Chapter 3
I finally reached after a twelve hour bus ride, four hours outside a closed bus station and another hour on the local bus that tok one big round the whole city before arriving in the neighborhood.
I wearily unlocked the door using a key from the bunch of keys that was in the kitchen door.
The house was the same as i remembered, just with a huge layer of dust everywhere.
I carried everything I owned upstairs into my room at the end of the hallway.
I managed to find some cleaning stuff on kitchen floor, and when the room was finally clean enough for humans to live in, I lay across the bed exhausted. I didnt know what to do now.
My whole life had gone downhill from when i answered the damn door yesterday, only pausing to get worse. I fell asleep, dreaming of my old life, where i could be sure i would have a home to come home to every day, and a meal on the table ready for me.
*******
I awoke to banging and thudding noises downstairs. I was in quite a high state of awareness due to my unfamiliar
i slowly came to thudding noises downstairs. I crept out of the room and noticed that the layer of dust that was everywhere yesterday had mysteriously disappeared. I peeked over the banister cautiously, not knowing what to expect.
"The whole house is clean, sir. Except for the room at the end of the hall; it was locked. I wasn't given the keys for that room, only the keys to the house." I heard a guy say. I didn't realise that I had locked the door by habit.
"Its okay, i wont be needing that room. just leave it for now." Another guy replied.
"Yes sir," The first guy said.
"You can go now." The second guy said in a commanding tone. There was a clear hierarchal difference.
The door slammed close, and it was silence once more. I held my breath, as if the guy could hear me. This guy had basically just moved into my house! Okay, I didn't even know if the house was still mine. It could have been sold for all that I could know.
"You can come down now." I froze. He couldn thave been talking to me, can he?
"Hey you!" I didnt move. Maybe he wasnt talking to me. He could have an imaginary friend, or maybe even a
"If you arent going to come down, im coming up after you." The guy warned. Shit. He must be talking to me. There wasnt anyone else up stairs and yeah, there was only two floors.
I meekly climbed down the stairs. I looked at the guy and was taken aback. I didnt expect to see someone my age, and the guy couldn't have been older than 16, 17 the most.
"Who are you and what were you doing up there?" The guy demanded in a 'dont-mess-with -me' tone.
I stared at him, stunned. My tongue was really heavy and I just stared dumbly at him, not knowing how to reply.
"Okay, who ever the hell you are you are leaving. Now." He waved a hand in my direction and turned away.
"I should have changed the locks to prevent street rats from coming in." I heard him mutter under his breath. No wonder I could have entered, when my parents sold the house, they just passed over the keys, and the guy obviously didnt change the locks.
Getting kicked out for the second time in twenty four hours, and it felt so horrible that a lump was forming at the back of my throat.
"I'm sorry, I didnt mean to make you cry..." The guy turned around as I accidentally let a sob go free. I was so embarrassed
"You didn't mean to? Well too bad, you did." I pressed my lips together, trying to ignore the steady stream of tears that threatened to flow down me face. "Its ok. I'll leave." I turned.
"No, um, wait!" the guy grabbed my arm pulled me back.
A million things ran through my mind as to what can make this better. Maybe he was gonna say that the house was not actually his, or he might be the brother that I never had, or he might be a relative that I couldn't remember.
The universe can throw anything at me and I probably won't even get surprised anymore. I had no more emotions left over to spare.
