On the Outside

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The lock had been completely removed from her door when Samantha came home that night. She went to bed with chairs propped up against the door knobs of both the bedroom door and closet doors. She had become complacent about the lock. It should have been the first thing on her mind. But she was rarely home. It was her own fault, and securing her room should have been an obvious priority. Tomorrow was Friday and she had time over the weekend to develop a plan about where she was going to stay until she found a place to remain for the rest of the semester.

Samantha should have been nervous to sleep in that room at that point but she had left Lucien's car that evening with a heady feeling of warmth and calm. False confidence. Not to mention utter exhaustion. She had hoped that she would not be in this house for much longer.

Again, Lucien entered into her dreams.

Fleeting images of him outside the house like in her last dream...

....................

Entertaining friends posed a problem as there was not much space to spread out in the section of the house allotted to the tenants. And inevitably, conversations would be held on the floor of the first landing of the house...while actually sitting on the floor...

Alison had finally gotten a breather on Friday evening from work and school and when she and Bryan came in from her favorite restaurant they ran into Anna and Aaron who were on their way back from a movie. A friendly conversation started on the landing just outside Alison's room.

Aaron sat near Bryan on the stair while Anna leaned against the doorframe of her bedroom as if to indicate that she expected the gathering to end soon enough for her to regain Aaron's undivided attention.

From where she was sitting, by looking off to the right, Alison had a good view of the door to the empty room at the end of the hall. There had been a padlock on that door ever since they had all moved in. This was the same room that was part of the extension of the house that looked to be ready to collapse when viewing it from the outside. She had always been a little curious to see what was inside.

Alison was laughing at something Bryan had said when she thought she caught something out of the corner of her eye by the empty room. She did a double take, saw nothing, and chose to ignore it. Bryan got rolling on a story and had everyone's rapt attention. He could make anything sound captivating and so, quiet polite people like Aaron and Anna were the perfect audience.

Alison stood up to retrieve some cups, a bottle of diet Coke, and a bottle of Bacardi rum. She even had ice from a small tray she was able to fit in the "freezer" part of her fridge.

Instant bartender.

Now, no one was going anywhere for awhile. And Anna resigned to plop down on the floor next to her boyfriend.

Alison's attention flickered to the door at the end of the hall again, the door of the vacant room that really should have been reason for the property to be condemned, as it was on a slant and not stable.

Was there a light on?

Behind a padlocked door?

A shadow of movement...

............................

Samantha had been out most of the day after classes looking at apartments and rooms she could not afford. She had yet to hear back from Lucien about his friend's place. They did not interact during class. He had been responsible for an impressive, albeit short presentation and then was bombarded with enthusiastic questions that continued after the allotted time. Samantha did not want to seem desperate to talk to him by interrupting.

But Samantha's heart fluttered when she saw Lucien catch her eye as she left class. He sent her a small smile...

The night before, he had put his number in her phone and she got his in return, but she did not want to be so quick to call him.

Samantha had started out the day full of confidence and determination that she would stay somewhere else, anywhere else tonight if she had to.

It was late when she got out of her car and started towards the house. Much like that first night, more lights were on in the house and she could hear laughter before she got inside. Samantha wondered what she was missing out on and walked past the extra cars parked outside the house. As she headed inside, the street lights caused a glare off a window attached to the sagging part of the back of the house. Then she thought she saw movement. But her vision was compromised by the glare off the window as she briefly peaked into the side yard. Immediately her imagination went to the two children.
For all she knew, it could have been Mrs. Goodwin wandering around outside in the yard. She had been acting so crazy that Samantha was concerned for her well being. But not enough to want to stay there.

Samantha quickened her pace to head inside. Her spirits lifted when she heard everyone talking. But when she came up the stairs, Alison and was at the end of the hall with her ear pressed up against the door of the vacant room where she had convinced herself she saw movement under the door.

"Shhhhh!!!!!" She instructed at Samantha's intrusive greeting.

"I'm trying to listen to see if someone's in there!!!" Alison insisted.

Bryan rolled his eyes.

Aaron was the first to greet Samantha and struck up a conversation with a heartfelt interest that almost seemed to make Anna jealous. He even left Anna's side to pour Samantha a "glass" of rum and Coke in one of the tacky red plastic cups they were using.

"What is she doing?" as Samantha was referring to Alison, she made a point of glancing at Anna to show she posed the question to her as well as Aaron.

"I don't know.... Alison thinks she saw movement under that doorway," Aaron shrugged.

Samantha secretly felt less pathetic about her boring Friday evening and lack of social plans...

"It's probably a racoon or something," was the only thing to come out of Anna's mouth as of yet.

There was a light visible coming from under the door, but it was probably from the street lights outside.

This was enough to get Samantha talking about the missing lock on her door, the open attic with the step ladder, the mystery box in her closet. She added that she was looking for another place.

Anna's eyes widened at the new information.

Great, Samantha thought. Now she'll go running to Mrs. Goodwin to tell her she can rent out my room....

By now, Alison was giggling from too much rum and claiming to hear something on the other side of the door again.

Anna was getting bored and started dragging Aaron by the his sleeve, saying she wanted to go back out. More like she was bothered that Aaron and Samantha were talking.

"Bryan! Do you have something we can pick this lock with?" Alison saw his confused expression, "Don't guys have tools and... stuff in their car trunks?" she continued.

"Not for breaking and entering. Let's go get some coffee. C'mon, let's get out of here..." Bryan tried to coax her away...

The sound of breaking glass stunned them silent. And it WAS coming from the other side of the door...

Again, a crashing sound.