Free One Way Out by R. L. Weeks Page A

maintained her small waist and slim appearance. Her pearly white teeth were perfect, thanks to braces which had been taken off last year.
    Opening the cupboard, she grabbed a bag of dog biscuits, then a loud bark behind her took her by surprise. She dropped the bag, biscuits dropping everywhere. She turned to Teddy, who had taken no notice of the spilled biscuits, which was out of character. Instead, he was poised in a protective stance, watching the back door, growling.
    “What is it boy?” she whispered, her heart pounding loudly. Teddy growled louder and barked, putting Laura’s nerves on edge. Getting to her feet, she approached the door but Teddy ran out in front of her, putting a barrier between her and the door. What is out there? She wondered. She remembered back to Teddy running through the door after escaping, the neighbour’s blood dripping from his mouth. She had almost fainted. He had become a little more ferocious those past few weeks, especially since they had moved in next door. By they, she meant the thirty-something-year-old couple, the woman with ebony black hair that fell dead straight, her lips a pale pink, they could almost be white. The man had slicked back platinum-blond hair, greedy looking dark brown eyes, always wearing a long leather jacket that fell to his knees, showing off his leather studded boots.
    They had ignored her every time she had said hello, so she gave up in the end. In fact they hadn’t said a word to Laura or her dad since moving in, until Teddy came running in through the door followed by the woman, who Laura had learned was called Lillith, and her husband, Marcus. She was limping, blood covering her leg, Marcus looked near murderous as he approached, demanding that they hand over that ‘mutt’ as they called him.
    They tried saying Teddy had attacked unprovoked, whilst they were doing the garden.
    “What really happened that day?” Laura hushed as she peered outside, seeing no outlines. She reached into the draw, flicking on the torch. She shone the light through the glass, the torch enveloped in darkness as the light caught a quick glimpse of a pair of dark brown eyes in their garden. Laura gasped, falling backward.
    Teddy barked loudly, she ran into the living room to call her dad, but before she could reach for the phone, the lights in the house flickered twice, then pinged off, leaving her in blackness, with only the thin beam of light from the torch.
    “Teddy,” she shouted, as she listened to his barking. “Oh my God,” her heart was pounding loudly, her hands shaking. The barking was hushed by a tapping on the patio door. Her heart almost stopped, her breath hitched in her throat. “Teddy,” she whispered, pleading. She could hear Teddy running in and shone the torch over to the door. His big bright eyes came into view. “Come on Teddy, upstairs,” she whispered. She couldn’t use the house phone if the electrics were off. She cursed her dad under her breath for refusing to buy her a mobile phone.
    She threw open the bathroom door, as it was the only door with a lock on. She slammed the door behind her, Teddy, wasn’t with her.
    “Teddy,” she whispered, cracking the door open, showing a dark hallway. She couldn’t see him. “Crap,” she cursed.
    She locked the door, curling up underneath the sink. Her breaths quickening, she bit down on her cheek to prevent her from crying, but fresh tears stung at her lids regardless, they proceeded to drop down her cheeks one by one.
    She tried to think logically, the eyes in the garden, well that could have been someone playing a prank on her, maybe one of the boys from school as they did know where she lived. The lights, well a power cut obviously. She hadn’t had thought to look out of the window to check out the neighbours houses, to see if their lights had gone out. Either way, everything was locked anyway.
    “No, it’s not,” she said aloud, remembering back to before she had gotten into the argument with