"She's never had anyone over before." Hansel whispered, hearing the chatter of several voices from downstairs after a while. They seemed to be all female voices, quite old and strained.

"She called them friends. Since when does she have friends?" Gretel looked up from her history textbook.

"Good point." Hensel paused to listen again "I wonder what they are talking about."

"We could go and listen."

"Let's do that."

They creeped quietly out from Hansel's bedroom to the stairs in the hallway, trying their best to make the least amount of noise. They couldn't see anyone from there, but they could hear better.

"You scored quite a nice place, didn't you?" they heard a rather squeaky sounding woman ask.

"I've had better." Gladis answered smugly. Hansel and Gretel traded frowns.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" another woman asked. Her voice sounded tired and she talked slower.

"For a bit longer. I need time to prepare."

"You sure are taking your sweet time. Is it worth it?" a deeper voice asked. It was still feminine, but raspy and husky.

"Just as much as any other did before. They are healthy and completely oblivious." they could practically hear the self satisfaction dripping from Gladis' voice. "Better yet, they are terrified of me."

"You should just be done with it and ditch this place."

"This toying around just makes it harder for you to disappear." the squeaky voiced woman agreed.

"What do you care?" Gladis snapped "You sit around doing nothing, even centuries later. I'm at least still active."

"If you exposed yourself, that would be bad for all of us. It would reflect badly on our little circle. Remember what happened to Malerie?"

A rather long silence followed. Hansel didn't quite know what to make of it, but whatever happened to Malerie must have been pretty bad.

"At any rate," the woman with the squeaky voice cut in "Whatever you are planning, do it fast. The police are starting to puzzle things together as we speak."

Gladis scoffed "I've been doing this for hundreds of years. What do I care about the police? They can't hurt me."

"Mayhaps, but if they were to find you, that would expose a lot of your secrets. They would know your techniques eventually and who to look for next time you are active."

"Let them look. I'm not afraid of anyone."

"Well," Hansel's heart jumped into his throat as they heard the chairs at the dining table scratch the ground loudly and the shuffling of feet "We better take our leave then. Remember, whatever you do, it has to be soon. The full moon is only a few nights from now."

"Yes. We advise you get it done until then."

Hansel and Gretel could see shadows dancing against the ground as Gladis' visitors moved to the front entrance.

"I will take it into consideration." Gladis finally said.

Gretel touched Hansel's arm, making him jump a little, and gestured behind them at their bedrooms. Hansel nodded and followed her soundlessly back to his bedroom where their books were still spread open.

"Do you think they were talking about us?" Hansel asked after letting both himself and Gretel breath a little. His heart still haven't calmed down.

"Yes," Gretel whispered back "But I don't know what Gladis wants to do with us exactly. She said she had done it before."

"It can't be cookie baking." Hansel frowned "They mentioned the full moon. I say we don't let her get away with her plan." He left out the part where they talked about centuries and whatnot. It didn't make much sense and it wasn't really relevant to what they were planning to do with Gladis anyway. Or was it relevant? The whole thing was quite confusing.

"We will have to be quicker than I had planned." Gretel mused, deep in thought "The full moon is in a week. It's crucial that we search the house tomorrow and plan out how we are going to get rid of Gladis. It won't be easy." She paused, expression softening into what Hansel knew to be a hint of fear.

"She said she has control over us." Hansel pulled Gretel closer to himself "She said we are terrified of her." Gretel quivered ever so slightly in his embrace.

"I AM terrified of her, Hansel." she said softly "You never see how she gets when she comes into my room. She..." she broke down sobbing, face buried in her brother's neck.

"I know, I know," Hansel held her close and kissed her temple "But you know what?" he softly cupped her wet cheeks "I'm scared of her too, but I'm not terrified of her. She should be terrified of what I'm going to do to her. For ever laying a finger on you. For these," he smoothed his fingers over the faded bruises on her jaw "And for any other time she hurt you. Hurt our family. Our father."

Gretel spent a long time just staring into his determined face, filled with so much worry and compassion, so much bravery. She wanted to be brave, if only for his sake. She nodded and kissed his cheek. Hansel smiled and wrapped her into another hug.

They sat there for a while, basking in the warmth and affection they both radiated, until it was time to turn in for the night. They hadn't finished all of their homework, but it was fine. They had time to do it in school.

Once all of the books and notebooks have been collected Hansel followed Gretel to their joined door. He always felt anxious closing it for the night. What if Gladis decided to come in while they were sleeping? What if she hurt Gretel more than before and he wasn't there to protect her?

Protect her. That made him feel worse than anything. He was never there to protect her. She always had to face Gladis alone. She was so brave and strong, his sister.

He hadn't realised he was crying. Not until Gretel wiped the tears off of his face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

"I'm so sorry," Hansel whispered brokenly between sobs "I'm sorry I can't keep you away from her." He felt like a total failure. With their father working so hard to keep them happy, he should be the one keeping his sister safe. And he couldn't even do that.

"Oh Hansel," Gretel tightened her hold on him "She is scary, but knowing that I have you gives me hope and makes me feel more brave than I actually am."

"That's not true," Hansel sniffed wetly and squeezed her, face pressed into her shoulder "You are the bravest person I know." he pulled back and took deep breaths.

"For me, you are the bravest person I know." Hansel didn't know how she had the strenght to comfort him about the things she had to go through, but he was grateful for it nevertheless.

"Thanks sis." He wanted to hold her longer, but there was no time for that. Sleep was calling both of them.

They shared small smiles and wished each other good night. Hansel relucantly closed their joined door, anxiety stirring beneath his skin doing so, but he knew it was necessary. He brushed his teeth and crawled into bed feeling restless, though he did his best to fall asleep. He knew he needed his energy for tomorrow.