Annie yawned and stared at the digital clock above the television. It read 1:56. Her heavy-lidded eyes began to droop closed and she forced them open, telling herself to watch the boring infomercials and ads for hippie music that were the only thing on at this hour. She knew well enough that the Richters didn't like her falling asleep on the job. She had been sitting for the kids for over a year; she damn well better know that, along with the other rules. She reviewed them over and over in her mind to stay awake... keep the cat in the garage - check. ...make sure there is no eating or drinking in the TV room - check. ...none of the children may have soda - check. ...check on the kids every hour on the hour... hmmm, she thought, glancing at the clock. It now read 1:59. She had better do the two a.m. check.

She got up from the plush black sofa, reluctant to leave its comfort, and started towards the back of the house and the staircase. The floor creaked with every step. She cast a nervous look at the window looking on the front yard and driveway, empty but for three cars that apparently didn't run. That made this family rednecks... hadn't she read somewhere that if half of the cars you owned didn't run, you were a redneck? That was stupid. This family was totally nice. She loved the kids like family.

An unnatural unease settled over her as she began to climb the carpeted staircase, as she uneasily remembered that they were in the country and the nearest neighbor was a mile away. She had no real reason to be afraid, because she had practically grown up in the countryside herself. But times like this, when the house creaked and the silence was deafening, a chill swept over her and she began to be afraid of the dark.

A noise startled her as she came to the head of the staircase. *What...* her tired brain wanted to know, but it was surely just one of the kids talking in their sleep. Nevertheless the hairs on the back of her neck rose up.

Annie checked Jeremy's room first. He was her favorite as he was the oldest, and always well-behaved. He was almost like the second-in-command in the way he always obeyed and helped her restore order.

*Heheh, like a policeman,* Annie's exhausted mind blurted giddily. She ignored it.

She could see, even in the dark, that Jeremy must have twisted himself around in his sleep and she bent to straighten the covers. Her hand touched something slimy. She drew it back and looked at it. Blood.

She gasped, her eyes widening in shock, backing away, frantically wiping her hand on the wall as her mouth gaped like a fish. Then she turned and fled down the hall to their parent's room, which she knew had a phone. There it was, on the nightstand. She grabbed the receiver, fumbled it a little. "Hello, I'm at-- hello? Hello? Oh shit!" she said. The lines were dead.

The horror of it finally overcame her as the shock of finding Jeremy dead wore off. She started to sob. "Oh shit, oh shit, ohfuckingshit.." she chanted, as though the expletives would somehow make it all okay. "Oh shit, fucking shit..."

Her hands clenched together, lips touching knuckles, she ran clumsily to the room Duncan and Michael shared. And from the doorway she could already tell they were dead by the way their heads were turned at such an unnatural angle. From the same intuition she knew there would be no use checking on Chantal.

Staring in shock, she leaned her head against the doorframe. A leather-gloved hand slid around her neck and the cold steel blade plunged into her spine before she could make a sound...