We go to bed as it's so late at night, or rather really early in the morning. The fact that Joshua is going with me back home gives me worrying form of comfort. He may be a liar and a strange, strange person, but at least he's living, breathing one.

The more the merrier, as they say.

I hate myself for that. He's a liar and a cheat and a bully. But he's my only ticket out of here.

It's amazing what a bit of hope can do to you. With that in mind, I'm able to sleep well, without any distractions and without nightmares. The only thing on my mind is the happy thought that I will be able to see Mum and Maisie again.

I wake up a lot later than usual the next morning. Joshua's calming voice in my ear and gentle hands on my shoulders force me to open my eyes. I turn round, groaning, arms tense, ready to fight him if need be.

"Wake up, Amelia," he says. "We need to start getting ready."

I mumble that he should leave me to dress in peace and I'm surprised when he does, shutting the door gently behind him. I stare up at the ceiling, making sure the footsteps recede fully, before gazing around at all the David Bowie posters he has on the walls. I wonder if he was a fan of David Bowie, or if someone else in his family was. I know Dad liked him and had at least twenty records lying around in a box somewhere.

I eventually get up and put some clothes on. I change into the ones that I was wearing when I arrived, as Joshua washed them a few days ago and they're clean. I breathe in the soothing lavender scent of the washing powder. It relaxes me.

Joshua's head pokes around the door. He sees me pressing hem of my shirt to my nose and does a double take.

"What are you doing?"

I pull away, alarmed. "Wha... Um. I was just... smelling..."

His smile is wide. "Smelling your shirt? No, that doesn't sound strange at all!"

I feel hurt by his sarcasm. "But it smells nice!"

He lifts his own shirt to his nose before taking a long and dramatic sniff. His eyes are twinkling teasingly. "Oh, I just love the smell of Joshua's body odour."

I try not to roll my eyes.

"C'mon," he says, smiling. "Let's go downstairs. I need you to help pick what food we want to bring."

I follow him down to the kitchen in earnest. The paintings of the flowers don't look so scary anymore. They look beautiful now and I can't help wondering to myself why I felt so afraid of them before. They're just bits of canvas with swirling images of nature's beauty.

When I get to the kitchen, Joshua is already pulling things from the fridge and setting them down on the table. I glance over to the sorts of things he's laid out.

I see cold meats, sandwiches and general left-over stuff. Next to them, he's placed a few tins and cans of dried fruit and canned vegetables too. I almost smile to myself. I wonder where he keeps the tins because I spent at least ten minutes trying to hunt them down last night with no success.

He places the last packet of cheese from the fridge onto the table.

"There," he says, looking satisfied. "That's all the food that won't go off within a week."

I take in the whole thing with greedy eyes. The collection of food nearly fills up the grand, oak table.

He follows my gaze to the mountain of heaven below.

"That's a lot of food, huh?"

I nod in reply.

Suddenly, he jerks his head in the direction of the backpack on the floor. "Hand that to me and I'll fill it up for you. You go upstairs and bring down the lavender deodorant. It's on the shelf in your room."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

He shows no sign of emotion. "Just do it."

So, while he's plucking packets of yummy things downstairs and throwing them into my bag, I head back up a whole level and enter the room where I've spent the last few days. The deodorant is sitting on the shelf. I pick it up and give it a vigorous shake. The liquid inside splashes around, telling me there's at least some left for a few uses.

I head back down, can in hand. Joshua hands me the full bag in exchange for the deodorant. The weight of the sack is so much heavier than I anticipated.

"Sorry," he says. "Is it too heavy?"

"No," I reply a bit too weakly.

He, like me, shakes the can vigorously and then proceeds to spray a huge amount all over his body. The scent of lavender is overwhelming.

He grins when I start coughing. "Now I smell nice too."

It takes ages for all the lavender smell to go away. We have to open all the windows and eventually the front door until all the scent is gone. It still surprises me how there isn't a cold blast of wind from outside to welcome us.

When we're sure that everything's ready, we close all the windows and all the doors and all the curtains, before heading to the front door.

"Wait!" Joshua exclaims and that makes me stop dead in my tracks.

"What?" I ask.

"Wait here. Don't move."

I watch as he races up the stairs. There's a part of me that wants to bolt from the house - I have a rucksack full of food. What would stop me from leaving?

But I think about his joke with the lavender deodorant. And that's the only thing that keeps me from running. The stupid smell of lavender.

I realise I've taken his words literally and haven't moved an inch. He races down the stairs and I notice something small and black in his hands.

"What's that?" I ask.

In reply, he places it into my hands. I look down to see the gun sitting there, looking like a gothic thing from the movies.

I'm speechless but Joshua seems to understand because he gives me a curt nod before grabbing it and stuffing it into his pocket.

"Hey!" I protest.

"Let me take care of it," he says, eyes searching mine. "I know how to use it."

Okay, I think, not creepy at all.

I turn round, looking at the door. It has similar patterns to ones on the door of my own house. But, this one is red instead of white.

Joshua reaches for the handle and tugs the door open. Outside, birds are singing creative tunes. I stop for a minute to listen to them.

Then, with a last look back into the house, I close the door shut.