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Rachel sighed as the second hand ticked. She wished she had super powers, so she could freeze time and stop her dads from picking up this new demon girl who they were adopting.
They had told Rachel the horrid news three weeks ago. They explained that they loved Rachel very much but they wanted to have another around the house. Just thinking about that stupid life-changing conversation made Rachel want to scream. How come she wasn't good enough?
Here's what Rachel new about the girl. Her name was Quinn Fabray and she was a runaway. Apparently some man had kidnapped her for sex and she had been tortured her whole life. She was sixteen, like Rachel. She had blond hair and hazel eyes and perfect skin. She had the appearance of a goddess, but underneath that pretty smile was someone very, very tortured. Rachel's dads had repeated that she was tortured endlessly and they wanted her to be nice. Rachel shook her head as she sat up on her bed.
Her dads would be home any minute.
Quinn stared up in amazement at the house. House! Everywhere her and Will had ever lived was in cramped apartments that stunk of alcohol and pot. Never a house. It was huge! There had to be at least three floors, and she could see a pool in the backyard. This made her ridiculously overjoyed. She had always wanted to learn how to swim, but Will would never teach her. He was afraid that if she was taught she'd swim away or something. Same with driving. She could feel herself start to smile.
But then Will's voice barged into her memory.
I'll get you.
Quinn gasped and felt like she might puke. She dashed for the nearest trash can and started drive heaving. Her stomach felt so empty. Probably due to the fact that she hadn't eaten in God knows how long. Her stomach roared for food, even though her chest protested, still tight and heart still beating rapidly from hearing Will's voice. It had sounded like he was right there. It terrified Quinn to know that he could be near, since she didn't exactly report who had kidnapped her. She shuddered.
Quinn could feel someone watching her and Will's eyes popped into her head. Always watching, always near, making sure she did each job just right. She groaned and gripped the trash can tighter, making her knuckles turn white. After she was sure she wouldn't start drive heaving again – and convinced herself that Will wasn't the one watching her – she glanced up. She saw a short brunette with wavy brown hair watching her from a window in what must have been the second floor. She had a smirk across her face. Once she saw Quinn staring back at her, she shook her head and took a long sip of what appeared to be water and drew her curtains closed.
Water. Her throat ached.
"Quinn?" A voice came from behind her. She recognized it as one of the nice men who had saved her from that horrid house of runaways. "Are you ready to go inside, sweetheart?"
Sweetheart. She had never heard it used how it was made to be used: in a genuine way. Will had called her sweetheart when he had her in his bedroom, but that was in mocking ways. Never genuine.
Quinn nodded and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Yeah, sorry." She whispered, her sore throat making her voice barely audible.
The other man who from the shelter came out from behind the trunk and frowned at her. "You must be thirsty." Quinn nodded. "Well, not to worry now. We have some water in the house if you like it. Or are you a juice girl? You look like a juice girl. We have plenty of juice, too. Apple, grape, cranberry, strawberry-kiwi..." His voice trailed off as her opened the door and disappeared into the house.
Quinn stared after him, eyes wide. She had never heard someone talk so much in her life! Will didn't like a chatterbox, and Quinn has witnessed many girls die because they talked too much. She shuddered at the memory. The screams, the pleas, the blood. The blood. There was always so much of it...
A deep chuckle came from behind her. It was the other man, the one who had called her sweetheart. He smiled reassuringly at her, urging her to go on inside.
Quinn hesitantly made her way into the house.
"Ah, there you are." The man who talks a lot greeted her as she gawked at the largeness of the house. "Pretty nice, eh?" Before Quinn could even attempt to reply he was shoving some clear juice into her hand. "Watermelon Kewl-Aid." He told her proudly. "Rachel's favorite."
"Where is Rachel?" The sweetheart one asked.
Talks-a-lot yelled for the Rachel to please come down here. The girl who has been smirking at Quinn descended down the stairs. She wasn't smirking anymore, she just looked more determined.
"Yes, Daddy?" Rachel put emphasize on the word daddy, as if to let Quinn know that they were hers and no one else's. Quinn bit her lip and glanced around nervously.
"Rachel," Talks-a-lot said slowly, sliding her a glass of her own. "This is Quinn. Quinn, this is our daughter, Rachel. Rachel, why don't you show Quinn to her new room?"
Quinn could see in Rachel's eyes that this infuriated her, but Rachel just smiled and said: "Sure, Daddy."
Quinn had gotten good at reading people over the years. It was a skill she had to learn in order to survive under any roof of Will's. Rachel obviously did not want Quinn here. Quinn mentally sighed and hoped Rachel would begin to like her overtime.
Rachel lead Quinn into a room that had bright pink walls, full-length mirrors, and posters of Broadway musicals all over the walls. She recognized one of them - Annie. Only because Will would whistle a tune from it every morning when he woke up. She was sure that tune would haunt her in her sleep, especially if she was sleeping here, where a reminder of it was staring her in the face.
"My dads are still working on your room, so you'll be staying on that couch over there until it's done, which will be in about a week to two weeks, maybe more. They still need to paint the walls and everything, so..." She trailed off and shrugged. "I only have a few rules. No liquids come into the room except water, no food that can create a mess, and no shoes on the couch. Okay?"
Quinn quickly nodded. She'd much rather have that then any of Will's rules. She began to walk over and put her bag by the couch. "Oh!" Rachel shouted suddenly, making Quinn jump. "And don't touch any of the equipment over there by any means." She pointed to a video-camera and various other assortments. Quinn nodded again. She stared at the couch longingly, tired. Rachel seemed to read Quinn's mind. "I guess you can take a quick rest, I'll come get you when dinner's ready."
Quinn smiled at Rachel gratefully. Rachel didn't see it though, because she was already turned around and hollering something to her dads about dinner.
Dinner came knocking at the door an hour and a half later. Her dads had decided on pizza because pizza was safe, and mostly everyone liked pizza. Rachel shouldn't eat pizza because of dance and she needs to keep her petite form, but her dads managed to convince her that one pizza wouldn't kill her.
She took a piece up to her room, breaking her own rule about not bring any messy foods into the room. Rachel shook her head at herself. Quinn had only been here, what, two hours and Rachel was already breaking rules. She decided to tell her dads that in her argument of Bringing-Quinn-here-was-a-huge-mistake.
Muffled screams greeted her when she reached the hallway that led to her bedroom. She crinkled her eyebrows together and then decided that it must be Quinn having a nightmare. She opened her door and prooved herself right, seeing Quinn screaming into on on her green couch pillows. Rachel frowned and slowly walked towards her.
"Quinn?" She whispered, gently tapping her shoulder. Her screams paused her a second and then came back stronger. Rachel sighed and placed the pizza on her floor, being careful not to make it flip and stain her rug with tomato sauce. "Quinn," She repeated, bringing her lips toward her ear. "Quinn, wake up..." She pleaded nervously. She couldn't think of anything to do except talk. Touching her obviously intensified whatever nightmare she was having. "Quinn!" Rachel shouted in her ear.
Quinn gasped and nearly fell off the couch. Rachel glared at her but softened when she remembered she had just waken up from what most of been one of the worst nightmares ever. Quinn looked at her confused, and then blinked a few times. Recognition slowly reached her eyes.
"Rachel?" She whispered, rubbing her eyes and glancing around the room, her eyes stopping on the Annie poster.
Rachel nodded, clearing her throat and drawing Quinn's attention back to her. She reached for the pizza and smiled softly at Quinn, who's eyes lit up at the sight of food. "I brought pizza." She whispered, slowly lifting herself up on the couch to sit next to Quinn.
Quinn nodded but didn't reach for the pizza. Rachel eyed her curiously out of the corner of her eye. Her skin was pale and she looked like she was still coming out of it as Quinn slowly placed her head on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and allowed the blonde to quietly sob into her shirt sleeve.
A/N: She's alive! Sorry I've been MIA lately, but you know. Summer. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. And PS: Does anyone know Rachel's dads names?
