I was pretty depressed the whole next day and stayed close to Daryl. I made sure there wasn't any chance of me being alone with Mr. Man. He seemed to stay away anyway. I was thankful.

I lied and told my brother I didn't feel good so he would stay with me. The funny thing is, though, I actually started to not feel so good.

I remember I went to bed that night. I tangled myself up in the blankets so if Mr. Man tried anything, I would feel it before it happened. But that night, something really strange happened.

I awoke to my brother shaking me. I was in a chair downstairs. I looked around in confusion. "What are ya doin' down here?" Daryl asked me.

"I don't know. I must be sleepwalkin' again." I stated.

"Again?"

"I used to when I was little."

"I don't ever remember ya doin' that?"

"Yeah, it was after ya left."

"Oh." Was all Daryl said. "Well, ya feelin' okay?" He felt my forehead. "Yer burnin' up. Great." He helped me up. "Come on, let's get ya into bed."

He helped me upstairs and into my bed. I have to admit it felt way better than being downstairs in the chair. Plus, it was kind of chilly that night. I pulled the covers around me and shivered.

"Ya gonna be all right now?" Daryl asked me.

"Yeah, I thank so."

"Okay." He turned to leave but I grabbed his arm.

"Wait, can ya stay with me?"

"You want me to sleep in here?" He asked. I nodded. "Sure, Sissy."

"I'll sleep on the top bunk so you can have this one."

"Sounds good to me." He shrugged. I climbed up on the top and covered myself again.

"Want some blankets?"

"No, I'm good, baby."

"Okay, well goodnight then."

"Yeah, night."

I rolled around a little trying to get comfortable. I just laid on my back and stared at the ceiling. "Daryl?"

"Hmm?"

"You still awake?"

"No, I'm asleep."

I giggled. "No, you ain't."

He sighed. "What's 'a matter?"

"I just…I kinda missed ya lately."

"I ain't been nowhere."

"Yeah huh. Yer always goin' huntin' and on runs and stuff." I said. My brother was quiet for a minute.

"Yeah, well…I kinda planned on goin' huntin' tomorra."

I swallowed hard. I don't want him leaving without me. I can't be left alone with Mr. Gross Man. What if he tried something again. I was so scared last time. "Can I go with ya?"

"Not if yer still sick."

"So, if I'm better, I can go with ya?"

"Sure." Daryl sighed. "Le…what's been with ya lately? Yer actin' mighty strange." I just kept quiet and sadly stared ahead. "Did somethin' happen? Did somethin' happen with that guy?" I nervously bit my lip. "You know, you can tell me."

"Yeah, I know." I said quietly. "Nothin' happened. Everythin's fine." I lied.

Daryl hesitated. "…okay. Well, still ya know you can tell me anythang."

"I know." There was a brief pause.

I wasn't sure if I should ask him this, but…I did. "Hey, Daryl? Do you like Mr. Man?"

"Huh?" He said at first. "Oh, sure. I guess."

"What do ya thank of 'im?"

"He's all right. He's a pretty cool guy." He replied. I looked down. "Why?"

"…just wanted to know." I said sadly and rolled over.

"Le?" Daryl asked. "Le?" I didn't answer him, just stared at the wall.

I just remembered something. I used to sleepwalk when my daddy was doing stuff to me. I guess that's why I'm doin' it again.

"Please don't go." I held onto Daryl's arm. "Please just stay here."

"Le, what the hell? I told ya I was goin' huntin'."

"Lemme go with ya! Please!"

"No, Le. Yer sick. Ya have to stay here."

"Please!"

He sighed. "You'll be fine. Mr. Man's here with ya." My eyes widened. I pleaded. "Le, it's gonna be fine." He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. "Be good okay? Be back soon." He turned and walked out the door. I watched him.

"Everything will be all right, Leann." Mr. Man said. "I'll take good care of you." I slowly turned around, he had that sick smile on his face. I got a nervous feeling in my belly. "Come sit with me." He motioned.

"No." I answered immediately. "You—you just stay back."

"Oh, come on. You know I'm not a bad guy." He took a few steps towards me. I pulled out my gun and pointed it at him.

"I said stay back!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked taken aback. My hands were trembling, he seemed to take notice and smiled. "You're not going to hurt me." He moved closer.

"I will!" I took the safety off. He stopped again and became angry.

"Why can't you just admit that you liked it when I touched you?"

"You're outta yer fuckin' mind!" I was about to pull the trigger, but the front door burst open and my brother stood there with his crossbow up. Everything stopped for a moment.

"I knew it!" Daryl yelled. "I knew ya did somethin' to my sister! You sick son of a bitch!"

"Whatever she told you, she's lying. I would never hurt her or any child. I love childr—

"Yeah, we know, ya love children, ya pedophile!" Daryl stepped closer. "And don't try to lie, I heard the whole thang!" I exhaled. I suddenly felt relieved. "Le, get out the way." I stepped back and stood behind my brother.

They stood there for a long time just staring at each other. Finally, my brother hit Mr. Man in the face with his crossbow, he fell backwards onto the floor then my brother grabbed him and started beating the shit out of him. Mr. Man couldn't even lay one punch.

Then, my brother dragged him into the kitchen. I followed them in. He threw Mr. Man on the floor and lit the stove. Daryl lifted him up a little and pushed his face down onto the flame from the stove. I gasped. "Daryl." I said. Mr. Man screamed in agony.

"Ya like touchin' kids, huh?" Daryl said to him. "Yer gonna get what ya deserve!"

He threw him back onto the floor and began kicking and punching him again. I didn't want to watch anymore. I walked away and up to my room. I could still hear the commotion from up here. I covered my ears with hands and sat on the bed.

Way later, I heard a knock at my door and Daryl walked in. "Hey, ya okay?" I just nodded. He came into the room and sat down on the bed with me. "I'm sorry ya had to see that. I— I jumped up and hugged him tightly around the neck and cried. I couldn't help it, everything just came out. I was so relieved, though.

He had me close and comforted me. "Shh. It's okay, Le. It's all right now. He cain't hurt ya no more." I let go of him and sat back. I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

"Is he dead?" I wiped my tears away.

"Yeah, he's dead." My brother said rubbing my back. I nodded. We were quiet for a moment.

"Why didn't ya just tell me. Huh, baby? Why didn't ya tell me?"

"I d-don't know." I sobbed. "I couldn't. I'm s-sorry. I'm so stupid!"

"No no. It's okay. Yer not stupid. Come'er." He held his arms open and we hugged again. "How long has this been goin' on?"

"Not long." I answered honestly. "It only happened like a day or two ago. The same day we went to the water slides. He tried to get me to take off my clothes while we was makin' dinner."

My brother nodded. "Well, he cain't hurt ya no more." He pushed my hair back. I nodded. We stayed like that for a while.

"All right." My brother said standing up. "Pack yer stuff up. We're goin'."

I blinked at him. "Where are we goin'?"

He paused. "Anywhere but here." He turned and walked out the door. I looked down and thought. He's right. I don't want to stay in this house anymore. I grabbed my bag and quickly packed what I wanted to take with me.

As I made my way downstairs, I remembered about the video Mr. Man took of us cooking and the pictures he took of me. They needed to be destroyed.

I walked in the direction of the kitchen, my brother was standing there, he looked up when he saw me. "Le, don't—don't come in here." He put a hand up. "Stay back. Ya don't need to see it."

"Okay." I said. "Do ya know where his bag is, though?"

He sighed. He reached behind him and held out Mr. Man's bag. I took it, it felt very light. "I already took everythang out of it and burnt it." My brother said causing me to look at him. I gave him a nervous look. "Yeah, I saw 'em. I saw that video, too. What the hell's wrong with ya?"

I hung my head. "I don't know." My brother walked closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Leann, don't ever take yer clothes off fer anyone, ya hear me?" He lifted my chin so I was looking at him. "I know it was a very uncomfortable situation, but it coulda been avoided. And I know ya have a hard time understandin' thangs sometimes, but I'm tellin' ya now…don't ever do that again. Got it?" I stared at him then sadly nodded. He gave me a quick hug then said, "come on, let's get outta here." I nodded in agreement then threw Mr. Man's bag into the kitchen. I didn't want anything that reminded me of him.

Daryl and I walked around for a while until it got dark. We picked a random house to stay in just for the night. My brother says we move on after and not worry about anymore people. Trust no one.

I was sitting on the floor poking at the fire in the fireplace. It was beginning to get cold now. I hate the cold, I love heat. I'm not looking forward to this winter. Summer is my favorite season and probably always will be.

I was being pretty quiet ever since we left that house back there. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to talk. I was kind of embarrassed about the whole incident, I felt like an idiot. Why did I let that guy get to me? He was playing me since day one. I bet he didn't even actually have a daughter. He just used that as his sob story. I became angry. I hate him.

"You all right, Le?" Daryl finally asked me.

"Guess so." I said with a shrug. "What about you? Are you okay?"

When he didn't answer me right away, I looked at him. He looked as though he was thinking. "Yeah." He finally said. "I thank I am." I blinked in confusion. He actually sounded happy.

"What?" I said. "Why?"

"Cuz." He said clearing his throat and sitting up in his seat. "I wasn't able to help you before…ya know? With dad. But…now I was. I stopped it before it happened."

"Yeah, but…I shoulda been able to stop it." I said quietly and sadly looked down.

"It's okay, Le. You was scared."

"Well, I don't wanna be scared no more! I-I shoulda just shot him when he first touched me. Or—or I shoulda told ya when it happened! I hate myself! I'm an idiot!"

"Le, don't say that."

"It's true!" I looked at him through my tears. "You might have redeemed yerself but I sure didn't! I made the same mistake as last time." I put my head down and silently cried. My brother came over to me and put his arm around me. No one said anything for a minute.

"Le…you ain't stupid. Just young and maybe a little confused." Daryl said. I looked up at him. "That guy was sick, but…he was smart. Most pedophiles are."

"What's a pedophile?" I asked innocently.

"It's a person that's sexually attracted to children."

My eyes widened and I cringed. "But how could an adult be attracted to children? And why would someone do somethin' so sick?"

"I don't know, baby. I don't have an answer fer that. But there are people like that."

"But how can ya tell them apart from normal people?"

"Ya cain't." He rubbed my back. "That's why they're dangerous." I looked down and started to cry again. "But it's okay. You know now so if that ever happens again, you know to stay away from them."

"I don't ever want that to happen again."

"It won't."

"How do ya know?"

"It won't, I promise. I ain't gonna let that ever happen again." He held me close. "Got it?" I sniffled and nodded. I felt safe in my brother's arms.

Later that night, I was in a bed upstairs. I was using my lantern for light. I have been afraid of the dark lately. I can think of a few reasons why.

My brother walked in the room. "Ya goin' to bed?" I nodded tiredly. "Okay." He leaned over and kissed my forehead and I hugged him tightly around the neck. He chuckled. "Ya all right?" I nodded. "All right. I'm right in the room next door. Just holler if ya need somethin' and I'll come runnin', okay?" I just nodded again. "Okay."

He was about to turn the lantern off. "No." I said making him look at him. "Leave it on, please."

"It's gonna waste the batteries, Le."

I gave him a sad look. "Please don't turn it off."

"You afraid 'a the dark?"

"Sometimes." I said quietly.

"Well…" he started. "How 'bout I stay here till ya fall asleep? Sound good?" I smiled and nodded. He turned the lantern off then leaned back on the bed next to me. I put my arm around him. He played with my hair.

"I love you, Daryl." I smiled.

"Love you too, runt." He let out a small laugh. "Now, get to sleep."

"Okay." I got comfortable and leaned on him.

My brother really is the best person in the whole world. I loved him to death. He's the smartest, strongest and bravest person I ever knew and I wanted to be just like him. I silently gasped just then. That's it! That's what I have to do! If I was more like my big brother, then nothing bad would happen again. If I was strong and smart and brave like him, then he wouldn't have to worry about me no more. I have to become my brother.

I felt relaxed after that and was able to fall asleep. Tomorrow is big day, the day I become my brother. I smiled and snuggled closer to him.