Two in one night because that's how I roll. And also because I had time and inspiration.

Chapter 15

The silence was the first clue that something had gone wrong. The girls were usually still up at this hour and they would always greet her at the door but today the house was completely quiet and the girls were nowhere to be seen. Emily knew they were with Alison so logically nothing would have happened to them, and while there was always that tiny voice in the back of her head she assured herself that A was gone and that there was no way that A would have gotten to them.

She hung her jacket and locked the door, leaving her keys by the door and walked into the kitchen, where the lights were all lit up but there was no one there. She saw a tray of mystery food on the counter that she assumed Alison made herself from scratch and felt obliged to sample a bit so she could at the very least say that she tried it, even though it looked like it'd been in the oven longer than she'd been inside her mother's womb. She scraped some of the burnt, coal-like buildup from the side and peeked underneath but she was just as confused as ever about what the hell the food was so in order to avoid food poisoning she decided to just skip dinner for the night. She tried smelling it and even stuck her tongue out and tried tasting a little but 'burnt' was the only discernible property she could taste and smell so she quietly threw her piece in the trash and made a mental note to empty the rubbish out later tonight, before Alison had a chance to check it, and then proceeded to walk up the stairs towards the nursery.

The door was ajar and the lights were off and at first she didn't even notice them but the kids were there, nestled together in one bed, one over and one under the blanket. She signed and moved to shift Grace, but then decided they were just too peaceful to disturb so she pulled the blanket off the other bed and tucked Grace in. She kissed them both on the forehead and shut her door on the way out and then she made her way over to her bedroom where she found Alison sitting up with an ice pack and a bottle of wine.

'Here comes round two' she thought as she shut the door behind her and got ready to start.