Laina laid down on the leather couch on a clean sheet and pulled a blanket over her. Somewhere between doing the laundry and hauling off the trash outside, it had gotten late. The moon was high in the sky outside, and the only light coming from the house was a single table lamp up by her head.
Sometime tomorrow, she would wake up to the sound of a U-haul pulling up with all of her stuff. There wouldn't be much. She had lived in a studio before this in a busy city. She reached back to the lamp and turned it off. Moonlight pooled in through the backyard doors. Her eyes closed and listened to the sound of the dryer. Thump. Thump. Thump.
When Laina woke up in the middle of the night in a flash of heat and fright, the first thing she noticed was that the dryer had stopped. She tossed the blanket off and stared up into the immediate darkness. Her chest was rattling and her breath rolled out like clunky chains.
The warmth of the spring day had turned bitter and cold. Outside the wind howled against the house causing the tree to scrape the roof. Laina sat up brushing her hair back and stood up. Her steps towards the kitchen were hesitant as if she'd fall through the world if she didn't take the time to check. The floorboards creaked under her weight. It was as if the house was growling at her. Telling her to run and to get out. Two heavy hands trying to push her away.
In all reality, it was the dream she had that made her feel so unwelcome. All the growling and moaning of the house nothing more than her imagination getting away from her.
As she passed the back doors, something caught her attention over the top of the fence. There was a tiny ball of soft light. A head bobbed across the yard slowly. Laina moved closer putting her hand against the glass. Weston's wild curls fluttered in the wind. She glanced quickly around the room looking for the time, but there wasn't a clock in sight. It had to be passed three; she thought surely.
Just as quick as the light had appeared, it was gone. Laina continued to watch for a few minutes wishing to see just the top of his head during such an uncomfortable, lonely night. When he didn't show back up, she put her hands on the brass door handles and pushed them down, but the door refused to open despite the sound of it unlocking. She looked down and pushed again but they didn't even move.
Then she saw a nest of nails at the bottom where a thin board had been placed against the split between both doors. She followed the slit up and noticed another at the top. She walked back and flicked on the kitchen light. Why would she have nailed the doors shut and covered it up? Was Monty's curiosity such a burden to the old lady? Laina pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and sat down at the table. This would haunt her for the rest of her first night.
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