House Trap

Chapter Eleven: Final Destination

The news report on the murder in Hausefalle house was the talk of the town for a week and most likely would stay that way for more weeks to come. The community was in shock and disbelief that such a thing could happen in their town. The town's people sent their condolences to the Hausefalle family by sending cards and flowers close to where they resided. A long cardboard paper emblazoned with signatures and messages from Wedds High School was sent to the Hausefalle family as it lay aside with swarm of stuffed teddy bears. Most of the locals glued themselves to the television when it had any new report involving the Hausefalle. So far the public knew that two Caucasian males were involved with the murder of Alicia Hausefalle and the attempted murder of Rachel Evans, Nathan Hausefalle, and Amy Hausefalle. Through the time between twelve midnight and five A.M, they were trapped inside the house with the intruders. They reassured the public that the remaining Hausefalle children were doing fine, only minor injuries were found on them. There was no report on Rachel Evans and the other two intruders as the investigation was still pending.

It took another two days before the news reported new information about the murder. They stated that a teenage girl by the name of Rachel Evan was injured badly but seemed to be recovering well. She was about to speak with the police officers and tell them what she knew. The portly chief police that spoke to the teemed reporters expressed that Rachel was a hero; if she hadn't gone back to warn those kids and had left the house before the House Trap was on, the children would have been killed by those monsters. The policeman also spoke of how Rachel wanted to see her mother and brother badly as soon as she was taken to the hospital. He described the reunion as indescribable emotions. Upon hearing the new information, the town began to talk about Rachel. The students of Wedds High School chattered about Rachel. Some wondered who she was while some claimed to have known her but never really did. The Evans' house was filled with reporters prying to know more about her as they questioned her mother and brother. When Rachel's father came to town, the reporters battered him with questions. Rachel's close friend, Kristen, became a sort of celebrity in school as both reporters and students desired to know all about her.

The local newspaper front page showed a large picture of Rachel school photo. On top of it had a sentence that said, "Honor Roll Student Saves Two Lives."

At the hospital, Kristen pushed the newspaper under Rachel's bruised face. With her wrapped left hand, Rachel pressed the bed's power control at the side rail. It slowly raised the upper-end of the bed and stopped at a sitting position. She weakly took the paper away from Kristen, picked up her brand new thick-rimmed glasses beside her and began to read it.

"I can't believe they used this picture of me," she said. "I had better photos than this one." Kristen formed a modest smile at her friend's trivial insecurity. Rachel kept on reading the newspaper. Kristen sat beside her in a chair.

"Oh, my goodness, they even wrote about me not winning the science fair competition this year," she said feeling rather ashamed that they had exposed most of her life.

"Rachel, most of it is positive at least," Kristen said.

"You're right but still I don't really like the attention," Rachel confessed.

"But you saved those kids' lives," Kristen said.

"I don't think it was all me," Rachel said. "I mean, Nathan saved me from being—"