"What exactly are we looking for?" Kima asked Penny as she shifted another crate and scanned the area behind it. "A belt..." Penny admitted sheepishly, "A special belt..." Kima gave the girl a peculiar look, "A belt? What kind of belt?" Penny wrapped her arms about her waist and rubbed at her elbows, "It was purple silk with a gold star at one end and ties around the waist." She explained, Kima stared at the girl as she spoke making Penny feel uncomfortable and stupid for needing something so simple, "It... it is... special..." She stammered, as if the conversation was distressing the girl. Kima continued to search around the boxes, "Are you sure you lost it down here?" She inquired lightly. "I... I don't... know..." Penny began to tremble. She would occasionally glance around the basement from time to time as if she was expecting something to jump out at her. She clenched her arms tightly about her waist and kept close to Kima, "I... just..." She wiped at her eyes with the palm of her hand. Kima wiped the dust from her hands and patted Penny on the shoulder, "We will find it. Don't worry." She gave the girl a warm smile that seemed to settle Penny's nerves ever so slightly. Kima glanced up at the ceiling, "What about up there?" She inquired pointing up. Penny's eyes grew large with fear and she shook her head violently, "Not up there." She replied with a swallow, "We can't go up there. I was a bad girl and have to stay down here." She explained. "A bad girl?" Kima dropped her eyes back to the girl to study the girl's expression, "But could it be up there?" She inquired firmly. "I... I d.... don't know..." Penny could not take her eyes off the ceiling. Something up there scared the girl so badly that the mere idea of venturing up there caused her to be frozen with fear. Kima took Penny's hand and squeezed it lightly, causing Penny to look her way, "We'll go together." She offered, "I will protect you." Kima promised. Penny inspected the look in Kima's eyes, searching for some sign of the girl's true intent. Seeing nothing but concern in those eyes, Penny allowed herself to be gently pulled towards the stairs. ****** "Hello, I'm Sarah." The tall girl greeted Kim, she had long straight black hair that was tucked behind one ears, "What is your name?" She inquired as she led Kim towards the house. "Kimberly." Kim replied without hesitation, "Kimberly Harrison." She repeated. The two girls on the swing ran across the porch to greet Kim, "That's Caitlin" Sarah explained pointing to a girl that Kim guessed must have been eight or nine years old. "Hi." Caitlin said softly. Her hands hidden deep inside of her baggy jeans and she wore a long sleeved shirt covered her entire body, as if she were trying to hide from the sight of the world. Even the bangs of her short boyishly cut brown hair tried to hide the girl eye from view. Sarah then gestured to an even smaller girl hugging close to Caitlin's side, "and this is April." April gave a small smile. This girl could not have been over the age of six and had long wavy hair that fell over her shoulders and down her back. She wore a small yellow summer dress with many ruffles covering the hem, "She doesn't talk so you will have to forgive her." Sarah explained simply. "I don't like to talk much either." Kim remarked in a soft voice, and then gave the girl a soft smile. "Come on. I'll show you around." Sarah stated as she crossed the patio, "Amber will want to meet you. She likes to think she's the leader and likes to greet all the new girls to the home." "New girls?" Kim blinked and shook her head, "I'm not here to stay. I'm just looking for someone." Sarah cocked her head in confusion, "Then what's in the bag?" She inquired pointing at the suitcase at Kim's feet. "Huh?" Kim stared at the suitcase in disbelief. It was a pink canvas suitcase that came to her knees and had tiny wheels on one end and a strap on the other, which she held in her hand. She once had a suitcase just like this very one years before but she left it when she ran away from home... didn't she? "Come on." Sarah coaxed, "I'll help you with that if you like." Before Kim could reply Sarah picked up the suitcase and opened the large wooden door to the house. Reluctantly Kim followed Sarah into the house. The main hall was wide with a carpet rolled out down the middle of the wooden floors. There was a lobby off to the left, which had a few chairs set near a large window and a strange staircase that wrapped around three walls of the room. Kim's eyes drifted along the red wood polished hand railing to the second floor. Sarah placed Kim's case at the foot of the stairs, "Our room is up there, but first you must meet Amber." Excitedly Sarah took Kim's hand and gently pulled her down the hall. Kim took a glimpse behind her to see Caitlin and April following a bit of a distance behind them, curiously watching the new arrival to their home. "This is the living area and where we study." Sarah explained as they entered a large room with three couches set in a circle in front of a large stone fireplace. A large oval rug took up the middle of the room with a girl curled up in front of the fire, "Amber, we have a new member to the family." The girl got to their feet and moved around the furniture to get a better look at Kim. Amber was older then the others, maybe twelve or thirteen, and had short, extremely curly orange hair. Her face was covered in freckles that brought out her blue eyes even more. She was wearing a short blue dress and a white shirt that looked old and not quite her size. "Hi, I'm Amber. Nice to meet you." Amber greeted as she stopped before Kim and scanned the girl then gave a warm smile, "Nice to have another redhead in the house." She blinked at Kim and moved in closer, making Kim nervous, "I love your eyes." She said in awe of the red colour in Kim's eyes. "Ahhh... Thanks..." Kim stammered she was not sure what to take of her situation. Where could she be and who's dream this could be? Amber noticed Kim's damp clothes, "You must be cold in those clothes." She remarked glancing down to Kim's muddy feet. "Did you walk here by yourself? Barefoot?" Kim looked down at her feet in embarrassment, "Uhhh... I... I'm sorry..." She apologized observing her muddy footprint on the floor. "No problem. We'll clean it up." Amber reassured the girl then turned to Sarah, "Sarah, would you help her with a bath then show her to her room, alright." Sarah slipped her hand into Kimberly's, "Come on. I'll show you to our room." She led Kim back to the stairs and picked up Kim's suitcase before heading to the second floor. At the top of the stairs was a long narrow hall with several doors to either side. Sarah opened the first door to the left, "This is our room." Sarah remarked as she passed through the door and held it open for Kim, "I've got the top bunk, but if you want to join me you can." She offered as Kim entered the room. The room was small with a single window upon the far wall; a mattress lay in the middle of the floor and a bunk bed against the left wall. There were two doors to either side of a small dresser on the right wall and many stuffed toys scattered throughout the room. One such toy caught Kim's eyes right away, an old ragged stuffed raccoon with grey fur and black eyes. She stooped down to pick up it up, something about the stuffed animal held a familiar air too it. It looked well loved and for some reason Kim felt compelled to hold onto it. "I'll fill the tub for you." Sarah offered, dropping Kim's case next to the closer of the two doors. Upon opening the door Kim could see a tiny washroom with a tub, toilet and sink with a square mirror above it. There was a second door in the room that Kim suspected lead back into the hall. Sarah crossed the little room and turned on the water then picked up a brush as she returned to Kim. "The tub takes forever to fill." She explained disappointedly as she patted the brush in the palm of her hand, "How're you liking it here?" She inquired as she sat upon the lower bunk to watch the girl. "It's nice." Kim replied, still unsure what she was doing in the house, "A little big, but nice." She hugged the raccoon close to her, partly hiding her face behind its fur. "You'll get used to it. Everyone here is really nice." Sarah frowned a little, "Well almost everyone." She muttered under her breath. "Huh?" Kim cocked her head in curiosity of what the girl had said. "Nothing." Sarah remarked and then forced herself to smile, "By the way I love you hair. It's so beautiful. Can I brush it?" She inquired, waving the large soft bristled brush in her hand, "We don't want you to get tangles do we?" "I... I guess..." Kim agreed. "Come here then." Sarah patted the bed beside her and curled her legs under herself. Kimberly hesitated for a moment, "A... alright." She finally agreed and moved across the room to sit in front of the girl. Sarah reached out and brushed a lock of Kim's damp hair over the girl's shoulders, "You really have beautiful hair." She stated as she pulled all of Kim's hair onto her back, "I wish I could have hair as red as yours, not orange like Amber's. Real fiery red." She said in admiration. Kim nervously smiled, "It's nothing special." She admitted sheepishly. "Oh no, it isn't." Sarah disagreed, "I mean it, it really is lovely." She began to gently run her fingers through Kimberly's hair to remove any knots, "So soft and silky. I could run my fingers through it all day." Kimberly felt a twinge of worry in the pit of her stomach at Sarah's comments. The worry quickly melted away as Sarah's fingers brushed against the back of her neck and she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the feeling of the girl's fingers through her hair and across the back of her head. The sensation caused her to shivered slightly and nervousness began to build inside her mind. She tried to force her body to stop reacting to the girl's touch but every time Sarah's fingers moved over her hair she could feel herself becoming weak and wanting Sarah to touch her more. She closed her eyes tight to block them out the intensifying desires. "Are you alright?" Sarah inquired, noticing the girl's tension in her muscles, "Does my touch bother you?" She worriedly asked. "N... no..." Kim shakily replied as she tried to hold off another shiver and took a deep breath, "I am fine." She said with a swallow. "A... alright..." Sarah once again stroked Kim's hair, this time with slight hesitation. Kimberly bit at her lip as she tried to force herself not to shiver; the girl was simply brushing her hair after all. She clenched at the raccoon as she felt her heart pound within her chest with ever stroke of the girl's fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes and tried to hide her blush behind the stuffies head. This was not like her; Kima was the one who got turned on by a simple touch. She should not be reacting in this way; she had control over her feelings, she did not need intimacy, she was stronger than this. Her lips quivered as she felt a longing for much more then simple touch, an aching Kim had not felt in a long time filled her being and she quivered in anticipation of more. She struggled with her emotions, feeling tears well up in her eyes and she was about to ask the girl to stop when she felt her the girl's hands run across her back to her neck. "Let me help you out of those wet clothes." Sarah suddenly proposed as she moved Kim's hair to the side and unzipped Kim's dress. "W... wait!!" Fear overtook Kim's desires and she quickly spun around, placing her back to the wall. She stared at Sarah in confusion wondering why the girl would try to remove her clothes, "What are you doing?" She frantically asked as she held her dress in place by the shoulders. "Did I do something wrong?" Sarah inquired with a puzzled look upon her face, "I was just trying to help." Kim glanced around the room as she chewed on her lips, "I... I...." Kim fumbled with the zipper trying to pull it back up, "I need to go." She stated nervously, finally getting the zipper back up and getting to her feet, "I don't belong here." "Kim Wait!!" Sarah jumped to her feet and quickly grabbed the girl by the arm. "Don't run!" Kim struggled against the girl's grip, "Please let me go!" She cried, "Please." Panic filled Kim's heart, she wanted nothing more to do with this house and it's temptations. She needed to leave, needed to run as fast as her legs could carry her. Sarah pulled the squirming girl back into the room and they both fell to the mattress on the floor, "I'm not going to hurt you." Sarah stated as she struggled to keep the redhead from breaking free, "Will you hold still?" Sarah demanded. Kim slowly felt her strength weakening against the girl, "Leave... me... alone..." She panted, still trying to free herself from the girl's arms. "You don't understand." Sarah tried to explain, "I just want to help you." Suddenly Kim wrenched her arms free of the girl and quickly crawled out of the door, slamming it shut behind her. She leaned against the door for a moment as she tried to regain her breath. She needed to escape this place she did not belong here. She started to head for the stairs when she heard a muffled sound from down the hall. The hall was gloomier than before and Kim noticed by the window at the end of the hall that the sun had just set. This did not ease the girl's heart one bit and she wanted even more to flee when she again heard the noise, the sound of a small voice calling out. "H... hello?" Kim softly called out, unsure if she really wanted a response. "help..." A thin voice cried out. There was panic in the voice that made Kim fight her own fear and she took a tentative step down the hall, "Hello?" She called out again, "Where are you?" She glanced from one side of the hall to the other. It was dark and there were too many doors too choose from. With each step Kim took it appeared that the hall was growing larger and the walls almost towering over her. Her eyes darted around in search for any sign of where the person could be and her ears perked up for the slightest sound. "..pleeaasse..." The voice sobbed, "Let me go..." the voice pleaded to someone that Kim could not see. Kim crept up to one of the doors at the end of the hall and placed her ear to the door. She could hear the sounds of scuffing and sobbing from behind the door. Summoning all her courage Kim grabbed hold of the handle and turned it, finding the door unlocked. She took a deep breath and prepared to open the door, "There is nothing to fear behind the door." Kim tried to convince herself, "Just a girl in need of help." She added. Screams of terror drifted through the door and Kim felt she could no longer just stand there doing nothing. She pushed all her fear aside and shoved the door open. The room was dim for there were dark curtains covering the windows. In the centre of the room was an old mattress that was yellow with stains. Atop of the mattress was a small child struggling under a pile of stuffed animals. At first Kim was confused by what she was seeing. Why would someone be afraid of stuffed toys? Then saw one of the toys move and another. Kim watched in horror as the plushies tore at the little girl's clothes. The girl screamed from under the pile as several toys held the girl's hair and shoulders, pinning the girl to the mattress. The girl spotted Kim and reached out to her, "H... help..." She pleaded through a river of tears. The pure terror in the girl's eyes snapped Kim out of her daze and she rushed at the pile of toys, "GET AWAY FROM HER!!" She screamed, kicking several of the stuffies off the girl. She wildly swung her arm over the girl knocking more toys to the floor. Not hesitating Kim grabbed the girl by the arm, pulling her off of the mattress and out of the room, and then quickly slamming the door behind her. The girl clung to Kimberly sobbing. Kim examined to girl to find that most of her dress had been torn away leaving only tatters hanging limply around her small frame. She was trembling as she rubbed at the tears the flowed from her eyes. "You are safe now." Kim stated with more confidence then she felt. Kim blinked at the girl for a moment and scanned her face, "Jessica?" She inquired through a fog of confusion. Kim could hardly believe her eyes. The girl must have been only ten years old and had long straight brown hair that flowed down her back, but Kim would know that face anywhere. The girl stopped sobbing and stared at Kim, "Y... yes..." She replied, "H... how do you know my name?" ***** To be Continued . . .
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