We shared our moment for a while, until the image of Ana's face entered my mind. That fear and anxiety. It's something I rarely saw from Ana. And it seemed to amplify at the arrival of Cauis. The way he looked at her was unnerving. She was sixteen and he was most likely in his forties. It was unthinkable. I had to be reading too far into it. He was bar trash. Surely, he wasn't some kind of pedophile as well.

I had to ask. But I had to be very careful with what I say and how I say it. I don't want to embarrass Ana, or make her feel uncomfortable. So, I asked Edward to stay on the porch, while I spoke with Ana inside. We sat across from each other at the kitchen table. She wore a concerned look on her face as she nervously twisted her fingers into her cropped hair; now that it was so short, she could barely get a lock around her finger. This was an old habit she has carried on with since she was a child.

"I need to ask you a few questions about Cauis. Is that alright?" I started with as gentle of an approach as I could manage.

"What do you want to know?" She replied, already going on the defensive. I could sense her beginning to build up a wall around herself. Her expression went completely blank. She let her hands both drop to the table.

If I didn't say the right thing here, she would close herself off completely. And keep burying herself deeper into her secrets.

"I know for a fact that he has hurt you, I'd like to know the details." It was a bluff. I didn't have anything to go on but my gut feelings. I didn't actually have any idea if he hurt her or not.

Ana's eyes widened. "How could you possibly know that?" Her wall was starting to crumble.

"Don't worry about that. I'm the one asking the questions right now. Just please, tell me what he has done. So I can fix it."

She wiped at her nose, her shoulders began to shake a little. Tears bled down her cheeks as she looked away from me. The wall was ripped down. Faster than I had anticipated. But Ana usually never could keep secrets from me. Even when she was little.

"W-well, for the past month or so, Cauis has been living here." She hesitated, peeking over at me.

I nodded for her to continue.

"They both drink… a lot… and it gets pretty violent at times, especially between each other. And one night. Momma decided to sleep out in the barn. She was furious at Cauis and didn't want to be around him for the rest of the night." Again Ana paused to gauge my reaction.

I didn't give her any hint of what I was feeling. I kept my expression as blank as possible. "Alright, what happened after that?"

"W-well he came into my room… he had his gun…" Her voice was trembling, she moved her hands to her face to cover her eyes. "All I could do was lay there. His gun pressed into the back of my head. He forced me to get undressed. And when I couldn't do it fast enough he hit me." She didn't look up from her hands.

I felt my body freeze as I listened. Goosebumps prickled my arms, sending a quiver down my spine. It was worse than I had initally feared. There were tears in both of our eyes. I wanted to hug her, pull her in close and never let her go. Never let her out of my sight.

"He violated me, repeatedly that night, until the sun came up the next morning. He was sober when he left. And threatened that if I told anyone… he would kill me." Ana continued as she wiped her tears from her flushed cheeks. She still couldn't look in my direction. Did she feel ashamed?

At a loss for words I quietly hugged her, letting her completely fall apart in my arms. Whatever she had been holding back, was now on full display. She sobbed as she clutched herself to me. It was clear this whole experience had broken Ana in a way. I could tell when I first arrived that she had changed a little bit. She wasn't as carefree and open. The Ana that I saw was reserved, meek and very troubled. I had thought it might have been the cancer that was the cause of the change. But the fact of the matter was Ana had been raped. Her innocence had been stolen. And it was our mother's fault.

"Well, now I know why you want to leave this place so bad." I muttered. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?:"

"He said he would kill me if I told anyone. You saw how he acts. I believe him."

She had a point. He almost shot me. We had just met and he already had a gun pointed on me. I understood the concept of being cautious around strangers, but he took it too far. Not to mention he was a complete asshole.

"So you haven't told mom either?"

Ana shook her head quietly. "I know she won't believe me. She thinks Cauis is a saint. It's hard to say if it's because she is constantly drunk or if she is just delusional."

This wasn't like Ana. She never said anything like this about our mom. She had always been a momma's girl. She idolized her. But it sounds like she was getting a good understanding of how our mother really is. Now that Ana is older and I'm not around to clean up her messes and keep her under control the truth is finally out. Our mother is a bad drunk and has completely lost herself to the bottle again.

"I can't leave you here with them. Pack up your things, you're coming to live with me." I said without a second thought.

Ana's eyes widened, her lips parted but nothing came out. We stared at each other for a moment, before she was able to reply. "Are you serious? You aren't kidding around with me, are you?"

I shook my head. "I'm serious, I can't let you stay here, knowing of the danger. Once I leave, I can't protect you. This is the only way I can keep you safe."

"But, what about my medications… and my surgery is coming up really soon."

"Just a few phone calls and I can have your meds sent to the pharmacy in Boswell and I'm sure I can have your current doctor refer you to another doctor in the city. Besides, city doctors are usually a bit better than the ones out this way. Superior schooling, better technology. Getting your surgery done in the city if a better option anyway."

Excitmenet danced in Ana's eyes for a moment. "So, it really won't be a nusiance? I mean… I get sick pretty often and I'm not much help around the house…"

"It's no problem, just go get packed. We are leaving tonight, before mom and her idiot return." I sighed.

"Okay!" Ana said as she cheerfully got up from the kitchen table and made her way to the stairs. Her spirits seemed to be lifted for the moment. But I knew under it all, she was suffering. I couldn't get the image of her trembling out of my mind. That look on her face when Cauis made eye contact with her. I wanted to kill the bastard myself.

Mom really did it this time. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, it did. Because of her neglect and poor choices, she was losing it all today. And I wasn't sure if I could ever forgive her. Because of her drinking, she brought a man home, that raped her daughter. Underaged daughter. He needed turned in to the authorities. He needed to pay for what he has done.

In a small town like this, I'm sure this wasn't his first and only offense. He most likely had other victiums. I'm sure everyone in Plum must know him, or would be able to recognize him. The problem is, it's her word against his. We didn't have any proof. This incident didn't happen recently. But it still won't hurt to let the police know. I wasn't sure how to tackle this issue. I've never been put in this kind of position.

In the past, there had been something, once or twice, where I had woken up, to a man on top of me, disregarding me completely and just satisfying his needs with my semi unconcious body. I had been passed out drunk. So I completely blamed myself for being in that position. No, it wasn't my fault that I was being taken advantage of, but if I hadn't put myself in that situation, it never would have happened. If I wouldn't have gone to the bar after work. If I hadn't gotten black-out drunk. I wouldn't have been lured out, into an alleyway, beat, raped and left for dead in the dumpster. At times I could still recall the taste of rust in my mouth and the smell of garbage.

It was something I didn't like thinking about. I did my best to push it completely out of my memories. Most of that night was unclear. But there were bits and pieces that I could replay in my mind. Although, I refused to let them reach the surface. I didn't want to relive those moments. Instead, I'll bury the details and just focus on what's important at this very moment. And that was to get my sister in a safe environment.

I got up from my chair at the kitchen table and moved towards the porch, where Edward was waiting for me. But I was instantly swaying as I was hit with a powerful wave of nausea. My stomach felt like there was something spinning around inside of it. I couldn't hold it back this time. As fast as I could manage, I moved outside to puke off the side of the porch.

Edward moved to me, his hand rubbing my back comfortingly. I held my hand up, motioning for him to move away from me. I never wanted to do something like this in front of him. It was embarrassing. But he didn't leave my side.

My throat burned as my stomach contents spewed past my lips. Eventually the nausea subsided, yet my mouth still watered with saliva and mucous. My skin was warm, too warm. And with all that loss of fluids I was feeling a bit weak.

"This is the second time now, are you sure you're alright?" He asked with a tightly knitted frown.

"I'm fine, it must just be a little stomach virus." I responded after I had finished. "More importantly, I have something I need to show you." Quickly I handed over the letter that Jacob had written to me. Hopefully this would distract him from my discomfort.

He gently took the letter from me, his eyes scanned it over in just seconds. A puzzled look swept across his face. "Interesting,"

I raised a brow as I dabbed at the sweat on the back of my neck. "That's all you have to say about it?"

"Don't get me wrong, I will be investigating this further," Edward said with a nod. "But not before I make sure you are alright. Do you need to lay down and get some sleep?"

"Edward, this is a big deal. This is proof that something is going on. Something that not even Esme knows about. Jacob is in the middle of some kind of trouble. I think we should try to help me."

"That wouldn't be wise, he made a public show of fighting with the both of us, whoever was watching doesn't like us. And clearly wanted to make sure that Jacob felt the same way. He may be acting as a double agent. I just wonder which company he is doing it for. Not Galen. And Esme didn't mention him being involved with anyone else."

"Maybe those Harlow reapers? Gregor said they were the ones that corrupted our replenishing stations."

"You read Jacob's note, he said not to trust Gregor's words. So, it's possible that the Harlow reapers aren't really responsible." Edward said with a heavy sigh. "In truth, I'm glad we are here, it's nice to take a break from all this. Just to spend time together and not worry about all the company drama, it's nice."

"That's another thing I was meaning to tell you. We aren't staying. It's not safe for Ana to be left here by herself. There is a really bad situation going on here and she needs to get out of it." I'm sure Ana didn't want - what happened to her, to be talked about with others. She didn't even want to confide in me about this. She wouldn't be happy if I told Edward about it as well. This was a very delicate topic. That will just be kept between us.

"I suspected as much," Edward said with a hard look. "So, you're taking her to live with you in the city."

"It's really the only choice I have at the moment. I hope this isn't going to be too big of an inconvenience to you. I mean… I know all this reaper business has to remain secret."

Edward shook his head. "It's not an inconvenience at all. But are you sure you want to leave before Christmas? The rest of your family would be really disappointed if you left now."

"It's unfortunate, I'd been looking forward to Christmas, I really was. But there is no way I'm sticking around for my mom and Cauis to come back here." I said, shaking my head. "And I'm sure they wouldn't let me take her without a fight."

"Well, if that's the case, it's going to take some legal action and a few phone calls for us to take her away. I'll take care of everything." Edward said with a sad look. "But for now, I want you to lay down and relax for a bit, I need to call in a few favors."

I was starting to feel a little tired. I hated the idea of leaving everything up to Edward, however he seemed to know who to call and how to go about this legally. Just taking Ana away would be considered kidnapping, especially if our mother throws a fit and calls the police. So, I agreed and went back inside the house to lay down on the couch. I couldn't bring myself to go up the stairs to my bedroom. My body felt a bit heavy. I could hear Ana stomping around from a few floors above me. There was also the click of Edward's business shoes, as he paced the front porch.

My eyes wandered through the living room for a moment, before I decided to rest them on a family photo sitting on the coffee table in front of me. It was when my father was still alive. He stood proudly in the front, I stood at his side, probably around ten years old. I had caught my first fish. I held up a small, pathetic trout. On the other side was my mother, who was holding Ana. She was really young, about three years old. They both had big bright smiles. In fact, we all looked so happy in this photo. It was almost like a slap in the face. What happened? How did things turn out so awful now?

My father, dead and gone. My mother, a no-good drunk, Ana - sick with cancer and getting abused by some bastard. The only one that wasn't drowned in depression was me. And the only reason for that was Edward. I had so much to be thankful for. Thanks to Edward, I'm the happiest I've ever been. And now, because of him, I could save Ana from this situation. My new apartment had a spare bedroom that she could make hers. I made more than enough money for her medications. And I could cook her meals and take care of her. I just needed to figure something out for during the time I'm at work. Ana shouldn't be alone. Maybe I could talk with Katlyn about it. I know she is my guard, but honestly, Ana needed to be protected more than me.

We would figure something out.

Suddenly, I felt my face getting hot. My stomach started feeling sick again, I rolled onto my side and held my stomach for a while. I wished more than anything for this nausea to stop. I haven't felt this sick in a long time. In fact, I had some kind of influenza back then. I was down with it for a week. I hoped this wasn't the case. I was already getting annoyed with all the puking and the feeling of weakness. The thought of the flight back to Boswell had me a little nervous. I didn't want to puke on the plane again.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and focused on breathing steadily. It didn't take long before I drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to update soon. Leave a review with your thoughts.