-Chapter 1-

"Ugh!" their father shouted, stamping one foot on the ground.

He threw the remote on the couch and stood up.

"I would never let this happen to one of my girls!" he growled.

Their mother stood up as well and turned off the TV. She put a hand on her husband's shoulder to comfort him but it hardly seemed to help.

"Now, now, we've taught them enough."

"Maybe they need more lectures, just to be on the safe side."

At that exact and conveniently timed moment, their eldest daughter came down texting her boyfriend.

"Are you guys watching Dateline again?" she sighed. "Dad, for the last time, none of us want to have a baby, none of us want sex, and I'm literally the only one who has a boyfriend. So stop worrying so much. And would it kill you to ditch that show already? It's making you way too paranoid."

Both parents sighed heavily as Lori walked past the living room and into the kitchen, having already gone back to texting said boyfriend.

A heavy guitar note rang throughout the house as their third oldest, Luna, "rocked" somewhere upstairs. It was followed by several more softer but nonetheless shrill notes.

Their fourth oldest and roommate of Luna's, Luan, broke out in sudden laughter, most likely at a terrible pun she'd just made.

And they had a pair of twins who tied for third youngest, although technically speaking Lana was older than Lola by two short minutes. They were polar opposites with Lana being a reptile-loving tomboy and Lola being a true girly pageant queen. Needless to say, they also shared the same room. And again needless to say, they were constantly fighting. Today was no exception.

Their youngest, Lily, was still a baby who had yet to talk beyond burbling and other baby noises.

Their second youngest and second oldest, Lisa and Leni, were at the library studying to get away from the never-ending noise of their house. Lisa wasn't a normal four-year-old and Leni wasn't a normal sixteen-year-old. Their intelligence levels based on age were the exact opposite of the other. Lisa was a child prodigy, making her the tutor of the family, and Leni lacked…higher intellect. Her knowledge in fashion and trends was really the only thing she could be counted on for. She did also know how to drive and even had her driver's license, but nobody trusted her with the directions to get somewhere and she could never figure out how to use or even understand the GPS her family had installed in the car for her. The only way she could learn how to get anywhere was to drive to the same place using the same roads a hundred times. So far, she could only make it to one gas station. The only reason her parents taught her that was in case something happened to Lori, who was the only other one who had a driver's license, and the kids had to evacuate the house. She had been instructed time and time again to go to that gas station and wait until her parents told her it was okay to come back.

What they didn't realize, or know, was that she wasn't as dumb as she made them believe. She was just…discouraged. For so many years she had been a slow learner, kept falling behind in class, and teased over her poor grades and general lack of comprehension. But as she grew so did her learning capabilities. She understood most of what the rest of the family was talking about, except Lisa who nobody understood what she was talking about. She passed every class but with the bare minimum so nobody would find out that yes, she was on par with Lori now and very much capable of getting the same grades. Normally she would tell somebody but then they wouldn't believe her. And if she proved it to them, they would think it was some trick or that somehow, it was rigged. Maybe pre-planned so it seemed like she was smart. It hurt enough just knowing they would never believe in her, the last thing she needed was for them to think she would cheat or lie to them. So for now, or forever, she would just have to content herself with being known as the stereotypical blonde ditz who couldn't solve 2 + 2 but knew everything about fashion. In reality she probably did know everything about fashion though, and was definitely more interested in that than in academics. Even her dream job was a fashion designer.

But designing anything required some form of math, which happened to be her greatest weakness. It was why she was at the library with her younger sister. She had a test coming up. It wasn't a big test so she planned on failing it, but answering all the questions correctly in her head just to stay sharp. Her study session with Lisa was part of a larger plan to pass all the tests that her semester grades tended to hinge on, and flunk the rest. She really was devoting her time to study and she really was listening to Lisa. And while she did have trouble understanding some things—which were the topics she pressed Lisa to repeat many times—she caught most of what her sister was saying, including the words that were "too big for Leni". It probably annoyed her more than Lisa to ask her sister to rephrase almost everything. Lisa probably thought this was hopeless. Leni felt the overwhelming sense of boredom and had to put real effort into looking like she was still not getting it. On the upside, she had plenty of practice throughout her day-to-day life. On the downside, it was always a tiring façade.

"You can stay here and study," Lisa said, jumping down from her chair and closing a book.

She practically shoved the book into Leni's hands and left with, "I have to get back home before my chemicals overheat."

Leni could get back home on her own but only if she walked. It gave her plenty of time to take in landmarks and the very few street names she could remember. At least…that's what her family thought. She wasn't as smart as Lisa and she was forgetful sometimes but she wasn't a complete idiot. However even she would admit that it was easier to just walk.

Leni watched her sister get in her mom's car and head home. The sun was down now, only the last remaining glow left behind. It, too, would soon disappear, and she would be walking in the dark unless she called someone to come get her. But after that agitated look on Lisa's face followed by her practically running out of the library, as if actually running away from her…maybe going alone was better… She knew her act could get under people's skin and it definitely wasn't uncommon in her family. Leni the screwup. Leni the stupid. Leni the unreliable. Leni the disappointment... Maybe it was best if she kept that last thought to herself.

She did as Lisa instructed and occupied herself by studying even more for that upcoming math test. It was the same content she kept looking over, but she wanted to learn this stuff and she wanted to ace the test, even if it was only in her head. And there was only one way to do that.

She took a deep breath and noticed that the glow from outside was no longer orange. It was soft white coming from street lights. Her learning abilities may have grown but distractions were far from easy to ignore. It didn't come as a surprise, seeing so much time having already passed and so little studying—in comparison to that time—done.

She gathered her notes and books and tucked them away in her backpack. She sharpened her pencils and firmly held onto a few of them as she walked out the library door and into the quiet night. Alone. But! That was exactly what these pencils were for—protection. So recently sharpened and unused since then, they were like small daggers now, and while they wouldn't serve as any kind of immobilizing weapon, they could still stab someone deep if given enough force. That would give her enough time to run and hide, or run and call for help. Or, depending on how far she was from home, she could even have enough time to run right through the door, which was always kept unlocked until all family members were safely inside. Plus it wasn't like a few missing pencils would change her entire school life. She had more and even if she didn't she could always just borrow some from her siblings because…

Because she was Leni… Because it wouldn't be a shocker if she lost something… Because she couldn't tell left from right… So she had to be supervised and watched… Because she was Leni…

She waited patiently by one of the street light poles for traffic to stop so she could cross the road. There were ups and downs to being alone. She could be herself—the "smart" Leni—but only when she was alone. However she did heed the warnings of nighttime dangers…but only when she was alone.

She tapped her toe against the pole a few times and probably would've kept going until she imagined herself tapping to the beat of a song, but a young man who appeared to be around her age came barreling out of the bushes.

"Please!" he begged breathlessly. "Y-You have to help me, she's hurt!"

She recovered from the initial surprise and asked, "Who?"

The man grabbed her hand and tugged her forward, tears glazing his eyes. He obviously didn't notice the pencils, or didn't care about them if he did notice.

"Who's hurt?" she repeated as she gave in and ran alongside him to…to…well, to wherever he was going.

"My mother!"

"Your mother? Where is she?"

He tugged harder and it coaxed her to run even faster.

"Did you already call 911?" she asked.

Suddenly he stopped and she crashed into him.

"Okay," she said. "You just, um, take a couple of breaths, and I'll call 911, okay? Now where's your mom?"

She dug around in her purse and pulled out her phone but only managed to dial a "91" before something knocked her phone from her hands, sending it several feet away until it clattered against a tree root.

She looked in shock from her phone—now well out of her reach—to the young man standing before her. He didn't have the same worried, panicked expression he carried just moments ago. She wanted to give this unexpected behavior some reasonable explanation, like maybe a nervous tick or an accident… She wanted to go along with the nervous tick option since his mother was injured somewhere and from the sound of things, nobody had called an ambulance yet. And if she was in the hospital already, he would have no need to call upon anyone else for help, let alone the first stranger he saw standing under a street light.

"I'll just go get my phone back and call for help…" she said, turning to retrieve her phone that she hoped wasn't broken after hitting a tree.

He grabbed her wrist in one swift movement. "Wait!"

She looked at him and bit her lip at the new expression he wore. It had gone back to slightly panicked, but there was something that was just…off. It wasn't the way he talked, and while his actions were questionable it wasn't quite that either. It was something else, something she couldn't put her finger on.

"Yes?" she mumbled, and in doing so realized how far away they had gone…how fast he'd made her run, and now even he wouldn't take the initiative to do something for his ailing mother.

He cracked a sad smile that appealed to her humanity, and she automatically dismissed any negative thoughts about him.

"I just wanted to say…thank you," he said.

Without warning he pulled her into a gentle hug that she kindly returned.

"You're welcome. But we need to get to you mom—"

No sooner than she managed the word "mom" did he tighten his gentle hug into a seemingly aggressive embrace.

"Big hug," she squeaked uncomfortably.

Despite everything she tried not to believe, the reality of the situation was slowly becoming clear as her inner alarms began going off, telling her she was in danger. But there was still a chance she was misinterpreting this. He could be getting ready to cry for all she knew. His mom was hurt, he was sad, he needed a shoulder to lean on, he…he…he wasn't letting her go but surely there was some reason. Maybe…maybe he was just clingy? Maybe he was just a big fan of hugs? Maybe he was just really that thankful? Something. Anything.

"You can… We should probably…" She tried to pull away from him just a little bit, just enough to let him know that cuddle time was over.

When she didn't get the response she was expecting, she tried again, using more force this time. Still, it was almost as if she was fighting against a big rubber band—she kept snapping back to him.

"This is making me really uncomfortable," she admitted. "You know, physical contact, strangers, really long hugs, and you're not really letting me go so… Let me go now, please…"

"Can I ask you to do something for me before I let go?" he asked.

She couldn't imagine what he would want at a time like this but seeing as how he hadn't done anything to actually hurt her, and since he was asking instead of doing, she nodded her head.

"Can you…" He dragged one hand down her side, making her shudder in response.

"NO!" she yelled, taking advantage of only one arm holding her and pushing back once more.

It did free her but it also confirmed her suspicions about him, something she hoped wouldn't happen. Somewhere in the back of her mind she kicked herself for ever believing that his "mom" needed "help". And worse, she continued to believe it even when she knew it was a lie.

She turned heel to stomp half angrily, half offendedly towards the road, the only non-perverted place she could think of right now. Luck wasn't on her side though and before she could take three steps, the man tackled one of her legs, tripping her and bringing them both down with an audible THUD! She heard him grunt behind her, pulling on her leg. It was now that the panic she'd kept under control before hit her full force and she turned onto her side to get a better view of him. Her free leg struck out at him, a high heel shoe making direct contact with his forehead. She pulled her leg back and this time aimed for his fingers wrapped tightly around her ankle. She only managed to get in one more kick before he removed one hand to grab her other ankle as well.

On instinct she tried to pull her legs up, away from him, but she only ended up pulling herself closer instead. By now she didn't have to have a train of thought to know there wasn't much she could do, not unless she could pry his hands off her, get up before him, and reach the street before he could catch her.

She continuously kicked both legs at once, as though perhaps that had a chance of shaking him off, but either she was doing something wrong or he was doing something right because he made it seem all too easy to climb up to her waist and hold her there. She took it as an opportunity to get up and somehow jump out of his arms, manage to turn onto her stomach, and use her freed legs to help push her up off the ground. But it only took a second for him to do the same, and a second more for him to have them both standing again, this time with him doing the legwork.

He used both arms to hold her waist and keep her against his body while he pulled her backwards. She made it all the more difficult for him by leaning and "walking" forward so he would be forced to put in the extra effort, not unlike trying to connect the south end of one magnet to the south end of another.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed.

It seemed to startle him, hearing Leni, who had been so quiet with the exceptions of panting and strained moans, suddenly scream. He responded by balling one hand into a fist and delivering a powerful and painful blow to her stomach. She immediately curled up around his arms, as though he had hit some reflex. It also threw him off balance and before he could ground himself under the added weight, he fell to his side. And to his surprise, not only did she take him down—unintentionally he was sure—she also recovered much more quickly than ever could be expected and apparently decided that running, or trying to run, was no longer a valid escape option. She twisted just enough so that she could also land a hit, albeit only with the back of her fist, and more so with her wrist since her aim was so limited with her position.

"Let me go!" she growled angrily. This time, however, her voice was raspy and anyone who heard it would be able to tell that she was getting too tired to actually scream out again.

When she put her fist up a second time, he grabbed her wrist and held her there, one arm still wrapped around her. Finally he decided that enough was enough and this girl was giving him too much trouble to handle as quickly as he wanted. He somehow managed to get her free arm under the arm that clung to her waist. It forced her to twist back into her original position. By a greater power she was able to keep squirming anyway.

He stood back up and dragged her with him. She was still moving but her struggling was waning as she got weaker by the minute.

It was when he held a cloth over her nose and mouth that she began thrashing and shrieking out muffled words, a desperate attempt to escape the pungent, sickeningly sweet smell on the cloth. She made the mistake of shaking her head side to side as fast as possible to slip away from it, but her little plan backfired when he held her jaw to secure his cloth in place. She wasn't exactly a chemist like her sister Lisa, but she knew what chloroform was and she knew what it did. She stopped herself from breathing in the fumes.

She took both feet and swung them up, nearly throwing them back on the ground again—which she hoped would loosen his hold on that cloth and she could remain conscious long enough to have another chance at escape. It did thrust him backward but he didn't fall and his grip didn't loosen. She tried a different tactic, putting all her strength into her legs and slamming her heels into his shins. He cried out in pain and stumbled a few steps back but still didn't fall down. She knew if that didn't work, neither would a second time. The only thing she could think of was kicking and screaming in hopes that a passerby would see or hear her, despite being too far away for that to be realistic and despite how muffled her cries were.

Holding her breath only worked for so long before her body screamed for air and all that motion only sped things up. Her initial lack of energy before the chloroform certainly didn't serve her well either. She had no choice but to inhale a lungful of wrong. It felt so unnatural, so unreal, and she was helpless against it.

And even though she fought it as hard as any human possibly could, once she began breathing again, the chemicals took over in a matter of seconds. Her movements slowed down to soft twitches and her whole body was numbing, starting with her fingers and toes and spreading to the rest of her. In another few seconds she couldn't even move anymore and she knew that…that if the cloth wasn't…removed immediately…then…then she would…her vision…hearing…her voice…her conscience would fade…and then…

…Nothing…