Kudos to those still reading. It starts to get more interesting from here :3

Chapter 2

He loved the sound of a choking last breath- seeing the life fade from their eyes. He relished the useless struggle beneath his powerful hands. It all gave him a reason to live. The body afterwards was not hard to take care of: it was simple enough to just dump it over a bridge whenever he couldn't stand the smell in the house anymore. For all they know, the kid fell into the river and drowned. He always carefully pondered his next victim, staking out playgrounds, schools and funfairs- waiting until an unsuspecting child crossed his path. A quick whiff of chloroform and the rest was easy. No evidence was left behind.

He was like a ghost, who could snatch a child even in a crowd of people and melt away as if nothing happened.

Ethan stood soaked to the bone, heart pounding, knees shaking. He had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. Blankly he looked around him and saw that he was in a large warehouse, rain pouring in through a hole in the roof. Beneath it was a well of some kind. Suddenly, Ethan's blood turned to ice as a sad voice called: "Daddy….. Help me…..Daddy….." .

"SHAUN!" Ethan yelled, pelting towards the well. He dropped to his knees and saw his son neck-deep in water. He tried desperately to lift the grate. The rain kept pouring relentlessly- Shaun was now under water, his eyes closed. "SHAUN! NO!" Ethan was pulling as hard as he could, but the grate wouldn't budge. Another figure drifted below the surface, covered in blood- Jason.

"NO!" Shaun yelled. He had to save both of them: they were going to die! They were going to-

Ethan gasped and sat up, his heart thumping in his chest. He stumbled out of bed and raced to his son's room. He knelt next to his bed and watched the rise and fall of his chest, felt his breath and slowly, relaxed.

Madison stood in the doorway, watching as Ethan tenderly kissed his son and stumbled to his feet. Ethan jumped when he saw her.

"You were having that dream again, weren't you Ethan?" It was more of a statement than a question. Ethan looked into his fiancée's dark eyes filled with worry.

"…I… did. It keeps happening. Some nights I sleep peacefully and others…." Madison walked towards him and wrapped her arms around him. Ethan returned the gesture,relaxing against her gentle touch.

"Daddy! Madison! Can I go on this one?" Shaun shrieked as they walked into the local funfair. It was a beautiful day: no clouds in the sky, sun shining and a light breeze. Ethan chuckled. "Shaun, we only just walked through the gate! We'll have plenty of time to-" He broke off as Madison picked up Shaun and zoomed toward the nearest ride. Ethan shook his head. She was just a big a kid as Shaun was. Glancing around nervously, he slowly followed - he still couldn't stand crowds, and it was PACKED here. At the base of the Ferris wheel he looked up and saw Shaun and Madison waving madly from one of the carriages. He grinned and waved back.

After an hour of rides, Shaun was starting to look a little green. Ethan decided it was time for a break, so they wandered around looking at the various stalls. Suddenly Shaun jumped up and down and pointed at the hotdog stand. "Dad! Can we get hotdogs?"

"Sure Shaun" Ethan said, happiness rising in his chest as he looked at his son's happy face, "Of course we can get hotdogs."

Norman's sister, Nadia, was taking a break from work for the week. She asked if she could stay at his place during that time. He agreed readily. They had always gotten along well since childhood. Also, there was the added bonus of seeing his little 2 year old twin nephew and niece: James and Jessica. He adored them and couldn't resist spoiling them whenever he could. He was planning to take everyone to the funfair which was on today. It was the perfect opportunity to distract him from Tripto and keep his withdrawal symptoms at bay, for the sake of being a good Uncle.

He had gotten out of bed early, showered, shaved and eaten breakfast by 7. made sure to dress in comfortable shoes, jeans and a loose shirt in anticipation for the day ahead. He was driving to the airport by 7.40. His hands were shaking slightly as he drove and he felt a familiar trickle run down his nose. Norman wiped the blood away and kept driving.

The twins chattered to each other (well, Norman assumed they were talking) and crowed along to the Kids CD Nadia had bought-the whole way home. It was cute at first but now he was starting to get a slight headache. Norman was surprised they weren't passed out, given the excitement of their first plane ride. He talked (shouted) to Nadia about his resignation at work as they drove. "I just couldn't handle the pressure anymore, it was wearing me down, you know?" Nadia looked at him with knowing eyes. She knew about his problems as they kept no secrets from each other. She put a hand on his shoulder "I'm proud of you, Norman…I've… been worried."

They arrived at the funfair at around 10. It was unbelievably crowded. Norman clutched onto James's little hand tightly as he toddled next to him. On his shoulder was a bag which contained all necessities needed to keep a toddler reasonably happy (and hopefully clean) for the day- juice, nappies, handi wipes, a teddy bear and a dummy. Nadia walked next to Norman, sporting the same bag and toting Jessica along. "What should we do first?" Norman called to his sister.

"I think the Ferris wheel should be a safe option!" Nadia called back. The little group started making their way slowly to the Ferris wheel. People smiled when they saw the little twins giggling with excitement. They all clambered into the little carriage. The worker shut the gate and bolted it shut. James who was settled on Norman's lap, gave out a shriek of excitement and bounced up and down as the carriage slowly started to move. The sight from the carriage was amazing. They could see all of the funfair from where they were. Norman absently held onto James's shirt as he leaned precariously to look out of the window. He himself scanned the crowd below as their carriage came closer to the ground, marveling at the mass amount of people. Suddenly, he saw something which made him uneasy. A child was looking around frantically, a child who looked very familiar…. Norman gasped as a tall figure snatched him up and disappeared into the crowd.

"SHAUN!"

What will happen next? Onward to chapter 3!