Maliki's pov.

In the early morning, I look out the window and tap my chin. Slenda opens the door, and I turn to her. She's holding Sally in her arms.

"Maliki. We must talk." Slenda says, sitting on the bed.

I kick off the wall and roll towards the two, stopping in front of Slenda and Sally.

"Last night... Sally begged god to make the pain go away. Make the nightmares end. I wonder if... I wonder if killing her killer would bring her peace." Slenda says, grabbing my hand.

I nod along.

"So... I was going to ask you to help me help her. If only you could find him, Maliki, Please. I wish to help this girl as much as I wanted to help you when you first moved in." Slenda relents.

I calmly stand and walk to the desktop and jostle the mouse, causing the screen to flick to life, showing the tabs and windows of the Sally Williams case.

"I've learned everything I could, we have one sick bastard to find. And that's the thing. We must find him. The pages I found won't let me find where the hell he was sent to. I guess the best thing is to find the judge who sentenced him. Judge Jerry McNamara, who is still a judge. The thing is, he's in Ainsworth. And that's a very long drive. Well, few hours, give or take. I'm not saying I'm not going to do it, I'm only warning you, it'll be a trip. Well worth it, however." I say looking to Slenda.

Sally sits up and looks at Slenda, and then back to me.

"You are going after uncle Johnny... aren't you?" She asked.

Slenda looked at me, and I could feel the guilt in her gaze.

"Yes." I say shutting my monitor off.

"Than I'm coming too! If anyone deserves to hurt him its me!" Sally yells standing proud.

"That is true, Sally. But you are a little girl. If you need any help, I'll hold him down." I say.

"U-um... Thank you papa. M-mama? Are you going to help me too?" Sally asked looking up at Slenda.

"O-of course my dear. I want nothing more than to end these plaguing nightmares, and for you to be happy." Slenda says.

"Well, let's go to Ainsworth." I say digging through my junk drawer and finding my keys.

"C'mon. We're gonna want to get a booster seat for the lil gal." I say walking out of the room.

I sneak into Jess's room and grab a hoodie. She has tons of them. I have none. It's December. The girls steal them all. Payback's a bitch, ain't it? As I go to leave, I feel a blade pressed against my neck.

"Where ya going with that?" I hear Jess whisper in my ear.

"I'm borrowing it." I say.

"Oh yeah? Borrowing it? You are keeping it. You better never give it away, especially not that bitch Jane." Jess says tossing the knife away.

"You two argue too much. Us three gotta get together and do something fun. Maybe you two can bond?" I suggest.

"Did you just invite me to have a three way with you and Jane?" Jess asks.

"I don't know. Did I?" I ask.

Jess said nothing, only taking the hoodie and draping it over my back, and pushing my arms through the sleeves, and coming to face me. We lock lips for a few moments, and Jess pulls me in close.

"Add Liu and we gotta deal." She says.

"I think we can make it happen." I say, kissing her once more before leaving the room.

"Maliki I..." Jess calls out.

"Hmm? You what?" I ask.

"N-nothing. Nevermind." She says.

I smile.

"I love you too." I say before leaving the room.

I hear her squeal in happiness as I walk from the room, her hoodie is soft and warm, and I can barely see any blood stains in it. It smells like her too. I see Tami staring at me from her bedroom door, and we lock eyes. She blushes and retreats back into her room, but I follow, tapping on her door. She swings it open and pulls me into the room, closing the door and wrapping her arms around me.

"S-sshhh. I j-just wanna h-h-hug... Cuddle. E-embrace. L-love. M-my pillow doesn't
g-get the job d-done Anymore." Tami says nuzzling into my neck.

I take out my phone and text Slenda.

"Hey, gimme about ten minutes." I text before lifting Tami up and walking towards her bed, and laying her down in it, following her.

"B-by the door i-is a-a present f-for you." Tami says pointing to a box next to the door.

"I'll worry about that later. It's hard juggling so much people, I have to make sure they all feel loved and warm, and appreciated, so this is about you now. And me showing you how I care about you and love you before I head out." I say pressing my lips into hers.

We hug and kiss, and cuddle for many minutes before Tami falls asleep. I take off the hoodie and my shirt, placing the shirt next to her head, and put the hoodie back on.

"Merry christmas my sweet Tami." I say kissing her forehead.

As I walk by the door I spot the box she pointed to. I lifted it.

"O-open it." Tami says from behind me.

I spin around and see her with my shirt to her face, and a pleased look on her face.

"O-open the b-box." She says with a large smile.

I smile and humor her, opening the box and lifting out a card, under the card was a hatchet with things engraved into the handle, but the card was what I was going for first.

"Maliki. You are a very special person to me. I may never be able to express to you how much you mean to me, nor how much I love you. You have been through hell and back trying to keep us all safe and spend your day trying to make us all feel loved. A sacrifice I don't think I can be able to do, yet you do it flawlessly. You are the most important person in my life, and just thinking about you eliminates my stress and worries. I hope some day in the future, you may even be interested in having a child, and I hope you consider me as the one who will carry them. I would do it in an instant. I hope you always stay happy no matter if I'm the reason or if I am gone, taken by zalga or any other force, and I hope that the impact I have made on you is one you will remember. Forever yours, Tami." The card read.

I look at Tami and walk towards her, sitting on the bed and kissing her passionately.

"You've affected my life in ways you cannot comprehend. I cant ever forget what we have been through, nor the experiences we've made. I love you Tami, and I can't forget you. Even if I wished. I refuse. No force could take you away from me either. Zalga, Slenda... I wouldn't bow down and let anyone take any of you. You are too important to have that done to you." I say looking into her eyes.

She hugs me deeply.

"W-when y-you come back... I w-want you to v-visit... I have a-a s-surprise for you." She whispers.

I nod.

"I promise I'll come by." I say standing up.

I take off my bracelet, just a small rubber black band, and give it to her.

"It's not much. Take it as an IOU." I say.

"I-i'll cherish it forever." Tami says with a smile.

I smile and walk to the box, and lift out the hatchet. Hearts and sweet messages were engraved into the handle, and a large heart was engraved into the head.

"For my truest love." The handle read.

I look at Tami and smile, looking at the hatchet.

"T-there's a thingy f-for y-you to put i-it on a b-belt too." Tami said.

I reached down and lifted the case. It covered the head and clipped into place, the handle fitting through a hole designed specifically for it. I placed it on my belt and put the hatchet in its sheath. I look at Tami, and hear the door open.

"Are you coming?" Slenda asks holding Sally.

"Yes. Yes just give me a second, please." I say.

Slenda nods and backs out, closing the door.

I walk to Tami and hug her, looking down at her face buried in my chest with a smile.

"Tami, I love you. So much." I say proudly, before I separate the hug and step out of the room.