The New Kid

Part 11

The next day, at 2:04, Mr. Hamil drove Elizabeth to Bradly's house and the twins tagged along to get a look at where Bradly lived. Once there, they were surprised to see how big his house was. After dropping Elizabeth off, Mr. Hamil drove the twins to Casey's house, where he believed they were going to help Casey with a science experiment since he knew how much interest they had in that subject. Little did he know that Casey's parents were out all day – Mr. Freidman on a visit to his mother's place while Mrs. Friedman was handling some important errands.

Now, in Casey's cozy living room, the twins peeked out the window, watching their father drive away. Andrea turned away from the window and looked at Casey. "He's gone," she announced with relief. Right away, the three kids got to work. The twins emptied their bulging backpacks, which held all of their weapons. When they took off their winter jackets, they revealed the protective pads and clothing they had on underneath. They stuffed some knives in their long socks, strapping them around their legs for security before pulling their pants down as cover. Tom tucked the wooden stake halfway into the front of his pants before letting his grey top fall over it.

After they finished preparing themselves, Tom put the garlic potion in the microwave to heat it up so it would have a better effect. The kids then searched up Bradly's address on Google Maps using Casey's cellphone, which they planned on using as a GPS. Finally, they left the Friedman's home. Outside, parked by the curb, was an ugly big, old, black van. The passengers' side window rolled down and Derreck leaned forward, smiling and waving. Casey was shocked. "What's he doing here?"

"Oh, right," Tom said, stopping in his tracks. "Yesterday, me and Andrea FaceTimed Derreck to tell him that we were putting our plan in action. He offered to drive us to Bradly's house, that way we wouldn't have to worry about transportation. So we gave him your address and that's why he's here to pick us up." Casey bit her bottom lip, feeling uneasy. "Don't worry," Tom said. "He's twenty-one and he's got his driver's license."

"Come on, let's go!" Andrea called, already a few feet away from Derreck's van. Knowing there wasn't any time to negotiate other options, Casey reluctantly followed.

---

They easily found Bradly's house. Once Derreck pulled up at a safe distance away from the house, the kids went over some last-minute details. "If we don't come out in fifteen minutes, get more back up," Tom told Derreck.

"You think it'll take you fifteen minutes?"

Tom shrugged. "I don't know." Derreck nodded slowly, a worried crease in his forehead. He wished them good luck before they got out of the car. The house was blocked by a big gate at the front and the sides were surrounded and lined by small bushes. The kids crouched down. "Where to?" Tom asked, looking around.

"This way," Casey instructed. The small amount of snow from Thursday afternoon had completely melted, giving the kids no trouble crawling on the bare cold pavement. Once they were at the side of the house, Casey saw an opening through the bushes in front of her. She pointed at the space and the twins nodded, understanding her intentions right away. Casey crawled through the opening. It was difficult with her puffy winter jacket on, but she made it through before quickly running to the side of the house, where she flattened her back against the hard brick wall.

Next, Tom went, and Andrea came last. "What do we do now?" she asked, standing next to Tom. She and her brother looked at Casey.

"We need to see if we could find a window," Casey said. "Some kind of opening." They circled around to the back of the box-like house - into a huge backyard - where they found a white door, two big balconies, and a few windows. Casey went to the first window. "This seems like a basement window." She knelt down to inspect it. "It's locked," she told the twins. Tom removed his backpack and opened it, taking out a crowbar. He handed it to Casey. It took her a while, but with instructions from the twins, she managed to pry the window open. She pushed it outwards, before handing Tom the crowbar. She peeked in the window and listened. It was dark and silent. She nodded at the twins before climbing through the window and into the basement, where she looked around.