"Holy crap that was insane! My dad nearly shit himself." Alec and I laid back in my room after everyone had gone to bed, thinking Trey over here had gone home long ago. Trey.... I still think it's hilarious he used a fake name. But I would be lying if I said apart of me wasn't freaking out from the fact that something was dawning on my dad. He was trying so hard to figure out how he knew Alec. And that just put it all into perspective.

"Messing with him is easy. He couldn't figure me out at all. But just wait, I'm not done." We eyed one other, just mere inches apart on the bed with no barriers between us, our arms slightly touching in the dimly lit room that I thankfully cleaned the night before. I don't want to look like a slob thank you very much.

"I have to know everything Alec. I mean, there's a chance he took my best friend. Kyla.... If he did? I couldn't forgive him. She was the reason I crumbled so bad. I lost touch with reality and just lost it completely. I started failing school, I just didn't care anymore. And he took you...." My eyes welled with tears from the mere thought of what went on when that happened, knowing I lived with this monster all these years. He's truly a stranger. And I won't stop until we bring him to justice.

"You didn't know Sal..... you were just a kid." But I felt horrible about it regardless. He was so good at hiding everything from us. We all thought my mom was the bad guy here. She's got nothing on him. All I could do was nuzzle into Alec's arms, his embrace feeling so warm and cozy around my tiny frame, resting my hand firmly on his chest, I felt safe. Home. Truly home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{The Next Morning}
"Honey?! I'm taking Conner to school soon. I love you." I jumped up from the mere sound of my mom screaming through my closed door, noting that Alec was no longer in the bed with me. He must have left earlier in the morning, lacing my blanket around me and neatly placing me on my pillows to actually sleep peacefully. I felt refreshed for the first time in a long time.

"Okay! I love you!" I found it hard to even be mad at my mom anymore, especially with everything going on. Imagine when she finds out.... It'll break her. I just laid there for a while after she left.

Ding..... Ding.....

My phone suddenly went off, knowing it was Alec, I smiled down at the lit up screen in front of me.

Alec the Attic Dweller:
Come up stairs! Someone's outside getting lovey dovey with your mom.

I practically flung some clothes on and tied up my hair in a loose bun before bolting out of my room and running up the stairs, being met with Alec waiting for me by the open window, a gentle breeze flowing in.

"I bet I know who it is...." Her affair. The asshole she almost ruined everything for. Great mom. Just when I was starting to come around. But before the thought could really sink in, we snuck out onto the roof to see exactly what was going on. Only it didn't look like mom was too thrilled to see him. She was upset.

"My kids are in the house Ron. I can't do this." He placed his hands on both of her arms trying to draw her into a hug, but a forced one at that. And I saw red. There was a sunflower mug my mom had been missing for a while just sitting up here, knowing it was Alec judging by the used cigarettes within it. But I didn't care. I grabbed for it, just as Alec did at the same time and we lost control of it, flinging it together off the roof and right onto Ron's head. My eyes widened from the sight of blood oozing from the gash, Alec and I bolting back through the window before my mom could have a chance to see us.

"Did you guys just throw a mug at his head?!" I shushed Mindy before closing the window, hearing Ron and my mom coming into the house to likely clean his wounded head.

"Shit! I..... I didn't mean to. I was so pissed. We both grabbed for it. We lost it. And it happened to fall on him." Alec and I just looked at one another, before sitting down on the bed with a thud, my hands shaking a bit. What if he dies? But Alec grabbed my hands quickly, soothing me a bit.

"It's okay Sal. He kinda deserves it. He was forcing himself on your mom. She was pissed off. We did her a favor." I took a deep breath, before nodding my head in agreement. He did deserve it. He's a sleaze ball. Sleeping with a married woman. And what's even worse? Is he's the husband of her used to be best friend.

"You're right. You know what? Fuck him." We both smiled in humor at one another, seeing Mindy still in disbelief over the entire matter. She was always panicking about something. Eventually it would be her downfall. But I like her. She's becoming a friend to me.

"We can't stay here anymore Alec. This is getting too dangerous." His head practically whipped around to look at Mindy, a look showing on his face i'd never seen before. He was furious.

"We're staying Mindy. We'll be fine." She simply sighed in annoyance, before stalking off to the hidden room they usually sleep in, leaving Alec and I alone.

"I'm not leaving you Sal. I swear. I'm not done anyway." I softly placed my hands on both sides of his face, before placing my lips against his and I just lost myself in the bliss of the moment. Never have I ever craved someone so much in my entire life. And I wasn't about to lose him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Later That Night}

With his frog mask on and usual dark attire, Alec bound through the house as quietly as possible, following closely behind my dad as he trapped him. His plan was always to torture my dad. And it was going perfectly. Conner's hamster was set free by me as a little distraction, seeing as Conner wasn't home for the night. And well, we kind of drugged Mindy to knock her out for bit. Dad's sleeping pills came in handy.

"What are you doing out of your cage?" He followed so closely behind until the trail led to Conner's open closet, seeing Alec slam the door shut and lock him in so fast, he was taking absolute pleasure in this moment. And so was I. You see, we found out what happened. We know what he's capable of.

"Conner?! Let me out okay? This isn't funny." Alec leaned his head against the closet door with his eyes closed, memories clearly flooding back to him. This had happened to him because of my dad. And I hated him for it. I really did. What brought this on, was not only payback. But because of something Mindy told me earlier. Mindy went to the basement to get their big backpack she had hidden when they first arrived in the house. And when she did, she saw Ron practically out of his mind from blood loss just stumbling around looking at everything in sight. But the shocker? Was when my dad suddenly entered the basement and killed Ron by hitting him over the head with a baseball bat. He's killing to kill. He's getting off on it. And I can't do this anymore. We have to stop him. Even if he is my dad. And even if Ron is a creep

"What's going on??" My moms yelling voice quickly approaching the upstairs had Alec and I hurrying to hide under Conner's bed, tucking my body close to Alec. Our faces mere inches apart, he slowly pulled his mask back on as if it was a protective barrier. But his hands stayed firmly around my body. She let him out of the closet and then the moment was forgotten as fast as it happened. But the immense fun it was to do it was thrilling.

"Alec....? I'm with you on this. I'm not backing out. And you can't make me." He slowly removed the mask once everyone had gone. His teary eyes sent a shock of pain right through my heart. We were in too deep now to let this go.