A new life.

Allison pretended to be asleep and held her breath whenever she heard the wooden stairs creek. She held little Anna's hand tightly under the covers signaling patience and to be quiet. The alarm clock showed 1:30 a.m., she did not know how much longer their nerves would hold out or heavens forbid, before they fell asleep.

Anna squeezed Allison's hand impatiently and began to slowly slide off the bed. The clock read 2:00 a.m. and the house was as quiet as tomb. Slowly, Allison slid off her side of the bed and carefully put a foot in front of the other avoiding the creaky boards they had memorized over the past two years.

They grabbed a filled suitcase each and, out of habit, Allison thought of making the bed before going out the bedroom door but she corrected herself and continued towards the door to meet Anna and continue down the short hall towards the stairs.

They both stopped for a second in front of the master bedroom and listened for the irregular snoring that was progressing into a loud and rhythmic pattern that stopped abruptly when Anna dropped the key on the floor.

It seemed an interminable amount of time that they waited in a frozen terror by that door, barely breathing, and gripping each other's hand. The snoring returned and the girls carefully picked up the key and continued to move down the stairs, once again avoiding any portions that creaked by keeping close to the wall and away from the center planks.

Ryan was tall but too skinny for a boy of 14. He was wired with adrenaline this evening, which made up for the lack of muscle mass. His clothes were damp from the constant work he had been doing for over two hours, constantly moving around the perimeter of the house and gathering tools, rope and wood logs. He had slithered back and forth into the "danger zone", the inside of the house, and opened the linen closet below the stairs and retrieved blankets and pillows. He had ransacked the laundry room and grabbed t-shirts and socks. Anything he could find a use for and they would need later, he grabbed and stuffed in the trunk of the car, which he had left open to avoid making noise during all his trips while he waited for the girls to escape their bedroom.

At 1:30 Ryan was holding his breath while hiding under the kitchen table when he heard Richard climb up the stairs and pause for a second before continuing towards his bedroom. Once he felt it was safe, Ryan made his way slowly toward the pigsty that passed for a living room

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