“Won’t you two shut up!?”  Ren suddenly shouted, startling both his siblings into quiet.  “You’re freaking him out.  Look, Sorrel, I don’t care what you think, he was scared of getting involved and I basically forced him into it.  And he’s clearly terrified now.  I don’t know why he could see me, but honestly, I don’t care.  He helped me.  I had no idea what to do and Honey’s right, I probably would have ended up starving to death if it weren’t for him.  So back off, leave him alone.”

     I heard footsteps again and then someone crouched next to me.  “Look, Riven, is it?  I’m sorry Sorrel’s being such a pain.  He’s just being protective of us, but you don’t need to be so scared.  He’s not going to hurt you.”

     Breathe.  Just breathe.  Of course that was a lie, they all hurt me.  Even when I tried to help them.  I wasn’t sure why Ren was pretending otherwise, but I wished he wouldn’t.  They might as well just get this over with.  The anticipation was almost as painful as the real thing.

     Breathe.  Remember to breathe.  Keep my head down.  Keep my right side towards the wall.  Just breathe.

     I finally registered the silence, none of them speaking.

     “Riven?”  Honey finally asked.  “Riven, sweetie, you do know we won’t hurt you, right?”

     She started to lean forward and reach a hand towards me.

     I couldn’t breathe.  They were all there, all within arm’s reach.  They were going to hurt me.  I didn’t know what they were going to do, exactly, but they were going to hurt me.

     Breathe, I reminded myself.  Just try.  Breathe.

     I cringed away from her hand when I felt it brush against my hair, trying to fold myself into an even tighter ball.  Surely, surely they would end this soon.  This waiting.  This anticipation of inevitable pain.

     I could almost taste the fear in my mouth.  It felt like such an overwhelming presence surrounding me, I was almost sure they could feel it, too.  That would spur them on.  It always did.

     Honey retreated and murmured something to Sorrel, but I was too focused on breathing to catch what it was she said.  At the moment all that existed was trying to breathe.  And keep my head down.  And keep my right side to the wall.  And breathe.

     Ren suddenly backed up, too, dragging Sorrel with him.  They had a heated whispered debate with Honey that I couldn’t make out on the other side of the room before Honey came back towards me, her steps tentative as she stopped several feet away from me.

     “Riven, sweetie, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, but we want to thank you for saving our brother.  Is there anything we can do for you to say thanks?  Um maybe,” she glanced around the room doubtfully, “a reward or something?”

     They…wanted to say thanks?  No, no, that was a trap.  Remember.  Remember what happened last time.

     A long pause while they waited for me to answer before Honey figured out I wasn’t going to.  “Anything?  We really, really appreciate what you did, we want to thank you.  Isn’t there anything we can do?”

     Anything?  I wanted them to leave without hurting me.  Would they do that?  No, of course not, but…was it worth asking?  Would they just laugh at me and make it worse?

     I swallowed, trying not to feel how much my throat hurt.  “Could you…could you please leave?”  I barely whispered.

     Another pause.  “Wait, that’s – that’s what you want as a reward?  For us to go?”

     I nodded once, squeezing my eyes shut tighter.  If only this once, I hoped they weren’t lying.  That they really did want to say thank you.

     And then my heart plummeted as I realized my mistake – I’d just asked them to leave, I hadn’t specified that I wanted them to leave without hurting me.

     “Oh, well, I mean, I guess you always have been an introvert, this is probably too many people for you all at once.”  Honey seemed puzzled, talking more to herself than to me.  “Well, if that’s what you want,” she said more directly towards me, “although it doesn’t feel much like a thank you.”

     I heard my door open and the sound of people moving.  Then a pause, and Honey’s voice from the door.

     “Seriously, Riven, thank you.  You have no idea how happy you’ve made us.”

     And then the door shut, and silence.

     I didn’t dare open my eyes.  This had to be a new trap, they were waiting for me to relax, to think I was safe.  Then they would laugh at my delusion once I opened my eyes.

     Breathe.  The pain will come soon, but you’ll survive.  You’ll be okay.  You have to start over, but you’ll be okay.  Just breathe.

     Silence.  A long time of silence.  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before I dared open my eyes, just wanting to get this over with, terrified that I would see Sorrel’s icy glare the moment I opened them.  But – I didn’t.  There was no one else in the room.  Just me.

     On shaky legs, I stumbled to my feet, locked the door and slid the chain in place, before remembering that I should check the apartment to make sure they weren’t hiding in my tiny bedroom or bathroom.  To my surprise, they weren’t.

     They had really just left?  Left me alone, just like I asked?  I slowly slid onto my bed, hugging my knees.  That had never happened before.  Never.  That meant – that meant it was too good to be true.  Right, that made more sense.  They were probably waiting, either outside my apartment or outside the café.  The beating was still coming, just delayed.

     I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.  And plan.  What now?  I had to quit the café, obviously.  Sadly.  Molly had helped me so much in letting me work there when I was practically homeless and didn’t have an address.  I hated the idea of having to try to get a new job, go through the interview, all of that.  Even the thought was exhausting.

    And moving.  This place was one of the cheapest I could find that was reasonably close to my job.  Well, maybe I could find a cheaper place near whatever new job I found, I could always hope that, at least.  I was pretty sure there wasn’t much cheaper in our city of Avenglade than here, but I could pretend.

     And my class.  I felt a deep twinge of regret there.  It was on website design, something I enjoyed.  It was bound to be a good class and help my GPA.  But…with having to move and find a new job, I wasn’t going to be able to afford the second half of the tuition.  I’d paid the first half to start, but the second was due in a few weeks, and while I had the money saved, if I had to move and find a new job, it was very likely I couldn’t afford to pay the second half.  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to cry.  It was okay.  I could take the class next year, maybe, after all this was sorted and I recovered from this.  Assuming I could.  Assuming I could find another job that I could earn enough to pay for classes while supporting myself.  Assuming I was still going to be able to work on my degree with all of this.  Right.  Assuming all that.

     First things first.  Work.  I didn’t dare go in anymore, so I’d need to start looking for a job tomorrow.  I didn’t have a computer or a phone, so I couldn’t look from here and the library was closed now.  I rarely used any time off, so I had a few paid days.  Three, I think.  Which was a lot for an hourly employee.  I could call Molly, take the days.  That would give me three days – five including the weekend – to find a new job.  Five days.  I could do that, right?

     I tried to ignore the waves of fear-driven trembling as I stumbled back over to my box to raid my splurge money for three more quarters.  It had taken me such a long time to find this job.  But maybe this time would be better.  I had an address, for one thing.  And experience.  Surely that would help.  Surely.

     When I left my apartment again to make the second trip to the pay phone, I was on edge, jumping at every shadow and terrified that I’d see Sorrel waiting for me.  But nothing, not him or his siblings, the entire way to the pay phone.

     Molly was worried when I told her I needed to unexpectedly use all of my days off at once.  I couldn’t really even explain why – how was I supposed to tell her I had to find a new job because I was worried one of my coworkers would kill me if I returned to the café?  Yeah, not the easiest conversation.  I had to tell her I needed to take care of personal stuff.  She was worried, but didn’t stop me.

     “Just let us know if you need any help, okay, Riven?  You know we’ll be happy to help if we can,” she said just before I ended the call.

     I closed my eyes as I replaced the receiver.  That was…kind of her, but untrue.  Untrue because her husband, Tim, the other owner of the café, was one of them.  I hadn’t known when I got the job and only saw him a handful of times over the past five to six years – Molly mostly handled everything.  I’d thought about leaving when I’d realized what Tim was, but at the time I was desperate for any income and thought maybe it would work out anyway.  It had, surprisingly, since he was rarely there.  For almost six years.  But I didn’t dare tell her what was really going on because I knew that if Tim knew about me, he would be just as dangerous as the rest of them.  Maybe Molly, too, if she knew about him.  I had no idea and no plans to ever ask.  Plus, I suspected telling someone else that Honey and her siblings were them probably wasn’t something that was okay.

     Back in my apartment, I ate some instant noodles in cold water before laying out some clothes for the next day.  I would get up early, walk to the library, and start my job hunt.  Class was in the evening.  I should go to the school and withdraw from the class but I flinched at even the idea.  Maybe…maybe I could wait and just see if I got a job that would allow me to stay?  Maybe it would work out for the best?

     I knew that was unrealistic of me, but I fell to sleep anyway with hopes that maybe I could keep attending my class and working towards the degree that, to me, represented my only chance of ever living a safe, peaceful life.