My room was just past the living room, maybe twenty feet away. If I was quiet enough, or lucky enough, Jeff would be out looking to score, and I'd be safe behind a locked door in a few seconds.

I wasn't that lucky.

"Hey little girl, where you been?" His voice was slurred, stoned. A cold chill worked its way up my scalp.

I tried to slide back out the door, but he was there, pushing it closed behind me. How could he move so quietly while that drunk or stoned? He must've known I was coming home now, hidden in the closet.

But I had to think of how to get out of there. He was dangerous when we were alone.

I took a step toward the hall to my bedroom but he grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. I could smell stale beer on his breath. He leaned in, groping for my shirt, and I automatically pulled back. My shirt ripped, and the sight of my bra seemed to surprise him.

Taking advantage of his momentary stunned look, I kicked his ankle and broke free. I didn't count on his wearing his work boots in the house though. The kick just glanced off and barely slowed him down. He caught me outside my bedroom. I wish I'd been a little faster, the lock I'd put on inside my room was supposed to be impossible to break.

I tried to knee him, but he was expecting it, my knee just bounced off his thigh. He yelled something and punched me in the face. I was so shocked, I stopped fighting. He grabbed my breast

and that woke me up again, this time my knee went straight to his nards. He whimpered and sank down, letting go of me. I ran down the hall.

I dodged right and made it to the bathroom and locked the door. But the stupid lock was made to open from the outside. A safety feature, the landlord called it when we moved in. Yeah, I feel real safe right now. The window was small, but I was pretty skinny. The downside was, if he busted through the door while I was halfway out, or stuck....

My ass would be in his face, and there would be nothing I could do about it.

 

Samantha

There was a sudden knocking on the front door; Mom was so startled that she dropped the box she was carrying. After a second, I got up to answer the door. Mom hopped up to stop me, but then paused. She looked torn, scared but feeling foolish about it, I guess.

"Wait, Samantha. Look through the peephole first. This isn't as safe a neighbourhood as Rockcliffe."

"I know, Mom. I'm not three." But I had forgotten. I felt stupid for just rushing to the door like a kid. Then I looked through the peephole and saw it was Ashleigh, and felt stupid for being paranoid. So, I looked at Mom as if it was her fault that I was being stupid.

"It's just Ashleigh from downstairs. Honestly, you're so freaking paranoid."

I opened the door and noticed that Ashleigh was looking back down the hall toward the stairs. When she heard my door open, she came in really fast, without waiting for me to invite her.

I started to say something, and then noticed that her eye was going all purple and her lip was bleeding a little. It looked like she'd been in a fight.

"Holy shit! What happened to you?"

My mom acted prissy and objected to my language. Then she got a look at Ashleigh's face.