Don't Let Her Stay

by Nicola Sanders

If she wakes up, she will cry because she always does. And if she cries, we will die.

I don’t know why, but I suddenly have the feeling that I’m being watched. I turn around, and a shadow moves in the doorway. ‘Roxanne?’ I poke my head out and catch sight of her rushing down the corridor. ‘Roxanne?’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ ‘Tell you what?’ ‘That you and Diane had another baby?’

He knows. He knows what she’s like, but he pretends he doesn’t. Or maybe he is so much in denial that he can’t bring himself to admit it. But one thing is suddenly very clear: he doesn’t want to provoke her.

going to make sure she’s happy and well-adjusted, even if it kills

me.

Two hours and fifty-five minutes. That's how long it takes before I find something that makes me sit up in bed.

If Chloe was as jealous of her baby sister as Diane claimed to Richard she was, is it possible she had something to do with her death?

‘And that young woman lives with you?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then don’t stand too close to any balustrades, Mrs Atkinson.’

‘Not everything is what it seems, you know.’ I stop. She’s leaning against the wall, casually checking her fingernails.

‘What does that mean?’ ‘You’re going to have to figure it out sooner or later.’ She turns to go up the rest of the stairs. ‘Sooner would be better.’

Mr Atkinson and Chloe together once when I came to the house to speak to him for my article. He quickly sent her out of the room,

but I saw the way she looked at him, and it was cold. Like she was dead inside. It gave me the shivers. Then I caught the look on Mr Atkinson’s face and believe me, Joanne, he was scared of her. That man was afraid of his eleven-year-old daughter.’