Suddenly, Ryan hears a loud scream coming from the outhouse. He turns around and runs over, just in time to see Mal struggling to remove the knife from the girl's grip.

“NO! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!! I NEED IT!!” Mary-Anne tries to jab the knife at her adoptive father, the slices that he had just made on her arms bleeding through her shirt.

Ryan catches the girl, holding her close to his chest and restricts her arms from flailing gently. “Mary-Anne, give me the knife.”

The girl struggles, “NO! YOU'LL JUST USE IT ON ME AGAIN!!”

Her uncle gently and efficiently removes the knife and sits down with the girl held close to him on his lap. “No. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

She trembles violently, but stops screaming and flailing. “Please don't make me go to the doctor again. Please…”

Tanith runs up, panting heavily. “Woah… Ry, how'd you do that?”

He narrows his eyes at her. “By being gentle. Do not tell me you've never tried it.”

She stammers. “Every time I get near her she attacks me.”

Her step-brother shakes his head, “Then I need to take her with me.”

The girl starts struggling against him. “I don't need to go to a mental institution!”

Ryan sighs, “It is not a mental institution. It is a place where kids can be away from stressful environments with safe people.”

Mary-Anne looks up at him, “I’m not sure I want to go…”

“We are like a big family there, Mary-Anne. We take care of each other.” He gently strokes her hair, and she relaxes slightly.

She sighs, “You won't let me have a knife, will you.”

He shakes his head, “I do not know yet.”

“But… you won't force me to come or stay?” Mary-Anne winces as she tries to pull away from him. “Can you let me go? I won't run.”

He glances at her sadly, releasing her slowly. She takes a few quick steps away from the adults, but stops. “Mary-Anne, I am here until tomorrow. Will you think about it?”

The girl bites her lip. “Y..yes. I'll think about it.” Tanith glares mildly at her, and she flushes. “I'm going to go clean up my arms. I'll be in the lean-to.”

Ryan narrows his eyes at the Kellers, then follows the girl. “Mary-Anne, what is going on here?”

She stiffens, “Not much. We live in the woods.”

“Why are you afraid of the doctor?” He stops her, and she pales.

Mary-Anne looks down. “I need to clean my arms.” She pulls away from him.

He sighs, “Would you allow me to assist you?”

The girl closes her eyes, pausing with her hand on the door of the lean-to. “I… I don't…”

He sighs, opening the door of his truck and grabbing a first aid kit. “Unless you tell me otherwise, I have to assume that you made those cuts.”

She nods, opening the door into the lean-to. “I understand. You… you can come in. But wait until I have a shorter sleeved shirt on?”

Ryan nods, “Tell me when you are ready.”

“I need to get out of here.” She whispers as she closes the door behind her. He stares after her as his ears pick up the Kellers arguing.

“We can't let him take her, Mal!” Tanith has ditched her kind act, figuring her step brother is out of hearing.

Mal sighs. “If she wants to go, what do we do? Refuse?”

The woman groans. “No, that would be too suspicious.” She sighs, “But I'm so close with the serum. It's almost complete!”

“She did show positive signs in the last test.” Mal thinks for a moment. “I'm sure we can get her back if she goes.”

Ryan snaps back to the present as the girl opens the door shyly. “Don’t mind the mess… I don't usually have company in here.”

He steps in, just able to stand once inside. There's a thin mattress on the dirt floor that's covered by a thin blanket and a small pillow. The walls are painted in bright colours, pictures of trees and cats that almost look realistic.

The mess she's referring to is most likely the stains everywhere, and the pile of what looks like rags in the corner. It even seems like she tried to tidy up a bit before letting him in.

Ryan looks at her arms, the cuts bleeding badly. “Mary-Anne, I think you need stitches.”

She pales, backing away until she hits the wall then crumples down onto her bed. “No… no needles.”

He eyes the dirty mattress apprehensively, then sits down next to her. “Mary-Anne, please come with me tomorrow.”

“Are you going to force me to go to a doctor?” She leans against him subconsciously, trembling. “I can't…”

He sighs, “If you let me stitch up your wounds, I will not force you to visit the doctor at the school.”

Mary-Anne sighs, sitting up again. “No syringes?”

“You would rather not have pain medication?” He stares at her. “I thought you were afraid of the pain.”

She shakes her head. “Pain I can handle… I've stitched myself up in the past. It's… trusting someone else to…”

He places a hand on her head. “I will not take advantage of you.”

The girl stiffens. “I… I can do it myself.”

“If you let me, I will not ask you to let me touch you again.” He gently lifts one of her arms to a place where he can see it better. “Do the Kellers hurt you?”

“No. My fear comes from before I was here.” She bites her lip, looking away from his gaze. “I… if you won't inject me with anything… I'll let you clean them…”

He sighs, “I don't want to hurt you.”

She smiles bravely. “I doubt you could. I'm pretty numb to pain at the moment.”

Ryan stares at her. “Yet you were screaming that I would use a knife on you?”

She blushes, “Fuck… I said that?”

He stares at her. “Yes… and careful with that language.”

Mary-Anne winces. “I guess I was having a flashback…”

“Want to share about it?” He gets the answer he's expecting when she shakes her head and looks away.

He sighs, pulling a small stitches kit from the first aid bag. “That… that's a pretty well stocked first aid kit.”

“The medical officer at the school made it up for me.” Ryan grimaces as he pulls out some cleaning solution.

The girl's eyes widen and she pulls away a little. “I really don't like being touched…”

“I will not harm you.” He gently takes her hand, looking at the cuts. “These are very deep…”

She mutters something he doesn't catch. Her arm flinches as he starts to clean the wounds gently. “If I do come with you… what does that entail?”

“You would have a bedroom with an attached private bathroom in my trailer. You will be expected to take part in the classes, and you need to talk to one of our counselors at least once a week.”

She stiffens, “I can't… talk about it.”

He glances at her, “Are you sure you do not want pain medication?”

Mary-Anne nods fearfully, her eyes squeezing shut as he begins to stitch up her arm. “I can't talk to a counselor!”

“You don't have to talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable. All you need to do is have one half-hour conversation once a week.” He keeps his eyes on the delicate work he's doing. “Mary-Anne, what do you normally stitch your wounds with?”

She shakes her head. “You'll get mad…”

He sighs, “I doubt that.”

“I unravel threads from my blanket… and use a small needle I stole from Tanith.”

Ryan hums thoughtfully. “How often does this happen?”

She hisses in pain, “Too often. Agh, please stop!”

He winces, “Jewell…”

The girl's eyes jolt open and she stares at him. “Nobody's called me that in ages…”

“I'm almost done, I promise. Are you going to be okay?” He finishes the first cut, and gets a clean needle and thread.

She pales, “Really… I'm fine. I can do it.”

Ryan cleans the next cut again, and Mary-Anne almost starts crying. He grimaces, “Please let me give you something for the pain…”

“Just finish already!” She growls through clenched teeth. He hurries through the process, although it still seems painstakingly slow.

When he's sewn up all the cuts, he sighs. “May I please have my medical officer look these over? Just like this. I can even sit in if you don't feel comfortable?”

Mary-Anne's yellow eyes widen and she begins to struggle. “No! No doctors!”

Ryan blinks at the sharp reaction. “Okay, okay Jewell, no doctors. Calm down.”

She tenses again, “Why do you always call me Jewell?”

“Because Mary makes you tense in fear, and if anyone calls you Anne or Annie you become violent.” He looks around again. “Why are you not in a bedroom?”

The girl shrugs. “I prefer it out here.”

“I would appreciate it if you would stop lying.” Ryan strokes her hair gently.

She shakes her head tiredly, “I'm not. It's better than listening to them go at it all night long. The Kellers never sleep.”

The man raises an eyebrow. “Mary-Anne, you do not have to protect them.”

“I'M NOT!” The girl pushes him away, standing quickly. “Just.. All my stuff is in that backpack, because I think they were expecting you to suggest me going with you.”

Ryan's eyes widen slightly, “Mary-Anne, do you want to come?”

She flinches slightly, “I don't want to go to a doctor, and I don't want to talk to counselors, but I would like to have.. a break.”

He nods, standing slowly. “Do you need another blanket?” The man glances angrily at the thin ragged sheet of fabric laying over the sheet of foam he assumes counts as a mattress.

She shakes her head. “N-no.. it's.. okay.  Doesn't get too cold at night this time of year.”

He winces sharply, thinking of how cold it must get surrounded by snow. “Jewell… You.. sleep out here all year round, don't you?”

The girl furrows her brow, turning away. “Just… go get set up in the guest bedroom, Uncle Ryan. I'm fine, I swear.”

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Sorry this is so short...