Author's Note: *Dodges various objects thrown* I'm sorry! I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! On a nasty cliffhanger too… hehe. *Is hit in head with a shoe* Hmph. Well here is your next chapter! So eat, drink, read and be merry! :-P.

Lashes woke up with her head throbbing. She tried to lift herself up, but it just made her head swim even more. Trying to figure out where she was, why, and how, she finally remembered the events of the past night and a tear slid down her cheek. The thing that she had feared the most since she had come to the Lodging House two years ago had come true. She wanted to go back to sleep and wake up back in the Lodging House, she knew it wouldn't happen, but she slipped into unconsciousness anyhow.

~*~*~*~

Hayden and Mush were back on the road again. They had spent their night at the Staten Lodging House and were planning to go to the nearest train station. They were walking down the roads of Staten Island when Mush said something to Blink.

"What?" asked Blink. He hadn't been paying attention, he was thinking about his sister and what she would look like now.

"I said: the train station is only a few streets down now." Mush repeated. "Where are you today?"

"In Philly." Blink sighed. "I can't stop thinkin bout her Mush. I think I would go crazy if I didn see her soon." He laughed jokingly. "I'm excited though, two years is a long time."

By now Mush had long been able to read Blink's face, and he saw that Blink was something more than excited: nervous. A few minutes later they came onto the train station and wiggled their way through the crowds. After they had gotten through the crowds and lines, they were at the front of the ticket-buying booth.

"Can I help you?" The man behind the counter asked, giving them a strange look.

"Yea, two tickets for Philadelphia please." Blink replied politely, which was the opposite of what the man was being to them right now with his looks of disgust, no doubt because of how they were dressed.

"That will be fourteen dollars." He replied, it was obvious the man didn't think they had the money. Mush slapped the amount onto the counter with an unpleasant grin. "Every penny, sir." He said the last part with dripping sarcasm. The man took the money stiffly and counted it out. "Very well then. Here are your tickets." He handed them the tickets and Mush grabbed them out of his hand, giving him one last look.

"Geez, would you believe dat guy?" Mush said after they had gotten out of the crowds again. "He looked the whole time as if he was smelling something bad, and I know we don cause we took showers dis mornin!"

"Yea." Blink said. It seemed as though he was somewhere far away again, looking at his ticket.

Rolling his eyes Mush grabbed him by the arm. "C'mon, we gotta go find da train, don wanna miss it now."

~*~*~*~

Lashes had waken up again with only a slight headache this time. She still didn't want to rise; all the same she knew she would have to sooner or later. She lifted herself up slowly and put her legs over the side of the bed she was laying on. Getting up she tiptoed as quietly as she could to the door and turned the handle very slowly. Making no noise she opened the door up a crack to see out. When she didn't see anything there, she opened the door wider and slipped out. She never thought that she would see this apartment again, and had hoped even harder these past two years that she would never have to be in it again. She already knew all the boards that creaked and how to make as least noise as possible, and so she was searching through the house to see if she was alone or not. After she had looked into all the rooms, she found that her father must have already left for work. The first thing that came to mind when she realized this was how to get out and away before he got back. Making no more effort to be quiet she went to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. It wasn't only locked with a heavy padlock, but also with a key lock she did not know where the key would be, and knew that her father would have the only one. Not giving up she went to the windows next. They were locked also. After living in that apartment for six years she realized that there was no other way out. Lashes sank to the floor in tears.

~*~*~*~

After Inky and Singah had gathered their wits the night before, they had followed the form of Lashes' father through the crowd. The watched him go into an apartment building, holding a struggling Lashes. They had decided to wait until he had left for work in the morning and wait until then to try and help, but until then they resolved to sleep in the alley next to it.

When morning came it found Inky and Singah quite achy. Waking up they remembered why they were laying on the floor in an alley and got up. "Which place do you think is theirs?" Inky asked.

"I dunno, she never said anything about that." Singah replied, following suit.

"Then how are we supposed to be the 'rescuers' if we don't know where she is?" Inky said exasperatedly.

"Well, I guess we should just sorta… uh… knock on all the doors? I don't know!"

"Do places like these have landlord? You know, like we have at the Lodging House? Because we could just ask them, and they will know."

"You know that just might work." Singah said, her eyes lighting up and a smile creeping across her face.

~*~*~*~

"There's our train Blink!! There it is!" Mush said excitedly making his way towards the train with Blink in tow. Blink was going through all sorts of emotions at that moment: excitement, nervousness, nausea…

"Tickets please?" Asked a man in a uniform next to the train door. Mush and Blink got out their tickets and showed it to him. "Ok then, have a nice trip." The man said with a smile as the boys clambered up the steps to find themselves some seats.

Author's Note: I will try to update soon so bear with me.