The ringing phone filled her with dread. She knew who was on the phone. The couch pushed her up as she haltingly got up from it. With each step she took her legs felt like they were going to melt off of her. The wind whispered in her ears from the opened window by the couch as well as giving her a frigid shiver up her spine. She shook with terror as she reached the phone. The sonorous phone was causing Laura an uncomfortable headache as she finally answered it.
“Hello?” she said with a panicked and tearful voice.
“Hello Laura. Do you miss me?” a man said in a slurred voice.
Laura shook her head and started to weep as the man kept talking.
“I already know you are. Tell your mom that I will be there in about a week. I really miss the both of you two.”
“You stay away from me and my mother.” Laura said with hatred in her voice.
The man breathed out heavily as the phone call ended. Laura hammered the phone down with fury. She vigorously went to her room and weeped. Everything in her room seemed to sadden as she kept on crying in her plush pillow. Laura’s headache thumped her head as every single throb seemed to get worse and worse. She didn’t know what to do. After what seemed like an hour of tears, she got up, went to her closet, put on her jacket and went outside. The wind roared outside as Laura’s hair rapidly blew. She went across the street to her best friend Bailey’s house. She thumped on the door promptly as it swung open. Bailey looked at her with a panicked expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s coming back! He’s coming back!” Laura said as she leaped into Bailey’s arms.
Bailey rubbed her back and offered her to come inside. They both came into the living room, and took a seat.
“What happened?” Bailey asked.
“ My dad called. He said he’s coming home in a week. He said that he missed the both of us, but I know that that’s not true! He just wants to hurt us again!”
Laura bursted into tears. She knew that when her dad came back that he wasn’t going to change. The sky outside began to sadden to match the mood that Laura was feeling right now. Bailey went into the kitchen and got a box of tissues to give to Laura. She wiped her eyes and started to calm down.
¨What are you going to do?¨ Bailey asked.
Laura didn’t say anything. Instead she was shaking while giving a cold hearted stare at the floor. Bailey came over and snapped her fingers in front of her face. Laura came back to life.
¨I don’t know. I’m just 16. It’s not like I can leave without telling anyone.¨
Bailey’s face lightened. ¨I know what you need to do.¨
Laura gave her a confused look.
“You need to run away. You need to leave town. You and your mom.¨
Laura got up with intimidation.
¨Bailey are you nuts?! I can’t just leave town! I just started a life here, and my mom just got a new job and-¨
¨What other choice do you have? Would you rather stay here and wait for your dad to come and hurt you? Or would you rather go somewhere where you know that your dad has no intentions to find you?¨
Laura thought about it for awhile while the room leaked with silence. All you could hear was the wall clock ticking away. Finally Laura spoke.
¨If I were going to leave, where would I go? We don’t have enough money to build a new life again.¨
¨I have an aunt who lives in New Orleans. You can stay with her as long as you want until you guys can get back on your feet. I’ll tell her that you’re coming.¨
Bailey comes over and looks at Lara dead in her eyes.
¨You need to leave. I don’t want to see you like this any longer. This is the best thing that you should do.¨
Laura exhaled deeply. Then she got up and left Bailey’s house. The leaves danced in the wind when Laura left her house. She stared blankly at the ground while a lot of questions boggled through her head. When she arrived at her house she went straight to her room and started painting. Laura loves to paint when she was in stressed out situations. She started painting the sky outside which was hovered with gray clouds and thick long branches in her yard.
¨Will this be the right choice for us?¨ Laura whispered as quiet as a mouse.
She heard a door open, and her emotions were now filled with terror. Fortunately, it was her mom.
¨Laura you here?! Her mom yelped.
She put her art supplies away and rushed downstairs. Her mom was in the kitchen making dinner. She turns and sees Laura standing in the doorway.
¨Hey! I’m making your favor-¨
¨Dad’s coming.¨ Laura said with no hesitation.
Laura’s mom stopped chopping the onions and turned to face her. Her face is now smeared with terror.
¨What do you mean he’s coming?¨
¨He called me today and told me that he will be home in a week.¨
Laura’s mom set the knife down slowly and threw a bowl on the ground. The bowl shattered into a million pieces with a sound as loud as fireworks on the fourth of July. Laura jumped back in surprise and worried that her mother would go ballistic. Her mother started to pace the room.
¨How did he find out where we lived? We have moved about 3 times now. We can’t just move again. We don’t have the money for that.¨
¨I think I know how we can fix the problem.” Laura whispers.
Her mom stopped pacing and looked at her with a confused look.
“What do you mean?”
“I went to Bailey’s house today and I told her about dad calling and everything. She said that we needed to leave town. She said since we can’t really afford a place to stay. She said that we can stay at her aunt’s house in New Orleans as long as we want.”
“New Orleans? That is way too far of a drive. We don’t have the money to afford all the gas and everything.”
“But we need to get out of here mom. We can’t just stay here and wait for dad to hurt us again.”
Laura’s mom looked at her for the longest time. She knew that if they stay that they will get hurt again.
“The problem is that your father might find us and hurt us even more if we do try to leave.”
“I would rather leave than to stay here and wait for him.” Laura said with integrity.
Her mom gave her a look that said ‘She’s right.’
“Okay. But we need to move fast. We can’t just wait until he comes. We need to leave as soon as possible. So what I need you to do is to pack a bag tonight and we are leaving tomorrow morning. I don’t want to stay here for long.”
Laura nodded and ran up to her room. She packed everything that was important. Clothes that were enough for the trip, toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush and she picked up a picture of her and Bailey. She stared coldly at the picture. I tear dribbled down her face.
¨Im going to miss you Bailey.¨
She hugged the photo stiffly and put it in her duffel bag. She then took a quick shower, and she went to bed. The next morning Laura was awakened by the shaking of her mother.
¨We have to go now.¨ she muttered in her ear.
Laura got up, changed into some different clothes, got her duffel bag, and she sprinted to the car where her mom was waiting for her. She got in and they sped off. She looked out the window and saw blurry visions of houses around her. She had thoughts running through her head. They had to start their lives all over again.

New Orleans, Louisiana

After long days of riding in the car, Laura and her mom arrived to New Orleans. The city was filled with lights.
“What is the address to Bailey’s aunt’s house?” Laura’s mom asked.
She pulled out her phone, and looked it up from the conversation Bailey and her had before. They talked about how they were going to miss each other and to update on what’s going on.
“It’s 2505 Maple Drive.”
Her mom put it in the GPS and said “Here goes to starting a new life again.”
Her mom looked at Laura and smiled a fake one that was covered the terror on her face. Instead of saying that she was scared too Laura just gave her mom a smile back in return. The ride seemed like it lasted for decades until they finally made it to the house. It was a pretty decent size home with an enormous weeping willow tree in the front yard. Laura’s mom pulled into the driveway and looked at her.
“Are you ready?”
Laura hesitated, but finally nodded her head. They got out of the car and went to the door. It seemed like a thousand years had past when they made it to the door. Laura’s mom knocked on the door shakily as it swung open immediately. Inside was a lady who was really pretty with short brunette hair and light brown eyes. She smiled at them.
“Hi are you Jennie?”
“Yes I am. May I help you?” Jennie said in a southern accent.
“My name is Hollie Ford and this is my daughter Laura. Your niece said that you were the person to come to stay with.”
The lady smiled.
“She told me. I was expecting you guys. Well come on in and make yourself at home.”
She motioned them in as they leisurely found there way into the cozy home. Jennie closed the door shut. Laura knew that her life was now going to change again.

Topeka, Kansas

Laura’s dad pulled into the driveway. He had been waiting to see Laura and her mom for 5 years. All he was thinking was his revenge. He turned off the car and went to the front door. He knew exactly where the key was as he pulled it from under the mat. He chuckled as to thinking how idiotic it was for them to do that. He swung open the door as soon as he unlocked it. It was pitch black. He was a little bit curious about why, but wasn’t too worried.
“Girls! Guess who’s home?!” he wailed.
There was nothing but silence and darkness. He trotted around the house in his clunky shoes making every step intimidating. He started to turn on the lights and checking around the house. Living room, kitchen, bathrooms, closets, and still no sight of them. He checked the bedrooms. There was still nobody. Now he was becoming furious. There was only one place left that he has not checked. Laura’s room. He raged through the door as he saw nobody in there. He checked her bathroom, her closet, even under her bed, and still no sight of her. He became psychotic as he threw her paint supplies everywhere. He picked up Laura’s hair dryer which followed with him throwing it into the mirror and shattering it into a billion of pieces. A picture swiftly glided off the mirror and landed on the floor. He picked it up and scanned it. It was Laura and Bailey blowing bubbles in front of Bailey’s house. He knew that it wasn’t the house he was in so he went to the window and looked around the neighborhood. He was comparing the picture to the other houses. He spotted the house he was looking for. He grabbed his jacket and went across the street. He knocked on the door, and Bailey answered it.
“Ah! Just the girl I’m looking for. I see that you were friends with my daughter and I was wondering where you know where her and her mother might have gone.” he said.
He held up the picture to Bailey. She looked at it and tried to cover her terror up from her face. She shook her head.
“No. I have no clue where they might have gone.” she said.
His smiled soon was an unpleased look. He tucked the picture into his pocket and glared at Bailey.
“You seem like a nice girl, but you see I have just gotten out of jail and I had done some really bad stuff. You don’t want me to do those things to you do you?” he snarled.
Bailey terror was uncovered by the fake smile and, she tried to close the door, but she didn’t do it quick enough. Laura’s dad got into Bailey’s face.
“Now I know that you know something about their absence. Tell me and no one gets hurt.”
Bailey started to cry as she confessed.
“They went to go stay with my aunt in New Orleans! That’s all I know I swear!”
Laura’s dad gave her a satisfying smile. He nodded as he went to leave. When he went back to the house he saw an address on the refrigerator. He now knows why it was there. He grabbed it and headed out to his car. He then drove off speedily down the road.

New Orleans, Louisiana: Laura and Her Mom

A few days have passed since Laura and her mom have arrived at Jennie’s house. They are developing a bond with Jennie as Laura’s mom and her have a lot in common. They both were born in Houston, Texas. They use to work for the same company. Their favorite football team is the Seattle Seahawks and in their free time they both love to write. Laura on the other hand has been having a little bit of trouble making friends other than Jennie. She has tried to find people her age in the neighborhood, but they are all still in middle school. The only good thing about where she is right now is that she found a spot in the backyard where you can see the city. It is the most beautiful sight Laura has seen since she got here. The skyscrapers are very grotesque of how high they are. Laura usually spends most of her days outside drawing the alluring buildings with a drawing pad and a pencil sometimes colored pencil. But today was a different day. Laura was headed outside when she saw that Bailey was calling her. She picked up the phone and answered it.
¨Hey Bailey. How are yo-¨
¨Laura we have a problem!¨
Laura was a little flustered about why she said that.
¨What do you mean?¨ Laura asked.
¨Your dad! He came to my house yesterday and asked me where you were. He said if I didn’t that he would hurt me. I’m so sorry, but you need to get out of there before he finds you!¨
That’s when everything stopped. The kids playing outside, the clock ticking on the wall, the birds chirping in the window. Everything completely stopped.
¨Laura? You there?¨
Laura’s head was thumping so hard that you could hear it from miles away.
¨I will call you back.¨ Laura said shakily.
She hung up the phone and sat down on the bed. What was she going to do? She had no clue what she was going to do. She heard a knock on the door and she was startled by it.
“Come in she said.” she said.
Laura’s mom entered the room.
“Hey. How are you doing?”
Laura stared at the ground. She was mesmerized by Bailey’s call. Laura’s mom gave her a concerned look.
“Are you ok? Did something happen to you?”
Laura still looked at the ground as if her mom wasn’t there. Laura’s mom shook her to tell her what’s going on. Laura came out of her trance.
“Bailey just called me. She said that dad is on his way here. He found out where we are. He’s headed this way.”
Her mom froze. She had gotten into the trance that Laura was in.
“Mom?”
Fortunately her mom was not in it as long.
“That’s it! I can not stand here and keep on running away for him! It is time we stand up to him once and for all!”
“But what are we going to do?” Laura asked.
“You will see. Let him come. We will be prepared.”

New Orleans, Louisiana: Laura’s Dad

Laura’s dad finally made it to the house. He got out of the car and smelt the fresh air.
“Ahhhhh! Nothing but the good smell of good old New Orleans.”
After his breath, he walked up to the front door and knocked firmly on it. He stepped back thinking that someone would immediately open the door. Nobody came. He knocked again thinking that someone would answer the door. Still no answer. He chuckled.
“Hollie I know that you are in there! You can run, but you can’t hide!”
No one answered. He started to laugh again. He knew that they were in there since he had arrived during the middle of the day. He knocked one more time, but this time he knocked with aggression ,and irritation was building up inside him. Not a single sound came from the house.
“Hollie just answer the door and no one gets hurt!”
Still no answer.
“Well I guess I’ll just invite myself in!”
So he did as he kicked the front door down and ambushed inside the house. He walked inside and saw that the house was pitch black. As soon as he stepped inside the house, a group of police officers plummeted after him as they tackled him to the ground. They fell out the house and onto the concrete. They wrestled to put him in handcuffs. Finally, the locked his hands up. Laura, her mom, and Jennie came out of the house. They saw the police officers carry Laura’s dad away. After what seem what forever, They saw the police take Laura’s dad away. She now knows that she’s safe from him now. Or is she?

The End