Sorry for the incredibly long wait, my beta did a runner on me so I have been waiting for her to come back, but anywaaaay, continue.

Molly was having yet another argument with Evan. This seemed to happen more and more the longer her mum was lying lifeless in a hospital bed.

She was living with Evan now, in his house, just them two together, alone, all the time. She did love Evan, somewhere deep down. But it was getting harder to find it when he followed her around and doted on her. It was fine to start with, but he didn't seem to get the hint that his overbearing presence was highly irritating to her. It didn't help that every time she saw him it reminded her that she didn't have her Dad here to look after her and she didn't have a Mum that could wake up from her own stupid coma.

Right now it was nine pm and Evan was trying to get her to convince her it was bedtime. Molly had different ideas.

"Molls, time for bed come on." She gritted her teeth, only her Mum called her that. She remained silent. "Molly." He warned. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Then don't say it again." She snapped, keeping her eye on the computer.

"Turn it off." She ignored him. "Don't ignore me Molly.

"Leave me alone."

"Molly..."

"Evan."

"Don't make me pull the plug out."

"Don't make me pull the plug out." She mimicked.

"Right, that's it..." She stood up.

"That's what? What are you going to do EVAN?" She screamed.

"Molly calm down..."

"NO I WILL NOT BLOODY CALM DOWN." He reached out to pat her shoulder. "DON'T TOUCH ME. YOU'RE NOT MY DAD." Hurt broke onto his face and she felt slightly bad but she couldn't help the tirade of abuse coming from her mouth. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, I DON'T NEED YOU, OR YOUR HOUSE, OR YOUR PRESENTS, OR YOUR FUCKING SYMPATHY!" She pushed past him and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She would feel bad about it later, she had well and truly done it this time but all she could do was cry herself to sleep, like she did every night.

Molly was in her hallway. Not Evan's, this was her hallway in her house.
"Mum..." Molly ran into the living room, but she wasn't there. She wasn't in the dining room or the kitchen or the utility room or the bathroom or in Molly's bedroom. There was only one place left to look, her bedroom. Molly held her breath as she pushed the door open slowly.

She pushed the door lightly so it slowly creaked to reveal her Mum's pale and empty room. Her eyes were drawn to the big white double bed in the centre of the vacant room. Before she knew what she was doing she crashed onto the soft sheets.
The entire bed smelt of her Mum, her perfume, her shampoo and her mumsy smell that combined with a comforting pair of arms was her safe haven, a place to hide. But now there was nothing, nowhere to escape to, only the bare bed that smelt faintly of her mother.

She moved up the bed the scent of hairspray pulling her to the pillows. As she laid her head on the pillow it seemed to emit a big cloud of the fragrance. Molly gasped at the strength of pain that shot through her chest. Every fibre in her chest seemed to be collapsing in on itself and her heart was slowly breaking under the pressure.

Tears streaked down her face as she tried to stem them with the pillow and she felt something lumpy digging into the side of her head. She reached under the soft pillow to find the source and she found a leg.

When she pulled at the furry limb until the owner revealed itself. A small, faded bear with matted fur. In his glassy eyes she saw her own puffy ones reflected back at her.

Her tears seemed to have slowed down to the occasional escapee that ran down her face towards their freedom.

Exhausted from her emotional outlet, she slumped onto the bed surrounded by familiar smells and surroundings. As she closed her eyes she imagined her Mum was lying opposite her, that she was where she belonged and beaming healthiness. Not clinging onto life in a hospital bed, surrounded by humming monitors and drips attached to every vein in her body.

She imagined the feel of her Mum's arms encasing her in a warm embrace that could scare off any nightmare, or bully, or worry. Molly felt deep within that she was loved, something that she hadn't felt in such a long time and she didn't want to let go for fear that she would never find it again.

She attempted to pull her heavy lids apart, only to find they were sealed together with her tears, but they soon ripped apart when she heard a floorboard creak in the hall.

"Mum?"

As soon as the word left her lips she scolded herself on her own stupidity. It wasn't her mum. Her mum wasn't coming to cuddle her. Her mum wasn't coming back; she was gone, forever.

She buried her face back into the mottled fur of her mum's teddy.

"Molly..."

Molly was wrenched from her sleep with such force that she almost fell out of her bed.

No, not her bed. Evan's bed. In Evan's house. She wasn't back home and she certainly wasn't with her mum.

Her heart convulsed in pain and her already damp pillow was quickly becoming saturated. She had to press her face into her knees and hold onto her rib cage to stop the screams that she knew would escape if she didn't hold them in.

Her nails dug into her skin in the vain attempt to stop it from falling apart and exposing her battered heart to the world. Her teeth bit into her tongue until she tasted blood in her mouth. Her knees pressed themselves into her face until no air escaped.

She thought of the light burning sensation in her lungs and how her body began to relax until she floated peacefully into the darkness.

Next time Molly woke up, she wasn't in Evan's house or even her house, she was in a dark alleyway. Confused, she picked herself up and brushed the dirt off her pyjamas. Pyjamas that weren't there, she was wearing denim hot pants over black leggings and a baggy red jumper. Clothes that she didn't own.

Her pulse began to quicken as she realised she had no idea where she was, no idea how she got there and she wearing somebody else's clothes.

She saw the light at the end of the alleyway and ran for it. Her heart beating frantically and her breathing erratic. Her feet were pounding against the floor and the sound echoed up and down the suffocatingly small space. Something moved behind her and she stopped dead.

A footstep. Then another.

A rapist? A murderer? The person who brought her here? All three?

She was running again, adrenaline pumping through her body washing away any tiredness and pain she felt, desperate to escape the darkness she had been thrown into and make it to survive.

She made it. She was on a main road, with people, in broad daylight.

She was about to cross the road when a bright red car came squealing round the corner. Fine, she would wait for the driver with anger issues to go past before she crossed.

Some people, she thought shaking her head in dismay before she felt a shove from behind. She was stumbling, then in a flash of red she was flying, floating, crashing.

Then there was nothing, only the dark.

This chapter was hard to write and it didn't quite turn out the way I imagined, but I hope you guys enjoyed it...

Rachel xx