Jenny mustered all her stubbornness and stared hard at Tommie, willing her glare not to betray the fear twisting inside her. But the tremor in her voice betrayed her.

“I don’t want to.”

Tommie exploded. “Want? Who said anything about want? I don’t have time for your bullshit tonight.”

Normally, Tommie would have taken time to soothe his little sister’s anxiety, but the clock was ticking, and he knew they were running out of time.

“Just do it, Jenny!”

Try as she might, Jenny couldn’t stop the tears that welled up, quickly spilling over into full-blown sobs. The hallway clock chimed its seven tinny bells, and Tommie knew he’d have to change tactics.

He gently tugged on one of her pigtails.

“Come on, Pip. No more tears,” he said softly.

Jenny loved when Tommie called her Pip, or “his Pipsqueak,” as he sometimes said with exaggerated affection. Tommie was everything she was not: tall, brave, smart, strong. She idolised him. He was all she had left after the accident that had orphaned them. Without him, she knew she wouldn’t have survived.

Now he needed her. Time to pull it together.

She stood up, stifling the last of her sobs, trying to summon a bravery she’d never felt in her life. Despite the growing urgency, Tommie remained calm and steady, careful not to set her off again.

“Look, Pip. I know it’s hard to get into, but you’ll be fine. Remember the last time? You didn’t want to do it then either, but that turned out okay, didn’t it?” His words were gentle but firm.

Jenny didn’t reply. Her eyes still shimmered with doubt.

“I promise you,” he said, crouching to meet her eye, “I won’t let anything happen to you. And you won’t have to stay in there long this time.” He smiled, not just to reassure her, but because he meant it. He loved his sister more than anything.

Jenny managed a faint smile, one she didn’t truly feel. She reached out, letting him help her descend into the dark.

At the bottom, she looked back up. Tommie was still smiling down at her.

“Don’t forget, headphones on, no noise, and don’t move until I come for you.”

She watched as he shut the hatch door and pulled the floor mat over it. The last slivers of light vanished. She was alone, swallowed by darkness, with only the sound of Taylor Swift filling her ears. She closed her eyes. All she could do now was wait.

In the absence of light, her thoughts drifted. She thought about her parents and how much she missed them. She thought about Maddie, her best friend from her old school. She wondered what it must be like to be Taylor Swift and then wondered whether she still even liked her music that much anymore.

But mostly, she thought about the inspector. What would Tommie say to her? The first inspector had said Jenny would have to go into the system to be properly cared for.

“It’s never going to happen,” Tommie had promised.

But this was the third inspector. And to Jenny, it seemed like they were never going to give up. What she hated most was having to move every time and start all over again. Why couldn’t people just mind their own business and leave them alone?

In the kitchen, Tommie watched the blood pour from Mrs. Guthrie’s throat. He didn’t look away, not until the life had drained from her eyes, that was his favourite part.

He’d done his homework. She lived alone. She wouldn’t be missed until she failed to show up for work the next day.

By then, they’d be gone. New town. New people. New start.

Just the two of them.

Just how it was meant to be.