"We can't forget Baxter!" Thomas exclaimed quietly. Harper and her siblings were all in Harper's old bedroom, since it was the easiest way to get to the roof.

"Baxter? Who's that?" Harper asked, shoving Bailey's bag on the roof.

"After you left, Hayden found an abandoned puppy. Bailey bought it a collar, and now he's ours. Mom doesn't know he's here."

"Don't worry, Harper," Bailey spoke up, " He was obviously tame, and he doesn't bark often. "

"Where have you been keeping him?" Harper questioned.

"The basement. " Hayden replied with a smile, "After you left mom decided it was too scary to be in there."

Harper frowned for a moment before smiling, "Okay. Bailey, you help the twins into the roof. I'll get Baxter." Bailey nodded, and Harper slipped back through the window and down the stairs.

Harper never really liked the basement, but she used to live being there with her dad. Sure, it may have been scary to her when she was 7, but at least her dad was there to protect her from whatever dangers her young mind came up with. After he left, she stopped going down there, not because she was afraid, but because it brought back to many depressingly happy memories.

Pushing the door open, Harper's hair flew back slightly as the cold draft from the basement blew up towards her. Shivering both from the air and from a sliver of fear in her, she stepped forward onto the wooden step. The staircase was surrounded in darkness, each step creaking as she stepped on them. Carefully she made her way down until her feet hit solid concrete. Feeling around in the black, she felt along the walls for a while before finding a light switch, which she flipped.

As soon as light started to fill the room, she silently leaped up the stairs and pulled the door shut, keeping the light from escaping down the hall. Sighing, she walked back down the stairs into the still unfinished basement. The walls were just frames, and three light bulbs hung from the ceiling by their wires.

A soft bark drew Harper's attention below the stairs. Cautiously, she moved towards the sound, relaxing when she saw a small, energetic puppy looking up at her with large brown eyes. Smiling, Harper bent over and pet the small dog before slowly picking it up, which it let her do willingly.

Turning off the light, Harper carefully made her way back up the stairs. Baxter's nails dug into the shoulder of her shirt, but she ignored it and opened the door. Cautiously, she walked as silently as possible back to her room, keeping one hand clamped around the puppy's mouth. When she reached the room, she held Baxter up for Bailey to take before sliding the window shut and pushing herself up into the roof.

"Listen," Harper started, "Once we leave there's no going back. You all understand that, right?" Harper kept in a sigh as her siblings nodded, "Alright. There's one more thing. If you go with me, you might... there's a chance you could die..." She looked down at her feet, "And I don't want that to happen. Not again."

"What do you mean 'again', Harp? " Bailey asked slowly.

"First of all, please don't call me Harp. Secondly... we can't live with dad."

"Why not? " Hayden asked, "Does he not want all of us there?"

Harper looked up at Bailey and met the highschooler's eyes, "He's... busy. But there's a really nice lady that lives in a town close to where dad... where dad now lives."

Bailey seemed to get what Harper was hinting at and looked over at the twins, "Well, I don't care how many people come after us, or if we're living on the streets, as long as we're together. Cause we're family. " Thomas vigorously nodded and Hayden grabbed Harper's hand.

Harper smiled sadly, "You might be singing a different song when you figure out everything."

" We won't." Thomas insisted, "Come on! Let's get away from here! "

Harper nodded and took Baxter from Bailey. Carefully, she walked across the top of the roof until she reached the end above her mother's room. In front of her was a large, fairly bare tree. Carefully she grabbed a thick branch and grabbed on with her free hand, kicking her legs around the branch and using them to pull herself up. Making her way down slowly, she set Baxter down on the ground before making her way back up. She repeated the pattern, helping her two younger brothers down the tree and pulling Bailey onto the branch.

When she reached the ground a final time, Baxter ran frantically around Harper's ankles a few times before doing the same to the others. "We should go," Harper said. The others nodded and Baxter jumped up, causing Harper to smile as they ran off together under the stars.

Story word count: 816

Sorry this was a shorter chapter. I just couldn't think of anything else to add. On a different note, I think we're approaching the end of the story! (Note the word think) So... Yeah.

Also, I realized as I was writing that I never actually showed pictures for what everyone looks like... If you guys would like them, I'll make the pictures for Harper, Bailey, Thomas and Hayden, and Holiday the headers for the next chapters.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to up date either tomorrow or the day after! See y'all later!!