Thanks for all the great reviews guys! Sorry I havnt been updating, ben really busy studying for exams :P. Hope you like the new chapter, and keep reviewing!

We had been walking for what seemed like ages. A while later, we stopped at a little café. I was getting over the pain in my stomach. She had some money, so we bought some food. We were getting some odd looks, possibly because they thought we were skipping school or something, most likely because we were both battered and bruised. She had been quiet the whole way here, and she remained quiet. I couldn't take it any more.

"Are you ok?" I asked her

"Yeah, I'm fine", she replied not really paying attention to me or her sandwich.

"What did you mean earlier" she looked up at me, "when you said you were almost used to it?"

"Nothing, just forget I said anything" she said. This was weird, the past two days, she was so open and cheerful, but now she wouldn't spill anything.

"Please, tell me, I'm worried about you" I said, being honest, she looked back up at me and sighed.

"Fine. A while ago, just after my parents split up, I was really young, my mum had to go on some business trip, and I had to stay with… Rufus" the name almost sent shivers down her spine. "Basically, he wasn't used to kids, and I guess I irritated him one too many times and, that's when it started."
"When what started?" I asked her. She pointed her finger toward the side of her face that had the black eye and bruise. "Oh..."I said. She continued to look down at her food. "How come you never told any one?" I asked her, after a minute of awkward silence.

"I dunno, I guess I wasn't brave enough" she shrugged.

"Don't worry, we are far away from that madman now, and I promise, I will do anything I can to protect you." I smiled at her. I don't really know why, but I felt really close to her. I don't know if it was just that we had been through similar things in the last few days, but then I realized, that she reminded me of Poppy. They looked a little similar, and she was only about a year older than Poppy. I felt almost responsible for her now, but I didn't even mind that much, she had helped me, and now I want to help her. She seemed to lighten up a bit after I told her that. We started talking about more uplifting things, which took the edge off a bit, which was good.

The Sibuna gang had decided to find the address on the letters and finally found the house.

"I was almost expecting to find some creepy old house in the middle of no where, who would of thought Rufus would live in such a public area." Patricia said, as they walked down Rufus's road.

"Look its Rufus's van!" Amber yelled in delight at finding a clue. The Sibunas ran over to the house that stood behind the van.

"I dunno, it looks kinda empty" Nina said when they arrived.

"How about we just look around, see if we can find any clues." Fabian said to them all. Everyone agreed and started to snoop around. After a few minutes Alfie looked up,

"Do you hear something?" he asked, everyone looked towards the road to see a car coming.

"Quick! Hide" Nina yelled, as they all ducked behind some bushes. Out of sight, but still able to see what was happening. It was Rufus, he parked the car next to his van. He got out and walked into the house. The Sibuna gang wondered what he was doing, but then he hurriedly came out of the house a minute later. They saw he had something in his hand, that's when they realized it was a gun. They looked at each other and saw that they all had a worried expression on their faces.