A/N- I was about halfway done with chapter nine before I realized I forgot about Vanessa! I feel so bad…

Poor Vanessa. She was forgotten by her creator! I'm wallowing in guilt. =C

Oh, and the 'rut' cellar is actually a root cellar. My grandpa says it like rut. Rut beer, for example. C=

Chapter Eight – History – Vanessa

I gripped the table tightly, trying to hold myself up. Standing was really hard. At least Mommy and Daddy didn't mind too much when I knocked over the furniture.

Especially since it took several books and a vase for me to get up this time. I was able to get fourteen steps before I fell down again; I was getting better.

Right as I was about to stand up again, I heard Mommy yell, and some banging. It sounded like somebody was hitting the front door.

I didn't have much time to wonder what was going on before Daddy ran in. He looked like he was scared, and bent down to pick me up. I liked it when he carried me. I always felt safe in Daddy's arms. He made the monsters go away, and he was really strong.

He was acting really weird today, though. He put me on his shoulders so his hands were free, and started looking through the kitchen drawers. He took some things from them, grabbed my feet, and ran out the back door, away from the awful banging noise.

I was glad. It was loud, and my head was starting to hurt.

I saw where Daddy was taking me. We were going to the rut cellar. I didn't know what a rut was, but Daddy always said rut. Mommy said root, but I liked rut better. It sounded funny.

It was where Mommy put all of our cans. They were filled with food, and Mommy said that keeping them in the rut cellar kept the food cold. I didn't understand why, just that it did.

Daddy opened the door, and pulled me off his shoulders. He looked at me, serious.

"Okay, sweetie, listen to me. You have to stay down here until Mommy or I comes and tells you to come out, okay? Don't let anybody else in. No matter what, do not let anybody else in here except for Mommy and I." I nodded.

Daddy handed me the things that he took from the kitchen. There was a little box with a cross on it and my set of silverware, which was just the right size for me, and had little dinosaurs on them.

There was also a pair of scissors, but I didn't take them. Mommy said scissors were dangerous and that I should never play with them. Daddy gave me a look and shoved them into my hands, making me take them.

"This box," he said, pointing to it, "has things in it in case you get hurt. Like Band-Aids."

I was excited now. "The Hello-Kitty ones?"

He nodded. "Yes, but don't use them unless you get hurt, okay?"

Darn. "Fine." I said. Daddy knew I liked Band-Aids. They were fun to put on, even if you didn't need them. I liked the way they looked.

Daddy gave me a gentle push, making sure I was in the darkness of the rut cellar. He stayed outside.

"Vanessa, stay quiet. Don't open the door for anybody. Stay here until we come back."

I was getting worried now. Exactly how long was I going to have to wait here?

"Daddy?"

He started to close the door, closing off the light. I was surrounded by darkness, no light to see by. I felt like I was suffocating. I was being smothered in the darkness. I was sure that there was monsters hiding in here, about to pounce on me. I couldn't see. I had to see! Where was I? Where was everything else? I couldn't see anything!

My voice got higher, frightened. "Daddy? Daddy! Where are you? DADDY!"

He didn't answer, and I stopped calling out. He had told me to be quiet, and to wait. That he'd come back. He'd probably be back in a few minutes, right? Soon. I wouldn't have to wait that long.

Wait in the darkness of the rut cellar, smothered by the lack of light.

I waited for a long time. I don't know exactly how long. Time didn't mean anything in the pitch- black of the rut cellar. I marked time in events.

Like when I grew to hungry to ignore, and I ventured into the dark rather than huddling by the door. I was able to find the food in the blackness, though, after a while. The juice it was canned in staved away thirst.

Or the time when slept in the middle of the cellar. Until then, I had always fallen asleep curled against the door, touching it at all times, assuring myself that I knew the way out.

Two things happened too slowly to notice, though. So slowly, that I didn't truly know when exactly they had taken place. First, I stopped fearing the dark. I wasn't scared of monsters anymore, and the black stopped smothering me. It comforted me now, like the blankie you hold close at bedtime.

Second, I started to see again.

I began to see in the dark. I don't know when it started, but the darkness was slowly getting brighter. Every time I woke up and opened my eyes, the rut cellar was just a little bit lighter and easier to see in than when I fell asleep.

I knew that it wasn't normal, but I didn't care. I welcomed being able to see again. It was nice to know what was around me.

Eventually, I developed a fasination for bugs too. I loved the way that their legs moved, the way they were so strong for something so small. I liked how spiders somehow knew how to make a web, and the how worms squirmed in my fingers.

I liked my bugs, but it had been a long time since Daddy left. I wondered where he went, and hoped he'd come back soon. I was little, but I knew he had been gone too long. I had mastered walking and outgrown my special fork and spoon. Maybe I had no idea how long it had been, but I knew it had been a very long time, and that Mommy and Daddy should have come back by now.

About three sleeps after my pet centipede, Pedey, died, I heard a noise at the door. I froze, like a deer in the headlights, then jumped up and ran to the door. Mommy and Daddy came back for me!

I tore the door open, to find myself face-to-face with a girl I had never seen before.

She was maybe fourteen, with an oval face, light brown hair, and green eyes. She was thin, but didn't look starved.

The girl seemed just as surprised as I was. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then finally spoke to me.

"Who are you?"

I decided I liked her. She seemed nice, and I didn't think Daddy's no-strangers rule applied anymore. I didn't know how much longer I'd have to wait for him, and I missed other people. I missed talking to them.

"Vanessa."

The girl gave me a small smile.

"I'm Eryn."