"Mommy! Mommy! Help! Help!" A young girl's frightened cry pierced the silence that one minute ago had smothered 346 Bright Acre.
Sutton Lake-Marshall grunted and rolled over. "I think it's your turn, baby," he mumbled before drifting off to sleep again. Lisa Lake Marshall smiled in the darkness. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and found her bedroom slippers.
"Mommy!"
"I'm coming, sweetie!"
Lisa shuffled her way over to her daughter Elise's bedroom. Once there, she flicked on the small reading lamp and sat on the edge of the pink and blue bed.
"Elli? What's wrong honey? Did you have that dream again?" Lisa stroked her 5-year-old's honey-blonde hair.
"Yes, mommy. I'm scared. It was scary," Elli said quietly. Lisa could tell that Elli was already comforted and falling back asleep.
"Don't worry, Elli. Mommy and Daddy are here. Nobody's going to hurt you. You're safe. You'll always be safe."
Once she was convinced that Elli was slumbering again, Lisa walked back to the master bedroom that she shared with her husband of 3 years. As she pulled the covers back over her, she thought about something she hadn't thought about for years. Not since she changed her name.
Lisa thought about how happy she was now, and what a wreck her childhood had been. She thought about her hometown, New York City, not Mason, Michigan like she told everyone. She thought about her family, her loving mother, her supportive father, her pesky yet cute little sister. But everyone who knew Lisa Lake-Marshall knew that she was an orphan with no siblings. Lastly, Lisa thought about her best friend, Elizabeth, who had died when Lisa was 14.
At this, Lisa pushed all these thoughts out of her mind. She didn't need her former life. She only needed Sutton and Elli. That was enough for Lisa. She didn't need New York City if she had San Francisco. She didn't need any of that.
She didn't need Laine Cummings. Not anymore.