MAMA SAID

We Used To Love

🚨WARNING! This chapter contains scenes not suitable for all readers, reader discretion is advised! Please take heed to the warning. Violence...Bodily/self harm mentioned. If you know that you are triggered by certain topics simply skip over. You have been warned.🚨

A/N: This is only part 1 of 3

Not a complete nor cohesive chapter. I wanted to post something for Beyday so this will seem very one sided for the most part.  It doesn't follow the usual pacing of a "Mama Said" chapter. Reasoning? Some people guessed my ending so y'all know I had to omit and sit here thinking of something else because why be regular when you could be...dramatic?💁🏾‍♀️ This chapter is simply a set up for the second book. (Family dynamic wise.) side note: if you notice mistakes timeline wise it is what it is at this point.🚨MAIN CHARACTER DEATH🚨

Happy Reading :)

—

There once was a woman who lived in a shoe. Lived instead, lived in lieu. Lived with fright. Lived despite. Sadly, the only wish she had was to live, tonight. Now, the storybook could go on for days rhyming this and that with fits and spats or even loud cries with dying skies; whatever. The moral of the story is that, there once was a woman who lived. Lived like there was no tomorrow, only today. Lived like she had no sorrows and was put on Earth simply to slay. And slay she did. But slain she was. The woman lived out loud until the light was no longer there to tug. However, the woman who lived had many a child, and she loved them dearly, they made her so proud. She loved and she loved. She did, she did, but that wasn't enough. For, the woman's one wish was thrown and twisted until they closed her lids.

There once was a woman.

                                                 —@imgonnabedramatic

"Zaria, I swear to God I don't have time to play with you right now! It's almost five in the morning! Take your ass to sleep!" Yasmin yelled over the couch as she typed hurriedly on her laptop keyboard. The night had been a normal one. You know, Yasmin hiding out in the trenches of the interwebs, trying to catch a cheating spouse for someone who had hired her services. She had hacked the gps to the obviously guilty man's car a while back and was now sitting back and letting him guide her to more evidence.

"Watch who you talking to, little girl," the eight year old sneered. She rounded the sofa just as Yas threw a dirty look her way.

With a huff and a plop, Zaria sat next to her sister. "Besides, I'm not tired yet. I still have a lot of energy left."

"Yeah, I bet. You practically stuffed your face with candy and cake at Blue's birthday party...still can't believe mom and dad made me bring you." The teen sighed, scrolling through various surveillance camera angles. She bit her lip, leaning over slowly. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed, gawking at her laptop with wide eyes  after seeing a busty redhead enter her mark's car.

Yasmin squinted her eyes and simultaneously zoomed in, playing close attention to how they interacted with each other. "Zaza, remember what I told you about boys?" She asked, eyes still glued to the screen in front of her.

Zaria let out a heavy sigh, "they're all dogs." She lamented, placing her bare feet on the coffee table.

"Don't say I never taught you nothing," the eldest pointed to her sister who simply rolled her eyes and checked her cuticles.

"I'm boreduhhhh," the cinnamon haired girl whined.

"That's because you supposed to be sleep, and didn't I say go take a bath like an hour ago? I didn't know eight year olds could be musty. Girl you reek!" Yas scooted over slightly.

Zaria quickly closed the space between them, sitting on her knees. "You're probably smelling your own breath." She pinched at her nose; disgusted. "It's the yellow teeth for me."

"It's the absence of teeth for me," Yasmin countered

Zaria scoffed, folding her arms, "I'm eight."

"Exactly, shouldn't they have grown in by now?" Yas gave a fake smile.

"Guess they're gonna grow in at the same time your boobs come in. Shouldn't those have been there? You're fifteen."

It was Yasmin's time to scoff as she absentmindedly grabbed at her B-cup chest. "Go get in the tub." She said through clenched teeth.

Zaria hopped from the couch. "Someone's sensitive." She muttered as she walked off.

Yasmin turned back to her laptop. "So cliché," she shook her head, watching as her mark and his fiery head counterpart checked into a nearby hotel.

Bing!

Her phone chirped letting her know she had an incoming message. She punched in her long-winded password and squinted as she read a message from Beans.

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: Help
ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: M Drunk

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: How are you drunk?

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: Yara party me

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: ???
Yaz👂🏾💻👾: go home

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: Im too funk
ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: so srunk

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: where Yara???

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: with Derick

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: who🤨

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾:  her Boyd's
ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: boyfriend they left

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: 😑his name is Devon

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: come get me

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: wya?

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: the hills

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: boy that's too far. Just sleep where you at and go home later🙄🙄

ForeverVirgin🤞🏾: come get me‼️

Yas walked lazily to the kitchen to grab a water bottle and some chips. After leaning on the counter and gulping down half of her water, the teen sighed and texted Beans, letting him know that she was having a nice quiet night at home. Well, not so quiet. Zaria had obviously completely ignored what she told her to do and instead found the sound system. She could hear music blaring.

Again She let out a heavy sigh and headed back into the living room to see her younger sister swaying her hips, mouthing the words Nicki Minaj sang while she poured more sparkling grape juice into an oversized wine glass. "This time won't you save me! This time won't you save me! Baby I can feel myself giving up."

Yas made no noise when she tip-toed behind Zaria. "I wonder what mama finna say when I tell her you stomping around the house in her Jimmy Choos while she's at work saving people's lives."

Zaza flinched a little as her older sister took the glass, denying her the rest of her sugary drink.

"You are not the boss of me." The girl got out and stumbled due to the roominess of the high heels, which she then kicked off her feet and dramatically fell down to the sofa.

Yasmin sat on the other side watching Zaria as she stared at the ceiling, face dull. The room was quiet, except the mellow tune still playing in the background.

"You thought you was Nicki for a second?" Yas asked.

The eight year old simply nodded.

The oldest girl let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" Zaria sat up on her forearms.

Yasmin ignored her as a call came through her phone. She hesitantly answered. "What Beans!" She groaned. She listened for some time, sighing every now and then. "Okay okay, shut up damn I'm on my way." She said just before hanging up. The teen looked at her little sister. "Zaza go put on your shoes."

"Where we going?" The girl asked.

"To pick up an idiot, now let's go," she grabbed her keys from the coffee table.

—

Yara's heart pounded furiously in her chest as she clung to Devon's hand and wove through the smaller crowd of party goers occupying the lounge on the lower level. The music that had made conversation difficult upstairs made it impossible here. Base vibrated through the walls, floor and furniture, working its way into Yara's body until her already racing pulse throbbed and blood rushed in her ears. She couldn't think and didn't want to, the only desire driving her being the need to finish what she and Devon had started upstairs.

Just past the bar a short hallway extended into darkness. Yara didn't hesitate, moving past two tall, skinny doors directly to a wider, normal sized opening. Twisting the knob, she glanced over her shoulder, back into the lounge, and then ducked inside, pulling him along. Moonlight poured through an expansive picture window, illuminating rich mahogany woodwork, plush grey carpet, a seating area with overstuffed leather furniture and most importantly a king size bed framed by an ornate metalwork headboard. Devon only had a second to register these luxury surroundings before Yara whirled around, her hands framing his face and pulling his mouth to hers. He returned the kiss with abandon, matching the demanding thrust of her tongue stroke for stroke.

When her hands left his face, they traveled slowly down the side of his body, brushing purposefully against his chest. She needed no encouragement to arch into him, and wrapped her arms around his neck for better leverage. No matter what she did, she couldn't get close enough.

Without breaking the kiss, Devon shifted his grip, sliding over her bottom to the back of her bare thighs and lifted her from the ground. In response, she wrapped her legs around his waist as he leaned into her, effectively pinning her against the door. The soft thunk of her shoes slipping off her feet and hitting the plush carpet registered on some level, but the sensation of being pressed so intimately against him stole her whole focus. The closed door muffled the music, but the base still pounded through her, further muddying her already lust addled brain.

"Maybe we should stop." Devon suggested, breaking the kiss.

Yara whimpered in protest even as she gasped for much needed oxygen. "Or Maybe you should just kiss me," She smiled, devilishly.

Her previous whimpers quickly turned into a moan of pure pleasure as he obliged, focusing his attention on the smooth column of her throat. Her head fell back against the door as his hands worked their way beneath her top, moving higher with agonizing slowness. Gasping, she clutched at him. Heat bled through the cotton shirt where she held tightly to his broad shoulders and she wanted nothing more than to run her hands over the bare skin underneath.

"Take this off," she demanded, already dropping her hands to tug at the hem. Eager fingers danced across his muscled abdomen, making it clench.

Devon lifted his head, the moonlight playing right across deep brown eyes that glowed with desire. Lips curving, he nipped her bottom lip and offered his opinion.

"I feel like this is moving too fast...like we might regret this in the morning."

Yara nodded like she had heard him, but she tilted her chin and groped for the hem of her own shirt, pulling it over her head in one fluid motion. Her heartbeat pounded like thunder and being this close, she was certain Devon could hear it too. Bold and impulsive were two things that typically got her into serious trouble when she drank.

Letting her shirt flutter to the floor, she raised her brow expectantly, but he was too busy admiring all the newly bare skin. The black lace bra stood out starkly against her tan as her chest rose and fell with every breath. Lowering his head, he tasted the flesh along the edge of her bra, his tongue dipping below the lace to tease. Her hands moved to the back of his head on their own accord, urging him further, lower. The sensation traveled straight to her core, further awakening the aching need between her thighs.

"Your turn," she insisted in a gasp when she could catch her breath. Groping blindly, she tugged his shirt up and his arms left her just long enough for her to pull it over his head. Now it was her turn to admire and although it was hardly the first time she'd seen him without a shirt on, now in the dark and with a purpose far from innocent, she thrilled at it.

Devon carried her to the bed while she delighted in running her nails lightly down the sculpted planes of his chest. The grey satin comforter billowed as they fell against it. Eager to touch every inch of him with her bare hands, she moved to his back and discovered the deeper she sank her nails into his skin, the harder he kissed her. Running her hand over his head, she tore her lips away and teased. "Does that mean you like that?"

Devon said nothing, but the curve of his lips acted as his reply. For the first time, he was in a position for her gaze to sink low enough so she could see the outline of him, pressing hard against the denim. Her body pulsed in response and she tried to pull him closer, just to feel his solid weight flush against her practically naked body. Yara's hand slipped between their sweat slicked bodies and flicked the catch on his jeans. The mere anticipation of where she would go from there was enough to make him tremble and his core turn to liquid. He kept waiting for self consciousness to interfere and bring his focus to their vast difference in experience, but even purposely thinking about it failed to taint the moment.

"Damn! Are you two horn dogs looking for a third?" They heard from the doorway.

"Shit!" Yara shot up, arms covering her bra–clad chest. Out of breath and surprise clear on her face, she turned to Devon. "I thought you locked the door!"

Devon was busy frantically pulling his shirt over his head. "I-I guess I was caught up in the moment babe! I thought I did too!"

"Well you didn't!" The curly haired teen looked around for her shirt.

"Your tops right there." The brunette girl checked out her reflection in the mirror, fixing her bangs with pursed lips. She turned around with a smirk. "But don't be so eager to put it on Shahidi...I was only starting to enjoy the view." She leaned over slowly to pick up one of Yara's shoes and handed it to her.

"Chill, Felicity," Devon bit out. "That's my girl you're talking about." Slipping his arm protectively around her shoulder, he pulled Yara close and guided her closer toward the door.

Yara blew air into her cheeks. "Let's just get out of here." She said, hopping on one leg as she tied her laces.

"Aweee come onnnn! You two are no fun!" Felicity threw her hands in the air as she called after the retreating couple. "Fun snatchers," she mumbled to herself.

—

Yasmin's first impression was that it was loud. Incredibly so. Heavy club music blasted from the cleverly concealed speakers, making her entire body pulse as she scanned the crowd. Mr. Life-of -the-party, Beans would either be on the dance floor or anywhere there was a keg involved. She doubted if this place had one, so she pushed her way through the crowd, heading steadfast towards the middle of the lower level. The music continued to vibrate against her skin as she was sucked into the mass of drunk, barely coherent young adults that were twisting and turning awfully to the beat. She tried to fight off a grimace of distaste. Is this what I look like when I party, she thought. Left and right, people bumped into her. Be it purposeful or not, they still received annoyed and angry retorts. More so threats.

"Beans I swear to God..." she muttered, pulling out her cellphone. She knew it was a stretch. There was no way he'd hear the ringing of his phone with the music blaring this loudly, especially while intoxicated. Still she pressed his contact name and held the device to her face. It was while she waited for the call to connect that she felt the gaze of a person watching her closely. The tiny hairs on her arms raised at the attention. That made Yas curious.

The teen unobtrusively looked around while still holding the phone to her cheek until her eyes met the gaze of a very handsome man. The stranger was leaning against a wall partially hidden in the shadows of the stairs to the next level. He had slightly wavy, black hair that was neatly groomed, chiseled features that wouldn't look out of place on the cover of a magazine, high, aristocratic cheekbones, and deep, piercing brown eyes. He was tall, much taller than Yasmin who wouldn't even reach his chin when standing straight and had lean but defined muscles with broad shoulders. He had to be in his late twenties or early thirties at best.

Yas felt an unpleasant shiver go down her spine at the intense look this man was giving her, and she couldn't help the feeling that she had seen him before. He seemed so familiar, yet not. Maybe she had passed him in the streets before? Whatever.

The man observed her for a moment longer before standing straight and heading for her. The dancers between them unconsciously moved out of his way, obviously sensing something that Yasmin hadn't, which made the usually cautious teen a bit more than wary. He didn't seem like a threat, but the way these people moved, as if this man was a predator amongst sheep didn't sit well with her.

Yasmin continued through the crowd, phone to ear, keeping eye contact with the man, though her eyes had narrowed assessingly. She smacked her lips when she could barely make out a robotic voice prompting her to leave Beans a voicemail. "I do not have all day Beans." She found herself talking to no one. "Where the hell are you?" Her eyes searched the crowd again, coming up short.

Her head was bent as she stared at her phone, typing hurriedly.

Yaz👂🏾💻👾: where tf r u? U got 5min before i pull off. imma be at the bar.

With a huff, she pocketed her phone. The man slipped behind her then moved to the side and started swaying to the beat with an amused glint in his eyes as he noticed the assessing look Yasmin sent him. She wasn't sure how to react. This man was bold, that was for sure. No one else had had the guts to start dancing with her in such a forward way. Even if she herself wasn't popping and locking to the beat.

"Look!" She yelled over the music. "I'm not interested, okay? I'm underage!"

"Hey!" He threw his arms in the air. "It's nothing like that!"   

Yasmin folded her arms across her chest, fixing him with a mean roll of her eyes. "Then what do you want?" The question came out a hiss that could be heard over the oontz oontz music.

The man pumped his fist in the air sarcastically as the pitch of the song got higher. "Yasmin, right?"

"How do you know my name?" The teen asked.

The wicked grin and flash of animosity in intense brown eyes was answer enough as the man said, "just know you had it coming."

Yasmin took a large step back, crashing into someone in the process. Strong arms helped steady her and she looked over her shoulder to see who it was. "Devon?" She raised an eyebrow as she fixed her shirt properly on her shoulder.

"Yas, hey," the boy said a bit awkwardly. "Sorry about that...these people are getting too obnoxious. They can barely walk in a straight line."

Yasmin didn't pay him any attention. She was too busy searching the crowd for the man who disappeared like Houdini.

"What are you doing here?" Devon went on. "Yara told me you couldn't come because you had to babysit."

When she was satisfied with seeing no trace of the dark haired guy, she turned to Devon. "Beans told me you and Yara left him here. Called me begging for me to pick him up."

Devon laughed outwardly. "The only place we left him is on the dance floor."

"Fucking idiot!" Yas cursed herself. She should've followed her first mind and stayed home.

"We told him we'd be back...just needed some alone time if you know what I mean."

"Imma pretend I didn't hear that." Yasmin shuddered. "Where's Yara?" She asked.

"At the bar getting some water."

Yas chuckled. "That's what she told you? She was getting water?"

Devon pulled a face.

Yasmin turned on her heel. Leading the way through the throngs of people, she shoved her way towards the bar. "What's the matter with you?" She hollered over the music once she spotted her friend seemingly moping.

Yara slowly turned her head in the direction she heard the voice and raised an elegant eyebrow. She'd say she was surprised to see her friend there but that'd be a lie. Yasmin always found a way to party even when life's responsibilities tried to hold her back. "Is there a female version of blue balls?"

Devon scratched the back of his neck and looked from left to right. Luckily most of the bar's patrons were dancing and there were not many eyes or ears on them. "I'm pretty sure it is, friend." Yasmin sighed. "Have you seen Beans? He called me to pick him up."

Yara leaned her head on her fist. "Not since he decided to play Michael Phelps."

Yas groaned. "Do I even wanna know?"

"Not really," Devon cut in.

Yasmin put her back to the bar, leaning her elbows on the counter. "Well we need to hurry up and find him. Zaza's waiting in the car."

"Here it comes!" Yara exclaimed excitedly, laughing as she gave her hands a little clap.

Yas rolled her eyes at her inebriated friend and eyed the bartender making his way towards them, holding a silver tray in front of him reverently, like a crown. On the tray was a small dainty glass with a pink tinge to the glass sitting in the middle of the tray. Sticking out of the glass was a twisty straw. "You left your sister in a car?" Devon asked.

"Couldn't exactly bring her in. She's asleep anyway. Doors are locked. Air is on. Windows are tinted. She's good."

"If you say so." He shrugged.

Yasmin's eyes searched the crowd while Yara started in on her drink. She squinted attempting to differentiate the rapidly moving bodies. She almost gave up and was about to call it a night until she saw two wildly flailing arms that looked familiar.

"Beans!" She yelled.

But the boy didn't hear. He continued dancing crazy while his jock friends egged him on. Beans was drunk. He was totally, completely, undeniably drunk. He knew this feeling well. He'd been here many times before, and as much as he dreaded the hangover he would have the next morning, he was content.

"Beans!" Yas called again, louder this time. She was clearly pissed off, but sober or not, that kind of tone never failed to capture Beans' attention.

Just as he got low to the ground in preparation of doing the 'worm' Beans looked up at her. He stood and ran over immediately.

"Finally! These mufuckas just asked what's the next move after this. I'm tired." He slurred happily and the anger Yas had been brewing was slowly coming to its boiling point.

"What do you mean finally? I didn't have to come in the first place! Yara and Devon are right fucking here!"

The boy looked at the couple like he hadn't noticed them there.

"Oh," he laughed. "I thought y'all left me."

Yara blinked as he heavily leaned on her. She almost forgot that he was soaking wet.

"Let's just go. I do not have time for this. My sister's waiting for me and I'm supposed to be three quarters deep into hours of surveillance. I have an anxious stay at home mom of four waiting for me to give her some news that she and the entire suburban PTA crew already knows about her two timing husband! And I'm tired!" With that, she grabbed Beans by the ear and practically dragged him out of the establishment as the boy groaned in protest.

Yara gulped down her drink in record time as she
trotted behind them. Devon secretly thanked God that they were finally leaving the lounge. He thought his hearing might be permanently damaged from the music.

"Where'd you park? I'll walk you two to the car...make sure Beans doesn't give you two much of a hard time." Devon offered up once they were standing in front of the building.

"Mind your business Derrick." Beans threw over his shoulder.

Devon ignored him and instead grabbed Yara's hand waiting for Yasmin to reply.

"Ummm..." the girl ran her hand through her hair. "Right there." She pointed. "The black Benz at the end of the block."

"That's far," Beans noted.

"Yeah well, the valet said they were done taking cars  for the night. Is that even a thing?" Yasmin asked as she pulled Beans down the street.

Yara shrugged. "Not for me."

"Okay miss A-lister," Yas chuckled.

Bing!

Her phone chirped letting her know she had an incoming message. Yasmin sighed, punching in the long-winded code and glanced lazily at her screen. "What the fuck?" She exclaimed, frowning disbelievingly before taking off running down the street.

"Yasmin! Yas!" Yara called after her. The inebriated teen found it difficult to get her legs moving quick enough to be considered a run as she followed behind her friend. "Yas!" She continued to call.

Devon had to assist Beans when it seemed he'd fall, so his athleticism played no part in catching up to a frantically retreating Yasmin." Yas! Slow down, aren't you taking Beans with you!" He yelled after her.

"She just don't wanna drive me home." Beans slurred.

Yara watched from a distance as Yasmin yanked her car door open and peered into the backseat.

"What's going on?!" She asked, finally catching up.

Yasmin slammed her car door shut, leaning her elbows on the hood, clearly stressed. "I'm sick of this shit!"

"Sick of what? Yasmin, what's going on?" Yara tripped over her own foot and staggered a bit. "What's wrong?"

Yasmin didn't answer, instead she dropped her head and handed the girl her phone. Devon and Beans sidled up next to them when Yara blinked to try and focus her eyes on the message.

"You're making it almost too easy?" She mumbled.

The teen noticed there was one attachment. She clicked on it and zoomed in. It was a photo of Zaria sleeping soundly in the backseat of Yasmin's car. "What is this?" Yara asked, flailing her arms out dramatically. "What does this even mean? Who sent it?"

"I don't know."

Yara frowned at her, she said it a bit too quickly for her liking. 

"What are y'all talking about?" Beans asked.

Yara gave him the phone so he and Devon could read the message. "I don't get it," the latter said after a while. "Who would send you something like that?"

Yasmin stared at the ground. "I told you the other day, remember?" She looked towards Beans.

"Those anon messages..." He stated, flatly.

"Yeah," Yasmin looked over her shoulder, suddenly feeling eyes watching her.

Yara cupped her hands together and leaned her face on the car window. She looked side to side to make sure Zaza was safe. Once she was satisfied with seeing the child fast asleep, she stood up straight.

"Maybe don't leave your sister in the car by herself when you have some creep stalking you, yeah?"

Yasmin didn't take offense. She recognized the look on Yara's face. Unbeknownst, the curly-haired girl had been donned as the mother of the group, so Yasmin had come to know this expression all too well. Her friend was simply worried for Zaria. After a moment's hesitation, Yasmin nodded. "I didn't expect this stuff to still be going on..."

"Well it is." Yara could feel herself sobering. "And until it stops you need to be more careful."

"I was and y'all jumped down my throat for going ghost, remember?" Yasmin retorted.

Yara took a step back and folded her arms across her chest."That's not fair." She said as she regarded the concrete. "You can't blame us for not being considerate to a situation we had no clue about. We thought you were being fake."

Yasmin pulled a face. "Fake?"

"Not fake like fake fake but fake like not wanting to be around us fake," Yara turned to Devon. "Does that make any sense?"

Devon shrugged, knowing how petty spats between girls could get.

Yara's eyes were almost bulging when she said. "Not like talking behind our back fake but—"

"I know what you mean Yara, relax." Yasmin looked around left and right.

Nobody said a word and an awkward silence hung in the air before Beans finally broke it. "Well can we get going?" He too looked around nervously. "Feel like those white people in the movies just standing around waiting for the killer to come."

"My God Beans," Yara shook her head at her tactless friend.

"Your friend," Devon mumbled.

Yasmin exhaled dramatically. "He's right." She admitted. "Let's get out of here."

Devon nodded, and watched as Beans and Yasmin  got into the car. Yara held onto his midsection and swooned when he looked at her and said. "I wanna follow them...make sure they get in safe ya know?"

She loved a man who cared about others. "We're gonna follow you guys." She told Yasmin who simply nodded.

—

"Stop touching stuff." Yasmin smacked Beans' hand away from her dashboard. He had been messing around with the touchscreen, changing the songs and temperature of the car.

"Why you got it so cold in here?" Beans shivered, shifting in his seat.

"It's not cold. You just wet, like always when you're drunk." Yasmin took her eyes off of the road to size the boy up. "Tell me Beans, how come you manage to end up like this everytime you go out?"

Beans sucked in a breath. "Not every time."

"Ninety percent of the time." Yasmin countered.

"You forcing it...eighty five." On the dashboard, there was a plastic figure of a girl in a coconut bra with a grass skirt and a guitar. Beans flicked it with his finger and it began to move from side to side. Yasmin wasted no time pushing him away.

"Just sit back and don't say nothing until we get to my house...I'm already on edge and you got me out here at the ass crack of dawn it feel like." She squinted and glanced out of the left window.

"That's what friends are for."

Yasmin rolled her eyes and then looked at Beans who was grinning sheepishly. "What? Who else am I supposed to call to pick me up when I'm drunk?"

"Your grandma Ruth." The teen stopped at a red light. She eyed her rear view mirror, checking to see if Devon and Yara were still there. She sighed in relief when she noticed Devon's plates directly behind her.

Beans laughed to himself. "Ma Ruth been blocked me."

Yasmin didn't hear what he said. She was biting her lip and tapping the wheel with her fingertips. She imagined someone walking toward her car and leaning in close enough to see past her dark tinted windows. Onto her dwelling kid sister. Who are you? She ransacked her brain. I'll find out. She promised herself. She squinted her eyes and was filled with determination as she shakily drove her car towards her tech-filled home.

Yasmin continued to drive in silence, chewing her bottom lip as Beans'  left eye twitched, trying to do what he was told earlier: sit back and don't say nothing. The car slowed then stopped as Yasmin came to a stop sign. Beans couldn't help the question burning his tongue white-hot. "How all this stuff start?" He broke through the silence. "How did you get yourself in this?"

Yasmin felt uneasy at Beans' question. "In what?"

The boy sat up, a serious expression taking over his usually playful features. "You have a stalker who's sending you messages. How you get yourself in this situation?"

The girl pulled a face. "Imma let this slide considering you had one too many because I know you not implying that as a woman I—

"-A woman?" Beans cut her off and patted her shoulder  as he doubled over laughing. "Yasmin please."

"Ain't I a woman?" She questioned seriously. "I have plowed and reaped and husked and—

"Okay Sojourner," Beans shook his head and with a long face said. "This is real. This ain't no laughing matter. They sent a picture of your sister, Yas. There's no way for you to find out who it is? Like at all? I thought you could find anybody..."

Yas snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head, facing Beans, who was waiting for her to answer. His brows were furrowed and his facial expression was one filled with worry.

"I can." She said quietly. "I just gotta put my brain into my body you know? Really put my thinking cap on for this one because it's honestly stressing me. It came out of the blue. I can't even get my head wrapped around it fast enough. Somebody wasting they time following me around?"

Beans rubbed his head and blew out a frustrated breath. "I mean you do the same thing."

"Only when I'm strapped for cash." Yasmin lamented. "It's quick money. Easy." She added.

The boy shot her a disbelieving glance. "Yasmin, since when were you ever strapped for money? You just do stuff to be doing it sometimes."

"That time my mama bought herself the new Versace platforms and didn't get me a pair because she, and I quote," Yasmin took her right hand off of the wheel to point in her friend's face. "Wanted to teach me a lesson about finances because I...AKA YOU broke her brand new Gucci tableware...all of it!"

"Who puts mixing bowls at the top of the cabinet?" Beans blurted out.

"Y'all too loud!" They heard from the backseat. Yasmin flinched, forgetting her sister was there if only for a fleeting moment. With one eye peeped open, ZaZa grumbled, "trynna sleep!"

"Sorry Za, we almost home." Yasmin felt the need to apologize, the guilt from putting the girl in a potential dangerous situation weighed heavily on her shoulders.

—

Saw things I imagined
         I saw things I imagined
                 I saw things I imagined
   I saw things I imagined
                    I saw things I imagined
                                         Things I imagined
              Things I imagined
                                           Things I imagined

"Can I get anyone anything?" Lovie asked, her throat constricting tighter by the minute.

But her question however, was not answered by words; the mere expression on their faces was an enough answer for her.

Lovie sat staring at Solange, her eyes wide and full of unshed tears, and unlike her knowing expression, her face seemed to ask questions, questions that she was not able to clasp any answers to. Tina however, was quite impassive, her face, oddly blank, wiped out of all emotion, and judging by the several bottles of wine aligned in front of her, she was trying to get her mind to float as far off of her daughter and grandchildren as possible.

Tim and Richard's eyes, once full and over bright with optimism and pipe dreams of this nightmare ending in a few hours, were now merely a monotonous, dreary brown... Kelly's face on the other hand Lovie could not see, but by evaluating the way she had rested her head in her arms on the table, she was ever so desperately trying to hide the tears away from her family. And Angie...Angie was looking at her, and Lovie could feel the emotion of dread, fear, sadness and pain over-flood the woman.

She decided the air was getting too thin.

Not standing another minute facing them, Lovie spun on her heel and bolted as best she could with her swollen ankle out of the kitchen and up the stairs, passing a portrait of the Carter family, which seemed quite eerie tonight, and climbed another flight of stairs until she reached the second landing...and it was after she had stopped her running that she felt her heart beating hard against her chest, thumping wildly, for the fear of anything dire, anything dreadful.

She limped down the silent hall of Kelly's otherwise boisterous home, hands shaking uncontrollably as she reached for the bathroom door handle, wanting nothing but to rush inside. Upon entering, she closed the door quietly. Resting her head against the costly timber, her body as still as a mouse, she began her breathing exercises. She inhaled the gory images from tonight taking her time to exhale and replace them with positive thoughts. Thoughts of once again having a laugh with Chloe or outwardly ignoring Halle when she went on one of her long winded tangents about something as simple as the bisque in the sunrise.

"Where could they be?" She asked aloud.

The stillness answered.

They were gone.

Removed.

Nowhere to be found.

Missing.

Lovie stepped over to a sizable mirror "Of course," she croaked, running a hand through her dark-brown curls, causing it to fall flat on one end.

She meandered to the large tub, finding it difficult to figure out which knob was for hot water and cold, there were so many. After a few moments of heavy contemplating she figured it out and made sure the hot water flowed at its hottest temperature.

Counting to three, Lovie scrolled through her contact list until she reached the letter 'B' in the list of names, quickly adding Beans. Scrolling down further, she eyed the letter 'C'. Her thumb hovered over Chloe's name out of instinct, when suddenly she heard the sound of water overflowing from the bathtub. Moving quickly, Lovie scrolled then tapped Yara's name first before she went along and added Yasmin, as she ran towards the tub to turn the water off.

However, she was soon faced with another problem of cleaning the puddle of water on the floor. With a heavy sigh, the girl took a towel from the rack, and proceeded to throw it on the watery mess, using her foot to wipe the towel over it. Not dissuaded in the least from texting her friends, Lovie took her phone out again and started typing once more. She was so used to multitasking that she typed and cleaned the floor at the same time. Unfortunately, her divided attention allowed room for error in her part without her realizing it. She failed to notice any difference at all as she continued to text.

S.I.S along with her location

Her bath would simply have to wait.

—

Devon drove with one hand on the wheel and one lightly gripping his girlfriend's thigh. Yara sat scrolling through her summertime playlist until selecting the song she was searching for. "This is the one I was talking about earlier." She smiled, pressing the side of her phone to adjust her volume. "So you're telling me you've never heard this classic?"

Devon lifted a brow, waiting for the beat to drop. "Ja Rule me and you? Yeah my uncle used to play this in his shop. That's definitely not what you were singing." He chuckled. "The tone and melody was completely different."

Yara turned in her seat smiling. "What, you saying I can't sing?"

Devon squinted and sucked his teeth after realizing that half of the street Yasmin turned onto before him was blocked off due to construction. "Awe nah, babe I would never say that," he responded as he swerved into the left lane to avoid the flashing orange and white 'men at work' sign. "Just know if Hollywood ever needed someone to do ADR for a fatally injured cat I'd know exactly who to recommend." He laughed quietly.

Yara scoffed, "I don't sound that bad, do I?"

"Umm...no nah I was just exaggerating." His face spoke truth, but his voice piqued a bit.

She cleared her throat and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Every little thing that we do." She sang in time with the speakers as she caressed her boyfriend's face with a goofy grin. "Should be between me and you."

Devon let a chuckle escape, "your seatbelt." He reminded her.

"The freaky things that we do," She continued to sing.  It was her time to laugh as she went for a kiss.

Orange cones wobbled on the right as the car started to veer off in that direction. "Yara!" Devon exclaimed. He turned the wheel slightly to the left, and the car slowed.

"Woah," Yara said with surprise, quickly sitting back and buckling her seatbelt.

Devon snorted. "Yeah woah." He shook his head which didn't go unnoticed by Yara.

She knew her boyfriend despised when she drank. Or should she say despised when she would forget how many she had. In reality Yara would be fine by the third drink but anytime she picked up a fourth she'd act all loopy. Though he had to admit, it wasn't all the time the fourth drink would be introduced. Plus he liked the unmitigated glee that shone in her eyes whenever she would party. It was like all of her life's transgressions disappeared. He hoped she felt as free in those moments as she appeared.

BING!

Yara's phone shook with an incoming message.

L💟V•E:    S.I.S 🗺

"What the hell?" She said aloud. Her fingers immediately began tapping away at her screen.

YARA4PREZ🇺🇸:    What's going on?!! Did you mean S.O.S!!?

L💟V•E:    Yes! Get here now! Real life emergency! Cops involved!

"Shit!" The phone fell from Yara's hands and she immediately ducked to retrieve it.

"What's going on?" Devon asked.

Yara was taking deep breaths, in and out, in and out before responding. "A freaking S.O.S!" She blurted out before pressing her phone to her ear.

"This group is gonna drive me to drink," Devon mumbled to himself. "How often do your friends have these things?"

Yara didn't answer him, instead she spoke into her phone. "Did you see?"

"That's Yas?" He asked.

Yara looked at him briefly and again ignored him. She was too hyper focused.

"No Yas, I'm asking if you've seen the message from Lovie!" The car was silent for a second. "No she didn't have tea to spill. It was a typo, she meant S.O.S not sisssss!" Yara pulled the phone away from her face before scoffing.

"Because I texted to confirm and she said verbatim get here now! Real life emergency. Cops involved! She pinned her location. She's somewhere in Trousdale. We need to turn around!"

Devon watched as Yasmin's car, without hesitation, jerked to the left, made a U-turn, and sped in the opposite direction. The boy's tires screeched as he gripped the wheel with all his might and slowed his car to a stop.

"What are you doing!" Yara asserted, following Yasmin's fleeing car with her eyes. "You need to beat her there. You need to drive!" She pointed.

"But she's driving recklessly! Look at her." Devon's brows were almost off of his forehead.

Yara rubbed her temples. "Devon...babe..." She sighed tiredly next to him. "This isn't child's play. Now, under normal circumstances I would agree with you...one hundred percent." She raised her hands so he'd see just how genuine she was being. "But this is an S.O.S...from Lovie out of all people. She doesn't do that." Yara shook her head firmly. "She doesn't reach out to people when she needs help. We're talking about the same person who didn't send out an S.O.S the night her own twin sister was viciously murdered. Then kept it to herself for a full year.  The last time you were with me when I received one of these messages two out of five of my friends were almost target practice for a local gang...that we later found out was operated by—" She cut herself off with a shake of her head, realizing she might've said too much. She sighed before continuing. "Those same friends I'm speaking of were not included in Lovie's group chat. In fact she went ahead and created an entire new chat to send this specific message. Which tells me exactly who this involves and it's making my stomach hurt not knowing what it entails." She clapped her hands together, holding them in front of her mouth just far enough for her to mumble. "Don't care what laws you break getting there...Just....please...get me there." She pleaded.

Devon gulped and nodded as he shifted his gear into sport mode.

—

Yasmin flew down the road, picking up more speed as she got closer to a stop sign.

"You need to slow down," Zaria yelled from the backseat. She was such a backseat driver. "If you run a STOP sign you could kill somebody or get a ticket!"

"ZaZa sit back!" Yasmin demanded.

Next to Yasmin, Beans stared at his phone. "What do you think it's about?"

"I don't know," Yas answered, taking a shaky breath. "It's not like Lovie to get the cops involved in anything."

Beans opened the glove compartment and started sifting through the papers, napkins and other things that were in there.

"What you looking for?" Yasmin took one hand off of the wheel and waved it at the boy, causing Zaria to shout something about 'ten and two'.

After a minute of searching he pulled out a red and silver tin with mints that had expired months ago. "Damn!" He said defeatedly, opening the tin and eating one of the oval shaped mints. "You don't have nothing on you? No taser? Pocket knife? We don't know what we walking into. Especially with Lovie. Something told me to bring my gun."

Yasmin frowned. "Your BB gun Beans? What's that gonna do?"

"Something!" He peered over his shoulder towards a scared Zaria. "You want a mint?"

"It look like I want a mint right now, drunky?" She folded her arms across her chest. "You need all the mints you can get." She shooed him away, disgusted.

Beans blinked at Yasmin who ignored him, keeping her eyes on the road. "Did you take a nap today?" He asked.

Zaza fixed him with a mighty roll of her eyes. "Did you take a nap today?"

The boy sneered. "I really don't like you." He told the child.

"I really don't like you!" She rolled her neck this time. "And as soon as my mom gets home I'll make sure to tell her about this whole thing, Yasmin."

If Yas took offense to, or even heard, the comment, she gave no indication. "LovieLoves gotta be okay, right?" She directed this question to Beans who offered an unsure shrug of his shoulders.

Yasmin exhaled greatly, turned on her blinker, made another left turn, and then started to speed up. She switched between the middle and left lane, going around car after car. "Why can't I ever have a normal night?" She muttered.

Her depth perception wasn't great and she came close to hitting a brown car, the driver yelling at her. Beans yelped and almost choked on his mints, throwing the open tin back into the glove compartment. "Man slow this shit down! That liquor about to come back up."

Zaria kicked the back of Yasmin's seat. "Where are we going? What are you even doing! You're supposed to look when you switch lanes, even I know that!"

Yasmin locked eyes with her irate sister through the rearview mirror. "It's an emergency Zaria!"

"Can't do anything about it if you're dead, stupid! Too close, too close! Watch where the hell you're going!" The child peeked out of the window.

Yas tensed her shoulders and quickly switched lanes, narrowly hitting the back of a large white van. She blushed and cursed under her breath as Beans inhaled and exhaled loudly. The boy gripped the sides of his seat nervously. "Come on now, Yas!" He checked to make sure his seatbelt was on twice and started hyperventilating making Zaria more nervous than she wanted to be.

"I swear if anything happens to me!"

"Y'all need to calm down!" Yasmin shouted, cutting her sister off. "I know what I'm doing..."

"I'm having flashbacks from Chloe driving," Beans said, clutching his stomach as if he might vomit any time soon.

Yasmin smacked her lips. "Please, Chlizzy is great at a lot of stuff but driving ain't one of'em me on the other hand..." She clutched the wheel tightly and made a sharp turn, loud honking could be heard but Yas didn't care. She just hoped she wasn't about to crash into a car since she couldn't see in front of her. Instead, the car skidded and then swerved onto another street.

—

Twenty minutes and three camera-monitored speeding tickets later, Devon shakily put his car into park and turned to his right, watching as Yara exhaled roughly through pursed lips. They had nearly driven onto someone's lawn, had the flashing red and blue lights from several police vehicles parked in front of a driveway hadn't called for their attention. Stay calm, whatever it is remain calm, Yara told herself as she reached out to open the door on her right. She stumbled out and planted her feet solid on the concrete as she took in her surroundings. Inside his car, Devon rolled down his window and asked. "What is all this?"

The shuffling of feet and distant grumbling let Yara know Yasmin, Beans, and unfortunately Zaria were headed their way. Devon stepped out of the car and pushed his hands into his pockets.

"I'm calling Lovie," Yara announced once her friends were in earshot.

Yasmin nodded, "this is Kelly's house." She trailed off, gazing at the massive property. The air around the house gave off a feeling so foreboding that it caused her to gulp and nearly break out into a cold sweat.

"As in Kelly Rowland," Devon's eyes danced suggestively along with his thick brows.

Beans' arms were over his head, shielding his sensitive eyes from the blinding emergency lights. "And let me tell you, ten out of ten in person, that's with and without makeup, my guy."

Devon pulled an impressed face.

"Really?" Yara threw her free hand in the air, giving Devon an I will kill you stare as she redialed Lovie's number.

"Babe, come on," he said half heartedly. "It's Kelly Rowland."

—

"Where is she?!" Kelendria screamed, eyes bulged, face screwed as she stared at a police officer completely up in arms.

Tim sighed, placing one supportive hand on the small of her back. "Baby, calm down, you're working yourself up again."

"I don't care!" She exclaimed before moving a prostrated limb up to her face to wipe away her impending tears. It felt like they were never ending; bottomless. One would imagine she'd be drowned in her sorrows by now if she weren't careful. "My sister is GOOONE!!" Her voice resounded, producing a biting sound so heartrending it shook both Lovie and Solange to their cores.

The youngest Knowles woman hadn't uttered a word since she and her family had gathered at Kelly's home frantic and in a tizzy following the news of the Carter family's disappearances. Now, looking across the room as Kelly continued her hushed murmurings, Solo's insides felt torn and damaged. She was almost catatonic, staring straight ahead, huge eyes unfocused. That was, until she saw movement in her periphery.

Richard paced. He could not sit still, his heart was aching the longer the minutes ticked by without so much as a phone call from the sheriff's office. They did however send over two beat cops to keep an eye out, who in Tina's words were "good for nothing."

"I feel like I should've been there."

"Angie, nobody could've known." Tina said, standing to rest a warm hand on her niece's shoulder.

She exhaled. "I know I just–" her head fell into her hands.

"Where is my sister?" Kelly asked again, fixing one of the officers with a dark eyed stare. "Y'all haven't told us anything!" She turned to her family. "What are we all sitting around for? JuJu and her girls are MISSING!"

Lovie sighed before she leaned forward in her chair, letting her hands fall between her knees as she looked at the woman in front of her. The teen didn't say anything, too afraid that she'd be singled out by the rage-filled woman and accused of basically treason again. Richard had stopped his pacing, posed instead, waiting for Kelly to continue.

"Something happened to my sister," She craned her neck slowly towards the fidgety policeman standing in the threshold of her family room. "All you people did was take a few pictures of her house and said you'll be conducting an investigation. It's been HOURS and you telling me they haven't found nothing? Not a damn thing?!" The anguish in her voice was starting to match her anger as she pointed one tremulous finger dangerously close to the armed man's flushed face.

"Kelendria!" Tina called out after witnessing the officer's hand resting on his weapon.

"No mama!" Kelly shouted, peering over her shoulder for a second before turning her attention back to the bluecoat. "A black woman and her three black little girls are missing and we're told to wait? Just to sit here and stare at each other looking stupid? Y'all ain't even send out an Amber alert yet! How the fuck are people supposed to be on the look out? Fuck are we waiting for? A ransom call?"

Immediately, Lovie's cheeks flushed a shade of strawberry as the memory of her own ransom call came back to her; nothing about that night was forgotten or lost on her. There weren't any worried faces of family members sitting by the phone madly waiting for a call. No one even bothered to report the Oppong twins missing. No one cared. She could tell because this was what caring actually looked like. Wet faces, pitched voices, and a wave of unease that seemed like it would take the entire room with its rippling tide. With that putrid thought, Lovie adjusted her posture in her seat and prayed that the trembling of her body would halt some time soon. To her left, she could see the uniformed officer's mouth moving into an exaggerated frown at Kelly's questions. The man shook his head trying to get out of it.

"Ma'am I can assure you that our men are working strenuously right now to help locate everyone involved." The officer tried his hand at reassuring the woman but all it earned him was a disbelieving scoff and a low grunt from Richard.

"From what I'm looking at, y'all not doing a damn thing!" Kelly said through her teeth.

"Right!" Angie blurted out, eyes shifting for a moment to the phone in her hand as her thumb hovered over Beyoncé's contact name. She pressed the side button rendering the screen black before sighing. "Please be okay," she whispered.

"I'll go make some tea," Tina announced to be polite. In reality she wanted to put her hands on her ears and shake her head back and forth screaming like a petulant child, but for now, the heavy-hearted woman dragged her feet until she was in the kitchen, isolated from everyone else. Confined with her subconscious. Alone with frenetic thoughts of never seeing her child or grandchildren ever again.

"I can't believe they're just...gone," Angie remarked, exasperated. "It feels like a dream...a nightmare. Then on Blue's birthday out of all the days...poor Bluebey." She said, shaking her head, "should we call the rest of the family? Let'em know what's going on?" Her gaze landed on Solange who had been staring at the floor for quite some time. Lovie's glossed over eyes too landed on Solo, throwing her an emphatic look before leaning in and giving her a small squeeze.

Solange couldn't help but recoil at the touch, which was as much movement she had done since Richard and Tim had to physically help her to the sofa. Lovie upped a brow at the action. The woman seemed light years away, eyes glowering and focused on the auburn skinned girl's daunting midsection. The teen hadn't been cleaned since her harrowing run in at the Carter mansion. The blood that previously soaked her shirt had since dried and festered into a macabre motif so abstract she was sure her psychiatrist might've asked what she saw when she observed it. What crude repressed memory lay beneath the splattering?

"Wait until morning," Richard's voice pulled everyone's attention.

"It is morning," Kelly spat, causing her husband to comfort her with a rub of her back, which she quickly shrugged away before leaning over the back of the sofa, fingers curled over its edges. "They could be anywhere by now."

Angela peered out of the window, watching as the sun peaked its rays into the otherwise grey skies. Tim's expression was tight. He didn't want anyone to know that a pit was starting to grow in his stomach as well. It was very odd for Bey to suddenly disappear with no mention. Surely she would have left a message or a note detailing her whereabouts to her family. Especially if she took off with her children like some of the officers at the scene had suggested. Then there was the matter of the crimson mess that had been left in their wake. Tim's expression was growing grimmer with each passing thought until the officer stepped forward.

"I have a few questions to ask Miss Oppong," he stated, voice gruff and unsure.

Solange peered at Lovie's wide, nervous eyes. They mirrored her own.

"Didn't y'all already question her?" Kelly asked, turning briefly towards her younger sister who remained silent.

The officer's mouth twitched, "I was told to get her statement once more."

"For what?" Angie asked shortly, arms folded across her chest.

"In special cases like this, it's normal for the department to get multiple recounts of what happened. Witnesses tend to remember smaller details once they're more...relaxed."

"More relaxed?" Kelly's eyes were bulging from her skull again. "You think she's relaxed right now? How can she be relaxed? Her best friend is missing and she's filthy! Covered in God knows who's blood!"

The officer tapped his department issued notepad with his pen searching his brain for what to say next.

"It's fine," Lovie huffed, keeping her voice calm.

Richard sighed, checking his watch and began his attempt at marching a man-sized hole into the perfectly waxed flooring.

—

Shawn sat in the interrogation room, unmoving, barely breathing. His eyes were locked on the table in front of him, as if the glazed wood would give him the answers that the world had denied him. He didn't look up when the female police officer walked into the room, a folder in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. She set them both down on the table in front of him, perfectly parallel to each other, and sat down across from him. The officer tapped her pen on the table; three short raps, pause, repeat. Seemingly unaware of his movements, Shawn's arm jerked out and he grabbed the pen. Without looking at her he tossed it on the floor. She didn't seem fazed.

"You know why you're here, of course," she said conversationally, flipping open the folder. When he didn't answer, she leaned back and took a sip of the coffee, then pulled a face and carefully put the mug back down. "Vending machine stuff. Tastes like crap."

This was apparently said for humor, but Shawn didn't notice. He hadn't even blinked since the woman entered the room. She'd encountered the strong-silent type before. She also encountered the I-know-I'm-guilty-and-I'm-not-talking-without-my-l awyer type. He didn't seem like either of those. In fact, she wasn't sure he could even hear her. He seemed worlds, dimensions, away.

"I'm going to have to ask you a few questions," she tried, hoping for a response. Nothing. "We found you in your foyer standing next to a shaken teenage girl covered in blood."

At this, Shawn closed his eyes, whether to remember the event more clearly or to try to repress it she wasn't sure. But it was movement at least, so she used this momentum to propel the conversation.

"Your wife and children are...unaccounted for," she said, picking her words carefully.

His eyes fluttered open, but he didn't look at her. He looked at the blood dried under his nails, and smeared across his palms. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something but nothing came out aside from a slight grunt. He closed his mouth again and absently flicked some dried blood off his hand.

"Listen, you have to help me out here." She said gently. "This won't turn out good for anyone if you don't tell us what happened...what really happened. Clearly something went on in that house. I mean, look at your hands. From the looks of it, you or someone else have   been through something traumatic, and sometimes that can make people reluctant to talk. You go into shock...retreat into yourself, and shut the world away. But I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened. Or even if you remember what happened. Do you remember?"

FLASHBACK

"WHAT DID YOU DO?! This some type of RETALIATION SHIT?!" Jay wrapped his arms around Lovie's trembling body in an attempt to lift her off the floor.

PRESENT

"Mr Carter? Did you hear anything I just said?"

Shawn furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her, slumping down in his chair. His Adam's apple bobbed before he asked the simple question. "Do you have a family, detective?"

The officer looked at him, her eyes softening. "Sorry?"

The man sat up, locking eyes and staring daggers into the prying woman's quizzical face. "Kids...a husband?" His eyes panned to her slicked back ponytail and loose fitting jeans along with her slightly oversized navy blue shirt. "Or a wife...whatever floats your boat."

The officer chuckled derisively, scooting closer to the table, "One boy, he's almost nine and a shitty ex husband who only sees his kid on holidays." Her eyes flickered toward the folders in front of her before she sighed heavily. "Look Mr Carter, you've been in this room for hours. Don't you think it's time to start saying something that might help us out here?"

Shawn rested his head in his hands before rubbing his weary eyes and looking towards the detective again. "Y'all are a fucking joke." He muttered.

The woman stared for a while, a look of distaste crossing her features. "I'm only trying to help you, but if you don't tell us the truth about what happened you'll be in an orange jumpsuit any moment now. My boss wanted you booked the second you were brought in. I bought you some time. You have to help me help you..."

Shawn suddenly jumped to his feet, kicking the chair with so much force that it went crashing into the wall behind him. "Help me?! You wanna fucking help me? You can start by not wasting fucking time asking me stupid shit! I already told y'all what the fuck went down! I came home and found one of my daughter's friends on the floor! That's it! You should be out there looking for my wife and my motherfucking kids!" His voice cracked on the last word as he did his best to fight back the onslaught of tears threatening to take over his face. "My family is gone," he let out an exaggerated breath, leaning over the wood table with his head ducked. "Somebody took them." His fingers fidgeted at the mere thought, bringing his attention back to the crusted over russet flakes that were previously warm and thick like ketchup. He lifted his head revealing a grief stricken face complete with red rimmed eyes and furrowed brows. "You have to find them!" He spat out angrily, while banging his fist against the table.

The woman opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. She turned to see one of the uniformed officers assisting  on this case enter with a single sheet of paper folded in his hand. "Detective Wells," he said in greeting. "Boss said to rush this to you." He handed her the paper and walked off but not before throwing Shawn a sideways glance.

Detective Wells toyed with the paper in her hand. She stood, walking towards the door and leaning against it. "Can you have a seat?" She asked gently. She didn't want to alarm him. He had that look in his eyes, like a wild animal that was cornered, and no one ever knew if it was going to turn on them or start tearing itself apart in its desperate bid to escape.

"Mr Carter," she said, motioning to his chair that was turned over in the corner. She waited by the door for his response, not wanting to go any closer in case he started feeling really trapped.

Shawn sighed, taking a few steps towards his chair. He lifted it with one arm and dragged it closer to the table. The woman cringed at the screeching sound it made but otherwise remained silent, watching as the man threw himself down into the seat. She cautiously went over to the table, keeping her movements smooth and slow. He didn't move as she took her seat across from him, and only gave her a quick look as she unfolded the paper.

Biting her lip, detective Wells spared Shawn a glance. "We took a sample of the blood from the crime scene."

His hands unconsciously went into a fist beneath the table. His home was now being referred to as a crime scene. Who would've thought?

Silence fell over them, the two existing seemingly on opposite sides of the world. Shawn had his head ducked slumped in his chair, wordlessly mouthing something that was probably either a confession or a prayer. Detective Wells couldn't tell. "Results came back..." To her surprise Shawn glanced up at her, but then his eyes clouded over and he resumed staring at the floor.

Clasping his palms together, he continued his quiet murmurings. It was then the detective confirmed that the man was indeed sending a request to the big man upstairs. He didn't know exactly what he was praying for. If he pleaded with God, or begged for the blood to belong to someone other than his wife that would mean it belonged to one of three kids. He was sure of it. There was this nasty gut twisting feeling that caused vomit to hold a place at the back of his throat. This was all so fucked up.

Yet again, silence fell over them. The detective shifted, and scratched her forehead preparing to give the disheartening news. With a sigh, she started to speak. "The blood belongs to your wife."

She waited for a huff reaction but ultimately, all the man could do was nod weakly. No one said anything for a moment.

"Mr Carter, this is more than enough evidence for an arrest. With the amount of blood found at the scene, there's no doubt in my mind that the homicide unit would want to bulldoze their way into this case. It's high profile...bound to give somebody around here a raise... You gotta work with me. You said that you left the house around midnight. Where did you go?"

"Uh." Finally finding his voice, Shawn was able to formulate the words he was missing. "A bar."

She gave him a withering look, as if wondering why in the hell he'd leave the comfort of his home that late for a drink when he had plenty of alcohol at his disposal. "A bar...were you meeting with someone?"

He cleared his throat and then mumbled something inaudible before saying, "no."

Detective Wells opened one of the folders, skimming quickly. "It says here that your youngest daughter, Blue, had a birthday today...excuse me, sorry, yesterday. I hate it when the days all merge into one." She flipped to another page. "Must've had some big soirée or whatever the rich say." She paused, studying a rather gruesome image of the crime scene. A photo of the family portrait stained with blood splatter. "Do you usually leave the house at two in the morning to go to the bar?"

Feeling his body sag a bit and exhaustion catching up with him, he mumbled another "no." He knew this looked bad. He knew they were trying to build a case against him, but he didn't want to lawyer up just yet. It would only make him look more guilty.

"Then why tonight?"

FLASHBACK

"Why do you always do that?" Beyoncé asked as a cold knot formed in her chest. She was having trouble catching her breath and her cool façade started to crumble. It felt like her chest was wrapped in steel bands.

He gave her a disgusted face. "What?"

"Leave when things get hard? You walk away like that's gonna help the situation." She said through blurred vision.

He didn't blink and stayed silent for a long time. Bey felt she was out of breath, her head hot. She searched him for an answer. Anything. Shawn shook his head and let out another weary sigh. "Because I don't like arguing and sometimes I need some air before we have certain conversations." His voice trailed off as he stared at her.

Bey wiped at a fallen tear and hung her head low, staring down at her feet. "Just an hour?" She asked.

She felt him caress her cheek. "An hour to get my thoughts together." His thumb caught her chin and kept it raised so they were eye to eye

PRESENT

"I needed to get some air." Was all the man offered.

There were a few quiet beats before detective Wells snorted. "I'm sorry, it's just that usually when people need some air they step out on the porch. You didn't say what bar you went to, but your home is basically remote. There's no bar close in range which means you had to drive what, six, seven odd miles to get a drink?"

Shawn didn't offer anything up.

"Were you and your wife having marital issues?"

He ran his hand over his face and sighed. "Every couple has issues.."

The woman looked pointedly at him. "Did you and your wife have issues last night? The night of your daughter's birthday? The night your family disappeared?"

A slight crease formed in between his brows as he tried to process the question. "Yes."

The detective crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat. "Regarding what?"

Though out of character, Shawn figured it was best to get everything out in the open. It was the quickest way to leave this pigsty and start the search for his family himself. "She told me she was pregnant."

Wells tilted her head a little and looked at him inquisitively, clearly not understanding his reply. "And that was a problem?"

He took a deep breath. "Not necessarily a problem but it was unexpected news. Both of our jobs are demanding, especially my wife's, she on tour right now. We was just getting to a place where everything was going fine. We was slowly but surely getting to some sort of normalcy. It was hard at first because our two oldest have." He was searching his brain. "Emotional issues and with Blue being so young that means all of them take up most of our time when we ain't working. But besides that, Chloe and Halle were adjusting well.  All of our girls were on tour with Bey and loving it..." he trailed off.

"And you got upset because another baby would ruin your normalcy...break your routine," Wells pushed.

Pursing his lips, Shawn looked down to think and formulate proper thoughts- figuring out how to word it best. "No and yes; I ain't get upset. I was more shocked than anything. I mean this came out of nowhere. It's not like we was planning..." He shifted in his seat. "She said I was acting like I ain't want the baby and that I should've been grateful that we were able to create life together again." He sighed before letting out a sad chuckle. "And the reality is...I am. It just took me some time to reach that point. Of course I want my baby. I'm a family man first. That's why I'm telling you that you barking up the wrong tree. I could never in my entire life harm any of them. They are the reason I work so hard, the reason I take in breath everyday. You wasting your time talking to me any longer than you have, detective. We could be out there looking for them. You already said that the blood was my wife's." He swallowed before speaking again. "That means somebody hurt her and it's bad. That same person we talking about? They have my children." He stressed. "Don't you understand that I need to get outta here? It's morning. They could be half way across the country for all I know." He glared so hard Wells was worried that his eyeballs might fall out of his head.

She nodded, eyebrows raised to the ceiling. "Well, Mr Carter. I have to say that all fingers point to you. We have a fifteen year old girl, Lovie, such a beautiful name, who gave a statement to one of our officers stating you for lack of a better term attacked her."

"I freaked out when I realized my family was missing." He rushed out. "I admit I overreacted and I apologize for that but what was I supposed to do at that moment? She was the only one there and she was covered in blood that wasn't hers."

Detective Wells leaned forward, pressing her palms flat against the table. "Call the police like a normal person? We could have you arrested for that alone. You know that right?" Her voice was gruff as she leaned back in her chair. "Speaking of call," her eyes moved to her folders. "Upon further inspection, crime scene investigators discovered that the telephone lines had all been cut, along with the internet connection. So essentially Mrs Carter had no way to call for help even if she tried. Her and her children—

"Our children," Shawn corrected.

The detective squinted. "They were sitting ducks. We tried tracking their cells and drew a blank. But don't worry, once the electrical company gets on location, all of that camera footage will be ours. Anything you wish to say before we see what actually happened?"

Shawn blinked rapidly and then said, "how long would it take for the electrical people to get there?"

Again Wells raised her brows, "why? Scared of what we might find?"

"No," he shook his head, wondering why he hadn't thought of this before. "It's just my wife's laptop...all of the back up footage from our cameras are stored there. It'll be faster if you just look there."

"Mr Carter, are you well?" She asked.

He made a face as if she were crazed for asking. "What?"

She stood only to move behind her chair, gripping the back of it as she leaned forward. "When we first brought you in, we asked you about the laptop. You swore that you didn't know your wife's password. Our intelligence unit is working to hack it as we speak."

The man sat there stunned. He admitted that he had been out of it once the officer closed the door to the back of the squad car, but had he really been having full conversations without being present? Without remembering them? He shook his head trying to do away with the confusion and cloudiness that was his brain. "I'm sorry, I ain't slept since yesterday."

She nodded, standing at her full height. "Do you know the password?"

"I don't. My wife, she's anal about that type of stuff. Her laptop has all of her business on it. If somebody was to hack it l—she'd go crazy. She kept her password to herself."

Detective Wells surveyed the man; he was a mess of wrinkled clothes, shaky hands, and bags under his eyes that seemed to have aged him ten years overnight. "I just find it odd," she stated.

He let out a huff, "what?"

"That a husband wouldn't know his wife's password."

"I know her passwords to everything else, her socials, her phone, hell even all of her banking information, but her laptop? She wouldn't give that to anyone."

"Not even her husband?" She coaxed.

Shawn looked downcast. "Not even her husband," he confirmed, sadly.

Wells sat firmly on her chair, and folded her arms. Her green eyes flashed with contempt, and her red hair formerly in a ponytail now hung around her shoulders, her blue shirt almost grey in the dimly lit room. "Again we're back to square one. You have to see it from my point of view."

"What point of view is that? The one where I hurt my wife and hid my kids somewhere?" His heart thumped a beat.

"You said it, not me," she shrugged.

"Tsss," he rubbed his face.

"Do you have many enemies?"

Shawn didn't answer.

Detective Wells opened her second folder, flipping from page to page. "Guy like you must have crossed a lot of bridges to get where you are... Nobody becomes a billionaire solely off of hard work and decent investments. The police, we're not oblivious to the things that go on in the streets. We're well aware of almost every illegal business trade that goes on in this area, and frankly, Mr Carter, your name comes up quite a bit."

"I don't know what you talking about," the man rasped. He tried to keep his voice strong, commanding, but the weariness was clawing at his awareness.

"Do you understand that your words are being recorded and observed by more than half of the on duty officers in this building?"

Shawn shrugged, leaning his body into the back of his chair. "I need to speak with my lawyer."

"Yes or no, Mr Carter," said the uncaring detective, mirroring the man's movements.

"I understand, yes, but-"

"But you still choose to lie...even with what's at stake..." Wells said coldly, unceremoniously finishing his sentence.

A small twitch started at the edges of his mouth, "I'd like to speak with my lawyer."

"Unbelievable," she hissed, standing to make her exit. She halted once her hand touched the doorknob, peering over her shoulder to say her lasting words. "The first forty eight hours are the most crucial when dealing with a missing persons case. The chances of us finding your family alive and well decreases by eighty percent after that. I suggest you get your priorities checked, Mr Carter." Wells thought she caught something like regret in the man's eyes before she flung the door open and made her exit.

—

One time I took a swim in the Nile. I swam the whole way, I didn't turn around, man, I swear
It made me relax when I came down. I felt liberated like free birds, I'm stimulated now. Plunging away 'less my body's on top. All of these currents might cost me my life, right now. Where danger finds me, it follows with tides. Many miles ahead of me, still I'm in stride.

She heard voices for a long time. Whispers and half-words. Rumblings - disjointed syllables. Sometimes, it was as though she was laying at the bottom of a warm bath, eavesdropping through thin walls. Often, the sounds seemed vast and far away; echoes from the other end of a long, long tunnel. The soft lilt of pleading words remained confusing; her consciousness a heavy fog, struggling to make sense of the clamour.

"Mommy...please momm...Chl-I don't thin...where...taking us?"

Time was divided into the very fast and the very slow. How long had it been since she first felt the soft, downy comfort of a foreign mattress beneath her? She couldn't say. Couldn't think. Thoughts thick and cloying, she couldn't pierce through the haze long enough to make sense of it.

"You're alr...fuck- still bleeding- pull over..."

Awareness ebbed and flowed like the sea, everywhere and all at once, and then - darkness. A blanket encompassing everything that was her sight and her lungs until she couldn't breathe - and yet, somehow, managed to surface.

"She's...is sh...mama? Can you hear...Please!...help her!"

Slowly, be it days or weeks or eternities since she had been in somebody else's bed, she began to drag her way out of the dark; the diffusion of sleep marked by a ringing in both ears that had her simultaneously alert and afraid. It had been so long since she had been aware of any specific feeling. Her body was foreign - skin too tight, limbs loose and almost liquid.

"What are y...mama? Ma...is she...? Mama  it's me...it's Chl...can you...?"

The first signs of light told her that she must have opened her eyes, but her head was sluggish and not-quite-there, the air in front of her face dazzling and toobrighttoobrighttoobright. Her lips parted like old parchment, and a quiet breath of a groan was all she could manage, until she was almost ready to give in and burrow back into the dark.

And then, a different voice. Familiar and coarse, and like a leaky tap, memories began to trickle through her muddled brain. A warm hand traveling up her bare thigh, a demanding voice telling her to lay back. Menacing eyes.

"Bey, baby? I know you mus... really confused...it's o..." A males voice broke through her panic to grab her attention.

She blinked, and was conscious of blinking. With that, awareness crashed into her quickly. She would have shot upwards, were it not for the heaviness of her body. Instead, she groaned again, shying away when the sliver of vision she had was overcome by a dark, shadowy figure.

"Bey? Look at me, Hey, you alright, it's me, it's - "

She didn't look, her body outright refusing. The sounds of movement, her head was spinning, and then somebody wiped tears from her eyes and the blurry shape in front of her began to take a more solid form. With trembling, unsteady fingers, Beyoncé reached up to weakly push the hand away when it hovered over her face again.

"Bey," the man calmly spoke her name.

Don't look at him

It was a warning from some part of her. She shouldn't look at him, but if he was a threat, she had to face him at some point. Turning her head a little too fast, she took in what she saw of him quickly in a single once over. A very tall man with dark skin, an unkempt fade, scruffy beard, dressed in simple clothes. A clean, fitted white shirt, dark navy blue jeans, she couldn't see if he had on any shoes. He was middle aged and so incredibly handsome that Bey would blush if it weren't for her crisis right now.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

She looked around nervously on how to answer. Who was he? Why was he here with her? Did she know him? Were they close at all? Her mind slowly answered for her.

"Mi-" She hadn't spoken in quite some time, so when she did speak she almost immediately winced. "M-Mike?" she tried again, mouth impossibly dry, tongue thick and out of practice.

The man in front of her looked like he hadn't rested in days, dark smudges beneath baleful eyes. He was perched on the edge of the bed, staring intently; worried. The world slid in and out of focus, and Bey raised her palm to her forehead, willing everything to stop and just, make sense.

Now she was trying to remember everything. Whose bed she was in? Couldn't remember. What was her job? Couldn't remember. What did she do a few months ago? Couldn't remember. What was yesterday? Couldn't remember. What did she do before opening her eyes? Absolutely positively could not remember. Was she suffering from Alzheimer's? What was the cause of this massive blackout?

"H...how?" She tried, after a beat, mindful of the pillows propped behind her back that were the only things keeping her sitting even slightly upright. "Whe–where...?"

The words wouldn't come as she wanted them to, speech stuttered and fragmented. This caught his attention to be more concerned. She was having trouble connecting anything, including mind to body. Vaguely, she wondered if she had ingested something, been slipped some kind of drug, but the thought trailed idly away like smoke, until she realised Mike was talking and scrambled to catch up.

"... the blood, I didn't know if you... well, how you feeling? Anyways...You must be thirsty - hold on."

He stood from the bed and with a great deal of effort Bey tracked the movement. He was pouring water from a pitcher on a small table, peering at her every so often, and she felt a pang of hot fear. She didn't know why or how she ended up here, but what she did know was those eyes held something sinister behind them.

"There you go, baby," He said softly, moving to stand at her bedside. He began to hand Beyoncé the glass. She tried, really tried, but moving her arm was a strain she could not have imagined - weak fingers struggled to find purchase on the smooth surface, uncoordinated, and the man took over while he looked down, ashamed of something she didn't understand.

"Here," Mike leaned forward, holding the water to her dry lips. "Take it easy, you've been asleep for quite some time. No need to rush yourself, hmm?"

After greedily slurping as much liquid as she could, Bey moved her face away, letting out a small sigh. She looked up, wishing the room wouldn't move back and forth so much, and made another attempt at speech.

"I—I don't..." she dared a look nervously between the man and the door, stomach somersaulting a little at the action. "How—h-how... long? W-what...?"

She didn't notice the uneasy look he gave her, only now blinking at her unfamiliar surroundings. The room was small, what looked to be a guest bedroom, in a house she did not recognise. A dresser, an empty frame, the bed and adjoining table were the only objects she could see. The wallpaper was peeling at the edges, but if she focused on that for too long her mind would grow stagnant and muddy.

"Bey?" Mike began, drawing her wandering attention back to the conversation. He was leaning forward, one hand on the blankets where her knee rested beneath. "What do you remember?"

"Huh...?" Her brows furrowed, and she looked into the face of the man who shouldn't be anywhere near her, struggling. "I, uh... I - I don't... where... how l-long?"

She frowned. Everything was hard. Thinking was hard, and she felt like an infant learning speech for the first time. Her mind was leaking absent thoughts in every direction and it was as though she had to keep pushing them together. For the umpteenth time, she felt true fear.

Mike's face was paling, and he shared a barely-noticeable look of concern before trying to coax her into talking again. She stayed quiet, directing her gaze at the bed, eyes red-rimmed and watery.

"Bey," the too-gentle tone didn't suit this man. "Bey, d'you...can you understand me?"

She felt ice in the pit of her stomach and gulped rapidly. He thinks she has brain damage. He thinks she's gone wrong. Why would he think she's gone wrong? Incompetent? She needed to focus.

"Y-y-yes," she grit her teeth, staring at the man, trying to make him understand. She didn't understand where she was, or how she got there, or what happened to her, and collecting her thoughts into some sort of order was like cupping running water. She felt like crying. She felt absolutely exhausted, and yet, knew she couldn't have been awake for more than ten minutes.

"I...I'm...n-not deaf..." she felt a small sense of relief.

The harder she forced herself to focus, the easier it was to push words out. "I... I d-don't kn—ow where... w-where we...are. What hap-nd - w-why can't I think?"

Explaining exactly how she couldn't think would be impossible, but she hoped Mike could understand. And he seemed to, shoulders dropping with a very weak exhale, free hand scrubbing across a thickening beard.

"God," she breathed, face contorting into an exaggerated frown. The room around her throbbed with her own heartbeat.

"Bey," Mike said slowly, as though what he was about to say would be difficult. "You were hurt pretty bad. Your head...I thought maybe there would be some damage, but I couldn't tell until you woke up. You were in an accident..." A shadow of anger crossed his face, darkening his eyes before he continued. "But don't worry too much. Just give yourself some time and you'll get better- you still healing."

The blonde frowned at the news, irritated despite her best efforts. Her fingers clenched around the bedsheets, praying for the room to stop spinning so she could focus. Mike cleared his throat. "Do you remember anything from yesterday?"

A beat of silence followed the question.

"I r'memeber..." Bey stopped, trying her hardest to think clearly. What little memories she did have were hazy at best like waking up at two in the morning on the couch to ancient jazz music blasting through the television speakers. "I...I rem'ber m-my mama...s-she came to the school with a bat...f-for you."

She looked back to face him with a cold glare right into his eyes and then the darkness just surrounded her. Everything after that is gone until this very morning. It felt like this happened years ago, but exactly how long? She wasn't sure.

"Did - did that actually...? My m-ama? A bat?"

Mike smiled in obvious amusement. "Yeah like twenty years ago."

Beyoncé tried not to think about that too much, knowing that if she did, it would only bring more pain to her already pounding head. But had he said twenty years ago?

"Keep going," Mike prodded, gently guiding her back to the conversation. "What else do you remember?"

"I..." she tried to take herself back to anywhere really, and after a few moments, a slow trickle of memories began to filter through her foggy consciousness.

"Mama w-worried...she saw—I h-had," she grit her teeth forcing the words. "H-had to calm-mm her d-down..."

Her fists were clenched in frustration, nails digging into both palms as she struggled. Try as she might, it was incredibly difficult not to feel embarrassed at the barely coherent words tumbling out.

"I-I'm not s-ure...I...I think..." she stopped, her mother's face floating to the forefront of her mind. It had been twisted in shock, and then rage at the condition in which Bey was in at the time.

Mike watched in concern as the woman tried to speak, mouth opening and closing rapidly.

"Bey," the man moved forward, resting his hand on her still closed fist. "Are you alright?"

Beyoncé paused, gaze firmly on the bedding, not looking up.

"Y-y-you...Y...y-you," she could feel herself fighting harder to push words out, distracted as more memories began to form. Her mother had been furious. Bey had a sudden flash of sixteen year old Kelly hurrying young Solange into the living room. The blonde recalled the horrified expression on Kelendria's face as the teen looked back at her just before Tina closed the bathroom door. As if she knew that something unpleasant was coming.

Bey's breath began to quicken - air coming in sharp spurts, chest burning - and she felt frighteningly helpless. Mike was talking, saying something she couldn't understand; the sounds coming from one end of the tunnel once more, hollow and windy.

She realized she didn't want to know what happened after her mother closed that door. It took her a few minutes to notice Mike was saying her name. The man was standing now, both hands on her shoulders, beady eyes searching her face for something.

"Bey—Beyoncé! It's okay. Calm down, we don't have to talk anymore- just breathe. Relax. Come on, baby, breathe for me, nice and slow."

She looked up at the man, trying her hardest to take the advice, taking in large gulps of air.

"I-I do—n't...I d-don't want t-to r'member..." she grinded the words out from between her teeth, struggling. "I don't...y...you...so angry..."

The memories did not trickle now. Rather they barraged her, overcoming her senses until her whole body was trembling beneath the blankets, hands shaking violently as Mike tried to hold them. She was told again to breathe, and thought that she was breathing and why couldn't he see that?

After a long period, what could have been a lifetime and could have been ten minutes, Bey's breathing was back to semi normal. Still, with the man hovering above her, she was panicking. Through the midst of her frenzy, she managed to think that wherever she was she must've been in pretty bad shape if her body truly wouldn't allow her to move away from this man. He was murmuring a series of orders. Stay still, keep breathing, and relax. But how could she do any of those things with this extra weight holding her in place and a jumbled brain that had long ago lost all control of her body?

Mike let go of her hands and Bey's focus went to the door, and the way it glowed, blurring in and out of focus in the weak light filtering through the curtains. Her breath wheezed out of her lungs and skated through clenched teeth, and somewhere in the background she registered yelling, no screaming. There was no doubt in her mind that it was a child. A girl. The voice continued to call out for her mother, a sickly low bellow that for some reason sent her heart lurching. Mike snapped out a sharp, "Shut the fuck up!" Towards the door. And then all at once Bey felt bowled over with exhaustion.

Mike's hands moved to her shoulders, and as Bey's eyes began to slip closed, she was lowered backwards so that she was laying down once more.

"There you go," he said quietly, and she felt the man brushing a few pesky tendrils of hair away from her face. It felt nice - strange, but nice - and she leaned into the touch slightly, the hum of sleep drawing her in. "You're mine now..."

As she fell further and further into unconsciousness, fragments of weeping children made their way to her ears, but she paid them no mind, succumbing to blissful oblivion.

—

"So you have the husband, a uhh," the aged police captain tipped his glasses and squinted at a piece of paper. "Shawn Carter in custody?"

Detective Wells nodded. "He's not under arrest just yet...brought him in to answer a few questions." She sighed, crossing her arms. "Son of a bitch lawyered up a few hours after he arrived."

"Where is he now?" The captain asked.

"This way," the detective motioned for the team to follow her. She had her right hand man, Steve, who she used as a consultant every blue moon. A responding officer who was first at the crime scene, and the department liaison, Rachel, who was working on a press conference.

In the interrogation room, Shawn was talking with a man in a suit – his lawyer. They were talking softly with one another, and Wells couldn't hear what they were saying. After observing them for a few minutes, she walked to the door of the interrogation room and entered.

The white haired man—Wells hadn't caught his name — looked up. "Would you mind giving us a few minutes? My client is allowed to consult with an attorney before any interrogation. I would also like to point out that he has not yet received a Miranda warning, although he has been asked questions. You do realize that anything said during questioning before one is informed of their rights is inadmissible in court, even if it is repeated afterwards? Nineteen sixty six, Miranda v. Arizona, Supreme Court. Miranda confessed guilt but couldn't be convicted. Fifth and sixth amendment. Need I continue?"

Wells had to admit she was a little thrown back. Shawn was holding in his input. However, he couldn't say that the man wasn't right.

"How much time do you need?" Wells wasn't planning on granting him that time if it took longer than half an hour, but it was only polite to ask.

"Six minutes, I think," the lawyer said.

Wells was surprised at how precise the man was. She nodded and left the room.

Outside, she turned to her captain who asked. "Was he right about the Miranda warning?"

The detective flushed a little. "He is," she grumped. "As I said before sir, technically he wasn't arrested...just brought in for questioning."

Steve, who was watching Shawn through the screen, spoke. "Has he admitted to anything yet? Because his lawyer is right, even if he repeats it after you've given him the warning, it will be inadmissible as evidence."

"No," the detective grumped again. "He hasn't."

They watched Shawn and his lawyer conversing for a few minutes.

"He's sticking to his original story?" Steve asked.

"So far," Wells spoke. Just then, the lawyer stood and knocked at the door. The detective looked at the clock and saw that it had been exactly six minutes.

That was just plain creepy.

"My client and I are ready for you," the lawyer spoke. "I am Robert Bradford. My client wishes to speak with those highest in the chain of command, which I don't believe is you."

Wells raised her eyebrows but decided to humor the request. She stepped out and returned with her captain.

"My name is Captain Gutierrez. To avoid any confusion - You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any further questioning...which you've already covered, clearly. If you decide to answer any more questions should your attorney leave, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to your attorney. Do you understand?"

Shawn wiped at his face. "Can't believe this shit man." He muttered then sat up. "Yes, I understand I may have an attorney present during the answering of any questions. I understand that everything I say may be used against me in a court of law. I understand I may retract or exercise my rights as I see fit. I understand I do not have to answer any questions." He paused. "Was that conclusive?"

After all this wasn't his first time being arrested nor his second or third. With the morbid thoughts bouncing around in his head he knew this wouldn't be his last. Once he posted bail, he vowed to play the executioner to any and everybody who had anything to do with yesterday's and today's events.

—

Fulfill the prophecy. Be something greater. Go make a legacy. Manifest destiny
                                                —Mama

The second time Bey awoke, the room was silent, and she swam back into consciousness slowly once more, prying her inflamed eyelids apart and blinking the stubborn heaviness away. The room, which she recognised this time, (but still could not fathom where she was) was lit by the pale sunlight trickling in through the far window. Though her vision was blurry, she figured it couldn't be well past sunup.

After a while laying there, trying to make herself believe that this was some strange fever dream, she tried to move. Her hand trembled as she fumbled mercilessly for the edge of the bed, attempting to pull herself into a sitting position. Falling just shy of her goal, her arm lay flat on the rough, filthy, egg-white sheets. "Mmm," she groaned, clenching her eyes closed for dear life. She couldn't think straight, words and memories disconnected and foggy; her body ached, and her head throbbed a disconcerting rhythm. BA BUM...BA BUM. "Mmmm," the woman griped louder this time, turning her head costively to the left and again to the right, letting out small whimpers as she stewed in her own discomfort. She felt nauseous, as though she'd been rocking back and forth in the ocean. Its waves, and her biliousness alike in their fight to find extant serenity.

"G-God," she whispered, rendering her mind closer to combustion than it's ever been.

She laid quietly for a long time, focusing on the whirls in the corners of the ceiling; the cracks and scratches in the worn baby blue wallpaper. Squinting, she could see that there were tiny specs of both light and dark green ebbing and flowing through the lousy taste in wall decor. The smell of rotting wood and mold wafted up her nostrils every few seconds. Was it from the leaky pipes? Why was it so hot in here? And why was she worried about these strange things when everything about her surroundings was unfamiliar and hostile in its feel? Sweat trickled from her forehead as slow as molasses, pooling in the space between her neck and shoulder. Over the constant drip...drip...drip echoing from her right, she heard the sound from before. A child. A tenacious one she assumed because once again they were calling out for their mother, voice harsh yet fatigued and overflowing with wretchedness; grief. She could tell the child was very young. Younger than ten but older than four? Maybe.

The sound made the woman halt her movements, eyes flashing to the door then down at her stiff fingertips. She gulped or at least tried to, but there was no excess saliva to coat her dry throat.

Another "mommy" resounded, almost shaking the room by its hinges. The blonde began to move again. It took everything, but her fingers were curved around the sheets, trembling and weakened. Her elbows dug deep into the bed, a sad attempt at pushing herself up, but once she heard a man's voice booming at full volume demanding the child to be quiet, she fell back, eyes glued to the ceiling all wild and crazed. "No no no no no no," she whispered over and over and over again. Her body was stark, frozen in time. Her fists grew tighter around the sheets. Her mouth was fixed into a flat line as she laid there motionless. Skin colorless, mind—dead, body spiritless.

"I-It'ss not r-real. It's n-ot r-r-real. It's not real," she managed to get the muscles in her eyelids to obey her as she squeezed them shut. "H-he's not real. This—This is jus—thi-th-this i-i-iss j-just a-a dream." She whispered.

"I'm sorry!"

Bey flinched as another scream sounded. This time from another child, possibly a little older she assumed because the voice was a tad more mature. Her fingers were burning from the grip, practically turning her whole hand a tint of blooming roses. "I-it's a dr-eam." She writhed in place as she heard the man's voice yelling once more, spewing curses so vile she was sure he'd paint the walls coal-black with his villainous tirade. The screaming, his tone, his words and the conviction behind them took her away. She closed her eyes as her mind began to travel to unmentionable depths.

She remembered...bits and pieces, snapshots of her past so far: her sweet sixteen, the first time she heard herself on the radio, Destiny's Child getting their first record deal. She also recalled the harrowing day, which sounded like a bad joke or the beginning of a very strange dream, except that she had been there and she knew it happened; could still feel the absolute horror and pain of her attack. The helpless, longing feeling that followed her around like a fog afterwards. Long, empty hours spent laying on her bed, throat dry and body aching for days and days, and the eventual snaking thought she couldn't control any longer; am I going to die here? Will this bed just swallow me up?

She didn't let herself linger on those memories, stubbornly forcing her sluggish mind to the ceiling once more, counting the watermarks. She lost track each time, and started over, blinking slow and heavy, one, two, three... She hoped the roof wouldn't cave in, although she might've been cooler if it did.

Were she thinking a little more quickly, or a little more rationally, she might've been more preoccupied with getting out of the unfamiliar bed, leaving this unfamiliar room and finding out where, exactly, she was. Or perhaps, how she had gotten there. She didn't think she'd make it to the door, though. Besides, she had a warm, dreamlike memory of Mike at her bedside that was hard to ignore, and that thought alone made her stomach sour.

And she was still so very tired...

Am I? Am I going to die here?

"You want to die here? Huh?" Mike's blustering voice snaked under the shut door, withering its way up the side of the bed and brushed Bey's ears with a cruel cradle.

"Stop it! Just leave her alone!" Another familiar voice screamed.

She couldn't recall why the cry was so homespun. Was it the delivery? The inflection?

She searched her brain until it hit a cog in the system.

"MOMMY I'M SO SORRY," the recollection ricocheted off of the crevices crowding her mind until it was all she could hear. "MAMA!" Images of tear stained cheeks, the feel of delicate hands shaking her limp shoulders, and a continuing whimpering sound just above her. Bey piqued a brow at this memory, squirming and twitching yet barely moving.

Soft, terrified gasps, tremulous moans, and the occasional weak sob punctuated the desperate silence of the room. A series of ghastly screams ripped through the stillness, effectively jarring Beyoncé from her foggy path down memory lane. After several minutes, the screams calmed back to the whimpers and gasps. Bey tentatively uncurled from the ball she'd made of herself. Dimly, the woman recalled being stunned from a hit, dragged through some dirt and gravel, and slung onto the bed she now laid in.

There were sounds of a struggle blaring from the walls followed by a high pitched squeal from the first child Bey heard; the youngest. Then a low pain-filled bellow from the second. Why am I here, Bey thought. Which proved to be a mistake because connecting that microscopic notion caused a twinge of pain in her skull which quickly turned into a burning torrent of suffering. However, the woman couldn't focus on her own agony for too long because once again there were sounds seeping through the walls. A slow guttural rasping groan that ended in sniffles and a faint call out

"MOMMY!"

She shot up, now sitting stoic straight in bed, her pain dulling to a steady thudding. The noise coming from her mouth could not be described as breathing. No, her chest felt like it had been charred, incinerated in a blaze so nefarious there couldn't possibly be any survivors. With a snap, her head whipped around towards the door that seemed miles away, hands still gripping the sheets for support.

"Why can't you just leave us alone? What's wrong with you? Can't you see they're just kids? They're scared!"

"I-It's j-ju-ssst a dr—eam. J-ust a-a-a dr-dr-dream." Bey choked out, trying to place the voice with a face, but the discombobulation wouldn't seize. She was on her side now, staring blankly at the door, mind going in and out, overcome with delirium from the intense thoughts of the past.

"Let me GO!" "MAMA MOMMY? Ma!"

The flashes from a moment that seemed to have been years, nearly light years away and yet near-at-hand overwhelmed her to the point where she began to gag.

The blonde hung her head over the side of the mattress, dry heaving until she was satisfied that nothing would come forth. Already in the position to move, she pulled her left arm out from under her, placing her hand firmly on the ground. Though shaky, her hand was level with the cold wooden floor. Next she moved her right hand down so that her lower half of her body was on the bed and the upper half in an awkward push-up position getting ready to crawl. She managed to force herself onto all fours, but she fell to the ground with a thud.

"No! No! I said I'm sorry!" Another scream broke the silence.

Bey paused, lifting her head towards the doorknob.

"MOMMMYYY!" The child's scream was of true agony from the most purist and genuine places of which torture could be inflicted upon; the heart.

The blonde's arms slipped from beneath her. She fell to the floor once more, her chin coming into contact with the dirty aged wood with a loud thwack.

"NO!" Bey screamed.

It was a single but unexpected roar that held every single feeling coursing through the woman as she channeled all of her energy into getting to the door, eyes seeing red. She couldn't figure out why she felt so connected to the wails, but that didn't stop her from pulling at the floorboards until she found herself smack dab in front of the entryway: chest heaving, face wet from sweat and the never ending tears.

"You know better! I shouldn't have to repeat myself with you!"

"Are you insane? She's literally a kid! What are you doing? Stop it!"

That statement alone gave the woman the vitality she needed. Before she knew it, one foot found its way under her body and then the other. She stood, wilted like a fine budding flower void of sunlight, leaning one arm against the wall, to catch herself from fainting. Silence was in the air as the yelling had stopped. Bey began to reach a hand out taking a few fickle steps forward to reach the knob then open the door.

Her rigid movements slowed to a stop. Pausing to stare down at her simple task.

It was possible.

As long as she was living and breathing, of course it was. Her mind nagged at her letting her know that this was the case. She was alive. Oh, and breathing...of course. Right? This wasn't some form of hell? Some phase of purgatory where she was to live in limbo? Revisit some of her nethermost fears?

A frail hand clutched tight air as it moved caustically forward, stretching achingly slow. I did it, thought the woman as three of her fingers barely grazed the tip of the door handle. But the merriment came a bit too soon. BOOM—Heavy footsteps coupled with deep incoherent grumbling drew her attention.

BOOM

Her whole body shivered.

BOOM—more footsteps, closer this time; and such facts were the only ones needed for her to know that Mike was approaching. Who else would stomp around like that? "No, no, no," she whispered.

She worried her lip, confusion set aside as she stared at the door.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the heat in the room felt much heavier than before, and within her place, the blonde felt a dizziness that sent her one free hand upwards with the means of finding any sense of balance. The hand that had lifted swiftly moved against the air until she could reach up to her forehead where she felt a papery patch just above her left eyebrow; then her back started hurting something bad.

"Ah!" She exclaimed.

There was something wrong.

Her dizziness became more pronounced, and the headache that only moments prior had stopped her from twisting the knob, now pushed against her skull like a prominent spark that refused to let her even open her eyes. She wanted to shut out every light despite there being none, she wanted to tell everyone to shut up regardless if no one was speaking, she wanted to—"Bey?" Said a voice right beside her, mimicking the echo of a gunshot; which was why it was no surprise that the woman flinched when she turned around to look into the gazes of the man that walked through the door with a concerned, bewildered expression.

The voice in the back of her head returned, speaking to her in warning. "He'll do it again. Don't look at his eyes." Then disappearing soon after.

Seeing the man out of the corner of her eye, she looked to him and opened her mouth, but ended up with nothing coming out. She froze at the mere sight of him coupled with an overwhelming sense of danger being near. A deep seated glare of hatred naturally crossed her face the longer she stared.

He began speaking. "Baby? Are you alright? You shouldn't be standing." Mike had an emotional range the size of a teaspoon. For him to be so worried, it had to be bad. "You need your rest." He insisted, not showing a sense of aggression toward her, but Bey felt otherwise. Getting no response, he stepped forward and reached a hand out toward her.

"G-get away fro—" She snapped, doing a terrible job of retreating.

"Nah," he cut her off with a wag of his finger. "We passed that...way past that," he smiled a lion's grin.

She eyed him incredulously, stumbling a bit as she attempted to move around. Calmly, Mike grabbed her forearm, bringing the woman close to his chest. He knew it wasn't necessary to use too much force. She was barely standing as is. "That part of our life where you run from me and scream and tell me no is over. That's all behind us. No more of that, okay? We're finally a family now. You don't wanna ruin that, do you?" He pushed a stray tendril of hair behind her ear.

His touch burned, searing her skin like she had been standing too close to an open flame.

"L-let me go! D-don't t-t-to—uch!" She got out.

His expression turned sour at how she was reacting. "What is wrong with you?! Why you acting like this?!" he questioned.

"Th-there's s-s-something wrong wit—with you!"

Mike squeezed her shoulders, forcing her to face him. "What is? What's wrong with me? Huh?"

Flashes of herself in a grandiose bedroom being curled into a ball and covering her face as she sobbed uncontrollably took over. The brief memory ended with Mike throwing his shirt to the floor before grabbing the scantily dressed woman by the hips and sliding her closer to him.

"Y-you're a—a," She croaked, unable to finish her sentence due to the continued spinning of the room.

His expression soured further into a bone chilling glare that sent the woman's hazel eyes searching the floorboards. She barely managed to hear what he mumbled to himself. "...ruining it." Mike said with a grunt.

Seeing his eyes flash with absolute sadness before the darkness swarmed in again, she questioned what he meant, but didn't dare allow her thoughts to form into actual words.

"Mommy!" The first disembodied voice from earlier sounded.

Without much of a thought, Bey inched towards the door; her curiosity overpowering her while the man leaned forward to watch the blonde's every move. Wonder was the only thing upon her mind as she wrapped her hand around the knob, this time successfully turning and opening it.

She didn't know how she hadn't heard, or even noticed Mike move, but by the time she looked up, the man was inches away from her. "Did I say you could leave this room?" He slammed the door shut, nearly nicking the woman's fingers.

She sighed, turning to face him.

The depth of her hazel eyes looked straight into the near hollow of his, her body ungraceful upon its stance, a gentle frown wrinkling her already marred skin, and her lips parted, releasing rather quick breaths from an otherwise calm expression. Surprisingly it made the man step back, for, if he didn't know any better, he truly would have sworn she had been looking directly through him. In fact, it wasn't really that much later, that with the raise of a hand to rest upon her temple, and a narrowness of her eyes that made any movement look strained, the woman spoke.

"W-who is that?" She asked; with a tone only a couple of notes higher than a whisper and enough of a hold upon the wall to make it clear that her expression was not for anything other than pain.

Her entire frame wobbled in place and her eyes shut as her grip along the wall tightened to keep her stance. "Whoa." She whispered with a husky voice, stealing the word right from Mike's lips as she took a deep breath. "W-who ke—eps c-crying? Wh—o keeps calling for their mama? Who is—is that? What did you do to'em?"

Her last sentence came out clear as day, and she inwardly praised herself for it.

Mike caressed her cheek earning a slight hiss. She watched as a smirk snaked its way onto the man's face. "Those are the kids...our kids. Don't you remember?"

Had she heard correctly? If she hadn't, it was definitely something to surprise her enough to bring along a frown to match his as she blinked, looking from the man to the door and then at him again.

"Our...k-kids?" She wondered within the same note of a whisper with which she had spoken before.

"Your accident must've been worse than we thought." He huffed, his hands traveling down to hold hers. "We have three. Well I like to say two because the oldest she's so—

He cut himself off, giving his head a firm shake, "I'm not gonna go there right now." He scratched at his head and started again. "We have three girls. Oldest is Chloe, then there's Halle, and Blue, our baby girl...looks so much like you and nothing like that..." His brows met in the middle of his forehead as he appeared to get angry. Unknowingly the grip he had on the woman's hands grew tighter, almost painful.

Bey tried to slip her hands away, but the man was too strong.

"Don't pull away from me. I told you those days are behind us." He growled but within the same second a smile was on his face; disingenuous and sly but still. "You understand?"

She didn't respond. Instead, Mike watched as she nearly collapsed in front of him, barely able to hold herself as her fingers attempted to slip from his again. He allowed it, chuckling as one of her dainty hands lifted towards a chain that rested around her neck, and there, a medium sized, heart-shaped locket rested. Her hand began trembling as it held the silver locket and made a rather bewildered Mike lean in a little closer to shamelessly pry at her privacy. She breathed, barely within even a noise, her eyes shut, her other hand holding onto that necklace as if it were her lifeline, and only until then did her lips part to speak again. "I-I wanna s-see them." It had barely been a whisper, barely a noise that echoed much weaker than the crying and  carrying on that had started again in the next room.

Mike frowned. The impossibility of the situation befell him entirely, the thought leaving him much more uneasy than he expected; and he was just as soon wondering how he would give her her wish. How would it play out?

He hesitated. "You want to see them?" His eyes searched hers.

Her eyes filled, and she bowed her head. "Yes," Bey replied with what little breath she could muster. "Y-ou say I-I ha—ve k-kids? I w-w-wanna see'em."

"First of all, I said we have kids!" He barked. "None of that I stuff. We're a team...a family. Husband and wife. Remember that baby, please, I don't wanna get angry with you. Not when you're on the mend. Let's try and get along until you can stand for more than five seconds, hmm? Kids are already worked up as is."

She lifted her chin in his direction, and every single speck of discomfort that had taken over her moments prior disappeared as quickly as it had come, almost as if it had not been there at all. The smirk that crossed her lips was small, yet very evident.

It was only then that brought forth another frown against the otherwise perfectly smooth skin on the man's forehead. Why wasn't she acting scared? In the movies, this was usually the point where people would beg to let their children go right? To please not hurt them? Then it became clear to Mike, by merely her expression. She didn't believe him.

His eyes glinted and narrowed until the pupils were nothing more than icy flints. "You don't believe me?" He forced a hurt tone into his voice to mask his fury.

Bey couldn't help but let out what was supposed to be a laugh, but came out as a weird mix of a cough and a chuckle as she tried to breathe slightly, out from strangely smiling lips. "I-I would n-ne-never marry a—uh" Her face fell simultaneously with her heart as another flashback hit her. A rather gruesome one of herself begging and pleading for the man in front of her to show mercy and let her up from the school's bathroom floor. "I think I'd r-r-remember pushing three babies out. Th-that's not something you—you forget..."

There was a note of amusement, unconsciously lifting his spirit, as, for the first time in what felt like forever, Mike found himself enjoying the way he was being challenged. Even the effort that the woman seemed to have to force upon herself to remain afoot was enough to put another smile on his face. "Final answer?" He asked.

Bey's only response was a raise of her right brow and a purse of her lips.

"You sure? Cause I—

"The kids..." She simply interrupted him, not whatsoever surprising him by the vexed roll of her eyes as her arms lifted to cross under her chest.

He sized her up. "You really need to work on your patience. It's not cute."

A scoff of her breath was enough to state her own annoyance as her arms fell to her sides; allowing the echo of her palms against her thighs to toot with the very same vexation she seemed to feel drowned in.

That smile of his was bound to infuriate her even more, but he couldn't help it; he was absolutely mesmerised by her every reaction, her every word, the evident fear and strain that already flowed from each countenance and disposition, and even then, even within just the few moments he had been talking to her, he wished she wouldn't fail to continue, if only for means of his own amusement.

"Alright, alright, let's say I do take you to see them...you promise to behave? No acting crazy like yesterday? No fighting me? No back talk?"

Bey's eyes refused to move away from him upon the note that she had fully heard him.

Yesterday? No back talk? She thought, but figured she couldn't do anything other than make the best of what little time she could buy herself until she was able to get out. After all, she wasn't too far gone to know that she was being held against her will. Her entire means of survival was finding a way out of this room, she assumed, thus, she moved. Her weight switched so that her back rested against the coolness of the wall, mindless of the wallpaper scratching against her.

Her shoulders lifted in a shrug while Mike's questions roamed around her head. She ignored them though; mostly, all but two of them, because she couldn't find any purpose in opening her mouth to spew her stutter–filled–hatred. It would only ruin any leeway she had with her captor. However, she didn't bother trying to hide her cunning glare as the man's eyes so easily studied what could be somewhat seen of her body hidden under the apparently pointless nightgown.

"You gotta learn to answer me when I'm talking to you, baby. That'll just make our time here easier. It'll be so much better...for the both of us." He stepped closer.

Her heart raced and she gulped. "N-no back ta—lk, n-none of that st--stu-ff...just let—let me s-see these—see these kids you c-claim are mine." She found it timely to push her weight off of the wall; allowing her unsteady steps to echo slightly in the nearly empty room.

He fixed his eyes into a squint as he again walked toward her, even partly circling her with curiosity. "What, you don't like it here?" He asked, untangling one of his folded arms to wave it slightly upon the air; his finger indicating so easily around the room. "Some pretty wild things have gone down in here, ya know?" Another step echoed as he leaned less than an arm length away from her to whisper lowly into her ear. "I thought you liked this kind of stuff...I know you miss us    going at it...being wild..." His nose pushed against her cheek as he moved his face along hers until their lips were just barely touching. "Give me a kiss."

All sense of air seemed to go amiss upon hearing his last statement. She watched his right hand as it crept up her bare thigh and wormed its way to her backside, giving a generous squeeze, yet the woman couldn't move. It was as if some invisible force was encrusting itself against her form, completely controlled by the man's extended palm. She could note the twitch of his brow, the strain against his arm as he yanked her flush against him.

"What I say?" He grunted, pulling Bey out of whatever perplexed reverie she had found herself in.

She blinked at him, her eyes a bit tired. Shadowed. The circles were deep grooves beneath her eyes, a sickly dark purple. "I d-don't w-anna do this. I-I-I don't even know what's—what's going on right now." She cried, allowing her escaping tears to run down her neck. "I-I'm s-s-so con—f-fused?" She lowered her head and with a crack of her voice she whispered. "Three kids? W-w-with you?" Slowly her head raised again, stopping just short of the man's gaze. "I feel nauseous."

"Don't worry about all that extra stuff." His voice echoed only slightly as his eyes finally fell from the woman's to stare at her trembling lips. "Just give me a kiss," he encouraged. Merely a second later, when his gaze met hers again, he allowed his hand to reach and touch her swollen cheek. Clearly, as a reflexive action, the blonde's hands balled into fists.

What the fuck is he doing? How much weirder is this going to get? She thought.

"Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you." He stated, nearly laughing, because he himself didn't believe it. "Give me a kiss," he repeated, watching as her eyes only narrowed more. "It's only a kiss...we've done plenty more, trust me." He allowed himself a moment to comb over her body.

Her eyes followed the motion of his, and she found herself listening to that voice in her head again. It's just a kiss. Just do it quickly and it'll be done so you could get out of here.

Thinking that was about as likely as hell freezing over. And while she figured she knew the answer to the next question, she asked anyway.  "J-just one?" She exhaled slowly with small frown lines etched across her forehead.

Without much of a thought, Mike nodded; a smile making his elation evident. "One and done...I promise."

"Alright," She said, looking in the other direction for a few seconds before speaking again and begging her hands to go back to the task they had been buried on before: grasping the doorknob, successfully opening and exiting. "L-last time y-you hurt me," she croaked.

Mike's fingers clicked together in a snap a few times. "Your babies are screaming for you...you wanna keep them waiting? They been worried sick..."

Much like someone on a descending airplane, the woman's ears had popped, bringing forth a melodic, yet piteous lamentation from the other room.

"Well?" He asked. Making the blonde realize, just then, how she'd been staring at him for a little while.

Her hand reached into the air, almost immediately grasping the roots of her hair. "G-God please please w-wake me up." She whispered, pushing most of her tangled mane to the back. With a slap of her thigh, and a drawn out roll of her eyes, Bey leaned in.

At first all Mike could do was stare; stare, and wonder just how much more she was going to surprise him. In all honesty, he worried, not for his disposition and lack of morals within his own mind, but for the firm hold that the blonde with the mesmerising orbs had on him. She wielded so much power, yet looked at him as if he were the one in control over the situation. He would fall to his knees and kiss her feet if she asked...politely of course.

Just when her lips barely grazed his, the man turned his cheek and growled at his last thought. The woman was stumped, as it became evident by the scoffed breath she easily released. Still, every fear became confirmed with his words. "You was gonna do it, huh? Not because you love me and wanna please me but just to get out that door? Just to get away from me?"

The woman's eyes blinked a couple of times with as much curiosity as concern before her right brow lifted. "Y-you sai—

"Like mothers, like daughters. Just shut the fuck up." He cut her off nonchalantly.

She lowered her head and took a breath. The disrespect behind such a request already had her entirely too nervous, but even when his brow lifted and lowered onto a frown that wouldn't seize as he mugged her, she spoke again. "I-I d-don't underst—

"Didn't I just say Shut—Up?" He echoed perfectly and stared right into the golden specs in the woman's orbs, clearly waiting for any sort of reaction.

Bey lifted her chin.The anger within his posture became evident by the quick utterance that left him upon her lack of an answer. "Let's go." He turned on his heel, snatching the door open. "I see where Blue get it from." He muttered.

"Wh-Who's Blue?" Bey attempted to follow him. However, she had soon realized that she'd been standing for far too long. Her legs gave out beneath her, sending her to the floor with a loud plop. No movement or flinch gave away the fact that Mike had seen it all; until he turned his head over his shoulder. He had given her water all morning. What could have possibly made her fall to the floor like that? He thought. The headache she claimed, perhaps? But the expression that crossed her features stated otherwise; it was as if the veil of suffering shadowed her orbs, and in all truthfulness, he felt bad.

"My legs and side...they hurt." She confessed with an echo that came out as something only a few notches louder than a whisper; it surprised him; her sentence clear and otherwise uninterrupted.

"Let me help," he crouched down.

She was hesitant, but nodded and only then did her eyes focus on his once again, regardless of the clearing of her throat that made her near whispering a tad louder. "Th-thank you." She got out, finally in a calm and normal tone, and even a nervous smile to accompany it.

Mike appeared to not let any of her spoken words faze him; his eyes were set on every one of her movements as she situated herself in his arms. Mainly because he was curious, curious as to why the entrancing hazel upon the woman's eyes shone with deep sincerity with every word she spoke.

They started down a hallway. Bey's posture stoic as she combed over the crummy walls. She came to the conclusion that they were in a cabin. Had to be. The hall was narrow and boxy. It smelled awful and when she peered around the corner there was another windowless room. Apparently used as a dining room. She caught a glimpse of a little broken-down dinner table. The walls were a humble grey which made her feel cramped.

"I said I won't hurt you, Bey." Mike said; surprised by the ease with which she settled on to the short version of her name, and even more so by the honesty that he felt was building within his words. He wouldn't hurt her.

Again.

I won't hurt her again.

He paused, ignoring the frown that invaded her forehead upon the false reality he spoke of. She knew he would. She could see the lies all over his face when he spoke. Also, didn't he say she was in some sort of accident? That's why it hurts for her to walk?

"I'm surprised you haven't tried to wiggle out of my arms yet." His eyes focused on hers again, without even realising he had looked away. "That's the last thing I need...you trynna leave me." The sincerity within his utterance seemed to surprise her, but she couldn't focus on that because the longer they walked the hall, the louder the echoes from the cries became.

—

Don't give up, it's a little complicated. All tied up, no more love and I'd hate to see you waiting.
                                                                         —Mama

"Shh!" Chloe placed her pointer finger in front of her mouth, eyes wide, face screwed into a frown. She was hunched over, kneeling in front of a thick wooden door, attempting to see, well anything really. The handle had been broken off a few hours ago in a viscous fit of rage from her captor.

"Mommy!" Blue called out from a dimly lit corner of the otherwise darkened room, loud enough to be heard over Halle's ear splitting cries.

The deafening moans and groans from both of her younger sisters caused Chloe's nails to scratch at the grimy floorboards. "Please guys," she squinted. Her right ear was pressed against the cool of the flooring now. "You're just gonna make him come back. Be quiet!"

But listen, they did not. Instead it seemed the wails grew louder.

"Shhh!" Chloe hissed again, this time turning to glare in Halle's general direction who had attempted to find solace underneath a small twin-sized bed.

The room was quaint, not half the size of Blue's playroom back at home. Though small, it had been decorated nicely, equipped with two dressers; one tall and pink and one short and oak brown. Off in the corner was a child-sized light-pink accent chair which Blue sat beside, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. On the nightstand there sat a round Minni Mouse alarm clock. Though it appeared to be broken because the numbers hadn't changed since they had arrived. 1:11 forever immortalized.

By now, Chloe could feel the floorboards creak beneath someone's weight. Blue felt it too thus her cries grew louder. "Quiet!" Chloe responded. Immediately she pushed herself to her feet, scampering over to where Blue sat with her arms already outstretched awaiting to be held. In a second, she swooped the child into her arms and backed herself into a quiet corner, taking a seat and placing her sister in her lap.

"Shhh," her voice shook, attempting to quiet the whimpering child. The sounds were growing louder, and her heart felt like it was coming up her throat. Her hands wouldn't stop their useless shaking as she reached for Blue's face, fingers brushing gently against her cheek. The young child pulled away for a moment. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears.

"I want mommy," she cried.

Chloe's eyes met hers briefly. A single tear fell down the teen's cheek, burning like sizzling acid. Her lips touched the youngster's forehead as she whispered, "I'm so sorry Baba, so sorry but mommy's she's—she's really hurt. She needs us to be strong for her and right now that means being quiet, okay?"

Blue nodded her understanding, then drew her head into her sister's chest. The child blew air into her cheeks and began lightly tapping each side.

"I'll protect you," Chloe's voice wavered slightly, and yet, Blue was wholly reassured as she listened to the steady thumps of her heart. "I'll always protect you." Digging her fingernails into her thighs, Chloe stared intensely ahead, doing her best not to gag on the bile rising up from her stomach.

—

I should've never told. I'm so stupid. I can't fight him. He's gonna kill me.

I should've kept my mouth closed!

Halle banged her hand against her head, as if that would somehow physically stop her thoughts. But they weren't her thoughts really. Just words previously shoved down her throat. Though the words weren't spoken aloud, she could hear them like whispers infiltrating her mind, stopping at nothing to convince her that they were real. The young girl knew she had to fight them and she desperately wanted to believe in her and her sisters' ability to save themselves, but she couldn't help but feel the words rang true. She was scared of having to face Mike even for another second, but she was more petrified at the thought of letting her sisters down if she couldn't stay strong. She felt like a coward and coming to the realization that she was currently hiding underneath a bed while listening to her younger sister's cries only seemed to solidify it more.

He's gonna hurt her too just like—

BAM BAM BAM.

The sound of heavy footsteps cut off Halle's whispering thoughts, sending them scattering to the back of her mind. The young girl didn't get much of a reprieve though as they were soon replaced by a familiar sinking feeling. The very feeling she felt whenever she would hear her bedroom door open late at night back in Atlanta. Back then she would squeeze her eyes tight underneath her covers and began a silent prayer. This time, however, she swallowed her feelings down, pushing herself further into the bed frame in an attempt to stay hidden, cursing the man one thousand times over. It was truly a sad sight.

From where she sat, Chloe could just barely see Halle's contorted face as she curled into a ball whispering over and over again. "I should've never told...I should've never told."

"It's okay, Halle," she cooed with such gentle quietness that even the most solemn-faced person in the world would've had to smile just a little. Chloe wanted badly to physically comfort her sister, but with a terrified six year old in her arms and the pounding footsteps just outside of the door getting increasingly louder, the teen knew there were bigger things at play.

"I'm scared," Blue whispered.

Chloe rubbed a comforting hand up and down Blue's back before placing a kiss to her hair and shushing her. She could feel everything that her sisters were feeling: fear, sorrow, dread. But she couldn't show it. It was exhausting always having to be the brave one. There was no time for her to come to her senses and really take in what was happening. There was no room, nor space for her tears or brooding thoughts of how this might end because she had to be rational. She had to be the one with her wits about her. Always thinking, always planning, never feeling, never failing.

She had to.

Chloe's head jerked at the sound of clicking letting her know that the knob outside of the door was being fondled with.

Her breath seized.

She drew her brows down, her grip on her baby sister tight and nearly painful. Blue didn't complain. The young child's head was fixed into her sister's chest. Her legs were wrapped around Chloe's torso so tight the teen knew there would be bruises in the morning. Their breathing was so sporadic it was almost as if there was grueling strife between their lungs. Their chests gearing up for a battle that was bound to end in bloodshed. A war that just yesterday Chloe believed was dead. A war she had fought already and came out a victor. A war she vowed to God himself she wouldn't stop fighting until the white la perla flag was raised calling for a ceasefire. An ongoing war she knew would never end even after her adversary was long gone.

The cracking of the hefty peg door caused all sounds in the room to stop. Halle's heart sank, her stomach felt as though she was on a roller coaster. Somehow she knew what was to come next, her nightmares flashing in her mind like a hazy memory. "Is he gonna hurt me again...?" She dared to ask, her voice barely above a murmur. "Oh God," Chloe heard her sister sniffle and groan. "I-I don't want him to—Chloe is he gonna hurt me again?"

The door began to open painstakingly slowly. Chloe's mind started to swirl, throbbing pain crushing her senses. A frustrated noise escaped her lips, and she pressed a hand to her head wishing the pain away.

Blue felt her heart pulse in her ears as she leaned against her sister, grip becoming much tighter, if that were humanly possible. 

"I don't want him to hurt me again," Halle's disembodied voice whispered.

—

See how the sun and the moon bow for you?
But you won't open your eyes

Tick tock, pretty baby
You can get it back, don't you waste it
To grow from your past, gotta face it, Oh Yeah

Silence ruled over the room. A silence Chloe knew wouldn't last for too long. As soon as Mike stepped another foot over the threshold, the room would be filled with more cries of agony and she wasn't so sure if she had it in her to sit through another one of Halle's fits or Mike screaming at her at the top of his lungs.

The door was opened.

The air was thick.

In Mike's arms, the blonde stirred, her eyes shifting into a squint as they travelled into the darkened room to find that no one was there.

He must have read her mind, "they're in here," he said, placing her down carefully on her own two feet, steadying her when it seemed she'd fall. Bey fretted, glancing around the room, hoping for something, anything to give her a sign that someone was here because then she wouldn't be alone. Then she could have someone there with her that could possibly help her escape this hell hole. Then she'd have a chance. She wouldn't be forsaken. But of course she saw nothing, felt nothing and yet was so scared and so petrified at the thought of being isolated with this creep any longer.

"Probably just hiding...playing a game," he added.

She blinked and took an involuntary step back at the light in his eyes, the set of his mouth.

Again Bey gazed around the room, eyes starting and stopping when she thought she heard the sound of shuffling.

"Come on out," Mike called to the seemingly empty room. When no other sound was produced, he turned to the blonde with a little embarrassed smile upon his cheeks. "Hate it when they do this shit." He shook his head, stepping further inside. He was sure to keep a hold of Bey's hand, ultimately dragging her along.

Blue was growing quite restless and more frightened, until the point where her mind was conjuring images of being ambushed by bulky creatures with knife-sharp teeth. Much like the monsters from the horror films she and Halle often snuck to watch. That's when she heard a different voice.

"M-maybe they—they got away," The words fumbled to the forefront of Bey's mouth and poured out like projectile vomit, and she was useless to try and stop it. Confusion consumed her and like a grave tic, her neck stretched forward to look at Mike who whirled around at the same time, his dark eyes bright with anger. "What the hell does that mean?"

Off in the corner, Chloe thought she had truly lost it and was hearing things. It sounded like.

"I think I hear mommy," Blue whispered.

Chloe didn't say anything, simply held her finger in front of her lips reminding her sister to stay silent.

Before Bey could answer Mike's question, she felt arms wrap tightly around her waist, the force catching her so off guard she was sent plunging to the floor, landing harshly on her wrist.

On instinct, her arms outstretched in front of her, pushing whoever had tackled her away.

"Mommy!" Halle cried out, hugging the woman with all the strength she had.

Laying supine, the blonde closed her eyes briefly, her back and head screaming at her, and her hands and wrist aching from beneath Halle's body. "Agh!" Bey cried out, twisting and turning while clutching her hand.  Most likely one of her wrists were sprained or broken, she couldn't tell.

"Mommy I thought you were gone! He wouldn't let us see you and you weren't answering us!" Halle pressed her cheek into her mother's, tears dripping onto the woman's face. She felt as though the girl's voice was much further away than it was or should've been.  "First he forced us into the car and then he wouldn't stop! We had to beg him to help you! You were bleeding so much. I thought you were dead!"

Bey tried to keep up with what the girl was saying but she was rattling too fast, the words seemed to trip and trample over each other.

After noticing the woman's silence and reticence, Halle sat up so that she was straddling her mother's legs. Her eyes were sweet and concerned, knowing she had been through quite an ordeal. She pushed the woman's messy blonde hair out of her face and for a moment just stared in awe, eyes wide with glee, a smile covering most of her face. "Mama what's wrong?"

Looking to her right, Bey saw the contentment and calmness in Mike's eyes which was completely contradictory to the fear and panic emanating from her pores. "Wha? I-I'm n-not y-y-your mama. You're n-not my child." Bey stuttered.

Covering her face, mortified by unforeseen emotion, Halle turned away from her mother feeling the stinging threat of angered tears. She glanced at Mike who scowled and threw his hands up. "I am your daughter. Mommy, why would you say that?" The tears began to fall as Halle looked down at Bey who was already shaking her head before the teen even finished speaking.

"No," she said flatly, cutting off the girl's reply. "I'm not, c-can you please g—et off get off of-of—

"NO!" Halle's hands clasped over her own mouth. "Yes you ARE!" The tears were coming faster now. "STOP SAYING THAT!" She turned to Mike, eyes glistening. "See what you did?!!" She screeched.

He looked at her oddly

"Look at her fa—Oh my Godduhhh!" Her cries were guttural. "You ARE my mom!"

Bey frowned, looking up at the almost manic child. "I-I don't kn-know who—who you are! D-did he t-tell you t-t-to say this?" She asked.

Halle leaned forward, both hands holding her mother's shoulders, knuckles white from too firm a grip, "mommy it's me! It's Halle! I-it's lil bit! Your daughter! Your baby! Don't you remember?!! Look at me!" She cried. Despairingly, Halle brushed her locs away from her face so Bey could get a better look, trying hard to bite back the rage rushing up inside of her. "You don't remember?!"

Beyoncé was caught up in her stare, how she was unwavering in her quest for a real answer, no matter how tense it made the air between them. Mike watched as Bey's face manipulated into a deep-seated scowl. Clearing his throat, feeling as if he was somehow invading some private moment, he rasped quietly. "Baby girl get up, mommy's in enough pain as is."

Halle ignored the man, intrusive brown orbs searching, imploring on puzzled hazel ones. "Mommy, why are you looking at me like that? I said it's me! Can't you hear me? Can't you see me?"

Her reaction hit the blonde like a knife to the heart. She "didn't know" this girl, regardless, she felt a strong need to comfort her, to do anything to stop her from crying. "C-Calm do—wn baby. Y-y-you gonna make yourself s-sick." Without realizing it, she let the words fall out like little truths shocking herself, moving her to a place unfamiliar, unknown.

Meanwhile, Blue wiggled in Chloe's arms, trying desperately to stand up and run to her mother. She could hear her clear as day, but from their hiding space she hadn't laid an eye on the woman.

"Blue no!" Chloe whispered harshly. "The bad man is still out there, remember?"

"But mommy's—" Blue said a little too loud, getting cut off by Chloe's hand covering her mouth.

"I know, I know," Chloe cooed, when tears cascaded the child's cheeks.

"I wanna see mommy," Blue's muffled voice sounded.

Chloe nodded her understanding. "Just wait until he leaves, okay?" She whispered.

"G-Get off Ge—t off get off of m-me!" Beyoncé demanded the best she could, feeling drained and flushed as she wiggled under her daughter's weight, clutching at her wrist.

The hurt was evident on Halle's face. She gulped before speaking again. "Aren't you happy to see me, mommy? I said I thought you were dead." Her smile was wry, even as her eyes were irritated. "Mama? Aren't you happy to see me?" She repeated, smiling at her a little, a tear making its way down her right cheek and she wiped at both of her eyes before leaning forward and tucking her head into the crease of the woman's neck and shoulder. Bey cringed feeling the wetness of the girl's face against her skin. With her good hand, she began pushing at Halle's side. "You're hurting me! Get off!" The words came out clear, and for that Bey praised herself. Still, Halle hugged her mother, cheek to cheek, foreheads and noses clashing. The blonde glanced at the man who seemed to be enjoying the view. "G-get her ass OFF of ME!" She yelled, angry this time.

Mike rolled his eyes and sighed, pushing himself from the wall he leaned against. "Get up Babygirl."

Which seemed to be a mistake because it only caused the girl's grip on her mom to become increasingly tighter. Mind still reeling from everything that was happening, Bey continued to push at Halle's side, the pain was becoming too much. "G-get off of me!" She screamed and then sucked in a breath as her head started to spin. "Get off of m-me!" She pushed and pushed, but Halle clung to her like her life depended on it.

Chloe chewed on the inside of her cheek as she listened.

When it became too much, Bey stopped the useless yelling and laid stiffly as she cried, hiccups halting her breaths every so often.

Chloe couldn't take it anymore. Her hands were covering her own ears, attempting to drown out her mom's moans of what could only be described as      agony. Her face immediately angled down to her younger sister in an effort to block out the offending noises of burning heartache and whispered hushed words of exasperation.

Letting his anger get the better of him, Mike grabbed Halle by her shirt with one arm. It took little to no effort to toss her clear across the room. "The fuck did I just say? Huh?!" The room was then filled with Halle's tears, some might say screams. Chloe could feel her sister's despair, it matched her own, even possibly reaching beyond. She couldn't help feeling drawn to the noise, protective, responsible even.

With Blue in her arms, she stood.

"And you!" The man whipped his head around toward Beyoncé. "Kinda mother are you? She's just happy to see you and you pushing her away like that?!"

She couldn't give him an answer.

He tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms. "A bad one! Unfit!" Mike answered for her.

"A-and y-you're a m-monster!" The response blared out like second nature. She peered to her right after hearing movement then back at Mike who was encroaching on her. "Wh-who's child is-is that? I know she ain't yours!"

He leaned down, yanking the back of her hair in the process. "What the hell did you just say?" His teeth were bared as he spit out the words.

Chin pointed to the ceiling, chest heaving, she answered. "I-I I don't know."

It was the truth. Her head was far too foggy to process why she was saying things without intention or reasoning, so the blonde didn't offer anything else up. Instead, she gulped down a nasty retort and looked away, pensive.

"That's what I thought," he released her and stood.

As Halle started to drag herself closer to Bey, Mike eyed her. The woman actually saw him rein himself in now. His expression softened. His voice changed, and he quickly shifted personalities—from the angry, violent, cuckolded man to the worried father. God, how many faces did he have? "Are you okay? Daddy's sorry baby girl but—" he continued, talking to her as if she were stupid. As if she were a toddler. "You gotta listen sometimes. Mommy's feeling bad. Not-good...bad. So you have to be careful, okay? You have to be gentle. You understand?"

The light and airy tone of voice cringed Halle to no end.

Bey eyeballed the strange girl, noticing how a grimace briefly occupied her face before it switched to her previous heartbroken expression. "I understand." Halle bit out.

"Good," he nodded, looking over his shoulder. He could hardly see his hands. "CHLOEEE!" Mike cooed into the darkness. "Come say hi to your mom!" His smile seemed somehow twisted, pulled tight, the cords in his neck bulging.

I must be going insane, Bey thought as she attempted to get to her feet. Mike reached for her hand, he wanted to help her.

"I-I got it." She snarled, jerking her arm away.

He let out a chuckle from somewhere deep inside, witnessing the fire in her almond colored eyes.

She was fearless, unflinching in her tough, biting delivery.

Moved physically by her, he rocked back on his heels, seeing through her as if she were glass. She was a fighter, hardened, but hypnotically vulnerable, clearly soft in places he had yet to see. Tilting his head, feeling explicitly pulled in, he breathed out swiftly settling his hands by his side. "My bad, you got it." He smiled, almost wickedly. Eyes dancing.

Ignoring his pseudo apology, she stood soberly, resigning herself to this hellish situation, but frozen still as if her feet were glued to the floor beneath her. Waves of pain flooded through her body, legs a little shaky. She took in the room for what it was, noting how the windows were covered with black paint as if someone was attempting to keep the light from peeking in. When she allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark even further, she could tell that someone had actually intended to paint them shut. No way in. No way out. There was a strange stench lingering around the room, like a ham sandwich that had been left sitting out too long. She took her good hand and clasped it over her nose and mouth before searching the room again. She stared at the space in front of her, trying to see the edge of the room, but her eyes only landed on a tiny chair in the corner. Out of her periphery she saw, or thought she saw, a figure move past the chair and disappear into the black of the room. Mike saw it too.

"Chloe stop being rude and say hi."

Chloe struggled to make sense of what was happening. Her heart was racing, and she couldn't find an out. Make it stop, make it stop. How did she make it stop?

"You want me to come and find you? Is that it?" The man sent a wavering smile in Bey's direction.

Bey felt her stomach turn, her headache getting even stronger than before. Again, she felt arms wrap around her waist, but this time it was gentle. She looked down to see huge whiskey colored spaced-out eyes atop a button nose and a broad frown. Halle didn't care if her mother pushed her away again, she was tenacious in that way. Bey saw the resilience in the teen's eyes and figured she'd let the girl have her way. This was clearly a child in crisis, and cruel, she was not.

"They must've learned this not listening shit from you because when I tell them to do something they know to do it." He threw his head in Bey's direction, forcibly taking her hand, relishing in the warmth of her skin, the softness of her touch before turning to the darkness again. "Chloe, I'm gonna count to three and if you not standing right here it's gonna be me and you! Just me...and you I promise!"

There was a split second where his meaning was lost between a simple threat and something else altogether.

Chloe's chest tightened, and she let her head slump
against the wall as her eyes filled with tears. Blue's spine stiffened in response as she sat stock-still in her sister's arms. Her mind again picturing large red creatures with shining fangs.

Halle could see the fury in his eyes as he hollered. "THREE!" His frown crinkled deeper. He was insulted by Chloe's insolence; her refusal to acknowledge him only angered the man further.

"TWO! DON'T MAKE ME GET TO ONE!" Mike screamed, yanking Bey's arm involuntarily in the process.

Chloe didn't move an inch and barely breathed, feeling the pulsating in her ears again, her headache taking over her senses again.

"TWO AND A HALF CHLOE! I'M TRYING TO BE NICE...!" Bey and Halle flinched as the man kicked the door shut behind him, stuffing keys into his pocket within the same second. It seemed as if he glided over to the chair how quickly he reached it.

At first there was nothing. Then, a sniffle followed by faint whispering. Bey's ears had just barely registered the noise behind her when she whirled around trying to follow the sound, but her brain was mushed and mangled; useless.

There was a damning pause, then-

A piercing scream that sent Bey crashing to the floor, taking Halle with her. They watched, fearfully as the man pulled a dead-faced Chloe by her locs. Blue continued her high-pitched wails, head seemingly glued to her sister's shoulder.

Bey attempted to crawl backwards as they approached her, but with the weight of Halle clinging to her and her worse for wear wrist, it was impossible to get any leeway.

"All these hours y'all were screaming for her 'oh please let me just see her! What did you do with mommy? Is mommy dead? Mommy this mommy that," Mike mocked in a high-pitched voice, tightening his grip on Chloe's hair. Tears pricked her eyes as he went on. "Now I had to beg you to come look at her?"

Chloe tuned out the rest of Mike's ramblings, choosing to focus her attention solely on the woman gawking at her through owl-like eyes as she hyperventilated on the floor. The woman she'd shared so many secrets with. The woman who'd sat up many a night warding off horrid nightmares and wretched recollections for her. The woman who had loved her unconditionally from the first hello. The woman she thought she'd lost.

"Do you hear me!" The man's voice prevented her from spiraling any further.

Chloe looked at Bey for a long moment. The distraught girl laying next to her wasn't anything unusual, it was something someone would probably see on an average Wednesday at the Carter residence. However, Chloe had never seen her mother bested and beaten black and blue. "Why did you have to do that?" She asked, voice rough with sorrow.

"I answer to you now?" Mike gruffed, sarcastically.

Chloe hung her head and shook it twice as she looked at the blonde through unfocused eyes, staring in complete bewilderment. Tears blurred her already weak vision. She briefly remembered the days when she'd wake up to Tasha icing her face at the breakfast table and thought that that would never be her mother ever if she had anything to do with it.

Mike released her from the hold he had her in."Say hi, why you just staring at her?" His gaze locked in on Blue causing Chloe to take a measured step back. "Aweee look at her. She's like a little baby Koala the way she clings to you," he took his pointer finger and tickled the six year old's neck. Out of reflex, Blue swatted his hand away. He eyed her with false bravado. "Someone is being a very bad girl."

Recognizing his whimsical tone of voice, Chloe cupped the back of Blue's head, backing away again. Halle watched helplessly from the floor as Mike followed. "Let me see her." He coaxed, arms outstretched.

Chloe shook her head, tripping over fallen dolls and playthings. Her back smacked against the wall, and she kept pushing against it. A sudden ice-cold vice grip wrapped around her wrist and on instinct she looked up. "I'm not gonna hurt a little girl...you serious?" Mike asked.

"HA!" Chloe laughed involuntarily but swallowed a sob within the same breath, after glancing toward Halle who even now wasn't that much bigger than Blue. She hated herself for that comparison. She hated that her mind had to go there but somewhere deep down she knew she had to be realistic. She knew exactly who was standing in front of her, looking at her with those menacing eyes. When he called out to her, his voice had the same qualities as it did when she was living under the same roof as him. Nothing had changed.

"What I say?" Mike's lip twitched with contentment.

Chloe struggled with the decision for a moment, watching as the man reached for Blue's arm this time. The child jolted at his touch and her brown eyes whipped up to meet Chloe's.

"DONT!!" Bey's voice called for their attention.

Both Mike and Chloe's eyes followed her voice and saw her staring worriedly at Blue. The blonde seemed alarmed, scared, surprised, frozen. Bey sat still, and for a moment she thought she recognized the teen or at least felt some type of connection. But the moment was fleeting and she did her best to ignore her pain as she gazed up at the strangers before her, zeroing in on Mike whose face darkened into a furious scowl.

"Don't," she said quieter this time, shaking her head.

Panting heavily, Chloe whispered, "Mama?" eyebrows meeting in the middle of her forehead, thinking her mother was out of the stupor she found herself in.

Beyoncé just looked at her blankly for a moment.

"Mama," Chloe called hoarsely as she took a tentative step forward, ignoring the man who sent a grimace her way. "Are you okay?" She asked, a little surprised by how quiet her voice was.

Bey scooched backwards as a look of horror appeared on her face. She swallowed, hard. "W-Why y'all kee-keep saying that?! I'm n-not y-y-your mother. I-I don't know you...I don't know ANY of you!" She turned to Mike again. "W-what is this?" She asked, the panicked lilt in her voice trickled in belatedly.

The man expelled a pent-up breath. It was more a snort of disgust than anything. "Our family," he replied, probably a bit too quickly.

Blue's eyebrows lifted in confusion. "Why's mommy acting weird?" She whispered in Chloe's ear. She hadn't yet turned to look at her mother, too afraid of the crazed man standing close. The teen rubbed soothing circles in the child's back. Chloe closed her eyes and shivered as a gruesome image of Mike bludgeoning her mother in the head with a gun flashed like lightning. "She's just confused right now." She offered up sadly.

"No!" Bey pulled at Halle's hands, no longer caring about the pain in her own. She angrily pushed the crying girl away from her. Holding her own arm to her chest, sure that her ribs were fractured, the blonde pulled herself to her feet and with a groan of pain she shouted. "I-I'm not confused!" She licked her lips, experimentally probing at the cut on her lip and grimaced. "I kn-know y'all are n-not m-my damn kids!" Her eyes focused on the man this time. "They p-probably not even yours!" She pointed her finger, finding enough adrenaline and grit in herself to stalk towards Mike. Chloe had a protest on her lips, but she stilled it, swallowed it, knowing it wouldn't do any good.

"Y-y-you brainwash—b-brainwashed them or something! Told them lies! I don't know and f-f-frankly right now, Mike, I-I-I don't give a damn!!" She turned on her heel, heading steadfast for the door.

Mike followed after her, reached out, spun her around, and propelled her towards the wall, her body slamming harshly into Blue and Chloe in the process. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" His face was flushed, his hands were fisted by his sides, and his back was stiff as he glared into the woman's eyes.

"TH-THESE ARE NOT M-MY KIDS!" She screamed. Her feelings were a rage of emotions; hot, searing anger, and ice cold fear battled within. She was both confident that she was not going to back down or run away, but at the same time she knew...Halle knew...Chloe knew that she was about to get badly hurt.

Enraged, Halle jumped to her feet, chest heaving, face red with heartache and fury. "STOP!" She bellowed, crossing the room to intervene. She took a step closer. She was a good two heads and some change shorter, two hundred plus pounds thinner, and physically impotent. However, size, bulk and physical strength didn't matter because the love she held in her heart for her mother outweighed everything else. "WE ARE YOUR KIDS!" Her hands flung through the air above her head, flapping against her thighs seconds after. "Mommy we are!" Her voice broke.

Chloe closed her eyes reaching deep down to conjure up some calmness. Now was not the time for everyone to lose their heads, but she was so close...so close.

Halle watched as Mike tenderly touched Beyoncé's jaw where a dark lump was beginning to form. It needed a cool pack or some ice to curb the swelling. "You wanna start this fight?" He asked.

"Please don't," the girl pleaded with Mike. "She doesn't know what she's doing...what she's saying. You're just gonna make things worse. She's already hurting."

Mike looked at her, "mommy's gonna be hurting real bad by tomorrow if she keeps acting like this."

He left those words hanging in the air, seeing and feeling the woman's despair spike, seeing and feeling Halle's desire to be next to her mother increase.

She hated him. She hated the man who had the hardest punch and the sorest kick. Someday, she promised herself. Someday she would be big enough and strong enough to defend herself and others. Someday, she would be able to wrestle and return some of the punishment Mike thought was his personal responsibility to deliver every time they were alone.

Bey held a disgusted look on her face. "Y-you crazy if you think you about to to to convince me th-that these kids belong to me! I did NOT p-push them out! They look NO-NOTHING like me and f-f-for the last time, I do NOT know who the HELL they—

She was cut off By Mike's raised fist. The woman flinched so hard her head collided brutally with the back of Blue's, evoking an elongated shriek. Mike smiled, a little quirk of lips at the irony; she thought he'd hurt the little girl when she had been the one to cause the young child harm. Both Beyoncé and Blue grabbed at their throbbing heads. Slowly, Bey craned her neck, finally locking eyes with the crying six year old.

Her breath hitched.

Her limbs felt numb.

She forced herself to comb over the child's face, taking in Blue's piqued brow, large ears, almond shaped eyes that reminded the blonde so much of her grandma Agnes. Frantically, Bey's orbs moved up and down, side to side, every which way until they landed on the point of Blue's chin. She gasped, her hands absentmindedly reaching up to clutch her locket. Mike's hand found its way to her shoulder and he gave it a comforting squeeze before stepping back allowing them room. The moment was too vulnerable for even a diabolical person such as him to interrupt.

FLASHBACK

The contraction slammed into her, and everyone started to yell 'push'. Bey remembered what she had been told, to do one long push down. She concentrated with all her might and pushed. She vaguely heard words of encouragement thrown at her, but she didn't register them.

"Keep going baby thug! You doing great!" Shawn encouraged, and she bore down again and pushed fiercely.

"Okay, Mrs Carter relax," someone said, and Beyoncé stopped. There were people talking to her, but she didn't hear, she just waited for the next contraction to come.

It did, as they all knew it would, and Bey pushed, as hard and as long as she possibly could. Fifteen minutes later, she could go on no more.

"I can't," she cried, tears slipping down her face, "I can't do this...where's my mama? I need her.. I miss her so much...Where is she... Oh God," The blonde braced herself and pushed again. Her fingernails punctured her legs and tiny droplets of blood slid down her tanned, strained thighs.

"I can see a head," a nurse announced. This spurred Bey enormously, and she pushed harder, her chin digging into her chest. The contraction ended, but another started merely seconds later and she pushed again. A dark head of hair could be seen, and as Beyoncé pushed, a shoulder slid out, then another, and then in seconds her baby was out, crying in her husband's arms.

"It's a girl," he announced, elated.

Bey smiled at the news, it was what she prayed long and hard for. The doctor held up the baby to drain any fluid away from the respiratory tract, and allowed Shawn to cut the cord before the professionals     stapled it.

"What are we calling this princess," one cheeky nurse asked, laying the baby on the tired mother's chest.

More tears slid down Bey's cheeks as she looked at the baby in fascination. "Blue...her name is Blue Ivy Carter."

"Like your favorite tree," Shawn wiped at his tears.

"Exactly," Beyoncé stared down at the tiny being cooing softly in her arms. "Welcome to the world, Miss Ivy." She kissed her baby's forehead.

PRESENT

Dumb fallen, Beyoncé turned to face Mike, her eyebrows high on her forehead before looking at the small child again. "Baba?" She voiced so quietly Blue almost missed it. "Baba?" Bey exhaled exasperatedly while Blue's tearful eyes examined her mother.

Chloe held back her tears, lip trembling, heart aching, watching as a shaky Bey reached for the child. Naturally, Blue leaned over and stretched toward her mother's awaiting arms. Before anyone could stop her, she'd thrown her arms around Blue, hugging her for all she was worth, and from the feel of it, earning returned relief and unmitigated glee. "Baba oh my G-god," Bey peppered her daughter's face with kisses, not showing any sign of stopping. "I'm s-so sorry!" The woman cried. "Mo—mommy's sorry... I'm sorry."

Chloe and Halle looked on. Halle sniffling every few seconds and wiping the snot away from her nose, Chloe staring blankly at the two as Bey rocked her child side to side. Both teens swallowed the burning jealousy that threatened to come up their throats. How could she remember only one child?

"Mommy you look scary," Blue said sadly on the verge of more tears, worry was written all over her youthful face. "You look like a monster," she added.

"I'm—I'm alright, baby." A soft smile formed despite her tired eyes, wishing she could take all the pain and concern away. "I-I'm fine." Bey assured, repeatedly kissing Blue's forehead, softly comforting her.

Halle could no longer take it, "you remember us now, mommy? You know who I am?" The girl looked over to Chloe as the seconds ticked by without an answer. Worry wormed its way into her heart while her stomach started to do flips and churns at the thought of her mother never remembering who she was.

Mike shifted, folding his arms across his chest. "Give her some time, baby girl. Let's not try to rush things."

Bey was aware of Mike speaking and the younger teen mumbling incoherently, but the adrenaline had begun to wear off and the pain in her legs was now becoming unbearable. She let herself collapse onto the ground, still clutching Blue in her arms, and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them back up, black spots danced across her vision again. Chloe was by her side in a second. Her eyes lingered, horrified, on her mom's face and Bey knew that she must look as bad as she felt. The blonde dared not to look up at the teen. She didn't want the desolate glance of deception ice grilling her any longer as she knew it would.

"Mama," Chloe gently reached for the woman. As soon as the teen touched her hand, Bey's senses became acute.

FLASHBACK

Music reverberated against the walls and tall ceilings, echoing in Chloe's chest. Her cheeks turned a shade of rosy pink as she looked across the room at Bey eyeing her down with a fake pout. When it seemed the pseudo frown wouldn't falter, Chloe slinked across the room with a little embarrassed smile on her face, laughing quietly when the blonde jumped slightly on her toes with a goofy grin as she clapped. "Sweetpea finna dance y'all look!" Bey announced to the room occupied by her close family. It was clear to Chloe that the woman had one two many, but she didn't mind. Beyoncé grabbed Chloe's hand watching as the girl half assed her hip movements.

"Uh Uh move your hips like this!" Bey bent over, placing her hands on her knees.

Chloe laughed out loud at the blonde twerking like no one was watching before repeating the movements herself.

"Aahhh! Look at my baby!!" Bey said a bit too loud, a proud smile taking over her sweet features.

Solange clapped, smiling so hard her gums were showing. "Dannng Chlo I see you girl! BB number two!"

-

PRESENT

So what if the rain
                             F
                               A
                                  L
                                     L
                                       S

Two voices so alike, yet so different came together to produce an almost haunting duet in the blonde's mind, chilling Bey to her core.

FLASHBACK

"Mommy-y-y Please don't let them take me! I don't wanna go!" Bey watched teary eyed as a police officer stopped Halle from running towards her by holding her waist.

Face wet with silent tears, she looked on watching her child throw a rage-filled fit, flopping and wiggling mirthlessly in the officer's arms. There were only two words occupying the woman's brain as she was made to stand idly by as her child reached out for her hand. 'My baby! My baby! My baby!'

PRESENT

Bey's light brown eyes were lost in the scenes running through her mind. The scenes were out of order for sure, but they didn't feel threatening. She went to speak but was suddenly immersed in another memory.

FLASHBACK

"I'm sorry!" Bey's eyes trickled open after hearing the sorrowful outburst.

She could just barely see Chloe's disgruntled face hovering over hers.

"Mama I'm so sorry!" Chloe blurted out like she no longer had control over the movements of her mouth, words unknowingly escaping.

Before a thought crossed her mind, Bey was speaking. "You call me that, I'm that forever."

PRESENT

It took Bey a few seconds to regain self-control. Her smile was beautiful and distant like she was remembering. Shaking her head as though part of her still couldn't quite believe it.

"Sweetpea?...Lil bit?" She looked between them both.

Halle didn't waste a second, dropping to her knees and throwing her head into her mother's chest. Bey looked up, eyes sparkling. She couldn't take her eyes off of her oldest. "C-come h-here Sweetpea," she croaked.

She watched as Chloe's neck throbbed with tears not yet shed. "Co-come here ba—by," the woman coaxed.

There was a beat of pure silence until Chloe fell to the floor beside her mother. "Mommyyy," she cried like a child who'd scraped their knees on hard concrete. The woman cringed at the thought of what she must have undergone. Anger filled her, she wanted to kill the man looking at her with those dark demented eyes. With Blue in her lap and Halle tugging at her torso, Bey couldn't fully hug her oldest, so she settled for leaning her head into Chloe's. "I'm r-right here," she told her. "Mommy's right here." Bey pored over all of her children's wet faces. "I'm sorry! I-I don't know what I was saying. W-what I-I I was think—thinking. My head it's I-it's everywhere! Mama's sorry babies." She rubbed Halle's back. "I-I didn't mean it! Mommy didn—didn't  m-mean it, okay? I didn't."

"It's okay," Chloe nestled closer, cheek rubbing against cheek. It was as if she wanted to live in her mother's skin. "I thought you were —

"I know I know," Bey said, soothing her. "Imma be okay. M-mama's gon—gonna be f-f-fine." She wiped her face, anger in her eyes.

Blue toyed with one tendril off her mother's hair. "Do you really mean it?"

"Yes baby," Bey reassured her with another kiss. "M-mommy just n-needs some—needs some s-sleep."

"You kept passing out like every five minutes," Chloe sniffed, trying to halt her blubbering but it was of no use. "You need a hospital, mama." She choked out. 

"She not going no damn where!" Mike shouted, causing the three children to flinch.

Beyoncé was getting too angry, Chloe could tell.

"H-HOW CO-COULD YOU?!!" Bey suddenly blurted out, stumbling over her own words. She felt like there was some big grey cloud above her head that didn't let her breathe properly. Still she went on. "Y-you got my k-kids locked up in some s-s-stank ass! Wha-what is this?" She squinted looking around the room. "A-a cabin?" Her speech was jerky and fragmented, nothing like her usual southern slow-paced verbosity; but she was speaking, and as she continued she fell into a pattern, apparently growing more confident. "You ki—kidnapped me and my kids and took us to to to a cabin? A-a-and f-for what? For fucking what?!" Her tears started flowing again. She stood, Blue still in her arms, Halle clinging to her shirt, and Chloe clutching her free hand.

Mike stared at her with a sly smirk. Trying to hide the hole that had opened inside of him—an ache in his chest that only spread when she'd looked at him with those angry, betrayed eyes.

"Ans—answer me Bitch?! What the hell is g-g-going on here?" She screeched.

Oddly, Chloe felt a sense of pride watching as her mother went on the defense.

Bey's reflexes were not nearly as fast as they needed to be. Before she could even register that he was moving, he had grabbed her arm. Chloe's eyes blurred a bit and she stumbled as she tried to keep the hold she had on her mom's hand.

Beyoncé was slammed against the wall before she could blink, causing Blue to cry out. Quickly she handed the child to Chloe before the man started to speak.

"You gone learn how to talk to a fucking man! I'm not that other nigga! You hear me?! Huh?! You hear me! I'm not him! You show me some fucking respect when you talk to me!" He leaned his face into hers, forehead resting on hers.

Bey could smell the mildewy and sickly passage of his breath. She took a step to the side, uneasy and pressed the back of her hand onto her lips, trying hard not to get sick.

"Mommy!" Halle and Blue cried out.

Mike punched the wall beside Bey's head just barely missing her cheek. "You hear me talking to you?!"

"S-something's wrong," Bey cried out, both of her hands massaging her temples. "Wh-what is—What is happen—ing to me?" She cried out again, feeling another wave of pain coursing through her, "Dear Lord..." she whispered right as her legs gave out.

Mike caught her before she could hit the ground. Chloe turned Blue away from the awful sight. She'd already witnessed too much.

"Put her down!" Halle screamed.

Mike kicked her on the back of her shin, "go sit down somewhere." He barked, heading to the small bed with the unconscious woman in his arms. He laid her down, gently, paying close attention to the rise and fall of her chest.

"She needs a hospital!" Chloe called after him. "I don't know how long she can go on without seeing a doctor. She's only gonna get worse. Her head needs stitches, not just a bandage."

"She's sick!" Blue screamed.

Halle paced back and forth, tapping her fingertips together. "If she doesn't get stitches she's gonna keep losing blood."

"Yeah," Chloe nodded. "And that bandage isn't gonna last that much longer. That ain't nothing you can throw peroxide and a bandaid on. You put a gash in her head." She locked eyes with Halle who stopped her pacing and turned to face Mike.

"A gash." The thirteen year old emphasized.

Blue stared at her mother for a millisecond before tucking her face into her sister's shoulder. Chloe rubbed the child's back in response as she eyed Mike up and down. "Are you not worried for her? Not even just a little bit? You're telling me you can look at her," she motioned to a passed out Beyoncé. "Look at my mom like that and feel nothing? No sympathy? No need to help? Nothing?"

Blue lifted her head, "gramma says people like that are run down."

Halle continued her pacing, stopping briefly to point at the youngest Carter and say. "Well mama said they're sick."

"Sick as a dog," Chloe grunted, shaking her head in disgust.

"Yeah a dog." Blue nodded in agreement though she didn't quite catch the meaning of the idiom.

Mike sneered. "Do y'all ever shut the hell up? Damn!" He fumbled with the hole in the wall where there was previously a doorknob.

"Heyy," the child pouted.

Mike tilted his head in her direction. "Awwe," he cooed. "Did the big bad man hurt your feelings?"

Blue watched the man for some time. "Yes," She said truthfully. "You're not supposed to say curse words to kids...That's mean."

Mike grabbed at his chest, "awwwe I'm sorry Baby Bey."

"My name is Blue. Blue Ivy!" The child exclaimed.

Halle palmed her face. "Oh my God." She lamented, earning a warning grimace from the man.

Chloe tried her hand at shushing the youngest girl but failed miserably.

"And you said shut up," Blue continued. "Shut don't go up, right Halle?" She turned to her sister who's cheeks burned red.

"Well...technically," Halle glanced toward Mike and let out a nervous chuckle. "shut up is a verb phrase." She placed her finger on her chin seemingly in thought. "Or is it a transitional verb, Chloe? I could never remember..." She chuckled nervously again and scratched at her left elbow.

Chloe looked at her, confusion holding her brows hostage. "Seriously Hals? You want an English lesson right now?" She squinted.

"Blue asked!" Halle's arm flew through the air, motioning dramatically toward the six year old who shrugged.

Mike looked between the bickering teens. "That's all girls do is yap yap yap all day long." He shook his head, still fumbling with the broken door.

On the bed, Bey let out a faint groan, though her eyes remained closed. Chloe cringed at this. "The longer she's here without any medical attention the worse things are gonna get..."

Mike pulled the door open with one arm. "Chloe this the most I heard you talk since you was ten!" He moved into the threshold. "I miss when yo ass didn't say a fucking word!" And with that, he exited, slamming the door in his wake.

Blue let out a huff, staring at the door as she heard it lock. "You think mommy's gonna be okay?" She desperately waited on Chloe's opinion.

The oldest looked between both of her sisters who wore identical pleading faces waiting on the teen's comforting words.

"I don't know, Baba" Chloe said truthfully. "But what I do know is we gotta try to get her some help. We have to get out of this room."

All three Carter girls stood in the middle of the modest quarters, peering around like they were in an escape room, searching for the hidden key that would set them free.

"Impossible," Halle sighed, defeated.

The gears in Chloe's head started to come together and turn. "Nothing's impossible," she said matter of factly. "Nothing."

—
SOME TIME LATER

"On three," Chloe whispered, gripping the lip of the sealed window with both of her hands. Halle did the same, scrunching her face and squaring her shoulders, trying her best to put pressure on the aperture.

"One," Chloe started, fingers sweaty and slippery, nimbly holding onto the thin wooden frame of the window.

"Two," Halle nodded, brows cinched in the middle of her forehead.

"Three," they said in unison.

With the force of all the concentration they had, they did their very, very best to pry the window open, eyes shut tight, pushing and pulling until the tips of their cheeks bloomed a dreadful roseate and their teeth plunged painfully into their bottom lips—no movement at all.

"It's useless," Halle sighed and threw her arms in the air. She eyed her red hands with worry, blisters surely would develop on the angry burn like marks. "We've been at this for an hour now Chloe, it's not gonna open...he made sure of it."

"Keep trying," Chloe grit her teeth, her hands clenched around the little ledge so tight she thought her bones might snap. She tried to force herself out of her instinctive will to simply forfeit knowing what was at stake, but slowly she was honestly starting to give up.

Halle meandered towards the twin sized bed her mother lay asleep in. "You can waste your energy all you want." She frowned, eyes shifting towards her younger sister who too had been visited by the oh so graceful demigod better known as the sandman. Blue lay curled next to her mother, twitching and turning every now and then. It was clear that no one would get any real sleep for quite some time. Probably never, Halle thought as she raised the featherweight blanket over Blue's shoulders, doing her best to tuck her in. She sat on the floor, curling into a ball. This was all so messed up.

"Fuck!" Chloe drew her hand back after pricking her finger on a loose splinter. "Slllll," she hissed, shaking the pain away before sucking up the small spackle of blood. "Oooh I can't stand him." She muttered. "Come on Halle, we have to keep trying." She made sure to keep her voice low, turning to see her sister staring blankly ahead, eyes seemingly haunted.

Chloe watched as Halle tried to push herself to her feet, but it hurt too damn much, her muscles weren't obeying, just twitching uselessly against themselves. She must have had injuries from earlier that I can't see, the oldest thought. Chloe crouched down, "hey, you okay?" Her voice was soft and sympathetic.

"It's my side," the girl croaked, clutching at the offending area. "Feels like I cracked a rib or something."

Chloe went to lift her sister's shirt, squinting to see in the dark. "When he kicked you." It was more of a statement than a question but Halle answered with a nod.

The fifteen year old pushed her locs away from her face as she sighed and stood, trying to force off the panic, trying to get herself to think. There had to be something she could do, had to be a way to get out of this. Grinding her teeth, she tapped her fingers along her thigh. Not for the first time, she wondered how many more times this sort of thing could happen. Just how much could a person take before they completely lost it? She figured she had to be halfway mad at this point already. A person's mind, a person's soul, she thought, was much like a bone, like any other part of them. They could only withstand so much force before they cracked, and only endure so many cracks before they shattered.

She managed to at least look up a little, glaring as steadily as she could at the night stand or rather the broken clock sitting on top of it. Earlier, Halle had suggested that they use it to break the window open, but that was quickly shut down as Chloe wanted an effortless and most of all, soundless escape. Breaking the window would be too loud and she knew Mike wasn't that far from them. She could hear the steady sounds of metal clanking against metal almost as if someone were hammering away at a loose nail.

Their captor's face flashed in her mind as she imagined the man boarding up windows and doors to keep them locked inside. It wouldn't be the first time she'd witnessed this type of manic behavior. Mike went through extra precautions back in Atlanta adding multiple padlocks to the closet door she spent most of her days. Their bedroom windows never opened, not because they were painted shut but because the man somehow rigged the latches so that they wouldn't budge. He was, after all, an engineer.

She remembered the look on his face the day he decided to embark on his little home renovations. That look. Mike was just so fucking pleased with himself, wasn't he? For some reason, recalling that amused, arrogant, self-congratulating look just made her furious. It was the same look he had on his face earlier as he kicked Halle and screamed in Blue's face threatening the child with the same treatment if she wasn't quiet.

What did he have to be so happy with himself about? Sure, he succeeded in stopping the runaways from bolting again, whatever. But was easily controlling three fearful girls with a quick wave of his pistol something to be proud of? He was the self-proclaimed "Mandingo" who worked out everyday and came in various shades of deadly. They were merely two untrained teens and a six year old child. What was there to be so proud about?

Her eyes flickered to the clock again.

1:11

Angelic guidance.

Bey made sure she reminded her girls of the angel numbers anytime she could. Going into depth about their meanings and what to look out for if they saw any of them. Usually Chloe would ignore her mom and let her ramble about her Creole upbringing. The teen would sometimes throw in a joke about swamp monsters and feeding wild alligators, but there had been an entire week where she repeatedly saw the numbers 111 practically everywhere. She'd catch it on her phone, she'd see it on someone's home address, she'd be mindlessly counting and she'd get interrupted the moment she reached 111. It irked her so much she went to ask Bey what it meant. The woman had kindly explained that it was a good warning sign and she was being guided to pay close attention to her thoughts and feelings. Bey encouraged her to put her past behind her. Swore that the number meant there was something new to look forward to.

"HA!" Chloe chuckled at the thought, causing Halle to cringe at the bitterness in its echo, the heaviness in its feel. "New beginnings!" She snorted, allowing her twisted hissing voice to slither into her sister's ears.

"Chloe?" Halle, uncurled from the ball she'd made of herself. "Chloe?" She said again, watching as her sister doubled over with laughter, tears gracing her cheeks.

Halle tapped Chloe's shin, but she couldn't feel any of it above the world-whitening agony that dug a hole and  burrowed itself within the pits of her gut. The agony twisted and churned squeezing and pulling until it transmuted into combustible acrimony. Rage.

The fury gave her strength, hardly any at all, but enough to force herself out of the maniacal laughter. At first her face went stoic, lips pulled into a straight line, eyes devoid of life, then she gave Halle the most vicious, defiant look she could muster. It sent the thirteen year old crawling over to the bed, wide eyed as she leaned her head against the frame waiting for what her sister would do next.

Halle saw the vein in Chloe's neck give an almighty lurch. She saw the twitching in her hand return fiercely, this time with a vendetta no one else was keen on. Chloe, with an almost bored look on her face, took one step. Her legs were so unsteady she wasn't sure if she'd moved an inch.

Still.

Another step.

Another twitch.

She had drawn herself closer to the nightstand with as much grace as any child being brought up by Queen Bey would, but Halle could see it in her eyes. So very plainly. She was furious. And why shouldn't she be? With Halle's refusal to participate in a great escape, Bey passed out, the teen had every reason to be vehemently beside herself. This was very much not something Chloe was able to handle on her own. She wasn't that kind of girl. In another world, she would be leaning very heavily on her mother. And, of course, Halle and Blue. In what capacity she wasn't sure — likely as some kind of symbol to remain steadfast, keep up morale, something like that. In this dimension the girl had no one to lean on, no one to rein her in if she wandered too far from herself.

"Chloe, you're scaring me. Maybe you should sit down for a second." Halle called out.

Chloe ignored her, reaching her arm out and grasping the Minnie Mouse clock in her hand. Tick Tok Tick Tok, her brain went. A broad smile took over her features then replaced by a scowl in the next second.

"Chloe you're tired," Halle continued, this time pushing her knees into her chest as if to protect herself, or perhaps hold herself together, wincing at the pain it caused her ribs. There was silence for a few moments, and Halle alternated between peering at an oblivious Chloe and back at her sleeping mother. As Chloe began moving, Halle spoke. "Just sit down, please!" She clenched her fists and tipped her head back against the bed frame.

The fifteen year old yanked at the clock causing the cord to rip violently from the wall.

Halle could see the wheels turning in her sister's mind. "Chloe, don't do it." She rushed out, struggling to stand.   "Remember what you said before? You break that window he's coming right in. Right? Those were your words." She approached her sister like she held a bomb instead of a chroniker.

Chloe scrutinised her for several moments, deliberating on whether what Halle said was what she actually believed. There was no sound for a few moments as they barely breathed.

"Chloe," Halle whimpered, just barely holding back her tears. "I-I don't want him to come in here. Please don't do it. I don't want him to."

Chloe's fingers tensed around the clock. Halle could see her breathing starting to pick up almost as if she were working herself up for something.

"Please Chloe," Halle took a step forward. She was standing directly in front of her sister, eyes searching, head foggy from lack of sleep and dehydration. "It makes no sense. Like you said, everybody's not gonna be able to get out in time. Somebody's gonna get hurt!" She whispered harshly.

Chloe gulped nervously, the sweat beading upon her upper lip as she watched Halle observe her like she were a mad man.

"Please Chlo," Halle lamented. "Give me the clock." She held a trembling palm out in front of her.

Chloe let out a breath. She could hear her own shaky exhale and tried to swallow her fear as she looked up and met terrified orbs.

"Pleeaase," Halle whined. "Blue just got to sleep. Don't be selfish...please!" She tried her best to be hush hush, but the anger that boiled in her belly was becoming increasingly hot.

Chloe's gaze left her sister and landed on the window. Slowly, she began wrapping the electrical cord around the clock. Tick Tok Tick Tok her brain began again.

"You're only doing that because he's not hurting you!" Halle accidentally yelled.

Chloe continued to wrap the cord.

"Please Chloe!" Halle hissed, suddenly moving forward sharply, causing Chloe to attempt to move back, however she was halted by tightly cupped hands. "He's gonna—he's gon—YOU'RE ONLY THINKING OF YOURSELF! MAMA'S IN NO POSITION TO SQUEEZE THROUGH A DAMN WINDOW! SHE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET OUT! THERE'S FOUR OF US! SOMEBODY'S GONNA BE LEFT BEHIND! DON'T YOU GET IT? CHLOE? CHLOE!"

There seemed to be no other thoughts behind Chloe's eyes besides breaking the window and bolting. Words yelled in hushed tones simply did not reach her ears. She yanked her hands away from her sister's and silently made her way towards her target. Halle scurried as she followed. "Please, please!" She whined. "Chloe please!"

The fifteen year old raised her arm, that defiant look taking over her features again.

"No!" Halle cried desperately reaching for the clock. "Nooo," the wails were heart wrenching. "I just wanna sleep, Chloe!" She clasped her hands together in front of her mouth. "Ple-ease Chloe! I just wanna go to sleep. I don't wanna deal with him anymore. He's gonna be so mad! Please don't do it! You're gonna make things worse! Please! Please! Let me sleep? We can think of another way when we wake up. We'll wake up and be outta here faster than we can blink! Pretty sure the police are looking for us anyway. We can sleep while they do all the hard work. What's one day here? Nothing. He'll be back in jail and we can all go home if we let the police do their jobs. I just wanna sleep. Can you let me sleep? Can I sleep? I'm tired Chloe! Please just let me sleep?" She asked as she reached out and began to curl around Chloe's midriff affectionately. "Please."

Chloe's head tilted. Halle heard an intrigued hum in the air as her sister pursed her lips in consideration. "We can sleep once we're out of here," she grumbled, arm once again gearing to launch the clock.

A grating cry pulled its way through Halle's clenched teeth. She pushed herself away from her sister and bolted towards the door. "Mike!" She banged her fist on the rough wood. "Daddy!" She screamed again. Her arms trembled with the remnants of pain and her muscles ached. Her face was also covered in a sheen of sweat – all she wanted to do was rest but she kept banging. "Mike!"

The clock dropped with a light thunk on the floor before Chloe turned to Halle gaping in shock. She felt a deep flair of pain at her betrayal, like a scab had been pulled off an open wound. The yelling caused Blue to stir awake. The child sat up, looking around the room with saucers for eyes before she remembered where she was, features settling into an exaggerated look of somberness. She seemed to remain a little confused though, losing the sleepy look that clung to her. The six year old frowned as she regarded a yelling Halle cautiously, pulling the sleeves of her loose shirt over her wrists. Just as Chloe fixed her mouth to spew a curse Halle's way, the door flung open, knocking the thirteen year old to the floor. Chloe felt her body contort, locking in place like set cement. The floor moved suddenly, or was it her?

"WHAT IS GOING O—

CRACK!

Chloe hurled the clock across the room with such precision that it landed in the middle of Mike's face, crunching bone-like cartilage upon impact. From the sound of it, his whiffer was broken. "SHIT!" The man screamed, doubling over and cupping his bleeding nostrils. He pressed both hands to his face, squared his shoulders and reset his nose with two swift snaps. Halle layed on the floor with wide eyes, just staring in shock. Chloe grit her teeth and before she could regret her decision, she flung Blue onto her hip and dashed for the door. Passing Halle, she grabbed at the girl's shirt collar, ripping the fabric and dragging her along until she let go to move a bit faster.

"Come on Come on Come on!" Chloe called over her shoulder as she ran out of the room and down the hall, gaping this way and that.

Halle swallowed nervously and shot a guilty glance back at her mother who seemed to be stirring.

Chloe didn't need to look back to know what Halle was thinking."We'll get help! Let's go! Lets FUCKING go! NOW!" The yell had come from a place Halle hadn't seen. Chloe rarely raised her voice. Another second passed and Halle got to her feet, running wildly behind her sister, shutting down feelings to be dealt with later.

Continuing her mad getaway, and earning several painful squeezes from Blue, Chloe darted ahead. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, but looking over her shoulder she saw that no one was chasing them or closing in. Halle pumped her legs faster but it didn't seem to do her any good, she couldn't catch up to her sister. Chloe remained a good four feet ahead.

They had passed two rooms and there was still a chance that Mike wouldn't catch them, and she desperately hoped that was the case. Otherwise they would all have to deal with the consequences of this blatant attempt to flee. Chloe glanced behind again, still seeing no one but Halle. Taking a deep breath, she stopped her break-neck speed and simply trotted and removed Blue's hand from her hair where she had been desperately clutching. Warily, she took in her surroundings and realized she had made a huge mistake. Every window she passed had been boarded up. She frowned in disgust and continued like a wild boar avoiding capture, looking around, turning in circles, and running until she reached the front door. Halle bit her lip, turned her eyes to the floor, exhaled noisily, and looked back up. "There's no way out!" She said after watching her sister twist the knob without any headway.

Chloe was silent for a moment. "There's gotta be a back door." She croaked, her fear returning.

Halle nodded in agreement, and without another word, retreated back to the living room. Chloe shifted Blue in her arms before taking off behind her.

—

Beyoncé winced as pain shot up her body, settling between her shoulder blades and the small of her back. No, this was not a time for sleep, she told herself. Her children needed her–hell, she needed her. She had to be strong. Which meant she had to wake up, and move. The final, urgent thought that might have brought her head up and her eyes open was how positively un-Yoncé her current situation was. Curled up on a tiny, smelly bed, clothes no doubt ruffled and hair a-fray? Oh, this was not it! Then, slightly appalled at her practical but selfish thought, she began to stir. She felt pressure. Not the kind that tiger parents had for their overachieving children but pressure, lumbering bothersome pressure like someone was holding her down. Keeping her still. The pressure was crushing her.

It seemed in her dazed, half asleep state she could hear a voice, Mike's voice through the black around her, but couldn't exactly understand what he was saying. Listening hard, she just barely made out two words.

"Wake-up"

Then there was a nice feeling, a soft feeling as the pressure remained on her body but traveled to her mouth. The pressure started and stopped every few seconds making her stir left and right.

"Wake up baby," Mike whispered grimly, placing another delicate kiss onto her lips.

Bey felt like she'd been floating in nothingness for quite awhile and was only just realizing it. "Mmm," she groaned, stirring again.

His tongue lapped on her lips, and Mike could feel a shiver going through her body, his hands wondering the softness of her thighs. Still, Bey stayed unresponsive, her eyes closed and locked onto the back of her lids. When he deepened the kiss and allowed his hands to travel to the hem of her nightgown, the blonde finally responded, pumping adrenaline. Her eyes shot open, yet instead of calming upon meeting his gaze, her blood curdling screams broke off into sobs. "No! G-get away f-from me!" She wrapped her fingers around his shoulders, shoving him away violently and falling off the bed in an attempt to distance herself from him.

Bey staggered backwards, dusting her mouth off in a frenzy. "Wha-what is?" She couldn't finish her sentence, instead wiping furiously at her face where blood from his broken nose had spilled.

Mike lifted her from the floor placing her on the bed again, his eyes focusing on the blonde's lips. "You didn't kiss me back. Baby why would you push me away? I thought we agreed that we're past that?" Hurt flashed briefly in his eyes, but Bey couldn't care less.

Frantically she searched the room from where she lay.  Answers and questions raced through her head, but she could only verbalize one thing as her thoughts became a jam of disjointed feelings. Looking up, the woman sneered. "Wh-where's my babies?" Her head was pounding and she shifted to her side to curl her legs up underneath herself but the headache persisted, pounding as her breathing hitched and then quickened, shooting another agonizing pain through her brain.

Mike stretched a hand across his eyes, rubbing his temples almost as if he could feel her pain.

"Th-they were here before. I know it," Bey winced, getting to her feet rather quickly when her stomach churned, unsettling. She gagged and questioned if it was a dream. If her girls had been a mirage, a symptom of the pounding in her head. "W-weren't they he—re? My b-babies? Th-they was here. My ch-children were just h—ere." She forced out.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "And one of them did this to me." He motioned to his throbbing nose.

Bey thought for a moment. Weighing in her mind which girl would likely do such a thing. Blue was eliminated almost immediately. She figured there was no way Halle had the strength or confidence to break this man's nose. Yes she'd received reports from friends and family about Halle's temperament issues. Yes she knew her child sometimes struggled to keep her hands to herself but a break that nasty couldn't have come from Lil bit. It was close to impossible. Bey's mind traveled to Chloe. Her sweet baby girl. Possibly her sweetest child yet. The heavy stepper, Shawn sometimes called her. She knew the girl had a feisty side that people rarely saw. One that caused her to bludgeon a girl in her school's locker room.

"Chloe," Bey said simply, as if she were all knowing. "Where-w-where is she?" She slowly moved, using the wall for strength. "D-did you do s-something to her? Y-you hurt her?" She sniffed up her snot. "I-I swear to G—

"Aht aht aht," Mike interrupted. "No using the Lord's name in vain in this house."

He stepped forward, ultimately backing the woman into the wall. "And I didn't do nothing to her."

Bey sneered, "yeah right."

"I wouldn't lie to you baby." His leg moved smoothly, only stopping when it rested in between hers.

"S-stop calling me that!" She blurted out incredulously.

Mike snorted with a sneer. "You mine. I can call you whatever I want... See watch. Bitch." He dipped his head, allowing his lips to graze her exposed shoulder. "Mmm Tease..." he planted a kiss at the underside of her jaw, holding her still when she attempted to push him away. "Slut," he hissed, digging his fingernails into her thigh. "You see how that works?" She cringed at his haughty smile as he trailed his pointer finger down her neck and chest. "I...can do...anything... I want. And there's nothing you or anybody else can do about it."

Tears gathered in the woman's eyes, thick and grevious like the air on a muggy California day. She blinked, bequeathing but one tear the relief of escaping the entrapment of her drooping lids. "W-hy are you doi—ng th-this? What do y—do y-you want?"

"What am I doing to you, exactly?" Mike stood up straight, his smirk getting the better of him.

Bey stared in wonder at the huge man who had already drug her through hell and then some. She couldn't see anything human in his eyes.They were like clear glass windows into abaddon, red fire seemingly burning within them. She decided that all that was left was a body, a carrion of collapsing emotions, overinflated ego, and a perverse frame of mind weighing heavy on thin bones.

"I could've sworn I asked you a question," His fingers twitched at his side.

Trembling, Bey's pale hands reached up to grab the locket around her neck. "I-I just w-wanna know where my kids are...p-please...that's all. I—

"I guess they somewhere around here trying to find a way out! They thought it was cute...making a little plan to get me to come in here just so they can make a run for it. Dumb asses don't know everything in here is sealed shut. Nobody's leaving unless I say so. All the windows...covered. All of the doors...can't get out without me. Even if they could, they wouldn't make it far. This place is surrounded by nothing but woods. They'll die out there before they ever get to some help as they keep putting it."

There was a long silence where Bey tried to process the information. She pushed herself off of the wall. "You h-have to let us—let us g-go. Y-y-you think people w-won't look f-f-for us? L-look for you?" Her long curly blonde hair rippled like heat waves as she shook her head in disbelief, and a hungry smile twisted the man's lips before he took her hand. "I keep telling you baby. You here to stay."

Bey stood loosely and lashed out, yanking her hands from his. "Do you k-know what they g-gonna do t-t-to you once th-they find you? What my hus—husband w-will do t—

Anger surged through Mike's large body and pure unfiltered rage twisted his face as he screamed out an expletive and drove his hand forward. The blow struck Bey on the face and the woman shrieked as her nightgown began to rise under the man's touch. "Don't ever mention that nigga in my presence! You hear me? Huh?!" His yells caused a high pitched ringing in the woman's ears. He moved too quickly for her to fight him off. "I've waited too long to have you to ever let you go. Don't you get that? Hm? You get it? Your home is right here with me!" He was kissing her hungrily, leaving a snail-like trail of blood wherever his nose collided. "I own you. Every part of you...when is that gonna get through that thick head of yours?" Two heavy fingers pressed into her left temple causing her to see black spots. She felt his sweat transfer to her face as he pushed his nose into hers. "You need a reminder baby? Hm? Yeah...maybe I need to jog your memory a bit. It ain't been right since you woke up. You been scattered...head all over the place." Her gown rose higher and higher until her drubbing stomach was exposed. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She tried to move her arms but she couldn't as they felt frozen to her sides. Mike gave a slight push and Bey crashed down to the bed with a terrible thud.

She watched as the man slowly removed his shirt revealing the gun in his waistband as he breathlessly hovered over the blonde's body. She attempted to curl into a ball, but he grabbed her left knee with his right hand, adding pressure until it laid flat on the child-sized bed. "Keep that leg right fucking there." He gave it two slaps so she couldn't claim she'd misheard. "I'm not playing." 

His fingers danced at the hem of her underwear, dipping a little too low every few seconds. Bey shook her head violently from side to side trying to make the man understand something, but before she could utter a 'stop' or plead for mercy, she heard an agitated grunt from behind the man. Suddenly Mike stopped all movement. His head craned over his left shoulder.

There in the doorway stood Chloe, agitation masking her torment.

"I wondered how long it'd take you to realize there's no way out." Mike could not disguise the venom in his voice.

Beyoncé shot up from the bed, horror written upon her face.

Chloe said nothing, rather she tilted her head a tad, studying Bey who's dazed expression mirrored her own. Seeing her mother being forcefully held against the bed triggered something in her. It was like the floodgates had been opened and all the memories of her past came at her in full force. She stood stiff as a board as her mind raced back to Atlanta and the punishments Mike inflicted on her there.

Being forced onto a bed

Getting shoved into a closet

The festering oozing wounds from kneeling on hard grit.

Chloe lost all conscious thought of where she was and held still without making a peep or crying out to her mom as she had so generously been taught.

"Sors d'ici Chloé," Bey groaned, her head lolling to the side as Mike stood. Chloe didn't understand what that meant but she could physically feel the sorrow in her mother's tone surging from her pores, sheathing her body in what could only be described as a dilatory death.

Chloe's brain screamed silently for everything to stop. When she made the decision to come back to the room, she had no idea the crushing cataclysm that would hit her at the sight of her mom being assaulted in that way. She had seen the torture Bey endured at their house. During the lengthy drive she bore witness to Mike's mistreatment of her mother. Chloe's eyes shut remembering how hard she fought for Mike to pull over and tend to Bey's wounds.

After a quiet whimper fell from her mother's lips, Chloe opened her eyes, and looked on curiously as Bey used one hand to wipe the tears and blood from her face. The woman knew she must've looked unsightly and thought her appearance would cause her daughter to have an anxiety attack. Begging and pleading for Chloe to allow air to pass through her lungs was last on the list of things she wanted to do, so Bey began running her fingers through her hair to look more like herself.

Chloe could feel the fear and humiliation the woman was going through and wondered how Bey could even be sound after this abuse. Her heart just broke at the sight of her mom grooming herself as she crooned in pain and something else she didn't seem to have a word for. She wanted to fix things, make them right.

The teen took a measured step forward. "Mike," Chloe's panicked voice whispered as she closed in on him further.

"What'd you call me?" Mike asked as he looked at her then back at the woman cowering beneath him.

Chloe wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer that so she just looked down at her feet. "I-I um...I" She whispered. She couldn't think. She didn't want to.

Mike gave a snooty laugh. "You starting to sound like your mother, y-you what?"

"Um" She cleared her throat and gave a quick look towards Bey.

"I-I said GET O-OUT OF HERE!" The woman roared like a lion defending its pride, channeling energy from somewhere unknown. She leaned back on one of her forearms, pulling the strap to her nightgown up on her shoulder, incensed. Her eyes never left her child's. "GET OUT!" She screamed again. "GET OUT!" She continued.

Flinching, Chloe stumbled over the clock she threw earlier. Tick Tock her mind started spiraling. She was shocked at the way her mom had just spoken to her. It took her a moment to compose herself. "Momm—

"Please Sweetpea," Bey croaked. Her head rested on her knees as she hugged her legs close to her chest, tears wetting her bruised face. "G-get o-out of here. Go."

Chloe blinked a few times and clinched her fist at her sides. She felt like she was drowning.

"Nah," Mike reached for the teen's hair to push it off her forehead but she jerked away from his touch, angering him in the process. "She has something to say...let her say it...go on." He motioned with a quick flick of his wrist.

Bey seemed startled at the man's sudden movements and had a fleeting panicked expression on her face, but her expression quickly turned angry once she looked towards her trembling daughter. She was pissed that Chloe didn't listen to her. Pissed that her daughter was inches away from a pedophile. Saddened because she knew his intent. Saddened because she knew there wasn't much she could do in response.

It seemed Chloe and Bey were having their own silent conversation through quirked brows, pouty lips, and head tilts. Mike followed Chloe's gaze.

"Why you don't want her to speak? You want all of my attention? Is that it? Hm? You don't wanna share daddy do you?" He asked in a quiet voice.

Bey gave him a look of loathing and turned her head towards the window without answering.

Mike chuckled, shaking his head before turning to Chloe. "Go ahead."

Years. She had spent years afraid out of her mind to utter a full sentence to the man. Years being deduced to brief phrases and indecipherable gibberish. Years having no voice. After a stretched out silence that seemed to cover the entire room in boorish anticipation, Chloe's brain worked alongside her mouth to produce but a mere statement.

"I-I think she's had enough," she studied her feet and scratched at the denim of her jeans.

A tilt of Mike's head let her know there was a question resting at the forefront of his tongue. The teen stepped forward. Her shaky hand reached out to grasp his. "You say you want us to be a family," Her voice was a step up from a whisper.

Bey turned towards her daughter, curious as to where she was headed.

"This isn't how you treat family. You need to calm down...please." She ran her thumb lightly over his knuckles.

The blonde visibly cringed when Mike's lips curled into a devious smile. She seriously questioned the existence of God as her fingers moved painstakingly slowly to her hair, pulling slightly at her roots.

"And is this how family is treated?" Mike asked, motioning towards his crooked nose.

Bey could see his chest beginning to heave again. "Mike, ple-ease!" She pleaded, her normally-calm demeanor cracking for a brief moment.

"QUIET, WOMAN!" shouted the man, not even looking at the rattled woman. He stared directly at Chloe, waiting for an answer.

The girl only stared dumbly.

"Since she's an expert she can answer my question. Is. This. How. Family. Treat. Each other? They break each other's noses? Plan things behind their backs? Try to leave them?" He asked icily.

Chloe and Bey outwardly sighed at the same time, the latter looking at Mike as if he were unhinged.

"In a way, yes." Chloe started.

Mike quirked a brow at that.

"She's my mama..." The teen cleared her throat, feeling her voice trailing off.

It was a familiar feeling, that sensation of a tongue heavy as lead, words that would refuse to be voiced. Chloe's old friend, reticence, had apparently waltzed into the room and stole the show. Knowing that didn't make her feel any better, she told herself that she couldn't freeze up now. Not when her mother needed her most.

When she spoke again, it was with more strength and determination. "She's my mother and she needs a doctor."

Mike forced his expression to remain neutral. "That's your excuse for throwing a damn clock at my face and breaking my nose?"

Chloe swallowed. "Uh...yeah." She paused for a moment, seemingly focused on his hands, which were now resting on the gun in his waistband.

Chloe bit her lip and continued. "People do crazy things when their family is in trouble. I didn't plan to break your nose...or hit you with the clock at all. It just kinda happened. I panicked and I'm sorry." She exhaled gravely before continuing. "I just wanted to...needed to get her some help..." she trailed off again, looking at Bey with fear.

Bey shot a grateful glance at her daughter before turning back to Mike, who seemed to have mixed emotions. The man showed a considerable amount of sadness and...was that regret showing its teeth? He clenched his fist and relaxed his hand seconds after. He suddenly felt something wrong with his mind. There was something in his head...restraining, guarding. His breathing became relaxed. "She's fine," he said, giving Bey a quick once over. "You feel fine, right, baby?" He stepped closer to the bed, worried eyes on full display.

Bey sat stunned by how genuine he appeared in this moment. What was he up to? She could hardly think. "I-I don't feel good. Every—Everything h-hurts. I'm s-seeing double. I r-really need a-a hospital."

Chloe moved swiftly, across the room. She took a seat on the bed, careful not to move around too much. There was a moment where their eyes searched each otherp. Bey's hazels seeking out any bumps or bruises...any hair out of place. Chloe's probing for a sign, a twitch of the brow, purse of the lip that might give her a clue as to what she should do. The blonde bowed her head gratefully when it seemed Chloe had only been stricken with the world's smallest cut on her finger. Chloe's shoulders slumped, failing to find any answers in her mother's movements.

"Do you need some water or something?" Mike asked Bey, who could not hide her extreme anxiety.

She nodded, her hands grasping her daughter's chin with a soft tug, turning it side to side. Chloe closed her eyes at the delicate touch, choosing to completely block out her surroundings once more rather than focus on the room she was in. She found solace in her mother's touch. The fruity fragrance of the woman's hair whisked her away, taking her to the safe, renowned fortress their family were blessed to call home. But the euphoric feeling didn't last long as Chloe's fourth sense picked up on the metallic stench of blood. She opened her eyes as her mother began to speak.

"C-can you b-bring her s-some too? She's de—dehydrated." Bey asked after noticing the dryness of Chloe's lips.

Chloe gave her mother's free hand a gentle squeeze.

This time Mike nodded, staring at the pair a moment longer before turning to leave, his shirt billowing behind him as he picked it up. "Don't do nothing stupid." He offered up, finally exiting.

A tense silence filled the small room after Mike's departure, and the anxiety hanging about the air was so thick one could cut it with a knife. Bey turned to Chloe. She ignored the pain in her wrist as she grabbed her daughter by the arms. "Where's your sisters?" 

Chloe looked on with wide eyes. "They're hiding."

"Where?" The woman probed.

"I put them in the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink. It was the only place I could think of at the last minute." Chloe scratched at her scalp.

Bey nodded her understanding, glancing slightly to the open door. "B-but they t-together right? I-in one place?"

"Mhm," Chloe nodded. "I told them not to move until I come and get them. We tried to get out but he has this place locked down. It's like Fort Knox up in here. There's no way out." The teen looked over her shoulder and pointed. "From what I can tell, this is the only window not boarded yet...It's our best shot. Me and Halle tried for hours to open it but it's sealed shut. Won't budge. Last resort is to break it and everybody's not gonna have enough time to get out before he hears. This place ain't that big. He's gonna freak out and do something crazy if we try to do that."

"It's a little late for that," Bey lamented, shaking her head.

Chloe unconsciously smiled at her mom's clear sentence.

Without another word, the woman moved her legs into a proper sitting position, grunts and sighs filling the room as she did so.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked when it seemed she would stand.

"I h-have three kids, Chloe, n-not one. I can't just sit here with one of'em w-waiting for him t-t-to do somethi—something to the o-other two." The statement caused Bey to grip at her stomach, suddenly remembering that three was supposed to turn into four soon. Now she wasn't so sure.

Chloe bit back a cry, realizing the pressure that was on the ill woman. There was another damning silence in the air before she gave a slight nod and stood, reaching her arms out to carefully grab at her mother's hands and pulled her to a standing position, same as Bey would do to her when she'd sleep in for too long.

"Sweetpea?" Bey whispered.

"Yes?" Chloe's arm was around her mother's back, steadying her.

"You s-said I was b-bleeding earlier?" She asked in a distraught voice.

Chloe only nodded, the memory still too fresh.

"W-where?" Bey asked as she limped towards the door with her daughter's help.

"Um, from your head," Chloe responded, sparing a nervous glance toward the door.

"Tha-that's it? Just my h-head?"

Chloe thought for a second. "A little on your mouth."

Bey breathed an audible sigh of relief, and suddenly she felt exhausted. "N-nowhere else?" She stopped, bracing herself on the frame of the door and eyed the girl seriously.

Chloe paused for a moment, thinking again. "Maybe your nose? I couldn't see exactly where it was all coming from...so much..." She trailed off.

Bey's only response was a nod. With another sigh, she resigned herself to the anxiety and paranoia that was likely to follow her for the next few days, and exited the room. With a light wave of her hand, she motioned for Chloe to follow her as she made her way down the hall toward the kitchen where Blue and Halle were likely still waiting-in actuality, where she assumed Mike was waiting.

—

"My neck hurts," Blue whined a little too loud.

"Shh!" Halle clasped her hand over her sister's mouth, muffling any further complaints that may or may not have slipped out of the six year old.

The position they were in was at least uncomfortable, at best outright tortuous if Halle was honest with herself. One of her knees scraped against the pipe leading up to the faucet while the other was somewhere near her ear. The teen had Blue in her lap with the child's back pushing harshly against her chest. After this she may as well add contortionist to her long list of talents because the way her head angled over Blue's shoulder would've been impossible to the norm.

After a few more moments free of Blue's brooding, Halle removed her hand from her sister's mouth. The child groaned and rubbed her eyes, suddenly overcome by how exhausted she was. And yet, she could not be still. She wiggled her shoulders in a terrible attempt to make herself more comfortable. Which proved to be in vain because the more she moved, the more Halle moved. It seemed they were playing a fruitless game of Twister, their limbs tangling then untangling soon after. Blue would slightly tilt her chin up, then Halle would dramatically turn her head, causing a collision. Halle would twitch her toes, then Blue's elbow would accidentally come barreling into her stomach. Overall, it was clear that this duo wouldn't take home any cash prizes in a smooth game of chicken.

Their obvious mishaps were noticeable to the rangy man standing before the sink clutching two glass cups. He could hear them moving about. Mike tried to stifle his laughter but couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped. "I wonder where baby girl is..." he said to an otherwise empty room.

Halle jumped, and then mentally scolded herself; they should've been more quiet. Should've chosen a better hiding spot. A clink of glass was heard as Mike sat the cups onto the counter and began to slowly pace in front of the cabinet. "Oh where oh where has my baby girl gone? Oh where oh where could she be?" He sang a tune, pointer finger tapping his chin as he halted and turned on his heel pacing once more.

Halle's expression kept changing from sadness to worry, from worry to anger, and from anger back to sadness. She couldn't see her sister's face but she knew there had to be a deep-seated pout there. She could tell by Blue's breathing. It was sporadic then slow, like she was attempting to calm herself. The older Carter girl leaned her forehead to her sister's cheek, soothing her. Blue leaned into her, showing her gratitude.

Mike peeked one eye toward the cabinet, checking to see if Halle would show her face. He smiled when nothing changed, remembering all the games they used to play together. Hide and seek being one of her favorites. Briefly, he thought about the previous day. He had watched her from the gate as she fled from spot to spot trying to find the perfect one. This caused another smile, an adorning one this time, happy she hadn't changed much.

"With her ears cut short and her tail cut long Oh where, oh where can she be?" He continued his ballad.

"What are you doing?" The man heard from the entryway.

Caught off guard, Mike gave an embarrassed chuckle, moving to turn on the faucet. "Well-uh..." He turned to meet the upturned faces of Chloe and Beyoncé. "Looks like we have ourselves a problem. That's all we ever have." He mumbled the last part to himself, but the blonde haired woman still caught it. "Babygirl and baby Bey won't come out..." He said louder, as he slowly walked up to Beyoncé with a water-filled glass.

Naturally, Bey reached her hand out to grab it, but Mike pushed it away and instead held the cup in front of her mouth. "Drink," he insisted.

She pulled a face, reaching for the glass again. The man yanked his arm out of reach, grimacing. He didn't say anything for a few moments, but she saw that his fists were clenching and unclenching. He seemed to calm down, before he shook his head and took a step backwards.

"I-I can hold it my-myself." She said calmly, noting with displeasure that Mike's eyes were a deep brown – the darkest she had ever seen them.

There was that attitude again, he thought before quickly turning to Chloe and throwing the water into her face. Bey turned to her daughter only to find her in a state of shock, staring at her with a combination of confusion and fear. Chloe's arms were stretched out to her sides allowing the water to drip from her face to her shirt, mouth agape. Bey wiped the water from her child's eyes, watching as Mike again filled the cup.

"Y-you got a pr-oblem with me, t-take it up with me." The woman stuttered, still trying to regain her composure after the scene she had just witnessed.

"I'll take it up with whoever I want."

Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw the cabinet slightly creak open and shut just as quick. Mike approached Bey again, arm outstretched, cup in hand. "Drink." This time, when he spoke, it was deadly calm. Normally this would be a sign that he was coming out of his madness, but his eyes were still the hateful color.

Taking in his expression, the woman's mouth opened. Her neck stretched as if she would take a sip, but she quickly snatched up the little glass and poured the contents to the back of her throat. Immediately Chloe moved behind her mom, squeezing her eyes shut as she gripped her waist. She could hear an exasperated sigh leave Mike's mouth.

Bey took a rickety step only to have her way blocked by the man. "'scuse me," she said, attempting to go around him. He didn't budge. She moved again but stopped and looked him right in the eye. "Ex-scuse me." Her words were tight and cryptic. Chloe squeezed her mom even harder.

Mike laughed and rubbed his beard. He didn't know why he had a thing for feisty women but he'd always been one for a challenge. After thinking it over, he allowed her to pass with a sarcastic curt bow. Chloe continued to cling to her mom which cringed him to no end. Still, he watched just to see what they would do.

Bey busied herself flipping on the faucet. She waited a few seconds, running her hand under the steady stream, testing its temperature. When it seemed cool enough, she held the glass underneath until the cup was full. Slowly she pried Chloe's hands from her waist and moved the girl so that they were face to face. "H-here you go baby." She gave her a small – almost secretive – smile, holding the cup out to her.

Chloe noted the small ripples in the water, undoubtedly from her mother's shaky hands. The girl hadn't realized just how thirsty she had been until her throat was presented with a chance to be satiated. She peered at Mike as if asking permission to take a sip. When Bey followed her gaze, the woman positioned herself closer to her daughter, ultimately blocking out his face. "You n-need water." She practically forced the glass into her hand.

That's all it took for Chloe to hurriedly slurp at the cool drink. The crisp feel of liquid coating her bone-dry throat made her eyes fall to a close. It was downright euphoric. She finished in record time and let out a slightly content sigh as she longingly stared at the empty glass. Bey understood that that meant she wanted more water. "L-let me s-see," she wormed the cup out of her daughter's firm grip. It was as if she didn't want to let it go. Again she filled the cup and handed it to the fifteen year old. This time, Chloe didn't think twice about drinking, instead she stared at a frowning Mike with the cup up to her face. Her respect and admiration increased tenfold after seeing her mother stand up to the man like that. She had known that Bey was strong, but Chloe had never thought that the woman was that brave. Then again, there were things she was likely never to know about her mom. Bey gave her arm a gentle squeeze before bending down, placing her hands on the cabinets below the sink.

She gave a small tug but was met with a force pulling on the opposite side. "I-it's mama Lil Bit...l-let it go baby." She cooed in a voice barely above a whisper.

Again the woman tugged and smiled when she was rewarded with a loose door. Pulling it open, her heart melted upon seeing four mahogany eyes, two button noses accompanied with knit brows and identical looks of gloom where she would usually see two sets of glee-filled dimples.

Mike sauntered up behind the woman. "Looks like mommy found you first baby girl."

Bey threw him a look over her shoulder before switching her expression as she gave her children her attention. "Awe c-come here," she said sweetly, eyes tearing up. She hated seeing her babies like this. Stuffed into a cabinet like expired goods. Blue attempted to reach for her mom, tears threatening to spill over, but with the way they were positioned she couldn't quite get her arms out. Bey took the hint and moved Halle's leg down a tad. The thirteen year old tried to assist in getting her sister out, but it was too difficult.

"Let me get her," Mike spoke up.

Bey sighed and eyed the man as if giving him a warning. Chloe watched as her mother moved out of the way in order for him to take her place, and she soon heard sniffles come from their general direction.

"Shhh I got you," Mike cooed as he reached his arms inside the cabinet.

Blue pushed herself away from him, choosing to stay cooped up rather than being in the arms of a man so unhinged. "No!!" She squeaked.

A twitch of her mother's eye caught Chloe's attention. She studied Bey's body language, noticing that whenever any sound of discomfort left Halle or Blue's mouth a different part of her fidgeted, be it her fingers, shoulders or mouth. The woman couldn't stop moving.

"It's o-okay Baba, l-let him help you—you out." Bey tried.

Blue whined, initiating a scratch of the eyebrow and a frustrated exhale from the woman. Chloe placed her glass on the counter. She took slow and measured steps over to the worried blonde, giving her arm a reassuring rub as they watched Mike maneuver the younger girls a bit too roughly.

"Ow!" Blue screamed when her head was accidentally hit on a pipe.

"Careful!" Both Chloe and Bey called out, brows cinched, their right arms stretched in front of them briefly and wrapped itself around their torsos afterwards.

Halle's voice came through pain filled and forced. "Her elbow is in my stomach!"

Mike smacked his lips, "should've never got y'all asses in here in the first place." He put his hands underneath Blue's arms and pulled, successfully prying her out from under the cabinet. Straight off, Blue reached for her mom, but Mike turned away. "I'm the one that got you out. I don't get a hug?" He asked with a smile as he readjusted her in his arms.

"Don't start," Bey bit out, closing in on the man.

Mike whirled around. "Don't start what?" He asked.

The blonde allowed a single huff to leave her mouth as she stared at Blue with nothing but love in her eyes. Mike flicked the woman's nose to get her attention. "Don't start what?" He asked again.

"Aggra-aggravating her." Bey answered with a slap of her thigh.

"She's six, how she aggravated?"

The woman fixed him with a glare. "Look," she sighed.  They all l-look like they been up for ever. P-probably ain't ate nothing. I can tell by the looks of'em y-y-you ain't gave'em nothing to drink. Ain't no need to work them up. J-just give her here."

Mike simply stared at her. She could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Please," her arm flew through the air, and she cupped his chin, rubbing her thumb gingerly over his cheek. "Give her to me s-s-so I can lay her down. I-I'm tired."

For the first time, Mike felt that they were communicating without words. He leaned into her touch, eyes boring into hers and figured she was right. Blue sniffled when he placed her into her mother's arms and buried her head into the woman's neck. Damn it, Mike thought. She really did have a hold on him. That thought alone made him bite down on his jaw. Chloe noticed but she was too busy trying to coax Halle to move from under the cabinet.

The thirteen year old had her knees to her chest as her head rested on them, tears wetting her face every now and then.

"Come on Halle," Chloe held back her eye roll.

"I don't," she hiccuped. "Want to," she sniffed, and jerked her knees away when Chloe reached for her. "He's," there was another hiccup before she continued. "I— I'm sorry," she aimed the last statement at Mike. "I-won't try to run away," she swallowed her building saliva. "-Again, I won't. I-I'm sorry!" She cried. "I won't! I'll stay in the room! I'll be quiet! I'll be good! I-I promise! You'll see!" The teen looked at her sister, who gulped down the pounding in her throat. "Tell him, Chloe! Tell him how good I'll be!" She croaked.

This was usually when Chloe would find herself vouching for her sister, making promises she couldn't keep. She won't do it again. She can sit still. She'll try harder to listen. But nothing came to mind at the moment because yes they'll try to escape again. No, Halle couldn't stay still. (everyone near and far knew that.) No she wouldn't try harder to listen. That almost never happened.

Both Chloe and Beyoncé found themselves crying now. Bey tried her hardest to hold it in, but seeing her child this distraught only made her think of the times where she wasn't there and Halle had no one to turn to when she got like this. The blonde placed Blue down. Cowering behind the woman, the little girl clutched to her mother's gown for dear life. "You're okay," Bey said, placing a hand protectively on Blue's back.

Mike shifted his weight. "Here she go—"

Bey cut him off with a wave of her hand, as she got down on her knees. Carefully, she peered into the cabinet ignoring the man–who was now glaring daggers at her – and what she saw made her heart clench.

Face full of snot, body shaking uncontrollably, Halle looked at her mother with saucers for eyes. "Tell him mommy! Tell him I didn't want to run away in the first place! T-tell him he doesn't have to punish us! He doesn't have to! He doesn't have to! Hedoesnthaveto hedoesnthaveto" She rocked back and forth. "Tell him!" 

Blue peeked out from around her mom to look at her sister with wide eyes. She was nearly manic. Bey nodded lackadaisical, "He h-heard you baby but you have to calm down. You know when y-you get like this you don't think straight." She said gently.

"Chloe broke his nose! He's gonna—" Halle cut herself off, cupping her mouth at the mere thought of what was to come.

Chloe eyed Mike as he grimaced her way remembering the horrid crunching sound his nose made. Blue sniffled a little more, "Mommy," she said quietly, burying herself again in the woman's back.

"Don't worry," she replied in the same gentle tone. "Everything's gonna b-be alright. You're not gonna get punished." She stood and looked the man in the eye. "I promise."

Mike opened his mouth to respond. There was another tiny sob, however, and Blue spoke up instead, "No it won't." She sniffled. "He's a bad man, mommy. He keeps hitting Halle and he said he was gonna hit me too. I'm scared."

Upon hearing this, Mike advanced toward the little girl, almost threateningly. "Maybe if you wasn't such a little brat I wouldn't have to threaten you!" His voice was low and menacing, but the girl didn't flinch or take her eyes off of him. Instead she placed her pointer finger and her thumb over her nose, successfully cutting off her sense of smell. "Your breath stinks really bad."

Chloe quickly lowered her head and covered her mouth to hide her laugh and when she looked up she could see a small smile creep upon Halle's face. Bey simply pulled the little brown skinned girl closer and said, "Shh, Baba; now is n-not the time."

"Bey," Mike looked at her from beneath his brows. "Control the brat, okay? That's the only warning. Next time imma have to teach her how little girls are supposed to act and you don't want that." He turned to Chloe. "She don't want that, do she?"

With a tap of her thigh and a clench of her fist, the teen shook her head. "No," she quickly corrected herself, remembering he hated the gesture.

"You a parent," Mike eyed the woman. "You should be able to say jump and they ask how high. If you say sit they should hit the floor like that." He snapped his fingers.

He continued to chatter away about the quality and obedience the girls used to have. It was all Bey could do not to throw up right then, the way that the selfish man was going on about them as if they were livestock. Bey sighed, letting the room feel her frustrations and turned to Chloe. "Can y-you pick your s-sister up?"

The teen moved stiffly without a word, bending over and lifting the girl into her arms.

"Can you?" Mike scoffed. "I bet they been running circles around you in that big house of yours, huh?" He looked away and muttered, "can you," in disbelief.

"K-keep her quiet?" Bey asked her eldest daughter with pleading eyes. The last thing she needed was Blue showing her true colors. Her mouth would only be detrimental to everyone else.

Again Chloe nodded moving toward the refrigerator. Hushed murmurings could be heard from their direction.

Bey kneeled. "C-come on baby," she tried her hand at coaxing Halle out.

She-Halle- shook her head.

"Did you or did you not hear your mother!" Mike's voice boomed.

Bey flinched but quickly composed herself. "That's n-not gonna get her to c-come out."

"You wanna bet?" He crossed his arms and tilted his head waiting on a response that never came because Bey's attention was back on her child.

"He w-won't hurt you anymore. I-I promise." She cooed.

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

The woman looked over her shoulder pointedly. "I don't." She sneered.

A scoff was the man's answer. "You doing a lot of talking. Don't make me embarrass you."

Beyoncé frowned at the man, who still stared at her, humorously, and knelt down to Halle's level. "L-let's go baby. Please? M-mommy's tired. Okay? I n-need you t-t-to come out so I-I can sit down. Can y-you do that f-for me? He won't hurt you o-okay? He won't."

Halle whimpered, lip trembling but ultimately she took a hold of her mother's hands. Bey did most of the work pulling the girl out as she cried. "It's okay Lil Bit." She didn't have the strength to pick her up like usual, so she settled for pulling her daughter into her lap. "I'm so sorry." She cried with her as she wiped at the girl's face. "C-can you give them s-some water?" She asked, looking at Mike then to Blue.

The man went to the sink without a word, pouring water into the cups that sat on the counter. "Here," he handed one to Bey who quickly held it to Halle's mouth as she gulped down the liquid. Chloe did the same, ensuring her youngest sister drank all of the water given to her.

They merely stood there in silence for a moment, each reacting differently to the unusual – to say the least – situation. Blue's eyes kept shifting from closed to open then closed again. Mike periodically rubbed his temples as if he were getting a headache, and kept shooting annoyed glances toward Bey and Halle. Chloe looked strangely calm, but if one knew her well enough they would have seen how her free hand twitched every so often in agitation. Bey looked as if she was trying to maintain an indifferent demeanor, but she was failing horribly. Halle looked nervous and somewhat frightened.

"Everybody happy now?" Mike asked the sickeningly quiet room.

Beyoncé patted Halle's leg letting her know to stand. She stood as well and leaned on the counter. Blue produced a soft yawn off in the corner causing a rippling effect on her siblings.

"Do y-you have any e-extra blankets t-they can use? They nee—need to get some sleep." they ru-running on fumes." Bey asked calmly, looking right in the tall man's eyes.

Mike looked at her as if she were stupid. "You asking me for extra blankets?"

The blonde moved her wrist as if saying 'well.'

"Or They c-can all sleep in that room I was in er-earlier or on the c-couch. My kids don't s-sleep on no floor."

"Mama, it's okay," Chloe spoke up.

"No it's not. You n-not a dog." Bey threw over her shoulder. Halle had her head buried in her mom's stomach as the woman went on. "A m-man provides for his family, Chloe." Her eyes never left Mike's. "And that includes p-proper sleeping arrange—arrangements. Y'all all can't f-fit on that little twin sized bed, and no child of mine i-is sleeping on that nasty f-floor. A real man wouldn't h-have it."

Mike's eyes hardened, but he feigned indifference at the statement. He took his time to let out a barrel laugh. "That one's slept on the floor probably more times than she's slept in a bed. I'm sure she won't mind." He glared at Chloe, who seemed to shrink under his gaze. "That other room is ours, and we need our privacy as adults. None of them sleeping in there...or on the couch out in the open. Can't be trusted."

Bey raised her brows. "Blankets? Blow up bed? Something..." She turned back to the matter at hand.

"I can see what I can find." He sighed and pushed himself away from the counter. "Let's go."

They followed him like they were disciples and he was the big guy who'd soon be nailed to the cross. He rumbled through a closet in the hallway retrieving extra comforters and pillows then made his way to the room plastered with pink accessories. Bey felt accomplished. This is exactly what she wanted. Her children, together, in that specific room. She knew he'd refute any of her suggestions simply to come out the winner in a petty tit for tat.

"There, you happy?" Mike threw the pile of fleece onto the floor.

"Much," Bey gave a tight smile.

The man watched as the blonde ushered both Halle and Blue onto the tiny bed. He frowned when he could hear Blue complaining. "Mommy these sheets smell funny...and they're itchy."

His frown deepened when he heard Beyoncé's response. "It's only for a little while, Baba." She pushed the girl's hair from her face and grabbed her hand, kissing the back of it. She attempted to smile reassuringly – but failed – and continued tucking her youngest in.

"Promise?" Blue asked.

The woman seemed to hesitate before answering. "Promise." She answered nervously, glancing from side to side. Halle raised an eyebrow at her behavior. Then again, anyone would be more than a tad shaken up after an attempt on their life.

"We'll be back home tomorrow?" Blue asked.

Again, the woman seemed to hesitate before answering, and Mike interrupted.

"Lie to her if you want to. Nobody leaving. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. You hear me?" He asked, lifting his shirt and showing off the chunk of metal that was tucked away and giving Bey a pointed look. "This is the only way out." He locked eyes with Blue. "You want a bullet in you? It'll hurt real bad."

Bey's stomach began to sour.

Blue shook her head fiercely.

"How about you?" He asked Halle.

"No," Her voice could barely be heard.

Chloe, who had been silent this entire time, finally erupted. "Why don't you just do everyone in here a favor and use it on yourself right now instead of torturing everybody?" Her arms were folded as she leaned forward with nothing but hatred in her features.   "It could be sooo...simple, really..." She chuckled sweetly, almost as if someone had given her a compliment that she was too shy to accept. "Just take the gun..." Her tone was deadly calm. "Put it to your head..." Some might argue that the tone was sugary sweet, dripping like nectar from a beautiful white Lily flower...until it wasn't. Her face screwed and she pointed at the man, incensed. "WHIP IT OUT! PUT IT TO YOUR FUCKING HEAD AND PULL THE DAMN—

"CHLOE!" Bey snapped, breaking the teen from her brief spell of madness. "Calm yourself!"

"Too late for that," Mike shrugged. "Let's go." He used his pointer finger to motion her over to him.

"No!" Bey stood on a dime, rushing to stand in front of her daughter. "She d-didn't mean it. Sh-she's tired!"

"HER ASS GETTING BESIDE HERSELF!" He screamed, encroaching in on the two.

Chloe swallowed the growing lump in her throat but didn't move from behind her mom.

"MOVE!" The man screeched when Bey's arms went out in front of her, stopping his tirade.

"Y-you NOT t-touching my child!" She yelled back with that same level of ire. "You not! You not." Her voice broke at the last word.

He shoved her away—and she hit the floor, her elbow hitting the side table as she fell. Pain exploded in her arm, in her side as she crashed into the hardwood floor. She sucked in a deep breath. Halle pulled the cover over her and Blue's heads and she rocked back and forth repeating a mantra. I don't wanna die here. I don't wanna die here.

Chloe was at her mother's side attempting to help her up, but Mike yanked the teen by her hair, throwing her to the floor. He thought for a half a second and worked his hand into her hair, wrapping a handful of locs around twice to ensure a good grip. Chloe made no sound as he began to drag her down the hall, but when the tug on her roots began to be too much, her mouth opened letting out a high pitched wail as she struggled to get loose from his touch. "Let me go!" she cried, clawing at his hand. "Let GO!"

It took Bey some time to recover from her fall, but there she was, shaky and lethargic as she pushed herself to her feet. She gripped the walls for support and started out of the door but stopped. "S-stay here." She said to her youngest two. She made it to the front room just as Chloe broke loose from the man by kicking him in his stomach, causing the gun to go flying across the room.

Gun. Get to the gun. Beyoncé started to limp towards where she saw it land. Get to the gun. Kill him. Find the keys to the doors. Go back to get her other kids. Get to a phone. Get help. The blonde mentally made a plan. She was almost to the weapon when Mike grabbed her again, wrapping his fingers around her upper arm, digging into the skin, and almost lifting her off her feet in one fell swoop. She tried to claw away from him—pushing him—scratching him—

"Chloe the g-gun!" Bey screamed.

Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears—her chest aching—she finally managed to break away from him and threw herself into a wall. Her elbow hit something hard—and something crashed and shattered. The vase on the table next to the sofa.

A handful of books fell from a bookcase, landing directly on the gun, pushing it further away, and Chloe scrambled for it, cutting her forearm in the process. She could almost hear him now coming after her and she flipped on her back, kicking out with her feet. The teen managed to land one right in between his legs and Mike fell to the ground, giving her a small break—a chance.

"Everything I've done for you!" Mike was screaming at her. "And you keep betraying me!"

Chloe lunged to her feet, trying to fish the gun out.

"You about to write a check your ass can't cash." Mike managed. On all fours, trying to grasp his breath, he stared at her, his jaw clenched, a vein throbbing in his neck.

Chloe paused.

"Sweetpea the gun!" Bey called from her spot on the floor as she struggled to stand.

Chloe's fingers twitched and before she realized it, Mike had already gotten to his feet and stood before her. With break-neck speed, he pushed her aside and grabbed the gun, aiming it at the teen's head. "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?" His voice resounded around the room. "YOU WANT ME TO BLOW HER BRAINS OUT?!"

The blonde's mouth began to water, a tell tale sign that vomit would soon be splashed all over the place. Her face contorted into a question after feeling wetness on her head. She blinked and blinked again as thick red liquid fell onto her long lashes. "Wha?" She whispered, placing her hand to her forehead.

Chloe's eyes widened seeing the white patch above the woman's eye transmute into a soggy blood-red mess. Bey held her hand up to her face, turning it this way and that, only to be met with the blood and gore. Sheer shock took over her face, eyes dilated in what could only be categorized as stupefaction. A terrified expression was the last thing Chloe saw. She closed her eyes knowing what was to come next. All she heard was a sickening thud that caused her heart to skip a drum. She knew her mom had passed out.

Mike turned to Chloe. "That's what the fuck she gets."

Chloe's eyes remained closed as her hands began to shake uncontrollably.

"You saw that closet down the hallway?" He asked, receiving no reply. "That's where the fuck you're going."

"No no no nonono," she began to back away.

He snatched her up again. "I tried to do things your mom's way. Now it's my way!"

"No!" She scratched at his hand. They struggled as he dragged her halfway down the hallway.

"No! No! Please! I'm sorry!" Her sobs were ugly. "Fuck! I said I'm sorry!"

Chloe tried to prolong the inevitable journey, but that only resulted in her being flung over his shoulder and carried in a fireman's pose. She huffed and gave up fighting, it was no use. He was much bigger than her petite frame. His muscles didn't compare to her body.

The journey was not far, and soon, Chloe felt herself flop on hardwood. Immediately her body weakened and went cold at the vulnerable state she was now in.

"Seven feet tall, six feet wide, depth two feet." She mumbled, arms barely out to the side as she felt the walls of the tiny closet. It was much smaller than the one she used to sleep in. "No this isn't right! I'm not gonna be able to breathe! I can barely sit down! No! No! This! I— No no!" She was working herself up. Her breath began heaving, and the girl hunched over, chin into chest as she attempted a breathing exercise that Grace taught her. She closed her lips and inhaled through her nose as she counted to four in her head. For seven counts, she held her breath. "Whoooosh!"
She completely exhaled as she counted to eight.

Mike looked on curiously with a smirk.

"UGHHHHAHHH! Shit is not working!!" The teen let out something close to a growl mixed with a scream. She looked up at Mike. "I can't —I can't breathe!"

The man folded his arms. "How you talking right now then?"

"Are you fucking stupid?!" She wheezed. "I said I can't breathe!! Did they beat the last brain cell you had out when you was in prison, or what?"

His fist crashed against her cheekbone with horrifying radiance.

Before she could recover, Mike raised his fist again. "I'm tired of you disrespecting me!" He screamed. She tensed her jaw, waiting for another hit that never came.

The man had stepped back, just like that, as if something had hit him. Mike sighed and looked up. He began pacing in front of the closet. "I'm trying to change. Can't you tell?" He stopped, giving her a pleading glance. "I'm trying to make this family thing work...be the man of the house, be the dad that you girls could be proud of. The dad that doesn't have to raise a hand." 

Chloe struggled for breath and clung to the wall, a sad attempt at holding on to the only stability she could find purchase on. He can't be serious...can he? She thought, searching his face for the ever presence of deception that always seemed dormant behind his eyes. Mike ran his hands over his face in frustration. Nearly a second later, he began pacing again. "Do you think I like doing that? You think I wake up everyday and find joy in disciplining my girls? No! I-I really don't." His steps halted once more, fixing her with an almost-human expression, doe eyes on full display.

The teen decided this was the first time she'd heard the man so painfully unsure of himself. The quiver in his voice was so foreign she thought she may have imagined it. Made it up. Lied about the truth. But with a man such as Mike, falsehood and veracity had always been a slippery slope. She had been manipulated one too many times to fall for these silly mind games.

"Why can't you just cooperate?" He exhaled. "Just one day I'm asking for you to behave. One." He held up a pointer finger, eyes bulged, frown lines making an appearance on his forehead.

Chloe's head tilted to the side and looked at him as if asking 'are you joking?' "I'll cooperate when it's your blood that's spilt all over this dirty cheap ass wood that you call floorboards." Her voice was dangerously low with an air of bravado.

The deep set of Mike's jaw let her know that she had hit a soft spot. "Didn't I tell you to watch your mouth?"

"What are you gonna do? Hit me?" She laughed. "Cause let's be real...if you wanted to kill me you would've done it when you broke into my house, not force me in a car and drive me to your neck of the woods."

"I been too fucking nice." He looked down with a soft chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief. "I...I been too fucking nice. I guess I gotta remind you of who I am. Make you remember what I'm about." His hand gripped on the doorknob. "You gonna stay in here until you learn how to talk to a parent! Did you forget how girls with disrespectful ass mouths are treated?" He went to close the door, but Chloe was too fast. Her left arm sprang forward, stopping any further movement.

"You're killing yourself." She mumbled with her head down.

"What?" Mike asked, disgust dripping in his tone.

He had clearly heard every word she said. She decided not to back down.

"You heard me." She laughed. It was doused with that intense stinging feeling that came with embitterment, topped with genuine hilarity. Still, a laugh was a laugh thus Mike raised a brow as he stared at her.  

"You know you dead, right?" She continued laughing as she pushed herself into a sitting position. The laugh was so out of hand that she began clapping her hands together and doing a little shuffle with her feet to express her merriment. Those cracks she thought about earlier, the ones in the soul, were beginning to reach that point of ruination. One more strike and she just might crack. "AAAAAHHHHAAAAaaaa," she giggled while snorting and wiping away tears.  "When my dad finds you, it is overrrrrr." She shook her head. "He's gonna be the one to humble your ass!" Chloe said with confidence. "Watch. He's gonna be the one to make you wish you took my advice and blew out them over cooked noodles you call brains. With your crazy ass!" Her face fell and suddenly a scowl took over and her voice raised two octaves as she slowly got to her knees. "He's gonna be the one to make you beg him for mercy. He's gonna be the one that brings your prideful ass to your knees. You're the one who wrote a check YOUR ass can't cash. Just you—

The door was slammed in her face narrowly missing her jutted pointer finger. The girl's eyes welled with tears. For so many reasons. Happy tears because she wasn't actually violated, she thanked God for that. Upset tears, because she was alone in this closet. Mostly tears of frustration. She was angry for the position they were in, she was angry that she knew she had somehow put them in this position. It was unnerving, and Chloe felt an immense amount of guilt she knew she shouldn't. Tears still trailed down her face. She was scared. The tears came hard and fast, so many different things were running through her head, but she kept whispering to herself.  "Just you wait. Just you wait. Just you wait."

—

HOURS LATER

Tra, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta

Tra, ta, ta, ta

It's all okay

Blue sat on the floor with her legs criss-cross as she ran her tiny fingers through a Barbie mannequin head she'd found in a toy chest. "Halle," she whispered.

The thirteen year old lazily turned her head. She'd been laying in the small bed with one arm dangling uselessly off of the side as she stared at the ceiling. "Yeah?"

Blue's right hand absentmindedly rested on her midsection."My stomach won't stop growling," she said with a pout.

Halle sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I told you to hold your breath. It helps."

The child smacked her lips. "I did that. It's not helping." She whined. "It's like my tummy is screaming." As if on cue, her stomach seemed to come to life, giving an almighty roar to the otherwise quiet room. Blue frowned at this. "Can you ask the man for food?"

Halle sighed and rubbed at her temples as a headache started to build. They'd been going back and forth about this for the last two hours. "Blue, he's not gonna give us any. I keep telling you that."

"He gave us water, remember?" Blue got to her knees and shuffled towards her sister. The child took a seat on the floor and stared up at Halle who simply looked at her and ran a hand through her unruly hair.

"What does gramma say? You don't eat if your mouth is shut?" Blue toyed with her hands.

Halle sighed tiredly, "a closed mouth won't get fed." She corrected her.

"Yeah, that." Blue nodded. "Maybe if you ask him..."

Halle looked at her younger sister and saw her worried and pleading face and almost gave in. "Blue I really don't want him to come in here. I just..." she heaved a drawn out sigh. "Chloe's not in here...mommy's not in here...it's only us. I don't wanna deal with him by myself."

"But I'm here," Blue grabbed her sister's hand. "We can ask him together."

Halle was silent for a moment, just staring rather blankly at their entwined hands. Blue fidgeted, growing increasingly concerned the longer the girl remained silent. "Did you hear me? We can ask him together. We can be brave together. Mommy said he won't hurt us...she promised, remember?"

"Mommy can't stop him from hurting her, let alone us." Halle muttered, not looking at Blue in slight shame.

"But I'm hungryyy," Blue burst into tears. She used her hands to cover her face as she wept. She'd never felt hunger quite like this. Yes she'd felt the everyday humdrum of a growling stomach when she played too hard at recess and it was just before dinner time. But nothing like this. Nothing close to actual starvation. The longing ravenousness seemed to travel to her back and threatened to make her sick if she didn't eat something. "I wanna go hommmme!" She wailed. "I miss daddy and grandma and–and papa Rich! I wanna see TT Solo and TT Kelly! I want Chui to make those funny smiley face pancakes again! I don't wanna be in this dumb room anymore!"

Halle jolted up. "Shhhh!"

"You Shhh!" Blue yelled.

The teen eyed the door, listening intently for any signs of movement on the other side. When she grew satisfied that no one —Mike— was attempting to enter, she knelt beside Blue and took her hand, helping her to stand. "You know what I used to do whenever I was this hungry?"

Blue rolled her eyes. "Eat?"

The oldest gave a hearty chuckle. "In a way, yeah."

Blue simply raised a brow.

"I would use my imagination." Halle continued.

"That's for playing, not eating."

"It can be for both, actually," she smiled a sad smile. "You just have to think hard."

Blue's stomach let out another loud rumbling and she hissed in pain as she looked up, locking eyes with Halle. "How hard?"

"Here." Halle grabbed Blue by the shoulders and escorted her over to the bed, sitting her down. "Close your eyes."

Blue obliged but not without a mumble about how silly this whole thing was. "What now?"

"Ummm," Halle ran a hand through her hair. "What's your favorite thing to eat?" She gave another wan smile though her sister couldn't see it.

With her eyes still closed, Blue shrugged. "I don't know...a lot of stuff." She said flatly.

"Think...when you see daddy or Chui in the kitchen, what are you hoping they make?"

Blue cinched her brows together. Her nose crinkled with concentration causing Halle to poke her stomach.

"Don't think too hard." She laughed. "You might pop a vessel in your brain or something."

Blue's eyes snapped open. "What's a vessel?"

"Like an artery or vein," Halle held her arm out and trailed her wrist with her pointer finger. "It holds your bloo—look we're getting off subject."

"It's hard to imagine," the six year old huffed.

"You do it all the time at home."

Blue's eyes creased at the edge, and she shook her head. "It's not the same." She said, "Back home it's." Her lip trembled when she was overtaken by more rambunctious rumblings coming from her belly. "It's just not the same."

Halle nodded her understanding. This was a child born with the shiniest silver spoon in her mouth. She was born into a family of loved ones who cared deeply about her. She'd never been through anything remotely close to this situation. It must be hard for her brain to take this all in, Halle thought as she stared. She searched her mind wondering what she could do to make her sister feel better. What could she do to comfort her during this awful time? Nothing. Absolutely nothing would suffice, she nearly said out loud. But then    She sat beside her moping sister and lifted her chin.

"What if we're all birdies?" Halle sang. "And we could freefall into the branches of life's tree? And days would linger swinger So fly fast past our wings!" Her voice pitched perfectly even with all of the mucus buildup from hours of shedding tears.

Blue sniffed, "Why are you singing?" She asked, perplexed.

"Because it's fun!" Halle stood and stretched her arms out to the side. Her head was tilted toward the ceiling as she went on with her soft notes. "And we would feed on flowers sweet no sour through the hours flying towers."

She laughed when Blue flopped her entire body on the bed. "Huhhhhh!"

With a tired shoulder shimmy and a wide smile, Halle sauntered over to her sister and grabbed her hands, ultimately pulling her into a sitting position again. "Don't act like you don't know this song, Baba. I've sung it to you before and I've heard you singing it around the house."

"I don't know that stupid song." Blue pouted.

Halle's head bowed as she cackled. "What's the point in lying."

"Mama said you can't say that. She said you're supposed to say told a story! And she said I get ten dollars anytime I tell her when you say a bad word." Blue folded her arms and turned her nose up, looking away.

"Wow...you must be rich by now." Halle mused.

"By now?" Blue slowly turned her head in the teen's direction. "Tuh!" She scoffed as she wiggled her fingers in Halle's face, showing off two gold rings.

"Tuh!" Halle pulled at her own earlobes, showboating her five millimeter diamond stud rose gold earrings. "And I didn't have to snitch to get them."

"These are old." Blue made a 'duh' expression.

BAM!

They heard a loud banging noise filter in through the walls that sent them both flinching in the opposite direction. Halle knew it was Chloe. She'd spent years listening to the knocking, hammering. Years covering her ears as Chloe begged and pleaded to be freed from the closet. Her stomach plummeted when she was reintroduced to the disturbing sound.

Blue looked around fretfully. "What was that?" She asked, eyes as big as saucers.

Halle sauntered over to a toy chest that was in the far corner of the room, nearly skipping. "Just cover your ears so you don't hear it." She bent over, rummaging through the tote of outdated playthings.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Halle's mouth twitched right along with her fingers as she peered over her shoulder to see Blue pressing her hands to the sides of her face. The teen began to hum until the banging became too much. Now she was singing again, a futile attempt at drowning the noise out. "What if we were all lions? And we had some kings. We had some queens jungle dreaming?" She smiled a genuine smile when her eyes landed on a tiny plush lion. Instantly she lifted it and sat by her sister. She used the stuffed animal and pretended it was biting Blue's neck, igniting a full-mouthed cackle from the child. "Ugh! That tickles! Move!" She pushed Halle away with her foot, still laughing.

They heard another bang on the wall, this one louder than the rest. Blue felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. Naturally, she scooted closer to her sister, finding solace just being near. Halle calmed her breathing down with difficulty. She couldn't let on that she was terrified out of her mind because that would only rattle Blue further. She felt her eyes fill with tears, as she could just barely make out Chloe's voice calling out for help. Blue heard it too and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Where was I?" Halle sniffed and blinked back tears. She hummed a few notes "...some queens jungle dreaming." She sang as Blue rested her head on her shoulder.

"You wanna sing the rest, Baba?" Halle asked, still as tense as ever.

At first Blue didn't answer, rather she let out a frustrated sigh. But Halle, for the first time in her life, was patient. The room was air silent. Blue nestled even closer before opening her mouth. "And we would rule starry safaris, something something singing."

It was Halle's time to laugh. "Sum'n sum'n?" She teased between chuckles.

Blue shrugged. "I don't know what you say right there."

Halle frowned slightly and then nodded sympathetically and patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay I forget sometimes too." She stroked the girl's hair and continued singing while Blue shut her eyes listening to the angelic voice.

"Top of the class. Sunsets would pass. Lay in the grass. Just live life ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, as!"

"I can see it!" Blue exclaimed.

"You can see what?" Halle observed the younger girl.

The six year old hopped to her feet and bustled over to the tall oak dresser. "The tall trees!" She pointed with a gleeful smile before running over to the bed and snatching the comforter from it. She wrapped the large fleece around her body twice, almost three times. "I can feel the hot sun," she giggled. Halle watched with a smile as Blue rolled around on top of the extra blankets Mike brought in earlier. "The soft grass," she ran her hand over the fabric as if it were blades of grass. "Can't you see it?"

At first, Halle thought to shut all of this down and tell the girl that she was hallucinating, but then a thought, like a candle in the darkness, broke through.  Halle knew her sister was only doing as she told her to do. Using her imagination to escape a tragic reality. And that, she was an expert at. "Yes! Yes! I see it!" Halle stood on the bed in a superheroes pose with her fist on her hips and her chin jutted forward.

She closed her eyes and she could see the view from the top. She listened out for the soft tweeting of a mockingbird, something she always managed to include when her brain was in its pie-in-the-sky mode. She breathed in the soil-smell of giant one-eyed mouth breathing trolls. She opened her eyes and stared at the leaves that were beginning to rustle as a sea breeze blew through them, which in reality were strewn pieces of wood from the broken door. She looked at Blue. "Now somewhere around here there's a magic garden."

"Ooh!" Blue jumped up and down, still wrapped in the blanket. "Maybe we can find it!"

Halle stretched out her arms as if trying to sense which direction to set off in. A cry broke her concentration. Chloe. But she ignored it, hopping from the bed and sprinting to the pink chair. "So this is the start of the small creek."

Blue turned and stared down the chair. From where she stood, she closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose. She could just make out the silver leaves of the mythical garden, curling into a thick bushy wall before fading into green again. "It's beautiful!" She swooned.

"Oh. My. God!" Halle began to back up.

Blue glanced towards the door. "What!" Her heart sped up, assuming the bad man had returned.

"There's a huge troll coming! And it's got one eye. Ugh!" Halle covered her nose in disgust. "And he reeks!"

The two children crouched behind the chair pretending they were ducked in ferns and watching the giant troll pass by. Blue imagined the fronds in its hair swish back and forth as it moved forwards. Both children eyed the room warily when Blue said, "I'm going to tickle its feet!"

"Be careful! It's huge! It might not see you until it's too late!" Halle called.

The younger child stuck her tongue out. "I'm not scared of it. It's only Ju-les." She leapt up to charge the troll, before glancing back, unsurely, at her older sister. "Why do they always have ticklish feet?"

Halle shrugged. "I don't know."

"Weird." With that, the young girl charged forward, squealing at the top of her lungs. Halle acted as the troll, standing on the bed with her arms out to the front like a zombie. The teen stopped and looked down in surprise as Blue leapt at her legs and poked her with a Barbie.

"Ouch!" Halle yelled in a low voice. She raised her foot up so her ankle was out of reach of the little girl, who ducked underneath her foot and began tickling. Halle's shoulders shook as she began to laugh. Without thinking, she began to lower her foot. Blue squealed and curled into a ball as the foot descended.

"I'm going to crush youuu!" Halle made her voice deep.

Blue giggled. "Trolls don't talk like that!"

Halle tried a different approach. "Fee Fi Fo Fummmm!" She leapt off of the bed, scooped Blue up and carried her to the chair. The young girl, Blue, uncurled and slowly got to her feet. She had wandered over to a pillow and sat down, sulkily. "I'm bored," she said aloud.

Halle turned to her. "What do you want to play then?" She asked her. "Or do you wanna go frog hunting? It's a bunch of'em down by the river." She pointed to the mess of fabrics on the floor.  "Or we can try heading to the ocean to see the sunset." Her hand moved through the air, signaling toward the broken lamp over on the nightstand.

"I wanna go unicorn riding!" Blue piped up.

Halle smiled. "Okay but let me warn you, the unicorns look really weird."

Blue's eyes filled with child-like wonder. "What do they look like?" She asked, aghast.

Halle closed her eyes. "They're like eight-legged horse look-alikes with loooong purple and white fur covering most of their body except their face and front two legs. Their eyes are wide and completely black but you see the black part of my eyes?" Halle opened her lids for reference.

"Uh huh," Blue nodded.

"Theirs are pink hearts. Oh and instead of one horn they have two. One right in front of the other, not side by side." Halle grinned and turned to her little sister who looked thoroughly impressed. "See?"

Blue reached forward and stroked the air as if there was something there. If the girl squinted she could picture a glossy, dewy-eyed creature with a silvery purple mane and pure white fur. "Yeah!" She was outright giddy.

"Let's go!" Halle bent down and allowed Blue to crawl onto her back, holding back a wince when the child's knee came into contact with her bruised rib.

"To the magic garden!" Blue pointed onward.

Halle adjusted Blue on her back, she could barely hold her up but she managed. She had to. She galloped in circles the best way she could with the added weight all while Blue yelled out directions. She told her when to duck. She warned her when there was a smelly troll on their tail or when the water from the small creek splashed too much in her face. Halle was an eager participant, singing "Fly away on a dragonfly's back," well into the night. She'd do just about anything to keep her baby sister from feeling the aching loneliness she once felt. Blue didn't have to hug herself or hold her own hand when she was scared because she'd be there helping her through it.

"That fu, fu lame I ain't with it
I send some shots at your fitted!" Halle screeched.

Blue made her hand into a make believe gun and aimed it at the door. "Gratata!"

—

   Hi       Hi      Hi
   Hi       Hi      Hi
   Hi Hi Hi   Hi
   Hi       Hi      Hi
   Hi       Hi      Hi  

Sometimes I talk to myself
                                          self
                                                self
                                                      self🥀

Table for one, got no one else
                                               else
                                                      else
                                                             else🥀
Sometimes I talk to myself
                                          self
                                                self
                                                    self🥀

I be saying, I'll be...

"Stupid bitch," Chloe muttered as she crouched uncomfortably in the closet. She had been sitting with her back to the wall, head on her knees, arms wrapped around them, trying to stay awake. She didn't want to fall asleep...didn't feel comfortable sleeping in this strange place, unable to see any incoming attacks.

The longer she sat there, the more she felt like she was back in Atlanta...back in that house of horrors. And as much as she tried to fight it...it was getting to her. The dark. Being locked in.

Trapped.

Her muscles ached, her lungs burned from inhaling the sickly cramped air, her tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision. Perhaps it was only the dust, seemingly a cloud in front of her face, or maybe the anger and fear that had built up within her were threatening to escape. She ensured she took slow, measured breaths in order to keep some oxygen circulating.

She was hot, she was tired and her stomach felt like it was eating itself. She'd do anything for a sip of water, her throat was so parched.

Her teeth bit down harshly on her bottom lip as her hands curled into tight fists. "That Goddamn bitch!" She screamed out her frustrations, barring down on her thighs a bit too hard. "Ooh I hate his ass!" She kicked the door with all of her might. "You hear that?" She banged her fist against the wall. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Her stomach grumbled, but she knew she could forget about food for the day. Probably for tomorrow as well. She was fairly sure Mike would let her out by then—not out of any kindness but to start on whatever plan he had brewing in that twisted little mind of his. She sat back and folded her arms over her chest but just as fast, she had her hands delicately resting on the closet door. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean any of it!" She pressed her ear hard into the aged wood, trying desperately to hear an "I forgive you," whispered back.

Chloe snorted to herself. "He's the reason all of this shit is happening to you." Her eyes widened and she propelled herself into a sitting position, clutching her head. "He's gonna kill me!" Her eyes went blank as she fell onto her back at this realization. "That's why he brought all of us here. He's gonna probably kill mama first, then Blue, then Halle and make me watch. That's what he's gonna do. That's what this is all about! Making me pay!" Chloe could feel her reality shattering, breaking piece by piece. Being destroyed so slowly as her mind descended into madness. "What are you gonna do about it?" She rubbed at her ear, and scratched at her collarbones. "What's the plan?" She yelled at herself. "What are you gonna do?"

"You gotta figure a way out of this," she whispered to no one. Her head lolled to the side as she realized what that meant for her. "Everybody's depending on you," she sobbed, pulling her arms around her chest.

She nodded, insane laughter echoed around the small ambry. "It's fine. It's fine. Ha ha! Everything's good."

Chloe let out another laugh that slowly receded into spontaneous giggles as she caressed her locs over and over. She choked on her laughter and covered it with a cough. Like a nervous tic, her right leg extended, sending a daunting kick to the door.

"What-what do you mean what am I gonna do?"

She sent another kick to the door.

"Just yesterday, everything was good, everything was fine."

She kicked again.

"Everything was great."

Another one, harder. 

"Mmh!"

She grunted as her leg extended for the fifth time, causing the door hinges to writhe.

"We were celebrating and singing happy birthday with family and now? Ugh!"

Double-quick her elbow came down with a terrible blow.

"Now, now, now, now." She let out a giggle. "You BITCH!"

The enraged roar was followed by a vengeful smile that spread to her eyes. She began rubbing her ears again.

"You-you-you screaming like that's gonna do something. Has screaming ever helped you before?"

Chloe answered with another maniacal laugh that was immediately shut down when her hands felt the sides of the closet.

"It's too smaall!" She whispered, head going left to right. "Heyyyyy! She banged on the walls. "It's too small in here! I can't breaaathe!" She said in a sing-song voice. "Ya hear me?" She knocked this time. "I said it's too small in this one! Maybe! Maybe Umm m-maybe move me into another one? I'll be quiet in the other one..." she waited for an answer and grew angry when it didn't come. "I SAID I'LL BE QUIET IN THE OTHER ONE!" Her fist drew down on the door harshly with every word.

"He doesn't care." She realized and laughed. "He—he doesn't give a FUCK!" She maneuvered her body so that her shoulder was against the door. If anyone happened to open it right now, she'd definitely come tumbling out like Jill in the children's storybook.

"Do you?" She screamed. "No...no...he doesn't." She scratched at her thigh before taking her pointer finger and thumb and twisted a piece of her flesh until all she could feel was pain. There were a few milliseconds of delay before the girl let out a silent scream as blood sluggishly poured out of the severed flesh, the red liquid running down the side of her thigh.

"NO! NO! STOP IT!" She screamed.

"Shut up!" She answered herself. "Didn't I say be quiet? Huh? I said to be fucking quiet!"

Chloe was snapped out of her daze when she heard boisterous giggling, no doubt coming from her sisters in the next room. Her hand went flat against her bleeding thigh and she sighed, squinting so she could admire her work. She was glad that she had enough control to only peel off a bit of her skin, exposing a tad of white meat. Sticking her tongue out in disgust at the flesh, she began wiping the blood away. At least it wouldn't cause that much of a mess since not much blood was spilled. "Relax." Chloe said in a calm voice that her eyes betrayed as they flashed with insanity and childish glee. "He's probably out there getting off on hearing you torture yourself. You so stupid."

Chloe barely managed to shake her head as wave upon wave of stinging pain washed steadily through her. "So fucking stupid!"

"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" Her face was flushed with anger, her eyes blazing with hate and scorn. It was at this moment that her madness was visible in her face. Why can't he just let me out? Can't he understand that I'm sorry?

"Of course he can't." It wasn't him who felt alone. It wasn't him who felt neglected. It wasn't him who was stuffed into a closet and driven mad. Or maybe that was how he felt. She was the sole reason he went to prison. "My testimony alone served as the driving force that led to his sentencing. His charges were hiked because of what I said." She tapped her bottom lip with her index finger in thought. "Maybe he did feel alone and neglected and locked away and driven ma—" She cut herself off, tears running down her flushed face.

"I don't feel sorry for him." Chloe whispered.

"Mm," she grunted as she kicked the door again. "I do NOT feel sorry for you!" She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"I don't! I don't." She exhaled, but her hand wouldn't stop the incessant tapping on her thigh.

"I DON'T!" Without noticing, she pinched a bit of her skin.

Her mouth stretched in a silent scream, and her face contorted in pain as she twisted harder and harder until the pain became too much. A coolness washed over her and the teen blew air into her cheeks. She held it there, stopping any oxygen that attempted to pull through her lungs. Hold it. She told herself. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Chloe sat there holding her breath until  she fell to the back of the closet. Even then she held her breath as she continued to pinch her thigh.

She didn't stop.

Not willingly that is.

She didn't stop until her mind went numb and she could no longer focus on anything.

She didn't stop until her hands halted their circular motion.

She didn't stop until her eyes fell to a close.

And even after that...she didn't stop.

—

'It's quiet,' Blue commented as she rummaged through the toy chest.

They had practically cleared the thing out by now. Halle found it comforting sitting with her sister while fiddling with the knobs and buttons on all of the playthings. She felt somewhat serene as she laid on her back mindlessly creating line drawings on an etch-a-sketch. "Chloe probably tired herself out. She's probably asleep right now."

All was still, unnaturally still.

Quiet, that was, apart from Blue's humming. Halle didn't recognise the tune, or the words she murmured under her breath. The child continued to forage for a different toy only to have something stab her in the finger. "Ouch!" She cried out, withdrawing her hand hastily and studying it. She was okay. She reached for the offending object again, slower this time. Her eyebrows shot into the air once her little fingers landed on something pointy but plastic. She lifted it and gasped. "Look Halle!" She smiled. "I'm a princess!" She placed the pink bedazzled tiara on top of her head. Though crooked, it remained unmoved.

Halle placed the etch-a-sketch on the floor at her feet. "You're a Queen." She corrected her. "Princess crowns are shorter."

"A Queen!" Blue repeated, turning her nose to the ceiling and attempting to stride with one pointed toe in front of the other. Her arms were stretched on her sides, fingers angled but dainty as she said. "Queen B, just like mommy."

"Right," the thirteen year old fixed the crown so that it wouldn't lean to the left so much. "Just like mommy." The thought of their mother sent a pang of sadness and guilt through her. She looked at Blue who was currently practicing her crowning queen curtsy. She shouldn't be here. It was her fault.

"I wonder if there's a staff somewhere," Blue's voice broke through Halle's thoughts.

The six year old turned and ran toward the toy chest. Her body hung so far over the edge, she nearly fell in. "Staff staff..." Blue repeated as she sorted through fur babies, dolls, and the occasional race car.

Halle began pacing, all of a sudden feeling restless. How many hours had it been since they were woken up and taken? Her brain struggled to compute. Chloe was the math wiz after all. She rubbed at her face, the lack of sleep beginning to take its toll.

Clouded.

That's how she decided her mind felt.

Clouded.

She knew the feeling well. She wrung her fingers, still pacing a great hole in the floor. How long has it been since I took my meds? Halle wondered. Her fingers were out in front of her face, moving one, two, three, four, five. While she muttered the rest of the numbers. The teen ran an irked limb through her hair. "Two doses." She said aloud.

"Huh?" Blue called over her shoulder.

"Nothing," Halle shook her head. It'll be three by morning, then four by evening tomorrow. No, we won't be here that long. She tried convincing herself. Two doses wasn't so bad, but then again... her mind went whirring. I've only ever been late with my medicine. I've never missed any. I'm not supposed to miss any. "Dad's gonna have a lot to say when we get back." She mumbled as she cracked her knuckles.

Blue huffed when she felt the bottom of the bin without having a staff to show for it. "Humph," she said as she fixed her eyes on what appeared to be a photo. She reached but couldn't quite grab it, so she gripped the edge of the toy chest and stretched her left arm further. Her legs were tilted in the air by the time she grasped the small snapshot. She stood, studying it for quite some time. "Who's this?" She asked.

Halle approached the wall nearest Blue. She sighed heavily and leant against it. She was suddenly desperately homesick. "Who's who?" She peered over Blue's shoulder.

"Her," Blue pointed.

Halle blinked at the photo and wasted no time slipping it from her sister's hand. Her nose scrunched up and a frown took over her face as she examined. There were two people in the picture. One, an obviously smiley Mike. Halle decided this was her first time seeing his mouth pulled into a genuine display of elation. In his arms (or rather in the air because the snapshot had to have been taken the moment Mike tossed the person) was a little girl. She was brown skinned. The same pigment as the man in the photo. She wore two spongey pigtails that were twisted down and stopped just below her earlobes. Halle moved the photo around to get a better look. It almost touched her nose when she took in the little girl's smile. Her smile was a replica of the man she resented so much, except the little girl's held an innocence that his didn't.

"You know her?" Blue asked.

Halle shook her head and handed the photo back to Blue. "Never seen her."

"Maybe this is her crown," Blue said sadly. She reached up gently removing the tiara and placed it back in the toy chest.

It never really crossed Halle's mind how Mike found this place. She assumed he randomly stopped here because it was vacant, but this picture changed everything. She slid down the wall and pulled her knees to her chest. What is going on?

"Halle?" Blue sat next to her, still gaping at the photo.

The teen turned to her. "Yeah?"

Blue's lip twitched which matched the jilting of Halle's fingers. She looked her older sister thoughtfully in the eye. "Who is this man?" She whispered. "Why did he take us?"

Halle held back a sob and moved closer to her sister. "He's just." She swallowed and looked away.

Blue wiped the single tear that fell from Halle's eye.

"Just a man," Halle decided. "A man who can't tell what's right from wrong."

Blue didn't take her eyes away from the photo in her hand. "Why does he think he's our dad?"

The question hung in the air, making the room feel smaller. "Because he was mine." Halle frowned. She blew air into her cheeks and let it out bit by bit to slow the slew of tears she knew would soon come.

"But you said your other daddy's with the angels..."

Halle let out a groan unable to hold the tears much longer. "He is." She nodded. Her face was already wet from the distress. "Mike...that man." Halle tapped his face in the photo. "I lived with him for a long time, so he became my dad in a way."

Blue piqued a brow. "Kinda like with our dad..."

"Oh nooo," Halle shook her head as she wiped at the snot on her nose. "Mm-m nothing like daddy. He–Shawn– that's my real dad. I have the last name to prove it. Halle Bailey-Carter. My last name is Carter...like you. Like my dad...like our dad. Mike, he's just some psycho that does a terrible job at pretending to be something he's not."

Blue thought for a second. "What's a psycho?"

Halle's voice was quiet this time around. "It just means he's crazy. He does bad things."

"Like hitting mommy?" Blue whimpered, recalling the many times she'd witnessed Mike lay hands on her mother.

"Yeah and other stuff..." she said through gritted teeth.

Blue's heart lurched at her tone. She scooted closer and laid her head on the teen's shoulder. "Like what?" She inquired softly.

Halle panicked slightly. She glanced at Blue and sighed. "He's a ummm." She was struggling to find words.

"A what?" Blue prompted.

FLASHBACK

Halle scrutinized her sister; dumbfounded. "You knew?" She recognized the fear in Chloe's eyes, and knew without a doubt it would be mirrored in her own. "Why didn't you warn me? Maybe, maybe I—I could've prepared myself."

The older sister shook her head. "You were an innocent kid and I wanted you to stay that way for as long as possible. I didn't want you to even think about dealing with the stuff I had to at your age. Plus I—I didn't know how to start that conversation off. What was I supposed to say?"

"How about daddy's gonna put his hands down your pants? Or better yet watch out! Daddy says he's gonna make you put things in your mouth. Something?!" She exclaimed with hot tears running down her face. "I would've warned you!"

PRESENT

It took Halle several shocked moments to revisit reality.
She looked at her sister fretfully and was beginning to feel the words rising up her throat. She shook her head furiously. She couldn't give that information to this innocent child. She simply couldn't.

She sniffed. "I don't know if I can tell you, Baba." She said quietly and felt Blue shift slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Halle now understood the pressure Chloe had been under for years. She took her position for granted. The younger sister role was much easier to play than the older sister. Older sisters held knowledge, wisdom that came with age. They had to pick and choose which of life's hard lessons would be easier if they passed on their expertise and which would traumatize a child beyond repair. At this moment Halle yearned for Chloe. She needed her to be the one divvying out answers. She wasn't good at this. This big–sister–thing. Didn't think she would ever be. Chloe was the best. She knew what to say and when to say it. She even knew how to say certain things without hurting anyone's feelings or making them upset. Halle was the complete opposite. She and a long list of other people knew that she was more of the rip the bandage off type of girl. More times than not, she had no filter and in this moment, Blue deserved better than that.

There was silence around them when Blue beckoned her to speak with a nudge.

"Nothing," Halle wiped at her face. "Mike is just crazy all around." She finally got out.

With that, Blue stood and meandered to the nightstand. There was a cup filled with markers, pens, and crayons. She lifted it and brought it back to where Halle sat, sulking. The six year old laid on her stomach with her feet in the air as she uncapped a red marker. She went to scribble on the photo but no color was produced. Only a slight indentation on the photo from the dried out utensil. Halle looked on as Blue took a pen this time, a black one. She started with Mike's left eye, filling in his pupil so that all that was there was a messy black circle. Halle chuckled at her sister's pettiness before laying beside her. She removed a red pen from the cup and used her teeth to uncap it. The teen spent her time drawing two horns on the side of his head. Blue's head tilted back with a laugh. This time the younger girl went for Mike's teeth, making it look like he only had one front tooth. "Ha!" She laughed.

Halle regarded their work for a minute."Ugly as hell!" She joined in on the laughter.

"Ugly as hellllllluhhhhh" Blue guffawed.

Halle's mouth was held open as all hilarity left her face. Blue stared at her with pursed lips, bordering on a grin. Halle stared back. "Pfffft!" She was laughing hysterically. Blue as well. For a moment they felt normal, forgetting their worries and stress. It felt so good to laugh again. They hadn't realized how much they missed it.

"Hey," they heard, causing the pair to look up, the laughter fading. Halle's eyes shot to the doorway, the rush of insecurity, nervousness, and discomfort rippling through her to her very core as the object of her turmoil and self loathing stared back.

"What y'all up to?" Mike asked.

Halle snatched the photo from the floor and hid it behind her back but not before he could see. "Nothing." She lied.

Blue was staring at the floor fixedly, gripping the pen in her hand a little too tight.

"What, you making a little arts and crafts for me?" He was making his way toward her, pushing away toys with his feet and gazing at her with wide curious eyes.

Halle shook her head. "N-no." She attempted to ball the photo up.

"Don't lie." Mike's voice was full of warning but his face was soft, reflecting an almost understanding. "What's that behind your back?"

Blue glanced at him, before staring at the floor again.

"It's just a picture," Halle's voice cracked slightly.

Mike's gaze wandered to Blue who was pushing herself backwards on the floor. "Then why y'all acting like y'all did something bad?"

"We didn't!" Halle rushed out.

"Are you sure?" he mumbled. Mike's face was touched by a hint of a smile.

Halle whined and Mike knew he had caught her in a lie. That was the noise she'd make just before sobbing. And she wouldn't cry unless she knew she'd done something unorthodox. "Let me see." He held his hand out.

Blue hid behind the pink chair, crouching so she'd still be able to see what happened.

Mike's eyes narrowed as Halle stood quite still, her free hand twitching slightly at her side. He inched towards her and oddly enough, the teen had managed a tight lipped smile. "We were just bored. W-we were just playing."

One of the man's brows lifted in curiosity. He had no idea what she was referring to, so he held his hand out for the object in question. Shakily, Halle moved the half crumpled photo so that it was in front of her. "We didn't mean anything by it...I swear."

Mike's gaze landed on the photo. He took it from her and flattened it out on his knee before bringing it up to his face. His expression fell at first, shocked by exactly who was in the photo with him. But just as quickly he recovered, fixing his expression to one mirroring disappointment. "Didn't mean anything by it huh?"

Halle toyed with her fingers, shifting her weight from one leg to the other every two seconds. "We didn't." She shook her head with pleading eyes.

"I take it you drew the horns on my head?" He zeroed in on the teen.

Halle shrugged, unsure of what she should say.

"You think I'm the devil?" He asked.

Halle said nothing.

Mike cleared his throat impatiently. "Go ahead and answer." He insisted.

She swallowed and glanced up at him, but her only response was a shake of her head. Mike scowled at her. She was lying to him, and he knew it. "Lying is a sin Babygirl...you know that."

The nasty retort, one that called the man every vile name in the book, died on her tongue.

"I raise sinners now?" His voice was laced with concern.

"I think you're the devil!" She confessed before breaking down into sobs. "Like the actual one...materialized!" She cried.

Mike pulled her closer and lifted her so she was sobbing into his chest. He placed a hand on her face and titled it up, wiping her tears away. "You don't believe that. That's just something those people put into your head so you'd hate me. You didn't think I was the devil before you left me did you? You loved me then. I know you did."

"You groomed me and made me think I loved you." She sniffed.

Mike laughed and shifted her in his arms. "Oh see now I know somebody's been trying to poison you against me. Babygirl, you don't even talk like that. Now I groomed you? You don't even know what that word means, do you?" He kissed her cheek. "You don't know what it means." He smoothed her eyebrows down.

Halle pulled her face away. "I do know what it means." She sniffed.

"No you don't," he challenged in an angry voice.

"Yes I do know!" She spat just as angrily, pushing herself away from him. He let her fall to the floor in a heap of fury and hatred. "I know a lot of things you think I don't know!" She screamed. "I'm not stupid! I'm not slow! And I'm tired of you acting like I am! You groomed me! You and that wife of yours! You groomed me! Bought me all these nice things. Took me places just to win my love and just when you had me where you wanted you took advantage! And you know you did. I never loved you! You were just there! You were there every fifteen minutes saying I love you I love I love you! Just so I wouldn't forget it. Just so I'd be confused when you did those things!"

"What things Halle? What are you talking about?"

"Ugh!" The teen pulled at her hair, frustrated beyond belief. "Can you just be real for once? God! You know what you did! Day after day after day after day! Never got a break! You know exactly what you did!"

"All I ever did was love you..."

"Love me? You don't know what that word means!" She cried, anger and hate lacing her features. "Love to you is twisted and wrong and—and filled with all of these sharp turns and treacherous loops of ill will. Love shouldn't be forced." She took in a breath , exhaling dirty.

"There's no love in neglect." She shook her head, tears rolling down her face.

"There's no happiness or sunshine in torture, just grey skies that get more grey overtime until that's all you can see and feel. That's all you know is grey. Got no idea that anything else exists because somebody vilified love. Somebody used love. Put it so far out of reach that it was useless trying to aim or reach for it anymore. So you wait. You wait and you wait, yearning and pleading for something other than the grey. Something other than misery and indifference and downright hatred all while speaking that awful word."

She sighed, appearing betrayed.

"Repeating that word so callously, it was like asking to pass butter at breakfast." A sad chuckle escaped before finishing her thought. "Kill you dead if you didn't..."

She glanced at Mike, eyes glossy, brows cinched. "Love...it's a beautiful concept when in the right hands, but all together ugly when in the wrong." Her hair fell into her face as she gave her head a reverential shake.

"Love. Humph." She cracked her knuckles one by one. "That don't mean a thing coming from your mouth. Talking about you love somebody...the devil don't love shit but fire and brimstone."

It seemed, for a moment, that everyone even time, itself was holding its breath as they waited for what would happen next. Everything paused for a moment, speeding up just enough to a pace that could be considered something akin to slow-motion. Halle  swallowed slightly knowing exactly where this was going, not really wanting to relive her earliest experiences with the man. She hadn't meant to say  any of that but she meant it all. Her brain didn't send the signals to her mouth to tell her to shut up even after witnessing the murderous look that was slowly showing on her captor's face.

She turned to run but it was too late. Mike grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. His back hand sent the girl flying to the right. She landed by the chair where Blue hid.

"Out of all people!" He screamed. "I thought we had an understanding! I only came back to get you. To see you again. That's what love is, doing anything you can for your loved ones. I did everything I could to show you how much I loved you and you took it for granted. You turned your back on me!"

Blue watched as the man dragged Halle by her ankle. The teen screamed out her sorrows, ensuring to tell the man she didn't mean any of it. The six year old tightened the grip she had on the pen. She looked on as Mike pulled Halle up roughly and slammed her against the wall. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The teen screamed.

Mike ran his thumb gently over her bottom lip. "I told you lying is a sin." He dipped his head, placing a kiss to her cheek.

"Mommy!" Halle called out. "Help me!"

Blue glared furiously at the man, breath picking up. She felt her throat close at the memory of him choking her mother the previous day.

"You sorry?" Mike muttered. Halle nodded slightly.

"Say it. Say I'm sorry daddy for being a disrespectful little girl." His hands moved to her neck, giving a warning squeeze. "Say it." He smiled.

Blue cringed, hearing glimpses of her mom's voice pitching after the woman had to break up an argument between the two sisters. "Y'all are sisters," she'd stress. "Y'all supposed to fight the world together not each other. You're supposed to look out for each other. Always...no matter what."

The six year old's grip grew even tighter around the utensil, her knuckles turning ice-white from the pressure.

Halle's head lolled to the side as she hiccuped. "I'm sorry...daddy." She cried, watching the madman warily as his insane grin faded.

Blue stared at the man absolutely petrified for a solid five minutes. She could hear her heart beating in her head and was convinced her insides were so shaken they had repositioned themselves.

Mike looked at her from under his brows. "For being..."

"For being a disrespectful little—

Look out for each other! Blue's fleeting thoughts wouldn't seize. Y'all are sisters!

With a livid grunt, Blue charged towards the toy chest at full speed. She grabbed the first thing her hand landed on which was a large Hot Wheel truck. "Get away from my sister!" She shrieked right before heaving the toy into Mike's side. Just her luck, she caught a spot that was already sensitive from his previous stab wounds.

"Fuck!" He yelled as pain shot through his side. Mike reeled back and lifted his shirt to check if one of his stitches had opened. He was fine, yet his gaze turned icy as he turned to the small child. "Naughty, naughty girl," he crooned at her in faux gentleness.

—

I wonder how it, how it went so wrong
It's been so dark, yeah, I wanna say my last goodbyes
And I'll be gone for good
Left you guys behind
Now I'm so lonely

Chaos.

A disembodied scream reached Chloe's ears, and her heart clenched recognizing Blue's voice even in a pitch so foreign. Shrieking sliced through the air like a knife, driving into her core, leaving her wondering if the crazed man had physically harmed the six year old or if the shrills were solely terror stricken.

A battle was once again waging inside Chloe's mind, threatening to deduce her brain to ashes and blanket the once wonderful memories of her youngest sibling  with horror. Chloe leapt to the side of the closet, covering her head as the world around her crumbled with a curse of her tongue. "SHIT! shit shit shit SHIT!" She screamed and kicked at nothing. She'd lost too much already, and now, separated from the ones she loved more than life itself...she had to get to them, she had to save them. Set them free. Tortured memories of both her birth mother and adoptive mother laying beneath her with a torrent of thick crimson and labored breathing clouded her mind. She desperately tried to wipe the bloody images away and focus on her own flight, but they kept creeping back, treacherously infiltrating her thoughts and competing for her concentration.

She didn't know what time it was...what day it was...how long had she even been there? She was losing track of time...losing focus. She felt something hit her foot...something cold and....wet? Great, now the place is flooding so I can sit in water for God knows how long, she thought as she hurriedly scrambled to her feet, backing away from the water and into the wall behind her. She tried to peer through the darkness. To see where the water was coming from but she couldn't see a damn thing.

"Blue? Halle?" Silence. "Mama?" More silence.

There was a loud stretched out creak that caused her breath to hitch. "Mama?" She tried again.

Nothing.

The hope that had briefly built crashed down. It wasn't her sisters or her mother for that matter. If it was, they would have answered her, would have comforted her. Not kept quiet and continued to freak her out.

Suddenly another cold blast of water hit her. She couldn't get away from it, no matter which way she moved or turned. No matter how much she curled over, the bone chilling water kept hitting her arms, legs, stomach, face. She managed to swallow some, enough to wet her throat so she could cry out.

"Somebody help me!" but the water still rushed in.

She'd been cold before but now she felt like she'd never be warm again. The torrent of water hit her with a vengeful force, chilling, stinging.

Eventually it stopped.

She couldn't understand what the purpose was. Did Mike want her to freeze to death? Catch hypothermia? Was that why the water continued to lap at her ankles? Surely there were easier forms of torture. Or maybe he was trying to clean her up. She touched her face...couldn't feel the blood that had been by the side of her mouth. Maybe she was about to be let out or returned home? Maybe...maybe that was what this was about. So she didn't look like she'd been mistreated? She knew it was a long shot.

She frantically swiped at her eyes, trying to get rid of the water so she could try and see. It was then that she heard a strange sound, almost like a whine like...like the noise that sounded just before one of her younger sisters delivered a full-mouthed cry that more often than not pierced her ears. But it didn't sound like either of them. She couldn't place the voice...unless...unless.

She heard the impression of darkness shifting in front of her, someone coming towards her. The sloshing of water put sound to their movements. She tried to press herself deeper into the wall, heard the whining sound coming closer, she had no idea what was about to happen, but she didn't think it was going to be pleasant.

"No...please....no....no...no please!" She started to beg, but was cut off when she felt a sharp pain hit her in the side. She couldn't even begin to describe the pain and before she'd recovered, she felt another blow. Because that's what it was she realised, whoever it was...they were using all of their strength to strike her...enough to leave her stunned, dazed.

"Useless!"

"Coward!"

The words were shouted at her from within the darkness that encompassed everything and nothing all at once, circling her, overwhelming her. She couldn't tell whether the voice was real, or only in her mind, but its smooth, calm, poised tone left her feeling sick.

"Coward!" came the voice again, more forceful this time, and closer. Chloe's tears stopped their furious assault on her face and she turned in the direction she'd last heard the shouting.

As clear as a California daybreak, the teen heard someone scoff. "Look at you." The words oozed abhorrence, repulsion...disgust.

She chanced a look up at her assailant as they came at her with another hard swing. She felt the heat of it as it blasted into her chest, sucking the breath from her lungs. She was unable to move, unable to breathe, her jaw dropping open in a silent scream. Her chest burned as though scorched with a flame, growing hotter and hotter, until suddenly, her seemingly heavy body turned weightless. She was falling. The world around her blew past, as though she were a feather caught in a heavy wind, and she was powerless to stop it as she stumbled deeper into the darkness.

It was everything she could see, everything she could feel. The burning had gone, but a deep aching had been left in its place. It was the ache of loneliness, of despair, of fear. Would she be trapped in this void of nothingness for eternity?

Fighting through the pain, she focused on the person, attempting to make out a face. She blinked and blinked again until she could see a shadowy figure immediately to her left, but the person was now turned away from her with slumped shoulders.

"How could you?" The figure whispered in a voice achingly familiar to her ears.

A small sound left Chloe's mouth without her permission, and out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. She clenched her jaw and scurried to the opposite side, now pressing her knees into her chest so hard that it caused her breathing to be labored.

"Who's there?" She asked, voice portraying just how afraid she was.

Nothing.

Her mind raced, going over every possibility. The pounding of her heart thudded in the eerie silence.

"I said who's there?" Chloe worried her lip and looked down at her feet, only she wasn't sure.

She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. All she knew was that the water was lapping at her calves now. She stood. Water falling from her clothes with a perfectly timed drip...drip.drip. There seemed to be no walls around her, no floor beneath her feet, only the stark contrast of her muddy sneakers against the black nothingness.

Tentatively, Chloe took a step forward. It was a puzzling realization to find that she couldn't tell whether or not she had truly moved.The figure stopped moving, remaining eerily still as if it were a statue. Then, slowly, it began to turn its head. Chloe quivered for a moment before a young girl stepped out into the clearing. A clearing that wasn't there seconds ago. It was as if the young girl had a personal spotlight illuminating each rickety step she took, and the person operating the heavy fixture was doing a hell of a job making sure she made it to center stage.

"It's just me...coward," The girl hissed, snake-like. Her face was soon taken over by a wide smile that curved at the ends but didn't meet her eyes.

Chloe craned her neck, a feeling of foreboding coursing through her veins and automatically her hands began to shake.

"I know big whoop dee whoop, right?" The ghostly figure rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

The absolute horror stole Chloe's ability to breathe as she stared blankly at the girl in front of her.

"Look at the trouble you got us into this time," said the girl, clambering over to the teen.

She had a cut on her forehead, and crimson blood dripped from the tip of her nose as she stared at Chloe with wide, bloodshot eyes.

Terror flooded through the teen, dropping a heavy ice-cold stone in the pit of her stomach as she watched her look alike taking heavy measured steps in her direction.

The younger girl wasn't wearing anything like what Chloe had seen a child her age wear before. She wore low riding pants that were slightly too snug on her hips, bunched at her mid-calf, and a billowy white crop top that stopped inches below her bust. Her short brown locs hovered just above her shoulders in messy waves, and she was altogether covered in a thin layer of dust and grime. She looked as if she'd been through a hurricane.

Chloe, for her part, helplessly stared into eyes akin to her own. They faced each other for a moment, both unmoving. The teen glanced down to see the girl tapping relentlessly at her thigh.

"What are you doing here?" She managed to choke out, still rooted to her spot.

"What am I doing here?!" The doppelgänger vehemently spat, her face twisting into an ugly rage that Chloe thought didn't suit her personality. "You called me here!" The child continued. "You always call me when you get yourself into these situations? Why can't you ever handle things on your own?" Her chest heaved with untapped anger. The ghoul girl took a step back, eyeing Chloe up and down like she was the bane of her existence. "Because you're a COWARD, that's why. Always have been...You don't think I wanna run away and hide sometimes? You don't think I wanna sit back and watch somebody else take the heat for a second?" She paused for mere seconds, sizing the much taller girl up. "Looks like you can take a beating...why do you even need me?"

"Who said I needed you?" Chloe snapped in a voice so nefarious, so hate-filled she herself didn't recognize the conniption fit.

"Girl please be serious." The doppelgänger said with a soft chuckle, pointed eyes piercing Chloe's shaky orbs. "We both know if you didn't need me I wouldn't be here."

Chloe blinked, unspeaking.

"You never really say much do you?" The child sat further into her hip. "But me?" She took a beat, ensuring all of her disdain was evident as she slowly circled the much older girl. "I talk. I tell it like it is." She stopped just under Chloe's nose, arms folded, sneer deepening to impossible depths. "You're such a fucking coward." She finished with another chuckle.

"I-I'm not," Chloe whimpered.

The ghoul girl fixed Chloe an incredulous look before guffawing with laughter, having to bend double before collapsing to the wet floor, unable to control the fit of pure mirth. "Pfffftttt, AHHHHHAAHAHAA," she continued, clenching her stomach as she laughed without reservation. Her laughter made Chloe's insides squirm. Finally the phantasm stood, completely unbothered by the soaked clothes now sticking to her skin like glue. "I see you've been working on your stand up." Her arms were folded again as she asked. "You dance too?"

The unsteady rise and fall of Chloe's heaving chest was her only answer.

"Go 'head," the girl sneered, taking a step back, water sloshing this way and that as she moved about. "Do a little ditty." She said with a cavalier wave of her hand. "Show me what you got."

Another scream from afar sounded. Chloe gasped, horrified and speechless as her heart spasmed in grief and shock. What is he doing to her? She thought.

The ghoul girl whipped her head to the right and then back to her older look alike. "What the hell do you think?"

Chloe sighed tiredly, guilt bubbling in her stomach. "Did you just—

"What? Read your mind?" The girl scoffed a reply, giving her a look of indignation. "Helloooo!" She waved both hands in front of the teen's face. "Can you keep up? I am you, dumb ass! Did he who shall not be named knock the wits out of you or have you always been this stupid? My money's on the latter if I'm being honest."

Chloe tilted her head towards the girl, her expression growing grim. "What do you want?"

"Hmmm to be left the fuck alone but considering this little pickle you got us in, I guess that'll have to wait, huh? Can't depend on little miss fragility to get us out, can we?" Suddenly a sob broke from the smaller girl's lips, no delineation between unmitigated outrage and true suffering.

"Fuuuuck!" She screamed. "It was bad enough when we had one little sister to look after. Now we have two! TWO!" She held up two fingers so Chloe could get the bigger picture. "Don't you get it? I'm all we have." Her voice lowered as she sniffed up her snot. "Halle's too scared, rightfully so. Blue's too small to do anything and mommy can't help us." Her face was a macabre mirror of what it usually was; her eyes were dull, her mouth stretched in a gaping, permanent scream that was almost like a morbid smile. Even as her screams started to shift to cries, the face never changed.

"I can get us out," Chloe nodded confidently.

"You?" The girl pointed before slapping her own thigh in frustration. "Can you spell incompetent or is that too big of a word for you?" She said shrilly.

Chloe froze at her words, the color draining from her cheeks.

"You know what you can do?" The youngster asked, taking a few determined steps forward.

Chloe grimaced, shaking her head and the doppelgänger used her pointer finger, motioning for her to come closer. The teen knelt to the ethereal being, figuring what she had to say was of importance.

"You can sit your weak ass back and watch while I get us out of this shit!" She hissed, desperation presenting its teeths as tears threatened to spill over.

Chloe's head snapped around at the girl's words and a look of anger crossed her face, but then it was gone as quick as it came and a defeated look replaced it. She forced herself to look into her mirror image, staring at herself completely dissatisfied with what she saw. This just didn't feel right. It wasn't herself staring back at her. Couldn't be. A tear trickled slowly down her reddening cheek. "This isn't you."

"But it is," little phantom Chloe eyed her icily.

The teen began dragging her feet through the sludge until she stood over herself. "No," Her voice quivered. "No! You're trying to be something you're not." She caressed her face, running her thumb lovingly over the roundness of her cheek. "You're sweet and—and kind and wouldn't dream of hurting someone else." Chloe knelt in front of the child, holding her by her arms. "That's you, I know it."

"You don't know me. You barely even know you." The child hissed, sitting into her hip.

Chloe's heart fell. Her throat throbbed with more impending tears. "We're the same." She sniffed. "You see?" The teen pushed her hair behind her ears and turned her head from side to side. Like a tethered shadow, the phantom's head unwittingly shifted insignificantly. Tears started down the doppelgänger's face, causing the dirty water to rise. "I don't wanna be like this."

Chloe shook her head. "You don't have to...you don't." She stood. The child pulled at Chloe's shirt, fixing it into place. "How can I stop? I don't wanna be this angry anymore. I don't wanna feel like this all the time."

A sob akin to a cough escaped Chloe's lungs. "You have to forgive yourself. You're carrying around so much and look at you, you're just a baby." Her voice cracked on the last word.

"It's that what you did?" The ghoul girl gently lifted the teen's hand, tracing a heart mindlessly in her palm.

Chloe nodded. "I'm working on it."

There was a moment where their eyes locked onto one another's. Chloe, staring into the sweet brown orbs of an angry beaten down girl. The phantom, awestruck at the love being emitted from the mature girl she looked up to. On spur of moment, the child wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist, pulling her into a warm embrace. "I forgive you for leaving me." She cried. "I forgive me for chastising you for being scared when you had every right to be."

Chloe got to her knees again and almost immediately pulled the child into her. "I forgive you." She wept. "And I thank you," she pulled away to get a good look at the small child's face. "I thank you so much sweetpea for all you did. For being the strongest little girl I know. I thank you for protecting me when no one else could." She broke down, feeling mad. "The things you had to go through, no one deserves that, okay? Always remember that." She rubbed the girl's back to try and show her some type of amenity.

"Okay." The girl wiped her face and nodded.

"Listen to me," she looked up at the ghoul girl's big sparkling eyes as she grabbed her shoulders with a gentle touch. "You can't stay here. You can't keep coming back here. It's not good for me...not good for us."

The child seemed perturbed, not with it. "If I leave, who are you gonna call when you get into these situations? Who's gonna help you?"

Chloe chuckled, tucking a loose loc behind the girl's ear. "Well ya see here's the thing. I have people now that care about me."

The girl nodded. "We have mommy now, kinda hard to forget."

"Mmhm," Chloe smiled. "And dad, and aunties and grandparents and friends...we even have a psychiatrist for the hard stuff." She laughed.

"Grace doesn't play." The phantom girl shook her head.

"She doesn't." Chloe agreed.

The child stuck her hands in her pockets and used her foot to awkwardly push some water around. "So this is goodbye?"

Chloe choked back another sob. "Uh huh." She nodded. "It has to be."

The doppelgänger nodded her understanding. "Can I have another hug?"

"Of course," Chloe wasted no time embracing her.

The little one tried pulling away after a while, but Chloe tightened her hold. The doppelgänger felt bound, unable to move as Chloe hugged her with all of her strength and determination.

"Y-you're hurting me," the child choked out. She couldn't breathe. Chloe squeezed harder. "Agh!" The tiny girl began to push at the teen's stomach. "You're hurting me!" She cried. She was being squeezed so hard that blood coated her tongue, warm copper on her lips. The doppelgänger lifted her head and spat, and Chloe's hand moved then, sliding up through her hair and stroking gently. "I don't wanna do this...but I have to." She said in the apparition's ear softly.

Nausea hit the ethereal being then, but she'd be goddamned if she threw up now. Not the worst thing that had ever happened to her. Not by a long shot. The young girl pushed, and pushed, and her elbow connected sharply with Chloe's side. She grinned thinking she had the upper hand but it didn't last. The teen's grip nearly sent her back bending sorely in the opposite direction. Chloe could feel her doppelgänger's heart raging against her chest like a drum, keeping incessant double-time with her own pulse which hammered against her skin in answer. Pain tore out from the smaller girl's chest, something ripping inside her. The child's voice rose on the crest of that pain and shouted a plea. "Please! Get it over with! I'm done fighting!"

"I'll take care of us." Chloe rasped in the girl's ear and squeezed her one last time. The hardest yet.

When Chloe finished speaking, something inside the apparition gave way, and she stopped struggling. Then, just like that, the child was gone; the weight of her body but a memory. Chloe turned her face down, squeezing her eyes shut as her hands shook uncontrollably. What followed was a long stunned silence, until she let out a loud grunt as her stomach churned. She fell to the floor, landing hard on her injured arm. The water was no more. Dried, dessicated like the Sonoran desert.

"I'll take care of us!" She cried out to an empty room, her echo the only answer back. The teen turned on her back, finally at peace. She felt like she was drowning but in the best way. Drowning in gratitude. Drowning in cessation, happy for an ending that was long overdue. Though her chest burned with the most confusing grief she'd ever experienced, she allowed herself to have a moment of clarity.

I can breathe again...She thought as her world faded to a black.

Dead air.

Chloe laid in the closet devoid of life, neck loose and unsteady as her head rested against the wall. Skin pale, fingertips white, blue lips parted slightly, she lay.

Silence.

Stillness.

Chloe shot up, wide eyes bloodshot red, peering side to side within the darkness. Her first gasping breath proved to be the most difficult. Her chest expanded and deflated then expanded greatly again.  The comfortable heavy warmth of what normally filled her lungs was replaced by something thin, cold and light. Shallow. The absolute lack of oxygen invaded her body before her immediate rejection of it, only to suck in air again, instinctively, desperately. When she allowed herself to take in her surroundings, there was nothing but the soft sound of someone crying in the distance. Blue.

Chloe's skin was on fire with new sensations battering her. Each one more vile than the last. "There's no need to worry, love." She growled.

In the jungle, ain't no bible
Showtime, showtime, no recital
Show no fear, boy, where's your spinal?
Where's your backbone? Where's your pyro?
I had to be everything you couldn't be for my survival

I'm too far gone, downward spiral

—

This was a lot I know. 😖 There's a twist coming👀👀. There will be light at the end of the tunnel. Stick with me.

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