Chapter XII

Days. It had been days now since Niles had last heard Mrs Graves say more than a word or two to anybody. The last ones he'd really heard from her himself were the ones she'd said when she'd insisted that he take both her and Miss Aurora to Mrs Graves' room.

That had been the most awful day. The day they'd come home from her trip to the hospital, just after the phone call that had seemed to end his mistress' entire world.

Mother and daughter had been holed up in the bedroom ever since, with the latter only being heard when she cried and the former mostly just sitting or lying in bed, never actually being seen sleeping and leaving plates of mostly untouched food – breakfasts, lunches and dinners all – on surfaces so that they piled up.

If it hadn't been for him going in to remove them occasionally, the room would have looked as bad as it actually felt to step in there.

As bad as his mistress felt inside. It didn't take a genius to work that one out. What he wanted to know was how it had come to this in the first place – obviously, Mr Graves was to blame; he never ceased to make his wife miserable in any way he could think of and enjoy from.

Even when his wife wasn't even in his vicinity, he still managed to hurt her inside...

Niles knew he had to find out what had gone on during that phone call. It was the only way he could fathom ever getting unasked-for answers, and perhaps take her a step closer to understanding how awful her husband actually was.

Their marriage was awful, too. And how truly good could a man be, if he screamed at his wife down the phone? Well, he imagined there must have been screaming from him, the same way there had been desperate screaming from Mrs Graves.

But he couldn't know for sure until he she had told him herself. So, to help gently ease her into wanting to discuss what had happened, he had spent all that particular morning baking in the kitchen.

The chocolate cake he'd made for her before had gotten her to open up a little, hadn't it? And it would mean that she'd actually be eating something, instead of turning bits over with her fork...

It had to work. It was perfect, even if he did say so himself; the mix of chocolate and fudge in its softest, gooiest state was enough to make anybody hungry, wasn't it? And when she ate, she had to relax, which would help her to feel alright about talking to him.

That was all he really wanted. For her to feel alright talking to him about anything. He'd say it was for domestic purposes and to be able to do his job better if anybody asked, but it was truly more than that.

His mistress was his friend, and friends should be able to talk to one another.

That thought guided him as he sliced off a thick, delicious looking piece of the cake and slid it neatly onto a plate. Adding that to a tray, along with everything needed to make a calming cup of tea, he was ready to go.

He carried it as carefully up the stairs as he would have carried a newborn - or carried his own mistress, even. And, soon enough, he was outside the room of the woman herself.

Setting the tray down on the nearest side table, he knocked on the door.

"Mrs Graves? I have a treat for you..."

As usual, there was no answer. She simply couldn't be bothered, which was starting to bother the butler greatly. This was a time for her to focus on her recovery (she'd be starting physical therapy that same afternoon, and he only hoped she'd be willing to attend her session), not to despair over her arsehole of a husband.

Alas, Mr Graves had the infuriating ability to aggravate everyone even when he was an ocean away. Just when Niles thought he couldn't possibly be any worse, he somehow managed to outdo himself. He really didn't understand what she'd ever seen in him, but he supposed certain things would forever escape his understanding. It was just as well – he didn't think there was a way to rationalise Mr Graves' disgusting behaviour towards his wife and daughter…

With a sigh, Niles gently pushed the door open and peered inside.

Mrs Graves was where she'd always been since coming back from the hospital – sat in bed. The woman was but a shadow of the beautiful, young mother he'd driven to the hospital; the sight was truly pitiful. She hadn't taken a bath in all that time, she was still in her pyjamas at 11 a.m., her hair was tangled and unkept, and her eyes were red and swollen from all the crying. Aurora was sleeping at her side, clearly unaware of the emotional turmoil going on inside her poor mother's heart.

It broke Niles heart to see her this unwell.

"I brought you some cake, ma'am," he told her, forcing a small smile. "It's my mother's recipe – the one you liked so much."

"I'm not hungry," she said, not even looking at him.

Niles didn't know why that was what finally did it, but something about the way she wouldn't look at him, or the fact that she still insisted she wasn't hungry even though she'd barely eaten in so long, made him snap inside.

This couldn't go on any longer the way it was! Mr Graves was not worth this kind of misery, and she had a young daughter to think about! She was far more important than he would ever be, so it was time to move on!

He marched over to the nearest bedside table and put the tray down. Even if he was angry, he wasn't about to slam it – she'd already seen enough violence in that house.

Besides, he wanted her to listen, not be afraid.

"I think I've just about heard quite enough of that, you know – I've seen how much you have been eating these past few days, ma'am; there is no way on Earth that you are not hungry!" he was fast throwing caution to the wind, and definitely not speaking like a servant, but he didn't really care. "And for what, might I ask? A phone call that did not go as well as you had hoped it would? Even in the worst times that Mr Graves has upset you while he was here, you've never acted like this! Like nothing else in the entire world was important!"

He could only hope he was getting through to her. With her daughter right there beside her, she had to see that there were far better things to be thinking about, didn't she? Miss Aurora was always first and foremost in her thoughts, usually.

That was it. He had to pour a little bit of salt in the wound to really drive the point home. It would definitely cross the line marked for servants, but he honestly believed that she needed to hear it.

"Do you believe this is how Miss Aurora should see you? Not up and about, living your life? She needs you more than Mr Graves does! Or have you forgotten that?"

C.C. turned her eyes up to the butler, indignation, hurt and anger quickly rising in her very core. Even under her teary eyes, she still managed to let a glare come through, too.

Even when she was upset beyond all measure, she could still do that.

"How dare you say such a thing?! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

She knew she had to fight back. How could he possibly know what she'd gone through?! He hadn't been the one on the phone, or heard the things she'd heard! He'd been stood several feet away while the man who was supposed to love her told her that the family they had didn't count!

That she had failed as a wife and mother, barely after she'd even started. How else was she supposed to take that, other than by doing what she had done?

Niles didn't understand. Servants didn't have to understand!

But that didn't seem to be an opinion they shared, as Niles kept pressing on with his tirade. His shouted demanding of answers, as it quickly became.

"I know exactly what I am talking about, Mrs Graves! I mean that you are not putting your priorities straight when you have a little girl to care for! Do you want her to see you like this? In this...this exiled depression you have put yourself into, over her father? Do you honestly believe that Mr Graves is more important than she is?!"

That had to be enough of a wake-up call, didn't––

"Of course I don't!" Mrs Graves immediately shouted back, sending the room into silence.

Only briefly, however. It gave them both enough time to register the magnitude of what she had just said. Aurora would always be more important than Mr Graves. But this was the first time anyone had ever considered mentioning the subject out loud.

"Then why are you acting like this is the end of the world?" Niles asked firmly, still angry but not as loud as before. "As I said, your daughter needs you more than he does. And if Mr Graves can walk away from a...an argument over the phone, then you should be able to as well!"

"He didn't just walk away from a phone call," his mistress snapped back. "You…you have no idea what he said! If you did…"

C.C. shook her head, feeling hot, shameful tears running down her cheek. It still hurt too much to admit it out loud – to admit that the marriage she'd so hoped would work, was coming apart at the seams. It was a miserable feeling, and it was made ten times worse by the fact there simply was no way out, was there? She and Chandler were married, they had a child (whether he liked it or not) and she had no one and nowhere else to go apart from here. Divorcées weren't really welcome in polite society, especially if they were single mothers!

The shame would be too much for her to bear, and it would do a disservice to her Rory – having an outcast for a mother…

She simply couldn't walk away, even if part of her wanted to. There was no family waiting for her, she had no other home apart from this one, and she was currently disabled. She wouldn't make it on her own in her current circumstances. Chandler was another factor to consider – he wouldn't stand being abandoned. Hell, if she knew him he'd probably go into one of his rages!

The thought of what could happen (both to her and Rory) in that case scenario always made her blood run cold…

"Then maybe you should tell me, ma´am," the butler said, sounding much softer and kinder than before. "You don't have to carry all your burdens on your own. Not when, I'd like to think, you are among friends."

C.C. wiped at her tears, trying hard not to sniff too much as she looked back up at him.

Friends...were they really friends? She had thought of him that way before, especially back at the hospital, but the moment she'd gotten angry with him, she'd dismissed it again...

That probably said more about her than it did him, and it weighed her down with a fresh new guilt. Niles had been the kindest person in the house, even though he'd been there the shortest amount of time. He deserved better than to be pushed aside from the word "friend" just because he was a servant as well. She had to admire his bravery, too – not many would choose to stand up to their employers like he had!

But if...if they really were friends, then maybe she could tell him what had happened? So he could give a fresh perspective, and maybe some advice...

Niles might've been a butler, but to her, he seemed exactly the type that just about anybody could go to for advice.

Even her.

She supposed he would let her ease herself into it – he really didn't look the type to snap at her to get to the point...

"I...when I called Chandler, I started by trying to tell him everything that had gone on at the hospital," she began, still wiping at her eyes every few seconds. "That didn't go down well at all. He...he got angry that my femur hasn't mended yet, and won't for a while. And...and when I explained that I need to heal..."

The hurt was almost too much; it was overwhelming to the point where she burst back into tears, her sentence drifting off into incoherence. But Niles didn't shout, or demand that she hurried up. He simply waited.

"Take your time, ma'am."

The butler didn't raise so much as a foot to tap impatiently, and as C.C. watched him just...stand there, listening to her tell him everything, she couldn't help but feel a little...well, better.

Not about anything that had happened, obviously, but about telling him in general. About letting him know when things were bothering her, and knowing that he wouldn't get angry or upset with her in return. It was...different, to what she was used to.

It felt right, confiding in Niles. Even if it hurt and beyond words to have to tell him any of this, knowing that every word of it was the complete truth.

The hurt and the anger cut and burned deeply, making her fist curl up, squeezing the bedsheets tight in the palm of her hand. She still didn't want to believe this was all coming from the man she'd married – the one she'd promised to love, honour and obey, and had at least expected the first two from him in return!

The thought forced out another shuddering breath and some more hot, angry tears before she could continue.

"He just kept getting worse and worse...! Told me that I needed to get better on his schedule, not the doctor's, and he got mad about us not being able to have another baby yet...he said I hadn't given him children and when I pointed out that we have Rory, he..." she had to calm herself, before she did something drastic. She furiously wiped away the tears. "He demanded to know what he was supposed to do with a "girl firstborn"! He told me he'd have loved it more if I'd had a boy, like I was "supposed" to, and that Rory wasn't good enough to inherit from him!"

Niles' face and heart both fell. Even if he could absolutely believe this sort of thing had come from Mr Graves, it didn't make it any less horrific. It took a special kind of monster to openly admit that they didn't love their own, innocent children, whom they had apparently been so excited about only months before!

But he had no idea what to say to relieve Mrs Graves' heavy and bitterly stinging heart. How could he? What words could possibly undo the vile, hateful, cruel thing that her husband had said?

He supposed there really was nothing. Nothing he could say in his capacity as a butler, anyway – had they been of equal standing, there would be plenty of things he could say. Most of which almost definitely involved kicking Mr Graves out and finding Miss Aurora a new father. An actual father.

The only real-life alleviation he could think to provide was delving into his jacket pocket for a clean handkerchief, which he then offered to Mrs Graves.

"I never expected this from him," she said, taking Niles' handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes. "I mean… aren't… aren't husbands supposed to support their wives? We vowed to be there for each other, for better or for worse – am I out of line to expect him to show some modicum of support? Or to love his daughter as he would a son?!"

She looked up at her butler, eyes brimming with angry tears, both daring and allowing him to speak his mind. She knew servants weren't supposed to do that – more often than not they were simply expected to nod and agree with their bosses – but Niles was no longer just a servant. He was her friend, as strange as that might have sounded, and she trusted him. She needed to trust him. She needed someone she could count on…

She'd once hoped Chandler would be that person, but she now knew that would never be.

"No, ma'am, you aren't out of line," he sighed. "And, if you forgive my impertinence, I think your husband isn't much of a husband to begin with. And not just because he isn't being supportive…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked C.C.. "Until now, Chandler never hurt––"

"Good husbands don't hit their wives."

The silence that followed was as unpleasant as the arguing they'd been through before. It made Niles feel like the ground had caved in beneath him, sending him falling down a long, dark tunnel into an endless abyss.

Then, the panic set in, and it started to argue with his own sense of honour and justice.

He shouldn't have said that, should he? But at the same time, how could he not? She needed to see, and it looked like all other routes had failed! This was the first direction they'd taken where she hadn't simply doubled down on defending Mr Graves, insisted it had all been her fault in the first place and "moved on" from the incident!

It was like her poorly-reasoned resolve was cracking. Perhaps it could be replaced with something better? A new resolve to see her own self-worth, so she would never forget that she deserved to be treated better than this?

He knew he could make her see that, eventually. He just had to keep going – to keep on making her see how much more she could have, without a bastard for a husband!

She was obviously afraid of what seeing would mean, because she tried to go straight back to her old habit. The one Niles hated to see her use the most: defending the indefensible, and making up excuses for a man who simply didn't deserve them.

"Chandler's never been as bad as this before, I could handle him up until now––"

"Please, don't insult my intelligence, Mrs Graves," Niles cut back over her before she could say so much as one more word. "I know exactly what he does to you, and I can assure you that it has been just as bad throughout my entire time here as it is now!"

Mrs Graves looked on the verge of scowling, "He never said that he didn't love our child before!"

"Miss Aurora was not yet born for him to decide not to love!" Niles barked back, not even thinking before the words were out. "But he hurts you, ma'am, whenever he has the chance – that alone should be enough to tell you he is not as good for you as you had hoped he would be!"

"He doesn't mean it, more often than not…" she said defensively. "I'm sure even your parents had their fights."

"Of course they did! But my father never hit my mother – not even once. They might have slept in separate rooms occasionally or not spoken to each other for a couple of hours, but he never, and I really mean never, laid a hand on her. Did your father hit your mother? How about your grandparents? Was physical violence commonplace in their marriages?!"

Niles was close to screaming – the only reason he was keeping his tone in check was because he was trying to keep some semblance of propriety. He didn't like to be harsh to her, but she needed it – she needed to open her eyes once and for all. Otherwise, how long would it take for one of Mr Graves' so-called corrections to seriously injure her? How long would it take for him to murder her when he was in one of his blind rages? Niles didn't want to imagine it. He couldn't bear the thought of his mistress losing her life at the hands of a psychopathic arsehole.

"No…" Mrs Graves eventually said, angrily still, but less so than before. "No, it wasn't…"

"That's because it shouldn't be," Niles insisted, looking her in the eye. "He is abusive, ma'am, and you need to stop making excuses for him. If you don't believe me, think about this – would you stand for Miss Aurora's future husband treating her like Mr Graves treats you?"

The words hit C.C. harder than the car accident, coursing through her as she imagined Rory, the sweet little girl still sleeping through the...loud discussion...but older, married and with a home of her own. She saw her laughing and dancing with her husband, happy and completely in love.

But then the dark clouds came over and the shadows moved in – she saw Rory cowering in a corner, bruises blotting her arms, her eyes wide with fear as the man she'd once hoped would love and protect her suddenly turned, raising an open hand, a fist, a foot ready to strike...

All for what? For disagreeing with him slightly in public and "humiliating him in front of his friends"? For not bringing him the correct jacket or tie and "ruining his look for the day"? For simply getting in his way, when he was in the wrong mood?

C.C. had already been through all of those herself. She didn't want Rory to have to suffer the same way – not at the hands of some bastard who simply didn't deserve her. Not when he was going to treat her like...like she was nothing!

That...that really was the way Chandler had been treating her, wasn't it?

He'd been nothing but a monster to her for so long now, she had just learned to accept it. But she couldn't stomach the idea of it happening to their girl.

"No, I wouldn't," she answered Niles, a calm covering an underlying layer of rage. "I'd never let her be treated like that by anybody. Husband or not."

"Then why do you let him treat you like dirt?" he said, crouching at her bedside.

"I… I don't know…" C.C. replied, a new wave of tears coming over and pouring down her cheeks. "He wasn't like this before. He was kind, loving, gentle – he still is, when he wants to be. He always says sorry after he snaps, and he tries so hard to make it up to me, so I guess I felt that… that…"

"…That you were the one doing something wrong?" Niles said softly.

C.C. nodded.

She still remembered the first time he'd snapped at her. It had been a few days after they'd arrived back from their honeymoon. She'd left for town without letting him know, which had translated into a huge fight when she'd gotten home. That had been the first time he'd hit her, too. He'd slapped her twice, once on each cheek. Hard. It had left her ears ringing and her cheeks stinging for hours, but what C.C. remembered the most was the utter shock and hurt she'd felt upon being hit. She'd ran to their room and locked herself in their bathroom for hours. She'd tried so hard to make sense of what had happened – to rationalise the abuse she'd been subjected to, but she hadn't been able.

When she'd eventually come out, Chandler had been there, eyes puffy and swollen – he'd been crying – and a bouquet of roses in his hands. He'd said he was so sorry, told her that he didn't know what had come over him and that he would never hurt her again…

Clearly, it had been an empty promise.

From then onwards the abuse had only worsened, and the more violent he'd become, the less apologetic he'd been. What's more, he'd started to blame his rages on her, and somewhere along the way, she'd started to believe him.

She just didn't understand why, though! She'd always been so strong and confident before, but with every beating and every spat curse in her direction, a little bit more of that had been ripped away, like a violent storm could tear apart a stone cliff face until the whole thing came crumbling down.

And, with that analogy in mind, C.C. felt a realisation strike her like lightning.

He'd...he'd worn her down. Like the cliff face against the terrible waves – it wouldn't have started that bad, but the water would slowly erode the cliffs over time, wearing them away, until a storm came and the rock fell apart all at once!

That had been Chandler's plan all along, hadn't it? To start small and work his way up, so that he could see what she'd take and accept, and push it a little bit further until she was making up excuses for what he'd done that time because it had never been like it before...!

She'd let him do it, until she'd believed that it could only have come from her being in the wrong! She'd let herself become battered, and hadn't stopped to question it at all!

That made her want to slap herself in the head, until the pain outside matched the terrible, betrayed hurt spreading inside her chest. What had been the matter with her?! Hadn't she understood how sick it was, to keep on giving him free passes to cause her as much suffering as he wanted, whenever he wanted?! Why hadn't she left the first time he'd done it, gone right back to her parents and begged their forgiveness until they took her in again...

Oh God, her parents! What would they do, if they knew what their daughter had become?! Would they even forgive her?!

How could she even forgive herself, or look in the mirror, knowing that she had willingly led herself to her own personal Hell? That she had followed a monster there, imagining it had loved her?

"What have I done, Niles...?" she asked, her breathing starting to hitch and speed up. "I did this! This is all my fault – I could've stopped it at any moment, but I let Chandler––"

Niles felt his heart crack in two, and he immediately cut back in.

"Now just wait a minute, ma'am – I don't believe you "let" him do anything––"

"But I did!" she shouted, startling Rory out of her deep sleep and causing her to cry. Just as her mother was now doing. "I sat there and I let him use me however he wanted, I let him hurt me and I made up excuses to let him do it again! I told myself it was my fault he was hurting me, and I just had to be better so he wouldn't have to get so mad! But I was innocent! I did nothing to him, and I...I deluded myself into thinking that he loved me anyway!"

Her weeping overtook her completely then, her heart shattered into pieces and her body ready to curl up into a despairing little ball, and Niles lost it.

What "it" was – his mind, his sense of decorum – he didn't know, but it was enough to propel him forward, to send him to his knees by her bedside, to scoop the baby up into his arms and to pull both her and Mrs Graves into the warmest embrace probably any of them had ever had.

It was only after he got there, arms around them both and with his head softly nestled into the space between his mistress' neck and her shoulder, that the alarm bells started to go off in his head.

What the bloody hell did he think he was doing?! Grabbing at Miss Aurora like that, and then hugging Mrs Graves?! Holding the baby between them as though...as though he didn't know what he was doing!

What kind of a butler was he, that he thought he could get away with being so...so intimately close with his employer and her child?!

He was about to stammer out an apology, back away and promise never to do such a dishonourable thing ever again (if he didn't have to beg for her not to sack him on the spot), when he realised...Mrs Graves had just...sighed? And softened into his arms? Even Miss Aurora's crying had calmed into fussing, that sounded like it would soon fade away back into noises in her sleep!

But...why? Shouldn't Mrs Graves have been taking her child away from him, not relaxing into his shoulder as though there was nowhere else in the world she'd rather be? Shouldn't she have been yelling at him to get out, so she could be alone?

Shouldn't that have been the end of their apparent friendship, ruined by him instead of saved?

Everything in him (as well as what had been drilled into him at Butler Academy) suggested that should have been the case, but as with many things in the Graves' household, things didn't go according to plan. Had his father or any of his tutors been there, they would have grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out of the room, all while apologising to the mistress of the house. They would have most likely given him a thrashing, too.

Good thing he was the butler and not them, because right then, as his mistress nestled into him, he simply couldn't bring himself to care. She needed support – she needed him, so who was he to deny her comfort? Especially in a time of need?

"It's alright, ma'am," he said softly, beginning to gently stroke her back. "It's all going to be ok––"

"No it's not," she cut him off, shaking her head. "I'm still married to…to him… and I… I don't think I can stand being here for the rest of my life."

"Then don't," he said, pulling away just a little, so that he could look her in the eye. As he did, he gently slipped the baby fully into her mother's arms. "You need only give the order and I'll prepare both yours and Miss Aurora's bags and drive you to wherever you wish."

C.C. let her mind drift away for a moment, imagining what that would be like. Just...grabbing everything and getting in the car, driving away and never coming back again. Where could they go? Where couldn't they go? There were so many places they could run and hide and never be found by Chandler – she only had to look at Niles to know he'd take them there, no matter how far it was...

But was that really fair on Rory? Forcing her into a life on the road, potentially having to move from place to place in order to avoid Chandler, staying one step ahead of him and practically sleeping with one eye open to make sure he didn't catch up? And how could they even run, anyway, when her leg was nowhere near mended? She needed a doctor, physical therapy, to rest whenever possible – how could she do any of that, if they were packing up to move again whenever the monster chasing them caught up?

She had to be able to move first – to heal, so she had at least some of her mobility. That would make things easier for them, if they had to make a quick getaway. It might help her get a job, too, if they found somewhere they could stay for a good, long while. And that brought on yet another point – they'd need money, and lots of it, if they were going to go anywhere!

They'd need to buy food, and rent somewhere to sleep – it wasn't as though she could just go home to her parents. They hadn't forgiven her yet, and she couldn't simply go crawling to their doorstep, pleading for their help when she hadn't earned it...

She did long to see them. But she needed to apologise first and know that they loved her again before she even attempted to step a foot inside her old family home. Besides, she knew that Chandler would target her parents' house first - it would be the first place he'd go looking if she suddenly turned up "missing from their home". Even with everything that had happened before, he'd still take no risks that she hadn't simply gone straight back.

She needed to go somewhere completely different, before going there.

No, they couldn't go. Not yet. The dream of going away and never coming back wasn't shattered, but it was still a long way off. They needed to plan first, to get money and other supplies and find somewhere safe to live.

She hated to have to tell Niles that, but it had to be done.

"No...I can't..."

Niles' felt his heart drop. What did she mean, "no"?! Didn't she want to get away, go somewhere else and never have to see that bastard she'd married ever again?!

"No? What do you mean, "no"...?! Ma'am you can't stay here!" he began to half-grab at her upper arms, looking between her and Rory. "We can do it – I can take you away from here; get you both somewhere safe––"

"I know you can, Niles," she cut him off, as calm and collected as anyone who had made up their mind could be. "But my mind is made up. I can't go anywhere yet. Not while my leg is still bad, and I haven't gotten any money together at all – we need to plan properly, not go on a whim."

Niles let out a relieved breath much louder than he was originally hoping to.

Thank God. She wasn't planning on staying; she just wanted a more solid plan! She was right, too – what he'd said had been so...so spontaneous, he hadn't even stopped to consider her leg or the money issue himself!

It was fine. They would be fine – they'd come up with a plan while Mr Graves was gone, and get out of there before the arsehole realised anything was wrong.

"Yes...yes, you're right – you're right," he told her, his eyes dropping down to Miss Aurora again. "We can work this out, and then go."

Mrs Graves nodded, and she actually smiled for the first time since this entire conversation had started.

"Good. At any rate, I can make good use of Chandler not being here..." she said, quickly looking down at her leg. "I'll start by actually going to my physical therapy appointment this afternoon."

She looked up at him again, her eyes shining brighter than before.

"Will you pass me over my tea and cake? I actually feel like I could use something sweet. And maybe you could sit with me and tell me more stories about the war while I have it?"

Niles couldn't help but start to smile back, pulling himself to his feet.

"Of course, ma'am - right away."

He would get her cake, and he would tell her all the stories she wanted to hear; good or bad, exciting or...less. He knew he would do anything she asked – especially in his relief that they would eventually be getting out of there. One day they would leave and be free of that house and the monster that lived inside it.

One day, they'd be happy without hurting at all.