had managed to pack her things up in record timing.

It truthfully hadn't been much of a challenge to stuff what little belongings she owned into that tiny suitcase.

Daisy didn't really feel sad either. It sort of just felt like every other time she packs up and leaves a placement. The holding facility had come to be one of Daisy's only senses of stability, and she couldn't wait to return to the familiar place in just a few hours.

Calypso felt sad, though. Moving from placement to placement to placement was so tiring for her, and she didn't enjoy it nearly as much as her older sister did. She ached to just be able to settle down with one placement forever.

Daisy rolled her luggage out of her bedroom and down the hall, heading towards the kitchen. She knew that Mark still had a few hours before he got off and they were good on time, but she was still sure to put some pep in her step. It wouldn't hurt to hurry.

Calypso was already waiting in the kitchen, her eyes glued to the refrigerator. She was focused intently on the drawing she had made in art class that was currently pinned to the stainless steel with a magnet.

"Do you think Octavia would hang my drawings on her refrigerator?" Calypso asked her older sister. "Because...because I like when my drawings get put on the fridge, and I really want that to keep happening."

"I'm sure Octavia would be happy to do that for you." Daisy assured as she gave her little sister a small smile. "Do you have everything packed?"

"Yeah." Calypso spoke softly, her eyes drifting down towards her small suitcase. "I wish we could stay."

"I know." Daisy nodded. "But we have to go."

"I know." Calypso echoed her sister, a small sigh escaping her lips.

Daisy truthfully did feel bad that Calypso was so upset. She didn't like seeing her sister so torn after having found a placement she really liked.

But Daisy also knew that sometimes doing the right thing was the hardest. Maybe this placement had been good for a few months, but maybe things would have gone south. Maybe Daisy was saving them from a few months of relentless abuse.

Daisy reached for the landline that was sitting on the kitchen counter, punching in the first few digits of Octavia's phone number that the girl knew religiously.

The last four digits was where things got a little murky, though.

Daisy knew it started with a five. But then what came next? Was it a nine? A zero? Was there a perfect amount of even and odd numbers between the four digits?

"Do you remember Octavia's number?" Daisy turned to her younger sister for help.

Calypso merely shrugged, and Daisy figured she should've assumed as much. Why would the six-year-old remember Octavia's phone number?

Daisy frowned as she looked down at the phone in her hands, feeling as puzzled as ever. She had dialed Octavia's phone number before. Why couldn't she remember those last crucial digits?

That same familiar feeling of Daisy's throat closing up came over the girl as the front door to the apartment opened and Mark appeared.

Mark didn't start screaming or throwing punches like Daisy imagined he might.

He sort of just stood in the doorway as he let his eyes fall on the girls, taking in the sight of the luggage beside them, and he let out a sigh.

Daisy couldn't tell if Mark was tired, angry, or annoyed, but she didn't really care to find out.

It felt like ages that the three of them all just stood there staring, frozen in time. Daisy was uncomfortable, the anticipation of what would come next giving her dreadful anxiety.

Calypso wrung her hands together, feeling just as uncomfortable as her older sister. "Um...we...we were just gonna...we didn't mean to-"

"Don't move." Mark mumbled, walking past both girls as he disappeared down the adjacent hallway, heading towards his bedroom.

The two girls both continued to stand still, not quite sure what to do next. Daisy was panicking, of course, but she was doing so inwardly. A once calm Calypso happened to express her panic more outwardly.

"He's...he's gonna kill us." Calypso looked nervous as she spoke quietly, a panicked look filling her eyes. "We're gonna...Daisy, he's gonna-"

"No he's not. We'll be good." Daisy's voice came out so shaky, she knew Calypso would have trouble believing her.

Calypso would be good, at least. Daisy knew she would be the one to take the brunt of the hitting, and she was perfectly fine with that as long as Calypso wasn't getting hurt.

Daisy handed over the telephone that was stuck in her hands, watching as Calypso gripped the device firmly. "Go hide in your closet. And...and you know to dial 9-1-1 if-"

"If it gets too bad." Calypso nodded, remembering the rule they had implemented with the Walters. "But only if your screaming lasts longer than five seconds, otherwise-"

"No." Daisy shook her head quickly. "Call if I scream at all, okay? Call 9-1-1."

Daisy had no intention of going through another hellhole like what they had experienced with the Walters. She wanted to shut the hitting down before it got bad.

Calypso hesitated as she looked down at the telephone in her hands, the device looking huge in the girl's tiny palms. "But...what about you? Aren't you gonna-"

"I'll be good." Daisy nodded, giving her sister a smile. "I promise. I'll deal with it, you go."

"But I don't want to-"

"Go, Calypso."

Calypso didn't want to leave her sister, but she knew that the urgency in Daisy's voice was serious.

That was always what the girls did with Mr. Walter, too. Calypso hid and Daisy assured the girl that she would deal with it, whatever that meant.

Calypso retreated down the hallway as she was told, leaving Daisy alone in the kitchen.

It was dead silent with Mark and Calypso elsewhere, and Daisy swore she could hear her own heart pounding rapidly.

Every worst possible scenario crossed Daisy's mind as she stood there alone in the kitchen.

She could imagine sporting a brand new bruise by tonight. She could imagine Calypso getting dragged into the middle of things, sporting a matching bruise with her sister. She could imagine getting stuck in another relentless cycle of torture, Octavia never finding out until it was far too late.

Daisy's nerves heightened, and she instinctively reached for the barstool in front of her, feeling her OCD kick in.

Daisy pushed the chair in, pulling it back out just to push it back in a moment later.

It was a little silly, but Daisy felt like the small pattern she had established of dragging the chair back and forth and back and forth would bring some luck on her side. Even if Daisy did get hit, she was convinced that making the movements with the chair repeatedly would protect Calypso.

Daisy counted quietly. Today her number was thirty rather than fifteen. Her number had doubled as her nerves had.

Daisy was in her own little world as she pushed her chair back and forth, trying her best to climb up to thirty.

Even as Mark entered the kitchen, Daisy didn't cease her counting. She wasn't really sure she could stop even if she wanted to. Daisy was focused on the soothing pattern she had created.

Mark was angry, of course, but he didn't have a problem waiting for a moment, leaning against the counter as he watched. He knew Daisy would freak out if he interrupted her pattern, and Daisy just needed to finish her counting.

Mark didn't mind the counting. He did, however, mind the fact that Daisy's movements were scraping his chairs against his hardwood floors. Mark wanted to try and stay as calm and collected as possible, but he would definitely lose his cool if there was a huge scratch on his floor.

Daisy kept her eyes glued shut as she counted. She had already finished two sets of thirty. She finished a third, and then a fourth, restarting from zero as soon as she reached thirty.

The number five made Daisy happy, a perfect divisible of fifteen. Daisy's brain decided that five sets of thirty was the perfect amount in order to keep Calypso safe.

Once Daisy reached number thirty, she let her pattern cease, satisfied with the counting she had completed.

She slowly opened her eyes, still keeping a tight grip on the barstool that was no longer moving back and forth. It stood stationary, and Daisy stood stationary too.

The silence was deafening. Daisy was waiting for Mark to speak up and say something, but he was quiet as if he expected Daisy to speak up and say something. Daisy didn't know what the safest move was. She didn't know whether to start rambling or whether to just shut up.

Mark finally decided to break the silence as he seemingly just took note of the lack of the littlest sister. "Where's Calypso?"

"She's not here."

"Yeah, I can see that." Mark spoke flatly. "But I asked for both of you to wait here so that-"

"Calypso isn't involved with this." Daisy spoke up, the waver in her voice making her sound ridiculously pathetic. "She didn't want to leave the hospital and I made her. So...so she doesn't need to talk with us. It was my fault."

Mark nodded, looking thoughtful as he remained silent.

Daisy hated the silence. As backwards as it seemed, Daisy almost wished Mark would start yelling to fill up the void of silence.

Daisy cleared her throat, taking matters into her own hands as she tried to muster up enough courage to form words. "I thought you weren't getting off until way later."

"When your kids magically disappear from the premises, they tend to let you go home and figure out where the hell they are." Mark snapped in a sharp tone.

"You're angry." Daisy noted quietly, a statement that almost made Mark want to laugh.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be angry?" Mark asked. "I mean, yeah. I'm fairly pissed. But by all means, if you can somehow justify any of this, please do."

Mark was a fairly reasonable person, and Daisy knew that. Maybe Mark wouldn't be so angry if Daisy came clean about the Mr. Walter thing.

But if Mark really was conspiring, if he really was planning something to hurt the girls, Daisy knew that confessing the truth was bound to doom the girls.

That's when they start the hitting, when they figure out that you're onto them. Daisy figured it was best to act oblivious and keep her information to herself.

"I...I don't know." Daisy shrugged, not able to justify her actions to Mark.

"You don't know? You don't have any reason why you left? You just...decided to sneak away? I mean...what the hell?"

It did sound pretty stupid not given the context. It made Daisy sound like some sort of stupid, careless idiot.

"I'm sorry." Daisy spoke out quietly, trying to maintain level breathing and not psych herself out.

"Do you understand what could've happened? You could've gotten kidnapped, you could've...you could've gotten lost. What were you thinking?"

"I don't know."

"What's the matter with you, Daisy?"

"I...I don't know."

"Oh my god, quit it with the 'I don't know'! You do know, because if you truly didn't know, you wouldn't have been so stupid in the first place!" Mark's tone got louder, something that made Daisy cringe.

"You're shouting." The girl tried her best to speak up loudly, but her voice came out just above a whisper.

"Of course I'm shouting! What the hell possesses you to leave the hospital and wander around Seattle?! Why would you..." Mark stopped his speech, taking note of the fact that maybe he was speaking a little too loudly. He hadn't intended to yell at Daisy, just give her a stern talking to, but his anger was getting in the way.

The last thing he wanted was to scare Daisy, so he let out a sigh as he tried to compose himself.

"I just...I'm not getting it. Is it an attention thing? Are you not getting enough attention?"

Daisy wasn't comprehending what Mark was suggesting. Did he think she left the hospital in hopes of attracting attention from him? Does he truly believe that Daisy is that attention-starved.

"What?"

"I don't know what other reasons there could be. Calypso doesn't act like this, I don't understand why you do."

Out of all the insults Daisy could possibly receive, being compared to her sister stung the worst. She already knew that Calypso was better than her, she didn't like constantly being reminded.

"I'm sorry I'm not Calypso." Daisy's voice was strained as she spoke, Mark immediately frowning.

"That's not what I meant. I'm just saying...I don't know. I don't know what to do with you."

"I don't know what to do with you" sounded incredibly ominous. Daisy figured that Mark was currently narrowing his options between throwing a few punches or throwing Daisy's sorry self out on the street. Daisy hoped for the latter, not able to bear the thought of being hit again.

When Daisy stayed silent, Mark let out a cold laugh as he surveyed the spot beside Daisy. "And the luggage? Were we going on vacation and I forgot? Were you planning on just leaving and never telling me?"

"I don't know."

"I swear to god if you say 'I don't know' one more time, Daisy..." Mark trailed off, and Daisy figured this was the part where he snapped and started up with the hitting. Daisy was going to try to brace herself the best she could, but she was nowhere near prepared—physically, mentally, nor emotionally. She was weak in all three departments.

Daisy had been cautious of Mark since they first came here, but the girl could officially say that she was scared of him. His tone was getting louder and louder, and Daisy knew he was about to reach his breaking point. Daisy had thought about Mark hurting her before, but now that the moment was about to present itself, Daisy was completely terrified. She wanted to stand her ground, but she really was ready to just curl up in a ball and cry.

"I'm sorry." Daisy let out a whisper, trying desperately to blink away the stinging sensation in her eyes.

Mark merely looked at Daisy, and Daisy knew the man was just wondering what the most punchable part of Daisy's face was.

Maybe the cheekbone area. That happened to be Mr. Walter's favorite spot. Daisy wondered if maybe Mark would take a page out of his new friend's book. A punch to the cheek hurt significantly less than a punch to the nose, though, so Daisy hoped he would stick with the cheekbone.

Mark didn't acknowledge the tears building up in Daisy's eyes, and the girl figured he either didn't see them or he didn't care.

Mark did see how upset Daisy was, though, and as much as he wanted to apologize for having yelled at her, he wanted to stand by what he had said. Daisy couldn't be doing ridiculous things just because she felt like it.

Mark let out a sigh, turning his attention over to the dishes in the sink that had yet to be washed. "Just go to your room, Daisy. Go to bed."

Daisy should've took off sprinting at the fact that Mark was about to let her go unscathed. Daisy knew that, too. He was giving her an opportunity to walk away unharmed.

But Daisy couldn't comprehend the fact that Mark wasn't going to hit her. She had built it up in her head as such a certain thing that would happen, the fact that he was just letting her go was alarming.

"But...I, I...I thought-"

"Would you like for me to continue to yell?" Mark asked, Daisy shaking her head adamantly. "Go."

Daisy didn't waste anymore time standing there stupidly. She let her legs carry her away from the tense atmosphere of the kitchen, hurrying down the hallway to check on Calypso.

Those stupid tears fell from Daisy's eyes as she walked, and Daisy hated that she couldn't keep her emotions inside.

Daisy knew that she wasn't off the hook though, and maybe that was why she was crying. She knew it would be coming any day now, and that thought scared her more than anything.

Daisy entered Calypso's room, opening the girl's closet doors to find Calypso crouched down in the dark, still clutching the telephone.

Upon seeing Daisy crying, Calypso immediately furrowed her eyebrows. "Did...did he..."

Daisy sat beside her sister as she stayed silent, not bothering to try to wipe at the tears that were freely flowing.

Calypso was as alarmed as ever. Scanning Daisy's face, she couldn't see any marks. She figured that was an okay sign. Calypso hoped if Mark had left any bruises, it would only be a tiny one. Much smaller than what Mr. Walter would've left.

"I'll go get you an ice pack." Calypso offered frantically, wanting her sister to be better. "I'll...I'll get whatever you need me to, I can't believe he-"

"He didn't." Daisy shook her head as she spoke quietly. "He didn't hit me."

"Oh." Calypso frowned, a softer look taking over her face as the realization came in. "Oh! That's a good thing. That...that means we can stay!"

Daisy didn't want to stay.

She had her hopes set on calling Octavia to come pick them up. Mark was a wildcard, but Daisy knew that Octavia wouldn't ever hit the girls. Daisy ached for that relief, for the relaxation of knowing she could take a breath without having to constantly worry about when the hitting would start.

"I...I guess so." Daisy nodded, not wanting to let on how disappointed she was by that statement.

"But why are you crying?" Calypso asked softly, a frown coming over her face. "He didn't hit you, that's good. We're okay. You don't need to cry, Dais."

Daisy couldn't stop, though. She had an endless supply of tears, an endless amount of tragedies in her life that could represent each tear that dropped.

Daisy wanted Octavia. She wanted the social worker to take her away from this place, to protect her from any sort of dangers at the holding facility.

Daisy wanted to feel safe, and Daisy didn't feel safe with Mark.