It was pouring by the time they made it to Patricia's house after the orientation. They'd promised to drop by and say hello, but it didn't take the older woman long to convince Emery that spending the night was best. While Kimberly wasn't fond of the idea—there were way too many stuffed animals in the house for any sane person to be comfortable with—she wasn't fond of driving in this weather either.

That's why she found herself wide awake at three in the morning, staring up at the ceiling and consciously ignoring the elephant in the room. The beast was large and took up the entire nightstand on Kimberly's side of the bed, its gaze as unseeing as it was unnerving. After the next attempt to fall asleep ends with her throwing the elephant across the room, she gives up on sleeping altogether and shuffles into the kitchen.

It was a sort of unspoken thing in their family, to gather in the kitchen for a snack if something was keeping them up. Work or ghosts stressing you out? Go eat some ice cream. Bills piling up and starting to resemble Mount Doom? Go eat some cake. Stuffed animals about to make you snap like Jack in The Shining? Go eat some whipped cream. That's why it wasn't shocking when she found Emery there, still fully dressed as though he'd been standing outside in the downpour.

"You okay," she asks, noting the tension in the line of his shoulders.

"I'm fine," he answers, shrugging. "It was just Rose Red sending out a warning again. What are you doin' up this late?" It's Kimberly's turn to shrug, opening the fridge and pulling out the spray can of whipped cream. It was one of the cheaper brands, but it still tasted good.

"The stuffed animals were making me antsy."

"Try living with them for twenty years." She scrunches up her nose, moving to stand next to him as he took in another mouthful of ice cream. "She tried to start a monkey collection in my room until I dumped the box of them out the window. Now I guess she's more interested in elephants."

"I love you, babe, but your mother's insane."

"No arguments from me." They lapse into silence, continuing to snack and glancing around the dark kitchen. Nothing seemed to have changed since last weekend; the same knickknacks lining the shelves, ostentatious tablecloth, and a stove that might break down at any moment. It was little footsteps that broke the silence, Nicky appearing a second later in his footie pajamas that he kept here. "Hey, kiddo."

Nicholas doesn't make a sound, pausing just inside the kitchen as he rubbed his eyes. He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept well in a week even though he took regular naps and usually slept through the night. He glances between the adults, nods, and shuffles forward over to Emery. Already knowing what he wanted, Emery kneels down with some ice cream already on the spoon, Nicky licking it off automatically.

"Was Gram snoring again," Kimberly asks, smiling when her son nods. "Why don't you get one more bite and then go crawl in our bed? We'll be there to snuggle in a little bit." Nicky shakes his head firmly, brows furrowed and bottom lip poking out. "What is it, baby?" He brings his hands up next to his face with his fingers curved like claws, baring his teeth in a silent growl. "You…. You saw something scary?"

"What'd you see," Emery asks, setting the gallon of ice cream aside. Nicky mimes the beast again and then holds one of his arms against his chest. Kimberly's heart dropped into her stomach, forced to set the whipped cream down before it slipped out of her shaking hands. "A little girl?" Another nod, his little hands falling back to his sides. "Do you see her a lot?" A shake of his head this time that had his matted curls swaying.

"Nicholas, I want you to have your listening ears on." He nods, cupping his ears like he did every day in school. It was a trick his teacher had come up with to get the kids' attention, listening ears meaning what she was about to say was important. "That little girl you saw can't hurt you, okay? She can't do anything to you."

"Mommy's right. That little girl just likes to scare people." Nicky chews on his lip, brown eyes glancing around and focusing on something near the backdoor. Kimberly and Emery follow his gaze, Kimberly spotting a faint outline of the blonde girl. She didn't see the gaunt form that Emery did or the perfect image that Nicky did, hers was fuzzy and out of focus. "Make a shooing motion." He does so, the image blowing away like sand caught in a strong breeze.

"And that's all you have to do from now on. They have no choice but to obey you out here." Inside those iron gates of Rose Red is another matter, they have their own rules there. "Think you can sleep now?" He shrugs, playing with the black zipper of his pajamas. "How about we all try since you have school tomorrow?" Emery puts everything back in the fridge while Kimberly scoops their son up in her arms, barely registering that he was getting heavier.

The trio move to their bedroom in the back of the house, curling up in the Queen-sized bed with the quilt drawn up to their chins. Nicky was snuggled between them, one of his hands gripping Kimberly's tank top and the other tangled in Emery's hoodie. Since they didn't have pajamas they'd been forced to improvise, Kimberly ditching her skirt while Emery just decided to sleep in his jeans and hoodie.

It didn't take long for Nicky to begin snoring, lost somewhere in dreamland where everything was okay and no ghosts were lurking. Kimberly tried her hardest, mostly focusing on the way Emery's hand was warm on her hip, thumb rubbing circles over the bare skin.

"We don't have to do this, you know," he says after a while, voice barely more than a whisper.

"I can't let Steve go in there without backup." She doesn't open her eyes as she runs her fingers up his arm, taking comfort in the warmth. "And we really need that ten thousand dollars since business at the shop is about to slow down until classes start up again. You should stay with Nicky."

"And let you go into that monster of a house with Joyce leading the way? Hell no. I vowed to protect you when we got married and I intend to keep that one." She smiles a little, a tried one that was hard to manage. "We'll get through this, Kim, and then the three of us are gonna take a vacation to somewhere warm."

"Louisiana's great this time of year."

"That's settled, then. We'll spend a week in Louisiana rooting through thrift stores, eating fish, and punching alligators in the face if they get too close."