Author's Note: Now we finally get to see what's going on back at the Palm Woods! Sorry if I made James, Carlos, and Logan seem a bit...apathetic. They don't really know the severity of the situation yet.

Kendall sat dejectedly on the cold concrete floor, escape plans flitting through his head like butterflies caught in a windstorm. None of the plans had any chance of working, but that didn't stop his mind from thinking them up.

Suddenly, the steel door swung open.

"What do you want with me?" Kendall asked as savagely as he could.

"Where's Stacy?" Ethan demanded, ignoring Kendall's question once again.

"I don't know where Anya is," Kendall replied, "She ran away. Because of you."

"Liar!" Ethan shouted, his fist making contact with Kendall's stomach, "Tell me where she is!"

"I..told you…I don't know," Kendall said, struggling to catch his breath.

"Tell me!" Ethan shouted with another punch to the stomach.

"I…I don't know," Kendall mumbled, his lungs devoid of air.

Ethan grabbed Kendall by the throat and held him a few inches off the ground. He studied him for a few moments before throwing him across the tiny room.

"Pathetic," he muttered as he left the room.

Kendall lay where he had landed, breathing heavily. He hoped that Anya had enough sense to go back to the Palm Woods. She would be safer there.


Anya hid behind some bushes in order to figure out how to get into the warehouse.

She involuntarily shivered. She had many bad memories of this place.


"That's the girl?" Ethan asked disapprovingly.

Wayne laughed. "Yep. Her chump of a mother finally died last month. Now she's all mine."

"Seems a bit…wimpy," Ethan said, inspecting her as she recoiled in fear.

"Wimpy doesn't even begin to describe her," Wayne said with another laugh, "Watch."

Wayne grabbed the nearest weapon, an old, splintery wooden board. He went closer to her.

"Come on, Stacy, let's show Uncle Ethan all the fun we have at home," he said, hitting her with the board. Anya cried out in pain.

"You know, I would have preferred a boy," Wayne said, striking her repeatedly with the wood, "But this works just as well." Wayne continued to beat her as the light faded and Anya slipped into the painless void that was unconsciousness.


"Is that Stacy?" Ethan asked incredulously.

"Yep," Wayne said proudly, looking over his handiwork. In the past year, the girl had gone from a pretty, timid chipmunk to a scarred, bruised, cowering prairie dog, "Here, Stacy, how's about we show Uncle Ethan what we've done in the past year." Anya shook her head no as she backed into the corner, visibly trembling.

"Ya need this?" Ethan asked, holding out a wooden board.

"Nah, we've…we've graduated." Wayne pulled a folded up belt out of his pocket. "I use this now."

Wayne laughed, advancing towards Anya. With a snap of the wrist, he flung out the belt. Another snap and the belt came down across Anya's back, leaving a red mark under her thin shirt.

Ethan laughed. "You sure know how to handle 'em," he said.

"It's a good workout," Wayne said, repeatedly striking the belt against Anya, "Saves me money, too. Don't have to pay for a punching bag."

As her vision began to dim, a sense of relief spread itself over Anya's body. In the past year she had learned to welcome the unconsciousness that Wayne's beating invariably brought on as an escape from the pain. Finally, Anya's eyes closed and she knew no more.


Anya shook her head to dispel the memories and quickly hid her bag in some bushes. She was going in.


Kendall lay panting on the floor of the small supply closet, fighting to stay conscious. Ethan had come in three more times, demanding to know where Anya was. Three more times, he had beaten Kendall until he could barely move. Three more times, he had left Kendall laying there, fighting to regain his breath.

Kendall wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

Finally, Kendall's breathing returned to normal. He dragged his exhausted body over to the bucket of water in the corner and drank thirstily, not caring that it was clouded with dirt and grime. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he pulled himself to his feet. He walked over to the other side of the room, standing next to the door.

Next time Ethan came, he would be ready.


Anya slowly opened the door to the warehouse. She was startled to find that it wasn't locked, but she wasn't really surprised, knowing Ethan. He wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box.

Anya crept into the building, her eyes searching for any clues that might lead her to Kendall. She inched across the hallway, peeking into each room, hoping to find him.

"Well well well, look what we have here."

Anya whipped around to find herself face-to-face with none other than Ethan.


Back at the Palm Woods, Mrs. Knight was talking on the phone with the police.

"Since yesterday…yes…yes, she had run away so he had gone looking for her…well, considering that a man tried to kidnap her…yes…yes…alright. Thank you." Mrs. Knight put the phone down and sighed.

"The police are going to do everything they can," she announced to the inhabitants of apartment 2J, "In the meantime, you boys aren't allowed out of the apartment alone."

"Aw, come on, Mama Knight, we're 16. The buddy system's for first graders," James protested. Logan and Carlos nodded in agreement.

"Alright, fine. If you don't want to use the buddy system, then you can just stay in the apartment all day," Mrs. Knight replied, arms crossed.

"On second thought, using the buddy system's a good idea."

"Yeah, it'll give us some great bonding time."

"That's more like it," Mrs. Knight said.

There was a knock at the door. Mrs. Knight answered it.

"Jennifer Knight?" the woman at the door asked.

"That would be me. And you are…?"

"Lucille Thompson, Child Protective Services," she said, "I'm here about Anastasia Petrović."

"She's not here right now," Mrs. Knight said a bit uncertainly.

"I know. That is what I want to talk to you about."


"Mrs. Knight. You are currently the guardian of four boys and two girls," Ms. Thompson began once they had seated themselves at the kitchen table.

"Yes. And your point?" Mrs. Knight said, her tone growing increasingly cold. She had a bad feeling about this woman.

"Can you account for all of these minors?" Lucille Thompson asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Where are they?"

Mrs. Knight gave Ms. Thompson an icy stare. "James, Carlos, and Logan are right there, watching TV. Katie is in her room, using her laptop. Anya has run away because a man related to the monster that abused her for almost four years tried to kidnap her the other day and felt that her presence was putting us in danger. Kendall has presumably been kidnapped by that same man."

"Mmm hmm…" Ms. Thompson said, scribbling something down on a pad of paper before speaking again, "We have been looking over Anastasia's files and, in light of recent events, have come to the conclusion that this is not a suitable home for her."

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Knight said, "Without us, Anya would be living on the streets. Or worse, she might have been found by that monster of a stepfather that your agency neglected to do anything about. Without us, she could very easily be dead. Don't start telling me that this home is not suitable for her."

"Ma'am, since Anastasia began to live here, she has been kidnapped by your son, hit by a car, and has now run away."

"My son most certainly did not kidnap her!" Mrs. Knight exclaimed, "He was trying to prevent her from having to go back and live with her stepfather, who, by the way, is the one that hit her with his car. And the only reason that Anya ran away is because—"

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Ms. Thompson said, standing up, "I'll be in touch with you, Mrs. Knight," she said, holding out her hand.

Mrs. Knight took it. "Just get out of my house," she said.

Mrs. Knight shut the door behind Lucille Thompson with a sigh of relief. Anya was not leaving them if she had anything to do about it.


"Tell you what," Ethan said, "If you stay here with me, I'll let your little boyfriend go."

"Really?" Anya asked, hardly daring to believe her ears.

"Sure," Ethan said, "I just took him as bait, anyway. You're the one I want."

Ethan put his huge paw on Anya's shoulder and steered her towards a room.

"Welcome to our Presidential Suite," he said with a sneer, pushing her into the small room, "You'll be staying here for a while."

Author's Note: Dun dun DUN! Who thinks that Ethan's going to actually let Kendall go? Anyone? Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough.

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