Isolated

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

House sweet house. Not home sweet home. Because guess what, it's not my home.

I took pleasure in knowing this wasn't my home. Otherwise, this two-story relief from motels would be daunting. It was hard enough to be standing before it, realizing this was real and happening. So, knowing we were renting and this was temporary was nice. It gave me hope that this mess will be over soon. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't take advantage of living under cover here. We needed a break. I needed one.

Staring up at the house from the driveway, Luke and I leaned against the grey truck we rented. That's right. For all the vehicles we cycled through on this trip, our standards grew. Peggy and Kyle wouldn't have anything but the best. Or rather the stolen red car associated with a mass murder was something we didn't need to be seen in.

"It's more impressive than the pictures showed," Luke said from beside me. Glancing up to him, his eyes moved over the house with admiration. The bruise on his cheek was darker, but it matched with the blue gloomy sky. Apparently, that was something we need to get used to here in Washington.

The house at least stood out. It was surrounded with white siding. The front door was accompanied with a long wooden porch. There were a few other tasteful interruptions of the siding. Below the two identical windows along the second floor, the roof jutted out and continued for a few feet. The long brown slant under the windows reminded me of our old house in Ohio. The only difference was it offered the long porch some protection. Including the door, the white porch swing, and the bay window to the right of it. Attached to the far left of the house was the garage. There was no mystery about that though. We already saw what was behind that garage door.

We arrived to this town, Virron, a few hours ago. However, there were some things we had to do before coming to the new house. That included some paperwork and dropping Carter off at his trailer until later. But there was a major issue we needed to address. And that was fixing the car problem.

We didn't feel right abandoning the car anywhere. What if the cops find it? It would get on the news and Reid's guys would see that Luke and I are at least in Washington. That's why after we rented the truck, Luke and I drove up to this house separately. From the truck, I immediately opened the garage door with the clicker Bill gave us. Then, Luke zipped into the garage with the red car. We just as quickly shut it from sight. It's not like we were worried; just being safe. I highly doubted our neighbors were spying on us.

Even if they were spying, they would have a hard time. Our neighbors were maybe half an acre away on both sides. Thankfully, between that small space, there were plenty of trees and brush. It created a high fence between every house on the street. Those trees were small compared to the two big pines in our front yard. That was one thing I couldn't get over yet. The absolute beauty.

When we reached Washington and I woke up my long rest, there was a clear difference. The trees were massive, the overcast sky tinting them a dark color. The ground they were rooted in was unpredictable. There were many hills and mountainous regions, many showing jagged rocks covered in foliage. Especially around here. Across the small street from our house, the ground was hilly. It offered no support for any structures. It shot up towards the sky every few yards, supporting beautiful green giants. High in the distance, the tree tops lived in a soft misty fog.

"Do you think someone died in this house at some point?" I asked. "Maybe this place is haunted."

His soft chuckle under his breath drew my eyes back to him. "I don't know, but I doubt it. The house isn't that old."

"You never know. Look at how big these trees are. Wind picks up... tree falls over. Then bam. Ceiling caves in and you die while taking a shit."

Running a hand back through his hair, his lips settled into an amused smile. "That is a good point. This house including the roof does look renovated..." he teased.