Read Online The Trial (The Tree House) by Shay Lynam - Free Book Online Page A

the next morning by sunlight streaming through the kitchen window and into my eyes. With a groan, I lifted my head up off the table and pressed my palms against my eyelids. My eye ached when I applied pressure but not near as much as my head did. Pain pounded through my temples the way a speaker does when the music is too loud. Well, that morning everything was too loud. Ben had woken up before me and now he rushed into the kitchen and started banging around in the sink.
    “Do you mind?” I asked loudly without taking my hands away from my eyes.
    “We have to get out of here, Jack,” he replied in a panic and dropped both of our guns on the table.
    Now I sat up straight and squinted at him. “How are we supposed to get out of here with that car waiting for us?”
    “I don't know,” he muttered and started back toward the spare room again.
    I got up slowly and filled a glass with tap water. It was still disgusting but I managed to choke it down. A few seconds later my brother came back in with his bag in his hands. “We can't leave, Ben,” I said feeling irritated. “We're trapped in here.”
    “There has to be a way out,” he replied and started shoving things into his bag. “The fire escape?”
    “If they're watching the front, I'm sure they're watching the back too.”
    Ben let out a frustrated growl and slammed his hands down on the kitchen table. I rubbed the back of my neck and made my way into the front room. “Maybe we're just being paranoid,” I said hopefully. “Maybe the car is gone.”
    “Is the car gone?”
    I shifted the curtain a bit so I could see outside. “No, it's still there,” I muttered.
    Ben cursed under his breath and knotted his fingers up into his disheveled hair. I watched him pace back and forth in the kitchen, eying the two handguns lying on the table.
    “Do you honestly think they're here for us?” I asked him leaning back against the corner. I wished I could just melt into the wall and disappear.
    “Of course they're here for us,” he snarled and leaned his hands on the table in front of the guns.
    What was going to happen? Were we going to have to fight? Was I going to have to take that black gun and shoot someone like Ben had back at our parents' house? Would I be able to when the time came? Maybe I should have had him teach me how to shoot.
    Then there was a knock on the door.
    Ben's eyes met mine and we froze. Could that be them? They wouldn't just knock, would they? Something like this you'd think they'd just bust down the door and come in, bullets flying. Another knock put Ben into action. With a couple clicks, he had Dad's silver gun cocked and was pressing the black one into my palm as he made his way carefully toward the door. I wrapped my fingers around the grip, clenching so tightly my knuckles were already turning white. I wouldn't be surprised if my face matched.
    A third knock broke the silence. “Aly?” A muffled voice called from out in the hallway.
    Ben and I shared a confused look then he slowly undid the deadbolt and opened the door just a crack.
    “Who are you?” the voice asked. Ben blocked my view so I couldn't tell who it was but he sounded just as confused as we were.
    “Who are you?” Ben retorted. I watched as his finger tapped the trigger.
    “I'm just looking for Allison,” the man said. “Who are you?” he repeated.
    Ben shut the door quickly pushing his back up against it. What were we supposed to do? What if this guy was the reason she hadn't come home from work and now he was coming after us?
    Pound pound pound. “Hey!” the man yelled angrily. “Who are you guys? What did you do with Allison?”
    The pounding got louder and the door shook as the guy on the other side rammed into it. Ben was having a hard time keeping it shut so I hurried over to push with him.
    “What do we do?” I hissed as the door continued to shake.
    Ben gnawed the inside of his cheek as he tried to think. “Just do what I do,” he finally whispered