Sorri we took so long to update! We'll be good and hurry next time K & happy valentines day! -marries you all-

Makexmexspin: maybe she does. Maybe she has an evil clone in Happytown. (ithinkyoujustunfoiledourplot)

K B Hanna: uh oh. But what if the car has no mirrors? Then everyone's screwed. Dum dee dum dum. & she didn't literalli lift her words with her eyebrows silli. That was kelli being all poetic like -guffaw- dunno what I'm going to do with that girl…

Trapped Rabbit: Wellity wellwell hihi. Oh my, it stole your wallet. Oh my, your ego has no money. Oh…my. -the shock of shock - & no worries, man. No worries. When your ego coils into a ball, the nafdawg will ride in on her mighty shoe & poke it back to life. I am magicness like that.

Mushypeas: um…well. it's horror, too. Lol. But the scary bits don't come in until later on so we didn't want to stick that to it. We might change the sub genres eventually, though…

Toxic-noodle725: that he is.

Lyss: lol! Sounds like fun -makes face -

Trijinkijapan27: thankyou!

Diamonddewdrops: thrilling. I like that word…

BLUEEEy: psh. Blame kelli. Everything that goes round in the world is her fault o.O.

Okey-dokes: lyre likes it that you like his crudeness -he waggles his eyebrows- uh oh…

Imames: mm… actually, I know tons of kids his age & they know just as much bad language as me (and trust me, I know tons) -giggle- I guess it just depends on the kid… & uhm, it's a chapter by chapter collab. Like… kelli writes one && I write one & then we post. Except with some of the later chapters it's halfhalf because I got lazy & my ideas died. & giggle…the cookies do play an important role in the stori…

Mellowdy: lol!

Driew: pfft. He's an evil (andclever) kid. He'd find his way out eventually…

SolisLuna: -giggle- what a cute guy -sarcastic face - & naffi gotted the thermometer innuendo o.O.

xxreixx: lol. Four chapters now!

Spazifiedcheerio: oversexed -giggle-

Self-destructing in 30 seconds: you're name is hawwwt, btw. & there iz gonna be horror -giggle- sooon.

Codyismypup: ooo. Alter egos. I like it. & psh. Im so the devil. Im all cool like that. & kelli's like…angelic. Yeahyeahhuhh. Uhmuhm with the different spelling thing, I think most of the stuff was spelt the brit way first. Lol. Like colour && sulphur but then, as my chem teacher so nicely phrases it, "the americans got lazy so they cut out half the letters." Lol. & omg cheerios! I used to be obsessssed with those. Every morning a big ol' bowl. & now I hate them. Woe alas. The pain of the past.

Slideshow PIMPIN: go to a gay bar. & the new guy? He's you, ohk? He's the inner you. youyouyou sftu you. & lyre likes you so much he dreams about you. no lie. he sees you when he sees siam. In her nightie. Run off and be dazed now, homo.

Happy-town

o4

The next day swept by all too soon and I dug my head into my pillow, desperate to feign illness or… feign something. After Lyre had practically groped me in public, Viper's "friend" had whispered something to him and they had both given me weird looks.

I was now embarrassed.

Really, really embarrassed.

It didn't help that straight afterwards, when we got back to the house, Ella turned out to be sleeping, which left Lyre to chase me around the house in nothing but his boxers. Yes, my door was now locked and yes, I was now traumatised. It had been all night and through half of the day and I didn't intend to open it any time soon.

I had tried my mobile a couple of times, desperate to talk to the outside world, but found that there was no reception. I was, for lack of better word, trapped. And it sucked.

A knock at the door brought me from my oh-so-pleasant reverie. A voice followed it, shrill and piercing, "Si-am, darling. Are you ill?" It was Ella.

I mumbled into my pillow.

"Because if you are, my dear, I shall have Lyre wait on you immediately." Oh God no. "When I'm ill, his actions are absolutely…delectable. He has Mr. Fuzzyboomboom sent to me immediately." Her voice dropped. "You see, I don't trust Mr. Fuzzyboomboom on his own in the kitchen. I do so suspect he is playing foul with the delivery boy."

Viper…and a spoon.

If I had felt sick before, it was nothing compared to how I felt now.

"I'm okay," I piped, suddenly. I wasn't stupid enough to let Lyre "wait" on me. "Just a bit…tired."

"Come down and have breakfast, then," she chirped. Her footsteps retreated down the corridor and I sat up, then sighed. There went the idea of sleeping in. I headed across the hall, into the bathroom, where I began to rummage through my bag. I set some stuff out on the counter, then proceeded to do my makeup.

After last time's little incident with the mascara, I decided to double check my appearance for any mishaps. It was still a challenge to do my make-up like a sensible person, seeing as I had only chips of glass to work with.

When I was finished and semi-satisfied, I decided to head down to the kitchen for breakfast. I hurried downstairs. Lyre stood waiting for me, patiently, at the bottom.

"Last night I was thinking about you," he explained. "You gave me a hard-on."

Yum…

"It's so complimentary to know that I have that affect on eight-year-olds," I replied, sarcastically.

"Com-plu-men-, com-plumuga-"

"It means good," I searched for a better word, "…nice."

"Nice?" he arched his eyebrows, then stuck out his tongue and waggled it about. "I'll show you nice, you horny beast."

I would not be intimidated. I gripped the railing, glared pointedly, then replied, "We're going to start your lesson now." He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "No whips, no spikes, no oxygenated condoms, and no…" I searched for something to end it with, "no spoons." I thought about Viper, then shuddered. "Definitely no spoons."

He looked like a little boy deprived of chocolate. "But…what about…maybe…" He hesitated, "you didn't say forks."

"What can you do with a fork?" The instant the words left my mouth, I knew it was the wrong thing to ask.

A smirk formed over his features. "You can poke things," he explained. "And pop things. And scrape things and twist and coil and -"

"I get the point," You freak… "And no, no forks." My voice sounded almost…casual. Was I really, actually getting used to him?

Lyre let off a nonchalant shrug. "I'll figure something out. Anyways, tell me, you hawt piece of fuck you, what are we learning first?"

He sounded genuinely interested. Maybe there was hope yet. "Science."

His face lit up. "And biology?"

"Maybe…"

"And the menstrual cycle?" I spoke too soon. "Do I get to see your va -"

"-shut-up!" The patience had gone. "You're such a - a -" I paused, caught in a flurry of words, "a sicko," I hissed out.

Lyre stuck out his tongue. "At least I'm not a paedo."

"I'm not a paedo."

"Then how come I turn youon?"

"You don't turn me on," I hissed. "Fuck, I don't even like you and even if I did it wouldn't be in that way because you're eight-years-old."

"Eight and a half, actually," he corrected, then waggled his eyebrows -I hated it when he did that. "You're even hawter when you're angry. But don't worry, babes, it doesn't put me off. I work better when girls make me sweat for them. It kind of…" He paused, searching for the right words, "makes it all the more…slidey. If you get what I mean."

Oh my friggin' God.

Lyre bounded across the hall and stopped at a door, then shoved it open and went in. His actions seemed almost hyper. I followed him, opened the door a bit warily, and stepped in. It was a fairly normal room with a massive table laid out in the middle. Lyre was sat on a chair, a pile of books beside him. He had something that glinted in his hand, his head bent over the table in concentration.

Curious, I moved closer to see. In his hand was a pen-knife and he had it held over the table, scraping something onto its surface. Circles. What a surprise. His forehead was creased in concentration, the only sound a soft scratching.

I edged nearer, spoke up, quietly, as if speaking too loudly would break something, "Lyre," I prompted. "Shall we start the lesson now?"

He brought a finger to his lips, indicating silence, and proceeded to scratch the circles with precision. There was something eerie about him, almost chilling, as he sat there, bent over wood, the edges of his features highlighted by an amber light-bulb that flickered every so often.

I spoke again, only slightly louder this time, "Lyre -"

"Circles," he bit; gritted out between his teeth, "they go on forever. And ever. And ever. But nothing goes on forever because things have to end."

I was confused. He looked up, smiling slightly - the look was chilling. "But what if, somehow, you made sure they didn't end?"

Blinking, stupidly, I felt the necessity to reply, "You just contradicted yourself."

"My mother loves Mr. Fuzzyboomboom more than she loves me."

Where the hell did that come from?

"Lyre, he's a spoon."

"-she loves him more than me," he continued, as if there had been no interruption, "because he looks more like my father than I do." He wrinkled up his nose. "Mr. Fuzzyboomboom has a moustache like my father but I don't. And this one time, I put tar underneath my nose and over half of my face to make it look like I had a moustache." His eyes lit up. "It made mommy giggle. It made her happy."

His face…he looked almost, dangerous. Immediately, something akin to fear welled up in my chest. Lyre shoved the pen-knife into the table, suddenly, and dragged it through wood. Something possessed me to peer over. It was a circle, only larger this time and it cut deeper into the wood. Once he had drawn the circle, he wrenched out the knife, then dug it into the circle again and carried on carving. By the time that he had finally finished, there was a smiley face imprinted on the table.

But for some reason, it just didn't lookhappy.

Lyre began to giggle, suddenly. It was soft at first but then it heightened, became shrill and high pitched. The voice chilled me and I backed away, toward the door. He was watching the smiley face, taking no notice of me, and screaming with uncontrolled laughter, his whole body shaking.

And then I heard the crashing.

Once.

Twice.

I left the room, slammed shut the door and leaned against it, taking in a few deep breaths.

The crashing continued. Bash-bash, like something shattering and it was coming from atop the stairs. Desperate to get away, to think about something else, to do something else, I decided to investigate. Part of me thought best of it but the other part was overcome with curiosity. I climbed the stairs, half quickly yet partially wary.

Something whizzed past me, suddenly, a whirl of colour, followed by an ear-splitting crash. I swerved to the side, just about missed the shards of…something as they cut through the air and seared already chipped plaster.

The crash was followed by a high-pitched giggling, higher than that of Lyre's, and singing; it was an out of tune sort of singing and there were no words, just sounds. My attention turned to Ella, suddenly.

She was standing against the far wall, her face flushed, the white night-gown ruffled and her hair in disarray. Above her she held a vase, bright purple and polished, and there was laughter in her eyes. There was something crusted over her hands, though, something red.

Blood…

"Siam!" she squealed, then dropped the vase. Luckily it didn't break because there was carpet. Ella outstretched her hands and twirled.

"What are you doing?" My voice was shaky, trembling slightly.

"The vases," she giggled, then brought a hand to her mouth to muffle the giggles. "So much fun and just so extraordinarily exhilarating and magnificent, don't you agree?" She picked up the vase again, made to the far wall, then bashed it against the plaster with a force. It broke in her hands. "Sometimes you need to just…" Another bash, "…let it out." Crack! "And letting it out makes me so happy." A high pitched squeal and then the vase shattered, pieces flying everywhere.

A bell rang, faintly, in the distance, and something made my legs move, made me run down the stairs. I reached the hall and made to the door, then opened it, breathless.

Sunlight spilled in; Viperwas illuminated by it, standing with an angelic tint.

"Delivery for -" he stopped, suddenly, regarding me for a moment, then tossed the cookies on the porch floor. "You're shaking." He stepped closer and a shriek formed the backdrop. Viper shot his gaze toward the stairs, then back toward me. He grabbed my hand, dragged me out of the house and closed the door, quietly. "It seems kind of...intense in there. Do you want to go for a walk?"

I nodded, numbly, and he led me away, down the path and further into the woods. A few birds chirped, faintly, in the distance and the fresh air calmed me a little. I took it in, let it wash through my nostrils and make everything a little less…blurred. We were silent, just content in walking, not speaking.

As my senses kicked in again, I noticed he was still holding my hand. It was warm. We reached a hollow of trees and he stopped, suddenly, and let go; he made toward one of them and leaned against it, hands dug in his pockets, as he regarded me.

I shifted slightly, instantly nervous, although I didn't know why. The branches cast shadows over his form.

"I'm guessing…" he cocked his head slightly to the side, a bit amused, "you've gotten to know them."

I nodded, unsure as of what to say.

"That family's right fucked. Most of them are," he explained, then shrugged. "Don't let yourself get caught up in it."

Viper pushed himself off the tree, then made as if to walk away. I stopped him by grabbing his arm, pulling my hand away as soon as I'd realised what I'd done. He regarded me again, almost expectantly.

"I…" A pause; hesitation. "I have to go back, because…" How was I meant to explain it to him in as few words as possible? There wasn't enough time for explanation. "I have to be here for the whole holiday," I tried. Otherwise they'll never let me out of their sight again. "Which means that I can't…"

Viper dug his hands into his pockets again and stepped back, cocking his head to the side. It made him look even more appeasing, if that was possible. "Every night at around twelve, I drop by a stump near the edge of the forest. It's the only one there so it'll be hard to miss. I go there for fresh air," he explained. "I'll stay a little longer for the next few nights. You go back for now and if you decide you can't take it, come meet me and you can stay with me and the guys." Noticing my expression, he smirked slightly. "Sleep on it, babe."

And with that, he left.