Ana's eyes snapped open.

Once Roy had proven that he wasn't going to do anything unsavory, she tried to act relaxed, hoping he would fall asleep quickly. Although she had no intention of going to sleep herself, the blood loss must have made her tired because her eyes had slowly drifted closed. But the sound of a car pulling up the drive only fifteen minutes later startled her back into an alert presence of mind.

Roy must have heard it too because he sat up, body tense.

"Who is it?" Ana whispered, even if it was against her better judgement to speak to him. The headlights from the car shone brightly through the slatted blinds.

"I don't know," he said faintly, clearly distracted by the disturbance. "Stay here." He slipped out of bed, creeping towards the window that faced the front of the cabin. Ana wrapped herself in the comforter and sat up, dread filling her gut as she watched him try to peer through the blinds.

Roy grabbed one of the slats, pulling it up to give him a better view. Before it was even halfway up, he shouted and jumped back immediately. Ana screamed out of reflex, throwing herself further back on the bed.

"In here!" someone shouted from the outside of the house. "Hey you! Let us in! I know you have her!"

"Who is it?" Ana yelled at Roy, terrified at the mention of her. Could he mean me?

"Go hide! I'll get rid of him." Roy was out of the bedroom before she could take her next breath.

"There you are, you piece of—" The voice grunted mid-sentence.

I should hide, Ana thought, but found her feet running towards the front door instead. It was wide open, although the screen door was banging itself shut.

"Careful!" a familiar voice called out. "Wulf, don't hurt him too much!"

Anastasia? What in the— Ana flung open the screen door, stopping short just outside of it. Two dark figures were standing by a car with its interior lights still on, shifting nervously.

Someone was calling for her distantly, around the other side of the house "Chrissy? Are you here?"

Ana's eyes lit up. "Loki? Over here!" She took a step towards the car, hearing someone's excited gasp, but flinched when something hit the wall to her right. Wulf was holding Roy's face to the wooden siding, his other hand twisting one of Roy's behind his back painfully.

"What are you doing?" Roy shouted. "This is my house. You can't just come here and—"

Wulf squished his face harder into the wall. "I can do whatever I want when you kidnap my sister."

Anastasia ran into Ana and squashed her into a hug. "Holy crap, we were so worried! What happened? Are you okay?" She leaned back, eyes running over her body.

Ana nodded, looking over her shoulder as Alastair approached. His cane bumped the porch steps and he stopped. "How did you guys... what are you doing up here?"

"You didn't come back from your walk," he said. "We got worried and started looking. Papa and Chi-Lan are on their way too."

"Is everything okay?" Anastasia asked again. "What happened? What are you doing all the way up here with him?"

Her hands trembled. "I... uh... he... I don't really..."

Wulf growled, pulling Roy back to slam him against the wall again. "What did you do?"

She couldn't hear his answer, his face was pushed against the wall hard enough that he was having a difficult time speaking.

"Let's step away," said Anastasia, keeping an arm around Ana and using the other one to guide Alastair as they walked back towards the car. She leaned her head back to shout for her other siblings. "Ebony! Loki! We've got her!"

The two appeared a few seconds later, immediately tangling Ana into a hug as they talked over themselves about how worried they had been and how happy they were to see her.

A car pulled up, blinding Ana with its headlights. Before it was fully stopped, someone got out and started running to them. "Christiana!"

"Mom!" She broke away from the siblings to crash into her mother's arms.

"Oh cripes, I was so worried, honey." Chi-Lan squeezed her tightly. "Are you all right?"

Ana nodded; her face buried in her mom's shoulder. Finally, she felt safe. Then her lip trembled, and her next word came out in a choked wail. "Mom..." She buried her face in Chi-Lan's shoulder, letting her fears and stress come out in a waterfall of tears.

"Oh no. Honey..." Chi-Lan kissed her head, holding her tightly for a few minutes before pulling away to look into her face. "Ana, sweetheart, I need you to be honest with me. Are you okay?"

She could barely see through the barrage of tears assaulting her eyes. Am I okay? Physically? Mostly. Emotionally? Less than... Her face contorted into a sort of grimace as she tried to hold back the tears and shrug, but they came anyway, and she shook her head before dropping it back onto her mom's shoulder.

She could vaguely still hear Wulf snarling at Roy, but Cirrus put a stop to that. "Wulf, take the boy to the car. When Christiana is feeling a bit better, we'll get the story from her and decide what to do from there."

"I didn't do anything!" Roy protested. "We were just trying to get away for a weekend. You have no right—" A smack on the back of the head from Wulf shut him up.

Ana let her mother hold her for a long time. Even when the tears finally slowed, she stayed there, comforted in Chi-Lan's arms.

"Let's sit down, sweetheart." Chi-Lan led her to the steps of the porch and helped her sit. Ana leaned against her, too tired to hold her own weight. "I need you to tell us what happened. We've been worried sick. You haven't answered your phone in hours, we thought something horrible happened to you."

Cirrus squatted in front of them, studying Ana's face with worry. "Did... something happen?" Anastasia was hovering nearby, biting her thumbnail. Alastair, Ebony, and Loki were too deep in angry conversation with Wulf to pay attention.

She took in a shuddering breath. "I... uh... Roy..." She exhaled sharply. "When I was on my walk, Roy... Roy drove up to me. He made—he made me get in the car and come here. We... we had supper together and then we went outside and... and we looked at the stars and... he—he—he..." She covered her face, biting back a new sob. Chi-Lan rubbed her back, both her and Cirrus silent as she composed herself. "He bit me." Her voice was muffled by her hands.

"What did you say?" Cirrus asked, leaning closer.

She put down her hands, letting the tears in her eyes show. "He kissed me. Then he bit me."

Chi-Lan inhaled sharply as Cirrus blew out a breath and stood, running his hands through his hair.

Ana continued. "After that we... we went to sleep and—and you showed up. B-but he said he was going to keep me here all—all weekend. I didn't know what to do, I was so... so..." She leaned into Chi-Lan's embrace again, letting more tears fall.

"We're taking him to the police station," Cirrus said grimly. "Wulf and I will take the boy in Wulf's car. Anastasia, bring everyone else in the SUV. I wish I could send you home, but I have a feeling the police will want to talk to all of us, especially Christiana." He glanced at her regretfully.

While Ana and Chi-Lan slowly stood, Anastasia hurried over to confer with her siblings. Wulf got into his car. Anastasia hopped over to the SUV and held the car door open.

"You two go ahead and get in the back," she said. When the duo passed, she touched Ana's back sympathetically. Once they were settled in the bench seat in the back, Loki and Ebony jumped into one of the middle seats while Alastair took shotgun and Anastasia dropped into the driver's seat.

The two siblings in the front talked about what would happen to Roy legally, while Ebony and Loki kept quiet, occasionally glancing back at Ana with concern.

She only clenched her jaw and turned her face into Chi-Lan's neck.

#

One very long night of giving statements and talking to lawyers later, Ana was finally home. Before she could stumble towards her room, and more importantly, her bed, she was attacked by Ebony.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, squeezed Ana in a tight hug.

Alastair was standing behind Ebony, smiling slightly. He held out his hand and Ana took it. "Welcome home."

"Thank you, guys," Ana said hoarsely.

"Group hug!" Loki called, throwing himself onto Ana as well. The rest of the family shuffled close together, creating a knot of Konstantinovs. "We love you, Christiana." The other siblings murmured their own affections agreeably, someone even going so far as to peck the back of her head.

"I love you too," she whispered, trying not to cry while surrounded by their comfort. She was already exhausted from how many tears she had shed tonight.

After a long moment, Chi-Lan gave her an extra squeeze. "All right everyone. It's been a long one. Off to bed."

The group hug disbanded, and the siblings flooded upstairs as the parents headed to their own room. As the others slipped to their separate rooms, Anastasia touched Ana's shoulder.

"Hey, are you going to be okay being alone tonight? I know it's been a long day and you're tired, but if you don't feel comfortable being by yourself, I can stay with you." Her icy blue eyes were rounded with concern.

Ana glanced at her door. She hadn't thought about it at all on the ride home. "Um... I think I'll be all right."

"Okay, goodnight then, Christiana." Anastasia drew her into a quick hug, then let her retreat to her room.

Ana immediately found her bed and curled up on top of the comforter. It felt like her mind was so full that she couldn't think at all. Everything was moving so fast she couldn't catch a single thought. Or maybe that was just silence humming in her head, filling the space so she didn't have to think about it.

Something shifted in her room, probably just the house settling for the night, but the sound made her bolt upright, heart pounding. It's not Roy. He wouldn't come here. His parents had bailed him out of jail until the trial, so it wasn't like she felt safe knowing he was stuck in a cell. What if he's angry about everything that happened? What if he decides to sneak over here tonight?

She shook her head. I need to stop thinking like that. Everything's fine. She traded Roy's mom's pajamas for her own, tossing the other pair in the wastebasket with a shudder.

She switched off the main lights but left her bedside lamp on. She couldn't bring herself to lay down in complete darkness.

A door opened and closed somewhere else in the house. Footsteps descended from the third story, walking down the hall and stopping in front of Ana's room, although they didn't turn on any lights. Something soft flopped on the ground.

Another door opened. "What are you doing?" Loki whispered.

A low voice whispered something back.

It must be Wulf. Ana's shoulders relaxed.

A moment later there was a lot more shuffling, doors moving, and whispering. Finally, someone tapped on her door and poked their head in.

"Can I sleep in here with you?" said Ebony. "I don't want that jerk coming in through the window." Her eyes widened. "Not that he's going to come at all! Just like... you know... in case he does."

Ana blinked, then slowly nodded.

Ebony grinned. "Great. Come on, Annie." Anastasia came in behind her, gingerly stepping over something in the dark hall.

Alastair popped his head through. Before he could speak, someone growled. "Ow."

He glanced down, shuffling around a little. "Sorry, Wulf. Didn't mean to step on you." He raised his head. "Do you need anything before bed, Christiana? Warm drink? Snack?"

"I'm okay, thank you."

"All right. We'll be out here if you need anything."

She crawled to the edge of the bed, straining to see into the dark hallway. Wulf was laying down in front of her bedroom door. Loki tossed a pillow and blanket somewhere out of her sight range, then laid down on another set beside Wulf.

They're protecting me. Her heart warmed. They don't want to see me get hurt either.

Ebony and Anastasia settled on the floor near the window.

"Goodnight, Christiana," said Anastasia. "Let us know if you need anything."

"Seriously," added Ebony. "Just wake me up. I don't care. Tomorrow is still the weekend, so I don't really need sleep anyway."

She smiled a little. "Okay. Thank you." She switched off the lamp and cuddled back under the blankets. I'm going to be okay.