A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop. 

Wringing her hands now on her lap, (f/n) couldn't meet the eyes of anyone at the table. She didn't want to be swayed into the decision by anyone else; she wanted to go over the options in her head even if she already had done so. The young woman bit her bottom lip, glad that it didn't have any cuts on it at the moment. If she had bit it two weeks ago, there would've been one since the creature had bit her there during one of his unwanted kisses. Such a memory made her mentally grimace.

With this decision, though, she could either save the boy and receive a chance away from the fate of having a child with the creature or she could deny the creature's deal, which probably would result in the boy dying. That would lead into a whole series of problems, and she still would have a child with the creature at some point in the future. Her whole midsection clenched horribly at the thought. Already, it was clear to her which was the better option even if failure meant agreeing to the creature's timing or living somehow more miserably.

"And, the excuse for the car?" She finally stared over to the creature. "What will that be? Someone stole it?"

The creature shrugged. "I suppose so. That part will be on your parents." He glanced over to the pair momentarily and noted their troubled expressions, which were for their daughter, not the car. His pale optics met her (e/c) ones again. "But, you're stalling. We need your decision before the kid wakes up."

Briefly, her eyes glanced over to the boy, and he was beginning to stir. She took a deep breath in before she exhaled and rewrapped her hands around her coffee cup. "Fine." The creature indicated for her to clarify more, but she knew that he already understood her answer. The jerk. "I accept your deal. When ..."

A grin spread across his lips, and it chilled her words to a stop. Her parents held their breath, their heart rates increasing along with their daughter's. "Then, we begin." He giggled before he stressed playfully and horrifyingly, "Go. One hour."

For a moment, her legs didn't move. "(F/n), move!" her mother couldn't help but yell. That seemed to wake the young woman up, and she bolted out of her chair, almost knocking it over in the process. The creature grinned even more as he watched her run off to her room.

"Take what money you need, (f/n)!" her father called out, and their daughter replied with a hurried hum. Her room door shut, and her parents looked back to the creature. "Can we help her pack?"

Giggling, the creature pointed over to the boy. "Well, you can, but I'd recommend you both to deal with him. Maybe, bring him downstairs where he can't see us. It'll let him doubt what he saw." The creature stood from his chair. "I have to work on packing. (F/n) and I will try to be quiet so that he doesn't hear." He pressed his left index nail to his lips. "Though, I'd let him sleep for as long as possible. One of you could start to remove evidence of your daughter and me while the other watches him."

Waving dismissively, he added, "Or, do what you two feel is best." His tone turned into a lower one. "But, I would like to return here with my pink flower and know that there aren't going to be outside people messing up our arrangement." The creature diverted his gaze away from them before he walked off to his shared room. He wondered what she was packing.

As he entered the room and closed the door behind him, her parents tried to relax some. "I'll deal with the boy; you start working on cleaning this place up," (m/n) answered. The older woman stood from her seat while her husband nodded.

"Do you need help carrying him down?" (d/n) asked, watching his wife go over to the kid and test how heavy he was. She struggled with lifting him up and out of the chair some, but she did get one of his arms over her shoulders. When she tried to lift him, however, she nearly dropped him. The kid stirred more.

"That'd probably be better," she tried to crack an amused smile to make the situation lighter, but she failed and reminded herself not to break down in worry. Her husband came over and lifted the boy up with ease. "Set him on the couch downstairs comfortably. I want him to sleep for at least the next hour."

"Agreed." He sighed and headed down the steps with his wife. "This is a nightmare," he proceeded to mumble. (M/n) rested a comforting hand on his left upper arm and smiled sadly but also hopefully. "But, this might be her only chance to get away from that thing and having a ..." Her father couldn't even bear to think of that. It chilled him horrendously.

"(F/n) can do it." He looked down to his wife as she forced a confident smile on her lips after her words. "She's handled him for longer than we have, and she's managed. She's also the only one who has escaped from him so many times and lived. Even Nick hasn't been as lucky in that as her."

"It's a whole ..."

"It might be a year," she spoke quietly so as not to wake the boy, "but she still can pull it off. We have to believe that she can and that she'll remain safe throughout it. Otherwise, we'll crumble and do something stupid."

"Right ..." Momentarily and at the bottom of the steps, he looked to (m/n). "After we clean up after them and deal with this kid, can we do something stupid?" She raised a brow. "Not follow our daughter. Something here."

Understanding, she smiled and nodded. "Margaritas and a marathon for some silly show on television, dear?" His (e/c) eyes lit up. "We do have work ..."

"Remember, it's something dumb." A giggle left her at that. "We deserve that after all of this sh*t."

"Fine, then it's set." She smiled up to her husband again before they both headed over to the couch. (D/n) set down the young teen on the couch before he kissed his wife upon the forehead and headed back upstairs. (M/n) seated herself on one of the chairs in the sitting area and relaxed into it. Her hands folded on her lap, and she released a sigh. "Don't worry," she repeated to herself softly to keep her nerves down, but she couldn't help but listen to the sounds of movement on the second floor. How she hated that d*mn thing.

(F/n) managed to locate an old backpack in her closet. She figured that it had to have been from middle school. The turquoise color of it was all worn, and there were a few dirt marks on it. At least, it smelled decent. Honestly, though, she couldn't remember what grade it had been from exactly. Her mind was focused on packing as much stuff as she needed and could into it before grabbing enough money and darting out of her home.

Clothes, passport, medical supplies, toiletries, some travel food snacks and money all went into the bag. Two of her heavy jackets and a pair of her boots went on her so that she didn't have to try and fit them into the backpack. She packed no phone, not needing the creature to track her somehow, but she brought her ID even though she had the unrealistic hope of never showing it to anyone. There was also the issue of getting a new car. Otherwise, it could be tracked down too by him, but if she went to another country, her parents' car wouldn't really be an issue.

Due to her busy state of mind, she barely registered that the creature had entered their ... her room. She noticed that he was there, but she couldn't be bothered by him. That only would slow her down, and she was admittedly thankful that he wasn't getting in her way. (F/n) noticed, though, that he found a navy blue duffel bag. He was stuffing it with his frozen food from the freezer and non-frozen from the fridge. Multiple ice bags went in also.

When she finished, she about dashed out of her room; however, her whole body was ripped back by a sudden tug on her left arm. She looked back and met the creature's stare. "What? I need to get going!" Her tone was harsh. Just what was he doing? An amused giggle parted from him before he pulled her closer.

"Stop struggling." She glared to him. "This will go faster." Reluctantly, she calmed down. He pressed her arm up against his chest before he leaned down. (F/n) moved her head back, but his left hand dropped the bag and rested behind her head. The young woman froze, not wishing to get sliced. A smirk formed on his lips at her compliance before he joined their lips together in a soft kiss.

Releasing her, a pleased hum left him. "I'm going to need to catch you fast. Otherwise, I'm going to miss that too much." He was greeted by an intense scowl, which made him giggle again. "So, you better run, my love."

His teasing tone unsettled her completely, and she nearly tripped over her own feet before she managed to leave her room. She closed the door behind her and hurried into her parents' room. Luckily, her father was in there, and he seemed prepared for her. In his right hand, there was quite a bit of cash. "I found whatever I could that was lying around our room in hiding for emergencies." He sighed painfully and managed a small, saddened smile. "This is definitely one. It's four thousand. Take it." Immensely grateful, she hugged her father tightly before she thanked him, told him that she loved him, took the money and ran off in a hurry to lose the creature.