There was a long pause and I realized that he was talking to someone on the phone.
“Well maybe if you put some effort into actually being involved you would be able to see it.”
The irritation in Andrew’s voice was unusual for him. I wondered who he could be talking to.
“If you’re unwilling to involve yourself then don’t blame me if things go badly.”
After that I didn’t hear anything for a while so I quietly moved away from Andrew’s room and into my own. I closed my door and got into bed. I tried to fall asleep, but all I could think about was what I’d heard. It was hours before I was exhausted enough to finally drift off.
***
The first few days of break passed quickly as Andrew and I prepared for Christmas. Christmas was by far my favorite holiday and the house was cheerful. Our joy grew when it began snowing just before sunset on Christmas Eve. We always hoped for a white Christmas.
Christmas morning dawned clear and snow covered. My sock covered feet padded down the stairs and I turned the corner to the living room to see a fire glowing in the fireplace. I pulled the blanket I had wrapped around me tighter and settled in on the sofa.
“Good morning!” Andrew boomed as he entered the living room with a plate of cinnamon rolls, hot from the oven.
He sat down next to me and offered me a roll, which I eagerly took.
“Good morning,” I replied, before taking a huge bite.
“And the traditional Drew and Shay Christmas is underway,” he said with a smile. “Cinnamon roll breakfast in front of the fire while wearing pajamas, check.”
I giggled.
We didn’t celebrate the holiday the way most people did. We didn’t even exchange gifts. Our holiday consisted of weird traditions that had developed throughout my childhood. The next thing on the list was a marathon of the original Star Wars movies, which was followed by a dinner of homemade eggrolls, chicken fried rice, orange chicken, and Peking duck. How we’d developed the Chinese food tradition I couldn’t remember, but it was my favorite part of Christmas.
During the movies, we laughed at who could remember the most lines and who made the most mistakes. I’d missed spending time like this with Andrew. Before he’d gotten his job at Ardara and had me transfer there, it had been like this every weekend. It didn’t upset me that Andrew wanted me to go to Ardara, it would look far better on my college applications, but I still missed how things used to be.
When the time came to say goodnight, I was glad that we still had two weeks before the next semester. As I closed the door to my room and climbed into bed, I wondered what the next Christmas would be like with me in college.
I fell asleep watching the falling snow outside my window. When I opened my eyes, my room was still dark. I rolled over to try and get comfortable again and froze.
My door was cracked open. I distinctly remembered closing it before I’d gotten into bed. Slowly, I pushed the covers off and got out of bed. As I reached the door, I heard the floor creak down the hallway.
I eased the door open and leaned out, looking towards the stairs. I stared out into the empty hallway, unable to go back to bed. I walked silently down the hallway, able to carefully avoid the creaks in the floorboards after years of practice.
I tip-toed down the stairs, avoiding the third step since I knew it had the loudest creak anywhere in the house. I moved through the first floor of the house, unable to shake the feeling that I wasn’t alone. When I got to the kitchen, I sighed out loud.
The house was empty apart from Andrew and myself. I was both relieved and shaken. There was no way Andrew would have left my door open and the creak I had heard had to have been made my something.
I checked the back and front doors to make sure they were locked. I climbed the staircase and went back to my room, making sure my door was securely latched. Maybe I had imagined things and never really closed my door. Or maybe it had been a draft. After all it was an old house. Regardless, it took me a long time to fall back to sleep and when I finally did it wasn’t restful.
Chapter 5
Aaron
I leaned against the wall next to the stairwell in the Student Dormitory. The three-week break between Fall and Spring semesters had left me with more questions than answers. I was even more uncertain than ever and I wondered if I would ever feel confident one way or the other.
Over the break, I’d made frequent phone calls to Andrew in an attempt to convince him to take Shaylee and run. Instead of persuading him, he’d managed to convince me that they would be safer if I sat outside their house keeping watch. In the end I’d ended up being more concerned for his and Shaylee’s safety than with maintaining my distance.
On Christmas, I’d even gone into the house in the middle of the night to speak with Andrew in person. Afterwards, I’d been gripped by the inescapable desire to check on Shaylee. She’d been sound asleep and perfectly safe.
I was well aware that the situation was growing more complicated. It was already beyond anything I’d originally intended. The problem was that every time I tried to remove myself or get some distance from the situation, I ended up getting pulled further in.
Jaden came through the door at the end of the hall and walked toward me. She stopped abruptly when she saw me.
“Oh no,” she said, exasperatedly “What do you want?”
I shrugged my shoulders and replied, “Just checking in.”
“Really? You, Aaron Tremain, aren’t standing there waiting for me for a very specific reason?” She closed her eyes and added, “One that’s
