Behind you #Wattys2014

Chapter forty- five

Kimberly is paper- white and she looks like she's about to cry. I find myself trying not to breathe. We approach Alicia's door, I slowly push it open, Alicia is happily stuffing clothes into a huge pink bag. She looks up and sees us. 

"Oh hi Molly-"

"Shut up!" I whisper. KImberly steps in and I close the door behind us, locking it.

"What's wrong?" Alicia whispers.

"Someone broke in" The words quiver on my tongue. "Through the kitchen window, it won't be long until they come upstairs, we can't stay here for long."

"What!?" Alicia pales and drops her bag. She clutches her phone. "I- I'm gonna call, okay?"

"Then do it fast!" Kimberly whispers/ shouts. Alicia frantically punches in a few numbers. 

"Hello? Mom? It's Alicia. Someone broke in, and now Kimberly, Molly, and I are hiding." She hangs up and calls the police next. Then, she nervously tells us. "My phone's going to die soon."

"What!? Kimberly and I left out phones outside!" I gasp, just to hear footsteps right outside Alicia's door. My heart stops, completely.

"There's not much here!" A woman shouts. She's definitely not alone then. And she definitely thinks that nobody is home. I hear her enter my room.

"Just jump out the window already!" Kimberly whispers and runs to throw Alicia's window open. She hesitates once, looks behind at us, and puts one leg out the window.

"No! It's too dangerous!" I grab her arm. "Don't do it!"

"We either die here or die outside then." Kimberly mutters under her breath.

"And I'm definitely not jumping." Alicia says, shaking.

"Then I'm never going to leave you here." I suddenly think about the way Eleanor saved her little brother. I will do the same for my sister.

"Molly... Wait!" Alicia exclaims and pulls a rope out of her pink bag. "Does this come in handy?" I stare at the "rope" made of every single belt of Alicia's chained together. Really long. But not long enough.

"I'll try it." Kimberly volunteers. 

"Um... okay." I take a deep breath, and hold one end of the rope, throwing the rest of it out the window, I lean down to make the other end as close to the ground as possible. Alicia holds my waist so I don't fall out.

"Got everything!?" The woman shouts from outside. I cringe. Kimberly grabs the rope with two fists, she looks at us once with worried eyes.

"It's okay." I whisper. "You can do it." Then, the woman who only knew how to shop leaps out of the window, banging her knee a little on the windowsill. I watch her dirty blonde braid disappear, as she climbs down the rope, left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand. I hold my breath, I almost fall out myself, but Alicia squeezes the life out of me, so tight, I'm secure, and soon Kimberly is dangling at the end of the belt chain, about five feet from the ground. I watch her face redden, then she lets go, falling on her feet, she screams a little. Then she breathes heavily for while, realizing that she's safe now, a small relieved smile appears on her face. 

"She did it!" Alicia exclaims.

"It's your turn now." I say, softly.

"No... I- I can't."

"You're brave enough, you just don't know it, Alicia, she did it. She's never been in danger before, you can definitely get out here, alive and safely. 

"I won't be able to climb down, Molly, my hands are going to be shaking, they already are!" Her brown eyes are wide, and her face is so pale, she looks dead. I give her a really tight hug.