But it wasn't a dream. And neither was what came next. Her son had woken her in the middle of the night. Her possessions were all packed and she was hurried to Fred's truck.

"Quickly, before the rats smell us leaving." He remarked, with a boyish grin.

Fred missed his mother. He promised himself he'd take care of her, and never leave her again.

Amanda drifted away to sleep in the truck and awoke in a new room, not padded, but equally restricting. The dank smell and absence of light gave it away. She was in a basement. She wasn't chained, that was a small mercy. But the idea of escape and living a life were well and truly out of reach.

She searched the room and let her eyes adjust. She found the source of the sound that had woken her. Her daughter-in-law, Loretta, stood at the foot of her bed, with a plate in hand. The smell of bacon and eggs cut through the dank smell of the basement and almost made her smile. But she wouldn't smile, not for her.

"Morning Mom." Loretta said, an insincere smile on her dial.

"Slut."

Loretta shuddered. Nothing had changed for her. This was the worst sort of trip down memory lane. The psychotic mother-in-law that hated her in the deepest way possible. Living directly under her bedroom. Now she'd know just how much of a slut she was. The bed would shake, the floors would squeak, and the basement dweller would curse her with every shimmy.

"I've made breakfast, just the way you like it." She positioned the stable table above Amanda's lap and placed the dish on it. She turned on the desk lamp on the side of the bed and said her goodbyes.

As she made her way up the stairs she could feel Amanda's eyes on her, questioning her every move.

She turned and confirmed her suspicions.

"Just call if you need anything, okay Ma?"

Amanda said nothing and waited until Loretta had left before inspecting her meal.

Fred's first week at work had been uneventful. He'd made friends with old acquaintances and flirted with some of the younger faculty.

This was all a ruse of course, as his real treasure were their guardians.

Every day, he'd visited one class in particular, giving a fresh apple to the math teacher and smiling politely at the students. His hungry eyes searched the room, before he found his mark.

Alice Johnson, 16, sat with her chin resting on her open hand, gazing out the window. Daydreaming. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied up in a bun, and her blue eyes sparkled when hit by the sunlight outside. They complemented her outfit well. Fred took special notice of her necklace, adorned with a brilliant sapphire charm. The charm sat perfectly atop her perky teenage chest and bled into her navy blue tank top.

Fred realised he was staring, and excused himself swiftly.

After lunch, he waited by the cafeteria with his mop and bucket in an attempt to overhear her conversations with her friends on the way to Biology.

"You wanna study at mine tonight? This lab final's gonna be brutal."

"Kristen, Kristen, Kristen. Why am I not surprised? I've already done all the revision I need to and I have to work at the café, but you can swing by and I'll quiz you in my break?"

"Deal."

Fred made a concentrated effort to not think about that while he got back to work. He had an abundance of patience, and he was sure in time he would come across this café 'organically'.

Upon returning home, and having dinner with his family, he found himself thinking about that necklace, and the treasure beneath. He caught himself licking his lips, and upon seeing the quizzical look from his mother, said, "Oh Loretta, sweety, this is delicious. At least you haven't fucked this up today."

His mother smiled approvingly. Still saying nothing.

Fred frowned slightly. He wondered how long it would take for his mother to come back to life. He wasn't a mind reader, but he could help his mother based on visual cues and body language. Still, it'd help if she would talk to him, and tell him stories.

Weeks passed, without incidence. Katherine flourished and loved spending time with her granny. Amanda spent equal amounts of time upstairs and downstairs. Even Loretta had to admit that things were going better than she had anticipated. Her bruises were decreasing in number and severity and Fred was almost romantic with his language towards her. It had all culminated to one night where after another pleasant dinner with the family, Loretta made an announcement.

"Honey, sweety, Mom. I've been offered some work at the Springwood Diner. It'll just be a couple of hours a day, and cleaning up afterwards of a night. But I'll only accept with your permission. She turned to Fred, expecting a hard look and a crack of the belt. Instead she found a curious look on his face.

"Which diner is that one?"

"The main one in town. A lot of the local kids work there, and the foods half decent. Their barista had a heart attack and one of the moms at Katherine's school mentioned it to me."

"Well, that's all well and good, but what about our dinner, and Mom?"

"Mom's doing great here, Fred. We could give her a bit of rope. And I'd pick up Katherine from school on the way home and cook then?"

"I think Mommy should have a job." Katherine said happily.

"We could use the money. There are some….modifications I'd like to make around the house."

"So, that's a yes?" Loretta pleaded.

Amanda nodded with a wry grin. Fred approved, hoping it was the diner he thought it was.

Loretta clapped her hands in joy and gave Fred a big wet kiss, much to her mother-in-laws disdain.

Later that night, once Loretta had fallen asleep, Fred drew a sketch of Alice. He made sure he got the daydreamy gaze right, and the necklace, and then reimagined her uniform a little bit barer. Once he'd finished his crude sketch, he finished himself off in the bathroom, away from his sleeping wife.

A/N: Again, not much action in this chapter. I just wanted to show the calm before the impending storm.. I hope everyone's enjoying reading this as much as I am writing this. ~Dave