Once everyone had finished their plates, they gathered around in the living room. Rowan would have added that her mother's food was exquisite as always if it wasn't for Ruby shouting "I call Rowan's room!" once everyone left the dining room.

"Aw c'mon, Its my room Ruby. Don't you think I should stay in it?" The 9-year-old's response was sticking her tongue out at her.

"Well I'm perfectly fine with the guest room. Your always welcome to stay with me in there anyway." Amber commented, rubbing her thumbs on the amber gemstone in her pendant. Rowan sometimes recognized it as Amber's way of self soothing, and other times it was just a habit of hers to do when she was bored. It was pretty easy to tell which based off of the situation at hand though, so she could tell Amber was just trying to entertain herself while she sat on the couch.

"At least someone's considerate." Rowan then responded. Amber had always been the more thoughtful, inquisitive (and far more mature) one of the sisters. That could be argued by how she was the older one, but the point stood its ground. However it sometimes caused her to be nervous, indecisive and

Ruby just seemed to huff a bit before replying "Oh yeah? Then you can stay in that room and I'll stay with Amber." But while Amber was smarter, Ruby was more determined. Heck, Rowan could even argue she was braver. She didn't take nonsense from anyone when she got upset. She'd look a monster in the eye and demand something- or just have a normal conversation. It was hard to tell with her and that's part of what made her... well, herself. Rowan couldn't have either of them any other way.

"How about all three of you share Rowan's room? We have some sleeping bags in the basement." Nicholas suggested.

"But what about the guest room?" Amber asked.

Rowan's mom then recommended from the kitchen "It's fine without any occupants. You all family after all, not guests. Your more then welcome to stay in the same room."

Ruby seemed to be in thought for a moment before asking the question "Does that make this a double sleepover?"

Rowan couldn't help but snicker a little before answering. "Yeah, I guess it does."


Rowan couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when she climbed down the stairway into the dark abyss under the house. It was like it was everyone's instinct to became a bit paranoid when their in the attic or basement. Rowan didn't know why that is. All she knew right now was her goal of bringing 2 sleeping bags up and that her cousins were two fearful to come down with her. Nicholas had offered to help her, but being as stubborn and independent as she was politely refused. She was starting to wonder if she should have accepted it.

She'd made sure to shut the door behind her. She didn't feel a need to keep it open, and she didn't want to risk being the butt of one of Ruby's jokes. She flicked the light switch near the entranceway, which activated the light bulb in the center of the ceiling (or floor of the room above?) and illuminated the freezing cold space.

There were a lot of boxes scattered around, some empty and others unopened. There were a few other things out in the open that were waiting to be used again, like the parts of a tent from whenever the family went on camping trips and dolls likely desiring to be played with like they used to.

It was in the corner with the hiking gear (which consisted of said tents, a few backpacks, cooking utensils for the road, and a few other necessities for overnight stays in the wilderness) where she found the sleeping bags.

She got out hers, which was, predictably, a bright red color, and her mom's, which was the nice orange shade she adored so dearly. She knew Ruby and Amber would enjoy those the most, since those two were, respectively, their favorite colors. It was like it was hereditary to have a love of warm colors.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she felt something stalking her- watching her every move. She knew she shut the door, and there weren't any windows. I mean, how could one put windows underground? That would leave only one option...

She turned swiftly around, dropping one of the bags in the process. She didn't see anything abnormal. She tried to play it off as nothing peculiar, but it stuck with her like a fly on fly paper. She just couldn't let it escape from her mind. The feeling wouldn't back off, no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

Eventually, she just went back up. As soon as her foot stepped through the door, the sense of died off like it was stabbed in the head. It just simply vanished off the face of the earth, like it was never there at all. She wished she could say the same for her suspicion.


Amber was the one that tried to make sure Ruby actually got sleep. If it wasn't for her, the three of them would have probably stayed up all night talking and catching up with each other. At least they managed to stay up until 11 pm "catching up"... that is, until Rowan's mother finally caught them and demanded they get some shut eye.

Rowan happened to be in a set of dark grey and black pajamas with black mickey mouse, white polka dots and a few other designs all over. It that almost felt like a blanket whenever she wore it.

Amber was wearing a pale orange, short sleeve shirt that was a bit to large for her, going down to the start of her thigh. She also had a dark orange pair of pants on, but she still adorned her necklace.

Ruby, like her sister, still had her bracelet on but now was dressed in a mouse-themed onesie, with the hood over her head. She really did look adorable in it, but Rowan didn't dare say that out loud. She'd probably get slapped, punched in the face or water dumped on her in the morning for it. Again, Ruby was unpredictable in the best way. She didn't even comment on how they were both mouse themed.

Amber ensured Ruby was tucked in tightly in her sleeping bag (with a quick kiss on the forehead to boot) before zipping herself into her own. They wished each other sweet dreams and no bites from bedbugs (which promptly made Amber shiver a little) before Rowan went under the covers on her bed. She carefully stole a glance over at her cousins, a gentle smile forming on her face as she saw the two with their eyes closed, attempting to enter their individual worlds of imagination.

It was moments like this that really made her family important to her. She'd probably give her life up if it meant those two were safe. With her happy thoughts in tow, she allowed herself to drift off.


She never expected to be woken up in the middle of the night by Ruby asking "So... what's your name?" To think, she was having such a good dream about starring in the Jungle Book two. She quietly exhaled in the form of a sigh, turning over to find Ruby wasn't in her sleeping bag.

She turned again, only to have her eyes widen- she promptly closed them at the realization there was a man in the window, conversing with the 9-year-old as if this were a normal occurrence. She didn't get a good look at him, but she managed to catch a few noticeable features, such as his snow white hoodie, which had covered his head and hidden his face, and the black pants and shoes. Had she looked more closely, she may have recognized it to be a pair of black jeans and a matching set of black and white slip-on's.

Rowan had to beg in her head for the pale red stains on it was just juice or ketchup and not blood.

Rowan merely scolded herself internally for not getting up and protecting her. But if she suddenly provoked him, what if he harmed the two of them- or Amber- or her parents? The man obviously wasn't here for good purposes. She knew there wasn't ever a good reason some stranger sneaks into a person's home at such a late hour.

She listened to, what she guessed, was the intruder chuckle at the question. "Now why do you need to know that?- Better yet, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

She could overhear Ruby going "Hmmmm..." only to assume she nodded her head, since her cousin then said "I'm Ruby. There. Now for yours."

"Name's Jeff."

"Nice to meet you, Jeff."

"You two."

Rowan couldn't believe this. They were actually having a normal conversation. Seriously? She knew they had the 'stranger danger' talk with Ruby- she was there! She always figured it was only nature for such a kid to be so trusting, but now really wasn't the time!

"Wait- Don't!-" she heard Ruby cry out- just as she felt something land on the bed in front of her. She opened her eyes quickly to find a red-fluid stained kitchen knife stabbed into the mattress.. dangerously close to her face. It was safe to assume he'd thrown it at her, since he'd barely moved a muscle from when she last saw him. However, she got the feeling that he it have hit her if he wanted two.

She was discovered. This guy was a murderer. They were dead.