Chapter Four:

She was in the punishment room.

She knew the surroundings instantly.

Her mother was standing over her, belt in hand, ready to strike.

"You thought you would get away with trying to get out of this house? You thought we would ever let you girls leave us?"

Charlotte shook her head, terror coursing through her body. "N-N-No. I-I-I'm sorry, mom….I-I-"

Stephanie's belt crashed down on Charlotte's torso, the young girl screaming out in pain, sobbing as her mother continued to beat her, the belt slamming down harder and harder as Charlotte screamed in agony.

"Charlotte? Charlotte, honey, wake up…."

Charlotte groaned, screaming once more as she felt the belt continue to beat at her broken body, her mother telling her that she was too weak to ever protect her sisters.

"Charlotte, sweetheart, open your eyes."

Charlotte's eyes shot open, tears pouring down her face before she was even fully awake. Her eyes wide and dilated, barely able to get the breaths out as she gasped for air. She choked, her eyes darting around the unfamiliar room. Where was she? Where were her sisters?

Her eyes finally settled on the other person in the room, Alexa. She was crouched down next to the bed, her hand on Charlotte's shoulder. She hadn't even realized it was there.

"Breathe, Charlotte. Just breathe. You're okay. You're safe," whispered Alexa, Charlotte drawing away from the still unfamiliar person. Alexa sighed, not wanting to get too close to scare the preteen, but wanting to still comfort her.

Charlotte drew in a sharp breath, small whimpers escaping her lips as the images of the nightmare stayed in her mind. Alexa kept her focus on Charlotte, still quietly instructing her on how to breathe, sighing in relief when it seemed she was starting to calm down, though she was still crying.

"I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-sor-sorry," whimpered Charlotte, drawing her knees up to her chest, her body still shaking too much for Alexa to believe that she was okay. How could she be okay? None of the girls were okay. The abuse they had suffered was being called the worst in the county in over a decade. She didn't even know what all had happened to them for that to be the case, but any moron could see how hurt these girls were.

"Oh baby, don't be sorry. You're okay. You're okay. You're safe here. I promise," whispered Alexa, Charlotte's eyes drawn to her doorway when she saw Becky standing there.

"I heard you screaming," whispered Becky, walking further into the room. "And Sasha bolted into my room."

Sasha.

Charlotte had forgotten that her little sister had fallen asleep in her bed earlier that night.

She had scared her sister.

Charlotte broke down into tears once more, sobbing into her knees. Becky sat down on the bed next to her, drawing Charlotte into her arms. "It's okay, Char. It was just a bad dream. They can't hurt us anymore," whispered Becky, rubbing her hand up and down her sister's back.

Charlotte nodded, continuing to cry in her sister's arm, Sasha slowly appearing in the room once more. Becky noticed, motioning for the silent child to come back into the bed. Charlotte whimpered as Becky tried to untangle herself from her sister.

"Do you want me to stay?" whispered Becky, Charlotte's fingers clutching at her shirt for dear life.

Charlotte nodded, still crying.

"Okay, I'll stay. I'll stay," whispered Becky, gently easing Charlotte back down on the bed, gently wiping away some of her tears with her thumb. Sasha stood next to the bed, her eyes glancing nervously between Becky, Charlotte, and Alexa.

"Are you girls gonna be okay?" asked Alexa, Becky sighing.

"Yeah….I….I'm sorry if….if we woke you up," said Becky softly, a second of fear passing through her eyes.

"No, don't apologize. You guys don't have to be scared," assured Alexa, offering Becky a gentle smile before she headed back out of the room.

Becky picked Sasha up, placing her on the other side of Charlotte, before climbing into bed next to her sister, still stroking her hair.

"Just close your eyes. Go back to sleep," whispered Becky, continuing to stroke Charlotte's hair until she was certain she had fallen back asleep.

Alexa sighed as she put on a pot of coffee, looking over at Randy who had just made his way downstairs.

"Morning darling," he said, offering her a kiss, which Alexa quickly returned.

"Any of the girls awake yet?" asked Randy, Alexa shaking her head, running her hand through her blonde hair.

"No. Three of them ended up in Charlotte's room last night. The poor girl woke up screaming from a nightmare."

Randy frowned, gazing towards the stairs. "It's certainly going to be an interesting ride."

Alexa let out a small laugh. "You can say that again. I don't even know where to begin. What were we thinking? Do we really know what we're doing here?" asked Alexa, Randy raising his eyebrows.

"I mean, no...but, it's a little too late to change our minds," said Randy, sighing as Alexa fretted about their current situation. "Babe, it's been less than 24 hours since they were dropped off here. It's going to take time. You know that. Don't worry so much. They're here. They're safe. They're not going anywhere."

"I know. I just…. They don't feel safe here yet and I'm worried because I just want them to know that we would never hurt them, you know?"

Randy nodded, taking a sip of the coffee Alexa placed in front of him.

"I know. And it's okay. They will trust us someday. We gotta put in a little bit of hard work now, but eventually it'll all pay off," reminded Randy, Alexa nodding in agreement.

"So what are you thinking for breakfast?" asked Randy, trying to change the topic.

"I have no idea. I don't even know what the girls like. I figured I'd wait until at least one of them woke up and ask them."

Sasha stood at the wall of the stairs, hiding just enough so that Alexa and Randy wouldn't know she was there. She listened as the two talked about her and her sisters before running back up the stairs to go be with Charlotte and Becky, who were both still asleep.