When Time Stands Still

Chapter 2

Three days have passed and not a lot has happened. Our house looks more like a home now, but the neighbourhood isn't homely. Even on a bright summer's day it still looks dull and lifeless.

Because it is.

We should all just move away and forget it's here.

A long summer stretches out ahead of me and there's nothing to do. Mum works during the day so I'm stuck here. Thankfully I have Eva.

She called for me five minutes ago and we're going to hang out. We're the only teens. Actually we're the only ones under the age of thirty-five. Which considering there's a total of seven people living here it's not that weird.

"Do you want to walk for a bit?" I ask her as I slip on my Vans. "I don't think I can stay inside all day again."

She shrugs one shoulder. "Sure. I'll show you the unfinished house. Sometimes I like to go there and get away."

"They're all unfinished, right?"

Smiling, she puts her hands on her hips. "Mostly, but we can't get into the other ones, they're locked. This house is basically a shell, no windows and no doors. I'm surprised squatters haven't moved in already. You'd think with it as close to finishing as it is they'd just get it done."

Yeah, why didn't they? And why am I the only one questioning it? And why does no one else think something's really wrong with a house if not even the homeless want to be here?

I have far too many questions and there don't appear to be any answers.

Mum's not even called the developer to ask what the hell and when I offered to do it she told me I was being ridiculous. The sale is complete now anyway; it's not like we can get a refund just because I don't like it.

"Lead the way to this house," I reply, slamming the front door shut behind us.

Eva has spent a lot of time at my house since I moved in. There's a lot of tension between her and her parents but so far she hasn't mentioned why. They're way overprotective.

It's a nice day today. Sunny and warm. Eva looks peaceful whereas she usually looks ready to bolt. One thing I've learnt about her is that she's...different. There will be times when she's completely in her own world or looks like she's trying to figure something out. Every time I ask her if she's okay she tells me she's fine.

I want to know if she's thinking the same things as me.

We walk along the only path that's complete and then head out onto the pressed mud pathway. The further we walk the less the houses look like houses. There is one that is built on the outside.

The one Eva comes to.

I don't really know why she likes it here.

She walks through the hole where a door is missing and I follow. Inside the layout is the same as my house but there's no thing in it but bare walls and a concrete floor. No staircase to upstairs. It's cold. I shiver.

"So...what do you do here exactly?"

"Just escape."

"Escape what?"

She sits down on the dusty floor with her legs out in front of her, how children sit. I thought she'd have a chair or something since this is her getaway. Apparently not, so I perch beside her. "I come to escape my parents," she whispers.

My heart misses an entire beat. Is this why she's very quiet around them? "Why? What do they do to you?"

"Nothing," she replies immediately. "It's not like that. They don't mistreat me or anything."