The Wild

-22- Interrupted

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We reached the Stillwater sign later the next day. We'd spent the morning at a ma and pop diner eating breakfast, and after that we hit up one of the gift shops on the way out of Yellowstone.

We didn't stop by the Square at all. We drove right past it and went straight for Amaya's house. I'm sure John and Mary figured out that they knew where her house was now, so I didn't mention anything about my dream in the point of view of Tyler. But sure enough, we passed the cleaning lady's vehicle coming down the driveway, away from all the motorcycles parked around the subdivision. My insides were crawling at the sight, especially when I felt the fury of a dozen men stirring in my head.

The instant we saw them, John threw the truck in reverse and we were out of there before anyone could see us. The entire time I was clinging to my necklace, pleading for it to cover our tracks. "They're all there," Bennet said, ducking down with Amaya and I so no one could see us sitting the back of the truck. "Why're they there?"

"Don't worry about it," Amaya insisted, grabbing hold of his hand and hanging on tightly. The window in the back opened up, and Mary called out to us that we were heading to my house. None of us knew how that would blow over, or whether or not Tyler's gang was going to come back there, but we risked it anyway.

We took the round about passage up one of the peaks to the house on the hill. It was an elderly couple Bennet often helped with their garden, and they permitted us to keep the truck in their driveway. It wasn't as long a trek to my house as it was from the main road, but it was still a hike up the back hill to the deck. It warmed my heart to see my home again, and it seemed so were Amaya and Bennet, because the three of us perked up at the sight of the deck through the trees, and sprinted the remainder of the way. John and Mary tagged along behind us, and reached the front door a few minutes after we did.

I patted down my pockets before cursing. "Damn, I don't have the keys."

Amaya groaned, but Bennet snapped his fingers and declared the spare key was in one of the potted plants. We looked around the front porch at all of the flowers and greenery. I had a bit of a green thumb, but since I hadn't been around, a few of the leaves were turning brown.

"Yeah, which plant though?" Amaya complained, lifting up a small pot on the railing. I looked overhead at the gutter, which was all patched up and fixed since the last time I saw it. Damn that man, I muttered in my head.

Eventually Bennet and I put our heads together and declared the thyme pot to be the winner. We dumped out all the dirt and discovered a key hidden at the bottom, which we then used to crack open the front door and let everyone in.

What we saw in side both shocked and disturbed us. "Fuck-ing-hell," Amaya exclaimed, dropping her things in the foyer and walking into the room. More like navigating around all the blankets and pillows thrown around the floor.

Makeshift beds were everywhere, but it looked like someone kicked them all into piles like they were cleaning them up but failed to fold the blankets. The sleeping bags I kept in the basement were in a pyramid on the side by the projection screen Amaya, Bennet and I set up all those weeks ago. My house had been turned into a campsite, and it was almost as if I'd just walked into a place that wasn't my own.

"Well, shit. You think they're coming back?" Bennet said as he gathered together a pile of blankets and tossed it by the sleeping bags.

"Doubt it. No one's slept in these beds for a few nights," John explained, shutting the door behind him and Mary. He locked it and left to shut the blinds on the windows around the room.