Alicia Crawford is wet right through to her underwear.

Three hours ago, she'd tied her honey-brown hair in a half-up, half-down hairstyle and pulled on her favourite sundress, made of soft material covered in tiny yellow sprigs. There was no rain predicted for today and she was foolish enough to believe that and hurried to the library on foot without a rain jacket or an umbrella.

That unpredicted rain is now coming down in torrents as if someone is upending bucket after bucket of cold water onto her head. To make matters worse, she forgot her wallet at home and, therefore, has no money for a taxi or an Uber.

During moments like these, she swears that she'll get with the times and put her card on her phone ASAP, but she never remembers to do it.

She has never felt quite as alone as she does right now, walking home in the rain. She's cold, bedraggled and without any hope of rescue. Her mother is off, hell knows where doing hell knows what with hell knows whom. Job hunting, she'd called it, while she was packing her most glamorous clothes, all her make-up, her jewellery, everything she had that was precious to her, except her two children.

More like husband hunting! 

Alicia isn't even sure which number the next one would be. Four? Five? She can stomach the fact that her mother left her behind. She will be 18 years old soon, after all. She'll finish high school this year and already has a university scholarship lined up for next year due to her hard work. When all is said and done, she doesn't need a mother any more. She might want one, but she doesn't need one. Especially not one as high maintenance and unmotherly as the woman who gave birth to her. Besides, she never wanted to live with her in the first place.

But little Robin...

Bobby is only five years old and too young to understand that his mother is a selfish bi... she-dog who only ever cares about herself and her own happiness. No wonder their father took them and left her when Robin was still a baby.

Alicia knows that if her father hadn't died, she and her little brother would still be living with him. They would've always been fed, slept warm, and felt loved. Sometimes, she misses her dad so much that it is a physical ache in her chest. She might also just be developing pneumonia from walking sleeveless in this infernal rain!

To be fair, they're currently always fed, they always sleep warmly, and they do feel loved. Their lives are far from being uncomfortable. Their mother did the very least that she could've done for them. She'd pushed the responsibility of caring for them onto their father's best friend and his wife.

Alicia always liked Uncle Jonah and Aunt Bernice. When her father passed away three years ago, they were the ones taking care of her and her brother while their mother was making funeral arrangements and plans for their future, living with her.

It took her an entire year to claim them, and Jonah made most of those funeral arrangements.

They had only been living with their mother for about 16 months when she lamented to Bernice about a lack of funds and the insufficiency of her current job and about wonderful, magical opportunities awaiting her somewhere far, far away and how she'd go and grab hands full of that good fortune, then send for her children to join her.

Everybody who knows Mindy Myer knows that she merely ran away and will probably never resurface. Well, maybe for a quick visit when she's hit by maternal love for a few minutes. If she did decide to send for them by some strange cosmic event, Alicia wouldn't have to go, and she would do everything within her power to prevent Robin from going.

Bernice insisted on taking Alicia and Robin into her home again, feigning faith in their mother's passionate promises. She will never openly acknowledge their mother's failures, especially not where the children can hear her. Alicia overheard a conversation about gaining permanent custody of Robin, and she sincerely hopes that the Wentworths will be able to make it happen.

That day, over a year after their father's funeral, when their mother came to pick them up, both children had cried so much. They were inconsolable. Not only because they missed their father but also because they did not want to leave the Wentworths' home; they felt safe with them and welcome. Memories of visiting them with their father were comforting and somehow made Alicia feel closer to him. The Wentworths have always felt like part of their family.

For Robin, Bernice was the only real mother he'd ever had.

Mindy had been so high on a rare flood of feelings of maternal responsibility that she didn't even notice her children's distress. If she'd been in tune with their needs, she would've left them where they were happy and wanted. She wouldn't have dragged them through 16 miserable months in an annexe of hell.

The kids never felt wanted or safe in their mother's care. Not even when they went to her for the obligatory visits once a month when their father was still alive. Mindy wasn't abusive or unkind; she simply lived in her own world and didn't quite know how to fit her children into it. Taking care of Bobby increasingly became Alicia's sole responsibility, to the point where she started to feel like a teenage mother.

The day Mindy came to take them away, Bernice and Jonah promised the children that they would look out for them and that they would always have a home with them if they ever needed it. Bernice tried to hide her tears but failed miserably once she'd stopped hugging them and closed the car door, separating them from her.

The Wentworths kept their word, frequently checking in on Alicia and Robin.

They've been wholeheartedly fulfilling their promise of giving them a home for four months now. As far as Alicia is concerned, life would've been wonderful again right now if it wasn't for the fact that Aunt Bernice's son from a previous marriage was living with them, too. His mother is, of course, ecstatic about the arrangement. She's always saying how happy she is now that she finally has all four of her babies under her roof.

After her divorce about ten years ago, her powerful ex-husband insisted on taking their son, and he'd virtually pushed her out of the boy's life. She didn't have the power or resources to fight back, and she'd been devastated, living off the crumbs of her son's childhood, grabbing and clinging to every second she could steal.

There were always many pictures of the boy on every available surface and against every wall in their house. From the way she used to speak about the boy, Alicia expected him to be a celestial being, humble enough to grace the puny humans populating Earth with his beautiful existence. She'd always been a little bit jealous of Aunt Bernice's son, especially when she didn't know him yet. It was mainly because she was certain that her mother never raved about her like that.

She's unsure what happened, but just a couple of months after she and Bobby went to live with their mother, Ranger Botticelli moved into his mother's home. Of course, Alicia wants Aunt Bernice to be happy. She doesn't begrudge the kind woman the joy of having her son back in her life. She has, therefore, been fighting every urge to summon the monster's spaceship to come and carry him back to whatever planet he'd spawned on.

He cannot possibly be Aunt Bernice's kin.

It's been four months since she and Bobby moved back in with the Wentworths, four months of sheer torture! At least for Alicia. She won't say or do anything to destroy Aunt Bernice's view of her perfect son, but...

Ranger is by far the worst human being she has ever had the misfortune to meet... and that includes her mother... For some reason, he'd taken an instant dislike to her. He is the complete opposite of his loving, kind mother. To Alicia, he is the most selfish, malicious, spiteful, and inconsiderate person on Earth. The fact that she's walking home alone in a downpour is just another testimony to that indisputable fact!

Bobby loves him. He thinks the sun shines from Ranger's backside and that every nonsensical word the idiot utters is pure gold. Bobby is a traitor!

Ducking into the last sheltering section of awning on her route, Alicia lowers her bag to her feet and rests her back against the brick area between display windows to catch her breath. She bats her eyelashes to rid them of water and hopes that the action will also rid her mind of visions of Ranger playing with her little brother, making him laugh.

She loves hearing Bobby laugh.

As soon as she pushes one memory away, another one surfaces. Ranger teaching Bobby to shave, using a bladeless razor. Ranger cuddling his baby sister. Ranger sleeping on the living room floor with June drooling on his chest and Bobby in the crook of his arm.

Bobby is five, and June isn't quite one year old yet... what do they know?

Before she left home, Alicia placed a message to Ranger on the refrigerator door, telling him that she had a study group at the library today (Saturday) until 14:00, when the library closes. A kind person would've read the message and, when the rain started at around 13:55, would've realised that she would have a long way to walk in the rain and would've come to pick her up in his mother's car.

Not Ranger Botticelli! Ranger isn't even answering his phone or reading her messages!

He may not have seen the message on the refrigerator because he hasn't been home since yesterday morning. He left Alicia all alone all night! They promised his parents that they would look out for each other while they were in Dobson Bay, helping Uncle Jonah's mother look after his father. Alicia almost gave a loud, unladylike snort when she heard Ranger agree to the promise, but naturally, she didn't. She is convinced that the nasty boy wouldn't spit on her if she were on fire! He might spit on her if she's not.

She said nothing about her doubts; she just assured Aunt Bernice of how completely fine everything was going to be, how it was noooooo problem at all that they were leaving her alone in their house with a sociopath. She told them that they didn't have to worry about her and Ranger at all and should just focus on helping Uncle Jonah's father get back on his feet and try to enjoy the lovely coastal town while they were at it.

She assured her foster parents that she understood how much they wanted to take her and Ranger along and how it's simply not possible with school and blah, blah, blah... No problem. It's all good.

"NOTHING IS GOOD!"

It's only been three days, and she's already starting to feel like the hired help. No! Hired help gets paid! Ranger has been leaving dirty dishes and laundry everywhere, and she's sick of sharing a bathroom with him! It's becoming an unbearable nightmare of toxic waste and trauma! Even more than usual. Since yesterday, she mostly uses the visitors' bathroom close to the living area instead.

Apparently, the guy has suddenly forgotten how doors work! He never closes his bedroom or bathroom door, no matter what he gets up to in either of those rooms. She is so sick of inadvertently becoming an unwilling witness to his perversions.

Alicia gives an involuntary screech of annoyance, picks up her bag and pushes away from the cover. She has only three more blocks to go, but there will be no more moments of reprieve from the relentless rain. At least she is running towards home where she can have a shower to warm up.

She brushes some rain-plastered hair from her face to clear her vision and prevent stumbling into any of the deeper puddles or, worse, slipping and falling. Not quite able to run with the heavy bag, she is walking at a very fast pace, but the effort is not helping her anger dissipate. There are simply too many things that she hates about Ranger.

He plays his obnoxious music loudly at all hours, and he's always stealing at least half of her portion of the food she cooks for their meals... that is, if he bothers to come home to eat it.

Shortly after they moved in, the arrogant brute even threatened her with grave bodily harm if she so much as peeked out of her bedroom door when his friends were visiting... Alicia suspects he might be the type who would happily punch her if he was ever given the chance.

How is she supposed to use the bathroom if she's not even allowed to leave her room?!

Besides, she doesn't want to meet his friends... on purpose... As far as she could tell, there are three boys he regularly hangs out with. One is tall and muscular and always looks ready to rip everybody's arms off and feed it to them. She's certain she's heard the sounds of actual violence whenever all four of them were together. Why would she want to peek out of her room?

Thugs!

The one called Jared seemed nice, with his angelic smile and dimples, but he's friends with Ranger, which means it's probably just an illusion. The other one is altogether too pretty to be real, and he scares her. He never says anything to her; he just covertly leers at her whenever she accidentally stumbles into the boys' presence. No, if he hangs out with them, Jared cannot possibly be as nice as he seems.

Never judge a book by its cover. It could be dangerous.

Alicia only knows Jared's name because he introduced himself to her once, shortly after she moved into the house. She'd barely responded by telling him her name too, when Ranger entered the kitchen and saw them talking at the counter. He unceremoniously tossed her over his shoulder, stomped down the hallway, dropped her on her bed and closed the bedroom door on his way out.

She doesn't attend their school; she doesn't know his friends, and she doesn't want to know them. 

And then there's the sleazy girls Ranger likes to hang out with!

Too much make-up, too little clothing. At least he never brings them home; she just sees him around town with them occasionally, acting scandalously in public. For some reason, he loves making out with slutty girls on the library's steps. The library is her favourite place in town! Does he really have to do it there?!

It wouldn't be fair to describe Alicia as prudish; she simply has things called standards and moral values. They exist to guide people away from disasters; it's a concept Ranger would benefit from if he is ever introduced to it.

What truly troubles her is that the four hooligans are often seen in the company of a little girl of about 13 years old. Does the child's mother know that she's hanging out with hoodlums? She doesn't even want to imagine their intentions with such a fragile little thing!

Ranger has a baby sister and is actually really good with her - which is astonishing - but Alicia doubts that he's just babysitting the girl. She's probably a little too old to have a babysitter... or four... Especially such unsavoury ones.

Surely, not even Ranger would harm a little girl, right?

A car speeds past her too closely; its wheels catch a puddle and send a spray of dirty water showering over Alicia. She freezes in shock, gasping for breath. Now, she really wants to cry, but she's too wet and cold to bother, and her heavy bookbag is killing her. She went to the library an hour before the study group started so that she could spend some time browsing, and now she regrets taking out so many novels.

They're heavy!

She's shivering uncontrollably when she finally reaches the pedestrian gate leading into the Wentworths' garden. It took her over an hour to get home because she was slow and paused many times to hide from the rain under canopies and to catch her breath. She nearly does cry now, mostly with relief, envisioning a hot shower, food, coffee, and her warm bed. 

Her fingers tremble so much she can barely punch in the security code, but when the gate finally unlocks and she steps into the yard, the pedestrian gate locking with a satisfying snap behind her, she immediately starts to feel better. She sprints up the paved path and the first couple of steps leading to the front door. 

When she turns the corner where the steps fold back on themselves just before the landing, she stumbles face-first onto the last couple of steps. Her bag bursts from her arms as she tries to brace herself and noisily slams into the front door.

Winded and stunned, Alicia lies sprawled on top of what at first appears to be a large pile of lumpy rags lying in the rain, but then the rags groan and squirm beneath me.

"Ranger?!"

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