I must thank all who reviewed! I'm glad it got such a good response.

rainbowskye: Well I'm glad it caught your interest, and here is the more.

FamousOneLiners: It wasn't meant to be gloomy...but hey, it worked!

Cookie Gestapo: Your name always makes me hungry. Yay indeed.

Esquirella: It's great, because for once I actually know what I'm going to do. Most of the time I just make it up as I go along.

Ez: Don't be a baby. I'm sure you've been called worse. Crappy review! You suck!

ElliKat: I'm sorry.But now that you have the last Wonderwall chapter, you can stop hating me? New Zealand!

SatisfyAnEmptyInside: Thank you :) I forget to review everything...I'm terrible at reviewing.

Dreieck Trio: I swear I didn't steal it from you! I hope it's wonderful. I shall try.

Morbid Maxwell: Heh, thanks :) I was going to do another fic...but then I didn't because I'm busy enough as it is. Which really sucks sometimes.

rainbowhugglesNLI: He's just holidaying. But I hope he stays there. Forever. And on a happier note, thanks for the review.

ddz008: Sorry it wasn't as soon as I planned...but it's still here now, and that's what counts, right? Right!

Mage Dudette: I'm glad, because that's how it was supposed to be. But sometimes things sound so dramatic they come out and stupid.

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I need a shower. I'm sure I'm starting to smell.

Okay, considering I only had a shower this morning, I probably smell fine. I think I'm just paranoid. But a shower would still be nice. The door opens and a woman comes in, all happy smiles and big blue eyes. I guess she has a lot to smile about. She hasn't been sitting in the same room for the past few hours.

"It shouldn't be long now," she says brightly.

I think her name is Jessie or something. They all look the same to me.

"Are you guys hungry? We have some yummy chocolate in the fridge if you like. It's not the healthiest, but it's better than nothing."

I shake my head. I can't be bothered talking. I'm sick of talking.

"What about you? Hungry for chocolate?" she asks Sam, with another big smile.

"Yes, please." She instantly brightens up, dropping her brush onto the chair and zooming for the door. I guess she's forgotten about her precious diet. Not that she needs to go on a diet. She's nothing but a bag of bones already.

Jess follows her out and stops at the door.

"You can turn the TV on if you want."

Yeah. As if there's going to be anything decent on at 11:30PM.

She disappears after Sam, leaving me in the room. It's a nice room, small and cosy and filled with comfy chairs and toys for the kids. And suddenly, I hate the stupid room. I cross the room and stand in front of the mirror that I know is not a mirror, and shiver, rubbing my hands over my bare arms. I should've brought my jacket. But then, how was I to know we'd be stuck in a freezing cold room for half the night? Fifteen minutes, my arse.

I squint at the glass, trying to see into the tiny room that I'd seen before. Where they kept the giant recording machine thing; I wasn't really paying attention when Mike was explaining it all. I was still freaking out.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wonder what dad's doing. If he's worried about us, if he's wondering where we are, if he even cares.

Sam's back, stuffing her face with a Mars bar, Jess right behind her.

"How're you feeling?" she asks kindly, like she actually gives a shit. I shrug and watch Sam flop onto the green beanbag.

Jess just nods, and I'm grateful she doesn't try to make me talk. She slides her hands into her pockets and leans against the doorway. "Okay well, they're just leaving to go get your father right now so... we're working on finding you guys a place for the night. Hopefully it won't be too much longer."

"Will we see dad when they bring him in?" Sam asks, sucking on her sticky fingers. Jess shakes her head.

"No, definitely not. After we're sure he's been taken away, we can swing by your place and grab some clothes for tomorrow and your toothbrushes and things, okay?"

Sam nods and turns back to her chocolate. Jess flashes me another warm smile. Everyone smiles so much in this place.

"Let me know if there's anything else you need."

And she's gone. I sigh, and crouch down beside Sam. She's hardly said anything since she got out of the interview room, and I'm worried. She's acting so... nonchalant about it all. I have no idea how she feels.

"Hey Sammy," I smile weakly and she barely looks at me, "how're you doing?"

She shrugs. "Fine."

Wow, very informative. "So... how're you holding up?"

"Fine." She picks up a book off the floor and starts reading.

Fine? We've just been through hours of questioning, our entire life is about to change, we have no idea what's going to happen next and she's just fine.

How can she be fine? My emotions are on a fucking rollercoaster ride. I'm so terrified, I can't stop trembling, I don't know if I want to cry or scream, and she's just fine. I'm about to ask her again, but Jess is back.

"We've found you somewhere for the night." She beams, and suddenly, the thought of sleeping sounds very enticing. I feel so tired. It's almost midnight, and I'm sick of this police station.

"Kelly and Vicky are going to get the car and they have to see a judge at his house so that we can have custody of you for the night. Hopefully by then they'll have your father and we can get you some clean clothes and things. Sound good?"

Sam is grinning, and it's something I'm more than glad to see.

"Hell yeah," she says happily.

If I didn't feel like just dying, I would smile with her.

-

The car is nice. Shiny, comfy, everything a car should be. Jess and Kelly are in the front, I'm next to Sam in the back.

"So did they take dad away?" Sam questions, leaning forward in her seat.

I glance wearily at her. I am too tired to tell her to sit properly.

Kelly looks at her through the mirror. She's driving.

"Yeah, they did."

Sam frowns, twisting her dark brown hair around her fingers. "Did he do it okay? Was he bad? Did he fight?"

"We don't know honey," Jess says, and she sounds sleepy too. "I think it went okay... hey look, we're gonna stop by your place and let you grab some stuff, but we have to be quick, and only grab the essentials, like your clothes and toiletries."

"Sure," I mutter, my head lolling around my neck lifelessly. I'm too exhausted to even hold my head up. You wouldn't think just talking would be so tiring. But that talk was definitely no walk in the park.

Sam sits back in her chair and starts humming some song she's probably made up on the spot, and it all feels so surreal. It's happening so fast. Too fast. And I'm not here; I don't feel like I'm here. I feel like I'm just sitting back somewhere, watching, but still just as confused and shocked.

We're coming up to the turnoff to our street, and Sam tilts forward again.

"It's number seven, beside the white one." She points at the outline of our house.

"Yeah, I see it, thanks sweetie." The car slows to a stop right outside. There's a police car already parked just in front of us, and all the lights in the house are on. I wonder what the neighbours are thinking. They probably don't care. They're used to dad's temper. They probably just think he's gotten into a fight or something.

We climb out of the car, and it is freezing. I can hear the ocean crashing onto the beach just across the road, and it makes me feel even sleepier.

You'd think that because we're right beside a beach, we'd have one of those nice, clean-cut houses, like the ones next to us. You'd think so, but that's not how it is. It's never how you think it could be.

Our house is a small, kind of shabby, brick thing. One of the front windows is broken, and I meant to fix it a billion times. I meant to fix a lot of things.

There's no fence and we go down the cement path through the dying grass, and there's a police officer at the door.

"Everything's all clear," he says with a strange look. It's a pitying look, and I don't want to see it.

"Thanks Robbie." Jess touches his arm as we pass, and Kelly stifles a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sam asks, confused. Kelly touches her hair, smiling down at her.

"Nothing darlin'. Why don't you grab your bag and put some clothes in it. Remember to take your brush and anything else you need. But remember, only the essentials. We can always get more stuff later."

"Okay!" Sam flies through the doorway to her bedroom, and I just stand in the lounge room for a moment. The lights are on everywhere, yellow and eerie. Jess taps my shoulder and I peer at her tiredly.

"Do you want to grab your things?" she asks, motioning with her hand. Oh, yeah. I nod numbly and move around to my bedroom, smaller than the others and twice as bare.

I gaze around the room stupidly, taking a few seconds to adjust to the glaring light. My bed is exactly how I left it; neatly made with my pyjamas under the pillow.

I grab my old schoolbag from under the desk and shove my pyjamas in. My wardrobe sits in the corner, a spider web stretching from the top of it to the ceiling. I can't see the spider anywhere.

I randomly stuff some clothes from the wardrobe in the bag, not looking at what I'm grabbing. I can hear Sam moving around in the room beside me, and I lift up my mattress. My diary is there, hidden right near the wall. I grab it and look down at it, at the green cover covered in lead smudges.

I tuck it into my bag carefully, and make sure my mobile phone is still in the front pocket. It is. I sling it over my shoulder and go to the dingy bathroom. There's water all over the floor, and I have to grab the sink to stop myself slipping over. I take my toothbrush and one of dad's combs. It's not like he's going to miss it.

Jess and Kelly are still in the living room with Robbie and another cop, and I avoid them. I go into the double doors to dad's room.

The light is on, and the room is empty. Of course it's empty. They took dad ages ago. Of course he isn't here. But somehow, somewhere, I was still expecting him to jump out.

The bed is a mess. The blanket is on the floor, the pillows all over the place. The glass of water on his bedside table is still cold. He must've been in bed when they came. Kind of fitting, I guess.

"Seth?"

I glance at Kelly sharply, startled. "I uh, I was just..."

She smiles, and understands. I like it. "It's okay. Are you all ready?"

Am I ready?

Good question.

I nod, and I don't even know what I'm ready for.

Sam is already waiting, her pink bag on her back and her toy lamb in her arm. Its name is Chops, and she's had it since she was two. Its stitches are starting to come out.

"Did you get your toothbrush?" I ask her. She rolls her eyes, and her bag is stuffed. It looks like it's about to burst. "Yeah, I got it. Can we go now?"

She's so eager to get out of here. I can't say I blame her. Robbie tucks something into his back pocket and asks me if I can turn all the lights off and lock the house up.

I give my bag to Jess, and go through all the rooms. It feels so strange. So final. There go the lights, there goes you. I don't know. I'm so tired I can barely think clearly. I end up back at the living room, and everyone's outside by the cars, waiting. I bite my lip, and a gust of wind rushes through the broken window. I shiver, bloody freezing, and flick the light switch.

I lock the front door with the key around my neck, and suddenly remember my jacket on the desk. Shit.

It's too late now.

-

"So where are we going?" Sam asks, stroking Chops' head. This time Jess is driving.

"To an emergency carer for the night. She's a really lovely woman. And her husband. They're both really nice, you'll like them," she says reassuringly, and I bet she says that about everyone. Staying the night at a total stranger's place is, you could say, a bit daunting. It makes me feel nervous, and I can't stop tapping my fingers against my knee.

Kelly twists in her seat and looks back at us. "It's not far." She pauses. "You guys have done really, really well tonight. You were both very brave. I'm really proud of you."

And I suppose she's right. We did okay. We didn't screw it up too much, did we? Sam smiles shyly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Thanks," she says softly, and I might have let myself smile with her.

The car turns into another street and starts to slow down, while I straighten up a bit. I squint out the window as we park in front of a two-storey house. It has no fence either, but it looks a hell of a lot better than ours.

The light downstairs is on and the front door is open. A woman stands there, leaning against the door with her arms folded.

"Here we are!" Kelly says spiritedly, opening my door for me. The ground is squishy under my shoes, and Sam hands me my bag.

The woman at the door is short and tanned, and has a big smile that looks like it came straight off a Colgate ad.

Jess puts her hand on my shoulder, and puts her other hand on Sam. "Thanks for this Anne, sorry about how late it is."

Anne laughs a bit, and tells her that it's fine.

"Anyway, this is Seth and Samantha." Kelly introduces us, and I offer a nod. That's all I can manage right now.

"Great, I'm Anne." She holds out her hand and Sam shakes it eagerly. She loves shaking people's hands. She thinks it makes her look grown up or something. "Come in, I've got your beds all set up downstairs here."

We follow her into a large room jutting out onto the dark backyard. There's a double bed and a single, a TV, a computer and a huge mat covered in what looks like cat hair.

"Sorry about the mess." Anne apologises, and I couldn't care less about the mess. All I care about right now is that bed. "Just put your bags down there."

We do so, and rejoin the adults.

"So what happens tomorrow?" I ask, because I have to.

"Can I go to school?" Sam asks. She loves school. Well, not school. She just loves going to see her friends. To her, school is a social outing.

"Yes, you can," Jess answers easily. "In fact, we recommend it. We like to keep things as normal as possible, and we like to keep you doing your usual routine. Anne, if it's okay with her, if you could drop her off in the morning and we'll pick her up in the afternoon."

Anne says it's fine, and Sam's happy.

"As for Seth, you're not in school at the moment, are you?"

I shake my head. After what happened two months ago, I haven't returned.

"That's okay, we'll just pick you up tomorrow morning and we can find something for you to do for the day. Tomorrow we'll find you another place you can stay for the weekend, okay? This is just for tonight."

Sam glances back over her shoulder at the beds, and Kelly notices. She plays with the car keys.

"Well I guess we should go now. Try to get some sleep. We'll come and grab you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Yeah." I swallow. "Thanks. For everything."

Kelly smiles again and touches my arm. "That's okay. It's our job to help. Take care of your sister."

Anne waves them off, and Sam throws herself down on the double bed. "The big one's mine!"

As long as it's a bed, I don't care what size it is.

Anne comes back and hovers in the doorway. "If there's anything you need, if you need a drink or something, it's all upstairs. Just help yourselves. There's the bathroom upstairs too, if you want to have a shower before you go to bed."

Sam rolls over onto her back and grabs Chops off the floor. "Thanks Anne."

Anne smiles and backs out. "That's okay. Sweet dreams."

Sam looks at me. "Are you gonna have a shower?"

I wanted one before, back in the room. But now I can't be bothered.

"No." I should at least change my clothes, but I don't want to do that either. I just pull back the blankets and fall into the bed, burying my face in the soft pillow. I hear a bag being unzipped.

"Well I'm having a shower. I don't want to be all stinky like you."

The stairs creak as she climbs them, and I sigh. I roll over onto my side and stare at the other bed blankly.

I think I can feel a headache coming on.

I get out of the bed and walk over to Sam's. Chops stares up at me with his big glassy eyes.

"Stupid sheep," I mumble, pushing it aside and laying down. I pull the blankets up to my chin and my eyelids are so heavy.

-

During the night, I wake up once, and peer sleepily at the ceiling. Sam is cuddled up beside me, her head on my shoulder. She mumbles something I can't hear and presses her face into my neck. Chops is between us, I can feel it pushing into my chest. I put my arm over her waist and it doesn't take me long to fall asleep again.

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