Mastery

Comfort

Rory

We sat like that for almost an hour. Until i felt cramps slowly crawl up my legs. I softly pushed Amanda away, who must've fallen asleep again. My eyes had gotten used to the darkness and i made out big panels of cartons along the walls. It smelled like old wood and dead rodents. I crawled over the floor as lightly as i could, over to the little window. There were a few neighbors on the streets and on their front laws, curious as to what had happened. They had literally ripped my front door out and thrown it onto the street. I had to know if my uncle and aunt were okay and cursed when I realized I didn't have a phone to call them.

Almost like a sign from God, my uncle's truck rushed to a stop in front of my house and he jumped out. As he got closer to the house, i lost sight of him.

"Where is he?!"

I heard his loud voice. He was yelling at someone and i realized they must've left someone behind in case i came home. Trick's on them. I heard him running into the hallway and someone following behind him.

"Rory!"

He ran up the stairs and i think stumbled into my room.

"Rory boy where are you?"

"Gary you have to leave, now!"

"You took him didn't you?!"

I heard my uncle, madder than i'd ever had, run towards the voice. And then a gunshot.

You might think the sound of a gun going off would be the worst part... but it was the sound of a limp body falling to the ground afterwards that made my chest hurt like hell. I fell to the ground myself, hugging myself, trying to breathe. No no no no no

Amanda didn't move. I knew she was awake because i heard a soft shriek when the gun went off. The footsteps walked away and down the stairs. How could he shoot someone and just walk away? I was ready to rip his head off his body and rage took over. I crawled towards the square.

"Rory no"

It was almost a whisper. I turned my head towards Amanda and she crawled towards me, her cheeks wet from tears.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't"

She put her arms around me and pulled me towards her. This was just too fucking much for one morning. Amanda, my house, my uncle. And I was hiding like a coward. I had to know if he was okay. But I couldn't just give Amanda and myself up to these men who were obviously ruthless.

"I can't"

I was crying and she put my head in her lap while she ran her fingers through my hair. I cried till i fell asleep of exhaustion.

I woke up with my head on Amanda's chest. She had fallen asleep too. The sky outside was still blue. Why hadn't the cops shown up yet. I looked up at Amanda's sleeping face. What a shit-day had it been for the both of us. Her left hand was on the back of my neck and her right one was on her belly. Her chest rose softly. I grabbed her right hand with mine and locked our fingers. This was how it was supposed to be. In that moment it felt like Amanda was the only person in the world who could bring me any type of comfort.

She woke up and struggled to sit up because my head was on her. I let her hand go and rolled onto my back. She propped herself onto her elbows and stared into the distance.

"If we both have the same question then neither of us has the answer right?"

I knew exactly what she meant. There were a million question, but the most important one was what now?

"Friday might be too late for us. We have to find Ace."

She nodded and looked around the attic.

"First, we have to get out of here"

I thought about the man who was supposed to be guarding the front door. Who had just possibly killed my uncle. Casually walking out the front wasn't an option. We either needed a way to get past the man, or find another exit.

"Don't you have a backdoor or something?"

"They closed it up years ago, there's a window in the basement though"

"Can we fit through it?"

"I guess it's worth a try. If we're caught, i fight, you run." 

She paused for a moment and shortly nodded and i started removing the panel in the ceiling.

"We're going to have to be more silent than the dead"

Saying the word dead made me think about what i was going to find on the floor below me.

"I'll go first. When i say it's ready you silently slip down, i'll catch you."

I slid the panel off and saw a puddle of blood. Amanda saw it too and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Rory, you have to be strong"

I took a deep breath and slid out of the hole, landing with my left foot in the blood. I had closed my eyes on the way down out of fear of seeing his body on the ground, lifeless. I slowly opened them and immediately wished i hadn't. There was so much blood but...

His body wasn't there.