Chapter 3 - The Midnight Escape
"Michael, we have to go right now," I yelled, sprinting toward the car.
He slammed the trunk shut and jumped into the driver's seat.
"They are five hours away?" he asked as he started the engine.
"They decided to drive overnight to avoid traffic," I explained frantically.
We pulled out of the driveway just as the sun began to set.
Mr. Vance was scheduled to send a locksmith in the morning.
That meant the old code on the front door still worked tonight.
"If they get here before the locks are changed, they will just let themselves in," I said.
Michael gripped the steering wheel tightly as we merged onto the highway.
"The house is completely empty, Em," he reminded me.
"There is no furniture, no food, no beds."
I imagined my entitled mother walking into an empty living room.
The thought gave me a dark, twisted sense of satisfaction.
We drove in silence for hours, heading up toward the mountain cabin.
My phone kept lighting up with updates from my oblivious siblings.
"Stopping for gas, put the kettle on," Chris texted at 10:00 PM.
"Mom wants to know if you bought the good coffee," Ashley chimed in.
I turned my phone on silent and watched the snow begin to fall outside the window.
We finally reached our beautiful rented cabin shortly before midnight.
It was warm, quiet, and smelled like pine needles and woodsmoke.
I poured two glasses of wine, and we sat by the fireplace in complete peace.
For the first time in ten years, I wasn't scrubbing a toilet on a Tuesday night in December.
At 12:45 AM, my phone screen lit up with a notification.
It was an alert from the Ring doorbell camera at the old house.
I had forgotten to transfer the device to Mr. Vance's account.
I opened the app, and my breath caught in my throat.
The live video feed showed Chris's massive SUV parked in my old driveway.
My mother, Ashley, Chris, and his loud children were standing on the front porch.
They were carrying heavily stuffed suitcases and expensive gift bags.
Chris reached forward and confidently typed the old entry code into the smart lock.
A loud error beep echoed through the camera's microphone.
He frowned, typed it again, and pulled hard on the handle.
The door remained stubbornly locked.
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Mr. Vance hadn't waited until morning.
He had changed the electronic locks earlier that evening.
