The moment she came out of her room, significantly calmer and more collected, her mother was there, asking about what had happened. Her dad apparently wouldn't tell her what was going on and insisted to keep her in the dark until later when he would be calmer. The only thing she told her mum was that dad was unfair and wouldn't let her do as she wished. That much didn't satisfy the woman but it was better than nothing. She hugged her daughter and picked her up to bring her over to the dinner table, where three plates had been set with food.

Her father was nowhere to be seen thankfully. She didn't want to be yelled at for running away from a conversation, she was too tired from crying to stay awake to hear it -and she definitely didn't want to be forced to clean the dishes with cold water as punishment, not again. After almost falling asleep while eating, thumping footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and that was the only sound her ears needed to hear to make her heart pump faster. She was sure that her heartbeat could be heard throughout the kitchen and her mother's worried expression only confirmed that fact.

Her dad approached them carefully as if they were wild animals that would run away at the sound of a person or that quick movement at the corner of the eye. Sadly, even if they wanted to run, there was nowhere to go. He had that very serious look on his face, looking like he wanted to say something but instead he just sat at the head of the table and started eating his portion. The other two continued with their food as well, fully knowing that once the man was done with his, he would start talking and her mother wouldn't be able to defend her daughter this time.

The girl finished her food first and slowly started moving off her chair in an attempt to go unnoticed by her father but it was in vain. The moment her feet touched the floor, the man raised his head and ordered her to sit back down. She had no choice but to do just that; at least it felt like she had no choice. She could easily leave and lock herself in her room until the adults left her be but the mental boundaries they had set for her didn't allow her to execute such an action.

"Dear", he started and suddenly all other sounds seemed to disappear, the ambience becoming ominously quiet. "From here on, you are not allowed in the back garden without one of us accompanying you and when we are absent from home, you'll be locked in your room. Do you understand?"

The girl could only nod at his words with a scared look on her face. Her mother knitted her eyebrows at those new rules; they were extremely strict if anything! She tried to protest in her daughter's place but her husband wasn't hearing any of it, instead he threatened that he would be even more strict with his daughter (if that was even possible) if she tried to protect her. What had she even done wrong in the first place? She had only went to a forest, met new people and made a new four-legged friend... was she not supposed to do that? Was she not supposed to interact with others? There was no wrong in befriending an animal so that must have been it. Something wasn't right though, she was encouraged to make friends at school so maybe interacting with adults was what she did wrong? That was the only possible explanation.

The girl left the chair and walked with slumped shoulders to her room's door. That was when she remembered that piece of paper and the drawer. Quickly, she pretended to go in her room by closing her door and then quietly ascended the stairs. The door of the master bedroom was wide open, begging her to enter and uncover the mystery of those papers. However, after trying to pull open the drawer, she found that it was locked. Is whatever is written on those papers that important? Whatever was written on them better have been worth her punishment because surely that must've been another reason for her punishment. It would be very convenient to have her locked in a room all afternoon and not opening drawers.

The key was easy to find; little effort had been put into hiding it as it was mixed in her mother's makeup stuff. The drawer was full of papers and documents, a couple of notebooks and a big heavy-looking book at the far end, hidden by a big piece of black coloured cloth. the first thing she did was to take out as much paper as possible to declutter the poor drawer that was beginning to bend from all that weight. Most of the papers were either contracts, letters from friends and some big essays kept in files.

Sure, the vocabulary was pretty weird and on a different level from hers but she could understand some of it. The notebook had her father's writing in it for which she would have to spend an hour trying to understand which letter is which before finally reading it. Well, if she was to be stuck in her room all day she may as well have something to do; running away might've actually been dangerous after all... It was an idea that came at the perfect time when she was in a bad state of mind; to hop out her window that is.

An idea so doable, it is ridiculous that you don't make it into reality, a voice in the back of her mind whispered but she shrugged it off as a random thought. Taking as much of the paper mess as she could in her tiny arms, the girl quietly went down the stairs and into her room. On her way, she could hear her parents talking about something; something very weird. She didn't hear a word, just tiny, almost inaudible whispers like the one in her head; so easy to miss yet so attention-grabbing. It was weird because they were whispering while they were in the kitchen, far enough away from her room to be able to talk normally and not have her hear a thing.

So, she left what she was carrying under the bed, telling the monster to keep all of it safe and out of the adults' reach; it would be a small alliance for a small period of time; the papers would be fine. Slowly and silently, she tiptoed towards the entrance, hiding behind the wall that seperated the kitchen from the rest of the house.

"It is for her own safety", her father whispered.
"You're treating her like a criminal!", her mother whispered back, a little too loudly.
"That thing could kill her and you know it, it is for the better that all possibilities of her going out there are obliterated"
"I still think that you should talk to her about it"
"Now is not the time, dear, she is too young to get mixed up in this mess"

Suddenly, a big howl sounded from the direction of the forest, loud enough to make the girl put her palms over her ears. It sounded like a wolf but what was it doing so far out? Did wolves even exist in these parts? She was sure her parents had said that there weren't any, no... So, maybe they learnt of them after they moved in and that was the danger her dad was speaking of? It was more believable than anything else she could come up with.

"It is only getting more dangerous out there"

At that, she retreated back to her room and shut the door.