You Belong To Me

Chapter eight:

Scott stood behind the man, watching over his shoulder as he opened the back door, the one in the kitchen. He felt like an eager child. The door opened and the air that rushed at Scott nearly made him double over in tears. It was wonderful. It was the best thing he had ever felt, he was sure of that. The man led him out and he couldn't help the little smile that etched onto his lips. He stepped out onto a wooden deck, the wood was stained darker and was perfectly clean, save the few leaves scattered across it. There was a table with six chairs and then two lawn chairs to his left as well as a grill. He looked up, the sky was a crystal blue set above a dark green border of the forest. Faint, blue tinted mountains rose and fell in gentle waves until they blended with the sky.

Scott felt a sense of giddiness rise in his throat and the man was forgotten, he rushed forwards a little, mostly out of excitement. A hand caught the back of his shirt and tugged him and he jerked backwards.

"Scott..." The man warned, closing the distance between then, hand still gripped in the fabric of Scott's shirt.

"I'm sorry, I just... I was excited." He mumbled, his eyes were still on the mountains on the horizon, he sighed, imaging being lost within the hills and thinking that that must be much better than here. He couldn't spot any other houses, but he knew there must be more out there, somewhere. They couldn't be completely isolated.

"I understand, but please, have some control." The man scoffed, as though it should have already crossed Scott's mind that he should be composed in this moment. Whatever. "You can go sit in one of those." The man gestured to the law chairs and Scott gingerly walked across the deck to them. He noticed the yard was large with green grass speckled with dead leaves. It stretched out beyond the left of the desk and there was a large fire pit with log benches situated around it. Scott smiled softly, the family that lived here had been so normal. His heart ached for them as he sat down, his chest hurting with sympathy. He looked up at the sky again. There really wasn't a single cloud in the sky, it was so clear Scott felt himself growing disoriented, but it was one of the best feelings he had felt in a while.

He rested against the back and nervously put his feet up onto it as well. As hard as he tried to let his body relax, he couldn't manage it. He was aware of the man watching him. He was seated at the table in one of the chairs, he was typing something into his laptop, Scott squinted at him, but it was too bright and his eyes watered so he gave up and shut them again. Scott couldn't help but to think about running. He could. Now was a good time, better than any he might get in a long time. All he would have to do was hurl himself over the railing of the deck and run through the yard, jump the fence and try and disappear in the woods. It didn't sound too complicated. He just had to be fast and he couldn't hesitate. He had a head start. The only consequence to being caught would be death and then consumption, which, at this point, couldn't possibly be as bad as being held prisoner.

He picked his head up and squinted at the man again. He was still typing. He seemed pretty wedged under the table, but that didn't really mean anything. Scott had had a head start when he was caught the first time and the man still didn't seem deterred to catch him, but this could be different. It was unfortunate that the Smokey mountains all seemed the same and Scott had no way of knowing where he was, but that couldn't be in the way, it would only slow him down.

Scott remember when he looked out the window by the front door last night. He had noticed there was a road that ran parallel to the house in both directions, which meant that there was something or maybe, better yet, someone farther up or down the road depending on where he was. He had to do this. He had to. He slowly crept off of the seat, edging his body as slowly and cat-like as he could. His heart was slamming in his chest and he stalled for a moment, this could go so horribly so fast, but it was for a better cause. His life. His freedom. Or maybe this would take his life, he had no way of knowing.