Iris wandered around the house with the twins, looking for things. Jenny peered around a corner and waved them forward. Luke followed behind Iris with terror evident in his eyes.

"A kitchen," Jenny said. "Look in the cupboards." She knelt at the floor and began to open the doors. They were empty, just as they always had been. But Iris decided to look around too. She opened the fridge and gagged as the smell wafted into her face. Still, there was a small key. Of course, there was a key: Iris was the one who had placed it there.

"I found something!" Iris turned and showed the children her find. Jenny took it and turned it over in her hands. "I wonder where it goes."

"There's a safe in the basement," Iris said. "We could check it."

Jenny nodded. "Lead the way."

Iris looked around the corner and saw Mother standing at the railing upstairs, watching them. Iris whirled back around, breathing heavily.

"She's watching us," she whispered. Luke closed his eyes and backed against the wall.

"Don't worry," Iris said. "I know another way. Follow me."

Iris walked into the dining room and around the table. Luke's foot nudged a chair and the girls spun around to hush him. Iris pushed open the window carefully and lifted herself up through it. "Be careful," she whispered. "The wood is sharp."

The twins followed her through and Iris helped them both onto the box below. Iris had to put it there because she was too short to gracefully land out of the window.

"What's that?" Like asked. A pile of wood and metal sat in the yard, just a messy mound. "I don't know," Iris answered, honest. She waved them around it. "Watch out for the tripwire." She had installed it several months ago after Mother instructed her. They stepped over it carefully.

Iris opened the little shed door. It was pitch dark but Iris knew there was a lamp on the desk. As she turned it on, what the light illuminated surprised her.

"Oh my..." Jenny whispered. On the desk was a simple blueprint to a guillotine.

"I guess that's what the wood is for," Luke said. Iris nodded. She guessed that this was her new project after the twins died.

With her foot, Iris nudged over the board on the floor and it revealed a dark tunnel. "Go in," she said.

"What?!" Jenny backed away.

Iris rolled her eyes. "This will lead to the basement. I promise this is the best way. Unless you want to get caught?"

Luke sighed and put on foot in the hole. Iris forgot to warn him of the slippery nature of the tunnel and he went sliding down into the dark with a yelp. Jenny gasped and dove in after him.

"Be careful and quiet," Iris whispered after them. She put her feet in the hole and leaned over to grab the board to cover the dark passageway. But someone was on top of it.

"Hello, Mother."

"Iris, my flower, I've found a way to make this a better game."

"A game?" Iris looked up incredulously at her mother. "This isn't exactly a game; you're just toying with these kids."

Mother glared at her daughter and wiped a bit of spittle at the corner of her mouth. "This is my game and you're a part of it. A pawn, if you will. Now listen. I will allow the children five tries to get out of the house. And I promise you, it is possible to get out of the house. But I will never make it easy."

Iris perked up at the fact. She could get out with the children. She now had a new resolve to get out.

"Every time I catch them and they are taken unconscious is a try. Just like a real game. So don't get caught." Mother smiled and backed away, out of Iris's view. With a shudder, Iris crawled through the tunnel, behind Jenny.

"Be quiet," Iris urged, after hearing Luke's grumbling and Jenny's scoldings.

"Why? She can't get us," Jenny said.

"We don't know that."

"Luke, go!" Jenny pushed her brother forward.

What happened next could only be predicted and Iris watched numbly. Luke was pushed through the little doorway, right at the feet of Mother. Jenny screamed and tried to retreat into the dark tunnel. Mother snatched her thin arm and pulled her forward, to strike her across the head. Luke was next.

After the deed was done, Iris stood up, trying to be careful around the unconscious kids.

"I was lighter in my touch this time like you said." Mother gestured with her bat.

Iris nodded. "That's good."

Jenny stirred a bit and Mother kicked her still again.

"We need something to keep them still for a certain amount of time," Mother said.

Iris looked up at her warily. "I know what to do. I just need something."

Mother had no expression.

"The key."

This caused the woman to lick her lips in thought. "What do you have up there?"

"Something that will help you."

"Tell me what it is and I'll go get it."

Iris sneered at her Mother. "No, give me my key and I'll get it. You're not allowed up there."

With a snort, Mother said, "You are in no position to be making deals."

Iris looked at the kids and back up. "Then I guess it's your decision."

Mother growled at her daughter. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the key. She held it out, still tightly grasped her gray hands. Iris held out hers and stared at the woman, eyes hard. The key was finally released into the waiting palm.

Iris took off up the stairs and up to the landing. She glanced at the door and was surprised to see several more locks had found their home on the door. No matter... Iris could be out of here soon if she played by the rules.

The familiar click the lock made was very reassuring to Iris and she ran up the stairs. The oil lamp was still there, a little dustier than the last time she had been up here. Its light was struck and it lit up the small room.

In the corner of the room was a small square, made by boards. Small spiders lived here and Iris knew, from their occasional bites, what their venom could do.

"Don't let the spiders bite you," Father had said. He let one crawl on his hand and Iris stared at it with wide eyes.

"If you feed these little guys, they'll grow as big as a plate! They might make a good pet someday."

Iris stuck out her hand a small spider made its way up her trembling arm.

"'Atta girl," Father said. "Be careful now."

The small spider scurried up her arm and before it made it to her shoulder, she put her other finger in its way. Instead of crawling up the other hand, the tiny spider's pincers latched onto her index finger. The sharp pain startled Iris and she shook the spider off.

"Did she bite you?" Father asked, grabbing her hand.

With a bleary nod, Iris's eyes began to lose focus. She felt her body slump forward and then be caught by her father.

With a slight headache behind her eyes, Iris sat up. She was in her father's lap. He smiled and helped her to her knees.

"You all right now?" he asked. "Good thing it was just a little one. Still, you were out for a minute."

"What would a bigger one do?" Iris muttered, trying to shake the cobwebs from her head.

"A full bite could knock you out for 24 hours. I'm sure, with study, one could find a specific dosage for a specific amount of time." He reached into his worn jacket pocket and pulled out a little glass dish and a syringe.

Iris smiled at the memory. Almost every memory with her father was good but this one had a very special place. It was given to her as a way to escape; using the venom, Iris could knock out Mother and runaway. But she hadn't used it yet. But she had a use now.

Iris made some kissing noises to attract the arachnid. "I've got food for you, little girl."

A chittering sound came from the small hut in the corner. "Come on," Iris crooned.

After crossing a spider, Iris had begun to feed it bits of meat from her dinner. Once it got big enough, it was able to catch its own food to eat, rats and the other spiders and such.

A large brown spider, legs reaching nearly a foot out from its body, emerged. The sight sent a chill through Iris. She reached out with some meat in front of her. "Here you are." She walked across the room and set the food on the plate in the corner. The spider dashed for the food. As it ate, pincers hissing and meat squelching, Iris got the dish and syringe from the cupboard. As soon as it was done feeding, Iris would milk it.

She reached over the spider and gripped the body. The spider used to squirm and hiss at her but had gotten used to the procedure by now. It would be rewarded anyway. Iris lifted the dish to the pincers and they latched on. The clear fluid oozed down the sides and pooled at the bottom. It wasn't long until the dish was brimming. Iris set the spider down, with a large chunk meat now on the plate.

"Good girl," Iris said, as she filled the syringe. There was an excess and Iris dumped it into a small milk bottle that she had found up there.

She walked down the dark steps, hand gripping the syringe. She pulled open the door and was not surprised to see Mother waiting patiently for her. Mother's hand extended. Iris backed away.

"No, not yet," Iris said. "I'll need the syringe back too."

"Okay. Let me use it."

"I'll teach you first."

Mother hissed but followed Iris down to the bedroom, where the twins lay.

"On the syringe there are notches that show how much equals how long they'll be out for," Iris explained, thin fingers tracing the large syringe. "Use more that half of the syringe on someone, and their hearts will slow down so much they'll die. Don't do that."

"How do you know this?" Mother asked, dark eyes peering through slitted lids. The look of suspicion nearly made Iris falter.

"Experience," Iris said. "And... Father. He told me."

Mother stared at her, expression not changing. She finally said, "Well, it wouldn't fun would it be to kill them immediately. You can give it to me now."

Iris did so and told her sternly. "I'll need it back to refill it when it's done. Okay?"

"Agreed." Mother examined the syringe and then leaned over Luke. She pushed two hours worth of venom in his arm, and then did the same to Jenny. Mother stood up straight, pride on her face. She held the syringe up and examined it. "I'll hold onto this," she said.

Iris nodded. Mother took a step towards her suddenly, arm raised.

"What are y- Mother!" The woman jabbed the the needle into Iris's neck. There was a sting and then a deep ache that pulsed through the girl's upper body and then flooded down to her toes.

Mother pulled the needle away Iris could see that she had pushed nearly six hours worth of venom through her.

"Why?" Iris wheezed, falling to her knees,

"You're not making the game fun anymore," Mother said. "You know too much and aren't making the game fair."

"I thought the game was for me."

Mother smiled, her few teeth brown and sharp. "Not anymore. You're not fun anymore." She turned and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Mother..." Iris tried to climb to her feet using the dresser but her legs lost all feeling. Her weak hand slipped and she plummeted to the worn floorboards.