3.

18 years ago...

~ Ariadne's face hurt. She as laying in a stiff, uncomfortable bed and looking at the ceiling. Her face hurt and her eye was swollen shut from a blow she had gotten for screaming too much.

She hadn't been able to stop screaming at the horrible thing that had happened. A bad thing that had been all her fault. She had screamed because of the bad thing and hadn't stopped until she was struck in the face so many times, all she could do was throw her hands up to her face and wait for it to be over.

A light came on in the little room and Miss Annie was there.

"I can tell by the smell, you did it again." The old woman said.

Miss Annie was a foster mother and Ariadne felt ashamed as the old woman pulled back her bed covers to reveal Ariadne had wet the bed, again.
"Damn 9 year old has no business wetting the bed." The old woman snapped as she pulled Ariadne to a sitting position and pulled the sheets and rubber pad off the narrow, twin bed.

Miss Annie wasn't a mean woman. Only an over worked one. The other girls in the room rose from their dreams at the sound of Miss Annie scolding Ariadne for the bed wetting. The old woman taking the little girl to the bathroom and drawing her a hot bath. Putting the wet sheets in the washing machine and fetching her clean pajamas.

Miss Annie hummed an old gospel tune as she bathed the little girl. She told Ariadne to dry off and put on clean pajamas that didn't belong to her, but were left here by the countless little souls that had been in Miss Annie's care.

"Now, help Miss Annie make this bed." She told Ariadne. The little girl clumsily pulling a fitted sheet on the corners. The sheets smelling of clean things. Not like the dirty bed pallet she had been forced to sleep on with Sammy. Here, she had her own little bed. Here, everything was clean, the heat was on and the food was ready.

"You climb in. Miss Annie cover you up." The old lady said.

Ariadne did as she was told. She always did as she was told in this place. The old woman covered her up and pulled a chair close to Ariadne.

"Miss Annie gonna stay right here." She said to the child. "Make sure you don't mess my bed up again."

Ariadne knew that the old woman didn't hate her. Wasn't punishing her or shaming her. The slow, steady gospel song coming out of the old woman as she watched over all the children in the room let her know Miss Annie cared. That Miss Annie was really just keeping an eye on her because she knew the little girl was scared.

"Sammy?" Ariadne whispered feeling sick.
"Sammy's dead." Miss Annie said. "He's gone to be with God. You go to sleep. You dream about him."

18 years later...

~ Ariadne sat looking unflinchingly at her father as he pulled her hand into his. She felt her fingers take hold of the stun gun in her purse.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne. For everything that happened to you when you were little. I'm you Dad, I should have done more to protect you and Sammy." He said properly ashamed. "I was drinking all the time."

"I know your sorry. You said so in court." She said. "So why are you really here? Can't be just to visit. You could have visited me a along time ago, why now?"
"Well, see in that article, it said that you had a daughter and a little boy. I wanted to see my grand kids." He said with a smile. Showing a set of rotting teeth. Ariadne pulled back.

"Their not my kids." She lied. "Their from Arthur's old girlfriend." She said. Amazed at how easy it was to lie in her refined accent. No a trace of her childhood in her speech.

"Well, your gonna have kids with this guy, right?" He asked hopefully.

Ariadne sensed her father didn't care about his potential grand children so much as he cared about her marriage to a wealthy man being secured by a child.

"How much do you want?" She asked sharply. She wanted all business with this ghost over and done with.

"Now, I know I have no right. But I want you to know I've quite drinking and I've found God." He told her with tears in his eyes. Ready made tears he probably had to think of a dead puppy to get flowing.

"How much do you want?" She hissed as she pulled her hand away from him.

"I need about 20 thousand to get myself a better truck. I can get some long hauling jobs and make some money. Then I can pay you back."

"I don't want you to pay me back. I want you to leave me alone." She said reaching into her purse and pulling free her check book. She shared and account with Arthur and she worried suddenly about the check she was about to write. Not about the amount, not if it was something she told him she needed or wanted, but about the name.

"I'll make it out to cash. You can take it to any bank when you get back to the states." She told him.

"Better make it 30 thousand." The old man said leaning in close. She could smell his bad breath.

"Fine." She said scrawling out the date and CASH in the pay to the order of line.

"Or even 40, that way I won't have to bunk up at your grandmas." He said moving his cap. "Get my own place."

She looked at him.
"40 thousand dollars?" She asked.
"Your good for it. I read in the paper your man is a damn millionaire. That he was well off even before his Daddy died." He said.

"That's not the issue." She said breathing hard. How could she explain that much money to Arthur?

"Well, maybe I'll just have a talk with the man." He said standing up.

"No!" She shouted standing up and blocking the older man from the door. "40 will be fine." She told him writing out his check before he could say 50.

~ Her father had wanted to go to museums and some art place he kept calling the 'LOVE' before Ariadne made excuses to leave him.

~ When she arrived at her building she told the building manager in a curt tone to never let anyone up to see them except for Cobb, Sarah, Sadie, Eames or Edwina. That after what happened with Becky, they wanted the manager to call them if an older, shaggy looking man tried to come back.

The manager was accommodating to the wealthy couple who owned the largest apartment in the building. The couple paying exorbitant fees for parking and other services. Ariadne making it clear they would move if this happened again.

~ "Where are the groceries?" Arthur asked once she got home.

Ariadne froze. Stupidly, she had forgotten the food she had told him was her reason for leaving.

"Oh, the store was really busy. It can wait." She told him lamely as Dominic was standing on his own, with the help of the couch.

His mother and father looking proudly over him as his sister wasn't at all impressed. She had been able to stand for a long time and it wasn't that special.