Serenia sighed as she laid on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. The makeshift bed was lumpy, but Serenia wasn't tired anyway.
She was lost in her thoughts about her father and all the good times that they had had.
Tears came to her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in." she said. She was not sure they had heard  her, because there was a hesitation that lasted a minute or two.
Finally, Serenia heard the door squeal and hard footsteps on the stairs.
The son arrived and looked at her for a moment. He seemed nervous and looked around with disgust written all over his face.
"Yeah, I might have to get posters of landscapes to brighten this place up a little." Serenia lightly laughed, wondering why Josh was even there.
Josh finally looked at her, and he looked more at ease as he sat on the foot of the couch, "I guess you're my new baby sister."
"Well, that depends-how old are you?"
"Seventeen." he said, still looking around the damp basement.
"I haven't seen you at school..."
"I go to a private school about an hour away." he said.
"Oh..." Serenia said, and then it got quiet. The quiet became unnerving, so she said, "I kind of doubt you came to brag about your private school."
"No...I...came to talk about my parents..."
Serenia sat up straighter, "What about them?"
"They...aren't what you would call the perfect parents..."
"Okay..." Serenia said, so he would continue.
"Listen...you just need to do what they tell you, okay. Don't ask questions, and most of all, don't complain!"
"Um...okay, but what is this about? What's going on?"
"I'm afriad of what they will do to you." Josh said quietly.
"What?!" Serenia asked in shock, "What will they do to me?"
"Nothing," Josh said too quickly and stood up, "I have already said too much."
Serenia grabbed his hand before he could leave, "Please," she looked deeply into his eyes, "You can tell me."
Josh looked back into her eyes and sighed as he sat back down. "You know...we were a happy family once...like a family should be. My father...he died when I was twelve, and nothing was the same again."
 The silence went from seconds to minutes, "Continue." Serenia said quietly.
Josh looked at her, "Then she married Brad, and things have gone downhill. They had a baby girl..."
"Had?" Serenia furrowed her eyebrows.
"No one knew about her. They treated her terribly. If she complained, they would dunk her under water until she nearly drowned. One time, it was too long...and she died. They threw her into the lake,a nd that was the last of Janey Bowgart."
Serenia was shocked, "They killed...their own daughter?!"
"Sh...keep it down!" Josh whispered as he listened to make sure that no one was coming.
"Sorry..." Serenia whispered and leaned back against the couch.
Josh looked at her and continued, "Yes, they killed their daughter, and I'm afraid the might kill you."
"But the social worker-"
"That social worker is a joke," Josh cut her off and rolled his eyes, "Even I can see that."
Serenia was about to stick up for her, but then she realized that she could not deny it, because she had thought the same thing. She just nodded.
Josh stood up, "I should probably go."
Serenia grabbed his hand, "Please don't leave me by myself."
Josh stopped and hesitated before he sat back down. "There's not much room." he laughed.
Serenia shrugged as she sat close to teh edge, so Josh could have some room. Josh laid down and held her, so she wouldn't fall off the couch...