"Your uniforms ironed, packed lunch is in the fridge and the money for that trip is on the side" Ronnie informed Roxy. Since Glenda had left and Ronnie had given up Amy for adoption she had poured all her energies into mothering Roxy. Archie wasn't around enough and even if he was Ronnie doubted he would trouble himself with such menial tasks. Being a sister and being a mother, the lines had become so blurred. See Ronnie was meant to be a mother, she knew this, she thought about it every night when she was crying herself to sleep thinking of Amy. Roxy would have to do for now, she had decided until the day she got her little girl back. Then everything would be perfect.

It was early... Really early but sleeping on the sofa wasn't exactly comfy and Rebecca was so distracted by everything that had happened with Ronnie. Getting up and walking round Rebecca headed over to the window and looked out at the deserted Square. Deserted apart from a man walking across it, he looked oddly familiar but Rebecca couldn't place it... A sickening thud of her heart and turn of her stomach made her run over to the drawers, hunting through desperately she found what she was looking for, a photo. The man... Standing with Roxy... Archie... And he was heading towards Ronnie's...

***

Danielle stood waiting by the door, Ronnie wasn't up yet. She felt her entire body shake with apprehension and fear. Finally she heard it, the light knock she had been expecting. Pulling the door open she let Archie in, embracing him in a warm hug.

"Hello sweetheart" Archie smiled

"What the hell is going on?" Ronnie gasped staring at the scene before her.

***

What was she to do? Roxy was fast asleep, she had heard Amy screaming last night for hours, it wouldn't be fair to wake Roxy up now. No this was something she would have to do alone. Taking a deep breath Rebecca pulled on some clothes. She would have to check it out. Running down to the door she paused and took a deep breath.

"I can't do this" she whispered.

***

"Mum, Granddad just wants to talk" Danielle smiled, holding onto her grandfather almost scared that he might leave if Ronnie rejected him. She wanted her family to be together so desperately.

"Rebecca was right... You've let this monster into my house!" Ronnie gasped, the hurt and pain in her eyes was obvious. She looked at Danielle like she didn't recognise her, it broke Danielle's heart but she knew her mother just needed to understand.

"Come on V, lets just talk" Archie smiled, looking over to Ronnie. There was a look in his eyes that Ronnie recognised, he wasn't to be trusted she knew that much.

"No! Get out, just get out!" Ronnie screamed, her body shaking with anger. She had to get rid of Archie and make Danielle understand that this man was evil!

"That's not going to happen V" Archie sighed, locking the door.

***

Come on! Rebecca willed herself, stepping outside that familiar dizzy feeling came over her and this time there was no-one there to help her. Trying to move forward and overcome this fear Rebecca told herself that if she didn't move then something really bad might happen. It was the motivation of protecting Ronnie that stopped her from turning round and running away. She must have looked distressed because she was being approached...

"You alright?" Max Branning asked, he recognised the girl as Ronnie's sister but this was the first time he's seen her in weeks, she looked odd, worried and scared.

"Take my hand and tell me everything is going to be alright" Rebecca demanded putting out her hand. She realised how ridiculous it sounded but she remembered that when Roxy had done it everything had felt so much calmer

Max looked at her like she was insane, it was a fair assumption to be fair but she had to, she had to get to Ronnie.

"Max! Please just do it! Ronnie could be in danger" Rebecca insisted

Max wasn't sure what was going on but he could see that she was deadly serious. Grabbing hold of her hand he smiled and led her across to Ronnie's promising that everything would be ok.

***

"What are you doing?" Danielle panicked, grabbing hold of her grandfathers hand. She looked at him, her innocent child like eyes filled with wonder and fear. She wanted him to tell her everything was going to be alright. She wanted Ronnie to listen and know that Archie had good intentions...

"What needs to be done Danielle" Archie spat, breaking free from Danielle's grasp and pushing Ronnie into the kitchen.

"Granddad?" Danielle whimpered, everything she had been led to believe, everything that Archie had said was being ripped away. Was he really still a monster... Had she just made the biggest mistake of her life?

***

"Right so you're saying Archie's there?" Max asked, trying to get an idea of exactly what was going on, he didn't want this strange girl gripping onto him for nothing.

"Well I reckon that's where he's heading" Rebecca nodded, trying to keep calm telling herself that everything would be alright she just needed to get to Ronnie.

"Oh that's nice Max! She's barely older than your daughters!" Tanya yelled, walking across the square. Spotting her husband with another girl drove her insane, as much as she tried to deny her feelings for Max, jealousy always gave her away.

"Tan! It's not what it looks like!" Max defended, realising how bad it looked to Tan. With everything that had happened with Stacey he certainly had form for going after teenage girls and now with Ronnie's little sister holding his hand...

"He's right it's not! But seriously Max we have to get going!" Rebecca insisted, she could see a marital about to break out and it was seriously wasting time.

"Look I know we're not together and you can do what you like Max but this isn't good for Lauren and Abi" Tanya complained, it's not good for me either she thought, her eyes unable to move from Max's hand grasped around Rebecca's.

"Oh god! Look nothing is going on with me and your husband..." Rebecca started

"Ex-husband!" Tanya insisted

"Whatever! I just need his help with something!" Rebecca moaned

"Oh right and you need to hold his hand to do this?" Tanya raised an eyebrow, she didn't believe a word though she could admit this scene hardly looked conventional.

"Yeah you didn't quite explain that one" Max asked, puzzled himself.

"Ok seriously guys, later we can come back and do this whole conversation but right now can we just go and make sure my sisters ok?!" Rebecca shouted getting well and truely annoyed

"Whatever" Tanya huffed walking away, who knew what was going on?! She just didn't care anymore!

"You owe me big time" Max complained, dragging Rebecca off towards Ronnie's, the quicker he got this over and done with the better.

***

"I wanted this to be so much classier, I wanted to talk things through before we ended this Veronica" Archie smiled, pacing up and down he watched as Ronnie squirmed with utter repulsion.

"Ended this?" Ronnie asked, her heart skipped a beat, she could feel the nerves growing inside her. She looked to Danielle but she was just as scared as she was. The maternal instinct kicked in, Ronnie wanted to protect Danielle.

"Well you didn't think I was here for tea and cakes did you?" Archie growled, reaching for a knife

"No!" Danielle screamed, Archie quickly reacted hitting Danielle with such a force that she fell to the ground, out cold. Ronnie jumped and tried to move over to her daughter, desperate to hold her, desperate to tell her everything was going to be ok.

"That was easy wasn't it Veronica?" Archie laughed, pointing the knife at her. The blade reflected Ronnie's face, her normally strong demeanor was weakening and Archie was loving every second of it.

"It doesn't have to end like this" Ronnie begged, she would say whatever she had to say to save her little girl and save herself. It couldn't end now not when it had only just begun.

"I'm sorry darling but it does" Archie beamed, running the knife blade down Ronnie's cheek, not breaking the skin just teasing. He was close enough, close enough to feel Ronnie's heart drumming at an alarming speed. It was like he was feeding off of her fear, it was electric.

***

"Damn it's locked from the inside" Rebecca complained when her key wouldn't work "break it down!" she insisted, knowing that something wasn't right.

"I'm not going to break it down! She might be sat there perfectly fine eating her breakfast!" Max laughed, surely this girl wasn't serious, maybe this was all one big joke!

"Ok seriously, you break it down and she's fine then I pay for a new door. You don't break it down and she's not fine then she's dead ok?" Rebecca glared, she meant it as well. She wasn't sure why but she could feel that something just wasn't right.

"Oh whatever" Max groaned, kicking down the door with a couple of hefty slams.

***

"What the hell is that?" Archie panicked, hearing the wood of the door split. He was distracted for a second, bringing the knife down to his side. He watched as Ronnie started to move away towards Danielle, desperately trying to wake her up.

Rebecca ran in, Archie stared at her. The girl that had been staying with Ronnie! Danielle had said that she'd gone but here she was standing before him. Her eyes almost daring him...

"Who is she?!" He yelled running towards her, the anger and frustration had built to such a level that he needed to get back his power, he needed to react.

"She's your daughter!" Danielle called, wearily waking up in Ronnie's arms. She had caused this and she needed to stop it.

But it was too late... Archie had plunged the knife into Rebecca's stomach. The horror in both their eyes. The shock that Rebecca felt, the pain and the look of confusion and then understanding on Archie's face. The look of shock on Max's face as he registered first the supposedly dead Danielle in Ronnie's arms and then the blood that was already pouring from Rebecca, collecting in a neat puddle on the floor.

"Hi Dad..." Rebecca croaked falling to the ground, there was nothing but black.

I was planning on saving that update for tomorrow but I got excited and had to post it. I'm sorry.... I know that's a horrible cliffhanger you'll just have to wait and see and see what happens next! Will Rebecca be ok? Can Ronnie forgive Danielle? What's going to happen now that people know Danielle's alive? What's going to happen to Archie? It would really help if I knew the answer to these questions wouldn't it! Oh the joys of writing it as I go along... All I can say regarding Danielle is that i'm a massive R&D fan so I highly doubt they'll be apart for too long!

I'm absolutely gobsmacked by all the reviews, it really has taken me by surprise that people are actually reading this and enjoying it. Thank you so much for your support.