Pushing the door open and striding in, January sighed exasperatedly.

"You know, you really freaked me out, Mum!" She said, confronting her mother in the kitchen. "Telling me Asmond was sneaking out and he brought home a lost child?!"

"Jan, calm yourself." Her mother scolded. "I've corrected Asmond for his disobedience. The real matter at hand is the girl–"

"I trusted you to keep a better eye on him. Not let him sneak out! I can't be at home long enough to set him straight. He's not well yet for any of this, I know it!"

Asmond stood at the entrance of the kitchen. His eyes were wide and struck with fear, searching his mother for comfort.

"Asmond!" January whispered, immediately pulling him into a loving embrace. Kneeling down in front of him and brushing some dark strands of long hair from his face, her expression became full of remorse and worry for her son. "Are you alright, darling?"

"I…" Asmond's voice shook, trying to find the right words, but for the first time, he could not. "This… whole day is just… really scary." He finally replied, eyes glossed over as he hugged his mother.

"Just as the other days have been for us." January said, softly.

"Did you leave your little friend all alone in the living room?" Asmond's grandmother inquired, growing worried at the silence.

"Y-Yeah…" Admitted Asmond, his gaze wavering.

"Can I meet her?" January asked. "I want to find out where she's from."

"She won't talk, Mom." Asmond responded quickly. "Not really, anyway. I… I couldn't get her to tell me anything."

"She hasn't tried me, yet." January's voice grew determined and she stood up, walking into their small, gray living room.

Searching behind the sofa, they soon discovered that the little girl was no longer hiding there. They could not find any trace or sign of where she could have gone, so they frantically began to search. Asmond looked around the upstairs bedrooms and his grandmother tried the bathroom. January went into the laundry room and then towards the basement, where she found the door to the stairs had been opened, which was never the case. Asmond hated the dark and never went down into its frightening abyss. January knew the girl had to be down there.

The stairs creaked with each step she took, and even she was relieved to find the light switch, illuminating the damp, underground room that had been filled with forgotten things, some more pleasant than others. Continuing her search, she looked behind boxes and under the pool table. There was still no sign of the girl.

She heard a rustle and looked at a pile of blankets, making out the slightest shape of a curled up child. The last thing she wanted was to frighten the girl, so she slowly approached the pile, gently lifting the blankets… and there she was.

Her beady, green eyes peered back with such fear and confusion, and a whimper escaped as she tried to dart away.

"Oh, sweetie!" January called out, reaching for her, hand brushing her arm. The touch froze the girl in her tracks, January's being so trusting. They shared a silent stare, January seeing something in the girl that sparked a fuzzy memory. One she could not define, yet she could feel it surfacing… then dying away.

"Hello, sweetie." She spoke calmly, hoping to ease the girl who stood visibly tense. "I'm not here to hurt you." January assured. "I only want to help. You're safe here, with us, I promise." Holding out her hand, the girl took it, shaking. January saw something deeper in her eyes. Something beyond fear. Betrayal, unwanted control, pain…

The girl muttered a few strange words in a foreign language, swallowing cries and pushing back tears in resistance, the lights flickering around them as she did so. January knew… there was something about this girl she needed to know.