PART 6 – THE SECOND BREAK-IN
Panic wrapped itself around my heart like an ice-cold hand. They had returned, and this time there were multiple of them. My house was no longer a safe sanctuary; it had become a trap from which there seemed to be no escape.
I had to run. I had to take the red box with me. That was the only proof, the only key to the nightmare I had fallen into.
I grabbed the notebook, stuffed it into my coat pocket, tucked the box under my arm, and ran into the hallway. Exactly at that moment, I heard the sound of tools being applied to the lock of the front door. They were trying to force the door open.
Click.
The lock gave way. The door sprang open.
I ran to the stairs and rushed at top speed upward into the safe seclusion of my bedroom. I locked the door and pushed a heavy wardrobe in front of it. My heart hammered in my ears as if it could shatter at any moment.
Downstairs, I heard heavy footsteps entering the hallway. Voices sounded muffled, but aggressive.
“Search everything,” I heard the raspy voice from earlier shout. “The box has to be somewhere here. If we don't find it before sunrise, we've got a big problem.”
I stood in the darkness of my bedroom, my back pressed against the closed door. My phone screen lit up. A text message appeared on the screen. From an unknown number.
“Look out the window into the backyard. Open up quickly.”
I stepped to the window and pulled the curtain a small gap to the side. Down below in the dark garden, near the fence bordering the woods, stood a figure. A hand waved at me.
It was my brother.
For twelve years I had hated him. For twelve years I had believed he had abandoned me and Mom. But now he stood there in the pouring rain to save my life.
I didn't think anymore. I threw the window open. The cold rain hit my face.
“Come on!” he whispered as loud as he dared from the garden.
I climbed onto the windowsill, holding the red box tightly in my hands. Downstairs in the house, I heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. They had almost reached my bedroom.
I let myself fall.
