Moonlight filtered in through the window. A soft breeze brushed against the thin periwinkle blue curtains as it rolled in. The cold sent shivers running down her spine. Goose bumps rose all over her skin; over her legs, which were pulled to her chest, and across her arms, which were wrapped around her knees.
Cloaked in a thick silence was the air, still as a light, airborne feather. Nothing made the slightest sound. Not the crickets, or the surf just a dozen meters beyond their doorstep. Carefully Dominique lifted herself up onto two feet, knees shuddering as she did. With a hand gripped tightly around the soft tail of her stuffed flying seahorse, she waddled to the door, at least two times higher than she was tall, and turned the knob with caution as to not make a sound.
When the door opened, a hallway bare of any carpeting, hardwood ice cold to the touch, was revealed. Quickly Dominique casted a look down the darker end of the hallway, which led to the other bedrooms, before trotting silently to the staircase. Seashells decorated the walls next to framed portraits of the family. Red hair and enough baggage to crush a whale, that was their family.
Dominique lifted the small, yellow seahorse to eye level. "We have to be quiet, PJ."
She took a deep breath before heading down the stairs. One step at a time. She knew every spot where the stairs creaked by heart. Masterfully she avoided each one. Light poured out of the kitchen.
Just before she hit the last step, two voices pierced the air at once. Screaming in rage was one while the other roared with anger. Dominique yelped and stumbled backwards, right into something big and stiff.
A hand was closed around her mouth. "Shut up," the owner hissed. She could barely hear it over all the yelling. "Are you trying to get us killed?"
Dominique whimpered as a shattering of glass pierced the air. The hand left her mouth and she was spun around to meet the steely blue eyes of Victoire. Conflict raged in them. Moments passed, filled with screaming and yelling and Victoire's uncertainty. Finally she clasped her hand in Dominique's.
"Come on. Let's get back to bed, yeah?"
Dominique nodded. Victoire led her back up the stairs, all caution thrown out the window as the fight raged on in the background.