STEPHANIE'S POV

That night, or rather the next morning, I was woken at 4am by the smell of smoke and burning plastic. I shot out of bed, and paused for the less then a second to grab a couple of items of my dresser and throw them into my bag, which I threw onto my back, and grab my handbag. I ran out of the room, past the kitchen, already engulfed in flames, and towards my grandmother's room.

A while later, the fire was put out, and my grandmother had been taken off in an ambulance, unconscious. I had been given checked out by more ambulance staff already, and been told I'd be fine.

At this point, I was sitting on the lawn, watching the sunrise, when a young officer sat down next to her.

"How are you feeling?" I turned and looked at him.

"Alright considering, I just hope my grandmother will be okay."

"Thanks to you, she may well be. Could you explain to me what happened?" He asked, kindly. I explained about waking up, grabbing my phone and bag, and running to my grandmother's room to find it empty. I told him how I had found my grandmother in the lounge, how she had passed out, and how I had thrown my bag out the glass sliding door, and carried my grandmother out.

"I didn't notice she was burnt, at first, I don't think she had even noticed, and my mind was so focused on getting her out."

"It'd okay" He said, kindly.

"Shit" I swore, suddenly, realisation hitting me. "It didn't occur to me before, but where is Nina?"

"Nina?" he asked.

"Nina Baker, my grandmother's carer. She lives here with my grandmother all week, and another lady takes over on the weekends. It's been like this for the last couple of years, since her mind has started to go. She is fine sometimes, others, she thinks she is back in the past, and acts all weird. Nina was here earlier, when I went to check on my grandmother, it would have been almost 9pm. I went for a walk then to bed, and didn't see either again until I got woken up by the fire. She wasn't with my grandmother, or in her or my grandmother's bedrooms," I told him. He paused to process what I had said.

"We'll look into it for you. It's possible she was in another part of the house, but we won't know until we clear it out. We'll let you know."

He asked me some more questions, about what had happened, before asking me about myself. I told him the truth that I was 17, and would be 18 in two months. I told him the truth about my dad moving us to his mother's, after my mum died when I was a baby, and how he had died when I was 5, leaving me with my grandmother. I told him the truth about having lived with her for the next 11 years, until her mind had started to go.

He asked why I hadn't been put into foster care, after my grandmother had started loosing it, and couldn't take care of me anymore. I bullshitted about an uncle whom I had stayed with, and said that he was away on business for a couple of days, and that I stayed at my grandmothers some nights to visit.

The truth was I now owned a couple of houses myself, that were under my "uncles" name, until I turned 18. My grandmother had helped me keep them together, some of them, including the one my mother had died in, were rented out, which paid a lot of the bills. One of them, I lived in myself, part time, which is where I said I lived with my uncle. I knew what I was doing too, my non-existent uncle was in the police system, and owned a condo in the next big city, and a car. I also knew they would want to talk to my "uncle" after what had happened. It was one thing hacking computers, setting up accounts, and buying things in someone else's name, and quite another to provide the police with someone that doesn't exist.

I told the officer that I had a friend staying at the motel, and he dropped me off there, after telling me that he would call me later to come down to the station, after they had gone through the house, and so they could ask a few more questions.

I knew which room Dean was staying in, and knocked on the door.

DEAN'S POV

I woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. It would have been around 6am, no later. I opend the door with the chain still on, to see Stephanie in tears. Dropping the knife into the dresser so I wouldn't scare her, I pulled the chain off and let her in. I hugged her and pulled her into the room, locking the door behind her.

"What's wrong?" She looked at me, as if wondering where to start.

"I just want breakfast." She said, obviously avoiding the question. I hadn't had much experience with women yet, but I thought better then to push it.

"let me get dressed, and I'll see about food, okay?" I said, still hugging her, and greatly aware I was only wearing my boxer shorts. I pulled away and grabbed clothes before disappearing into the bathroom to put them on.