Disclaimer: Skylar belongs to Shooter O'Brien. However, I kinda brought her to life in this story. I didn't know whether Shooter wanted to keep Skylar her own or what, but I thought I'd put it down, just in case. It's up to you, Shooter.

Travis burst in through his front door, smiling ear to ear. He walked into the kitchen, expecting to smell bread baking, as he did every night when he came home, but he didn't. "Momma?" he called. There was no response. "Momma?" he called again, louder this time. There was still no answer. Tonight was Papa's poker night, where he played cards with Uncle Joe, who usually brought his daughter, Katie. That meant there was supposed to be at least five people in the small house. Where were they all?

He headed up the stairs, looking for them. "Papa? Momma?" he continued to call for them.

Then he heard a muffled sob, coming from the room on the left. That was his room. He shared it with his twin sister, Skylar.

He opened the door. There was no one there, but the sobbing continued. He went over to the closet and opened it. There sat Skylar, along with his cousin, Katie. Both of them sat their curled up, crying.

"Skylar, Katie, wha-," he could barely speak from surprise. "What are you doing in the closet?"

Katie shook her head as tears rushed down her cheeks.

Skylar, however, raised her head. "It was the police, Trav. They came t-to our house an' ch-checked it over s-so w-we hid from them." Her voice shook as she spoke.

"Why were the police here?" Travis asked, slowly, knowing that could mean nothing good.

"They h-heard the gun shots," said Katie, still sobbing.

"What gunshots?" Travis asked, his mouth growing dry.

"Papa was playing c-cards with Uncle J-Joe," wailed Skylar. "They were real d-drunk and they g-got into a huge f-fight and Papa pulled out his r-rifle and... Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe... Papa, he..."

Katie put her head into her hands as Skylar spoke.

The realization of what his father had done hit Travis like a slap in the face. His next whisper was barely audible. "He killed Uncle Joe?"

"T-Then Momma," said Skylar, crying even harder now. "Then he-he s-saw w-what he'd d-done an-and he put a g-gun to hi-his head and he-he..."

Travis was no longer aware of anything else. He merely sat down onto the hard wood floor and put his head into his hands as his eyes filled with tears.

They all sat there, crying. Whether it was for ten minutes or thirty, Travis did not know. They simply sat there together, pouring out their grief to each other.

After a while, Katie broke the silence. "Where will we go?" she asked. "Where will we live? The police will be after us, seeing as our parents are gone. They might put us in an orphanage."

"I'm not going to any orphanage," Travis said loudly, standing up. "I'm leaving. I'm not getting caught by the stupid policemen. I'm going. Now. And you're coming with me." He turned around and ran to his dresser drawer and began to throw clothes into a plastic bag.

The two girls began to put there own clothes in to the bag as well. Katie had none of her things, so she decided to share with Skylar. It would be easier that way. They packed lightly. Skylar went downstairs to get any food she could find and put that in a bag too. They were soon heading out the door with their few belongs on the backs. Quickly and carefully, they fled from Queens, heading towards a new town, where they began a new identity, and forget about all their problems.

Crutchy sat up as he heard the hiss in his ear. He turned around to see who was standing next to his bed, but it was still very early in the morning and it was to dark to see.

"What the-,"

"Shhhhhhhh! You'll wake to whole place if you don't shut it!" came a whisper from his right. It was Pinch.

"Pinch," he whispered, feeling quite annoyed. "It's too early, go back to the girls' dorm."

"Do you want to come with me or what?"

His eyes were adjusting to the dark now. He could see Pinch standing there stubbornly, looking at him.

"I'll be up in a minute," he said.

"Good," she whispered back. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

Crutchy washed and dressed. He was soon downstairs and they went outside so they could talk freely.

It was chilly outside. The brisk morning air hit their faces as they walked out.

"Look, we have ta do dis carefully if we wanna do it right," said Pinch in a business-like manner. "We gotta stay hidden and outa sight."

"Dat's da same thin-," Crutchy began to say, but Pinch cut him off.

"We gotta tail 'em close, but not too close," she continued as though there had been no interruption. "Ya got it?"

Crutchy nodded.

"Alright, alls we got ta do now is wait fer 'em to come out. We'd better hide behind the bushes dere."

And they did. They waited for nearly ten minutes, in silence, until finally, Race came out through the door, Artist close behind him. They were silent as they walked together, walking side by side. As soon as they turned the corner, Crutchy and Pinch took off, finally about to discover where the mysterious couple was going.

A/N: I hope you guys liked it. I'm getting into the more interesting part of the story now. Don't forget to tell me what you think... REVIEW!!!! (please).

Shout Outs:

Daydream: Glad to see your getting a kick out of Pinch. She plays the part perfectly, I must say. Keep in touch with your reviews! It's good to hear your opinion!

Shooter O'Brien: Ahhhh, I love to keep readers on their toes! It feels good to know you are excited about the next chapters! Keep reading!

LadyRach: It's so nice of you to review my stories!!!! I'm so glad people like them! I know you want to know about Pinch's history, so here it is (I am quoting this directly from Daydream's CC, just so you know):

"Katy Price was forced into the mills at age 11 by her parents. Their family had far too many children for the elder ones not to work. Terrified of the noise and huge machinery, Katy tried to run away but the foreman caught her before she got too far. He gave her a beating like she'd never had before. She barely made it home that night. After a few more escape attempts over the next few months, Katy actually made it out. She struck straight for home. Her mother immediately threw her out saying that if she couldn't work for her family, than she couldn't be a part of it. Katy didn't know what to do. She knew she didn't want a job, but what else was there to do? She kept to herself the next few days, eating whatever she could find that didn't look putrid. Then she met up with Creeper, a young pick-pocket. Thinking she could be useful, he took her back to his gang. They taught her how to thief along with teamwork and strategy. They gave her the nickname Pinch after realizing how good her skills were."... "She stayed with them a few years. On one of their more daring attempts, the gang was trying to snitch from a jewelry shop when the police broke in and arrested the group. Pinch only escaped because Creeper shoved her out the door and told her to run. She's been on her own ever since."

And, anyone one else who reviewed: Thank You SOOOO much!!! I love to hear people's thoughts! Keep reading!!!!!