Chapter One
Shadows is a story intended for adults and those capable of handling adult contents. For more information and the general run-down, go here.
Basking in the peaceful silence, Laura was content to lie awake watching John sleep. From this angle, she could make out the perfect trace of his jawline; the shadows of his eyelashes; the tiny traces of stubble he missed during his morning shave.
There was no sound in the room apart from the overheard fan. John’s chest rose and fell beneath her in rhythm with its rotating blades. How long had they been lying there now?
Laura got an itch and shifted slightly. John gave a soft moan and pulls her closer. Laura’s heart cracked right down the middle. She hadn't the heart to wake him.
Just then, Laura heard a car door slam.
She hesitated for a moment. It could be the house across the street. It could have been any car on the block. But no, a second car door closes, and - God, no - those were definitely footsteps on the driveway.
"John, wake up!"
“Somebody’s home!”
“Shit!”
The sleep was instantly wiped from his eyes, and both tumbled out of bed in an adrenaline-fueled panic.
“I don’t get how this could have happened!” Laura cried, her voice unnaturally high.
“Me neither,” grunted John.
Laura made a nose-dive for her underwear, throwing her clothes on so quickly she wasn't entirely certain that they were in the right order.
John rolled into a pair of dirty jeans that lay crumpled on the floor.
“Hey, who’s there?” He called to the no-longer-empty house.
Laura didn’t hear the response.
Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she could no longer hear anything above the persistent whine of urgency.
Besides - who else could it be?
John turned around. “It’s her,” he said needlessly, walking with tight, intent purpose towards the front windows.
Shrugging into her sweatshirt, Laura was struck by an awful, impossible thought:
had it been worth it?
But it was less than a second’s pause; there was no time to waste.
“Get your shorts on,” demanded John.
“Then come here. I mentioned this.”
He had.
John was the first one through the door. “Well, this is the new room,” he said, gesturing to the space. "My mom moved out, so we got the master bedroom."
Laura had to bite her tongue. It was large and mostly empty in the way new houses are empty, lacking enough furniture to make the rooms feel full.
"Well,” Laura said, seeking a polite way to phrase this, “it’s better than your old one, at any rate. You won't have to wedge yourself between piles of dirty clothes just to walk around the bed. I love your decorating scheme here. It's very... spartan."
John had crossed his arms smugly, viewing her skeptical response with barely suppressed laughter.
He began ambling across the old, creaking floor.
“I like this room because if she comes home while you’re here, I can put you out on the roof.”
“The roof?”
He gestured towards a window. “The front porch is directly underneath that.”
“You’d put me out on the roof?”
“Well, it would totally work, see?” John began eagerly. “I can just stick you out there, you’d have plenty of room, you can just duck your head down and chill. It's perfect! It wouldn’t be for very long, just until I can get her out of the way to get you out the front door.”
“I don’t know,” countered Laura. “Wouldn’t somebody see me? I don’t think the neighbors would be thrilled with looking out their windows and seeing me, naked, working on my tan on the roof of your porch…”
“Who said you’re going to be naked?! I’d give you your clothes!”
Laura threw back her head and laughed. “God! The roof!"
John came behind her and grabbed her waist. “You don’t need to worry about that, anyway. I’d never let that happen to you.”
“Are you sure?” Laura teased. “You make me feel like such a classy girl. ‘I wouldn’t throw you out naked on the roof - I’d give you clothes!’ So romantic.”
“Oh, shut up.” John spun her around and drew her to him.
And everything melted away.
Time seemed to be stretching slower, though Laura’s limbs pulsed with kinetic energy. Her hands were shaking as she grabbed for a stray flip-flop that had migrated beneath the bed. John went to the window, straining against the sticky paint of the sash.
Laura hesitated, eyeing the drop. “Surely there has to be another way -“
They heard a door close somewhere inside the house, shaking the walls and rattling the panes in the window.
“How are we going to do this?!”
“Come here -“
"Oof!"
It was a flurry of warm limbs and sweat,
and Laura shut her eyes tight as John spun around,
preparing to deposit her on the roof.
She sucked in her breath through the tight squeeze
and then, to her surprise, she alighted: one-two
her feet met the hot tar of the roof.
John slammed the window shut.
The sound threw him off guard;
he exhaled deeply, managing to compose himself and turn a pleasant face to the door…
…which opened the second Laura knelt down.
Once again, Laura was surrounded by peaceful silence.
How did I get here?
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Critiques are always appreciated. I just ask that you be nice, as this is my very first post. (I plan to stick around for a while, so don't worry, you can be mean later.)
Thanks for reading!